Since the devs seem to be really taking an interest in community input on class improvements, I thought it would be a good idea to use the Way Back machine and gather some ideas that we have already talked about.
We know that we will be getting new sets, and it appears that there will be improvements to our existing gear, so I’ll grab quotes for both situations.
I think cknopp nailed it when talking about new sets.
Some ideas from dmkt:
I’ll be grabbing more as I have time.
A couple threads with good information but too much back and forth to just pick and choose quotes:
https://us.forums.blizzard.com/en/d3/t/danettas-set-rework/3311/15
I don’t have any specific changes or anything, but I’d like to touch on something rarely talked about and something I’ve pointed out years ago.
Currently, over 90% of high end successful builds in the game are melee/face tank builds and it’s been that way for a long time. I’m not even exaggerating that %. Even builds that were designed/intended to be used at range are practically melee builds. A lot of this has to do with how the core of the game is played, which is centered around density+AD.
The problem is that there’s simply not enough incentive to play designed ranged builds at a distance, and for a class that is initially designed around ranged attacks and capabilities to keep at a distance, this really puts a damper on things as a lot of our skills don’t necessarily synergize with being up close. This forces us to rely on the very few skills that do well up close (grenades, impale) for higher clears which is sorta ironic. Nothing wrong with said builds and I’m not looking for a change to them at all. It would be nice to also see DH’s do what they were intended to do, which is lay carnage from all angles of the map afar.
Incentives such as steady aim, single out, UE4, squirts, zei’s and many more, don’t do nearly enough, not even close based on how GR’s have to be played considering ranged builds are also typically harder to play and execute. There’s also much more emphasis on our hatred resource. The only time we really value discipline is when it rolls on gear necessary for UE builds. Even hexing pants doesn’t acknowledge discipline as a resource and it’s been unnoticed since it’s introduction.
If the dev team can figure out ways to make range play significantly more rewarding, then by class design we’ll have more ways to reach high end GR’s along with standard buffs.
Just off the top of my head:
Exactly. Don’t forget that Barbs for example have 30% inherent base damage reduction something that DH does not have. Originally devs used to justify that by the fact that “melee classes are fighting in the melee range and they are getting hit way more offten than ranged classes”. And then we get that rapid fire build for example that is promoting game play where you don’t move at all.
If I remember correctly Elemental arrow proc coefficient was nerfed long time ago. There where some complications with lag.
This would probably melt the servers.
I still think something centering around “channeling” skills, so Strafe and Rapid Fire both can benefit, would be best and open 2 more unique playstyles.
I posted my ideas for a new set called “The Arrogant Rogue” in a different thread that would allow this type of play, and I think it would not be OP, but would instead give lots of new play options.
The Arrogant Rogue
adjustments made since original post2pc: Demon Hunter can now use all skills while holding a melee weapon and gains 50% increased movement speed.
4pc: While channeling, all skills use 50% less resource and non-channeling skills can be used without breaking channel. Can move while channeling.
6pc: Gain 175% damage and 3% damage reduction for 4 seconds when you use a hatred spender, and 350% damage and 12% damage reduction for 8 seconds when using a discipline spender.Pieces: Gloves, boots, chest, helm, bracers, amulet.
D3 has 7 classes. DH has 6ish major playstyles due to current set designs. A good new set for this already diverse class is almost like adding a new class to the game. I would prefer all classes get these types of sets. As 7 new “style classes” manufactured by sets instead of an expansion is like getting an entirely new, free, game.
Thanks cknopp, pulling ideas from older threads turns out to be harder than I thought.
If anyone remembers threads that had theory crafting from the old forum, could you grab quotes or links for us? Thanks
Here’s an idea, change area damage mechanics to splash to closest 5 targets up to say 30 yrds apart. This would partially eliminate the issue of area damage dominating everything in the highest GRs. Furthermore, this would make ranged play a little more feasible since you don’t need to clutter everything into tight balls. Of course this would be a serious nerf to all classes that rely heavily on area damage to beat the highest GRs though.
Im a fan of removing area damage altogether due to calculation lag. Id rather it simply be changed to a float mechanic. Instead of doing damage, it just raises the target’s death threshold above 0.
Like a hybrid mechanic between Decrepify and Bane of the Stricken.
Simple suggestion for Impale:
Add a bracer like Barb’s bracer of the first man: increase impale attack speed by 50% and damage by 150%.
It is really simple to implement and reasonable to buff.
We DH fans should all act right now to push Blizzard buffing DH. It turns out that they only hear who shout the loudest. Barb got their huge buffs because they keep crying for buffs.
To be fair, barbs were at the front of the line. The dev team acknowledged they were in need of some attention - which is why they got more changes than the two classes “featured” in the last patch (monk & sader).
Demon Hunter’s biggest strength is UE. Second to maybe only wave of light as one of the most efficient torment and speed farm builds in the game. DH lacks a spot in the group meta, and could use some more variety in its solo-capable push builds. Marauder and Natalya’s (excluding high paragon only N6 RF builds that are not viable for the vast majority of seasonal players) in particular need some help.
A very simple remedy is to do what they did with barb - buff supporting legendary items of unperforming sets, and go from there. Hopefully they learned a lesson from the 2.6.7 balance issues, and we’ll get some new and exciting options.
Lastly, I don’t think its about “shouting the loudest” as much as its about consolidating feedback and suggestions. The idea that yelling is somehow more effective is counterproductive. They know DH is on the to-do list. There are some very interested and capable players in the DH community that I know will help make this happen.
I don’t remember if this has already been fixed or not.
This is more of a QOL, but guaranteed 12 discipline rolls on a couple of primal items as Dead Man’s Legacy, Yangs Recurve, Unhallowed Essence chestplate.
How about just guaranteed discipline rolls on those items always? When it’s primal, the value will automatically become +12. This would also open up the decision making when rerolling those 3 items in question. Rerolling an existing +9-11 discipline roll to +12 won’t always be the optimal choice, but rolling discipline when there was none to start with is always optimal for UE builds.
Yeah that’s probably a better solution in general 
Yes, yes, yes, yes and yes.
Pretty sure my Primal DML rolled with no Disc and thus i’m stuck with Impale damage instead of MS (aside from the leg bonus) and some of my ancients are actually better in game though sheet tells me otherwise…
With Disc being the main source of damage via the UE6 bonus, the Yang’s, DML and Cage of the Hellborn should always roll Disc native.
Yes this would be great, I have gotten far too many primals without Disc already.
The feeling when you get any of those three pieces in primal, and it does not have Disc 
Personally I would like to somehow buff Unhallowed and N6M4 a little more.
They are by far my favourite DH builds.
But they are also already performing pretty good in the hands of high skill/ high paragon players.
In other words hard to balance for us not as skilled.
Edit: I realised UE Multishot was really not performing so good at all after checking the leaderboards, so sorry for that.
Loved the Captain Crimson variant of UE Multishot, finally UE with toughness!
The best thing that happened to UE for a long time in my opinion.
For example? Some GR numbers please, compared to other classes.
If they buff Impale to the level of damage Crusader has now Crusader would be still prefered RGK because he can kill all Rift Guardians fast, with or with no adds. With Crusader as RGK strategic aproach to the RG fight is not needed. No need to pull out adds, teleport to town, stun boss, pick a right spot for the fight. It is a faceroll game play.
Crusader Hammelin KIll in 150 2:15 no Pylons.
Time stamp 2:55:37
He can stack striken on Hammelin no problem while Impale DH can stack striken only on the closes target or first target hit in out case.
No problem with resources for him there because of adds. On single target boss he needs to care about resources a bit but nothing hard to manage and does not affect kill time almost at all. For DH RGs like Hammelin are almost unkillable.
Well it depends a lot which classes and builds you want to compare to.
Also what max clear are we aiming for here balance-wise? 140?
But I saw now that UE Multishot is in a weaker spot than I initially thought.
Also worth mentioning though that I don’t think there are too many high skill/paragon pushing with the build at the moment.
Place 1 to 19 is mainly N6 RF and one LoD RF build and another Legacy of Nightmares RF build with Sky on 1st place with a 140 N6 RF build.
Rxt puts S6 Impale on the board at place 20 and a 132 clear.
In place 35 comes N6M4 with a 129 clear by Mastah.
Finally on place 159 Hellfire brings in UE Multishot with a 125 clear.
Worth noting he is using Captain Crimson variant with Endless Walk set.
So what you can conclude from this is that it will be hard to buff the N6M4 without focusing on either Marauder or gear as N6 is out of the question.
UE Multishot could still get buffed another round easily.
Most S6 Impale clears seem to max out at 126-129 with Rxt’s clear at 132 at the absolute top.
But then again the leaderboard could be somewhat skewed as it is littered with S6 Impale users, meaning most people push with that build at the moment.
But if it is 140 we are aiming for we could buff all our builds except 6 piece bonus of Natalyas since it is used in the N6 RF 140 clear already.
Edit: All info from European leaderboards Era 1 2019.
The numbers should be similar on your leaderboard too I presume, some higher or lower but overall not straying too far from one another.
Sorry if that is a problem but that is where I reside.
I gave up the European forum years ago since all info we ever got was here first.