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[2.2] Ultimate End-Game M6 (Detailed Guide) - Updated for 2.2

by last updated Apr 12, 2015 ( Patch 2.2 )
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Skills

  • Evasive Fire Focus
  • Cluster Arrow Shooting Stars
  • Preparation Punishment
  • Sentry Polar Station
  • Vault Tumble
  • Companion Wolf Companion
  • Night Stalker
  • Ballistics
  • Custom Engineering
  • Awareness

Items

More Details

  • Legendary Gems

    • Bane of the Trapped
    • Taeguk
    • Zei's Stone of Vengeance

The biggest difference in gearing in 2.2 is the fact that we will now run with Full M6 and Focus + Restraint. After doing a substantial ammount of Grifts, including my current 51 clear with a pretty trash rift, it's crystal clear; F+R is here to stay and long are the days of RoRG/SoJ. I personally feel this limits item diversity a little, and could be fixed with making M6 into a 5 set, but that would be way too powerful in the current state of the game.



Step-By-Step gearing/stats:


SOLO:


Marauder's Visage: Dex/Crit/Socket/CA Damage.


Marauder's Chest: Dex/Vit/SentryDmg/3 Sockets. All Resist isnt a bad substitute for Vitality.


Marauder's Spines: Dex/RCR/Area Dmg/SentryDmg. This setup is now optimal for both group AND solo play.


Belt: Any Dex/Vit/%Life/Resi belt will do until you find WH. Ideally you'd want a BT belt to pair with the neck for the 3 piece until you get a good alternative neck and WH. For the rolls on the Witching Hour, Dex/Vit/AS/CHD.


Bracers: Reaper's Wraps. With the loss of RCR from Pride's Fall, these bracers have become nearly a must, as you rely on globes and your generator alot more now to keep up Taeguk stacks up.


Marauder's Legs: Dex/Vit/AR/2 Sockets. Armor is a decent substitute for AR.


Marauder's Boots: Dex/Vit/MoveSpeed/CA Damage. All Resist isnt bad over movespeed but it's mostly not needed.


Weapon: With craftable items being able to roll as Ancient and 2HXbows making their return, the Arcane Barb is now BIS. While it has everything else the other crossbows have, it's way more acessible since you can just brute force a decent roll. RCR is the absolute best affix to get apart from %Dmg and DEx. Most likely you'l end up with a vita roll tho, so deal with it. If you get an ancient Etrayu, run with a cold build, as it makes both builds comparable in output (More math about this at wudijo's post). An Ancient Kridershot does just as fine aswell.



Bombadier's Rucksack: Dex/Vit/Crit/AS/CA Dmg/Discipline. Disc being the key factor here. You can ditch Vit for RCR/CDR/EliteDmg for higher GRifts.


Amulet: This is where things get messy. Hellfire Amulet is by far the best amulet right now. Reason being, you need Nightstalker to facilitate keeping Taeguk stacks up (And increasing your dps by reducing the number of generators you need to shoot), but you cant drop Custom Engineering / Awareness / Ballistics. Cull the Weak was the only feasible option to remove, and it's really really powerful (Flat 20% damage multiplier). Nothing else comes close to HFA at the moment, so get grinding. If you dont have one, any Dex/CC/CHD/Socket amulet will suffice.


Rings: Focus + Restraint. The changes to this set made it insanely overpowered (2 separate 50% multiplicative buffs, for a total of 125% extra damage (1 x 1,5 x 1,5)) and nothing comes close to them. While Convention of Elements might SEEM strong, at it's element it can peak higher than F+R, but the downtime on the buff means overall it does less consistent damage. You want Dex/Crit/CHD/Socket on both rings, which can be tricky to get.


Gloves: Marauder Gloves. Dex/Crit/CHD/RCR.




SPEEDRIFTING:


M6:


While not being optimal for Speedrifting anymore due to being overshadowed by Natalya's, M6 can still hold it's ground. Itemization remains the same, simply switch your bracers for Fire, and your build to http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/demon-hunter#UdPkVS!bZUi!YbcaZc. Passives will depend on what you have on your HFA, but genereally you want Blood Vengeance / TA / Awareness / CE / Either Nightstalker or Cull the Weak.



Natalya's:


Oh boy. The new king of Speedrifting. Be it T6, 35-38's or even 45+ (Double Nata's / Monk / Barb can clear 45+ in sub 2 minutes), Natalya's is here to not only introduce another playstyle, but to keep the DH in it's topdog place for speedfarming. Our great sensei Wudijo has written a guide on this build, so rather than just writing another wall of text, ill leave you with his. (http://www.diablofans.com/builds/53651-2-2-natalya-strafe-speedfarm).


That build is perfect for T6 speedfarming. For 35-38's and 45+, there's a few things to change. Vengeance becomes Evasive Fire - Focus, RoV goes from Shade to Flying Strike, you run Focus + Restraint and 6P Natalya's. Getting as much CDR as possible to have as low CD possible on RoV, thus dispatching of elites quickly with Crashing Rain's ridiculous burst and the 2 buffs from F+R.





High GRifting:


M6:


The good old M6 can still hold it's own when it comes to high GRifting, despiste once again, being overshadowed by Unhallowed Essence + Kridershot + Meticulous Bolts.


Gearing is simply full M6, F+R, and a fire build akin to http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/demon-hunter#UdPkjS!XcUi!Ybcaac. You can replace MFD for Punishment if your group isnt healthglobe savy, and you should have Blood Vengeance in the mix of passives (Either on HFA or baseline depending on your amulet's passive). Cluster Bombs is also an option but alot harder to use. Dont forget to keep your F+R buffs up through the use of generators, and you're set. This build is VERY VERY resource consuming, so a laws of hope crusader or solanium WD is highly recommended.




Unhallowed Essence:


Our new toy in 2.2 has already started to show it's potential when paired with Kridershot and Meticulous Bolts, scoring an impressive #1 56 solo clear, and taking the #1 place in the 2, 3 and 4 player leaderboards on EU. The build used is http://www.diablofans.com/builds/53767-gr-50-ue-lightning-blue-balls-demon-hunter-build-2, as described quite accurately by Philosophios.


Some key points to this build:


You require a kridershot with discipline, preferably ancient and with either Attack Speed, Damage vs Elites or CDR/Area Damage.


You require a meticulous bolts with discipline, preferably with Dex/AS/Crit/Elemental Arrow Damage and either Dmg vs Elites/CDR or Area Damage. Key note on this quiver is that you also want the MINIMUM ammount of BL speed possible, which is 30%. There is a big difference going from 30% to 40% regarding the number of times BL will hit an enemy, and VocaloidNyan has already shared this information on this topic: http://us.battle.net/d3/en/forum/topic/14610620934.


Full UE set with Focus + Restraint. Elemental Arrow damage on both Head and Boots. Probably Trifecta UE gloves as there is no need for RCR. Maximum Discipline on chest. Lacuni's/Steady Strikers with Lightning/Dex/AttackSpeed/Crit. WH over Thunder God's Vigor, definitively.


Build would look something like this for group: http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/demon-hunter#RdQVYS!cRSi!abaacc . Replace Bait the Trap with MFD according to your other DH. Mix of 5 passives with HFA would be Awareness/Cull the Weak/Single Out/Ambush/Steady Aim. For solo, http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/demon-hunter#RdQVkj!cRSi!abcaYa is the build to use.




Legendary Gems: Bane of the Trapped / Zei's /Taeguk for M6 (Can go Bane of the Powerful for Speedrifts), Bane of the Trapped / Taeguk / Powerful for Natalya's Speedfarm, Trapped / Zei's / Powerful for UE Slowball.

Paragon Priorities

Core

Movement Speed
Primary Stat
Maximum Resource
Vitality

Offense

Critical Hit Damage
Critical Hit Chance
Cooldown Reduction
Attack Speed

Defense

Resist All
Armor
Life
Life Regeneration

Utility

Resource Cost Reduction
Area Damage
Life on Hit
Gold Find

Paragon Points:



CORE: 15% Movespeed (Or whatever you need to cap at 25%) > Dex. If in trials, go for all out Dex. In group play you should have MS on boots to get more dex here. Offense: CHD > CC > CDR > AS Defense: All Resist > Armor > %Life > LifeRegen Adventuring: Resource Cost Reduction > Area Damage > Life on Hit > Gold Find

Build Guide

Ahoy all, Bleed here.


Decided to finally update the guide for 2.2 after some testing both yesterday and today. It'l be alot shorter than before as M6 has turned a bit more simple, but ill go over Solo / Group and T6/Speedrifting. DH's now have 3 different playstyles, all of them viable and suited for specific content. Im going to take a step back and rather than writing a whole new guide on Natalya's and SlowBall, ill just leave you with Wudijo's previously written and detailed guides for both those speccs. All of the info on those guides is Wudijo's and he takes full credit for it.



This build is a physical M6 build, which is the highest dps solo build for M6. If you'd like to know the deep math behind this, you can check (http://www.diablofans.com/forums/diablo-iii-class-forums/demon-hunter-the-dreadlands/105714-physical-cluster-the-ultimate-solo-dh-build-math#c14), where our sensei Wudijo replaces his ordinary bedsheets and sleeping hours with Excel sheets and theorycrafting. All the info in his guide is fully credited to him. A small reminder, Kridershot/Meticulous Bolts with UE is stronger than this for both solo and group play but it requires very specific items and it's alot harder to gear for. I managed to clear 54 with UE with unoptimized kit and there's 2 57 clears on the EU leaderboard, showcasing the true potential of this new set compared to our old M6 overlord.



Armory: http://eu.battle.net/d3/en/profile/bleed-1789/hero/149095



Follower: For solo play, you should be using the Templar. Reason being his massive heals, CC, bodyblock potential, but most importantly, his insane DPS compared to all other followers. Pretty much what was said in this post:



"Templar. He pushes out more dps than enchantress with Thunderfury with STR and RedGem, Moonlight Ward with Str/Asp/Crit/Socket, Unity with STR/Crit/Elitedmg/Socket, Bul'kathos Wedding Band with Str/Crit/Attack Speed/Socket, Defender of Westmarch with STR/Crit/Socket/%Block, and the templar relic with 100% CHD and STR/Block%.


Maxing STR and not going over 150% CHD (50% Base + 100% from Relic or any other combo, since followers are capped at 150% CHD) with a Thunderfury and Defender of Westmarch turns this guy into an absolute dps beast. Heal/Intimidate/Charge/Inspire, he proccs BoTT, bodyblocks enemies along with your pets, tanks electrified hits, gives you hatred/sec ,etc.


This video showcases it pretty well, even tho he doesnt have perfect gear: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zt_duCaVBiA "




MY THOUGHTS ON 2.2:


I honestly think this patch is amazing. There's alot more balance between classes, we finally have a higher Bloodshard cap, and for some reason rifts feel a bit more dense to me. Im quite happy that DH's now have 3 powerful builds to choose from (M6 / Nat's / UE), all of them viable at the endgame, with certain limitations ofc. I most likely wont be playing season 3, but once it ends, i definitively want to give UE MS with DML a try. Overall a very good patch, lets hope they keep going in the right way with future ones.



Any questions or suggestions you might have, feel free to leave it in the comments.