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Kanai's Cube

• 

  • Dawn

  

  Legendary Hand Crossbow

  • 225.6 Damage Per Second
  • Primary Stats
  • Secondary Stats
  • • Reduce the cooldown of Vengeance by 50 - 65%.
    • One of 7 Magic Properties (varies)

    • +(115 - 268) Physical Damage

    • +(115 - 268) Fire Damage

    • +(115 - 268) Lightning Damage

    • +(115 - 268) Cold Damage

    • +(115 - 268) Poison Damage

    • +(115 - 268) Arcane Damage

    • +(115 - 268) Holy Damage

  • + 3 Random Magic Properties
  Dawn
• 

  • Aquila Cuirass

  

  Legendary Chest Armor

  • 51 - 68 Armor
  • Primary Stats
  • • Sockets (1)
  • Secondary Stats
  • • While above 90 - 95% primary resource, all damage taken is reduced by 50%.
  • + 3 Random Magic Properties
  Aquila Cuirass
• 

  • Ring of Royal Grandeur

  

  Legendary Ring

  • Primary Stats
  • • Attack Speed Increased by 5 - 6%
    • +152 - 224 Life per Hit
  • Secondary Stats
  • • Reduces the number of items needed for set bonuses by 1 (to a minimum of 2).
  • + 2 Random Magic Properties
  Ring of Royal Grandeur

Introduction

Patch 2.6.6 added some new Legendary powers and crafted set reworks that allow us to take a fresh look at previous builds to see if we can fine-tune them further. While Shadow Impale has been an excellent Greater Rift speedfarm option for Demon Hunters for multiple seasons now, this new version cements it even further as the go to for higher GR speeding, both in solo and group play. This version also provides a lot of variety, giving you options as you progress through assembling the pieces. Shadow Impale has a lot of power initially and gets smoother to play as you min/max your setup and shore up your defenses, but you should be able to speed GR100+ relatively efficiently early on.

Why I Use What I Use & Gearing Options

In my testing (see the video below), I simulated being decently geared by removing all of my Paragon from Dexterity except what you would have at Paragon 800. I still have quite good pieces with augments on them, so it landed me with around 14,000 Dexterity and I also still benefited from some high level gems.The point is to showcase that even before you get to a higher Paragon level or have amazing gear, you can still take great advantage of the build and your speed clears will only get better as you further gear your Demon Hunter out.

This build has quite a few options, particularly in gem choices and skills, so I'll cover a few here.

As you may have noticed, we are not using Gogok of Swiftness! This is usually a staple gem for Shadow Impale, but because we are including Flavor of Time as our amulet, we have an extra roll of cooldown reduction on our gear. That means, with the standard 8% roll we usually aim for on our shoulders, we only need one more roll on our gear to reach 37% CDR and have 100% up-time on Vengeance with Dawn in the weapon slot of Kanai's Cube. You can get this third CDR roll either on your gloves or one of your rings. Alternatively, you could still run your typical Gogok of Swiftness, go for a Life % roll on your shoulders instead of CDR, and let the 8% CDR roll on your Flavor of Time be the only one you need.

However, with no Gogok, we now have a free gem slot. For pure solo speeds, I found Zei's Stone of Vengeance to be the best DPS option. This is a melee build, so you won't get the full benefits like a Multishot Demon Hunter would, but it does supply you with another damage multiplier even at its minimum effectiveness. In groups, when monsters may be more gathered for density by your supports, you can and should consider Pain Enhancer, since it'll make up for the attack speed lost from not having Gogok and then some. This build loves attack speed. If you're moving towards particularly higher Greater Rifts, you can also make a consideration for including Bane of the Stricken and further embracing the Rift Guardian killer potential of the build. Lastly, if you need a purely defensive option, you can slot in Esoteric Alteration.

Let's talk a bit more about defense. The recommended Companion rune is Wolf for more DPS, but if you feel you need to be a bit sturdier, you can take Boar instead. Wolf will be particularly nice in groups because it will boost the DPS of other players as well. We also tested the new Stone Gauntlets power in the Cube instead of Aquila Cuirass. While Vengeance does successfully negate the negative effects of Stone Gauntlets and the positive effects actually do exceed the defense of Aquila Cuirass when fully stacked, you do not get this defensive bonus when you're moving through the Greater Rift, so things could get sketchy. This may be an option to consider if your supports are providing you with extra defense, but Aquila will be a more reliable defensive option overall. Lastly, for Hardcore, I recommend dropping Tactical Advantage and taking Awareness. TA is a really nice passive to move from Elite to Elite faster, but not necessary if you'd like to have your cheat death available to you.

If your defense feels well maintained, another consideration is to drop Fan of Knives - Bladed Armor and pick up Marked for Death. If you're really speeding along, the Contagion rune is the one to go with. Mark a low health target, kill it, and watch the Mark spread. If you're in groups and you're tending to stop for nice density pulls, you may consider the Valley of Death rune instead. Marked for Death in particular is nice for groups since it's a group-wide DPS buff.

Put Flawless Royal Diamonds in your chest, pants, and helm and a Flawless Royal Emerald in your weapon.

Everything else should be self-explanatory or further explained in the video below! Good luck in Season 18!

Paragon Priorities