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Build Guide

Background:

Feel free to skip this section if you're only interested in the mechanics of the build, but I thought I'd tell a brief story about how this set almost stayed in the auto-salvage category. I had the benefit of playing Natalya's extensively in the PTR with 2000% drop rates. I played it so much, in fact, that my friends made fun of me for grinding hundreds of paragon levels and pushing leaderboards on the PTR where my characters would be wiped.

During the PTR, the set underwent several nerfs. Initially Focus/Restraint and Natalya's 2pc procced on cast of a generator, so I broke that by using Spines of Seething Hatred and autocasting Chakram-Shiruken Cloud. Then they set F/R and N2 to proc on first hit, but someone figured out that Strafe-Icy Trails was proccing it on every tick of its aoe dot. By that time several of us had pushed GR 55 solo fairly easily with the various PTR bugs.

Finally, they fixed Icy trails and Natalya's ended up where you see it today. All of the semi-obvious loopholes had been closed and the set was fairly balanced. Most people had delegated it to T6-farm-only, or salvage. I still had hope, however, as I was still able to complete GR 53 on the PTR with its last iteration and I knew that if someone like me could do it then a dedicated 50hr+ per week player/streamer would be able to take it much further.

Season 3 came, and to this day I have not equipped UE/Marauders in the current season. Because of my experience on PTR, I already knew how to build mostly optimal N6 gear. During this time, my love for the set grew and I knew that if I wanted the build to improve further I had to get more people interested. As one person, I can only test so much and make so many discoveries, but the build had so much more to offer the world. So I decided that I would take it as far as I could take it, and push #1 on the leaderboards. I cut all connections for one weekend and did so, actually quite easily. I completed 54 in 12min on my 3rd try, and 55 in 12 min on my 4th. My hands and wrists were extremely sore, but the deed was done and well worth the effort. Seeing my Nat's DH at 55 with the next 20 leaderboard entries at 54 or lower using UE was very satisfying.

Guide Overview:

The entire premise of the Natalya's playstyle is to deal as much damage between Rain of Vengeance and the Crashing Rain belt proc as possible. Keep this statement in mind when analyzing any gearing decisions made.

This guide was written purely for solo leaderboard pushing. There are different optimal setups for pushing 4-man GRs, 2/3 mans, running 35-40 speed rifts, and T6ing. Each of those could have a guide written on their own and have likely not had much exploration as Nat's has only recently been getting accepted as a viable build.

This is not a beginner guide, I'm writing this with the assumption that my audience knows some fairly advanced things about D3 such as which damage multipliers are additive with each other, how attack frames/animations work, etc... I won't get into those things here because they've been covered extensively elsewhere. I'll try and find links to those articles and post them at the end of the guide, but I can't promise you won't have to do some googling on your own if you don't want to just take my word for something.

This is not a beginner build. If you've had a good amount of experience stutter stepping from playing MOBAs / similar games then it won't take much for you to adapt that to N6. If you haven't, it's going to feel very clunky and unnatural. My suggestion is to practice, and to automate as much as possible using your hotkeys/macro mice/etc... I'll dedicate a small section of the guide to keyboard configurations and ways to take advantage of a basic macro mouse.

Despite this not being a beginner build, this build is extremely fun and rewarding to master. When playing M6 in seasons 1and2 and UE on PTR I often found myself falling asleep at the keyboard. That hasn't happened for N6 yet. I can still improve my gameplay quite a bit, and the build itself still has a lot of refinement to go before anyone can say they've found an optimal setup.

Core gameplay:

• Channel strafe
• Use evasive while channeling strafe as often as possible
• Use rain of vengeance as often as possible, with a reduced cooldown due to simultaneous use of Strafe and Evasive fire.

That's it. End of guide. Thanks for reading.

Okay kidding... But those three bulletpoints really are 90% of the build. If you want more details, read on.

I'll dedicate this section to explaining why Strafe and Evasive Fire are used as opposed to other options, and a later section to go over secondary options where the build is more flexible.

Strafe (Icy Trails or Rocket Storm)

A change was made to strafe in patch 2.2 that significantly reduced the number of animation frames wasted when you interrupt your channeling to cast another attack. This means that you can seamlessly cast a generator while channeling to offset the hatred cost of strafe and give you twice as many effective N2 procs per second.

To be specific, Nat's 2piece procs on every 4th tick of your strafe animation. There are certain attack speed breakpoints where the number of strafe ticks per second increases. The important ones are:

• 1.67 attack speed - 7.5 ticks per second - this is your base rate dual 1h xbows and no attack speed on gear
• 1.88 attack speed - 8.57 ticks per second - you can reach this bp by putting 2.2% attack speed into paragon points.
• 2.14 attack speed - 10 ticks per second - this is the breakpoint you reach when you have 4.6% attack speed from paragon and max gogok stacks.

This means that by channeling strafe alone - at 1.67 aps you're triggering Nat's just under twice per second and at 2.14 aps you're triggereing it 2.5 times per second. This does not take into account the frames used by RoV / Evasive fires interrupting strafe, and it doesn't take into account the timing of using EF compared to your strafe N2 ticks. To my knowledge, VocaloidNyan did this analysis on the PTR feedback forum but I don't know how extensive it was.

Natalya's 2pc only triggers upon the attack hitting a target, so for every miss you're wasting potential N2 procs. This is another reason strafe is perfect - it auto-aims for you and has almost instant missile travel speed. The icy trails rune is great for proccing Iceblink, but if you're non-seasons or you just don't feel like you need that much CC then use Rocket Storm for higher single target dps. Rocket storm does about double the damage due to having fire% on gear, but strafe as a skill is only about 15% of our single-target DPS and 5% of our overall DPS through a Greater rift. By switching to Rocket Storm you're trading area damage for single target because less mobs will be slowed by iceblink to trigger BoTT + CTW, though usually the most important targets (rift guardians, elites) will be chilled.

Rapid fire can be used in a similar fashion, but not being able to move while channeling means you can't dodge those GR55 skeletal archers and get your N2 procs at the same time. It also means that if you're a sloppy player like me, you're probably going to miss a lot.

Evasive fire (Focus)

Again keeping in mind N2 proc only happens when you hit a target, this skill almost never misses and has instant travel time.

The other "can't miss" skill is Hungering Arrow, but the missile speed makes it a bit awkward when you're trying to build a rhythm alternating your generator with RoV. Sometimes it takes a second longer to hit the target, proccing N2 at an unpredictable pace. That said I haven't been able to test other generators thoroughly and believe it's entirely possible that we might be missing something here. I've noticed that when you hit with a generator immediately after a strafe N2 proc, it tends to lower RoV cooldown a bit faster. If that's true, having a slight missile-travel-speed buffer might actually reduce your RoV cooldowns over one less attack cycle without adding any CDR / atk speed to the equation. If that generator is entangling shot, you can proc Cull the Weak / Bane of the Trapped without relying on iceblink. As I said, I haven't had the time to test and develop this. If it's true, it's going to take practice and not jump out at you immediately. I'm hoping someone in the community can take the reigns here.

Rain of Vengeance (Stampede)

This rune is why I stuck to the build even after the nerfs on PTR. In season 1, I played a pony sader to top 10 on the leaderboards and loved that playstyle. Vengeance stampede plays very similarly to a pony sader. The knockback triggers strongarm, produces enough CC to keep most mobs barring winged assassins away and can reliably keep Jailer / Thunderstorm champs off screen. When fighting large packs, you can use the knockback to group them up into tight packs and lock them up against walls. Positioning for effective stampede usage is what gives this build such a high skillcap.

Stats/Itemization:

Itemization for Natalya's is a beautiful balancing act with many interlocking elements. I have not identified the optimal balance of these elements, only what they are and how they interact with each other. I imagine once this ideal balance has been discovered, my Diablo gaming experience will be a lot less interesting. For now though, trying to figure this out is what keeps me playing.

Nat's DPS is a function of two overarching formulas:

1. Damage per RoV - this is pretty simple to define and was the major foundation for my build up until recently. It's as simple as taking all your damage multipliers into account and multiplying RoV and Crashing rain by that number. All the gearing and skills above are built with this formula in mind. Then along came Quirkitized - completing GR 60 with Gogok and making me question my evaluation of attack speed as a dead stat.

2. Time between RoVs: This is a much more complex formula which I haven't had time to crack. I know that VocaloidNyan put some work into an analysis on the PTR but I haven't seen it. That being said, I'll do my best to break down the components that I know so someone with more time / smarter than I am can do the honors:

• Base RoV cooldown- this is purely a component of CDR.
• Time between attack animation cycles while channeling strafe- this is a function of attack speed. This is important because both Evasive fire and RoV compete for attack animation cycles.
• Amount of frames used up by the Evasive fire / Rain of Vengeance animation
• Number of 'passive' N2 procs from strafe between attack animation cycles- purely a component of attack speed
• Whether or not you gain the benefits of a partial strafe attack cycle when that cycle is interrupted. N2 procs every 4th strafe tick, so let's say you interrupt strafe to cast EF after 6 ticks - does this mean you're wasting 2 ticks? If this is true, it could change the ideal generator timing and possibly make more sense to use a generator with a bit of a travel-time buffer like entangling shot or hungering arrow.

That's all I can think of for now, but with some combination of attack speed, CDR and possibly timing your generators, you can achieve a maximum RoV output per minute. Quirkitized build can cast one RoV every 2 EF animations. I'm fairly close to that with 54% cdr, and I'd prefer to err on the side of CDR because it also lowers your utility/defensive cooldowns as well as doesn't force you to put prep-punishment on your bar. It's likely that some amount of IAS is correct in the build. When I get time to play again (I'm out of town typing this on a laptop) I intend to try hitting the next strafe breakpoint with 2.2% atk speed from paragon and try 8% more CDR on my amulet via flavor of time, which could push me over the edge without resorting to Gogok and needing to spend an active on prep-punishment.

Some stuff to consider when deviating from my build and toying with Gogok, attack speed, and CDR:

• Zeis and BoTT(+CTW) are considered essential to any ranged build, since they're independent damage multipliers. This means your best option is to switch out iceblink, losing a reliable way to proc bane of the trapped and cull the weak. Your remaining option is the Templar companion with thunderfury, intimidate skill, a BK ring to proc intimidate, and as much attack speed as you can get (occulus ring + atk speed on all slots). Another possible option is entangling shot, see the section on evasive fire above.
• You lose more hatred per second channeling strafe at higher breakpoints, so you'll most likely have trade out an active skill for prep-punishment or bat companion.
• While this is more applicable to 4 mans with globe-saders, fan of knives (knives expert) is another zero-animation skill you can use to trigger N2 on top of strafe + evasive fire. If you're trying to solve for hatred resource issues, you may as well take a look at this skill too as it also applies a slow for BoTT/CTW and deals fire damage. Perhaps someone can create the dream build allowing a RoV cast with only 1 EF per RoV.

Technical Gameplay / Mechanics:

While the above "Core gameplay" section describes the basic skills and sequencing, this section will get into the details of how to set up your key bindings to avoid carpel tunnel as well as some greater-rifting techniques for this build.

Key binding:
For this entire section I have to thank the community. I completed GR55 with almost everything manually done, and my hands were very sore. I haven't had much of a chance to play since my AMA but I've received some amazing techniques from the community and this section will be my best effort at consolidating them into a best-practice.

Minimally you'll need to have the following bindings set:

• Strafe: Any numpad number (I have mine set to numpad 1) You can set this on the secondary column if you like.
• Evasive fire: Right click
• Rain of Vengeance: Left click
• Force move: Spacebar (or any key you like, but it's not bound by default and needs to be bound)

Before each rift, make sure numlock is on. As soon as you enter the greater rift, hold the strafe numpad key and press numlock. This will initiate strafe autocasting. Some notes about autocasting:

• It is a built in part of the game, you will not get banned
• It only works when numlock is on
• Alt-tabbing or clicking on another monitor will disable it, you'll have to re-initiate it if you do this.
• To disengage, you can simply press the sequence again (ensuring numlock is on), or alt-tab.

While strafing is on autocast, you can now initiate the skill sequence:

1. Right click - Evasive fire - In the direction of target
2. Repeat step 1
3. (Repeat step 1 a third time if you're using my build, not necessary if you're using a gogok build)
4. Left click directly on your target, or shift (force standstill) + left click if you want to cast directly on open ground
5. Repeat until everything is dead.

You want to keep your mouse cursor in the direction you want to strafe, then flick your cursor at the target for each attack. You also have to cast the evasive fires / RoVs as close to your attack speed animation cycle as possible, but not too early or it won't cast.

When you're not attacking, hold force-move (spacebar) to interrupt strafe and walk at full speed without burning hatred.

Macro mouse basics:
I've never heard anyone being banned for using a macro mouse, but do this at your own risk. That being said, losing $40 and some time grinding getting banned is worth the longevity of my wrists, so I take this risk. This is the first game I've ever done this for, so I'm sure many of you can come up with more advanced techniques.

1. Bind numpad1 (strafe) + numlock to a mouse key. This lets you toggle strafe on/off without having to worry about numlock being on or going to strange places on your keyboard.
2. Set your right click to cast rightclick 10-15 times with only a 10ms delay in between each use. This allows you to click evasive fire slightly before your attack cycle is up and still manage to hit it with almost perfect timing. Be careful when gambling as you'll buy 10-15 times the items you use with right clicking.
3. Bind buffs to your attack mouse buttons. I have wolf companion on my left click so that every time I cast RoV, it also casts wolf companion when its up - ensuring I get the most damage benefit out of my buff. I've also set prep-focused mind on my right click so I don't have to worry about toggling another autocast and making sure the duration begins during a combat instead of some weird downtime between packs.

Greater rifting - how to deal with different mob types and elite affixes:

• Winged assassins and any dashing/leaping-type mob can be tough if you're not running prep-focused mind with smokescreen-lingering fog. It's pretty trivial if you are, just spam smokescreen until they're all dead and try and be on your toes for the first strike.
• Prioritize ranged mobs over melee - with the exception of leapers/dashers you can usually keep melee mobs out of range by casting a single RoV on yourself. From that point, try and kill all the ranged mobs so there's less on your screen to focus on. If possible, angle the RoVs so you can knock your melee mobs into the largest ranged pack and finish them all off in tandem.
• Tunnels - the long tunnel maps are the best map type for this build, density aside. You can keep moving forward constantly and knock every pack into the next pack, it's amazing.
• Skip reflect if possible - Unless you have a relevant pylon available, skip reflect packs if possible. This can be very tough to do in certain rifts, against teleporters, or mob types that move fairly fast. Do your best to skip them, even if it means dying once or twice to do so. If you don't think you can skip them, try and keep the minions and the boss together and time your RoV so that it's not still going when their reflect comes up. I've found 3 RoV to be a safe number with my build, 4 might be possible with the gogok variant. After that just wait for reflect to come up, then start casting again when its down. If you let a straggler get away, he's going to continue activating reflect as he chases you so make sure you kill all the minions too before moving on. If it's a blue pack, try moving past them and knocking them back the direction you came from while you try and get away to skip them.
• Jailer / Thunderstorm - Abuse smokescreen and cast from a screen away. You're playing sort of peekaboo here, casting RoV while smokescreen is up from a screen away, then moving back while continuing to cast EF. Your strafe will no longer hit them, but you can still hit with EF to lower RoV cooldown. If there are any stray mobs nearby that don't belong to this pack, avoid casting RoV on them so you can use them as cooldown devices for your strafe while you RoV their elite friends in the next screen.
• Get a pull/EP monk or find a friend with one for high GR keys - Farmed most of my keys myself, but I have been gearing up my monk solely for when I want to push higher. A well geared EP monk can farm 56 keys solo, 58 with a decent DPSer.
• Minimize the rift progress bar - maybe you shouldn't do this, but I've found that I'm more able to get in the "zone" when I remove as much clutter from the screen as possible. Looking at the progress bar is the equivalent of an MMA fighter / Boxer looking at the clock when he's mentally beat, I'd rather not have this useless piece of information so my brain is free to process all the more pertinent information going on my screen. The only time I turn it on is during a death timer, or when I hit a pylon and I know I'm within 20% of completion. This keeps me from noticing when I'm behind, and playing more reckless to play "catch-up" or getting mentally beaten when I see that my clock is behind the rift progress clock. I've had many rifts where I was behind, then had a fortuitous pylon/pack that pushed me ahead and then I spawned stonesinger at the end. You just never know what's going to happen, so it's best to keep that out of your mind and just play your best 100% of the time.

Other skills:

I saved this section for last because this is all still up in the air as far as what the best skill setup is. I've tried every combination of these skills and they all shine in different scenarios. Rather than get into an in-depth analysis of each I'm going to give a simple analysis and let you all figure out what the best ones are.

• Preparation - Focused Mind - Great for taking advantage of all the CDR we stack, allows liberal use of smokescreen
• Preparation - Punishment - closes the resource gap when using a higher IAS build, potential to make up the hatred cost with high enough CDR and a fan-of-knives knives expert build (untested)
• Smokescreen - Lingering Fog - one of the best defensive skills in the game. Allows us to fight affixes (jailer/thunderstorm) and bosses (coldsnap) that would normally be very difficult.
• Smokescreen - Displacement - a great two-in-one skill for both mobility and defensiveness. Also allows fighting of coldsnap, breaking his enrage freezes, as well as lets you skip reflect packs.
• Wolf Companion - 30% damage boost that's up about 2/3 the time with the right CDR. Additive with most of our other multipliers, but still high enough to make a big difference.
• Bat Companion - a "light" hatred gap closer if you go with a higher attack speed build but want to use prep-focused mind.
• Sentry - Polar Station - a simple and consistent way to proc bane of the trapped/cull the weak for those that don't use iceblink.
• Marked for Death - Contagion - MFD in general is not great because it requires an attack animation to cast and the bonus is additive with a ton of our other bonuses, so it's more like 10% instead of 20%.
• Marked for Death - Grim Reaper - the aoe is decently sized allowing you to apply part of the crashing rain damage to surrounding trash. I haven't used this, but some others have mentioned it being nice.
• Caltrops - Bait the Trap - kiting across will proc BoTT and CTW and having it active gives you higher dps
• Fan of Knives - Knives Expert - another zero-animation attack that procs N2. The hatred cost is prohibitive, but if someone can figure that out in a way that doesn't sacrifice too much it might open up something totally new. I'm almost 100% certain that this skill will be involved in an optimal 4-man team since crusaders generate so many health globes and you're using reaper's wraps anyway.
• Fan of Knives - Fan of Daggers - a nice 3 second stun that's up every 5 seconds with 50% cdr.
• Vault - Tumble - great for skipping every pack, as well as recovering lost time from dead-ends in greater rifts.

For now that's all I have, please continue to wreck face with Natalya's and prove the naysayers wrong! I also expect some of you to come up with more sweet innovations.