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.
BTW,I don't understand why people keep on thinking the game has to have some realism functions as far as armor and gears go. It doesn't matter how much armor a character is wearing!! Its a VIDEO GAME with sci-fi, unrealistic, high-fantasy functions which is what we all love in a great game as D3... She can be all agile she wants with whatever she is wearing. The character needs to have an impressive visual to please our eyes. Its not Fable or Elder Scrolls. If you would like that kind of function, you would not find it in D3.
You complain that the idea is not original, yet you wish it was something that was also completely unoriginal? There's already melee classes, see the barbarian and the monk.
Back to what I think about the new class: It's going to be my new first character.
General Idea
A darker archer is something good to see in a game with only 5 classes. In this kind of game we usually have the darker character presented as a wizard, a assassin and sometimes a knight. I think it was a very cool choice to give her the bow and dark theme at the same time.
So i liked the idea of the class.
Gameplay
I think the class is unfinished compered to the other. The class doesn't bring any new gameplay concept. It's basically a hit and run intense character, pretty much like the wizard.
Still, gotta play the game, you can't judge gameplay of a unifished game through videos right ?
Visuals
She uses too much armor for a nomad hunter. Seriously, if you're going to travel the world hunting demon and cultists, you shouldn't use that amount of plates.
I really like her early armors, but the high tier ones looks out of place.
Her skills looks kinda boring so far. I really loved the granade and the bola thing, but i dislike the fact that her bows/xbows skills looks much more like a gun then anything.
Lore
By far the worst so far. Seriously, theres anything more one-dimensional then a pissed gothlike chick looking for revenge? Theres very poor details about this demon hunter order and overall they look weak compered to the orders of sanctuary. I've the feeling i've to quit from blizzard's lore cause everythings looking like a 12 years aimed shounen.
Assuming there will be a male Demon Hunter as well?
that made me lol.
Think the concept is quite weak (including the lore which I don't care about that much) and I think they could've done something a lot more interesting. I wont be playing a DH till last, I think, but I realise they did it to appease the the people who like to play archers etc.
Also, the grenades really don't fit the D2 universe and the crossbows are too gun-like, imo.
I've liked every class so far but I think Blizz misstepped with this one.
Hell, if I was just chilling in Sanctuary and my entire town along with all my friends and family was burnt to the ground by demons, I'd certainly consider hunting demons for my day job.
The whole thing just seems really juvenile - including the fact she is in high heels.
I can't wait for this game!