Diablo 3: Demon Hunter Strafe Build

Intro:

Tired of M6 sentries? Me too. I have a lot of extra gear laying around so I've been messing around with Strafe lately. Until recently I was lacking a few key items to really make this build work, but I've managed to throw some things together and have been mucking about in T5. My setup is by no means BiS, this is just what I have available to me. I believe if I had slightly better gear/leveled up gems I could take on T6 without a problem.

*As a side note this build is not meant for Grifts. I mainly use it for running bounties and regular rifts. The damage/survivability are just not there in this build to tackle higher level Grifts.

The Build:

LMB // Chakram - Shuriken Cloud
RMB // Strafe - Demolition
1 // Shadow Power - Night Bane
2 // Fan of Knives - Fan of Daggers
3 // Preparation - Punishment
4 // Companion - Boar Companion

Passives:
Blood Vengeance
Perfectionist
Archery
Grenadier

As far as Strafe goes, there are two rune choices (for element=fire), Rocket Storm or Demolition. I tested both with their respective passives and the damage/AoE potential on Demolition was noticeably stronger. My resource management through gear/skills is pretty solid so I have no need to use a generator. Instead on my left mouse I have Chakram - Shuriken Cloud, which is basically free damage while you're strafing through enemies.

(1) A somewhat controversial choice I have made for my 1 hot-key is forgoing the usual Smokescreen for Shadow Power - Night Bane. The extra LoH helps keep me alive as I am constantly in close range, and the movement speed monster debuff is a great for applying the extra damage from the legendary gem Bane of the Trapped. I've actually grown to like Shadow Power, and I wish I could incorporate the Shadow Set somehow to utilize it's 4-piece bonus but that would require me losing either Cindercoat or Hexing Pants (neither of which I want to give up), and using my sub-par RoRG (Dex/Vit/IAS/CHD) in place of the rare ring (Dex/CC/CHD/Socket) I am using instead.

*I have tested out a physical variant of this build, but it seriously lacks AoE and it does about half the damage my fire variant does. Which is a shame because my Shadow Set pieces are actually rolled quite well (better than some of my fire at least). The one good thing I will say about it is I was practically immortal with the 4-set Shadow Set bonus. If I had a few more things (like a physical SoJ, and a better RoRG for starters) I might be able to bring the damage up to more closely compete with fire, but as it stands now it just wasn't worth it over fire.

(2) Fan of Knives - Fan of Daggers. This skill also ties into keeping as much uptime on Bane of the Trapped as possible with a 3 second stun. Plus it is fire damage so it synergizes well with the build, all on a 10 second cooldown which is not so bad (even without CDR, of which I have none). The damage is nothing to overlook either, I often see it critting for 10-15 mil.

*I have a legacy Sash of Knives which I was testing out for awhile, which seemed great on paper as it has 46% Fan of Knives bonus and 6% resource cost reduction, but I found that I was using this skill more for the utility than the damage, so I ended up switching to 2-piece Blackthornes (belt + boots) for the extra Vit and elite dmg which I sorely needed.

(3) Preparation - Punishment. This is here pretty much exclusively for the longer fights (boss, RG), where my hatred sustain tends to fall short. Otherwise like I said I generally don't have resource problems.

*For awhile I was testing Rain of Vengeance - Anathema (as it synergizes with Grenadier) but I didn't like that you have to stop strafing to cast it so I ended up switching it out. It did help with the single target damage though so I feel it is still worth considering in this slot.

(4) Companion - Boar Companion. This is here because my all resist is a bit low, as well as missing some Vit on some key slots which makes me squishier than I'd like. It is purely for defensive purposes. If I could I would be using the Wolf Companion for the extra damage.

(Passives) Blood Vengeance is because I lack Reaper's Wraps (the ridiculous amount of arcane dust to craft them and the well-rolled RoRG to use them and maintain 3-piece Aughild). Perfectionist is to combat my aforementioned toughness issues. Archery for that sweet CHD from using a 2H Xbow, and Grenadier for the extra bonuses to grenades.

The Gear:

I'll be highlighting what I feel are the key pieces to truly making this build work (read: cannot do without). To see all of my gear in full detail you can visit my armory.

What's a fire build without a Cindercoat? While I wish mine had a Vit roll instead of Armor, the resource reduction for fire skills is absolutely necessary for indefinite strafing. Diamonds in the sockets instead of emeralds because I need the AR.

Any movement-based build these are pretty much BiS. These pants and Cindercoat combined are enough to keep me strafing for a long time (I pretty much only get low on hatred in boss fights). Plus a 25% damage bonus, icing on the cake.

The 2-pierce Buriza makes all projectiles explode 2 more times. This is great for all of the grenades firing off all over the place in this build. Although admittedly this is the only 2H Xbow I have so I really can't say how much better this unique effect changes the damage potential of this build. A well rolled 2H Xbow should have around ~2500 DPS minimum so if I find a better one (or a Rama's gift) I intend on testing it out to see what kind of difference it makes. I am hoping a better weapon will help me push into T6 but I have yet to find one. In the meantime the 10% RCR on this Buriza makes up for it's lower damage, and the chance to freeze is a nice bonus.

And finally, my amulet. Legendary amulets can roll up to 20% fire, but I needed one with a socket so I'm using this craftable in the meantime. I am only using one other legendary gem, Bane of the Powerful, which is in a crafted rare ring (Dex/CC/CHD/Socket). Neither of them are leveled up yet because I haven't had the time lately (another thing I am hoping will help me push into T6).

As for the rest:

Shoulders/Helm/Bracers - Aughild

Gloves - Magefist

Belt/Boots - Blackthorne

Quiver - Archfiend Arrows (for the elite dmg)

Ring 1 - Unity (I mostly solo, and I don't have a fire SoJ)

Ring 2 - Crafted Rare

Conclusion:

This build is a lot of fun and is definitely worth a try if you get tired of the usual grind. I am hoping to perfect my gear in the near future so I can comfortably take this into T6. The damage is pretty much there, I just need some more toughness before I can really make the jump. If you play in pub games you will want to switch out the Unity for a SoJ, RoRG, or whatever else you have laying around. And if you are having resource troubles there are a couple changes you can make to compensate such as avoiding IAS as much as possible (and making sure to use a slow 2H), Captain Crimson's 3-piece bonus, RCR rolls on shoulders, etc. Again this is by no means a BiS analysis, I am sure there are better combinations of gear/skills that have yet to discover or am unable to test at this time. So until then this will be a work in progress...

Thanks for reading :)