The Demon Hunter Unveiled
... For the fifth class.
Today at Blizzcon, the Demon Hunter was revealed to us all. A bow slinging, demon hunting, trap setting conventional ranged character has been given to us.
-Development-
During development dual daggers were tried out, but Blizzard felt this really took away from the ranged feel, thus they made the move to dual wielding crossbows. At first, the Demon Hunter wasn't even human. It started out as a full demon, and more recently, a demon/human hybrid. Now, with the released version, the Demon Hunter is fully human. A sleek medieval look has been settled upon, with a signature scarf and arm guard present on all concept models shown.
-The Lore-
Abd al-Hazir has brought us yet another class story, with a dark, demonic flavor to it. The Demon Hunters are essentially nomads, having lost all they knew and loved to the hells, they chose to pursue a life of vengeance above all else. They number in the hundreds, and choose to make their home in the Dreadlands. All demon hunters have an innate ability to resist the demonic taint present in the Dreadlands, allowing them to use demonic magics against their enemies while retaining their sanity.
But what could this mean? From the sounds of it, the Demon Hunters will use anything and everything at their disposal to take the fight to their sworn enemies. In one of the panels on the Demon Hunter, Jay Wilson briefly talked about using demonic organs as weaponry. Whether this was a definite "yes, you can craft with demonic organs" or not, is yet to be seen. However, in the release video the Demon Hunter is shown as using an arrow crafted from the tooth of a demon, thus, I personally believe we will be able to use demonic trophies to enhance our skills and items. I can expect this to take the form of special crafting recipes.
-The Skills-
Currently, the Demon Hunter has traps & gadgets, shadow magic, and various bow skills at her disposal. We've been shown several skills so far, and here they are.
Molten Arrow
The Demon Hunter shoots a crossbow bolt infused with flame which passes through enemies, and leaves behind a flaming wake, dealing damage to all enemies to try to cross it. Essentially, it's a fire wall that you can shoot.
Grenade
Seems to function similarily to the Witch Doctor's Skull of Flame. The video shows the Demon Hunter throwing out 3 small globes, which bounce briefly, then explode, dealing AOE to all nearby enemies. It was also shown to break a shield skeletons shield, which suggests AOE damage dealt from behind the shield can disarm them, giving this skill a spot as a sort of "combat utility" skill.
Bola
This skill allows the Demon Hunter to shoot a bola arrow, which wraps around whatever it hits. The enemies are not slowed however, but several seconds after being hit they exploded. AOE damage was dealt to everything nearby.
Vault
The obligatory movement skill. The Demon Hunter performs an acrobatic roll to reach new locations, or to escape from enemies. I can definitely see this skill being combined with Molten Arrow, allowing the Demon Hunter to quickly set up a wall, and retreat behind it before being in the line of fire.
Spike Trap
Taking a hint from the Assassin, the Demon Hunter sets up a trap that lies in wait for enemies. Upon being walked over, the trap opens up and enemies above it.
Fan of Knives
The Demon Hunter twirls in place, sending knives in all directions around her. AOE damage is dealt to all nearby enemies. This skill was shown being used with Vault, the Demon Hunter would roll into position, and release knives directly into a mob of enemies.
Entangling Shot
The Demon Hunter shoots out an arrow that bounces between several enemies, linking them with a blackish purplish line, slowing each down. The linking seemed to have to affect, though perhaps the slowing affect is made more serious based on how many enemies are linked to the same arrow?
-Tactical Considerations-
From the sounds of it, this character will take some planning to use effectively. With the theme of traps in mind, Demon Hunter players will no doubt benefit from careful planning and preparation. Jay Wilson himself said in one of the panels that this was the feel they were going for, as a bounty hunter they wanted the Demon Hunter to be prepared for battle. With the various skills she has at her disposal, she will be able to dictate the flow and pace of combat on her own terms.
Things to keep in mind, are the ways the skills functioned. If you watch the Bola video, you will notice the bola wrapping around a pillar, then exploding soon after. Tactics like this would allow the Demon Hunter to preemptively shoot a Bola, and run away while her enemies drew closer to the "trapped" environment. This skill may even be able to bring down walls after a delayed timer, allowing for more tactical use of the environment than other characters.
Wait, pasta? Is this Italian now? I know there are various ethnicities attatched to Diablo, but the DH is Italian? (actually, that would fit, but it sounds british).
Jokes aside, I couldn't agree more. It's definitely cool, and the fan of knives is a good touch. It's less of a copy paste than it is a fusion in my mind, which is fine. Works. Again, the feel reminds me of vanhelsing + Buffy. I like it.
EDIT: At the "Hero Emerges" panel, with the concept art, I wonder if there's a shot of the male Demon hunter.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rax3h4W3y1c
At about 6:42. Looks like a Hassansin out of the Prince of Persia movie. Say what you will about the movie, but I like that look.
EDIT: Another shot at 8:14, still getting the Prince of Persia vibe.
So you're saying that they must model the characters after themselves? I don't think so.
I would not mind him to be an emo anime douche, as long as he's buff and tall, I think it's about time Blizzard made a good-looking dude for their games (have you SEEN dwarf males in wow? yuck).
One thing I do hope is that she has a sense of humour in her dialogue. Might offset the complete seriousness of the other characters (kicking ass in style and with nice one-liners?)
Running the risk of sounding like a sexual orientation I'm not, I'd say, if he's going to be a hot guy, let's go Hugh Jackman. As I've said earlier, VanHelsing. Perhaps Patrick Dempsey. Stubble can be sexy.
Agreed.
I am wondering. Are the only good weapons for the Demon Hunter going to be crossbows? They say the class can use "Bows/Crossbows" but other than their earlier concepts (2nd ones they showed look bad ass btw) crossbows are the main feature. Anybody know?
Definitely looked like it.
The Warden and the Demon Hunter have the same voice actress, if my ears don't deceive me.
And what's up with all these people thinking 'sexy' means 'emo'? Since when is hot the same as whining? When I think of a sexy Demon Hunter, I think of Viggo Mortensen. (Aragorn from the LotR movies) Or is he considered emo? :\
I do see how a knight/paladin type class would've pleased a lot of people. Especially for those looking for something more gothic like that resembled Diablo 1 more. Perhaps in the expansion we may yet see a class like that.
And you people better not start fucking talking about what an Asian face is supposed to look like. It's the biggest fucking continent on the planet, people Shut up!
I'm definitely hoping for a knight in a future expansion though.
I don't disagree with you Don, at least for the most part. The other classes I'm fine with and they do seem to be Diabloesque, but the Demon Hunter just seems to have a bit too much of a Vampiric or Van Helsing feel to it. It just seems that they sat down at a conference table one day, and decided they needed a ranged class (which I don't disagree that one was needed), but also something that didn't seem recycled or regurgitated. So, voala, we get the "Demon Hunter". But once again, that's just my opinion.
YAY! Can’t wait to play! Although I hope the skill animations are in an early state of development they look a little messy.