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Many hands make light work.
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Bad against...[]
- Beware of placing the Death Ward if Chronosphere is off cooldown, as it will cancel the effect and leave Witch Doctor vulnerable if he does not react in time.
- Torrent can cancel Death Ward from a far distance.
- Light Strike Array cancels out Death Ward from a long distance.
- Lucent Beam interrupts Death Ward from a decent range.
- With Dust of Appearance, Eclipse kills Witch Doctor during Death Ward, even through Glimmer Cape.
- Morphling can Attribute Shift to strength after being hit by Maledict. Since Maledict deals its damage based on the difference between HP on cast and HP after two seconds, odds are Morphling will have more HP than when Maledict was cast, thus resulting in no damage.
- On the upside, players prone to panicked reactions may Morph to agility, making Maledict even more efficient than intended.
- Adaptive Strike (Strength) can interrupt Death Ward at a decent range.
- Guardian Angel protects allies from Death Ward's physical damage.
- Purification and Heavenly Grace will most likely save teammates from dying to Maledict.
- It is especially easy for Oracle to negate the damage from Maledict, and even heal through it with Fate's Edict and Purifying Flames.
- If by some miracle an enemy is still about to die because of Maledict, he can still save him with False Promise.
- Meat Hook interrupts Death Ward from a decent range, even through Black King Bar & Glimmer Cape.
- Pudge can survive the damage from Maledict because of his Flesh Heap stacks.
- However the damage-over-time from Rot is counteracted by Voodoo Restoration.
- Without Dust of Appearance or Sentry Wards, Riki is able to silence Witch Doctor with Smoke Screen, and is likely to build a Diffusal Blade, leaving Witch Doctor without mana to cast Voodoo Restoration, as well as Skull Basher to interrupt Death Ward.
- Rubick can steal Death Ward easily as it is a channeled ability and then use it to turn teamfight to his advantage.
- However, a skilled Witch Doctor will toggle Voodoo Restoration immediately after placing his Death Ward to prevent that.
- Like any hero with a channeled spell, Last Word is a counter to it.
- Global Silence goes through spell immunity and prevents Witch Doctor from casting his spells.
- Kraken Shell dispels the stun from Paralyzing Cask. However, it does not dispel the damage from Maledict.
- Once Witch Doctor first uses his Death Ward in team fights, Tidehunter can simply cancel it with Ravage, turning the tables against him, especially if Witch Doctor does not have a Black King Bar.
- As a precaution, Witch Doctor should let Tidehunter use Ravage first before channeling Death Ward to turn a team fight in his favor.
- Vengeful Spirit has two abilities to interrupt Death Ward, even through Black King Bar.
Others[]
- Arc Warden's Magnetic Field dodges all damage from Death Ward.
- Heroes with plenty of summons, such as Broodmother or Nature's Prophet can have their minions soak up most of your Paralyzing Cask.
- Death Ward's first target (before it bounces) can evade it, therefore Windranger and Phantom Assassin are poor choices to use it on.
- Heals are doubly effective against Maledict.
Items[]
- Black King Bar protects against Paralyzing Cask's stun and Maledict's damage.
- Linken's Sphere blocks Paralyzing Cask on impact.
- Lotus Orb reflects Paralyzing Cask back at Witch Doctor.
- Eul's Scepter of Divinity is able to cancel the channeling of Death Ward. It can also be used to dodge Paralyzing Cask.
- Armor items/abilities are best for mitigating damage from Death Ward. Damage Block from items/abilities such as Vanguard DO NOT reduce Death Ward damage however, and evasion is ineffective due to Death Ward's inherant bonus accuracy.
Good against...[]
- Voodoo Restoration heals to counter Bloodseeker's Thirst.
- Rupture is generally useless against Witch Doctor while he is staying on Death Ward.
- Although Witch Doctor needs to be careful as Blood Rite can interrupt Death Ward.
- Paralyzing Cask will repetively bounce between Chen and his converted creeps every single time. This can get even better if Witch Doctor buys Aghanim's Scepter that will allow his Death Ward to bounce between Chen and his converted creeps.
- Paralyzing Cask, Maledict and Death Ward combination will often kill Chen's allies before he can save them with Hand of God. And to make things better, Chen has no way to cancel Fiend's Grip on his own, and must rely on outside from Centaur Conqueror or Mud Golem under his control.
- Voodoo Switcheroo from Aghanim's Shard cannot be interrupted by Chen's creeps at all because Witch Doctor is hidden for it's duration.
- Paralyzing Cask is likely to bounce between him and his bear every single time.
- Lone Druid's lack of mobility makes him vulnerable to Death Ward and Maledict.
- Paralyzing cask bounces between him and his wolves, keeping him stunned for long amounts of time.
- Another hero that should not leave a special circle for his ultimate. The only thing to be afraid is Boundless Strike.
- Voodoo Restoration heals to counter damage over time of Poison Nova and Poison Sting.
- Voodoo Restoration heals to counter damage over time of Viper abilities.
- Viper has no way to cancel Death Ward, even through Rod of Atos.
Others[]
- Roaming duos have a chance to have their gank turned around if they have nothing to soak up Paralyzing Cask.
- Overall, Witch doctor is good against heroes with summons and illusions, stunning them for longer while dealing damage with Maledict.
Works well with...[]
- Black Hole is the perfect set up for Death Ward (especially if upgraded by Aghanim's Scepter).
- Midnight Pulse combined with Maledict can deal huge amount of damage against high health heroes.
- Chronosphere traps opponents while Death Ward can kill them (especially if upgraded by Aghanim's Scepter).
- It's also a good setup for your Maledict.
- Chain Frost and Paralyzing Cask is a recipe for disaster against poorly coordinated enemies.
- Reverse Polarity stuns enemies for a long duration and pulls them together to set up Maledict and Death Ward.
- Pit of Malice traps long enough to cast a Maledict and Death Ward combo.
- Zombies give excellent vision allowing Death Ward with Aghanim's Scepter projectiles to still bounce to them.
- Also Witch Doctor typically wants a buffer in front of him which Undying does well.
Others[]
- Heroes that has long duration disables: Legion Commander, Shadow Shaman, Beastmaster, Treant Protector etc.
- Any burst damage you can deal after Maledict has been applied can make it a lot more effective: Lina, Lion, Dagon.
