I’ve worked on several concepts for ZDH, often prompted by drops.
This Season I worked on a purpose built ZDH to run with non-DH groups.
The base of the build is M2/UE2. M2 for all pets, and UE2 for resource management. The set gear goes on shoulders/gloves/pants/boots. I had previously used Illusory Boots on my Z’s, but switched to Leoric’s Crown for CDR.
My non-set gear is Leoric’s for CDR, Garwolf for toughness, and and Strongarms for group damage. I also use Zoey’s Secret for toughness.
I use a Yangs for RCR and MS attack speed, and Bombardier’s Rucksack for the additional Guardian Sentries.
The #1 primary stat to shoot for with this build is CDR, the goal is to keep pets up as close to 100% as you can. The main stat to avoid is Area Damage, you should even zero out your para AD. This helps the game run much smoother for your group.
Other important primary stats are Vitality, RCR and Attack Speed. Damage multipliers, Elemental Damage, CHC, CHD are not needed.
On this build I use Ess of Johan, Obsidian Ring of the Zodiac, and Oculus Ring in my jewelry slots. My gems are Iceblink and Gem of Efficacious Toxin leveled up to 25, and Esoteric Alteration rolled up to 100.
Skills:
The generator I use is Entangling Shot - Chain Gang. Using Chain Gang, you have to fire your generator at least once every 2 seconds to provide constant slows for your group.
My spender is Multishot - Wind Chill. Spam MS for the +8% CHC for the group.
My other skills are Companion, Vault - Rattling Roll, Sentry - Guardian Turret, and Marked for Death - Valley of Death
My passives are Numbing Traps, Hot Pursuit, Tactical Advantage and Thrill of the Hunt. Thrill is kinda redundant on this build, but I haven’t tested a different passive to take this slot.
In the Cube I have Odyssey’s End, Aquila’s, and Elusive Ring.
Gems in Helm and gear are Diamonds for CDR and toughness. Bow can be either Amethyst or Gem of Ease, depending on your toughness.
I zero out my Dex para and put it all in Vit.
Your most important job in game is to keep pets up. After that keep Entangling Shot and Multishot buffs going. Place Guardian Turrets on Oculus circles, on and around Elites, and try to keep them on your DPS. If you keep safe zones on our Oculus Circles, your DPS will know where a safe zone is. With all the CDR, you shouldn’t have any problem placing sentries when needed. You also shouldn’t have any problem keeping Aquila’s up.
Ran this build in an 11 minute 125 without any problems. The Yangs I’m using is also used for my UE or I would have rolled off that 10% Damage, other than that it’s close to perfect for a Z.
Hope this gives folks some ideas for running a ZDH
Edit to add: The primary secondary is Physical Damage Resistance