EPTToday is October 15th, 2012 and I have now gotten control of this thread. It will now contain actually useful information for Demon Hunters, especially those just starting out, to learn how to gear and skill their characters for optimal performance. 1.0.5 comes out tomorrow, but I'll write this as if it was already out.
Skills
This thread will assume you are level 60 and just progressing into inferno, or just looking to improve your inferno farming speed. As a general guideline for a low gear level DH, this is the skill build you'll likely want:
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Low-ish gear level - farming below Act 3 MP0 or Act 1/2 MP1+, or struggling in A3 MP0-2
Left click: Hungering Arrow - Devouring Arrow. Hungering is far and away the best Hatred generator - its single target damage potential far outstrips the utility the other ones can occasionally offer. Devouring Arrow simply increases that potential as much as possible.
Right click: Cluster Arrow - Loaded for Bear would be my recommendation - assuming you are using a slow crossbow. There are a few options here, with the biggest competitor being Elemental Arrow - Ball Lightning, especially for Bow/Hand Crossbow users. I would recommend Ball Lightning for such players, as it allows you to have higher sustainable DPS, and you won't be running out of hatred all the time. With a Crossbow, you're aiming to burst down enemies really fast with your first couple Cluster Arrows, and then cleaning up the rest.
Skill slots, in order of priority AS OF 1.0.4 - this may change:
1 - Gloom - Shadow Power. This is an invaluable skill that will get you out of many situations. It counters reflect damage (although not as well post 1.0.5), allows you to take a few hits and stand your ground vs groups of mobs, and allows you to heal back up if you take damage. Pretty much every DH should have this on their bar unless they have a good reason not to.
2 - Preparation - Backup Plan / Invigoration / Battle Scars (Backup Plan most common). Pretty straightforward: discipline is an invaluable resource, and if you don't have prep there's really no way you'll have enough discipline to effectively use four disc skills unless you have legacy natalya or like 70 max disc or something crazy. For the purposes of the average DH, this is your best bet. I recommend Invigoration if you only have 30 max disc, and Backup Plan if you have 38+.
3 - Smoke Screen - Lingering Fog. Not completely necessary, but a very easy "oh shit" button to press when you get into bad situations. When you are better geared, you can drop it for Vault - Tumble to increase your speed, and you'll be relying on Gloom to survive. In 1.0.4, many people have dropped Smoke Screen, but I expect quite a few to pick it up for the survivability after Trail of Cinders is nerfed and MP makes it a bit harder to just roll through mobs quickly.
4 - Somewhat up to you. New buffed skills like Sentry may be worth trying to slot for. Companion is a very solid option, with Bat being favored, but Boar/Wolf may be viable options after 1.0.5 (although you don't really need the tanking in a party, and you can beef up a templar for a bit of frontline defense in solo). I personally use Bat Companion in this slot.
Passives, in general order of priority:
1 - Archery. A staple of every DH, you will seldom see one who doesn't take this free damage boost.
2 - Steady Aim. Another free damage passive with the slight drawback that it's not effective in all situations, but for the moderately geared DH, we're generally kiting anyway.
3 - Sharpshooter. A high priority passive for DH players with low crit chance, as you get to 30-35%++ it becomes less necessary, and I'd drop it somewhere around 35%. Artificially boosts your crit chance / burst damage, and is especially useful in combination with Cluster Arrow to get off one big crit to start larger fights.
4 - When you drop Sharpshooter, you'll likely want to replace it with Tactical Advantage. Increases your speed and maneuverability significantly.
5 - Test out other passives of your liking, at this point you're kind of past the cookie cutter builds. Night Stalker is a nice one if your crit chance is really high (45+?) and you don't have legacy Natalya set. Vengeance and Grenadier are other choices.
Skills to change as your gear gets better:
When you reach 40-45%+ crit chance, which usually comes with your first two Natalya pieces, you'll want to switch Hungering Arrow to the Spray of Teeth rune.
When your DPS is in the 100k+ range without Sharpshooter and you're running lower MP levels, switch to Elemental Arrow - Ball Lightning or Multishot - Fire At Will instead of Cluster Arrow.
Similarly, if you're playing low MP levels and killing everything very fast, use Vault - Tumble to move between mobs faster instead of Smoke Screen.
Try out other options! When you're at a high gear level, anything can work.
Left click: Hungering Arrow - Devouring Arrow. Hungering is far and away the best Hatred generator - its single target damage potential far outstrips the utility the other ones can occasionally offer. Devouring Arrow simply increases that potential as much as possible.
Right click: Cluster Arrow - Loaded for Bear would be my recommendation - assuming you are using a slow crossbow. There are a few options here, with the biggest competitor being Elemental Arrow - Ball Lightning, especially for Bow/Hand Crossbow users. I would recommend Ball Lightning for such players, as it allows you to have higher sustainable DPS, and you won't be running out of hatred all the time. With a Crossbow, you're aiming to burst down enemies really fast with your first couple Cluster Arrows, and then cleaning up the rest.
Skill slots, in order of priority AS OF 1.0.4 - this may change:
1 - Gloom - Shadow Power. This is an invaluable skill that will get you out of many situations. It counters reflect damage (although not as well post 1.0.5), allows you to take a few hits and stand your ground vs groups of mobs, and allows you to heal back up if you take damage. Pretty much every DH should have this on their bar unless they have a good reason not to.
2 - Preparation - Backup Plan / Invigoration / Battle Scars (Backup Plan most common). Pretty straightforward: discipline is an invaluable resource, and if you don't have prep there's really no way you'll have enough discipline to effectively use four disc skills unless you have legacy natalya or like 70 max disc or something crazy. For the purposes of the average DH, this is your best bet. I recommend Invigoration if you only have 30 max disc, and Backup Plan if you have 38+.
3 - Smoke Screen - Lingering Fog. Not completely necessary, but a very easy "oh shit" button to press when you get into bad situations. When you are better geared, you can drop it for Vault - Tumble to increase your speed, and you'll be relying on Gloom to survive. In 1.0.4, many people have dropped Smoke Screen, but I expect quite a few to pick it up for the survivability after Trail of Cinders is nerfed and MP makes it a bit harder to just roll through mobs quickly.
4 - Somewhat up to you. New buffed skills like Sentry may be worth trying to slot for. Companion is a very solid option, with Bat being favored, but Boar/Wolf may be viable options after 1.0.5 (although you don't really need the tanking in a party, and you can beef up a templar for a bit of frontline defense in solo). I personally use Bat Companion in this slot.
Passives, in general order of priority:
1 - Archery. A staple of every DH, you will seldom see one who doesn't take this free damage boost.
2 - Steady Aim. Another free damage passive with the slight drawback that it's not effective in all situations, but for the moderately geared DH, we're generally kiting anyway.
3 - Sharpshooter. A high priority passive for DH players with low crit chance, as you get to 30-35%++ it becomes less necessary, and I'd drop it somewhere around 35%. Artificially boosts your crit chance / burst damage, and is especially useful in combination with Cluster Arrow to get off one big crit to start larger fights.
4 - When you drop Sharpshooter, you'll likely want to replace it with Tactical Advantage. Increases your speed and maneuverability significantly.
5 - Test out other passives of your liking, at this point you're kind of past the cookie cutter builds. Night Stalker is a nice one if your crit chance is really high (45+?) and you don't have legacy Natalya set. Vengeance and Grenadier are other choices.
Skills to change as your gear gets better:
When you reach 40-45%+ crit chance, which usually comes with your first two Natalya pieces, you'll want to switch Hungering Arrow to the Spray of Teeth rune.
When your DPS is in the 100k+ range without Sharpshooter and you're running lower MP levels, switch to Elemental Arrow - Ball Lightning or Multishot - Fire At Will instead of Cluster Arrow.
Similarly, if you're playing low MP levels and killing everything very fast, use Vault - Tumble to move between mobs faster instead of Smoke Screen.
Try out other options! When you're at a high gear level, anything can work.
Gear
This will serve as a basic guide to gear your DH, with a general idea of stats you want, and what you should be looking for down the line as you make your way into items that cost many millions.
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Bow - Highest DPS you can afford with a good deal, with a socket and / or crit damage (socket generally preferred), with the highest grade emerald you can afford in it. Stats are nice to get on it, but sometimes expensive - but a small tip - I generally find bows to be a cheap place to add some extra vitality. You can often get a comparable bow with 100+ vit tacked on for very little extra, and it's a quite nice hp boost to free you up in other areas. Just look for the best deal in your budget.
Quiver - Quivers are quite cheap atm, and will only get cheaper as they roll entirely i63 stats. You pretty much will always want one with 15% attack speed, 14% isn't awful but usually 15% doesn't cost you any more. You want high dex, crit chance 8+ (as high as you can get), and max discipline 8+. Vit or MF are nice side bonuses if you can get them for cheap.
Boots - High dex and movement speed are a must (preferably 12% move speed), with as much vit and AR as you can afford. Dex rolls higher on boots than other pieces, so try to get 180+ dex if you can, with movespeed and as much vit/ar as you can.
Pants - pretty generic - medium dex, high vit, AR, 2 sockets - highest values you can afford. You can swap a socket for 40-50 dex and vice versa, but usually the sockets are cheaper. It's better to get high vit (150+) and socket the dex (maybe 80-100 dex), as vit rolls high on pants and is therefore cheaper. Decent AR and vit are a must on pants, as they don't really have any good offensive stats aside from dex.
Chest - same as pants pretty much. 2-3 sockets (I find 2 socket chests to be the cheapest, for some reason), medium dex, high vit, as much AR as you can get. Many people swear by a cloak with max discipline, and it's certainly a possible option - mostly a matter of preference, but I find 38-40 disc + preparation to be enough. In that case, you usually have to sacrifice the AR for max disc.
Helm - Dex/Vit/Crit Chance/Socket/(AR if possible). As high as you can afford them. You really want all four of those stats on it though.
Gloves - this is a place that rolls high dex and some nice offensive stats, so we will maximize our damage here. Priorities are 150+ dex and 8+ crit chance w/ some crit damage, or if you're really poor, like 220+ dex and 8+ crit chance. Attack speed as well is nice but will cost you quite a bit. Eventually you will want 150+ dex / 7-8+ attack speed / 8+ crit chance / 25+ crit damage.
Belt - quite straightforward, dex/vit/AR in as high values as you can afford. Neither dex or vit rolls high on belts, nor do they have any offensive stats, so just balance the three rather evenly and find the best deal you can in your budget.
Shoulders - exactly the same as belt! Vile Wards will be your endgame option.
Bracers - Dex/Vit/Crit Chance/AR in as high as you can afford them. Maximize the dex and crit chance preferably, but just balance the four stats in a way that is cost efficient.
Rings - similar to gloves, except with lower values. High crit chance and crit damage (as much as you can afford), and as much dex as you can get, with attack speed your eventual goal to add on.
Amulet - basically same as rings, except nearly twice as much!
Quiver - Quivers are quite cheap atm, and will only get cheaper as they roll entirely i63 stats. You pretty much will always want one with 15% attack speed, 14% isn't awful but usually 15% doesn't cost you any more. You want high dex, crit chance 8+ (as high as you can get), and max discipline 8+. Vit or MF are nice side bonuses if you can get them for cheap.
Boots - High dex and movement speed are a must (preferably 12% move speed), with as much vit and AR as you can afford. Dex rolls higher on boots than other pieces, so try to get 180+ dex if you can, with movespeed and as much vit/ar as you can.
Pants - pretty generic - medium dex, high vit, AR, 2 sockets - highest values you can afford. You can swap a socket for 40-50 dex and vice versa, but usually the sockets are cheaper. It's better to get high vit (150+) and socket the dex (maybe 80-100 dex), as vit rolls high on pants and is therefore cheaper. Decent AR and vit are a must on pants, as they don't really have any good offensive stats aside from dex.
Chest - same as pants pretty much. 2-3 sockets (I find 2 socket chests to be the cheapest, for some reason), medium dex, high vit, as much AR as you can get. Many people swear by a cloak with max discipline, and it's certainly a possible option - mostly a matter of preference, but I find 38-40 disc + preparation to be enough. In that case, you usually have to sacrifice the AR for max disc.
Helm - Dex/Vit/Crit Chance/Socket/(AR if possible). As high as you can afford them. You really want all four of those stats on it though.
Gloves - this is a place that rolls high dex and some nice offensive stats, so we will maximize our damage here. Priorities are 150+ dex and 8+ crit chance w/ some crit damage, or if you're really poor, like 220+ dex and 8+ crit chance. Attack speed as well is nice but will cost you quite a bit. Eventually you will want 150+ dex / 7-8+ attack speed / 8+ crit chance / 25+ crit damage.
Belt - quite straightforward, dex/vit/AR in as high values as you can afford. Neither dex or vit rolls high on belts, nor do they have any offensive stats, so just balance the three rather evenly and find the best deal you can in your budget.
Shoulders - exactly the same as belt! Vile Wards will be your endgame option.
Bracers - Dex/Vit/Crit Chance/AR in as high as you can afford them. Maximize the dex and crit chance preferably, but just balance the four stats in a way that is cost efficient.
Rings - similar to gloves, except with lower values. High crit chance and crit damage (as much as you can afford), and as much dex as you can get, with attack speed your eventual goal to add on.
Amulet - basically same as rings, except nearly twice as much!
So now you have a basic idea of how to gear your DH. The key to DH gear is maximizing your offensive stats on pieces that roll them nicely, while trying to get as much defense as possible out of those that don't. Your endgame goals, as far as legendaries and sets, include:
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Bow - Manticore. As much dex, crit damage, DPS you can afford, preferably with a second socket (which will cost you but this is endgame stuff).
Quiver - Dead Man's Legacy with high attack speed. Your dream would be 20% IAS with Max Discipline, 10% crit chance, and Hungering Arrow bonus, but good luck affording that lol.
Boots - Natalya's Bloody Footprints. Roll very nice stats in the high price, and if you can afford them with 200+ dex and some vit, you've got some godlike boots that will also add to your other stats via set bonus. If you don't want a full set of natalya, this is one you should definitely at least pick up. Natalya's Soul is an option for those interested in the legacy set. Godly rolled Ice Climbers with move speed (or without, if you have Inna pants + Lacuni's) get an honorable mention for being the absolute best stats you can get, but Natalya boots are generally more affordable and better.
Pants - Inna's Temperance is far and away the best. With move speed, attack speed, and a token 1% crit chance, they add more stats than any other pants ever could. If you get godly ones with high vit and / or AR you are set for life.
Chest - Natalya's Embrace (or Natalya's Shadow for legacy set). If you want to maximize DPS, this along with the boots are the best natalya pieces to pick up without sacrificing too much defensively. Go for high vit and/or AR, or max discipline if that's your thing. An amazing rare could be an option if you really don't want the set or want MF or something.
Helm - Natalya's Sight (or Natalya's Gaze for legacy), but if there is one Natalya piece to miss out on, this would be it. With relatively mediocre stats compared to rare helms at the same price tag, a Nat helm with crit and extra dex or vit will cost you quite a bit. Still, the set bonus is quite good. If you just want to maximize stats without care for the discipline, go for a nice Mempo of Twilight or perhaps an Andariel's Visage in a cheaper price range.
Gloves - No legendary gloves come even close to rares except an absolutely perfectly rolled Tasker and Theo, and actually upon checking I don't think even those compare to the best rares. High Dex/CC/CD/IAS + Vit or AR when possible.
Belt - The Witching Hour, enough said, IAS and CD on a belt. Dex ones of these are expensive as hell, and doubly expensive with vit or AR as well.
Shoulders - Vile Wards are the only shoulders that go above 200 Dex, and they come with Armor, 70+ AR, and life regen too. If you can get 200+ dex with vit, best in slot no contest.
Bracers - Lacuni Prowlers are the absolute best, BUT usually not cost efficient compared to picking up an amazing rare and getting your move speed on Inna pants + boots. For the absolute godliest DH possible with no price limitations, the IAS on these will outstrip any rare if you have 5+ CC on them, and movespeedless Ice Climbers with godly stats will also outstrip a rare, but those two will cost you an insane amount.
Rings - Natalya's Reflection (or Mark) with CC and/or CD is a lock, and the other one is a bit up to you. Contenders include a great rare with dex/IAS/CC/CD and any bonus stats, Hellfire Ring, and tbh idk any others.
Amulet - A great rare with really high Dex/CC/IAS/CD/(vit or AR) is probably your best bet here.
Quiver - Dead Man's Legacy with high attack speed. Your dream would be 20% IAS with Max Discipline, 10% crit chance, and Hungering Arrow bonus, but good luck affording that lol.
Boots - Natalya's Bloody Footprints. Roll very nice stats in the high price, and if you can afford them with 200+ dex and some vit, you've got some godlike boots that will also add to your other stats via set bonus. If you don't want a full set of natalya, this is one you should definitely at least pick up. Natalya's Soul is an option for those interested in the legacy set. Godly rolled Ice Climbers with move speed (or without, if you have Inna pants + Lacuni's) get an honorable mention for being the absolute best stats you can get, but Natalya boots are generally more affordable and better.
Pants - Inna's Temperance is far and away the best. With move speed, attack speed, and a token 1% crit chance, they add more stats than any other pants ever could. If you get godly ones with high vit and / or AR you are set for life.
Chest - Natalya's Embrace (or Natalya's Shadow for legacy set). If you want to maximize DPS, this along with the boots are the best natalya pieces to pick up without sacrificing too much defensively. Go for high vit and/or AR, or max discipline if that's your thing. An amazing rare could be an option if you really don't want the set or want MF or something.
Helm - Natalya's Sight (or Natalya's Gaze for legacy), but if there is one Natalya piece to miss out on, this would be it. With relatively mediocre stats compared to rare helms at the same price tag, a Nat helm with crit and extra dex or vit will cost you quite a bit. Still, the set bonus is quite good. If you just want to maximize stats without care for the discipline, go for a nice Mempo of Twilight or perhaps an Andariel's Visage in a cheaper price range.
Gloves - No legendary gloves come even close to rares except an absolutely perfectly rolled Tasker and Theo, and actually upon checking I don't think even those compare to the best rares. High Dex/CC/CD/IAS + Vit or AR when possible.
Belt - The Witching Hour, enough said, IAS and CD on a belt. Dex ones of these are expensive as hell, and doubly expensive with vit or AR as well.
Shoulders - Vile Wards are the only shoulders that go above 200 Dex, and they come with Armor, 70+ AR, and life regen too. If you can get 200+ dex with vit, best in slot no contest.
Bracers - Lacuni Prowlers are the absolute best, BUT usually not cost efficient compared to picking up an amazing rare and getting your move speed on Inna pants + boots. For the absolute godliest DH possible with no price limitations, the IAS on these will outstrip any rare if you have 5+ CC on them, and movespeedless Ice Climbers with godly stats will also outstrip a rare, but those two will cost you an insane amount.
Rings - Natalya's Reflection (or Mark) with CC and/or CD is a lock, and the other one is a bit up to you. Contenders include a great rare with dex/IAS/CC/CD and any bonus stats, Hellfire Ring, and tbh idk any others.
Amulet - A great rare with really high Dex/CC/IAS/CD/(vit or AR) is probably your best bet here.
A few words about Magic Find - with 1.0.5 coming out adding MP system and players reaching higher Paragon levels, MF is slowly fading into obscurity. Still, DH is the cheapest class to maximize DPS with MF for not too much money, and MF will only get cheaper, so if you are so inclined, you can try to add MF onto some pieces. I personally recommend against it - I added MF on every single piece and then immediately started selling it off, as it was just too frustrating having to sacrifice so much defense for MF, and I wasn't getting shit anyway (just as much as friends with little MF - obviously this is anecdotal evidence, but still).
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Update:
I am back finally. Been back for a while but school's started and it's taking its toll on my free time. It'd be great if someone could PM me and tell me what's going on now. What are the most recent builds now that 1.04 has come out? Best gear?
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Hey all,
Lagcraft here.
I've seen a number of posts discussing various aspects of the game, as well as various viable builds for characters in general.
However, I have not yet seen a thread discussing a builds for solely one character. While there is a great post called Build Planning, which people have posted a variety of builds on, there is no clear order to the page and there are different builds for different characters all over the place.
Thus, I present to you the official Demon Hunter page for discussion, builds, and post- release, gear.
I intend for this page to be a catalog of different styles of play, as well as it to be useful post-release to refer for information and discussion.
I also encourage for similar pages to be made for the other four classes.
List of untested builds (Descriptions will come at some point):
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- Trapless Slow Build
- DPS Bow / Knife build
- eluv's DPS build
- It's a Trap!
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- Rocket Launcher
- TheRealDudeMan's Crowd Control build
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- TheRealDudeMan's DPS build
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- discw's Resource Hog Build
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- goodkarma's Crowd Control Grenadier
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- Daymor's Well-rounded build
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- Stabby.aus's Kiting / Snare build
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- A Thousand Arrows (unkkz)
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- If you find a build that works with the most recent patching in Hell difficulty or higher, PM me the build along with a short description of why it works.
- If you have tested a build from the list above personally and you find that it is viable, PM me as well.
- If you feel like a build could use a little tweaking, post it in the pages. Any builds that are not guaranteed viable in Hell + will be added to the untested list above.
[2 submissions so far] List of viable builds:
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- Verator's Build
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What I'm currently using to farm the first two acts of inferno rather well. Elemental arrow is more efficient and does better dps than rapid fire or impale, when its used against large targets or multiple targets. It also lets you kite easily. The rune for Marked For Death can be changed situationaly, I keep Grim Reaper on most of the time, as it spreads the damage around in packs of mobs, and overall makes them die faster.
The other abilities are standard defensive abilities, and Hungering Arrow over other hatred builders, because it does better dps than most of them, and can be used to hit targets off screen without pulling aggro at times. It is also easier to kite with than most of them, as aim matters little.
Archery is because my current weapon is a bow, for the other weapons, change to whatever best suits your gear or what you'll be facing. The other two are fairly mandatory however.
- houseurmusic's Catch Me If You Can!
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The build revolves around speed. So if you like fast pace I think this might be the build for you. Vaulting (tumble), laying a bunch of traps (jagged spikes), and being much faster then your enemies (hot pursuit) lets you keep a very good distance. You can regain discipline with multishot suppression fire and preparation. When facing mobs you group them in a field of traps then multishot for mass damage regaining your dicipline. When you aren't facing non mobs you have elemental arrow with fear, and vaulting to keep you out of trouble.
Another really good thing about this build your ability to get around very quickly. You can vault twice for cheap and have a 60% bonus speed for 3 seconds after each vault.
If you are not a big vault fan you can replace it with smoke screen!
The weaknesses is this build requires you to have some room to run so its not ideal for boss fights. For bosses I suggest replacing multishot and tortuous grounds with smoke screen (lingering) and rain of vengence (dark cloud)
have fun!
- Grenade-free Grenadier
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It is based around marked for death+cluster arrow for massive damage in a decent aoe, and several hatred generators. I find that smoke screen(Tactical Advantage) with preparation(Battle Scars) gives more than enough survivability. Grenadier makes cluster arrow affordable, and vengeance ensures that you can afford everything. I just finished Hell, and will keep you updated on how it fares in inferno. Also, I've been soloing with a templar.
If you find a build that you know personally works for the majority of inferno, PM me the build along with a brief description of why it works. This section is bound to be fairly exclusive until new strategies are thought of and skills are implemented differently.
[1 submission] List of guaranteed-to-work Inferno builds:
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padfoota's Evasive Fire Build
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I saw this build somewhere online a while ago, build had stated that it was a rather popular build for hardcore inferno DHs. Seeing this, I thought Id give it a try in SC as HC builds are supposed to work.
Took a couple hours to get used to, but now I love it. If anyone managed to find the original writer of this, please include it in here, as Im only sharing what the guy had wrote up, and do not wish to steal from him and claim it as mine.
I will however, share my experience with the build.
1. Evasive Fire - Covering Fire
This is a really underated skill that most DHs I know never ever use. Thing is, I didnt even know it was a hatred generator until I read the blog and checked the tooltip - 4! hatred rather than the usual 3!!! The blog stated that the damage it does rivals Hungering Arrow once the target you are fighting is 2 or more, which I believe it is. This build also has a nice hidden perk - being able to shoot through obstacles - Waller mods from bosses, that tree/rock on the map, and sometimes a couple walls here and there. Itll also shoot around corners to some degree due to its cone. The sound is fucking awesome, the animation looks pretty sweet, and finally - the mini vault part. The first thing you should know is that the vault benefits from the first and also one of the more popular passives - Tactical Advantage. You WILL gain the 60% speed each time this skill procs, allowing for easier kiting, and waaaaaaay better survivability. At 4 discipline a pop, its a much better survival tool (no casting delay, no cooldown, and no requirement to aim), and has saved my glass cannon's ass so many times against ponies I dont even dare count. When every other DH im running with are dying to sudden pony charges, Im vaulting away like its nothing, while still shooting too. A couple notes on this skill is that 1. It doesnt seem to shoot up/down (stairs, height difference etc) properly as it has no projectile (instant hit), and if you use this skill with your back against a wall/obstacle, you are gonna have a real fucking bad time. But really, since DH is all about positioning, you already fucked up as a DH anyways standing with your back against a wall.
I recommend every DH to at least give the skill a try. I do admit Hungering has a longer range, but just the survivability is so worth it.
2. NT - Nothing to explain here. No real possible replacement for this. I must admit, before you hit 59, Ball Lightning is a really damn good replacement, as it has a much larger range, and can help you find monsters in the dark. Will also hit units BEHIND you on launch, and as NT is so fucking slow that it misses many times, the range will allow it to still hit many times. But NT vs Ball Lightning against quest bosses is no discussion at all - NT wins hands down, as in terms of damage when both hits 100% of the time, NT seems to win out being the more stable one (Each hit Ball lightning does is reduced)
On a sidenote however - if you run around with a Handcrossbow and more than 700+ Life on Hit, Ball Lightning will be your God as it hits more times, and more mobs as it passes through. Im pretty sure each proc will heal, and will help immensely against Reflect Damage mods. (A DH I see running around with it has been fucking up pony bosses with Reflect Damage, healing more like than it can reflect, while im dying to 1500-3000 Reflects because I have no Life on Hit, I use a bow which hits harder per hit, and Im stupid for attacking those damn things. I will be aiming to get one of those when my HC DH is finished, but I guess itll have to be from 1.03 Goblin runs, as Life on Hit 700+ with 700+ damage already has to be at least a couple mill in asia, not to mention sockets.
3. SS - Lingering - Also no discussion. Perhaps Vault can rival this skill to some degree, but you already have Evasive for it, and vault has a delay.
4. 6. Rain of Vengeance - Stampede || Caltrops - Torturous Ground
Ill talk about this skill with my final skill choice - Caltrops + Torturous. These two skills are against chargers and mobs who just wont stop running at you. Stampede is tricky to use, and not great against tiny mobs (Doesnt seem to ever hit Flowers), but against larger mobs (Fallen Angels, that fucking huge bull in A1) It is a guarantee 10 yard knock back, and will probably hit the same mob more than once. It lasts 10 seconds, 1/3 of the skills cooldown, allowing you to use it a lot more times, and costs nothing to use, which is another great perk for a life saving skill. Caltrops is an absolute must for kiting mobs. The 2 second grab WILL stop chargers - but remember, the charger will still move a bit more than the actual range of caltrops due to momentum, I have experimented with this quite a lot, and it doesnt seem to stop the bull in A1 sometimes - but I think its mainly because the final range of the bull's charge is just so fucking far its better to just sidestep sometimes. Against Fallen angels it pretty much always works.
Calt - Tort will also work against those fucking snakes in A2 - itll lock them in and stun them a bit when they appear on top of it, and also prevent them from turning invisible again, opening a big enough window to play more freely around them. This is rather well known amongst DHs who can easily do Belial.
Caltrops use with Stampede is really interesting, as its pretty much a stun + 100% knock back (sometimes mobs will charge past the knockback area, making Stampede rather gimicky against fast movers) against mobs you absolutely do NOT want to deal with, allowing you to put a real distance between it and you. (Fast mod bosses with some really disgusting shit)
5. Prep - Backup / Prep - Battle Scars. I read somewhere that Backup isnt good unless you have more than 40, while Battle Scar is the only true heal DH has - But Im in a 50-50 situation here. If you play a glass cannon - the heal is pretty much useless to you, as you die in one-two hits anyways, while Backup is gimicky, it seems to be nice when it DOES work. However, Prep is just too useful to not passup when 3 of your skills uses Discipline.
1. TA - synergies with Evasive/SS/Vault (If you do take it), gives more maneuverability and better kiting.
No real replacement here unless you just want to see damage then just go Sharpshooter or whatever.
2. Steady Aim - This should be the skill that every DH absolutely takes. No mobs, if you play it right, is gonna be within 15 yards of you (evasive), not to mention 10 yards, which mean this is pretty much a direct 20% increase in damage. I dont know how people can pass it up.
3. This part is trickier and depends heavily on the weapon of choice/builds. If you already have a pretty decent crit rate (above 35), Sharpshooter is 100% useless, and if you are using a Handcrossbow, Archery isnt gonna help that much (in this case, use Night Stalker - its really really nice). If you are using a Crossbow however, Archery is gonna shit on monsters super hard. For bow builds - Archery is just simply nice to have as its a direct damage buff, no gimicky/chance shit involved. If you have a low crit chance - Sharpshooter can help that out immensely as the buff doesnt lose until 1 second later after critting - If you like playing those Burst DPS style - this is really really fucking nice.
Be aware that elemental arrow was nerfed on critting (it used to be, that if the projectile is going to crit, it will crit every damage it does to everything on its path. Now its a crit chance check with each damage it does, so you cant crit Azmodan/Belial 10 times in a row with the same NT ball anymore)
Feel free to leave comments, builds, ideas, or criticism.
FAQ:
+ Show Spoiler +
Q: Which should I use:
- Bow
- Crossbow
- 2x Hand crossbows
- 1x Hand Crossbow with quiver
- 1x Hand crossbow with shield
- Nonbow weapon (For the odd Bowless DH)
A:+ Show Spoiler +
More information coming soon.
Recent News:
5/21: As stated, more information will be coming but at the moment I'm a bit swamped with finals to update the page. The info should be up within the week.
5/23: Smokescreen has been nerfed. The tooltip has not been updated. Smokescreen now lasts 1 second, two seconds with the rune and has a three second cooldown.
- Added new "Viable" build section
- Added new "Inferno viable" build section
- PVP section will be added as soon as there is a release date on PVP
5/24: I've seen many posts on which is better for bows. In the FAQ I recently updated it with info on that but here is a poll to see what the community thinks.
5/29: I'm currently testing out my own tanky-style DH. I've been using a Hand Crossbow + a shield with lots of armor and resists. I'll keep everyone updated on how it's going; so far it clears act 1 inferno easily and allows me to take a few hits in act 2.
9/1: Wow it's been a while. My tank-DH build didn't quite pan out.
I am back finally. Been back for a while but school's started and it's taking its toll on my free time. It'd be great if someone could PM me and tell me what's going on now. What are the most recent builds now that 1.04 has come out? Best gear?
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Hey all,
Lagcraft here.
I've seen a number of posts discussing various aspects of the game, as well as various viable builds for characters in general.
However, I have not yet seen a thread discussing a builds for solely one character. While there is a great post called Build Planning, which people have posted a variety of builds on, there is no clear order to the page and there are different builds for different characters all over the place.
Thus, I present to you the official Demon Hunter page for discussion, builds, and post- release, gear.
I intend for this page to be a catalog of different styles of play, as well as it to be useful post-release to refer for information and discussion.
I also encourage for similar pages to be made for the other four classes.
List of untested builds (Descriptions will come at some point):
+ Show Spoiler +
- Trapless Slow Build
- DPS Bow / Knife build
- eluv's DPS build
- It's a Trap!
+ Show Spoiler +
This build focuses on setting up your little niche and then pounding away on the enemies. You set up your Caltrops and Spike Traps nearby and lay down your Marked for Death area. After that, you start killing your enemies with bola shot, along with a hatred dump in cluster arrow. If any enemy does get near you, they get slowed by the Caltrops, reducing their damage due to the Numbing Traps passive. Your Spike Traps then are triggered causing massive damage. Finally, if any enemy survives this barrage of damage and gets close enough to do damage for you, you cast Fan of Knives with Retaliate, causing some more massive damage to the enemy as you run away to set up your niche again.
- Rocket Launcher
- TheRealDudeMan's Crowd Control build
+ Show Spoiler +
This is my critical hit build with Crowd Control aspects. Rain of vengeance + stampede will drive them back from the group. Caltrops will slow them down while giving you bonus crit chance. Spam Hungering Arrow+Spray of teeth and Impale+Grievous Wound when you get the caltrops buff.
- TheRealDudeMan's DPS build
+ Show Spoiler +
This build goes for DPS so you just have to focus down the target with Marked for Death and Sticky trap attached to it and you will have a pretty sick combo. Impale will be for the leftovers while smoke screen and frost arrow will help you avoid danger.
- discw's Resource Hog Build
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It's a "resource hog" build that uses Night Stalker and Preparation/Punishment, with skills that fire lots of smaller hits for more possible crits. It doesn't use a skill above level 30, so good for going into Nightmare. I'll be playing with a group so I'm not as worried about traps.
- goodkarma's Crowd Control Grenadier
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The build has a bat companion for extra hatred generation, and depends on vault for a defensive to escape from scary situations. CC is provided from rune selection for cluster arrow and vault, and should help stun a good number of the enemies at any given time. AOE rune for marked for death to add extra dps.
- Daymor's Well-rounded build
+ Show Spoiler +
I think it's a pretty decent build as far as theorycrafting goes, good for single targets with Hungering Arrow having a 70% dmg buff if it pierces, Rapid Fire for both AoE and single target Hatred dump. Multi-shot for AoE as well, caltrops for a snare, Smoke Screen for safety and Sentry as a bit of a group buff plus a little additional damage.
- Stabby.aus's Kiting / Snare build
+ Show Spoiler +
I'm going to be starting off with a build that focuses heavily on kiting, with entangling shots as the hatred generator and rapid fire and cluster arrow for DPS. I am almost certain that this build will not fare well in later difficulties especially if enemies become immune to slows. When we get a better idea of how the higher skills and runes play out I will be making a new build for hell and inferno group play.
- A Thousand Arrows (unkkz)
+ Show Spoiler +
The idea is to get discipline from abilities, which you then spend on more hatred via preparation for more multishots which in turn gives you more discipline. For more defense swap out the bat for vault, caltrops or whatever. Since the multishot rune should give you alot of discipline to spend on hatred, the bat might not even be needed, but its all theorycrafting so.
The passives synergise rather well, the +20% dmg on ranged on is too sick to not get but no idea how often it will be up with no true kiting abilities. Swap for the +3% crit per second one in you cannot maintain 20 yards from enemies often enough. The other two go hand in hand. +10% crit with handcrossbows and chance of 1 discipline on a crit. A multishot is like 40 arrows so, should procc some crits and disc.
The passives synergise rather well, the +20% dmg on ranged on is too sick to not get but no idea how often it will be up with no true kiting abilities. Swap for the +3% crit per second one in you cannot maintain 20 yards from enemies often enough. The other two go hand in hand. +10% crit with handcrossbows and chance of 1 discipline on a crit. A multishot is like 40 arrows so, should procc some crits and disc.
- If you find a build that works with the most recent patching in Hell difficulty or higher, PM me the build along with a short description of why it works.
- If you have tested a build from the list above personally and you find that it is viable, PM me as well.
- If you feel like a build could use a little tweaking, post it in the pages. Any builds that are not guaranteed viable in Hell + will be added to the untested list above.
[2 submissions so far] List of viable builds:
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- Verator's Build
+ Show Spoiler +
What I'm currently using to farm the first two acts of inferno rather well. Elemental arrow is more efficient and does better dps than rapid fire or impale, when its used against large targets or multiple targets. It also lets you kite easily. The rune for Marked For Death can be changed situationaly, I keep Grim Reaper on most of the time, as it spreads the damage around in packs of mobs, and overall makes them die faster.
The other abilities are standard defensive abilities, and Hungering Arrow over other hatred builders, because it does better dps than most of them, and can be used to hit targets off screen without pulling aggro at times. It is also easier to kite with than most of them, as aim matters little.
Archery is because my current weapon is a bow, for the other weapons, change to whatever best suits your gear or what you'll be facing. The other two are fairly mandatory however.
- houseurmusic's Catch Me If You Can!
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The build revolves around speed. So if you like fast pace I think this might be the build for you. Vaulting (tumble), laying a bunch of traps (jagged spikes), and being much faster then your enemies (hot pursuit) lets you keep a very good distance. You can regain discipline with multishot suppression fire and preparation. When facing mobs you group them in a field of traps then multishot for mass damage regaining your dicipline. When you aren't facing non mobs you have elemental arrow with fear, and vaulting to keep you out of trouble.
Another really good thing about this build your ability to get around very quickly. You can vault twice for cheap and have a 60% bonus speed for 3 seconds after each vault.
If you are not a big vault fan you can replace it with smoke screen!
The weaknesses is this build requires you to have some room to run so its not ideal for boss fights. For bosses I suggest replacing multishot and tortuous grounds with smoke screen (lingering) and rain of vengence (dark cloud)
have fun!
- Grenade-free Grenadier
+ Show Spoiler +
It is based around marked for death+cluster arrow for massive damage in a decent aoe, and several hatred generators. I find that smoke screen(Tactical Advantage) with preparation(Battle Scars) gives more than enough survivability. Grenadier makes cluster arrow affordable, and vengeance ensures that you can afford everything. I just finished Hell, and will keep you updated on how it fares in inferno. Also, I've been soloing with a templar.
If you find a build that you know personally works for the majority of inferno, PM me the build along with a brief description of why it works. This section is bound to be fairly exclusive until new strategies are thought of and skills are implemented differently.
[1 submission] List of guaranteed-to-work Inferno builds:
+ Show Spoiler +
padfoota's Evasive Fire Build
+ Show Spoiler +
I saw this build somewhere online a while ago, build had stated that it was a rather popular build for hardcore inferno DHs. Seeing this, I thought Id give it a try in SC as HC builds are supposed to work.
Took a couple hours to get used to, but now I love it. If anyone managed to find the original writer of this, please include it in here, as Im only sharing what the guy had wrote up, and do not wish to steal from him and claim it as mine.
I will however, share my experience with the build.
1. Evasive Fire - Covering Fire
This is a really underated skill that most DHs I know never ever use. Thing is, I didnt even know it was a hatred generator until I read the blog and checked the tooltip - 4! hatred rather than the usual 3!!! The blog stated that the damage it does rivals Hungering Arrow once the target you are fighting is 2 or more, which I believe it is. This build also has a nice hidden perk - being able to shoot through obstacles - Waller mods from bosses, that tree/rock on the map, and sometimes a couple walls here and there. Itll also shoot around corners to some degree due to its cone. The sound is fucking awesome, the animation looks pretty sweet, and finally - the mini vault part. The first thing you should know is that the vault benefits from the first and also one of the more popular passives - Tactical Advantage. You WILL gain the 60% speed each time this skill procs, allowing for easier kiting, and waaaaaaay better survivability. At 4 discipline a pop, its a much better survival tool (no casting delay, no cooldown, and no requirement to aim), and has saved my glass cannon's ass so many times against ponies I dont even dare count. When every other DH im running with are dying to sudden pony charges, Im vaulting away like its nothing, while still shooting too. A couple notes on this skill is that 1. It doesnt seem to shoot up/down (stairs, height difference etc) properly as it has no projectile (instant hit), and if you use this skill with your back against a wall/obstacle, you are gonna have a real fucking bad time. But really, since DH is all about positioning, you already fucked up as a DH anyways standing with your back against a wall.
I recommend every DH to at least give the skill a try. I do admit Hungering has a longer range, but just the survivability is so worth it.
2. NT - Nothing to explain here. No real possible replacement for this. I must admit, before you hit 59, Ball Lightning is a really damn good replacement, as it has a much larger range, and can help you find monsters in the dark. Will also hit units BEHIND you on launch, and as NT is so fucking slow that it misses many times, the range will allow it to still hit many times. But NT vs Ball Lightning against quest bosses is no discussion at all - NT wins hands down, as in terms of damage when both hits 100% of the time, NT seems to win out being the more stable one (Each hit Ball lightning does is reduced)
On a sidenote however - if you run around with a Handcrossbow and more than 700+ Life on Hit, Ball Lightning will be your God as it hits more times, and more mobs as it passes through. Im pretty sure each proc will heal, and will help immensely against Reflect Damage mods. (A DH I see running around with it has been fucking up pony bosses with Reflect Damage, healing more like than it can reflect, while im dying to 1500-3000 Reflects because I have no Life on Hit, I use a bow which hits harder per hit, and Im stupid for attacking those damn things. I will be aiming to get one of those when my HC DH is finished, but I guess itll have to be from 1.03 Goblin runs, as Life on Hit 700+ with 700+ damage already has to be at least a couple mill in asia, not to mention sockets.
3. SS - Lingering - Also no discussion. Perhaps Vault can rival this skill to some degree, but you already have Evasive for it, and vault has a delay.
4. 6. Rain of Vengeance - Stampede || Caltrops - Torturous Ground
Ill talk about this skill with my final skill choice - Caltrops + Torturous. These two skills are against chargers and mobs who just wont stop running at you. Stampede is tricky to use, and not great against tiny mobs (Doesnt seem to ever hit Flowers), but against larger mobs (Fallen Angels, that fucking huge bull in A1) It is a guarantee 10 yard knock back, and will probably hit the same mob more than once. It lasts 10 seconds, 1/3 of the skills cooldown, allowing you to use it a lot more times, and costs nothing to use, which is another great perk for a life saving skill. Caltrops is an absolute must for kiting mobs. The 2 second grab WILL stop chargers - but remember, the charger will still move a bit more than the actual range of caltrops due to momentum, I have experimented with this quite a lot, and it doesnt seem to stop the bull in A1 sometimes - but I think its mainly because the final range of the bull's charge is just so fucking far its better to just sidestep sometimes. Against Fallen angels it pretty much always works.
Calt - Tort will also work against those fucking snakes in A2 - itll lock them in and stun them a bit when they appear on top of it, and also prevent them from turning invisible again, opening a big enough window to play more freely around them. This is rather well known amongst DHs who can easily do Belial.
Caltrops use with Stampede is really interesting, as its pretty much a stun + 100% knock back (sometimes mobs will charge past the knockback area, making Stampede rather gimicky against fast movers) against mobs you absolutely do NOT want to deal with, allowing you to put a real distance between it and you. (Fast mod bosses with some really disgusting shit)
5. Prep - Backup / Prep - Battle Scars. I read somewhere that Backup isnt good unless you have more than 40, while Battle Scar is the only true heal DH has - But Im in a 50-50 situation here. If you play a glass cannon - the heal is pretty much useless to you, as you die in one-two hits anyways, while Backup is gimicky, it seems to be nice when it DOES work. However, Prep is just too useful to not passup when 3 of your skills uses Discipline.
1. TA - synergies with Evasive/SS/Vault (If you do take it), gives more maneuverability and better kiting.
No real replacement here unless you just want to see damage then just go Sharpshooter or whatever.
2. Steady Aim - This should be the skill that every DH absolutely takes. No mobs, if you play it right, is gonna be within 15 yards of you (evasive), not to mention 10 yards, which mean this is pretty much a direct 20% increase in damage. I dont know how people can pass it up.
3. This part is trickier and depends heavily on the weapon of choice/builds. If you already have a pretty decent crit rate (above 35), Sharpshooter is 100% useless, and if you are using a Handcrossbow, Archery isnt gonna help that much (in this case, use Night Stalker - its really really nice). If you are using a Crossbow however, Archery is gonna shit on monsters super hard. For bow builds - Archery is just simply nice to have as its a direct damage buff, no gimicky/chance shit involved. If you have a low crit chance - Sharpshooter can help that out immensely as the buff doesnt lose until 1 second later after critting - If you like playing those Burst DPS style - this is really really fucking nice.
Be aware that elemental arrow was nerfed on critting (it used to be, that if the projectile is going to crit, it will crit every damage it does to everything on its path. Now its a crit chance check with each damage it does, so you cant crit Azmodan/Belial 10 times in a row with the same NT ball anymore)
Feel free to leave comments, builds, ideas, or criticism.
FAQ:
+ Show Spoiler +
Q: Which should I use:
- Bow
- Crossbow
- 2x Hand crossbows
- 1x Hand Crossbow with quiver
- 1x Hand crossbow with shield
- Nonbow weapon (For the odd Bowless DH)
A:+ Show Spoiler +
Because this is a fairly subjective question, for the most part, it comes down to personal preference. Some general guidelines however:
- The Archery passive is affected differently depending upon your weapon:
Bows: 15% more damage
Crossbows: 50% More crit damage
Hand Crossbows: 10% more crit chance
This makes it subjective to not only your weapon but also for your other skills.
- In general, attack speeds on long-range weapons come in their natural state as follows:
Bows: 1.40 Attacks per second (APS)
Crossbows: 1.10 APS
Hand Crossbows: 1.60 APS
So you see, it all depends on how fast you would like to attack. Crossbows are the slowest, bows are fairly quick, and hand crossbows are the fastest. This is also of course changed by quivers, as well as by dual-wielding hand crossbows which gives an inherent 15% faster attack speed.
- Lastly, by following logic, one would find that different APS effect the efficiency of your Hatred-generating attacks vs. your
Hatred-spending attacks.
Bows: Median Hatred Generator / Median Hatred Spender
Crossbows: Least efficient Hatred Generator / Most efficient Hatred Spender
Hand Crossbows: Most efficient Hatred Generator / Least efficient Hatred Spender
In conclusion, it all comes down to your style of play. If you just like the ridiculously quick dual Hand Crossbows, go for it. If you like the slow, methodical, heavy hitting crossbow, go for it. Or if you like something in between, feel free to use the bow
- The Archery passive is affected differently depending upon your weapon:
Bows: 15% more damage
Crossbows: 50% More crit damage
Hand Crossbows: 10% more crit chance
This makes it subjective to not only your weapon but also for your other skills.
- In general, attack speeds on long-range weapons come in their natural state as follows:
Bows: 1.40 Attacks per second (APS)
Crossbows: 1.10 APS
Hand Crossbows: 1.60 APS
So you see, it all depends on how fast you would like to attack. Crossbows are the slowest, bows are fairly quick, and hand crossbows are the fastest. This is also of course changed by quivers, as well as by dual-wielding hand crossbows which gives an inherent 15% faster attack speed.
- Lastly, by following logic, one would find that different APS effect the efficiency of your Hatred-generating attacks vs. your
Hatred-spending attacks.
Bows: Median Hatred Generator / Median Hatred Spender
Crossbows: Least efficient Hatred Generator / Most efficient Hatred Spender
Hand Crossbows: Most efficient Hatred Generator / Least efficient Hatred Spender
In conclusion, it all comes down to your style of play. If you just like the ridiculously quick dual Hand Crossbows, go for it. If you like the slow, methodical, heavy hitting crossbow, go for it. Or if you like something in between, feel free to use the bow
More information coming soon.
Recent News:
5/21: As stated, more information will be coming but at the moment I'm a bit swamped with finals to update the page. The info should be up within the week.
5/23: Smokescreen has been nerfed. The tooltip has not been updated. Smokescreen now lasts 1 second, two seconds with the rune and has a three second cooldown.
- Added new "Viable" build section
- Added new "Inferno viable" build section
- PVP section will be added as soon as there is a release date on PVP
5/24: I've seen many posts on which is better for bows. In the FAQ I recently updated it with info on that but here is a poll to see what the community thinks.
Poll: What is your prefered DH weapon(s)?
Crossbow + quiver (178)
39%
Bow + quiver (166)
37%
Hand Crossbow + Hand Crossbow (72)
16%
Hand Crossbow + quiver (18)
4%
Hand Crossbow + shield (11)
2%
Non-bow weapon (8)
2%
453 total votes
Bow + quiver (166)
Hand Crossbow + Hand Crossbow (72)
Hand Crossbow + quiver (18)
Hand Crossbow + shield (11)
Non-bow weapon (8)
453 total votes
Your vote: What is your prefered DH weapon(s)?
(Vote): Crossbow + quiver
(Vote): Bow + quiver
(Vote): Hand Crossbow + quiver
(Vote): Hand Crossbow + Hand Crossbow
(Vote): Hand Crossbow + shield
(Vote): Non-bow weapon
5/29: I'm currently testing out my own tanky-style DH. I've been using a Hand Crossbow + a shield with lots of armor and resists. I'll keep everyone updated on how it's going; so far it clears act 1 inferno easily and allows me to take a few hits in act 2.
9/1: Wow it's been a while. My tank-DH build didn't quite pan out.
e.g. mass crit gear -> take runes that proc on crit.
