Grasp of the Dead
Grasp of the Dead is a Support Witch Doctor skill unlocked at level 3. This skill is a curse; it inflicts victims with much slower foot speed and deals damage as well. It's highly useful in the Arena PvP.
Background
A powerful debuff. This curses the target with much reduced movement speed and deals damage as well.
Skill Effects
The following is a very quick list. See the Grasp of the Dead rune effects page for a more thorough summary of rune effects, or any of the individual rune pages for numbers, screenshots, blue quotes, and much more.
| Icon | Skill | Description |
|---|
|
Grasp of the Dead Command (Level 3) |
[e] Cost: 53 Mana Hands reach out from the ground slowing enemy movement by 50% and dealing 50% weapon damage per second as Physical for 8 seconds. |
 |
Death is Life |
[e] Killed targets have a 65% chance to produce a health globe. |
 |
Groping Eels |
[e] Increases the damage done to 120% weapon damage per second as Physical. |
 |
Desperate Grasp |
[e] Reduces the cooldown to 4.5 seconds. |
 |
Rain of Corpses |
[e] Corpses fall from the sky dealing 70% weapon damage as Physical to nearby enemies. |
 |
Unbreakable Grasp |
[e] Increase the slow amount to 64%. |
Note: Information is based on a level 60 character and rank 7 runestones.
Skill Design
This skill is powerful, but has a very small radius of effect. Possibly this can be increased with a runestone. As it is, GotD requires precise aim and timing to hit a moving target.
Synergies
- No synergies with any of the passive skills are yet known.
Development
Grasp of the Dead was first listed in the BlizzCon 2009 gameplay demo at Tier III in the Zombie Skill Tree, but it had not yet been implemented.
This skill was present on the pre-made Witch Doctor in the Blizzcon 2010 Arena as a Tier 3 skill, and was quite effective. Skill tiers were removed for the July 2011 Press Event, and Grasp of the Dead became a level 3 skill.
Media
Grasp of the Dead can be seen in action on video here:
- Gameplay: Blizzcon 2010 (in the Arena)
- Video: Blizzcon 2010 Arena
- Video: August 2011 Witch Doctor Skill Animations
You can find pictures in the Diablo III screenshot and picture gallery:
References
- BlizzCon 2009 Full Witch Doctor Skill Trees and Stats
- BlizzCon 2010 PvP Hands-on Report
- Zediono's translation of JudgeHype's pre-beta report -- IncGamers 1st Aug 2011
- Witch Doctor Active Skills -- Diablo III 13th Sep 2011
| Classes of the Diablo games |
Skills - Active skills - Skill runes - Passives - Resource - Movement ability [e] Barbarian Demon Hunter Monk Necromancer Witch Doctor Wizard Followers Other Classes Fan-made |
|---|
| The Barbarian | Fury - Barbarian Active Skills (Archive) | Barbarian Passive Skills (Archive) [e] | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
Primary Might |
Secondary Tactics |
Defensive Rage |
Pound of Flesh (10) |
Superstition (30) |
| (X) = the level at which the skill becomes unlocked. | |||||
| Barbarian skill categories: Primary Secondary Defensive Might Tactics Rage |
|---|
|
Bash |
Cleave |
Frenzy |
[e] |
|
Hammer of the Ancients |
Rend |
Seismic Slam |
Whirlwind |
[e] |
|
Ground Stomp |
Leap |
Sprint |
Ignore Pain |
[e] |
|
Ancient Spear |
Revenge |
Furious Charge |
Overpower |
[e] |
|
Weapon Throw |
Threatening Shout |
Battle Rage |
War Cry |
[e] |
|
Earthquake |
Call of the Ancients |
Wrath of the Berserker |
[e] |
| Demon Hunter skill categories: Primary Secondary Defensive Hunting Devices Archery |
|---|
|
Hungering Arrow |
Entangling Shot |
Bola Shot |
Grenades |
[e] |
|
Impale |
Rapid Fire |
Chakram |
Elemental Arrow |
[e] |
|
Caltrops |
Smoke Screen |
Shadow Power |
[e] |
|
Vault |
Preparation |
Companion |
Marked for Death |
[e] |
|
Evasive Fire |
Fan of Knives |
Spike Trap |
Sentry |
[e] |
|
Strafe |
Multishot |
Cluster Arrow |
Rain of Vengeance |
[e] |
| Monk skill categories: Primary Secondary Defensive Techniques Focus Mantras |
|---|
|
Fists of Thunder |
Deadly Reach |
Crippling Wave |
Way of the Hundred Fists |
[e] |
|
Lashing Tail Kick |
Tempest Rush |
Wave of Light |
[e] |
|
Blinding Flash |
Breath of Heaven |
Serenity |
Inner Sanctuary |
[e] |
|
Dashing Strike |
Exploding Palm |
Sweeping Wind |
[e] |
|
Cyclone Strike |
Seven-Sided Strike |
Mystic Ally |
[e] |
|
Mantra of Evasion |
Mantra of Retribution |
Mantra of Healing |
Mantra of Conviction |
[e] |
| Necromancer skill categories: Primary Secondary Corpses Blood and Bone Reanimation Curses |
|---|
| Witch Doctor skill categories: Primary Secondary Defensive Terror Decay Voodoo |
|---|
|
Poison Dart - Rune effects |
Corpse Spiders |
Plague of Toads |
Firebomb |
[e] |
|
Grasp of the Dead |
Firebats |
Haunt |
Locust Swarm |
[e] |
|
Summon Zombie Dogs |
Horrify |
Spirit Walk |
Hex |
[e] |
|
Soul Harvest |
Sacrifice |
Mass Confusion |
[e] |
|
Zombie Charger |
Spirit Barrage |
Acid Cloud |
Wall of Zombies |
[e] |
|
Gargantuan |
Big Bad Voodoo |
Fetish Army |
[e] |
| Wizard skill categories: Primary Secondary Defensive Force Conjuration Mastery |
|---|
|
Magic Missile |
Shock Pulse |
Spectral Blade |
Electrocute |
[e] |
|
Ray of Frost |
Arcane Orb |
Arcane Torrent |
Disintegrate |
[e] |
|
Frost Nova |
Diamond Skin |
Slow Time |
Teleport |
[e] |
|
Wave of Force |
Energy Twister |
Hydra |
Meteor |
Blizzard |
[e] |
|
Ice Armor |
Storm Armor |
Magic Weapon |
Familiar |
Energy Armor |
[e] |
|
Explosive Blast |
Mirror Image |
Archon |
[e] |
| Followers | Kormac the Templar | Lyndon the Scoundrel | Eirena the Enchantress [e] | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Level 10: |
Level 5: Level 10: |
Level 15: |
Level 15: Level 20: |
Level 25: Level 30: | ||
| Diablo III Other Classes | Diablo II Classes | Diablo I Classes [e] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Archetypes: |
Archetype sub-types: |
Other classes: |
Diablo II: |
|||
| Fan-made Classes | Fan-made Skills [e] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
• Alchemist |
• Flagellant |
• Ranger |
Dragon Warrior Skills |
Aurian Mage Skill | |
| | |||||
