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My observations, part way through Act II.
I've been running caltrops exclusively as key-1. Caltrops linger for a bit, so you can anticipate a fight and prepare defenses. Discipline seems to recover pretty quickly, so I've been dropping the traps pre-emptively: two or three go down any time I might need a retreat line, or when I see terrain that suggests an ambush - underground, I usually have traps placed before the spiders/bats come out of hiding.
A problem with retreat lines is that you are running away from the health globes, which are available to sustain in long fights. In open/cleared terrain; the retreat line becomes a retreat circle. Another possibility is to use tumble to retreat through the enemy advance to the goodies on the other side.
I've been using the Templar almost exclusively, and skilling him toward "lock down the enemies so that I can dps them". It's occasionally a bit startling as he shield dashes off the screen, but since he has "died" more often than I have, it seems to work.
Order of battle generally seems to be (1) burn through Hatred dealing area damage then (2) switch to the builder to finish things off and refill the tank. Remember that you can regen hatred sitting around firing at shadows.
Attack speed on the one handed crossbows are so much more fun that I've been using them almost exclusively.
Otherwise, I really haven't been paying much attention to gear stats; which is to say, I've just been loading up on magic find, and salvaging everything except a few interesting looking "hand me downs" that get passed to toons waiting in Act I.
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My only experience other than the beta is seeing how popular Demon Hunters seem to be; I think 75% of my friends list are playing demon hunters. What level are you at? Curious if you've unlocked all 6 groups of primary skills. I know on my witch doctor that getting Garguantuan from 6th group really changed things. Before that battles tended to get a bit frantic (which no doubt is partially because I'm noobing it up and focusing more on +dmg than +stay alive stats) . So far as it I've only died twice. Once to act 2 final boss and once to a nasty group of regular mobs and elites that caught me unaware.
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Yazilliclick Wrote:What level are you at?
22 or 23? Part way through Act II. I think I just recently unlocked the 4-key, although to be honest most of my combat right now is left-click/right-click
4 deaths so far -- two on the final fight in Act I ( I just fought it wrong ), an early death in Act II when I forgot the corpse next to me was going to explode, and the last when I somehow managed to hit the TAB key at the beginning of the combat -- completely locking me out of the controls.
Plenty of close calls, especially against "Vortex".
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One tactical idea I'm happy to have discovered -- using caltrops to lock down Treasure Demons as an alternative to chasing them through two or three elite mob clusters.
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By late nightmare / early hell, Gloom Shadow Power seemed to become a necessity. I really need the life leech, and the 65% damage reduction will let you get full use out of the three seconds.
Vault never got much use past normal, can't find room to put it in a build. Discipline is really sparce once you hit this mark, I'm starting to think I'm going to make room for Preparation. While Jagged Spikes Caltrops had always been on my bar, considering hooked Spines/Torturous Ground. Try not to spoil yourself with the Ferret Companion too early, you'll never want to switch it.
Really like Sharpshooter + Fire at Will(Multi Shot), moving between packs puts your crit up, and you can get off a few Multi Shots before the crit fades if you have a fast weapon.
Impale with Impact is too good to pass up.
Rain of Vengeance with Stampede is another good one, about 5 seconds of knockback in an AoE.
Frost Arrow is my favorite skill so far, and I've been using it almost exclusivel;, good damage ratio for hatred cost, and slows. Trying Screaming Skull because the need for CC is become more and more apparent.
Here's a nice build: Gloom Shadow Power, any Rapid Fire, Marked for Death(Mortal Enemy), any Caltrops. Other two slots are preference. Passives Numbing Traps and any other two.
Gloom Shadow Power and Numbing Caltrops let's you tank with Rapid Fire, and Marked for Death with Mortal Enemy gives you 3 hatred per hit, which lets you Rapid Fire for quite some time.
Nightmare act 4 boss kicked me and my Wizards ass till we found the right builds(Mine was the one listed above). It's gonna be fuuuun trying to find a build that can farm an entire inferno game!
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Smoke Screen, Prep and Vengeance(Passive) are working nicely. You can run through groups of enemies to grab health gloves, get out of CC's with it or just have free hits for a good 10 seconds if you have full discipline.
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Demon hunter has so many good skills it's hard to choose 6.
I'm currently running a heavy AoE setup: Bola (increased radius), Multishot (decreased cost), Caltrops (immobilize), Vault (stun), Rapid Fire (keep switching this one around) and Bat Companion (to help recover hatred).
Passives Cull the Weak, Vengeance, Archery. Mostly solo with Scoundrel in Normal, switching to Enchantress for NM. Unfortunately, the enchantress' Chicken spell not only has terrible AI but is bugged and occasionally turns me into a chicken along with whatever enemy it hits. Still tearing everything up in NM act 2.
I'm trying to avoid abusing Smokescreen as I'm not entirely sure the ability to stand there and shoot while invisible is intentional (and with the right spec and a +discipline item you can keep this up for a LONG time)
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I've been playing monk to my brother's demon hunter and between vault (tumble) and lightning ball (elemental arrow) it feels a lot like playing with a D2 sorc with frozen arrow and teleport. So i end up using the monk to stun and keep enemies in a group while he does double the dps.
Suffer Game Sicko
Dodo Tier Player
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More people should use Evasive Fire, it's probably the best hatred generator.
-No need for Vault, and no need for another Hatred gen either.
-Since every DH uses Smokescreen, makes good use of Tactical Advantage. Getting space between you and enemies is key when you get one shot by everything :P
-Generates 4 hatred, others generate 3. It's only one less than Grenadier Grenades, but Grenades aren't very viable past act 1 inferno, despite how much I love playing Grenadier builds.
-With Shrapnel rune, it rivals Hungering arrow on single-target damage. With Covering Fire, it's probably the best AoE, and still does the second best Single Target damage.
-Haven't tested other runes yet, but with Covering Fire rune, it shoots through the sand-walls in Act 2, and through some walls that other things cannot shoot through.
-Its range is screen-length, despite the animation.
-It takes thought and timing to use effectively (Like not constantly backflipping wasting your disc), but it's well worth it.
The only issue so far is getting stuck against a wall or corner with no hatred and having to burn disc because you keep back-flipping, though that can be prevented most times with some forethought. Also, it might not be effective with lower disc numbers. I'm running 50 atm and feeling like I have enough to do everything I need to, when I need to.
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Oh yeah, I love the Covering Fire "shotgun" rune too, it's excellent at clearing out weak enemies like a miniature Multishot that generates hatred rather than spending it. I stopped using Bolas at inferno mainly because that 1 second before the mob dies actually becomes a really big deal.
The main drawback to running it is that Hungering Arrow is better at offscreen sniping, and the single target damage isn't even close (HA's expected single target damage works out at 230%)
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