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Witch Doctor
From Liquipedia Dota 2 Wiki
Witch Doctor
20 + 2.1
13 + 1.4
22 + 3.1
| Grants the following bonuses per level: | |
| +46.2HP and +0.21HP regeneration | |
| +0.23 armor and 1.4 attack speed | |
| +37.2MP and +0.155MP regeneration +0.1% base magic resistance +3.1 Main Attack Damage | |
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1200 Projectile Speed
| ||
100 (113)
(1.7 BAT) | ||
0.4 + 0.5
| ||
0.6
| ||
Default
Gib Type | ||
2010-11-01
Released | ||
2006-02-24
(6.28) | ||
Competitive Span
2010-11-01 — Present | ||
Version Control This article is mostly accurate for 7.41c, the last version this hero was changed in. New interactions that emerged in following patches may have not yet been accounted for. |
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| Channels a high damage death ward. | |
|---|---|
| A bizarre figure shambles across the land, searching for any opportunity to apply the morbid arts of Prefectura Island. Filling a skull with noxious powder, the Witch Doctor throws this Paralyzing Cask to stun enemies in succession. To his allies, Zharvakko is a fountain of health, curing ailments with Voodoo Restoration. To his foes, he is the source of curses and Switcheroos. Notoriously known for Maledicting his adversaries and forcing them to relive the agony they will inevitably receive from his Death Ward, few can match Witch Doctor's versatility. | |
| Roles: | |
| Adjectives | BadTeeth, Potbelly, Nose Legs ( 2 ) |
Bio
[edit]Malpractice makes perfect.▶️Zharvakko, the Witch Doctor
Alias:
WD
Lore:
A wiry silhouette hitches forward—uneven of feature and limb, bizarre of gait, relentlessly criss-crossing the battlefield in search of that vital weak point where his talents can do most good, and most harm. Whether broken or mismade it is not clear, but still, none can doubt the power carried in his twisted physique. A long staff thumps the earth as the Witch Doctor advances, deploying a terrifying arsenal of fetishes, hexes and spells. It is a body of magical knowledge learned over several lifetimes in the island highlands of Prefectura, now wielded with precise accuracy against his enemies. Witch Doctor is your best friend, or your worst enemy--healing allies and laying waste to all who oppose him.
Voice:
Upgrades
[edit]Aghanim's
[edit]Aghanim's Scepter Upgrade:
The Death Ward's attacks now bounce between nearby enemy units.
Grants the Voodoo Switcheroo ability.
The Doctor turns into the Death Ward of its corresponding level while being hidden.
The Doctor turns into the Death Ward of its corresponding level while being hidden.
Talents
[edit]| +40 Death Ward Damage | 25 | +6 Paralyzing Cask Bounces |
|---|---|---|
| +1% Voodoo Restoration Max Health as Heal | 20 | Maledict Radius Damage Upon Enemy Death |
| +4s Maledict Duration +1 Maledict Intervals | 15 | -3s Paralyzing Cask Cooldown |
| +200 Health | 10 | x0.75 Voodoo Restoration Mana per Second |
| ▃ ▃ ▃ ▃ ▃ ▃ ▃ +2 All | ||
Gris-Gris
[edit] Consume
No
Affects
Self
Starts the game with a neutral consumable item — Gris-Gris.
This can be consumed anytime to grant the stored gold to the Doctor.
This can be consumed anytime to grant the stored gold to the Doctor.
Stored Gold to Bonus Gold Factor: 1
The stored gold passively increases per in-game interval.
Gold Increase Interval: 3
Gold Increase per Instance: 1 
Innate Properties
Gris-Gris also increases its selling cost based on the Doctor's gold lost value upon death.
Gris-Gris also increases its selling cost based on the Doctor's gold lost value upon death.
Death Gold Loss to Gold Increase Factor: 1
- The neutral item granted has the following properties:
- Can be placed either in the inventory or the neutral item slot.
- Cannot be dropped.
- Cannot be placed in the backpack.
- Has the following consume properties:
- Requires
right-click to
Consume Item. - Cannot be consumed while affected by
disable sources.
- Automatically consumed if there is no space in the inventory after creating a neutral item.
- Requires
- Grants
Hidden Modifier
MODIFIER_EVENT_ON_HERO_BEGIN_DYINGGris-Gris Gold: The owner will receive x of the saved gold when consuming the Gris-Gris.
MODIFIER_PROPERTY_TOOLTIP- The actual ability values are bound to the item traits and values.
Hero Model
[edit]Details
Hidden Innate Abilities
Tap on the 
innate abilities for more details.
Abilities
[edit]Paralyzing Cask
[edit]Launches a cask that ricochets between enemy units, stunning and damaging those it hits.
Cast Animation: 0.2 + 0.52
Cast Range: 
600
Bounce Distance: 
575
Number of Bounces: 4/5/6/7 (
10/11/12/13)
First Damage: 55/70/85/100
Damage Increment per Bounce: 20
Stun Duration: 0.8
20/18/16/14 (
17/15/13/11)
80/100/120/140
The Witch Doctor recycles the bones of fallen friends and foes, using the powder as part of his arsenal of charms and alchemy.
- All projectiles bounce in 0.1-second intervals despite utilizing two different
projectile speeds.
- The first launched projectile to the first
unit-targeted enemy has 1200-speed.
- For wiki calculation convenience, the first enemy unit is counted toward the bounces in the calculations below for this ability.
- Can bounce on the same enemy unit, after another enemy unit was hit between bounces.
- The first launched projectile to the first
- Subsequent bounce projectiles have 1000-speed.
- Both the primary projectile and subsequent projectiles cannot be disjointed.
- Projectiles can
bounce to and
bounce off the following units:
Fogged units.
Hidden units.
Spell Block-affected units.
- Does not
- Attack immune units.
- Enemy
Couriers.
Invisible units.
Invulnerable units.
Ward-type units.
- All projectiles bounce in 0.1-second intervals despite utilizing two different
- The ability effects are applied as follows:
stunned- The
magical
spell damage.
Procs Spell Block sources and blocks the ability individually per proc.
Neither stops the bounce component, nor stops the damage increment component.
Neither stops the bounce component, nor stops the damage increment component.
Does not proc Spell Reflection sources on secondary affected units.
On Hidden Entity
Stunned
MODIFIER_STATE_STUNNEDMODIFIER_PROPERTY_OVERRIDE_ANIMATION- Deals a total 420/650/930/1260 (
Voodoo Restoration
[edit]Toggle / Aura
Affects
Allied Units
Activates an aura to heal nearby allied units, costing mana every second to keep the aura active.
Cast Animation: 
0 + 0
Radius: 650
Heal per Second: 
20/30/40/50
Aura Linger Duration: 0.5
Max Health as Heal per Second: (
1%)
Innate Properties
While affected by invulnerable sources, the Doctor does not lose mana while Voodoo Restoration is toggled on with all ability effects active.
While affected by invulnerable sources, the Doctor does not lose mana while Voodoo Restoration is toggled on with all ability effects active.
0
25
The mana loss per second is bound to the aura.
The ability causes the Doctor to lose mana as long as an allied unit is still affected by the aura.
The ability causes the Doctor to lose mana as long as an allied unit is still affected by the aura.
(
Zharvakko's hocus pocus is not limited only to hexxing his opponents and is quite adept at curing ailments.
- Creates the
aura centered around the Doctor with the activation
mana cost.
- All ability components are granted by the same aura.
- Loses 3/4/5/6 (
2.23/2.97/3.71/4.46)
current mana in 0.33-second intervals, the first interval starts 0.33 seconds after toggled
.
- The current mana loss per interval is bound to the aura and its linger duration.
- Hence, when toggled
in any way, the ability still applies all of its ability effects for another 0.5 seconds.
- Hence, when toggled
- Loses 3/4/5/6 (
- Learning the max health as heal
- Creates the
- Does not affect the following units:
- Affects the following units:
- Allied
- Allied
- Does not affect the following units:
Hidden modifier
Voodoo Restoration: The Witch Doctor be healing you!
Maledict
[edit]Curses all enemy heroes within the radius, causing them to take a set amount of damage each second.
Cast Animation: 0.35 + 0
Cast Range: 600
Radius: 200
Damage per Second: 15/20/25/30
Duration: 12 (
16)
The curse also deals bursts of damage per interval based on the amount of current health lost since the curse begin.
Proc Interval: 4
Curse Instance: 3 ( 4)
Current Health Loss to Damage: 16%/24%/32%/40%
Talent Upgrade
Applies a portion of the next Maledict current health loss as damage within the radius, upon the debuff-affected enemy hero's death.
Applies a portion of the next Maledict current health loss as damage within the radius, upon the debuff-affected enemy hero's death.
Effect Radius: 800
Next Current Health Loss to Damage Factor: 0.75
30/26/22/18
105/110/115/120
Certain voodoo magics can make an enemy regret engaging the Witch Doctor.
- This ability has two main components:
- The debuff component considers
clones,
illusions, and
creep-heroes as heroes.
maledict- Checks the affected enemy heroes'
current health 4 (
- The health loss to damage is defined as:
- EXPR
ΣSpellDmg = (CurrentHP BeforeDebuff - CurrentHP) × 0.16/0.24/0.32/0.4- Hence Maledict utilizes the current health difference for the
- Hence Maledict utilizes the current health difference for the
- The current health loss to damage happens one
server tick before per proc interval at the following intervals:
- After the 3.97th
7.97th
- After the 3.97th
-
- Releases a
projectile to all valid enemy units within
death.
- This ability component considers
- This ability component considers
- Affects the following units:
- Does not affect the following units:
- Releases a
- Checks the affected enemy heroes'
maledict_dot- The
- The
- The debuff component considers
- With all spell damage components, the ability deals a max of 28 (
The current health loss to damage component procs on debuff immune enemy units.
The spell damage applied does not interact with the bonus
magic resistance granted by debuff immunity sources.
The spell damage applied does not interact with the bonus
Maledict: Cursed. Taking damage over time, and taking bonus damage every 4 seconds based on HP lost since the beginning of the curse.
Hidden Modifier
Maledict Calculations
[edit]- The total approximated
| Proc Interval | ≈ CurrentHP to Damage |
|---|---|
| 0s – 3.97s | 48%/72%/97%/121% ( |
| 3.97s – 7.97s | 32%/48%/65%/81% ( |
| 7.97s – 11.97s | 16%/24%/32%/40% ( |
| 11.97s – 15.97s |
Voodoo Switcheroo
[edit]No
Affects
Self
The Doctor turns into the Death Ward of its corresponding level while being hidden.
Cast Animation: 0.1 + 0.73
Duration: 2.5
The Death Ward has a lower attack speed.
Attack Speed Slow: 45
50
200
This ability levels up with Death Ward.
- Acquiring
Aghanim's Shard unlocks this ability in the fourth ability slot.
- The ability lasts for the entire duration unless the Doctor
- The following ability effects are applied on self upon cast:
- Grants the Doctor
- Disjoint incoming
- Grants the Doctor
- Creates Death Ward of its corresponding level at the Doctor's current cast location.
- The ability lasts for the entire duration unless the Doctor
- Other Death Ward notes apply, including its
talent and
ability upgrades.
Requires drafting Death Ward to unlock this ability.
Hidden Modifier
MODIFIER_PROPERTY_ATTACKSPEED_BONUS_CONSTANT- Directly uses Death Ward's ability values. It does nothing if Death Ward is not learned upon cast.
Death Ward
[edit]Summons a deadly ward to attack enemy heroes within its attack range.
Cast Animation: 0.35 + 0
Cast Range: 500
Max Channel Time: 8
Max Attack Targets: 1
Accuracy: 50%
Pure Attack Damage: 60/90/120 (
100/130/160)
Aghanim's Scepter Upgrade
The Death Ward's attacks now bounce between nearby enemy units.
Deals pure attack damage on the first attacked unit, with subsequent bounces dealing pure spell damage instead.
The Death Ward's attacks now bounce between nearby enemy units.
Deals pure attack damage on the first attacked unit, with subsequent bounces dealing pure spell damage instead.
Bounce Distance: ( 575)
Number of Bounces: ( 
)
Aghanim's Scepter Upgrade
Both Roshan and the Tormentor can only be affected by the Death Ward's bounced attack.
Both Roshan and the Tormentor can only be affected by the Death Ward's bounced attack.
100/90/80
200
Witch Doctor performs a ritualistic dance, one that haunts the dreams of those who live to recount it.
135
-
Can be controlled to attack a specific enemy unit or to stop attacking altogether.
-
Lvl
3
0
0%
0
0 (x̄)
Talent Upgrade
The Death Ward becomes deadlier as time passes.
The Death Ward becomes deadlier as time passes.
Attack Damage Bonus: ( 40)
Whenever the channeling completes or is interrupted, the unit disappears after a brief period of time.
The unit now has phased movement and grants vision centered around it during the grace duration.
The unit now has phased movement and grants vision centered around it during the grace duration.
Grace Duration: 5
This unit does not feel the effects from any damage source.
It cannot be targeted by attacks or abilities and has its health bar temporarily hidden.
It cannot be targeted by attacks or abilities and has its health bar temporarily hidden.
- Has the following unit additional properties:
- All damage applied is sourced to the Death Ward, with the following damage type properties:
Attack Target Damage Type Source First Pure
Attack Damage
Secondary
(If applicable)Instant Attack
Bounce
Spell Damage
- The unit is always spawned facing
.
- With the unit's attack
turn and
face the target before attacking within its 600/625/650
attack range, except within the 23° circular sector area marked blue.
- The unit is always spawned facing
- Has the following auto-attack priorities:
Nearest Enemy Heroes within the blue circular sector area
- Considers
- Considers
- Only attacks on the first attacked target have percentage-based accuracy, which prevents its attacks from being missed from the following sources:
Blind sources.
Evasion sources.
- Stacks multiplicatively with other outgoing accuracy sources.
- The accuracy chance is determined during the unit's attack point, and uses
pseudo-random distribution (
+30.21%andP(4) = 100%).
- Does not consider the following units as valid first attacked targets:
- Has the following auto-attack priorities:
- Does not have a
- Does not have a
- Additionally applies the following ability effects on itself:
modifier_stunned- A 5-second
phase movement.
- A 5-second non-lingering
1200-radius or
800-radius ground vision centered around the Death Ward.
- The vision component is bound to the unit.
- A 5-second non-lingering
- Resummoning the unit
instant kills the unit and causes the aforementioned components to no longer be active.
- Both regular attacks and bounced attacks from the Death Ward now bounce toward the closest enemy units within 575 radius.
- Acquiring the
- The same attack projectile may damage the same enemy units once per attack,
- Does not affect the following units:
- Secondary attack immune units.
- However, attack immune units can still receive damage from the bouncing projectile.
- Acquiring the
Hidden modifier
MODIFIER_STATE_MAGIC_IMMUNEMODIFIER_STATE_INVULENRABLEMODIFIER_STATE_NO_HEALTH_BARMODIFIER_PROPERTY_PREATTACK_BONUS_DAMAGEMODIFIER_PROPERTY_ATTACK_RANGE_BONUSMODIFIER_EVENT_ON_ATTACK_RECORDMODIFIER_EVENT_ON_ATTACKMODIFIER_EVENT_ON_ATTACK_LANDEDMODIFIER_EVENT_ON_TAKEDAMAGEMODIFIER_EVENT_ON_DAMAGE_CALCULATEDMODIFIER_EVENT_ON_DEATHMODIFIER_EVENT_ON_ATTACK_RECORD_DESTROYPhased
MODIFIER_STATE_NO_UNIT_COLLISIONStunned
MODIFIER_STATE_STUNNEDMODIFIER_PROPERTY_OVERRIDE_ANIMATION- The attack projectile directly utilizes and applies pure attack damage and has the following mechanic interactions:
- Affected by both
main attack damage and total attack damage manipulation sources when applicable.
- Does not interact with
armor sources.
- The following
incoming damage reduction sources do not interact with this player-based damage source, due to the damage being sourced to the Death Ward:
- Frost Shield
- Bulwark only redirects the primary projectile.
- However, it cannot reduce the damage of either the primary projectile or the bouncing projectile.
- Fire Shield
- Affected by both
- The attack projectile directly utilizes and applies pure attack damage and has the following mechanic interactions:
-
- Bounced attacks are considered instant attacks with the following properties:
- Deals a
0-attack damage instance, with a fixed 60/90/120 (pure
- The applied damage neither interacts with damage manipulation sources, nor applies most on-damage effects.
- Hence the accuracy component only applies to the first attacked target.
- Does not grant shared vision on instant attack-affected enemy units.
- Deals a
- Has the following auto-attack priorities:
- Bounced attacks are considered instant attacks with the following properties:
Recent Matches
[edit]Main Article: Witch Doctor/Matches
| Date | Tier | Tournament | Picks | Score | vs. Picks | Patch | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 5, 2026 - 23:00 EEST | Tier 4 | HYYTYY X BAR LATEGAME - Group B | 0 : 1 | 7.41d | |||||||
| June 5, 2026 - 20:00 CEST | Tier 3 | EPL Season 38 - June 5 | 1 : 0 | 7.41c | |||||||
| June 5, 2026 - 17:20 EEST | Tier 4 | HYYTYY X BAR LATEGAME - Group A | 0 : 1 | 7.41d | |||||||
| June 5, 2026 - 13:55 CEST | Tier 1 | BLAST SLAM VII - Playoffs | 0 : 1 | 7.41 | |||||||
| June 4, 2026 - 16:00 EDT | Qualifier | EWC 2026 NA CQ | 1 : 0 | 7.41c | |||||||
Recent Changes
[edit]Description
- Increased Voodoo Restoration radius from 500/550/600/650 to 650 on each level.
- REMOVED Maledict
Malpractice ability component.
- Death Ward
- REMOVED the
Cleft Death ability component.
- Death Ward
- Increased attack range from 600 on each level to 600/625/650.
- REMOVED the
Talents:
- LVL 15 +2 Paralyzing Cask bounces ➜ -3s Paralyzing Cask cooldown.
- LVL 20 +75 Death Ward range ➜ Maledict bursts deal 75% damage in a 800 radius. [?]
- LVL 25 -6s Paralyzing Cask cooldown ➜ +6 Paralyzing Cask bounces.
- Death Ward
- Reduced damage from 60/95/130 to 60/90/120.
- LVL 25 +45 Death Ward damage reduced to +40.
Dota Plus Progress
[edit]Main Article: Hero Challenges
Relics track a hero's actions and statistics, and display in-game notifications when a milestone is reached. They are only available to Dota Plus subscribers.
| Witch Doctor's Relics | Voice Lines | |
|---|---|---|
Bronze |
||
Silver |
||
Gold |
||
Platinum |
| |
Master |
| |
Grandmaster |
| |
Equipment
[edit]| Sets | |
|---|---|
| Weapon | |
| Head | |
| Shoulder | |
| Back | |
| Taunt | |
| "Template:Navbox/old" is deprecated! Please use Template:NavBox instead. |
Trivia
[edit]- Witch Doctor is sometimes called "The Walking Fountain", referring to his support abilities Voodoo Restoration and Death Ward.
- Witch Doctor's last hit response ▶️ "Pills here!" is a reference to "Left 4 Dead", another title from Valve, where the players can notify the other survivors that they found pills. The survivors would say "Pills here" upon finding some.
- His death response ▶️ "Bad medicine.." is likely a reference to Bon Jovi's popular old classic "Bad Medicine".
- His kill response ▶️ "Ask not for whom the spell tolls." is a reference to John Donne's poem "Meditation XVII".[1]
- Witch Doctor's name, Zharvakko, may be a reference to the popular novel and film "Doctor Zhivago".[2]
- Warcraft 3 similarities:
- Witch Doctor's hero concept is originally based on the Witch Doctors, a ranged Orc caster unit.
- In DotA, Witch Doctor is named Vol'jin. The name was changed in Dota 2 to avoid copyright issues with "Blizzard Entertainment", since the Vol'jin is a character within the Warcraft universe.
- Voodoo Restoration may be based on the Witch Doctors' Healing Ward.
- Death Ward is based on the Naga Sea Witch's Tornado, but summoning a ward, instead of a tornado.
- The Death Ward uses the model of the Witch Doctor's Stasis Trap Wards.
- Witch Doctor has a 1/8 chance to spawn in with the name "Moose", a tribute to a community figure who contributed a lot to the Dota.
- Witch Doctor's hero concept is originally based on the Witch Doctors, a ranged Orc caster unit.
Gallery
[edit]- Model
- Wraith-Night artwork
- Concept art
- Concept art
- Concept art
- Concept art
- Ability icon progress
- Hero icon progress
- Bone Harvest sprite - alive
- Bone Harvest sprite - dead