Hello everyone,
i plan on posting this on the official forums and wanted to hear of your opinions separately; i hope you guys like the ideas behind it or have some of your own to add:
Concept: Demonic Archer; 3rd spec for Demon Hunter
In my opinion, the game needs another Ranged Weapon user and Demon Hunter could use a third spec, preferably ranged, because we have too many melees already. Here i want to propose a spec idea in its rough outlines to hopefully spark the implementation for something similar.
Since there has not been any non-caster demonic ranged enemy, here are a few ways to rationalise the concept:
1) the imprisoned Demon type was an Aranasi, a more Fragile demon who ensnares his enemies through barbed webbing and weakens them through poisons or devastating Fel orbs.
2) after the burning legion falls, demon hunters seek to find their place in the world and with the erupting conflict between Horde and Alliance, the melee approach is not very favorable in open scale warfare and they forgo some of their defensive capabilities and mobility in favor of higher throughput from range.
Ressource: combo points = chaos strain - Bow/ Crossbow/ Gun becomes infused with chaotic energy with each shot and needs to release energy before it bursts
Playstyle: Burst Mobility through Fel Rush, otherwise "casting" shots, building chaos strain with Fel themed shots(chaos infused arrow for st and short burst eye-beam style aoe shots) either fury(energy) based or cooldown dependend.
Release accumulated chaos strain through targeted/cone style Fel Barrage (aoe) or Focused eruption, an arrow infused with all the accumulated strain, shot into your enemy to erupt from within.
Keep enemies at bay through barbed webbing and poison spray/ orbs if going with the Aranasi style demon concept
Some idea bulletpoints:
Dps Cooldown could be reinforcing the bow for a short while, making it more resistant to strain and increasing its draw force.
Talents and utility could be based around area denial or slowing enemies in their way, since they don't have companions to tank for them.
Playstyle talents could revolve around changing the type of damage dealt: burst style, dot based or balanced approach.
Death from above style attacks lend themselves very well to ranged weaponry and the overall flair of demon hunters and their wings.
Leech and Soul fragments are still great concepts for survivability as ranged, probably moreso than on havoc.
The concept of a blind archer and spectral sight has a unique flair.
Fel and Dot based playstyle could be fun for those players who miss having the option to go ranged survival hunter.
Vengeful Retreat is perfect as a Retreat-like ability replacement
Hardly any work has to go into making new animations, since a lot of them are based around ranged weaponry or already ingame through existing Demon Hunter abilities.