Guides

Don't Stand So Close to Me-Guide to Defeating Witchdoctor Enemies

The Witchdoctor class of pirates can be fun to play. FIGHTING Witchdoctor enemies...eh, not so much.

It's not fun to have your crew and possible teammates (allies) practically decimated by these Hoodoo Gurus in a few short rounds. They weren't really so bad in Skull Island, Cool Ranch, or MooShu when you fought the Watermoles/Waponi, Troggies, Undead Witchdoctors, Evil Spirits, & Tengu Sorcerers. We didn't really notice how powerful these spellcasters were until we got to Aquila where we have quests to fight Satyrs and Ophidian Flame Dancers.

For most of us, our strategy for defeating enemies relies on clumping our pirate & crew together and ganging up on one enemy at a time then working towards the next. This usually ensures that there will be one less baddy to pick on our own crew. Typically this works out great-for the other four classes (Buccaneer, Musketeer, Privateer, & Swashbuckler). Not so with Witchdoctors. Most of them have Epics like Improved Mojo Blast (hits ALL targets within a 3x3 grid), Mojo Echo (chance for another strike on a single target if the first one hit), Jobu's Ruse (allows another try if first attack misses), & Mojo Rising (grants an additional hit when an enemy (or ally in our case) is defeated).

Now we know that the "ganging up" strategy doesn't always work with these guys. At least not the way we would normally gang up on an enemy. Why? Because they attack a whole group at a time! This means that if you have your pirate plus 2-3 companions standing adjacent to each other (in a clump or clustered grouping) and are trying to kill just one, they in turn are a mass target for each of the other individual Satyrs/Ophidians. So whereas you have 3-4 hitting on one enemy, there is one enemy hitting on 3-4 of your allies multiplied by however many of them there are.

For the quests to fight the Satyrs and the Ophidian Flame Dancers; that is all you get-no other enemies of different classes. This is strictly a fight to see if you are capable of defeating multiple Witchdoctors in one battle. It's time to change your strategy.

Some of you may have a strategy that works for your pirate and/or play style. Here is mine:

Remember those companions we got in Cool Ranch who had the ability to get (or even started with) Witch Hunter? How many of us thought that was useless and totally bypassed it as an Epic if we had the option? *raises hand* because I know I did. I was in Cool Ranch fighting mostly Musketeers! What good was that Epic in a fight with them? Pshaw! Guess what this pirate did once she got into Aquila and got soundly whooped by these baddies? Re-trained a few companions. I didn't re-train all but at least one or two of my lesser used companions soon learned Witch Hunter. Now they could prove their usefulness and mettle in addition to earning a place as my First Mate instead of benched or tucked away on my second page.

Let's give a (short) listing of which companions have the opportunity to learn Witch Hunter-

(Name, Their Class, Pirate Class who receives them)

1. Bison Shaman, Privateer, Musketeer
2. Black Storm Shaman/Elder, Privateer, Musketeer
3. Bison Spirit, Privateer, Witchdoctor
4. Helephant/Destroyer, Privateer, Witchdoctor
5. Bat Masterson, Privateer, Witchdoctor
6. Monquisitor, Privateer, Privateer
7. Jim Masterson, Privateer, Privateer
8. Nadya-Mustang Gypsy, Privateer, Buccaneer
9. Crab Hermit, Witchdoctor, Swashbucklers
10. Mormo, Witchdoctor, Witchdoctor
11. Old Scratch, Witchdoctor, Universal All-Classes
12. Serpent Augur, Witchdoctor, Witchdoctor

Keep in mind that even though Mormo, Old Scratch, & the Serpent Augur can learn Witch Hunter it is not entirely beneficial to have them in battle because these Satyrs also have Witch Hunter! When I am playing on my Witchdoctor, I do bench these companions.

So now that we have woken up our sleepy companions it's time to move them from the second page and place them as our First Mate. Hello there, stranger

We will use the example of me fighting the Satyrs on my Witchdoctor, Cruel Cordelia Voss. I will use my Bison Spirit as my First Mate because he has Witch Hunter x2 and Bat Masterson is in my second slot since he has Witch Hunter x1. This will give them extra attacks on the Satyrs PLUS reduce any damage they may do with their own attacks.

Here I have my Bison Spirit Chief with Witch Hunter x2 and moved up to my First Mate.

Here is Bat Masterson in the second slot (to increase his chances of joining in the battle) with Witch Hunter x1

The best way I have found for my melee crew to attack these baddies is to have them stand ONE SQUARE away from each other. Preferably in an "X" Formation like this:

Now I move my companions into place so that they can be placed at the corners (or wherever will let them strike a single target while not becoming a group target themselves).

Here we see how we can still effectively gang up on one enemy while staying safely away from the Improved Mojo Blast.

I especially like to put my Bison Spirit in the center or wherever there is an "L" shape so I can utilize his Witch Hunter x2 to the greatest extent.

The reason is because they must be able to center target their enemies with their Improved Mojo Blast. Placing the center mark on any of those A's (or BSC) means that the surrounding areas are either empty or occupied by obstacles, or enemies. So it is still possible to gang up on them without them ganging up on our whole group.

Notice in the previous round the targeted Satyr is about to be defeated. Now it's time to move my Bison Spirit Chief to his next target. Yes, I could have safely moved him down one square below to target the same Satyr as El Toro. However, I wanted to make use of his Witch Hunter so I moved him to the crook of the "L". I could not do so safely without having him be right next to El Toro, though, and thus causing both of them to become targets in a single hit. Therefore, when I moved my Bison, I also moved El Toro in the same turn to keep that one space empty between them.

It is important to pay attention to where everyone is. If you move one companion so that they can attack, then make sure that there is an empty square around them. If you need to maneuver your Witch Hunter then make sure that you move any other companions one square away so that your round doesn't end with your companions adjacent to each other. Do not move around too much or you risk setting off multiple Coward's Bane attacks!

As much as we love our pets or our summons (minions), these are NOT the battles to use them. Unequip your pets, discard or move your summons powers to the end of your deck. You CANNOT control these because they are AI. Even though you may "think" they have the best intentions and are trying to be useful, in the end they could be the reason you get defeated. They have a tendency to leave their targets, thus activating Coward's Bane. They also tend to get right in the middle of things, most notably those purposely empty squares. Now you have two companions plus a pet/summons who become a target.

Now you know my own strategy, you can try it out for yourself and see how it affects your own battles.

Best of luck!

~SM~