I know I am a bit late, but I too thought the Ballistics passive was interesting when I saw it and had already come up with a different take on the style. Two different styles in fact. 1 focusing on as much burst damage as possible, while the other focusing on a more steady supply of rockets. It's not for everyone I imagine, as it is a bit melee oriented, so it takes a little bit of extra care sometimes.
So the concept here is simple - Once every 90 seconds, you become the embodiment of The 4th of July. That is to say, relatively ridiculous. In between that you are helping deal out AoE damage and providing your group with a buff. Outside of that, we want to make sure almost every action we take is benefiting from the passive ability "Ballistics." Straffing away? Rockets. Shooting your bow? Add some rockets. Dodging an attack or taking an arrow to the knee? Throw in the chest piece Blackfeather, and guess what? Even being a target makes you shoot rockets. So with this setup, essentially everything you do results in explosion.
Allow me to explain so far what I have been working with.
SKILLS
Entangling Shot + Justice Is Served: I choose this for the extra hatred to fuel more Strafing as well as provide a debuff to the enemy while you spin away. You could of course use Hungering Arrow + Serrated Arrow for more damage but less control.
Chakram + Shuriken Cloud: Layer 1 of your melee mobile dps. All you have to do is make sure it is on at all times, and you'll have the sauce and spice of the AoE sandwich.
Shadow Power + Blood Moon: I like this ability since you will have up to 4 layers of damage going out at one time, so the healing gets pretty substantial. I also enjoy the Shadow Power + Shadow Glide combo for a slightly more mobile version to help you move out of bad stuff, rather than just drain health.
Companion + Wolf: Provides you and your party with a damage buff every 30 seconds. Ideally, this will line up perfectly with the 90 second cool down of "Vengeance". Another good choice is the Bat, trading the damage boost to you and the party for the ability to Strafe longer. Longer Strafe = more rockets. Should you go the route of the bat, I recommend pairing Vengeance with Seethe for longer rocket dancing, but less damage.
Vengeance + Dark Heart: Layer 2, and the delicious meat and cheese of the build, this provides you with constant rocket flow and an additional layer of AoE damage as melee range lightning. For the more resource friendly version, try Seethe paired with Companion + Bat.
Strafe + Rocket Storm: The bread of the build, Strafe provides you with constant steady damage with the added utility of being able to attack on the move. It also provides an additional 2 layers of AoE damage to the build.
PASSIVES
Blood Vengeance: This ability helps to keep your hate nice and full. Full hate = more rockets.
Archery: Excellent damage boost or some helpful resource regeneration depending on weapon.
Perfectionist: As this build is melee focused when it comes time to pop Vengeance, the extra beef for this sandwich can help make a difference. Should you not need the boost, feel free to swap it for a different talent, perhaps Ambush.
Ballistics: The whole reason for the build, all the hundreds of rockets that will be flying out of you will be more deadly than ever.
The idea is in between your Vengeance cool down, help your party with your wolf buff and provide steady damage with Strafe. Keep your Shurikens up and heal with Shadow Power + Potions as needed. Entangling Shot to help provide a steady flow of hatred and help keep enemies away. Then, when the big moment arrives that your hatred is full, your chakrams are on (which they should be at all times anyway), your Shadow Power, Wolf and Vengeance are all off cooldown, the magic happens: Press 1,2,3, and hold 4 while charging yourself into unfathomably massive groups of enemies and watch them crumble around you while struggling to leave a scratch. You've got Chakrams hitting them. You've got Lightning hitting them. You've got red rockets pummeling foes from your bow, and blue rockets flying out of your own body into their faces.
Some gear recommendations so far that I have personally come across:
Chest: Blackfeather - Extra rockets fly out of you when you get hit by ranged or dodge attacks. More rockets = more awesome.
Wrists: Reapers Wraps - Combined with Blood Vengeance, health globes go a really long way for your resources.
This is the first build I have ever posted that I had tried to tinker with, so please feel free to comment/criticize. I just thought it was an interesting idea and since it was already a concept, thought I would share my own twist on it. If nothing else, this is an excellent speed clearing build for lower difficulty play - especially the more resource friendly version.
I just started playing like a month ago or so and I had no idea this was a thing. That's what I get for not checking out the menus. Thank you.
I thought I would share the concept with you all.
Link to build: http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/demon-hunter#beTSOi!befh!YcZcZY
So the concept here is simple - Once every 90 seconds, you become the embodiment of The 4th of July. That is to say, relatively ridiculous. In between that you are helping deal out AoE damage and providing your group with a buff. Outside of that, we want to make sure almost every action we take is benefiting from the passive ability "Ballistics." Straffing away? Rockets. Shooting your bow? Add some rockets. Dodging an attack or taking an arrow to the knee? Throw in the chest piece Blackfeather, and guess what? Even being a target makes you shoot rockets. So with this setup, essentially everything you do results in explosion.
Allow me to explain so far what I have been working with.
SKILLS
Entangling Shot + Justice Is Served: I choose this for the extra hatred to fuel more Strafing as well as provide a debuff to the enemy while you spin away. You could of course use Hungering Arrow + Serrated Arrow for more damage but less control.
Chakram + Shuriken Cloud: Layer 1 of your melee mobile dps. All you have to do is make sure it is on at all times, and you'll have the sauce and spice of the AoE sandwich.
Shadow Power + Blood Moon: I like this ability since you will have up to 4 layers of damage going out at one time, so the healing gets pretty substantial. I also enjoy the Shadow Power + Shadow Glide combo for a slightly more mobile version to help you move out of bad stuff, rather than just drain health.
Companion + Wolf: Provides you and your party with a damage buff every 30 seconds. Ideally, this will line up perfectly with the 90 second cool down of "Vengeance". Another good choice is the Bat, trading the damage boost to you and the party for the ability to Strafe longer. Longer Strafe = more rockets. Should you go the route of the bat, I recommend pairing Vengeance with Seethe for longer rocket dancing, but less damage.
Vengeance + Dark Heart: Layer 2, and the delicious meat and cheese of the build, this provides you with constant rocket flow and an additional layer of AoE damage as melee range lightning. For the more resource friendly version, try Seethe paired with Companion + Bat.
Strafe + Rocket Storm: The bread of the build, Strafe provides you with constant steady damage with the added utility of being able to attack on the move. It also provides an additional 2 layers of AoE damage to the build.
PASSIVES
Blood Vengeance: This ability helps to keep your hate nice and full. Full hate = more rockets.
Archery: Excellent damage boost or some helpful resource regeneration depending on weapon.
Perfectionist: As this build is melee focused when it comes time to pop Vengeance, the extra beef for this sandwich can help make a difference. Should you not need the boost, feel free to swap it for a different talent, perhaps Ambush.
Ballistics: The whole reason for the build, all the hundreds of rockets that will be flying out of you will be more deadly than ever.
The idea is in between your Vengeance cool down, help your party with your wolf buff and provide steady damage with Strafe. Keep your Shurikens up and heal with Shadow Power + Potions as needed. Entangling Shot to help provide a steady flow of hatred and help keep enemies away. Then, when the big moment arrives that your hatred is full, your chakrams are on (which they should be at all times anyway), your Shadow Power, Wolf and Vengeance are all off cooldown, the magic happens: Press 1,2,3, and hold 4 while charging yourself into unfathomably massive groups of enemies and watch them crumble around you while struggling to leave a scratch. You've got Chakrams hitting them. You've got Lightning hitting them. You've got red rockets pummeling foes from your bow, and blue rockets flying out of your own body into their faces.
Some gear recommendations so far that I have personally come across:
Chest: Blackfeather - Extra rockets fly out of you when you get hit by ranged or dodge attacks. More rockets = more awesome.
Wrists: Reapers Wraps - Combined with Blood Vengeance, health globes go a really long way for your resources.
This is the first build I have ever posted that I had tried to tinker with, so please feel free to comment/criticize. I just thought it was an interesting idea and since it was already a concept, thought I would share my own twist on it. If nothing else, this is an excellent speed clearing build for lower difficulty play - especially the more resource friendly version.
Thank you for reading!