Taking into account the new talent system that is coming in DF (and in my particular case that I have used Demonic for 3 expansions in a row almost without exception) do you think that the DH needs a rework?
One of the things that worries me about the new talent system is that it has a 30-31 in all classes but most of them have 3 specs and therefore more options than the DH to work with.
Well the problem with DH is that it doesn’t feel fluid with it’s abilities, it relies on scaling from borrowed power to be competitive at all, and 90% of the time the best talent picks require us to ignore using blade dance in order to get the most dps or cycle of hatred procs which is like 1 of our 2 main fury spenders
they did say some previous legendary, artifact, etc abilities will be making a return via the new talent trees. im confident with the lack of a borrowed power system in dragonflight that demon hunters will finally have that issue resolved.
we really just wont know for sure what direction theyre headed until alpha though.
Three specs, but are they really different specs?
Take the Mage for example, what special utility of that class resides within a specific talent tree? Polymorph is a basic ability, Silence as well, Timewarp, Iceblock.
So what would an Arcane mage actually find under their Utility tree that now comes from a specific spec?
It’s not even clear right now (I haven’t seen anything) whether the points given to a player are pooled or specific to a tree? So I get a level next Xpac and I get 1 point for utility or havoc, or do I get 1 point for utility only and next level I’ll get a point for Havoc?
For utility a Demon Hunter has basically all the same utility as a Warrior or other melee class with a tank spec., and maybe some they don’t.
So that’s 10 categories and 15-20 different use cases. If we come up with only two variations then we’ve got well over 30 possible options for the utility tree alone. And I didn’t really take any utility found in Vengeance out as I don’t know it well enough except for taunt and meta.
Honestly, the developers all likely fought for who got to do Demon Hunter, as our class isn’t a mess of hundreds of updates and changes that in some cases completely changed the class (Druid).
So with Taunt for example, perhaps for a Havoc Demon Hunter there may be a talent for an active ability that shares the cooldown with taunt that acts like a Misdirect.
And then another active that detaunts (is that a thing still?) and reduces threat.
Maybe a talent exists that turns Chaos Brand into an active DPS debuff that is much shorter in duration but greater in intensity that we have to consider and weigh the benefits.
I like this idea, but I think it should be baked into a single spell. Considering the taunt is called “Torment”, casting it on an ally instead of enemy could redirect the aggro to this target instead, as you’re tormenting your allies. This could go together with an increase of the base cooldown of the spell, which obviously gets reduce on vengeance through either a passive spell while leveling, or talent. DPS specs don’t need a low cooldown on a taunt, it should be a niche utility.
Dh only needs more damage. Tweak the numbers blizzard. 3 digit damage from eye beam is just sad.
Rework? Nah. Demonic baseline? Very down with that.
DH rotation needs a rework. In my opinion its one of the worse designed specs in the game.
If they make it even a little bit more complicated DH wont get as much flak for being a ez to play class.
I was so hyped for demon hunter, I have no idea how people dont fall asleep playing it. Outside of mobility the spec is just so vanilla and plain. Perhaps people like that and its just not the class for me though. For me if the class is boring to play i just get bored, mobility is not enough the damage rotation needs to feel good to press. Just pressing Eye beam without doing any kind of set up is not a feel good moment.
I mean…there are plenty of active ability options in the talent tree, plus the whole Momentum play style. Now are some of those more active options tuned competitively? Well…about that…
Not necessarily true, but you need to add in a Mega Pint of RNG
Havoc is one of the best designed specs in the game. The devs found a way to make a spec easy without making it boring. That is peak game design.
People that think this way about dh, frost dk, bm, or ret can go play chess instead.
There’s a reason there are a lot more people playing these specs than there are sub or feral for example. Keep It Simple Stupid is a philosophy the devs should apply to all specs in the game.
The easy rotation makes the class feel less robotic and more immersive.
Yes it is.
for me in order to have a feel good moment you need way more of a set up. Not just pressing a button
I agree with you, they need a revamp or at least add some more abilities. Vengeance, def needs a Brez and more def CD. It’s the only tank without some kind of res mechanic. Tbh, for the class to only have two specs, you’ll think they focus a little more on it to keep it viable
I disagree, pressing a button just to extend Sinful Brand is not a fun experience. If the damage of Eye Beam was more worthwhile, like pressing Glaive Tempest or UBC Fel Rush, I might agree.
And don’t get me started on the Sinful Brand design.
Just don’t wreck my spec, Blizz.
In the past, that would’ve been immediate and definite grounds for me to unsub. As such, if they do screw-over DH, I may defer quitting if the Dracthyr/Evoker proves as much fun. But that may be an uphill climb, because I like being a tank, and there is no tank spec for Dracthyr.
We’ll just have to wait and see.
If you’ve been running the Blind Fury/Demonic build for a good chunk of the expansion, Eye Beam IS the setup…
As a sort of aside, Unholy DK has quite a setup, and while it feels AMAZING when you just absolutely destroy a pull, it feels reaaaaally bad when you finish your setup only to realize that the mobs are already dying by the time you’ve ramped, or the tank hardly pulled any mobs and you blew your load on a pack of two. I personally enjoy that DH can basically start out on blast, consistently, from pull to pull.
meta/demonic needs work. it’s sad that warlock had a more interesting meta than DH ever has. you go into demon form and youre spamming the same rotation just bigger.
In my experience this has never really been used seriously beyond the first 2 Legion raids, too much risk for relatively low benefits when compared to Demonic, it put you at risk by needing to reposition yourself (not to mention the occasional bug where you fly twice the distance you should). Though the damage of Demonic should be mathematically less than Momentum, increases your survival instead of putting it at risk.
Momentum can be very satisfying if played properly, but is it worth the effort?
I personally don’t see Momentum being able to compete with Demonic the way things are right now, and they won’t be able to do it in DF if they just copy-paste from the current play style but with the new talent system.
I don’t know about a rework but my God we need a buff. To be 270 in raid and only 5th dps hurts. Yes maybe a rework too. If you’re In mini demonic form and miss your second blade dance (armageddon) you just took a huge loss.