[crAzerk]

+ [The old post] +

Decided to turn this post into a guide of sorts

After playing in a few PuGs and seeing some differing builds, I was just wondering what skill build all my fellow Demon Hunter players are using.

This is my current build (level 51), Act 1 Hell:
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculato...XRQ!aTe!baZbaa

Left Click - Hungering Arrow - Devouring Arrow
It seems to be the skill with the highest DPS for a Hatred-generating ability compared to the others

Right Click - Rapid Fire -Withering Fire
I put this back even for normal mobs, because it seems some rare/elite packs it's quite important to focus fire them one at a time Rapid Fire does this best.

Skill 1 - Caltrops - Tortorous Ground
I don't see how you can go without it especially if you play alone. Even if you play in a group, it's useful to have this snare available. I alternate my rune between the one that increases slow by 80% and stuns for 2 seconds

Skill 2 - Smoke Screen - Breathe Deep
I don't know how I missed this before but thanks neko for pointing this out. This is far superior to Vault.

Skill 3 - Elemental Arrow - Ball Lightning
Skill 4 - Multi Shot - Fire at Will
I'm running these two AOEs and both have its niche - multishot clears big groups of mobs at a distance better, but Elemental Arrow clears small packs of mobs at a closer range easier.


Passives -
Tactical Advantage : Awesome with smokescreen
Sharpshooter and Archery : These are more of a preference kinda thing, can be swapped with any other of the passives I feel.

For Boss Fights
Replace Elemental with Marked for Death (Mortal Enemy) and replace Multi Shot (or Fan of Knives) with Bat Companion (generage 3 Hatred/s). You can spam Rapid Fire almost non-stop. This is for a group - in a solo boss fight when I need more survivability I may swap out Bat for something else, because I won't be able to just sit there and Rapid Fire spam non-stop.

What skill build do you use, and why?


Random Tips
Just some stuff some people may not know, feel free to contribute any!

• You don't have to spam click to keep casting your skills. Just hold on to the mouse button!
• You are not bound to having one spell from each category, you can have 2 spells (or more) from one category on your action bar. Go to Options > Gameplay > Interface > Elective Mode
• Don't know whether ' ' is better than ' '? Turn on Show Advanced Tooltips! (same place as Elective Mode) This will display precise damages for each of your skills (e.g. 150% weapon damage) and you can compare better

crAzerk's Demon Hunter Guide

How to clear Normal:

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Everything is still pretty much easy point and click, apart from some odd mobs which you have to kite. Just enjoy the storyline for now and train up your kiting skills.

Stats-wise: +damage = +dex > +vitality > +int = +str > everything else
+damage gives a greater DPS increase than +dex in general, but you're sacrificing dodge. It's not that crucial now, and I like having big numbers so I usually pick +damage over dex.
This doesn't really have to be strictly followed. For instance, me and my friend were running high MF(magic find) gear (30-70%) for whole of normal for the fun of it.

Skills-wise: No real requirement, and you won't have access to everything anyway so just explore and experiment with which skills you prefer.This is the time to try out the cool skills you'll never get to use in harder difficulties because they suck (cough cough Sentry cough )

If you really want a guideline, have one snare (Caltrops), one get-out-shit skill (Vault/Smokescreen), one AOE (e.g. Chakram/Elemental Arrow), and have Rapid Fire for bosses.

How to clear Nightmare:

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Mobs are harder now, and you will have to kite abit on elites if you're playing solo. Otherwise, you should still be able to smash everything with your group, but do try to run w one melee class in your group

Stats-wise: +dex >= +damage > +vitality > +int = +str > everything else
Start to favor dex over damage because dodge becomes more and more important. The values on dex on those items you're considering against +dam are getting higher (e.g. +60 dex instead of +20) so it inevitably contributes more dodge %.

Skills wise:
Same as before, you want a Snare, an Escape, an AOE, and Rapidfire for boss fights.

How to clear Hell:

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+ [Disclaimer] +

I am only level 55 at Act II Hell at the point of writing this guide, and what I'm saying is what I have derived after thought and experiment. Perhaps a better way is available once you hit 60 or something, please do share that below if so

Shit gets real now. Many mobs take only 2 hits to kill you, and elite packs cannot be face rolled. Be prepared to burn pots just downing elite packs (blue mobs)

Kiting becomes extremely important - I find myself kiting for 5 minutes just to kill an elite pack.

You need to figure out a skill build that has an effective snare (slow) and survivability - because in Hell, you really have to play Demon Hunter the way it's designed to be played - from a distance.

Stats wise:
+dex > +damage = +vitality = +int > +str > everything else

It is clear that +dex is now superior to +damage because of the dodge it gives. With the high damage that mobs now do, you want to avoid as much of it as possible. I have saved a great deal of potions and lasted encounters I shouldn't have survived thanks to dodge.

It's hard to place +damage in the equation as while you need to be dealing big DPS, you need to survive. You have to weigh trade offs on a case by case basis (e.g. Should I trade 200 DPS for 700 HP?)

Intelligence is for the magic resist that becomes important as well to mitigate damage. Don't sacrifice your priority stats for it if you find them insufficient, but if you think your DPS/HP is at a comfortable level some Intelligence won't hurt.

Vitality wise, get your HP up above 8k at least before favoring +dex. You can't deal damage if you're dead.
Strength is last as +armor directly is more efficient than getting strength for it.

Some misc stats that become useful : life leech (on hit, not on kill), chance to fear/freeze/stun (love these),

Skills-wise:
You NEED one Snare (Caltrops, Elemental Arrow with Frost Rune, etc), one Escape (Smoke Screen with Breathe Deep/Whatever you want), one AOE.

My current setup is what I dub the "Arma Build" because I learnt it off him. I use it for solo-ing in Hell and it's working wonders. I'll explain the playstyle together with the build:

+ [The Arma Build] +

Active Skills Preparation (Battle Scars), Smoke Screen (Breathe Deep), Rain of Vengeance (Stampede), Companion (Bat), Hungering Arrow (Devouring Arrow), Elemental Arrow (Frost).
Passives: Tactical Advantage, Cull the Weak, Steady Aim.

You play it this way - pull mobs with Elemental Arrow, and most normal mobs won't be able to reach you before they die. For those that barely reach you, just hit Smoke Screen and continue shooting Elemental Arrow.

For packs that seem pretty strong and don't die fast, hit Stampede together with Smoke Screen as above and spam Elemental Arrow. For elite packs you'll have to kite (scoot and shoot!). Just do the same thing with Smoke Screen and Elemental Arrow, and when your Discipline falls low hit Preparation. (or use it as a health pot if you wish, though I rather save it for low Disc moments)

The Hatred Regen from Bat is amazing, and together with the boosted regen during Smoke Screen, you have great sustainability and as along as you're wise with your kiting you should have good survivability too. My passives, apart from Tactical Advantage, are for maximum DPS. I'm currently using a Bow.

Of course, there will be some mobs that give you problems such as Fast/Mortar/Invulnerable Minions etc but those give problems no matter what build you use, so you just have to develop a tactic for them (e.g. Figure out a rotation for Mortar - time your shots the moment immediately after you duck their mortars, and start running again before they start lobbing, etc)

Follower: This is for those soloing. Maverick wrote it quite well in his post so I'll just quote him:
"The Templar is the best option because it offers a solution to a very specific problem that Demon Hunters have – being trapped in melee range with no method of escape and rapidly depleting healthy pool.

Templars are good for Demon Hunters because of three specific skills:
Intervene
Intimidate
Guardian

The fourth skill is a damage skill which is still useful, but not the main reason we like the Templar so much. Intervene is a bubble of sorts – turning your follower into a tank for 5 seconds if your health drops below 50%, which pretty much guarantees a bail out if you get caught in melee. Intimidate slows your enemies for 3 seconds, giving you time to escape and Guardian is a combo attack that deals heavy damage, stuns the enemy for 5 seconds and heals you for a good chunk."

Gemming : Im always putting Ruby in my weapon and Emeralds in everything else. Always put the highest tier gem you have since they're recoverable anyway.

Bossfights:
Arma Build still works decently in boss fights, especially those with adds. Play it the same way as you kill elite mobs.

How to clear Inferno

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Coming for you Inferno Diablo!

Pretty much play it the same way as you play Hell Act IV, with kiting and playing safe from a distance. Gear becomes extremely important so do play around with the Auction House to upgrade your gear. MF runs will help!
And you pretty much NEED a good weapon at this point. You should be looking at 600DPS and above bows here. Anything below doesn't quite cut it. (my current bow is 900 DPS)

Don't be worried about trading damage for stats on weapons (e.g blues over rares), you can get your stats from your other gear. The DPS increase from having a good weapon is HUGE.

Stats Priority
This is a whole different ball-game now. Vitality becomes increasingly inefficient to get. My personal opinion is to get enough to not get one-shot by the weakest attacks, and that's all you need. Gear hard for DPS.
Resistance/Armor would be better than Vitality at that point.
Increased Attack Speed now adds significantly more DPS compared to Dexterity or +Damage, so weigh your options and gear accordingly! Try to get +Att Speed items in Rings+Weapon+Amulets as they are the only slots (are gloves too?) that allow you to have +Att Speed
Rule of thumb here is really just to gear. hard. for. DPS.


Here is a sample good build, which I name the 'Arma Build' after the person whom I learnt it from.

+ [The Arma Build] +

Active Skills Preparation (Battle Scars), Smoke Screen (Breathe Deep), Rain of Vengeance (Stampede), Companion (Bat), Hungering Arrow (Devouring Arrow), Elemental Arrow (Frost).
Passives: Tactical Advantage, Cull the Weak, Steady Aim.

You play it this way - pull mobs with Elemental Arrow, and most normal mobs won't be able to reach you before they die. For those that barely reach you, just hit Smoke Screen and continue shooting Elemental Arrow.

For packs that seem pretty strong and don't die fast, hit Stampede together with Smoke Screen as above and spam Elemental Arrow. For elite packs you'll have to kite (scoot and shoot!). Just do the same thing with Smoke Screen and Elemental Arrow, and when your Discipline falls low hit Preparation. (or use it as a health pot if you wish, though I rather save it for low Disc moments)

The Hatred Regen from Bat is amazing, and together with the boosted regen during Smoke Screen, you have great sustainability and as along as you're wise with your kiting you should have good survivability too. My passives, apart from Tactical Advantage, are for maximum DPS. I'm currently using a Bow.

Of course, there will be some mobs that give you problems such as Fast/Mortar/Invulnerable Minions etc but those give problems no matter what build you use, so you just have to develop a tactic for them (e.g. Figure out a rotation for Mortar - time your shots the moment immediately after you duck their mortars, and start running again before they start lobbing, etc)

I don't want to read all that, just show me your build!

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+ [Can you explain your build?!] +

(I'm using Primary/Secondary/Hunting/Defensive etc headings just for convenience of discussion. If you like, look at it as Left Click, Right Click, 1, 2, 3, 4)
Primary + Secondary
I chose Hungering Arrow (Devouring Arrow) as it is the highest DPS Hatred generator in my opinion. I use Elemental Arrow (Frost) for my snare, so there's no need for a Hatred Generating snare.

Hunting + Defensive
Preparation and Smoke Screen are pretty much mandatory from Hell onwards, can't go without them. While Battle Scars rune is obvious, I use Lingering Fog because I use Smoke Screen for escape/rest, so I want it to last as long as possible. You have invulnerability when you Smoke Screen as well so it's useful to prolong it for a second.

Secondary+Hunting
There are many combinations that can fit in here, and if you scroll through this thread you'll find them. I still use Bat Companion as I like the Hatred Regen, though I'm starting to wonder if it's as good as I think. There's no other Hatred burner I can slot in here anyway, I'm burning up my Hatred with Elemental Arrow and Impale.
Why Impale? Well trying it out with Chemical Burn I realized this skill does sick DPS with my current bow. It basically works better with higher weapon damage items (i.e. 2H Bow ) rather than something like a dual-crossbows with lower base damage on each. Great for focusing down elite mobs or bosses alike.

Passives
Tactical Advantage has been my bread and butter since the beginning and is invaluable, I've no idea how some DHs survive without this (they do)
Steady Aim and Cull the Weak are just to maximize my DPS - with Elemental Arrow as my main DPS spell the enemy is perma-slowed so I get the 25% boost all the time. Whether you reap the benefit of Steady Aim (if no enemies within 10 yards you get +20% damage) depends on how good a Demon Hunter you are

Yes, I know my Vitality is kinda low, but my reasoning is even if I get that few hundred more vitality, I'll at most last one more shot and get 3 shot by mobs instead of 2 shot. Why not stack damage instead and kill them fast?
Ideally though you want to have more Vitality than this, probably about 600~. I have a lot of stupid gear with Intelligence on them instead of Vitality, so when those get replaced it'll be better.

Quick Comments

	nirvAnA:
	ToRMaverick:	thanks mate... very helpful