What are your impressions?

[Elric of Grans]

As I primarily played Rogues/Amazons in the past, I immediately started a Demon Hunter. I completed Act I, then rolled a Wizard and found the game was considerably more fun. My initial impression of the Demon Hunter is that the skills are a disconnected mismash and the balance is non-existant, as opposed to the Wizard were everything feels good and makes sense. I will elaborate on the skills I have used.

Primary Skills:
* Hungering Arrow. Just how absurdly over-powered is this? Guided arrows that pierce, then guide to another/the original target, with range extending beyond the screen and it generates Hatred? Add the Puncturing Arrow rune and I have frequently observed triple hits per arrow. The average damage is equivalent to the secondary skills (sorry, forgot how to calculate average damage in these situations --- my math skills are rusty). It is excellent crowd-control and powerful against single targets. To test, I have cleared entire zones by just spamming them ahead of me and never seeing a single enemy, just corpses and loot. Just add Hand Crossbows, spam and play on easy mode. Rarely got hit by anything.
* Entangling Shot. Outclassed by Hungering Arrow, but this one feels about right to me. Perhaps a little low on the damage, but a solid skill that feels balanced.
* Bola Shot. I do not like this one at all. A Primary Skill that takes a second to activate? Does that not make it essentially useless? You automatically regenerate the Hatred it returns faster than this, so you may as well just kite for a second and continue using better skills.
* Grenades. Personally, this one did not sit well for me as a Primary Skill, but that was just personal. In play it seems a lot better than it sounds on paper and probably has a good place in certain builds. Personally, I want to fire an arrow in a Primary Skill.

Secondary Skills:
* Impale. Way too Hatred expensive when you first get it. Significantly more appealing once you get Runes, but still burns away your Hatred like it is nobody's business. Outclassed by Hungering Arrow. Fits nicely with Entangling Arrow, but you rely on a low-damage Primary Skill more than you aught to.
* Rapid Fire. Again, way too expensive when you first get it. Withering Fire feels a much better cost (especially considering it uses your Rune). Still feels outclassed by Hungering Arrow, but again fits much better with Entangling Shot or Grenades.
* Chakram. Blessed Hammer redesigned for a ranged class. As with Hammerdins, someone may come up with a way to turn this into a really good skill, but I personally was not interested in being the one.

Defensive:
* Caltrops. What can I say, it does exactly what I expected, and I expected good. Probably not an especially useful combo with Entangling Shot, but fits really well with Hungering Arrow and Grenades. If anything, could be a slightly over-powered as you can spam the crap out of these and keep everything back.
* Smoke Screen. Seems an interesting option. Quite powerful, but costs a good amount of Discipline. I did not use it much, because I was a huge fan of Caltrops, but I could see it being a really solid skill and a lot of fun to play with. That said, I think it will be more popular with Variant Scum than Power Gamers as it adds fun, but there are more efficient ways to play.
* Shadow Power. WTF? This `tree' has two skills that help you completely avoid taking a hit, or you can pick one that gives life leech. Why? Personally, I prefer not being hit any day of the week. Perhaps it comes into its own later in the game, but my initial impression was WTF.

Hunting:
* Vault. Does what it sounded like it would do. A great panic button and I have used it to pick up health globes while low on health. Woot? I cannot fault a really solid skill.
* Preparation. I do not want to like this one. Instantly recovering Hatred is really, really boring. The sad thing is that Secondary Skills blow your Hatred way too quickly, so this actually feels valuable. I have not been using it on principle.
* Companion. Seems an interesting option that adds a little more DPS, and the Runes are quite interesting too. Personally, I prefer Vault, but this seems a solid option for those planning to max their DPS, or using Elective Mode.

Devices:
* Evasive Fire. I do not get the point of this one. A useless version of Vault that also adds piddly damage. Meh? Perhaps I am missing something obvious, but it seems a poorly designed skill. Cheap, but meh.
* Fan of Knives. Not a bad skill, perhaps best paired with Vault so you can damage nearby enemies then get the heck out of that awful situation. Even without Runes this feels solid, adding Runes make it a fantastic combination. Probably a poor choice without Vault, as you do not want to be in the situation to use it.
* Spike Trap. Yum? Expensive, but powerful. In my limited experience with it, this should fit nicely into any build, though would obviously combos best with Slow/Stun skills to help you maximise damage.

What do others think of the class so far?

EDIT: Tags.

[Bizono]

I'm nearing level 30, and I think that your perceptions mostly hit the mark up to the skill level you describe, but Twin Chakram, Ball Lightning, Bat Companion, Jagged Spikes, and Frost Arrow, which are all mid to late 20s runes, will change your opinion and your gameplay IMO.

I didn't like Spike Trap or Grenades at all. Maybe the runed versions will help.

Really, it's tough to form solid opinions on any skills until you've had a chance to try out all of the runed versions.

[Tuftears]

I've found the electric version of Bola Shot surprisingly nifty, with its chance to stun enemies. Also if you shoot an enemy with Bola Shot several times, each bola still goes off, you aren't wasting the bolas. That said, it may still be useful to alternate targets for Bola Shot.

Grenades seem problematic so far, as the default version spreads them pretty wide, when I'd rather nuke a smaller area with more intense damage.

Twin Chakram is a real lawnmower of a skill.

I'm still using Spike Trap for now, but I view it as a situational skill; it's best planted where you know a group of monsters is going to be... Think of it as a delayed AOE bomb. You can also set it up in advance of a fight, then recuperate the hatred, but with as fast as D3 games tend to run, I don't see that being hugely useful.

[Mavfin]

For a while, till I got better stuff, I used Entangling with the chain (4 mob) plus the first-rune bola (14 yd explosion) to slow and blow up groups.

The different way all the skills can fit together is amazing and/or absolutely mind-boggling.

Multishot in late act 3 is just insane.

[mistique]

Love Rapid fire personally, and Bola is great fun if you can maintain range, i love firing one when the mobs health is really low and watching their head come off in the explosion
But over all, i agree with what you said, and grenades in my opinion should have been a secondary skill, not primary.

[Mavfin]

The rune on Fan of Knives that trips if something hits you is absolutely awesome in Act 4 in the shadow area, and even on Diablo himself. I got multiple 7-10 massive blows from it up there, with all the shadowy mobs, and Diablo ate a few.

I used the homing rockets rune on Rapid Fire for Diablo, and of course I always keep vault hotkeyed. I'll blow up half a pack with an elite in it, and then they're between me and the health globes, so I can vault past them to get the globes. I have the passive that gives me hatred from globes, too, so those keep me firing my high-damage stuff.

I liked the homing stuff on Diablo, because I kept him off-screen a lot, avoiding being trapped, running from fireballs/lightning, etc. Sentry was a nice help on him, too, because I just dropped it, and it did damage to him w/o my intervention. Next time I'll use Impale with the bleed, though, I think. I was in sight of him often enough to apply it and keep the bleed up.

Oh, and btw, the Diablo fight is great, with a twist I'm not going to mention here. I died my first try, but got him the second time.

[ima_nerd]

Leading up to the open beta I intended on Wizard being my first character. After playing all the classes in the beta though, I fell in love with DH (rather unexpectedly, DH was actually the last class I intended to play). The ranged damage, CC and mobility make a killer combination that I expect to dominate in PvP. I'm only level 23 but here's my quick opinion on the skills I've been using thus far:

Hungering Arrow: Wow. WOW. I predict the damage on this will be lowered as soon as they release a patch. Like Elric said, you can pretty much clear a zone without seeing what you're hitting. This only applies in open areas however, once you're in a dungeon you can't rely on it nearly as much.

Rapid Fire: I feel like a mobile turret with this skill. Drop a caltrop, Vault back and spray-and-pray. Done. It does chew through Hatred pretty quick but I find I can wipe out an average pack without firing a single Hungering Shot. Boss packs require a little effort to regen Hatred.

Caltrop: As long as I'm soloing, I don't see myself using any other skill here. It's simply too powerful and low cost to ever give up. I tried the immobilize rune but went back to the increased slow. Drop one of these in a chokepoint and open fire with Rapid Fire. Awesome.

Vault: I love this combined with Caltrop. Especially with the 2sec movement speed passive. You can use it to escape, collect health orbs, or even force TP your merc to your position if they're in danger.

Fan of Knives: Don't use this much at all. Seems useful though, whereas Evasive Shot seems totally pointless.

Multi Shot: Awesome. Was especially useful against the little spiders in A2. I think I had a 15-kill shot at one point. Absolutely CHEWS through Hatred though (as it should).

I've really prioritized survivability with my build so far. I'm aiming to complete Normal without dying, kind of like a dry run before trying HC. So far so good! I'm really excited to play in a party though. I'm drooling over the damage potential of this class if you're allowed to just sit back and shoot. I haven't looked through all the runes but there were several that popped out at me as purely end-game, group based runes.

[Lissa]

I've found that as you get further, the options open up a lot more for DH. Early on, you're right, it's not that fun because you don't have much in the way of options, but later on, things start to pan out better.

Right now I'm running with:
LMB: Evasive Fire
RMB: Hungering Arrow
Mouse Button 4: Multishot/Rapid Fire
Mouse BUtton 5: Vault
1: Shadow Power
2: Sentry
3: Potion

My attitude is not to let things get near. Between Evasive Fire and Vault, I can get out of a lot of situation unless I'm just playing reckless. Sentry ends up being real handy on boss fights where you can run the boss in circles while firing. Shadow Power also ends up being useful for the extra damage. Multishot is my go to for dealing with large groups of mobs or dealing with bosses that tend to have adds.

The only downside I've had so far with this build has been pRNG screwing me with giving me tons of rares I can't use on this toon. DH rares have been far between for me while I'm drowning in rares for other classes. And those rares I do get that have been open to any class, they typically don't have +Dex on them, but instead +Str or +Int, so I already have my first tab of my stash filled out (with only about 12 spaces free... =\).

[Bizono]

Finished the normal campaign with my level 32 DH this morning (I'll post relevant stats - mainly dps and life - later tonight). I made the point of soloing all 4 acts, visited every square inch of every zone and dungeon, killed every single spawned mob, used only the templar NPC, and kept gemcutting and blacksmithing even with my character level.
 
Here are my thoughts, mostly specific to the DH class:

If you are careful and have a decent internet connection, you can mostly ignore vitality and stack +AS or dexterity as the most important stats through the first 3 acts, with the possible exception of the Act II boss, where you might find a larger health pool to be a bit more useful. There's really no reason to stack MF at lower levels as you'll be replacing gear often and you'll have plenty of items to melt down into crafting materials.

First time through the game, gold is at more of a premium than crafting materials, so selling excess blue or even gold items may be more useful than melting them down for crafting materials that will be obsolete by the 2nd difficulty level.

Because of the high damage, difficult to avoid attacks from regular monsters in Act IV, you'll need to replace some dexterity with vitality. I think I had around 3600 life at level 32, when I fought and defeated the Act IV boss (3 attempts, with several hundred life points added each attempt and some minor skill shuffling) fairly comfortably.

Use Sentry (Spitfire Turret) for the few boss fights that require you to move frequently/almost constantly/ kite. Helps a lot, and you should have discipline available to keep Sentry up while still having enough for Vault. Bat Companion (generates 3 hatred/second) is also good if you feel like you're constantly out of hatred.

I'm not going to get into an extended skill/rune discussion, because new runes have such a huge affect on which skills use, its mostly pointless to spend time evaluating these until hell difficulty.
I started to write up some general strategy for how to use certain skill combinations, but really, this stuff is just really freakin obvious.

Death summary: I died once in Act II due to a really bad lag spike (which disconnected me about a minute after the death), I died once to normal monsters in Act IV (half asleep, not enough vitality on gear), I died 3 or 4 times to the Act II boss (mostly poor play on my part, and probably not enough life from vitality), I died twice to the Act IV mini boss (failed to kite around obstacles; this was easy once I knew the boss mechanics), and I died twice to the Act IV final boss (not enough life/vitality, and sub-optimal skill selection).

Grand total number of deaths through full clear of normal: 10. Goal was no deaths; this would have been achievable had I approached gear selection with a higher priority on vitality.

[Elric of Grans]

First time through the game, gold is at more of a premium than crafting materials, so selling excess blue or even gold items may be more useful than melting them down for crafting materials that will be obsolete by the 2nd difficulty level.

I heard that, when you start higher difficulty levels, you can upgrade your older crafting materials to the new ones. Can you please confirm? I had been hoarding them for this reason, but will change my approach if that is the case.

[Mavfin]

BTW, I think Grenades do have a use: I use them as AoE that gains hatred while I kite/dance around champion/elite packs. I dance around the pack, drop (cluster) grenades in the pack's path, and gain hatred for bigger damage skills while I'm at it. So in Normal, they weren't a lot of use, but in NM, I'm finding a use for them often.

[Roland]

I should post a longer diatribe, but I'm itching to play. I'll say this, though: I love the DH. Love love LOVE. I'm halfway through Act II NM, and between almost 10k life and over 1k DPS I am melting faces and surviving everything. When I group play (with TheArchDuke of RB) I'm the tank, if you can believe that, to his Wizard. I can literally wade into (certain kinds of) mob packs and survive until they're all dead. Solo, I can one-shot almost every mob about 80% of the time.

When I entered NM, I was using:
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/de...Yce!aababa
Bola Shot - Volatile Explosives
Impale - Impact
Caltrops - Jagged Spikes
Companion - Spider Companion
Spike Trap - Bandolier (then Long Fuse)
Sentry - Spitfire Turret

Steady Aim
Cull the Weak
Archery

Now in Act II NM I'm using:
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/de...Ycd!aabaaa
Bola Shot - Volatile Explosives
Impale - Impact
Caltrops - Jagged Spikes
Companion - Spider Companion
Sentry - Spitfire Turret
Multishot - Fire at Will

Steady Aim
Cull the Weak
Brooding

Most mobs I either Bola Shot or Multishot to death (a couple shots will clear the whole group). Single mobs I fire off an Impale to one-shot them, or finish with a Bola Shot if need be. Large groups, especially challenging monsters, I drop a Caltrops and Sentry, unload with Multishot, and finish stragglers with Bola shot.

The stun from Impale is invaluable for dealing with nasty mobs and bosses. Sentry chews mobs up (especially bosses), and Caltrops simply melts anything it touches. Multishot does such huge damage I can't believe I didn't take it sooner (I didn't like it at first, and Spike Trap was just too fun). Spider Companion adds a slow, increasing my damage as well as keeping stragglers who escape my Caltrops from getting too close - gives me time to Impale them in place.

Overall it's a very fun, rock-solid build that has kept me alive through some VERY nasty encounters. I can't wait to unlock Aid Station and Guardian Turret for my Sentry (not sure which one I'll prefer), and I may change my Companion to either a Boar or a Wolf, but not sure at this point. Full Broadside looks nasty on Multishot, and Arsenal could be interesting, but I think I'll prefer Fire at Will. Chemical Burn and Overpenetration are interesting for Impale, but I doubt I'll use them. Chemical Burn seems the most useful, but I can't imagine giving up that stun.

Anyway, I'll try to add more of my thoughts on the DH later, but now I need to play more.

[Mavfin]

Now in Act II NM I'm using:
http://us.battle.net/d3/en/calculator/de...Ycd!aabaaa
Bola Shot - Volatile Explosives
Impale - Impact
Caltrops - Jagged Spikes
Companion - Spider Companion
Sentry - Spitfire Turret
Multishot - Fire at Will

What's funny is that I'm almost to Act 2 NM with my DH, and I'm only using two of the same skills, and having a great time, too.

I'm using Multishot and Caltrops with the same runes.
Hungering Arrow - Shatter Shot
Grenades - Cluster Grenades (see post above)
Rain of Vengeance
Vault - Tumble

I used Impact for a long time, though. I used the bleed model on Belial.

Nothing 'wrong' for either of us, just differing playstyles.

[Elric of Grans]

After finishing Normal with my Wizard, I returned to the Demon Hunter to give her another go. Though more play, and unlocking more, I believe I now have a far better feel for the class. I still believe it is a poorly-designed and less balanced class when compared to the Wizard, but it does seem to flow better now. I am still not really enjoying it, however, which really surprises me. Currently, I am using:

Primary: Entangling Shot. Actually pretty good, especially when combined with Cull the Weak, essentially making it a double-debuff. I still think Hungering Arrow/Scatter Shot is far more optimal, but Entangling Shot is more fun for me. I do not like any of the Runes, however; they are all pretty dull.
Secondary: Elemental Arrow. I was always going to use this, because Fire Arrow was my signature spell in Diablo II I am very nonplussed by the Runes I have seen so far, but even the basic attack is nice. Far better balance than the over-priced Impale (Impact rocks, but still too expensive for what it does, and the other Runes do not compare), allows kiting unlike the dull Rapid Fire, and is easier to direct to maximise DPS than Chakram. Very much a case of the lesser of four lame skills, though.
Defence: I still cannot pick one. Caltrops is nice, but largely invalidated by using Entangling Shot. Smoke Screen is powerful, but dull and perhaps a little over-powered. Shadow Power is just pathetic, though perhaps latter Runes may make it appealing.
Hunter: Companion. While Marked for Death is nice (and my choice against Bosses), I like the `fire and forget' aspect here, especially given how valuable Discipline is. I see Vault as poorly designed, which is a shame, and still see Preparation as lame (perhaps in Nightmare or higher it may be more necessary?)
Devices: Sentry. Seems almost a no-brainer, really. It is essentially old-school Hydra in a mechanical form. Evasive Fire and Fan of Knives just do not compare, and I eventually found Spike Trap too expensive to justify.
Archery: Multishot. I think this is everyone's auto-pick. I do not see it at over-powered, personally, rather the other options are poorly designed/balanced in comparison. Multishot dramatically changes the class in such a way that makes me question the design (of the class, not the skill). If something is this good and makes such a big difference to play, does that not suggest that other skills need to be looked at to why they fail to provide alternatives (particularly as this is a relatively late skill)?

[Mavfin]

Primary:
Secondary:
Defence:
Devices:
Archery:

I just use Elective Mode and pay no attention to labels. I just put them on the bind where I want them according to how I'll use them and how often.

[Elric of Grans]

I prefer not to use Elective; I actually like Blizard's design here. It gives me the difficult decisions that I enjoy in class-building I get more of a kick out of picking between `Throw Faeces' and `Throw Bananas' over taking both and skipping `Sit in Tree' and `Hang from Branch', even though both ranged attacks are superior options than either of those defensive ones. Since I have those defensive options now, I craft a play-style to suit, which adds even more fun (for me).

[Elric of Grans]

There are a few Skills I still cannot find the slightest value in. I was wondering if anyone else had any more success, perhaps under a different context (or higher-level Rune) than I have used.

Shadow Power: even with Blood Moon, I could not seem to generate a meaningful degree of Life Leach. Trouble is, at least as far as I have played, most battles are easy enough that I have no use for it; the rest are so hard that a little life leach is not going to help.

Evasive Fire: I still cannot understand this one either. It seems to combine an attack that is worse than any of the Primary Skills with a weak version of Vault. Is there any reason you would ever pick this? Tried to work it in a few times, but it always gets nudged out in favour of something actually useful.

Fan of Knives: I have found this largely useless, though I have to admit that Fan of Daggers sounds as though it could make a fantastic panic button. Has anyone had any success in using this?

Strafe: I really, really want to like this Skill, but I can never seem to justify it. It is cheap, but the damage is pretty pathetic. I could have produced better DPS for even less hatred using Chakram or Elemental Arrow, which is exactly what I usually end up doing.

Cluster Arrow: I have tried this out a few times, but I cannot justify it. Enormous cost for OK damage. Every time I have used it, the additional bombs failed to hit any targets, making it seem even less useful.

Hot Pursuit: if you have full Hatred, you are probably playing wrong Seriously, though, a minor speed boost that only applies when you are not using your powerful attacks, which suggests it only really applies when you are not facing tough opponents. Seems kind of useless.

[Lissa]

There are a few Skills I still cannot find the slightest value in. I was wondering if anyone else had any more success, perhaps under a different context (or higher-level Rune) than I have used.

Shadow Power: even with Blood Moon, I could not seem to generate a meaningful degree of Life Leach. Trouble is, at least as far as I have played, most battles are easy enough that I have no use for it; the rest are so hard that a little life leach is not going to help.

You aren't high enough yet to really see the value. You need to be level 51 to get Gloom rune (incoming damage reduced by 65%).

Evasive Fire: I still cannot understand this one either. It seems to combine an attack that is worse than any of the Primary Skills with a weak version of Vault. Is there any reason you would ever pick this? Tried to work it in a few times, but it always gets nudged out in favour of something actually useful.

With the Covering Fire rune, this becomes quite useful (combine with Steady Aim passive and damage goes up a bit more). I tend to switch between it and Hungering Arrow depending on the sitauation.

Fan of Knives: I have found this largely useless, though I have to admit that Fan of Daggers sounds as though it could make a fantastic panic button. Has anyone had any success in using this?

I haven't used this as yet either, but I can see a couple of runes that might be useful, specifically Hail of Knives (increase range to 20 yards) and Fan of Daggers (65% chance to stun). Again, you're not up to a level high enough to get these yet.

Strafe: I really, really want to like this Skill, but I can never seem to justify it. It is cheap, but the damage is pretty pathetic. I could have produced better DPS for even less hatred using Chakram or Elemental Arrow, which is exactly what I usually end up doing.

Can't say I've found a use for this either, even looking at the runes. Maybe Rocket Storm combined with Ballistics, but even then...

Cluster Arrow: I have tried this out a few times, but I cannot justify it. Enormous cost for OK damage. Every time I have used it, the additional bombs failed to hit any targets, making it seem even less useful.

I haven't played with this, but here, I think the rune of choice would probably be Maelstrom due to the 4% returned life. The other possible choice would be Dazzling Arrow because of the stun effect. In upper Nightmare and especially Hell onward, stun is a big use item for DHs (and most other classes).

Hot Pursuit: if you have full Hatred, you are probably playing wrong Seriously, though, a minor speed boost that only applies when you are not using your powerful attacks, which suggests it only really applies when you are not facing tough opponents. Seems kind of useless.

When you're low in level, it's useful, when you get up in level, not so much.

Right now, at 54, I'm running this build. I'm mostly playing with Bolty's Barbarian and Quark's Wizard with this setup. I need to look at a couple things to try and set things up a little better (like switching the rune for sentry over to Aid Station and running up and dropping it by Bolty so he can tank things and I can back out do some more damage). Been using Archery/Sharpshooter because I got lucky and got a nice crossbow that dropped in nightmare act 4 while doing a little farming for gold and such.

[NuurAbSaal]

Hot Pursuit: if you have full Hatred, you are probably playing wrong Seriously, though, a minor speed boost that only applies when you are not using your powerful attacks, which suggests it only really applies when you are not facing tough opponents. Seems kind of useless.

When you're low in level, it's useful, when you get up in level, not so much.

Agreed. It's mostly a convenience skill for those of us that clear every room in every dungeon, at a level where you don't miss the skill slot.

take care
Tarabulus

[smegged]

I'm a 41 (very soon to be 42) DH in late act 2 NM.

My skill choices:

LMB - Hungering arrow with the rune that splits it to 3
RMB - Elemental arrow with Electrical arrow rune
1 - Smoke screen with rage regen rune
2 - Bat companion
3 - Fan of knives with range extender
4 - I've been experimenting but recently settled on the skill which shoots rockets at a small area.

Basically this build plays almost exactly like a frozen orb sorc from diablo 2, without teleport or the slowing effect of the frozen orb. Fan of knives is my only snare, I rely a lot on my templar to do snaring/stunning for me. The combination of elemental arrow with the bat companion and the rage regen rune on smoke screen basically lets me use elemental arrow as my go-to skill. It takes quite a number of shots to dump my entire hatred ball.

I can't say enough good things about this build. The only weakness it can have is in bringing down single targets. It's much more adept at clearing out entire rooms. Now I know that this will likely change come hell/inferno, but the other advantage of ball lightning is that it can shoot around corners. Really, the only time I'm endangered is when I let myself get cornered or come up against a fast boss pack.