Corpse Spiders

Corpse Spiders is a Witch Doctor Tier 2 skill unlocked at level 3. It summons a rotting zombie corpse from which spiders swarm out, which attack nearby enemies.

Background

Diablo III Active Skill [e]
Corpse Spiders
Used by:	Witch Doctor
Enabled at:	Clvl 3
Skill Description
Summon X spiders to attack nearby enemies.
Type:	Damage/AoE
Resource Use:	Costs Mana
Skill Rune Effects
Alabaster rune:	Unknown
Crimson rune:	Unknown
Golden rune:	Unknown
Indigo rune:	Unknown
Obsidian rune:	Unknown

The Witch Doctor summons a defiled Zombie who vomits up spiders that attack nearby monsters.

Skill Design

Carrion Spiders being summoned.

This skill was initially called Spider Totem. In the earliest version it summoned three large spiders from the earth wherever the Witch Doctor targeted the spell. They swarmed over nearby enemies, dealing poison damage.

During development in 2009 this skill was changed to Corpse Spiders, and the summon now pulled a Zombie partially out of the earth, from which the spiders burst (or were vomited) forth.

Skill Rank Table

• Rank 1: Summons 3 spiders to attack nearby enemies for 8-13 poison damage per hit. Cost: 12 mana.
• Rank 2: Summons 4 spiders to attack nearby enemies for 9-14 poison damage per hit. Cost: 16 mana.
• Rank 3: Summons 5 spiders to attack nearby enemies for 10-16 poison damage per hit. Cost: 20 mana.
• Rank 4: Summons 6 spiders to attack nearby enemies for 11-19 poison damage per hit. Cost: 24 mana. (A)
• Rank 5: Summons 7 spiders to attack nearby enemies for 12-23 poison damage per hit. Cost: 28 mana. (A)

(A) = Assumed

Trait Synergies

• No synergies with any of the traits are yet known.

Skill Rune Effects

The known rune effects for Corpse Spider are:

• Unknown rune: Creates a giant mother spider protecting her babies.

Development

The old Spider Totem Spell.

Corpse Spiders was first revealed during BlizzCon 2008; it was originally known as Spider Totem (later Spider Statue) and was on the Plague Skill Tree (itself later renamed to Zombie Skill Tree). It worked like a trap (the Assassin skills from Diablo II) with a radius of poison damage. When cast a small totem would appear out of the ground, from which hundreds of small spiders would emerge, and swarm over nearby monsters, dealing poison damage.

By BlizzCon 2009, this skill had changed dramatically. Renamed to Carrion Spiders and moved to the Voodoo Skill Tree, it had a completely different visual. Flux tried it in the gameplay demo, and described it:[1]

This skill is now called Carrion Spider, a summoning spell that causes a human corpse to erupt from the ground. This gruesome zombie sits up out of the earth and vomits out a large, milky-colored spider, before sinking back into the ground and vanishing from sight. The spider then functions as a minion, racing over to an enemy and latching onto them, dealing considerable poison damage for some duration of time. The spell can be cast repeatedly, just to watch the gruesome zombie animation, and sometimes the spider actually bursts through the zombie corpse’s chest, rather than waiting to be vomited up.

During BlizzCon 2009's Heroes and Monsters panel, the development team discussed the changes made to it. The Spider Totem had a noisy look, a player would cast this in a combat situation, and the entire screen was filled with small spiders which made it hard to concentrate. Also, they didn't like the totem thematic, as the Witch Doctor is more dark than that.

For BlizzCon 2010, the name was changed (once again) to Corpse Spiders. Although available in the gameplay demo, it wasn't one of the Witch Doctor's starting skills.

Previous Versions

See the Witch Doctor skill archive for more details on previous versions of Corpse Spider (or Spider Totem, or Spider Statue, or Carrion Spiders) and other Witch Doctor skills.

Media

You can find pictures in the Diablo III screenshot and picture gallery:

• Diablo III screenshots and pictures
• Corpse Spiders specific gallery contents

References

• BlizzCon 2008 Witch Doctor Gameplay Report
• BlizzCon 2009 Full Witch Doctor Skill Trees and Stats
• BlizzCon 2009 Heroes and Monsters Panel