Am enjoying finishing S8 with my first DH. I am using the UE set with travellers set and SoJ - I cubed Dawn, Visage and Elusive ring.
I notice that most high end players are using Focus and Restraint with a Hellfire neck. Ive kept my Travellers and SoJ set up given that SoJ has +9 disc and that feeds into my set bonus. Ive also seen Travellers set use with CoE - but again - I keep thinking that my SoJ has the +9 disc so I should just keep that.
Can some epic DH give me some advice? I cant really see the benefit of trading off my SoJ but would like to understand why others are doing this and using either F&R or Travellers with CoE.
TL;DR - The F&R act as a multiplier to your other damage types. If you are losing 9 discipline, let's say you go from 109 to 100 discipline (with no other multipliers). In scenario one (SoJ) you have 109x40% added damage or 4360% damage. In 2, (F&R with 100 discipline) you have 4000% damage, but it is multiplied by Focus buff so 1.5x4000% - 6000% and then buffed by Restraint so 1.5x6000% = 9000%.
Clearly F&R provide significantly more damage, and it is because of how damage is calculated.
Thanks for all the tips guys - I switched to F+R and am using a Hellfire Amulet with the Ambush passive.
One other question - I have cubed the elusive ring for the -60% damage reduction - but again I see others using CoE. I just dont think I could handle the hits without Elusive Ring cubed but again - what am I missing?
I spoke with a DH in game and he seemed to suggest I should stack my para points in VIT and then switch Elusive to CoE - but wasnt sure if he was correct or not.
About SoJ+TP vs F&R already answered,which F&R is better.
TP is good for Shadow Dh,but dont use SoJ,just go Elusive and CoE.
Now about your paragon.Basically UE is squissy build,even you have 1millions Vit still 2shots die,just go Hatred and Dex.I can go 80s (if not mistake 83) with 450k Vit.
F/R is the way to go... you already know. COE is the way to go. Don't stack Vit on paragon points.
Max your damage and work on play skills. You are a ranged character so be aware that most of the time when your DH dies it is because you decided to get too close to something that has half the range that you do. It takes some experience to know when you absolutely have to stay out of range of something and when you should stutter step around a dense group of monsters, but your play skills will improve if you are thinking about those things while you play.
Edit: Hardcore. Okay you could probably stack some Vit in HC. haha.
Season 9 (the new patch in general) is going to make things better for you as you won't get mobbed by elites at the entrances, etc. Also if you can get a good amount of LOH on one item of gear (along with a decent base of Vitality- lets bump that up to 750k if you are pushing GRifts) that will help a lot. Think of it like this- you want to be able to sustain a few hits without dying, otherwise as long as you are spamming Multishot you will regenerate health very quickly. Now listen to what the HC folks tell you. Good luck.
I guess its playstyle need to get more used to DH as am still feeling like taking too much damage. When in Groups I find it difficult to find a spot thats not got a stray mob and in solo is slightly easier as I am at least controlling the pace. Ive managed to clear GR66 but would have through I could do higher.
Any other recommendations are welcome! Thanks again for all your help.
You should mention that you Play on HC ^^ I played UE DH this season too and i believe that the wolf doesn't give me much boost. I switched to the boar companion, 20% allress and the additional taunt are pretty useful, even better in hc.
You need to have more Cooldown Reduction for Vengeance uptime.
Amulet should be more like %elemental dmg, chc, chd, socket.
If you feel squishy, you can still try Elusive Ring and swap to CoE when you'll feel more experienced with playstyle.
Also you can swap Focus rune on Evasive Fire to Hardened rune for more toughness.
On HC I will be more careful with higher GRs, rather take it step by step, improving gear, playstyle and caldesanns.
This.
Perma vengeance requires about 37% CDR and is needed for both increased hatred regen, increased damage, and (with visage of gunnes) another 50% damage reduction all the time. I'd consider running Obsidian Ring in the cube until you hit 37% CDR on gear. Items that I prefer to roll CDR on are shoulders, gloves, quiver, diamond in helm, and then max out CDR paragons. If you roll max CDR on most of these slots, you'll hit 37% easily.
Like others have said, you'll want to be in a position of higher toughness first and after you've exhausted all options to gain damage without sacrificing toughness, begin to drop some in order to gain damage. That balance is up to you to decide as it needs to suit your playstyle and how much you're willing to step outside your comfort zone.
But if you're finding yourself too squishy still, areas you could gain toughness:
- drop Zeis for Esoteric Alteration
- changing wolf companion to boar
- elusive ring in cube (as you were doing but not ideal)
- increase All Res on gear (I have All Res on chest and boots). You're also missing secondary resistances on some gear (but this is more luck... ensuring the right primary stats is more important). You could swap out Witching Hour for a Hunter's Wrath, would make running the Evasive Fire Hardened rune more bearable if you're use to the fast hatred gen of Focus.
You need a better restraint ring with both crit stats on it too. LOH on the Yangs is debatable... it's decent but I personally prefer Vit on my Yangs for more hit points.
But if looks like you've got a viable UE build from what you could slap together. Keep up with the grind... eventually you'll get gear with better stats.
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Hi
Am enjoying finishing S8 with my first DH. I am using the UE set with travellers set and SoJ - I cubed Dawn, Visage and Elusive ring.
I notice that most high end players are using Focus and Restraint with a Hellfire neck. Ive kept my Travellers and SoJ set up given that SoJ has +9 disc and that feeds into my set bonus. Ive also seen Travellers set use with CoE - but again - I keep thinking that my SoJ has the +9 disc so I should just keep that.
Can some epic DH give me some advice? I cant really see the benefit of trading off my SoJ but would like to understand why others are doing this and using either F&R or Travellers with CoE.
Thanks
Here is an explanation of what you are asking (not by me, just linking): https://us.battle.net/forums/en/d3/topic/18710646678
TL;DR - The F&R act as a multiplier to your other damage types. If you are losing 9 discipline, let's say you go from 109 to 100 discipline (with no other multipliers). In scenario one (SoJ) you have 109x40% added damage or 4360% damage. In 2, (F&R with 100 discipline) you have 4000% damage, but it is multiplied by Focus buff so 1.5x4000% - 6000% and then buffed by Restraint so 1.5x6000% = 9000%.
Clearly F&R provide significantly more damage, and it is because of how damage is calculated.
Thanks for all the tips guys - I switched to F+R and am using a Hellfire Amulet with the Ambush passive.
One other question - I have cubed the elusive ring for the -60% damage reduction - but again I see others using CoE. I just dont think I could handle the hits without Elusive Ring cubed but again - what am I missing?
I spoke with a DH in game and he seemed to suggest I should stack my para points in VIT and then switch Elusive to CoE - but wasnt sure if he was correct or not.
Am para 767 at the moment.
About SoJ+TP vs F&R already answered,which F&R is better.
TP is good for Shadow Dh,but dont use SoJ,just go Elusive and CoE.
Now about your paragon.Basically UE is squissy build,even you have 1millions Vit still 2shots die,just go Hatred and Dex.I can go 80s (if not mistake 83) with 450k Vit.
F/R is the way to go... you already know. COE is the way to go. Don't stack Vit on paragon points.
Max your damage and work on play skills. You are a ranged character so be aware that most of the time when your DH dies it is because you decided to get too close to something that has half the range that you do. It takes some experience to know when you absolutely have to stay out of range of something and when you should stutter step around a dense group of monsters, but your play skills will improve if you are thinking about those things while you play.
Edit: Hardcore. Okay you could probably stack some Vit in HC. haha.
Season 9 (the new patch in general) is going to make things better for you as you won't get mobbed by elites at the entrances, etc. Also if you can get a good amount of LOH on one item of gear (along with a decent base of Vitality- lets bump that up to 750k if you are pushing GRifts) that will help a lot. Think of it like this- you want to be able to sustain a few hits without dying, otherwise as long as you are spamming Multishot you will regenerate health very quickly. Now listen to what the HC folks tell you. Good luck.
"Son, you got a panty on your head..."
So this is my build am using now following all your advice - thanks guys.
http://eu.battle.net/d3/en/profile/Raven-14233/hero/85606265
I guess its playstyle need to get more used to DH as am still feeling like taking too much damage. When in Groups I find it difficult to find a spot thats not got a stray mob and in solo is slightly easier as I am at least controlling the pace. Ive managed to clear GR66 but would have through I could do higher.
Any other recommendations are welcome! Thanks again for all your help.
You should mention that you Play on HC ^^ I played UE DH this season too and i believe that the wolf doesn't give me much boost. I switched to the boar companion, 20% allress and the additional taunt are pretty useful, even better in hc.
Ah yes sorry I should have mentioned that I play HC - but I thought everyone plays HC............... so thought it was obvious - my bad(!)
I love all the stats a SoJ gives but there is just not one build where it is BiS.
Perma vengeance requires about 37% CDR and is needed for both increased hatred regen, increased damage, and (with visage of gunnes) another 50% damage reduction all the time. I'd consider running Obsidian Ring in the cube until you hit 37% CDR on gear. Items that I prefer to roll CDR on are shoulders, gloves, quiver, diamond in helm, and then max out CDR paragons. If you roll max CDR on most of these slots, you'll hit 37% easily.
Like others have said, you'll want to be in a position of higher toughness first and after you've exhausted all options to gain damage without sacrificing toughness, begin to drop some in order to gain damage. That balance is up to you to decide as it needs to suit your playstyle and how much you're willing to step outside your comfort zone.
But if you're finding yourself too squishy still, areas you could gain toughness:
- drop Zeis for Esoteric Alteration
- changing wolf companion to boar
- elusive ring in cube (as you were doing but not ideal)
- increase All Res on gear (I have All Res on chest and boots). You're also missing secondary resistances on some gear (but this is more luck... ensuring the right primary stats is more important). You could swap out Witching Hour for a Hunter's Wrath, would make running the Evasive Fire Hardened rune more bearable if you're use to the fast hatred gen of Focus.
You need a better restraint ring with both crit stats on it too. LOH on the Yangs is debatable... it's decent but I personally prefer Vit on my Yangs for more hit points.
But if looks like you've got a viable UE build from what you could slap together. Keep up with the grind... eventually you'll get gear with better stats.