DiabloFans

Build Guide

Overview

This build has been the prime solo build of the Demon Hunters and probably continues to do so, however with the introduction of the new Hellcat Waistguard the gap between this and other builds has closed significantly. The idea is to be at low hp all the time to get 100% crit chance from Shi Mizu, only kept alive with the Fortress Ballista shield, and then use a Fan of Knives every 32 seconds on your lightning Convention for a huge explosion.

Itemization

Since this is a LoN build, it is fairly difficult to gear for, even more so because you need to roll off all your crit chance from all pieces. You want to stack area damage on every possible piece (including amulet and rings), critical damage and elemental damage where possible, and achieve to permanent Vengeance uptime with a well-rolled Dawn and one CDR item (preferably shoulders or offhand). If you have a bad roll, you can consider adding one more for additional CDR. It’s quite important to have a good amount of toughness, because you will generally make huge pulls with several elites around and you have to use your discipline carefully. You also want to roll off the damage range on your offhand, because its damage doesn’t count for Fan of Knives.

Optimal item rolls: http://www.d3planner.com/746971862

Playstyle

The playstyle is fairly different from most other Demon Hunter builds and requires some time to get used to. The most important element to deal with is managing the Shi Mizu’s Haori while staying alive. You need to learn how many hits of different monster types or elite affixes you can take before you drop your shield, and once you reach the 25% hp threshold, try to gather up monsters for a huge pull. You also need to keep an eye on your hatred, you don’t want to accidentally run out of Aquila range, so you should try to spam your generator every 1-2 second while continuously casting Strafe. Only use your Fan of Knives when Convention hits lightning, and in almost every case you want to skip one CoE so that you can reach 30 stacks of Lord Greenstone. Be careful about health globes, as they can heal you at unfortunate times if you don’t avoid or use them at a better time.

Variations

Instead of Leoric’s Crown, you can equip an Andariel’s Visage for the additional lightning damage. This is very difficult to get and generally not recommended, because you also lose a lot of toughness and have to play with a clunky Vengeance uptime (even with perfect rolls you will still have a little downtime after adding one more CDR item).

Another option would be to play the build without Shi Mizu, which makes it infinitely easier to play, however it will probably be 3-4 tiers weaker. Just add crit chance to your items again, you can even drop some toughness because you will be quite tanky without the need to stay at low life all the time.