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Quite pumped to see how this all works out in game, I always used to try to organize team matches back in Diablo II but they rarely worked. Hopefully they make it possible with this mechanic ^^.

The wait is finally over!
... For the fifth class.

Today at Blizzcon, the Demon Hunter was revealed to us all. A bow slinging, demon hunting, trap setting conventional ranged character has been given to us.

-Development-
During development dual daggers were tried out, but Blizzard felt this really took away from the ranged feel, thus they made the move to dual wielding crossbows. At first, the Demon Hunter wasn't even human. It started out as a full demon, and more recently, a demon/human hybrid. Now, with the released version, the Demon Hunter is fully human. A sleek medieval look has been settled upon, with a signature scarf and arm guard present on all concept models shown.



-The Lore-
Abd al-Hazir has brought us yet another class story, with a dark, demonic flavor to it. The Demon Hunters are essentially nomads, having lost all they knew and loved to the hells, they chose to pursue a life of vengeance above all else. They number in the hundreds, and choose to make their home in the Dreadlands. All demon hunters have an innate ability to resist the demonic taint present in the Dreadlands, allowing them to use demonic magics against their enemies while retaining their sanity.
But what could this mean? From the sounds of it, the Demon Hunters will use anything and everything at their disposal to take the fight to their sworn enemies. In one of the panels on the Demon Hunter, Jay Wilson briefly talked about using demonic organs as weaponry. Whether this was a definite "yes, you can craft with demonic organs" or not, is yet to be seen. However, in the release video the Demon Hunter is shown as using an arrow crafted from the tooth of a demon, thus, I personally believe we will be able to use demonic trophies to enhance our skills and items. I can expect this to take the form of special crafting recipes.

-The Skills-
Currently, the Demon Hunter has traps & gadgets, shadow magic, and various bow skills at her disposal. We've been shown several skills so far, and here they are.

Molten Arrow
The Demon Hunter shoots a crossbow bolt infused with flame which passes through enemies, and leaves behind a flaming wake, dealing damage to all enemies to try to cross it. Essentially, it's a fire wall that you can shoot.

Grenade
Seems to function similarily to the Witch Doctor's Skull of Flame. The video shows the Demon Hunter throwing out 3 small globes, which bounce briefly, then explode, dealing AOE to all nearby enemies. It was also shown to break a shield skeletons shield, which suggests AOE damage dealt from behind the shield can disarm them, giving this skill a spot as a sort of "combat utility" skill.

Bola
This skill allows the Demon Hunter to shoot a bola arrow, which wraps around whatever it hits. The enemies are not slowed however, but several seconds after being hit they exploded. AOE damage was dealt to everything nearby.

Vault
The obligatory movement skill. The Demon Hunter performs an acrobatic roll to reach new locations, or to escape from enemies. I can definitely see this skill being combined with Molten Arrow, allowing the Demon Hunter to quickly set up a wall, and retreat behind it before being in the line of fire.

Spike Trap
Taking a hint from the Assassin, the Demon Hunter sets up a trap that lies in wait for enemies. Upon being walked over, the trap opens up and enemies above it.

Fan of Knives
The Demon Hunter twirls in place, sending knives in all directions around her. AOE damage is dealt to all nearby enemies. This skill was shown being used with Vault, the Demon Hunter would roll into position, and release knives directly into a mob of enemies.

Entangling Shot
The Demon Hunter shoots out an arrow that bounces between several enemies, linking them with a blackish purplish line, slowing each down. The linking seemed to have to affect, though perhaps the slowing affect is made more serious based on how many enemies are linked to the same arrow?

-Tactical Considerations-
From the sounds of it, this character will take some planning to use effectively. With the theme of traps in mind, Demon Hunter players will no doubt benefit from careful planning and preparation. Jay Wilson himself said in one of the panels that this was the feel they were going for, as a bounty hunter they wanted the Demon Hunter to be prepared for battle. With the various skills she has at her disposal, she will be able to dictate the flow and pace of combat on her own terms.

Things to keep in mind, are the ways the skills functioned. If you watch the Bola video, you will notice the bola wrapping around a pillar, then exploding soon after. Tactics like this would allow the Demon Hunter to preemptively shoot a Bola, and run away while her enemies drew closer to the "trapped" environment. This skill may even be able to bring down walls after a delayed timer, allowing for more tactical use of the environment than other characters.

Pfft, think it's too much D3 info for YOU?!!?
We're scrambling to cover it all, expect another article within the hour.

Some of her spells looked awfully hellfire, to me it's just the voice and the actual aesthetics of the class that reminded me of the Assassin. Not to mention the actual role, the assassin rooted out demonic corruption, and I'm pretty sure the demon hunter will be doing the same thing. Skill wise, the monk way much more of course.

This article was previously an article on the Demon Hunter and PvP, it has been turned into a "Blizzcon Hub", in which you'll be able to find all the resources you need to get the most info out of us.

Now that the first hectic hours of Blizzcon have passed us by, we've had a chance to compile our information, level our heads, and churn out in depth articles covering everything Blizzcon.

We have written out articles on the three main aspects we wanted to bring to light, and links will be provided to help you quickly find them in the chaos Blizzcon has brought down upon us. Welcome chaos, of course, as now we have a fifth class!

The Demon Hunter Unveiled - I take a look at the new fifth class, explore the lore behind the Demon Hunter, give some insight into tactical considerations, and dig up the skills we've been shown. If you want to learn about the fifth class, check this article out!

Character Customization - Scyberdragon compiles everything to do with character customization into one sexy slab of article. Changes to skills, new skills, skill runes, and info on the talisman can all be found here. If you like to tweak your character to your own tastes, this is the article for you.

Diablo III PvP - Battle Arenas - With his first article (give the man a hand), liquorice takes a look at the new "Battle Arena" PvP system in Diablo III. With a blend of facts and speculation, he explores every aspect of the new PvP system, which hopefully will be more complex than the "hostile button" from Diablo II. Cross your fingers.

Wilson on Diablo III and Press Conference - Magistrate, our inside man at Blizzcon brings us the scoop directly from the floor. Read up on the latest info regarding PvP in Diablo III.

Crafting Sanctuary - A collaborative effort; liquorice, Scyberdragon and I cover the latest on crafting, items, monsters, and the world of Sanctuary. Anyone wondering how development is coming along should definitely read up.

You can also see pictures from Blizzcon 2010 as well as upload your own in the new Blizzcon 2010 Gallery.

There has also been a presskit released filled with pictures and a 20min gameplay video. You can download the presskit HERE.

Lastly check out our user/staff D3 game demo experiences.

This post will be updated with more information and new articles as they become available, so check this thread for updates whenever possible. In the mean time, check out the Diablofans IRC channel to chat with your fellow users in real time!

Quote from Shatterer

I must say Zhar. That pic is really, really cool.

And Link doesn't look that happy.

Shit you not, it was for a photography class back in high school.
We handed it in, got 100% on it.

My ideas, and my buds camera skillz = win.

Also, Linkx you look way better without the goatee.

I'm in ur house, watching you masturbate.

Real men relax on cement, and have curly locks you could lose yourself in if you don't watch out.

Alright, Scyber and I have agreed that this thing is going to wait until after Blizzcon to start this up. (We've got everything ready though, story is done, character creation is ready, our characters are done, so we'll be able to start it up ASAP after Blizzcon)

As we're both reporters, our time will be fucked by Blizzcon, and we won't be able to effectively run this. Plus. after Blizzcon we'll get more members, so we might see some new faces in here.

We'll send out a PM once we're good to go.

Sadly, with only one person it makes it hard to refine ideas.
2 seems to be a good number, as it makes it easy to bounce ideas off one another, 3 seems to get fairly hectic.

I use ASUS, never had a problem with any of their hardware.
Course', only been using them about 2 years or so now, but thus far, no fuck ups :).

Seriously, status update conversations feel way too facebook for me.

But anywho...

As for Sacred 2, I actually played the shit out of that game.

As you pointed out, quite unpolished.
Gameplay was pretty boring, storyline was pretty god awful, and combat mounts were absurdly powerful. I could roflpwn anything without any type of challenge once I hopped on my spider.

Iuno, it's just wasn't my type of game :/.

Quote from guest

I love when people say alienware is crap... there is nothing different under the hood than any other brand......... What they do it use top end hard ware and put it together for a more expensive price than if you built the system yourself.

Which is why Alienware is crap.

I'd rather save myself a couple hundred bucks and buy the parts myself, then pay an extra 400 for the same shit, a shiny logo, and a warranty.

Agree with what has been said about Alienware being shit.

They're overpriced and overrated. Just custom build a laptop of your own if you're somewhat computer savvy. It saves you immense amounts of money if you order each part individually and slap them together yourself, retailers rip you off so hardcore.

Also, if you're not entirely sold on a gaming laptop, I'd definitely recommend a gaming desktop. MUCH cheaper, and generally, you can get better specs on a desktop.

Mmkay, good news.
Story is planned, character sheet is almost done, and we're a day or so away from opening up the character creation thread.
Last minute call for anyone who wants on board.