I was reading through some gear advice for Witch Doctors last night and gave my two cents on mojos only to have someone dismiss everything I had said based on lack of research. It's very easy to let this happen to you if you don't have Witch Doctor friends or do a ton of reading, so let's break down your options and what they bring to the table.
1. Thing of The Deep
This mojo brings one very important stat to the table: Pickup Radius increased by 20 yards. This one stat turns Grave Injustice from a mediocre passive into the core of your build. Any Witch Doctor that doesn't have at least 20 yards of pickup radius should have a Thing in their aresenal.
Things are not super expensive across the board. You'll see prices as low as 50k and as high as 2bil with everything in between based on stats. The reason you are going with this mojo is for the pickup radius and because it comes with 8% to 8.5% crit chance. What The Thing also does is completely destroy the market for any rare level 60 mojo that doesn't have at least 8.5% crit chance due to its availability and low price. I paid 2.5 million for mine and that was before 1.0.5 when all prices went down and I couldn't be happier with it.
Who should have a Thing of The Deep? Everyone. Seriously. There will be times when you are going to want to grind out a few paragon levels or farm for items quickly and you'll get the most bang for you buck from Grave Injustice. If you don't have pickup radius on your gear, you won't get the most out of Grave Injustice. If you put your Thing in the stash for a month and end up upgrading out of pickup radius on your gear, you'll always have the ability to get 20 extra yards of radius.
2. Rare Mojo (any)
Due to the randomness of rare mojos and their ability to roll ilvl63 stats you can find a steal on a massive damage boost. You're not getting anything but the stats from a rare as they don't typically have enough pickup radius to compare to The Thing and they aren't part of a set, but their reduced value relative to other mojos may make their price very attractive to the Witch Doctor on a budget. The only down side is that they sometimes get priced all over the map due to people perceiving that they are super valuable. Do not over pay for a rare.
3. Manajuma's Gory Fetch
Manajuma's Carving Knife is quickly becoming a favorite of wealthy witch doctors looking to score that big damage, big % damage, life steal, crit damage, socketed weapon with intelligence. Because of this, the Gory Fetch is steadily increasing in price due to the set bonuses involved. The aura and 5 mana on kill are cool, but the 130 INT is massive. A Gory Fetch with high INT paired with a Knife with high INT + the set bonus could result in huge damage. Unlike the Thing of The Deep, Manajuma's Gory Fetch rolls skill bonuses that can boost the value greatly. Also unlike The Thing, MGF does not guarantee a crit chance roll. This is a big down side because it automatically makes a MGF with crit chance very expensive... but worth it if you've pumped a ton of gold into a great knife.
Who should have a Gory Fetch? People who find a great one. People who have a carving knife and want to get the set bonus. People that can afford the inflated cost due to the popularity of the MCK. People with 18ish yards of pickup radius on their gear.
4. Ukapian Serpent
Low cost, high damage mojo with bonus damage to elites and a skill bonus. Great addition for Uber fights. This is a great option for people who already have the pickup radius they need without having to carry a Thing of The Deep. Serpents are not part of a set and can roll very different stats value wise but can't roll less than 9% crit chance. This means you can find a very high damage mojo for less than you'd have to pay for a Gory Fetch, String of Skulls, or Thing of the Deep, but you're going to lose access to Grave Injustice unless you have pickup radius elsewhere.
Who should have an Ukapian Serpent? People who want to maximize their single target damage for Ubers/elites, have plenty of pickup radius off mojo, or have the 4 piece Zunimassa set without the String of Skulls.
5. Zunimassa's String of Skulls
Rolls almost exactly the same as the Ukapian Serpent, but completes the Zunimassa's set for the 20 mana regen per second and 10 per kill without needing to pay for a Zunimassa's Pox. The Pox takes up a valuable ring slot and costs the same as a private island with decent rolls. You also have to consider that the Pox takes up one of two slots that can be used for unique advantages like the 30% bonus to elites from the Stone of Jordan, the goblins from the Puzzle Ring, the 35% bonus experience from the Hellfire Ring, etc.
The down side is that the String of Skulls does not guarantee crit chance, so crit chance SoS will be quite expensive relative to the rest.
Who should have a String of Skulls? Anyone with great rings who wants to finish the Zunimassa's Set (or get the next bonus regardless) or has the money to invest in a really great roll. This mojo won't do you wrong, but again, it doesn't have the radius bonus... so get that radius elsewhere.
Final Thoughts
I believe every Witch Doctor should invest in a decent Thing of The Deep. It simply gives you the easiest access to pickup radius, has really strong guaranteed rolls, and gives you access to one of the fastest farming builds you can run.
From there, I believe you should be prioritizing pickup radius on major upgrades so you're not tied to the Thing forever because other options are superior in one way or the other and fit really well into most super high end builds. You could always pay top dollar for a flat out perfect Thing, but that really isn't necessary seeing as you can get radius on other slots.
The other option I see people throw around is to just keep a Thing in the bank for when you want to farm fast at lower monster powers. I think that's an okay option as well, but every time I upgrade my damage it's hard to give it up. I'd much rather be running my best stuff all the time. From what I can tell, there are plenty of potential rolls on the best items and there's no reason why you can't get radius on at least 2 of them. I run magic find on a couple slots that will eventually be worthless due to paragon level. Those pieces could easily be radius instead of magic find. BAM! No "need" for a Thing.
I also feel like Majajuma's set is over priced. The Carving Knife is fantastic, but for whatever reason, people who've got them are not budging on the price when there are plenty of weapons without elemental damage that could be considered better. The set bonus is great, but if it's going to cost you 4 billion to get both pieces rolled in a way that makes them the clear choice... it just doesn't seem like the "bang for your buck" option even if you are at the point where you're seeking Best in Slot items. The Carving Knife's popularity is inflating good Gory Fetch prices to a place where they really don't make sense unless you are looking for the set bonus. I wouldn't buy either piece of the set unless I found an amazing piece to start with. I can't imagine anyone else choosing the Fetch over other mojos without the knife either... making the high price seem odd to me.
The Serpent is such a great option for big damage, but if you're like me and run with Grave Injustice but don't have pickup off the mojo it's a hard choice, but a great one for Ubers. I'm actually in the market for a good one right now just so I can swap it in when my friends and I run the infernal machine. With 6% bonus to elites, 10% crit, and 100-400 damage you really can't go wrong. Add in that they are going for way less than either the String of Skulls or Manajuma's Gory Fetch... it's a real nice piece to have around.
In the end, you need to have a strategy for your gear. Are you going to focus single target abilities? Do you want access to Grave Injustice? Are you saving up for a Zunimassa's Pox with great rolls because you have lousy rings or would you rather have the bonuses from other rings? There's nothing wrong with swapping out your mojo for different situations. There's also nothing wrong with a very strong rare mojo. Do what you like the best and ignore people who don't think it's "right," but also understand that when people give you advice it may not work if you don't have the right stats.
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