Question: Hell difficulty equipment...

[Roland]

Roland,

I'd be interested in seeing your build, and how is Bolas working out for you?
Inferno has made me re-evaluate my skill selection, and previous skills that I thought weren't good, are looking better and better. Bolas is one that I always had a hard time with though. I don't really see the point of a non-spammable Hatred generator. (or is it spammable, and I've totally missed the boat?)

http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/de...deV!cabZca

There's some room for improvement, but this is what I'm using. I keep debating going back to Volatile Explosives, but so far the increased damage is proving worthwhile. The extended timer can be a PITA at times, especially since I tend to get impatient and just Impale them before it goes off, but it does allow some interesting tricks (some day I'll have to record a video showing it off). Basically, you can load up a single target with a few Bola shots (it is entirely spammable, it just does paltry damage until the actual explosion) and then take them out with Impale. This makes them a walking time bomb, as when they die all the stacked Bola shots go off at once. Using this method I can clear small (due to the horrid radius - thus Volatile Explosives being my Rune until I hit Inferno and needed a damage boost) groups of mobs instantly. It takes some practice, good aim, and plenty of patience, but it's a neat little trick that's very satisfying when you pull it off. Of course, with Multishot around it's almost moot, but it's a good way to clear a small group without spamming MS and draining your Hatred, or regaining hatred after spamming MS to soften them up.

Impale - Impact is a bread & butter skill. It's a nice Hatred sink, with great single-target damage for elites, bosses, or anything you just want to nail down quick before it becomes too much of a threat. The stun procs about as often as you'd expect, and it's absolutely essential when kiting. There are plenty of mobs in Inferno who will keep pace with you even with 12% movement boots, and even with the reduced timer on stun (it's probably only a half-second duration in Inferno) it can often mean the difference between taking a hit and keeping your distance. Excellent for picking off single minions when facing challenging elite packs, especially for run & gun tactics. It often buys me time when Caltrops doesn't (or can't because I'm out of Discipline).

Caltrops - Jagged Spikes is another skill I've used almost throughout my career. I would have been using it from the moment it unlocked if I had known then that its damage component is continual, not once-fire like the stun Rune. Excellent for softening up mobs in doorways, hallways, or anywhere you can funnel them through a choke point. The slow is useful, but nowhere near as powerful in Inferno (like everything else). It does stack, though, so up against bosses it can be a huge DPS boost - drop your Sentry, pump out as many Caltrops as you can, and let it rip through the enemy's life pool. Combined with Numbing Traps it allows for some damage reduction - not very noticeable in Inferno, to be honest, but with enough defensive gear it could mean the difference between kiting and being able to take a couple hits. I don't believe it procs Life on Hit, but then neither does Sentry.

Companion - Bat took the place of my woeful Spider. I was originally using Cull the Weak with a Crossbow, and so figured the added slow would help keep loose minions away from me, and increase my DPS. Bat is so much better than anything else (as is the case with many of the DH skills, IMHO - one or two skills / Runes just stand out so far above the rest) because it fuels some of your primary skills. It allows me to spam Impale or Multishot an incredible amount of times, and regen it quickly enough that I don't have to constantly spam Bola Shot just to fire off 2 or 3 MS / Impale. I tried the Boar and didn't care for the AoE. The Spider takes too long to engage enemies (and really, so does the Bat, but who cares?) The Wolf I've never actually tried, but its damage is mediocre at best, it has a duration (which means if it goes down when you're low on Discipline you're not going to be recasting it, especially if it's the difference between another Sentry / Caltrops and another Wolf), and if its AI is anything like the others it won't engage nearly well enough to be worthwhile. Leave the pets to the Witch Doctor. Just give me my Hatred and stay out of my way.

Sentry is an excellent skill all around. Like Caltrops it drops at your feet, so you have to plan where you want to put it before (and during) a fight, but otherwise it's a constant DPS stream. It's fire rate is based on yours, so hand crossbows or bows + stacked IAS make it pretty solid. I've been using Guardian Turret, and while I'm not bowled over by it I'm not completely put off, either. Of course, it's not like there's many options anyway. Spitfire Turret is nice for the added DPS, but in Inferno you'll hardly be near your Sentry long enough for it to matter (and if you are it's either against an Act boss, or the mobs aren't enough of a threat for the added DPS to matter much). Aid Station is pathetic. Its heal rate is as slow as anything else, it's only 1% (which is abysmal), and like Guardian Turret the bubble is small. The only time you'll be standing in it long enough for it to matter is when the fight is over. That's what Templar Heals and Brooding are for (and even Brooding is unimpressive on its own, and useless in a fight). Vigilant Watcher is near-pointless: against an Act boss you should be able to manage your Discipline so you don't have to worry about it going down at a clutch moment, and anytime else you won't be near it long enough for the duration to matter at all, and if you are the mobs will be dead long before the Sentry is. Chain of Torment I've not tried, but I hear the range on it is just as abysmal as everything else (if not worse), so I wouldn't even bother, and again - you won't be near it to use it. Guardian Turret is the only other useful Rune, and even then it only gets use about 20% of the time (solo). If they either increased the range significantly or increased the damage reduction significantly it'd be much better - i.e. double the bubble, or take the DR to 25%. I love the skill, I just hate the Runes - but that plagues the entirety of the DH as a whole.

Multishot is your main damage-dealer for any group. It pierces through almost (if not completely) everything - yes that includes Waller walls, doorways, etc.), it seems to stack damage if multiple arrows hit (although not 1-for-1, and there is a cap, or both), and with Fire at Will it's completely spammable. I use it to tear through groups of mobs, and with my damage and attack speed it works wonders. It never gets used against bosses, and rarely against Elites (focus-fire one target at a time is a much better way, as it's your only form of damage mitigation outside of kiting), but against everything else it's spammed like mad. Solid piercing stacking damage in a wide AoE cone? Yeah, I'll take that. Strafe is too low damage, too crippling in mobility, and costs too much (channeled, like Rapid Fire), Cluster Arrow is weak damage for the cost (and smaller AoE), and Rain of Vengeance... just doesn't fit my style, I guess.

Passives should be self-explanatory, but basically when I switched to a Bow I dropped Cull the Weak for Archery. 15% more DPS all the time, as opposed to just slowed mobs? Much better. I would only use it with Crossbows if I could up my crit chance enough through items to be worthwhile (and stack an Emerald in the weapon). Brooding is mostly for when I'm recovering after a fight, and for longer duration kiting against elites and bosses. Otherwise, it's completely useless - it heals too little, too slow, and is interrupted anytime you take damage (including Reflects Damage). Then again, almost everything else in the Passives completely suck - just flat out, "why did they think this was even worthwhile" horrible terrible SUCKAGE. Numbing Traps came about in Inferno as an experiment. With enough defensive gear, like Guardian Turret it helps mitigate damage, but you still have to kite plenty so don't go thinking it's going to save you from anything. It helps when you're forced to stand and fight (Waller, Jailer, etc.), but aside from that it's situational and not strong enough to save you 9 times out of 10.

Anyway, that's my build. I may tinker with it slightly in the future, but the core skills aren't changing. The only Skill I'd consider swapping is Companion, and that'd be for either Vault (don't know what Rune), or Preparation - Battle Scars (seriously, why do 90% of our Runes have to be such complete garbage?) for the instant health. Of course, it won't keep me from getting one-shotted, whereas more Hatred allows me to thin mobs down faster, so in the long run I just don't see either of them being better than Companion - Bat.