Lets face it, the game is 20 years old almost and Druid is still the only class in the game that has a tank spec and a ranged dps spec. Personally I’d like to see Augmentation Evoker turned into a tank, but I doubt thats going to happen so filling the gap in the Demon Hunter ranks is much easier. If demon hunters got either a ranged or support spec for a 3rd spec I’d main the class. Personally as melee I hate chasing the tank around and I strongly dislike momentum as well.
The spec I created below is losely based off Alari the soul eater, who is a ranged demon hunter by lore. It is dot focused and uses a channel as a main filler that can be cast while moving under the right conditions. For Demon form I imagined something based on the inquisitor demons.
The tree: imgur(dot)com/a/ZfjLnxG
Despair Demonhunter
Ranged dps spec
Base abilities
Immolation Aura
Eye Beam
Spectral Sight
Double Jump
Glide
Demonic Wards
Torment
Fel Rush
Chaos Brand
Metamorposis
Throw Glaive
All normal sigils
Mastery: Shadow and Flame: Increase your Shadow and Fire Damage over time damage by X. Fel Damage over time effects gain an additional 50% of your mastery.
- Burning Gaze: Burn a single target with a focused eye beam. It pulses X fire damage each second for 3 seconds. Channeled, no CD.
- Apathy: Deal X Shadow damage over 6 seconds. This ability will pandemic its full duration up to 12 seconds. Instant.
- Lament: Deals X Fire damage over 16 seconds. Can only be cast on 1 target at a time. 1.5 second cast.
- Ignite Breath: Ignite the target’s breath, interrupting the action they are performing and preventing the casting of spells from the same school for 3 seconds. Instant, 18 second CD.
- Soul Leech: Channeling Burning Gaze on a target afflicted by one of your damage over time effects allows you to move while channeling it and increases your move speed by 10%/20%. Slows the target by an equal amount.
- Burning Dreams: Sigil of Flame will spread Apathy to all targets within its blast zone if at least one target is afflicted.
- Crushing Anguish: Lament may now stack up to 3 times.
- Burning Sigils: Sigil of Flames gains 1/2 additional charges.
- Extended Burn: Double the duration of Sigil of Flame’s damage over time effect and increase the range of Eye Beam to 40 yards.
- Gloom Shadow: Each pulse Burning Gaze on a target afflicted by Lament increases the duration of Lament on that target by 2 seconds.
- Pain Rapture: While channeling Burning Gaze on a target afflicted by Lament, Lament deals it’s damage 30%/60% faster.
----------------------------------------- Requires 8 points ----------------------- Inferno Wave: Cast a wave of fire in a cone before you, dealing X (heavy) fire damage to all targets. Each target it critically strikes that is taking damage from Sigil of Flames causes a new Sigil of Flames to drop in its location. 2 second cast. 24 second CD.
- Cacophony: Each time Sigil of Flame deals periodic damage to a target, that damage is stored. When the Sigil of Flames ends it releases all stored damage in an explosion dealing additional fire damage to all nearby enemies for X fire damage per stack. Effectiveness reduced beyond 4 targets.
- Demon Soul: While Metamorphosis is active, all Fire damage you deal is instead dealt as Fel damage and your leach is doubled from Fel damage.
- Ever-Burning Flame: Lament fades 1 stack at a time. (In pvp each stack fades 50% faster after the 1st stack fades.)
- Black Flame: Slam the target with a blast of shadow magic that deals X (heavy) shadow damage and burns them for an additional X fire damage over 6 seconds. While burning from Black Flame the target takes an additional 20% fire damage. Only castable on a target at or below 20% remaining health. Instant, 14 second CD.
- Menacing Inferno: Damage over time damage from each Sigil of Flame is dealt independently.
- Choice Node- Corrupted Immolation Aura (Every 2 seconds your active Immolation Aura will spread to an additional ally within 8 yards) / Controlled Immolation Aura (You may cast Immolation Aura on a specified ally).
- Sigil Storm: While Metamorphosis is active the cooldown for Sigil of Flames is reduced by 33%/66%.
- Nether Skip: Jump through the Nether to teleport to your selected location within 40 yards. 1 second cast time, 2 min CD.
- Demonfire Barrage: While Metamorphosis is active all sources of Fel damage except Burning Gaze have a 10%/20% chance to make your next Burning Gaze channel passively. Up to 3 casts may channel simultaneously.
- Choice Node- Soul Spear (Cast a spear made of soul energy at the target dealing X damage. (heavy damage). Soul Spear debuffs the target, increasing all shadow damage they receive from you by 33% for 12 seconds. 2 second cast. 10 second CD. Replaces Throw Glaive.) Netherbolt (Blast the target with X Shadow damage. (moderate damage) Nether Bolt deals 50% increased damage for each charge on CD. Instant, 3 Charges. 10 second CD. Replaces Throw Glaive.)
- Death Standing: Periodic damage from Apathy has a 5% chance to make Black Flame castable on your target regardless of the target’s current health total.
- Scorched Life: Each time the target receives damage from Lament or Burning Gaze, the CD on Immolation Aura is reduced by 1 second.
- Immolation Shield: Immolation Aura grants a stacking shield to the one it’s on equal to the damage it deals. The shield fades when the aura fades.
- Fel-Fire Overload: During Metamorphosis, all sigils apply the Sigil of Flame effect in addition to their normal function. (Silence/Misery/Chains/Elysian Decree)
- Void Sight: Nether Skip’s CD is reset when Metamorphosis is activated and when Metamorphosis deactivates. (not demonic)
- Annihilation: Each cast of Burning Gaze on the target during Metamorphosis applies a stack of Annihilation. When Metamorphosis ends the target takes X (moderate) fire damage for each stack.
- Feast of Agony: Reduce the CD for Soul Spear or Nether Bolt by 2 seconds. In addition, Apathy has a 10 chance to reduce the CD for Eye Beam by 3 seconds when it deals damage.
- Herald of Doom: Soul Spear will consume Apathy on the target dealing Apathy’s full remaining damage and extending the duration of Soul Spear’s debuff by the remaining duration of Apathy when it is consumed. /// Nether Bolt will add 6 seconds to the duration of Apathy (up to 12) and will deal an additional X shadow damage to the target for each stack of Lament on the target. (minor damage).
----------------------------------------- Requires 20 points ----------------------- Demonic Power: Increase your critical strike bonus damage to 175%/200%.
- Nether Born: When you deal shadow damage to a target you have a 10%/20% chance to summon a voidshade monstrosity to attack your target for 6 seconds. If the summon dies before expiring, 2 more are summoned for the remaining duration.
- Lixiviate: Increase your haste by 1%/2% for each active damage over time effect you have active up to 10%/20%
- Abolition: Burning Gaze has a 20% increased critical strike chance on targets below 20% HP
- Sigil Efficiency: Sigils activate 1 second faster. (stacks with quickened sigils.)
- Satisfaction: Successful hits with Breath Ignition, Soul Spear, Nether Bolt, and the initial explosion of Immolation Aura increase your move speed by 40% for 3 seconds.
- Despondency: Your Mastery provides an additional 10% increase to damage over time values.
- Clinging Fire: Fel damage you do spreads to nearby enemies within 8 yards that are not taking Fel damage for 15%/30% damage.
- Soul Fragmentation: Damage from Burning Gaze has a 20% chance to create a soul fragment with each pulse. In addition, All generated soul fragments are automatically absorbed into you and generate a minor short term shield if you are already at full HP.
- Sigil Mastery: Placing a Sigil has a 10% chance to also place a duplicate Sigil under an enemy within 8 yards that was not in the original.
- Wretched Anticipation: Each time that Lament deals periodic damage to a target you gain a stack of Wretched Anticipation which lasts 10 seconds. You passively gain +1% movement speed per stack. Each second you move, reduce the stack by 1. Maximum 10/20 stacks.
- Nether Demon: While you are not in Metamorphosis, Lament has a 1% chance to trigger Demonic for 6 seconds when it deals damage. This stacks by 1% each time Lament deals damage without triggering this effect and the % is reset when it triggers.
- Dependent Tribulations: For each target afflicted by fire damage over time, increase your shadow damage over time by 1%/2%. For each target afflicted by your shadow damage over time, increase your fire damage over time by 1%/2%.
- Choice Node- Erasure(Periodic critical strikes increase the damage of Burning Gaze by 1% stacking. Lasts 10 seconds or until Burning Gaze is used.) / Rampant Flame(When Channeling Eye Beam on targets affected by Sigil of Flame, Sigil of Flame deals its damage 50% faster on those targets.)
- Choice Node- Elysian Decree(existing form) / Sigil of Apocalypse(Transform Sigil of Flame into Sigil of Apocalypse causing it to always deal Fel damage.)
- Choice Node- Piercing the Void(Quickly Dash to the target ally within 60 yards causing an explosion of X (moderate) shadow damage at your start and end points. Then a beam of Shadow magic briefly connects the two points dealing X (minor) shadow damage to all enemies struck.) / Door of Shadows(You create a doorway through the Nether that can be used by allies. (similar to Demonic Gateway))
- Choice Node- Shadow of Death(Blast the target with a powerful bolt of X shadow damage and an additional X Shadow damage per second for 8 seconds. Each time this deals damage to the target it explodes, dealing shadow damage to all nearby enemies as well. 1.5 second cast. 30 second CD.) / Lamentation Eternal(Lament becomes instant and always applies 3 stacks when cast.)