KirusAlufras: I started the game playing the barbarian because of the ruthless charging berserker from one of the promo. Hit the old inferno wall, and decided to go with my alternative choice: the dual-wield gunslinger. The barbarian had very fluid combat mechanics but not as good as the Demon Hunter. But I was fairly disappointed when I found out that I can’t attack with both weapons at the same time.

KirusAlufras: Not really, I used to read a lot, but most of my leisure time has been spent in this game since 2 years ago. Since then I have been playing a bit more than I should.

KirusAlufras: Can’t, too much time spend in this one already.

KirusAlufras: On my account I have each class. Each class is different, and I learn to like their different styles: barb = berserker, monk = combo, wiz = channeling, doc = summon, cder = tower. The Demon Hunter is my archer of twin blades. No mistake here – I have 2 distinct weapons in this class: Hatred x Discipline; and they cut through my enemies with elegance.

KirusAlufras: I have my own clan. I named it Calamity Monkeys. In my clan we just play the game, gather items, and see who can break our limits. There is no class restriction, and most likely everyone has every class because you can’t really compete with each other that are using another class. The game is different when you play a different class.

KirusAlufras: Item wise, there is a lot of stuff, but when you are at the position of perfecting the affix rolls, it’s almost impossible to progress. While if I can’t upgrade my gears, how about my skills, and my play style? It’s a long learning process to be able to have the full control of my character and deal the most damage without losing my defense.

KirusAlufras: Don't play on a wireless mouse (I still do), you don't what to be left behind.

KirusAlufras: Finding mine most wanted item with unbelievable matching affix and the time it took me was like in the blink of an eye (while not really, I think it took more than an hour). My Ring of Royal Grandeur I found on day one in my fourth bounty box. That was the best news for me during the previous Blizzcon, a ring to match up sets – the ability to match up and create the ultimate set.

KirusAlufras: Leah's Inn: Whimsyshire

KirusAlufras: The Demon Hunter is a fascinating class with a lot of accuracy and flexibility. It strikes fast, moves quickly, and dodges incoming attacks. It is almost impossible to miss an attack. The monsters may flee from our sight, but they can’t flee from our arrows that pierce them from behind.

The flexibility is born from the dual-resource system which basically said, “Use us and you will dominate your enemies.” Unlike all the other classes, the Demon Hunter can active skills as many times as one prepares for (have the resource). There is always a second chance. You can attack, roll over, attack, roll over, and attack again and again until the monsters are dead.

You don't become crippled after leaping into battle. You aren't tired after dashing and striking your enemies too quickly. You always have a way to keep the battle under control.

KirusAlufras: Hit them before they move. That is how I like to play my Demon Hunter.

KirusAlufras: I like all the Archery Skills (Strafe, Multishot, Cluster Arrow, and Rain of Vengeance): they hit fast, they hit wide, and they hit hard. They cover a lot of ranges and fill each other’s weaknesses as I switch between them. When I switch to play some variety I still have at least 3 of them on my bar.

KirusAlufras: http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/demon-hunter#QadiPl!ZbTR!bcZbca

I don't always run this because sometime I have to optimize damage over play style, but those are my favor skills, which I enjoy the most. 80% of the time I won’t even use the generator, but it’s the best backup plan. Spray of Teeth will provide high single target damage and instant AoE stopping many enemies in their tracks while quickly refill my Hatred.

Strafe is my single target punisher as well as my all direction shooter. I don’t need to focus on my target when using Strafe and can concentrate on avoiding danger while chasing fast moving mobs from fleeing.

Multishot is my primary attack, and any runes will work nicely in my builds: Fire at Will when I need a few more shots, Burst Fire when I close up the distance or vault into danger, Suppression Fire for extra discipline, Full Broadside when combo with Ambush, and Arsenal when running indoors. I have Suppression Fire on that list because in game, it has the best visual and audio effect.

Cluster Arrow is my elite killer. The elites will always come in small clusters, so it’s almost certain my Hatred will fully convert to damage – leaving behind ashes and smokes.

Rain of Vengeance is an identity. I really enjoy this rain that falls from the sky penetrating my enemies until their death. I used to use the no-rune in D3V because it was the only one that rains. And I don’t like the magic circle that’s been added to the skill. If it’s possible I would like to see that removed for no-rune. Dark Cloud uses guide arrows and the animation is much smaller, so it didn’t bother me at all, but it prevented me from using Shade as an alternative. This request is very personal but I rather not use something I do not like.

Vault is my accelerator and my deflector. It increases my travel time so I could eliminate my enemies quickly and move on, putting them in danger while I deal the damage.

KirusAlufras: If there was only one thing I could get. I want to see the original gameplay return in our favor. The one that didn’t have so many cooldowns limiting our abilities to luck and items – the one that gave us the choice to play until we run out of resource.

Hide in smoke while I escape to safety or prepare for the next assault. Smoke Screen doesn’t need to provide damage immunity (the skill never said it did) but it must give us enough time to make our choice. I should be able to make an attack, hide, and move behind my enemies, attack, hide, and repeat with no delays in between.

Devices with delays show how powerful they should be, and the devices used in this class can be constructed on the battle fields, requiring enormous amount of discipline, although they currently cost none.

But looking through the whole skill list I always stop at Rain of Vengeance because I don’t know if a resource cost will benefit this skill, the others I can. This skill has been costless for too long, and I for one have been using it for too long. I can’t even imagine playing it with a hatred cost, a discipline cost, or both.

Dodge is also mighty important to me, but I know a lot of players don’t appreciate its effect and would rather have some sort of damage reduction from dexterity. To me, it was I learned a new ability, a new passive skill by having dexterity. I love the dodge bonus. I can always stack defense through items, and not having mitigation from dexterity never made the monsters more powerful.

KirusAlufras: As always, it will have to be this: control your Hatred and use your Discipline.

Start slow, don't rush. Learn when to use your Hatred, and how much, and how quickly you can restore it. You need to prepare yourself and it takes practice, a lot of practice.

KirusAlufras: For sure, it’s neither. It’s our Demon Hunters. We are more skillful we don’t need to punch and kick our enemies. "Flee if you can, demon. I have a quiver full of friends who fly faster than you." —Tyla Shrikewing

KirusAlufras: Never start a fair fight.

KirusAlufras: RedCell (#1728). I don’t know another player that lives by the lore as much as him. It was really hard to find another player rolling our twin pistols in the end-game. I use them because it’s the most powerful setup with my style. He has his reasons, and I would like to hear more about them.

KirusAlufras: "What item affix would he want to see added to our awesome bolt pistols (hand-crossbow)?"

Posted by: Phaerix09/05/2014 10:17 AM

My favorite question would have to be asking these veterans what skills they like and what they could change if they had the power to. Good insights to game-play as well.