Diablo 3 Demon Hunter tips - Scoundrel, fast levelling, weapon gems, armour
Our guide to levelling a Demon Hunter, picking the right Follower, socketing the right gems in your gear, and preparing for Torment difficulty.
The Demon Hunter class blends trap-setting with devastating ranged weapon damage to pin the enemy into place then mow them down from afar. Expect explosions, massive volleys of arrows and rattling gunfire from this nimble dual-wielding character - bring agile fingers, however, if you want to stay alive long enough to dish out your poisonous power. You'll also have to manage two different power resources when playing the class, so it can be a tricky character to get started with.
Levelling up a Demon Hunter
Dexterity is your friend as you battle your way to Level 70, so load up on as much of it as you can using the gear you pick up along the way. With that said, make sure you stack plenty of Vitality onto your Demon Hunter as well. Despite the long-range nature of your weaponry, you're often required to dart in and lay down traps before dishing out the pain, and it can be very easy to find yourself caught up in a sticky fight and losing health fast.
As well as focusing on these two stats, it's also worth putting a Ruby gem into your Head socket while you're levelling, as this will provide a nice boost to your experience gains. You can use the Mystic to make the socket if you've unlocked the character, otherwise you'll just have to hope for a lucky drop. If the option's available to you, pop a Ruby into any weapon sockets as you fight your way towards max level, then replace it with an Emerald for a bigger overall damage bonus.
Try to push yourself as much as possible while you're levelling up. If you're killing things without even trying, keep inching the difficulty setting up notch by notch, as you'll get more experience and loot by doing so. As a general rule of thumb, use those treasure goblins as a barometer of your combat performance - if you can't take the creature down before it spirits itself away, you should probably tone things down a bit. Noxxic has a good selection of combat builds to play around with if you're looking for inspiration.
Choosing the right Demon Hunter Follower
The best buddy you can pick for your Demon Hunter is the Scoundrel. Given this sneaky fighter's reliance on the Dexterity stat, you should have no trouble increasing the quality of his equipment, as your cast-offs fast become his latest and greatest new gear. Consider the Templar as an alternative if you're playing the game on Hardcore mode and you fancy keeping a few survival spells in your back pocket.
Getting a Demon Hunter ready for Torment play
Once you hit Level 70, you're going to need to track down some decent gear before tackling Torment difficulty. The Gambler is always a great source of items to get started with, so hit up the Bounty system, grab as many gambling shards as you can bear to grind out, then use a mixture of found and gambled items to get your character on the right track.
So what should you be looking for as you hoover up gear and slot it in place? Dexterity is your primary stat, so look for it in large numbers on every single bit of gear you equip. Once you've gained around 25% Critical Hit Chance, start bringing your Critical Hit Damage up too, so you're getting the most bang for your crits. As a general rule, it's good to keep these two stats in a 1:10 ratio with each other.
Try to get some Elemental Skill Damage on your Amulet, Bracers, Gloves and Rings, three sockets on your Chest item, and two sockets on your Legs. Stuff the best Emeralds you have into these essential sockets. You should also roll a socket into your high-damage weapon, pop another Emerald in there, and then compliment it with a high-Dexterity quiver if you're going down the single-weapon route.
At the Mystic, use any spare attribute slots to boost up your Critical Hit Damage and Critical Hit Chance rankings. Once you start working your way up through the Torment levels, you may need to put more of a focus on managing your Armour and Vitality ratings. You should automatically acquire enough of the latter to see you through the first round of end-game farming though.
Demon Hunter gem guide
As a nimble, trap-laying damage dealer, it's no surprise to learn that the Demon Hunter favours Dexterity as primary stat. Unless you are having serious survivability issues, put the best Emeralds you can loot or craft into all of your item sockets, with one important exception. You'll get a bigger boost to your damage-per-second while levelling from putting a Ruby in your weapon socket, but switch over to an Emerald once you've got your basic Level 70 gear established.
Need more Diablo 3 help? Learn how to unlock Zelda outfits like Ganondorf in Diablo 3 Switch, get some Diablo 3 boss strategies, and learn how use the Mystic, Blacksmith, Gambling and Horadric Caches. We also have advice for every class, from the Barbarian to the Crusader, Demon Hunter, Monk, Witch Doctor and Wizard.
Gear goals for the Demon Hunter
Every class benefits from obtaining the Ring of Royal Grandeur by completing Act 1 Bounties - its passive ability that allows you to gain armour set bonuses with one less piece of each set equipped is invaluable. Stone of Jordan isn't bad either, as it'll boost your resource management as well as your power output.
The Marauder armour set fits nicely in all of the slots it can fill, and a Reaper's Wraps makes for a great early Bracer item once you've destroyed Malthael. The Danetta's weapon set is by far and away the most popular offensive equipment for the Demon Hunter, so keep grinding your way towards them. If you've only got one of the pair, just keep upgrading until you get lucky and finish the set off.
Make sure, of course, that your build reflects the bonuses afforded by your new-found weapons and armour as you find them.
Allocating Paragon points for a Demon Hunter
Increased Movement Speed is useful for every class in Diablo 3, so prioritise filling that Core stat up before moving onto Dexterity. Use your Offense points to balance out your overall Critical Hit Chance and Critical Hit Damage stats into the 1:10 ratio that's so useful for every character.
As for your Defense points, we think you'll get the most value by putting these into Resist All first, then investing in Life and Life Regeneration. For Utility, you can't really go wrong by pouring your points into Resource Cost Reduction.
You can find the rest of our Diablo 3 guide from the first page of this article.