D3 builds thread

[Arvin]

I'm looking for some advice on a Demon Hunter build. I'm torn between two builds:

http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculato...XTP!YeT!YccZZc
-Nether Tentacles for AoE, Hungering Arrow + Cluster Arrow for single target.
-Limited CC but higher single target DPS

http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculato...XTl!YeT!accZZb
-Nether Tentacles for AoE and single-target
-Stampede knock-back + Entangling Shot AoE slow for CC

I've had mixed success with both. It may seem obvious that the second build is superior due to more CC, but the homing nature of Puncturing Arrow can be incredibly handy while kiting or abusing corners. I have 50k DPS without Sharpshooter and I use a 2H bow so my burst is sup-par to crossbows but my sustain is better i suppose. I'm unsure if I made a poor choice with 2h bows as I've been the only DH I've played with who uses them. Ultimately, I just don't know what's "best" I suppose. I'm in Act 3 Inferno but farm the Butcher a majority of the time. Any recommendations would be awesome, I feel lost in a lot of ways haha.

I've found that you don't really need to get entangling shot, if you use Caltrops (Torturous Ground) and you're smart about discipline use with prep. Hungering Arrow is a ton of damage, and Nether Tents are just so damn strong that I would never swap that out. I do use Stampede, cause it's just too useful especially in situations where you're about to be cornered with no discipline to use SS.

[Zanz L. Barre The 3rd]

I think I'm going to give up on heavy Hatred regen and have both caltrops and stampede, thanks for the suggestions.

[Diamicles]

Here's what I'm using at 48 in act 3 nightmare: http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculato...QOS!abf!aYZYbZ

was using diamond skin/crystal shell but porting out of trouble seems to be better at this point. electrocute/chain lightning is really good if you have a faster attack speed, working really well for me so far.

[aurik]

I was finding diamond skin better than teleporting out. But then I was using Meteor/Star Pact, so being able to take a few hits while waiting for impact was important. Considering switching back to Arcane Orb for soloing since it costs 20AP instead of 35, and has no wind-up time for point blank monsters. Diamond Skin with decent armor / resists makes me practically invulnerable for the duration of the ability; I'd need to be in very dire straits to be taking 10k damage in 6 seconds (thus would likely be kiting while cycling Frost Nova and Skin to escape)

Also, do you find Galvanizing Ward useful? I prefer Astral Presence with Energy Armor/Pinpoint Barrier for 5% crit+2AP/sec versus life/sec and +20AP. Especially with using a cheap AP spell (Arcane Orb/Tap) I wonder if you find much time to cast Electrocute at all.

[Diamicles]

I find it really useful when you don't have room to kite, or there is a ton of mobs around the corner - overall it seems to hit more targets more consistently than the other stuff I've tried.

As for galvanizing ward, I'm still playing with it. I may not be getting the most out of it right now, I don't think I have enough life/sec to make is really useful. Trying out Paralyze and will be trying astral presence too. I really like the +20AP with Orb/Tap for dumping a ton of AP into a group that's frozen, or that I just ported away from. I think a lot of the passives just come down to playstyle. Right now I'm not too much into kiting but I can do it with orb/port/nova if I have to.

[Kisamoo]

60kish DPS (without sharpshooter boosting) 2.11 ASPD and +196% MF full time (lol@ppl who swap gear, that's for lame chest runners). Could have more DPS but I'm all about the bling bling baby. I run the same skills that every other DH runs. Will upgrade to Asheara's Lock with MF once they fix the ASPD on boots bug.

HP? Resistance? For Inferno? GTFO. I play D3 like a real man. Also, <3 the DPS on my Crossbow, huehueuheuhueuheuheuhe.

P.S. Looking for someone to upgrade my gems passed Star. PM me

Spoiler: show

[Mrf]

Someone on battle.net asked about which 2 bows would be better with certain stats, and another person posted a damage formula.

I took the formula and popped it into a spreadsheet and posted it on google docs if anyone is interested. Since the game is down I don't know how accurate it is, but here you go:

DH weapon calculator
There is an editable version, and a non editable version to DL in case editable one has formulas messed up:

View / Download Only
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/...DaEh4TkE#gid=0

Editable
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/...xa2VUN1E#gid=0

[Slott]

Heh, seeing that calc helps a ton. Also shows my bow being wayyyyyyy better than some 1400 xbow that got a 38 mil bid on it today. Very happy with my purchase =)

[Mrf]

I wish I had it before I bought my bow, but I still think I got a great deal on it.

It has 725 DPS, 230 DEX, 59% crit damage, and open slot. I paid 600k for it.

[chapstick]

^ thats a good deal.

[kisada]

Someone on battle.net asked about which 2 bows would be better with certain stats, and another person posted a damage formula.

I took the formula and popped it into a spreadsheet and posted it on google docs if anyone is interested. Since the game is down I don't know how accurate it is, but here you go:

DH weapon calculator
There is an editable version, and a non editable version to DL in case editable one has formulas messed up:

View Only
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/...DaEh4TkE#gid=0

Editable
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/...xa2VUN1E#gid=0

thanks for this.

what is ssDPS?

[Slott]

sharpshooter 100% crit stacked

[kisada]

ah ok i see.

what part of the damage formula accounts for the constantly changing value of sharpshooter?

[Slott]

None, it either shows you fully stacked or not at all.

[kisada]

ah so the actual DPS with SS on is more in between then?

[Ragnus]

Pretty much.

(Assuming Archery+Hand Xbow with no Crit Rate Gear)

Well, unless you're going to run around for 85 seconds between every shot.

[Slott]

Well, the thing is with your SS capped at 100% crit, you can burst something down extremely quickly, since many of your shots/hits will get that full critical effect. After that, your crit will slowly creep up. I'm trying to get out of using SS, once I can get my crit up a bit higher, since with nether tentacles hitting multiple times, and a decent crit rate, sharpshooter really only helps me with that initial burst.

[Mrf]

Apparently the formula wasn't 100% accurate. This website though gives me the exact numbers on my DH:

http://www.d3dps.com/node/34

[kisada]

playing with that site now, thanks.

wrt bonus magic/elemental damage on the weapons: is that already included in the min/max categories of the weapons? cause there's no place to enter the ranges on the site.

[Arximiro]

If any of you barbs are having issues with Act II or III, here is what I'm using atm. I made a Life Regen and a Life on Hit build. Act II is ridiculously easy and Act III is at least playable. The life gain is just awesome. It's not perfect and I need to work on damage a bit, but it's coming along nicely.