I'm not sure which direction I want to go next with my DH gear wise. I think I need more crit chance and crit damage and I know I could use more dex but it's pretty pricey at this point.
I can somewhat farm Act 3 but some elite affixes really tear me up but typically I can blow through everything pretty quickly. I can survive a couple hits without activating gloom or SS but typically I get one shotted by big hits (though dodge kicks in quite often) What would you do if you were me?
Before anything else, I'd try a different build. Bows and hand xbows don't synergize well with Cluster Arrow. The spell costs too much hatred to risk a low damage hit, which is likely as your bow has a minimum damage of 322. If you want to keep Cluster Arrow, I'd recommend a 2h xbow. Otherwise give Ball Lightening a try, I think you'll find you get more bang for your buck (hatred) with it.
Hey thanks for the suggestions. I do have a decent 2H xbow:
1038 DPS
671-1029 damage
+31 min damage
+221-523 Lightning damage
106 Dex
IAS 11%
Socket
I like cluster arrow because it can crit for me at over 200k and I can fire three of them off now that I switched from SS to Grenadier. I'll try the 2h xbow again with my current skills and see how it goes.
My choice of skills aside, how does my gear look? I've grown dependant on my Nat's set due to the glass cannon nature of my DH and it serves me well but I die often in Act III if I don't pay attention. I think I put together a decent Nat's set but I'm sure I could use improvement there and with everything else. Any suggestions? I have about 20 mil gold in my budget due to some nice drops that sold over the past month.
I can't see from your profile, but it would appear that your crit chance is relatively low (low enough to not show up on the gear bonuses). That's probably your weakest point. You have a lot of attack speed, so if you don't need it all maybe you could find a ring with crit chance and high dex, look for +damage on it as well. It certainly wouldn't hurt to fill out a spread sheet, that way you can judge what item upgrades will be most cost effective. For example, I know that in my case an amulet with 7.5+ crit chance and dex over 200 was a better upgrade than a neck with crit damage. I also don't know what the attack speed to crit chance trade off will be.
I'm also using Nat's set and I've got ~65-70k dps depending on what weapon selection I choose to use. 450+ resists, and I'm still getting one shot by hellfliers and it's a 50/50 chance whether I'll get one shot by spear goats.
I can't see from your profile, but it would appear that your crit chance is relatively low (low enough to not show up on the gear bonuses). That's probably your weakest point. You have a lot of attack speed, so if you don't need it all maybe you could find a ring with crit chance and high dex, look for +damage on it as well. It certainly wouldn't hurt to fill out a spread sheet, that way you can judge what item upgrades will be most cost effective. For example, I know that in my case an amulet with 7.5+ crit chance and dex over 200 was a better upgrade than a neck with crit damage. I also don't know what the attack speed to crit chance trade off will be.
I'm also using Nat's set and I've got ~65-70k dps depending on what weapon selection I choose to use. 450+ resists, and I'm still getting one shot by hellfliers and it's a 50/50 chance whether I'll get one shot by spear goats.
Yes the hellfliers are a PAIN because they one shot me too but anything fire is really strong - they keep you on your toes that's for sure. My crit chance does suck and I'm working on that - a Nat's helm with crit is $$$$$. I have a DH spreadsheet so i'll have to update it and see what I can come up with.
Thanks for the suggestions capslock dude! I'm looking into a new amulet when I get home from work.
It looks like you are going to stick with SS for a while, since you chose attack speed instead of crit chance for couple of your gear pieces.
With that being said, the main problem of your build is low crit damage. Since your survivability is quite low, so your life depends on the first two cluster bombs with SS active; but 240% crit damage probably won't do it.
Also, try use Torturous Ground rune for caltrops for you to gain more distance and therefore survivability. More importantly, since you need to time the drop location of the cluster bombs, the snare provided by Torturous Ground really helps.
Thanks for the ideas. This weekend I switched back to my 2H Xbow and upgraded the jem to a 90% crit damage emerald. I bought a new amulet and actually found some upgraded bracers so my crit chance is around 33% now. Crit damage is, I think, around 250 so I still need to work on that - I'd like to find a 2H xbow with native crit damage, dex and attack speed plus a socket. Also looking for new shoulders...
I dumped the SS passive and started using vengence like bearbarian suggested. Seems to be working pretty well so far - I may be able to get rid of the bat (extra hatred regen) and choose another skill. I think I got my first 300k cluster bomb crit this weekend too; the numbers are getting higher and higher. I still use the traps with the rune that gives you increased crit chance - seems to be working for me so far.
One place I'm really suffering is vitality and I really dont want to swap out emeralds to add more... I wish we had one or two more gear slots.
Also, try use Torturous Ground rune for caltrops for you to gain more distance and therefore survivability. More importantly, since you need to time the drop location of the cluster bombs, the snare provided by Torturous Ground really helps.
I LOVE Torturous Ground rune for caltrops, except for when I run into a Reflect Damage affix. Nothing like seeing a ton of red damage numbers flying off my toon.
For non reflects mobs I usually drop 2-3 caltrops in the same spot for added damage.
I was running Spiked Trap (Lightning Rod), but dropped it for Shadow Power (Gloom) recently to try and mitigate some of the aforementioned reflect damage mobs.
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I can somewhat farm Act 3 but some elite affixes really tear me up but typically I can blow through everything pretty quickly. I can survive a couple hits without activating gloom or SS but typically I get one shotted by big hits (though dodge kicks in quite often) What would you do if you were me?
Hopefully the link to my profile works. Thanks!
http://us.battle.net...7/hero/10483699
1038 DPS
671-1029 damage
+31 min damage
+221-523 Lightning damage
106 Dex
IAS 11%
Socket
I like cluster arrow because it can crit for me at over 200k and I can fire three of them off now that I switched from SS to Grenadier. I'll try the 2h xbow again with my current skills and see how it goes.
I'm also using Nat's set and I've got ~65-70k dps depending on what weapon selection I choose to use. 450+ resists, and I'm still getting one shot by hellfliers and it's a 50/50 chance whether I'll get one shot by spear goats.
Yes the hellfliers are a PAIN because they one shot me too but anything fire is really strong - they keep you on your toes that's for sure. My crit chance does suck and I'm working on that - a Nat's helm with crit is $$$$$. I have a DH spreadsheet so i'll have to update it and see what I can come up with.
Thanks for the suggestions capslock dude! I'm looking into a new amulet when I get home from work.
With that being said, the main problem of your build is low crit damage. Since your survivability is quite low, so your life depends on the first two cluster bombs with SS active; but 240% crit damage probably won't do it.
Also, try use Torturous Ground rune for caltrops for you to gain more distance and therefore survivability. More importantly, since you need to time the drop location of the cluster bombs, the snare provided by Torturous Ground really helps.
I dumped the SS passive and started using vengence like bearbarian suggested. Seems to be working pretty well so far - I may be able to get rid of the bat (extra hatred regen) and choose another skill. I think I got my first 300k cluster bomb crit this weekend too; the numbers are getting higher and higher. I still use the traps with the rune that gives you increased crit chance - seems to be working for me so far.
One place I'm really suffering is vitality and I really dont want to swap out emeralds to add more... I wish we had one or two more gear slots.
I LOVE Torturous Ground rune for caltrops, except for when I run into a Reflect Damage affix. Nothing like seeing a ton of red damage numbers flying off my toon.
For non reflects mobs I usually drop 2-3 caltrops in the same spot for added damage.
Here's my build.
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/profile/Cavar-1862/hero/10407665
I was running Spiked Trap (Lightning Rod), but dropped it for Shadow Power (Gloom) recently to try and mitigate some of the aforementioned reflect damage mobs.