I am a Demon Hunter veteran that has been playing since D3 Beta. I knew this would be my class the second I watched the Demon Hunter reveal trailer (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMBRHx1UsZM).
Let's get right to the point. I believe this to be a cutting edge build that takes advantage of a lot of synergy with Fan of Knives and passives. It really does not require any specific legendary items, however it becomes MUCH more viable with Sash of Knives (http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/sash-of-knives).
But wait, doesn't fan of knives suck shit?
Yes! It does! But this skill is capable of doing outrageous amounts of damage when you remove the cool down with Knives Expert and stack physical damage and Fan of Knives damage on gear.
This is an up close and personal build. You not only want to be close to enemies, you need to be close.
Evasive Fire - Hardened: The perfect skill for this build. It is physical damage, and removes the back flip effect and gives you 25% armor. Also, generates 4 hatred instead of 3.
Chakram - Shuriken Cloud: You only need to cast this once every two minutes, which is ideal because all your hatred needs to go towards using Fan of Knives. Does massive amounts of damage all around you every second. Also physical damage. REMEMBER TO REFRESH IT!
Fan of Knives - Knives Expert: The heart and soul of the build. This rune removes the cool down and gives it a 30 hatred cost allowing you to spam it; hatred permitting.
Vault - Action Shot: I use action shot for the extra damage because I have a lot of extra discipline from gear. Otherwise, I would use Tumble. This can just be personal preference.
Vengeance - Seethe: Great for keeping your hatred up and a great cool down for elites and bosses. Not necessary for this build but very effective.
Shadow Power - Gloom: Because this build requires you to stand and tank, the life steal and damage reduction is very valuable. Blood Moon also viable.
Fan of Knives can really take advantage of a lot of DH passives.
Cull the Weak: Fan of Knives slows enemies, so take advantage of this 20% damage increase.
Archery: Always a great passive regardless of build, replace it if you want.
Numbing Traps: All enemies hit by Fan of Knives will do 25% less damage. Perfect.
Single Out: Great for bosses and elites.
One last thing to point out about Fan of Knives is that it can be cast while you are using your hatred generators. So you will be spamming Evasive Fire, keeping your hatred up, while casting Fan of Knives.
Feel free to give it a try and leave some feedback! Remember to refresh Chakram!
As soon as i got the Sash of Knives i was thinking about something similar, and i'm glad most skills are the same of what i was thinking.
I would replace Single Out with Perfectionist if you need more EHP (and i'm a pretty defensive player, if you are dead you do 0 damage) or with Nightstalker, which procs with your Shuriken Cloud to have always a great amout of Discipline and spam Gloom when needed.
Wolf companion or Boar for defence would be a cool addition but i have no idea what to replace, maybe Chakram, but i like the free damage when monsters are near me.... decisions decisions.
I'm dying to use Fan of Knives but I'm not sure that I'm ready yet. I think about it in 2 ways:
1 - Complete the Shadows Bane set....reducing de cooldown for every demon killed will help me spam this during rifts.
2 - Go all out for a infinite strafe build that I thought out, but its completly dependent of this gears:
Cindercoat (http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/cindercoat), Hexing Pants of mr Yan (http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/hexing-pants-of-mr-yan), Prides Fall (http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/prides-fall-pgClp) and a bunch of reduce CD itens. Its all theory, of course, but the idea is to have an eternal strafe-smoke screen. Strafe would cost less than your hatred regen, so all your hatred would be used in fan of knives. Punishment and Vengeance would replenish your hatred, but you need a lot of discipline or itens that reduce the cost of every discipline skill. The build would be something like that:
If your disc regen is too damn good, go for Ballisticsinstead of perfectionist. Another build would be to remove the punishment rune for a disc generator rune, and change perfectionist for Bloody Vengeance, wich seems more reliable. Of course, I don't have a single clue if this can work out. But I'm looking forward to find out.
Thanks for the feedback guys. I agree that adding in Ambush is probably a good idea. The reason I don't use a Companion is that because this build puts you in melee range constantly and having a Shadow Power is a way to make sure yo stay alive through all the damage. I just think you need a defensive skill in this build.
Remember to that enemies are doing 25% less damage (Numbing Traps) and you are gaining 25% armor from Evasive Fire.
As far as my profile for my gear goes, I actually (for now) have switched to a very fun and powerful poison build that I will be writing up sometime soon so look for that!
Actually ambush can be pretty nice for certain builds. Using a high damage skill, such as something like fan of knives or cluster arrow, If you are almost 1 shotting things, ambush will push you right over that edge. This allows you to clear alot of trash mobs in 1 hit, which let you save more hatred for the big guys.
Cool build BTW, i have the belt (although currently not wearing it) so i'll definitely give it a shot.
I just got the belt tonight, with a 39% on the FoK damage. I am gonna try this build out with a tiny tweak using companion instead of Shadow Power because I got the cloak of greywolf. I'm interested in seeing what this does.
If you're already that close to 1 shotting things, finish them with a quick grenade round. Seriously, your justification is to use it for whites it's about the elites man.
Ambush is a wonderful passive, which makes my cluster arrows crit for 20-33 mil and my granades crit for about 5 mil. I'm reaching the point in damage where I will be able to take away Ambush and still one-shot mobs with cluster arrow (see my one-shot build here) but at the start, Ambush has served me well giving that extra initial push.
But do you understand that the thing you're one shotting aren't the things you need to be worrying about? IE the shit that takes forever to kill, that only use ambush for 25% of the fight, that's where talents come in useful, and this one is useless. Who gives a shit about one shotting white mobs lol
I wouldn't say Ambush is awful, at a minimum it's a 10% damage increase (1.4*.25+.75=1.1). It's definitely not the best talent to use but it's not garbage. The bigger "chunks" of damage you can do at 76-80% the better mileage you get from it. (ie: if you can do 10% damage in one cast at 76% it gives you a total boost of 13% )
Alright, I'll retract my point slightly. Ambush is not one of the worst talents we have- it's actually in our top 8ish, sadly.
However, the reasoning is- Ambush allows you to one shot white mobs easier while being of less use against bosses, particular creatures (primordial scavenger, etc), and some affixes (shielding, extra health, waller), which tend to be the things you struggle with. You'll have a dud talent sitting there for 3/4's of the fight, just seems like a waste.
There is an amulet that pops up 2 shadow clones. I love it with fan of knives. There are other ways to stun in order to trigger the effect, but I prefer fan of knives. It's called haunt of vaxo
You realize you only hit 22 mil because of Ambush right? You're more likely hitting 12-18mil's like I am, so that 'math' reasoning goes right out the window. I guess if you're sticking with Torment 1 it makes sense, I'm just talking from a higher Torment perspective I suppose. My bad
Currently farming Torment 5 aswell without shrine gloves aslong as I play a bit safer
The OP's build isnt that great in my opinion. Simply use any 6 hatred generator and Smoke Screen with Healing Vapor or go for 29.85% CD reduction for permanent Smoke Screen build. This does require 67.33% crit chance for it to work which shouldnt be too difficult to reach but you'll be spamming FoK alot less.
Just wanted to jump in and add some more thoughts. Glad to see this on the front page : D
I will also be doing a poison Demon Hunter build/guide in the future so look for that. Add me at: Pherzhus#1678 for any questions or to keep the discussion going.
Obviously, as with all builds, you need to adapt this to your particular play style and gear. There is no "right" way. I wanted to touch on three things: Smoke Screen, Wolf Companion, and what generator to use.
I do actually think Smoke Screen with Healing Vapors is absolutely the way to go. Combine this with high discipline on gear and Night Stalker and or Perfectionist and you can immune and heal through a lot. This can replace Shadow Power.
I know Wolf is pretty much standard in almost all Demon Hunter builds and it absolutely works here. What I don't like about it however is that it takes attention away from you. I want enemies surrounding me and being close, I don't want them far away fighting my Wolf. Chakram and Fan of Knives needs your enemies to be close. This can just come down to choice of how you want to play and what feels right to you.
As far as generators go, I know it can be very tempting to use one of the hatred generators that generate 6 hatred with a particular rune; Grenade, Entangling Shot, and Hungering Arrow. The extra hatred is nice but these runes change the damage to fire. My argument for Evasive Fire is that not only does it generate 4 hatred, the Hardened rune makes the damage physical and gives you the 25% armor buff. Also this skill hits multiple targets AND just got a pretty substantial buff increasing the damage of the primary target to 200% instead of 160%. Again, your choice based on what feels right to you. Hungering Arrow also got a buff, Spray of Teeth could also be a viable choice depending on your crit chance.
High paragon levels can also make a massive difference because of the ability to increase how much hatred you have and resource cost reduction. Sash of Knives rolls with resource cost reduction so keep it! Fan of Knives damage can also be applied to shoulders as well as resource cost reduction. Fan of Knives can also be added to a chest armor or cloak.
Two items (besides Sash of Knives) that would be nice to add to this build would be:
The proc rate is insane (nearly every time you hit any enemy it will release the poison nova, AND it can crit)it actually does a lot of damage. Basically it's just free damage that costs you nothing and hits at the range you want your enemies in. Also the helm can roll physical damage %.
Let's get right to the point. I believe this to be a cutting edge build that takes advantage of a lot of synergy with Fan of Knives and passives. It really does not require any specific legendary items, however it becomes MUCH more viable with Sash of Knives (http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/sash-of-knives).
But wait, doesn't fan of knives suck shit?
Yes! It does! But this skill is capable of doing outrageous amounts of damage when you remove the cool down with Knives Expert and stack physical damage and Fan of Knives damage on gear.
Here is the build:
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/demon-hunter#UefdOT!ceVR!acbaYY
This is an up close and personal build. You not only want to be close to enemies, you need to be close.
Evasive Fire - Hardened: The perfect skill for this build. It is physical damage, and removes the back flip effect and gives you 25% armor. Also, generates 4 hatred instead of 3.
Chakram - Shuriken Cloud: You only need to cast this once every two minutes, which is ideal because all your hatred needs to go towards using Fan of Knives. Does massive amounts of damage all around you every second. Also physical damage. REMEMBER TO REFRESH IT!
Fan of Knives - Knives Expert: The heart and soul of the build. This rune removes the cool down and gives it a 30 hatred cost allowing you to spam it; hatred permitting.
Vault - Action Shot: I use action shot for the extra damage because I have a lot of extra discipline from gear. Otherwise, I would use Tumble. This can just be personal preference.
Vengeance - Seethe: Great for keeping your hatred up and a great cool down for elites and bosses. Not necessary for this build but very effective.
Shadow Power - Gloom: Because this build requires you to stand and tank, the life steal and damage reduction is very valuable. Blood Moon also viable.
Fan of Knives can really take advantage of a lot of DH passives.
Cull the Weak: Fan of Knives slows enemies, so take advantage of this 20% damage increase.
Archery: Always a great passive regardless of build, replace it if you want.
Numbing Traps: All enemies hit by Fan of Knives will do 25% less damage. Perfect.
Single Out: Great for bosses and elites.
One last thing to point out about Fan of Knives is that it can be cast while you are using your hatred generators. So you will be spamming Evasive Fire, keeping your hatred up, while casting Fan of Knives.
Feel free to give it a try and leave some feedback! Remember to refresh Chakram!
I would replace Single Out with Perfectionist if you need more EHP (and i'm a pretty defensive player, if you are dead you do 0 damage) or with Nightstalker, which procs with your Shuriken Cloud to have always a great amout of Discipline and spam Gloom when needed.
Wolf companion or Boar for defence would be a cool addition but i have no idea what to replace, maybe Chakram, but i like the free damage when monsters are near me.... decisions decisions.
1 - Complete the Shadows Bane set....reducing de cooldown for every demon killed will help me spam this during rifts.
2 - Go all out for a infinite strafe build that I thought out, but its completly dependent of this gears:
Cindercoat (http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/cindercoat), Hexing Pants of mr Yan (http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/hexing-pants-of-mr-yan), Prides Fall (http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/prides-fall-pgClp) and a bunch of reduce CD itens. Its all theory, of course, but the idea is to have an eternal strafe-smoke screen. Strafe would cost less than your hatred regen, so all your hatred would be used in fan of knives. Punishment and Vengeance would replenish your hatred, but you need a lot of discipline or itens that reduce the cost of every discipline skill. The build would be something like that:
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/demon-hunter#eifVXO!cefX!cYbZZY
If your disc regen is too damn good, go for Ballisticsinstead of perfectionist. Another build would be to remove the punishment rune for a disc generator rune, and change perfectionist for Bloody Vengeance, wich seems more reliable. Of course, I don't have a single clue if this can work out. But I'm looking forward to find out.
Remember to that enemies are doing 25% less damage (Numbing Traps) and you are gaining 25% armor from Evasive Fire.
As far as my profile for my gear goes, I actually (for now) have switched to a very fun and powerful poison build that I will be writing up sometime soon so look for that!
Cool build BTW, i have the belt (although currently not wearing it) so i'll definitely give it a shot.
However, the reasoning is- Ambush allows you to one shot white mobs easier while being of less use against bosses, particular creatures (primordial scavenger, etc), and some affixes (shielding, extra health, waller), which tend to be the things you struggle with. You'll have a dud talent sitting there for 3/4's of the fight, just seems like a waste.
I will also be doing a poison Demon Hunter build/guide in the future so look for that. Add me at: Pherzhus#1678 for any questions or to keep the discussion going.
Obviously, as with all builds, you need to adapt this to your particular play style and gear. There is no "right" way. I wanted to touch on three things: Smoke Screen, Wolf Companion, and what generator to use.
I do actually think Smoke Screen with Healing Vapors is absolutely the way to go. Combine this with high discipline on gear and Night Stalker and or Perfectionist and you can immune and heal through a lot. This can replace Shadow Power.
I know Wolf is pretty much standard in almost all Demon Hunter builds and it absolutely works here. What I don't like about it however is that it takes attention away from you. I want enemies surrounding me and being close, I don't want them far away fighting my Wolf. Chakram and Fan of Knives needs your enemies to be close. This can just come down to choice of how you want to play and what feels right to you.
As far as generators go, I know it can be very tempting to use one of the hatred generators that generate 6 hatred with a particular rune; Grenade, Entangling Shot, and Hungering Arrow. The extra hatred is nice but these runes change the damage to fire. My argument for Evasive Fire is that not only does it generate 4 hatred, the Hardened rune makes the damage physical and gives you the 25% armor buff. Also this skill hits multiple targets AND just got a pretty substantial buff increasing the damage of the primary target to 200% instead of 160%. Again, your choice based on what feels right to you. Hungering Arrow also got a buff, Spray of Teeth could also be a viable choice depending on your crit chance.
High paragon levels can also make a massive difference because of the ability to increase how much hatred you have and resource cost reduction. Sash of Knives rolls with resource cost reduction so keep it! Fan of Knives damage can also be applied to shoulders as well as resource cost reduction. Fan of Knives can also be added to a chest armor or cloak.
Two items (besides Sash of Knives) that would be nice to add to this build would be:
Andariels Visage -http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/andariels-visage
The proc rate is insane (nearly every time you hit any enemy it will release the poison nova, AND it can crit)it actually does a lot of damage. Basically it's just free damage that costs you nothing and hits at the range you want your enemies in. Also the helm can roll physical damage %.
Death Watch Mantle -http://us.battle.net/d3/en/item/death-watch-mantle
Same idea as Andariels. Free, extra damage that requires nothing from you but to be in the range you want to be in anyway.