Thoughts on DH Strafe builds

i just made a quick video w/ my build i use if anyone is interested.

I prefer smoke screen over gloom, i tried gloom and i just didn't like it, dunno why.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKFowJYIU8c

You are definitely packing a lot of firepower as a group! You must have some nice gear on your helpers. I would say it is time to up the resistances and go for higher MP. If I had 200k per character I'd be running MP5 for sure!! I run at MP4 with a lot less group damage than you and I do fine, but my resists are around 400 for each, with only 650k dps for the group and it works well. I use a different build though..It actually looked like you forgot to put up your shuriken cloud most of the video too. However, thanks for the video, it was good to see a different build in action.

Right now I'm using the following build (without a 4 piece Nat gearing mind you):

Left click: Rain of Vengeance, Dark Cloud on 3 characters, Marked for Death Contagion on 1 helper
Right click: Strafe Demolition

-Vault (Tumble)
-Gloom (EHP boost)
-Companion (Bat) This combined with other hatred regen pretty much lets me run strafe nonstop
-Preparation (Punishment) Between the bat and punishment balancing hatred with a constant flow of discipline from Night Stalker passive makes strafe run 100% of the time without resource problems and gloom running nearly nonstop too, so i just keep marching forward and let the mobs follow me if they survive the initial pass. Makes for quick runs

passives:

Vengeance
Night Stalker
Perfectionist

Thoughts on the logic of the Build:

Rain of Vengeance Beastly bombs kills elites faster, but Dark Cloud combined with marked for death contagion brings mobs down really fast and spreads to nearby elites too. Since Dark Cloud runs for 12 seconds it boosts overall firepower more often. Between mobs it is often almost charged again. The effect? At mp3 my runs average 15-17% faster than any other build I've tried so far. In terms of efficiency it stood out as a clear winner. I haven't tested the differences at mp4, however, since I only just got my resists on helpers high enough to run it, so maybe another build will emerge as better at higher MP)

I don't run Tactical Advantage because I don't backtrack for efficiency sake. I'm always marching forward. So, you have to envision a continuous march forward without any significant stopping, elites that don't die in the first pass follow me and die via Strafe/Rain of Vengeance. If I need to evade jailer or AOE attacks I still can use Vault as needed. My DPS as a group base is 650k, but with Strafe and Rain of Vengeance combined it's a little over 1.6 million (1.2million without Rain of Vengeance active), not including critical strikes from strafe. The combined auto-tracking of targets of strafe Demolition and Rain of Vengeance Dark Cloud is pretty nice for some brainless farming Give it a try! At mp3 it is definitely quick. So far it works very well at mp4 as well. when I pass ~700k-750k dps for the group I'll see how mp5 is.

I'll be comparing my run times in this build vs using Spike Trap instead of Rain of Vengeance at mp4 to see if my run times and results vary as greatly as they did at mp3. The only potential slow down with these is you have to wait for them to pop instead of just moving forward and enemies being dead already, but the extra DPS from the traps may be required at higher MP. We shall see. I'm going to compare the two builds tomorrow.

Bloodyivo, I looked for you for a while online and then realized you play on EU servers, lol. That explains that. I second your comments about the 1.0.8 patch. It will be good for all boxers!

Anyone else with suggestions for mods on a strafe build for efficiency at higher (MP4+) please contribute ideas for testing.

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23teeth:
You build relaing on strafe for main damage is ofcource very vaible on MP1 but on mp3+ u cant do it only with strafe... With my build i have like 80% of you tempo but i play on MP5 Compliments on gear too 200k + dps on each char is adorable and that without the dps pasives !

Ransom:
Sure if the Dark cloud works for you thats fine i tested it some time ago and i didnet like the DMG. I doubt u gona like it on MP5 Like i sayed before there is only one skill that can be optional(in my opinion) and thats is rain of vengance i use Bat now insted the Rain. And i rly love the tactical advantage + vault combo it rly speeds the runs. And with 79-80 disco pool my discipline is enought i dont need Night stalker. Also i have like 300ress all and 4500 armor , 50k hp per char and it is fine on MP5. I dont see the point to have more resistance and armor than that we have in mind that Vs Elites we r using Gloom in entire fight wich is quite a survivor

Yes, you are right, I tested a little more and found this fact to be true (at least of my particular damage output): At MP3 Dark Cloud is faster, however, when I tested at mp4 the differences vanished. If that trend were to continue at MP5, as you suggested, the faster method would be to use Spike trap and no dark cloud at all.

The build I've settled on through testing of my own looks almost identical to your own. I run with the bat so I don't have to rely TOO heavily on Preparation Punishment to keep up with dropping spike traps and using strafe. The only significant difference is that since I'm not using Nat set, I use night stalker to quickly replenish disc so I can use preparation more, which in turn allows me plenty of hatred to keep spamming more traps and strafe for movement. Now that I see how this build works a little better, with a bias toward using traps more often for DMG and leaning on strafe less, I might lean toward going with Nat set over the life and resistance benefits of using a Mempo helm.

Thoughts for other builds/theory:

I wonder if a combination of high discipline and smoke screen would allow you to stay invisible for nearly the duration of battles. Hmm. Just an idea, but this might allow a player to bump up 1 MP higher than he would otherwise play (unless DMG is the only bottleneck). Monsters that don't see you typically stop moving, which means more spike trap hits on average, higher accuracy for strafe demolition and fewer hits are taken by the player. AOE damage would be a problem still, but since you already have high discipline running Nat, perhaps you could test this out and provide some feedback. I can almost keep smoke screen up throughout a battle already just because of night stalker and I only have 39 discipline. Just a thought, but what I've found is I use shadow power a lot less since monsters can't see me, but then hatred becomes a problem. Since I'm already using up high amounts of discipline, preparation (punishment) becomes harder for me to use as often and so I run into hatred problems. Anyhow, its just an idea and a player with higher discipline from Nat might be able to test it out better

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Hi fellas! I just picked up a 2nd account and downloaded the trial version of IS Boxer. In about 20 minutes I power leveled my obligatory (and naked) SC character to 10. That was a whole bunch of lulz!

So now I'm off to HC. I won't be power leveling myself, quite risky early on for fear of desync. I will be running dual strafe DHs, oh yes....in Hardcore.

DH1- 150K DPS 500 AR 4200 Armor 80K HP
Mouse1) Bola/stun (Grenades stun for A2)
Mouse2) Strafe/demo
Button1) SP/Gloom
Button2) SS/LF
Button3) Prep/Battle Scars
Button4) Companion/Bat

Passives
Vengeance, Nightstalker, Perfectionist

This is a rock solid MP4 battle tested DH.

DH2- 110K DPS 450 AR 4500 Armor 105K HP
Mouse1) Bola/stun (Grenades stun for A2)
Mouse2) Strafe/(rune TBD)
Button1) Caltrops JS
Button2) SS/LF
Button3) Prep/Battle Scars
Button4) Companion/Bat

Passives
Vengeance, Nightstalker, Brooding

This will be comprised of my castoff gear I saved during upgrading. Should be good for MP3.

Depending on how this little experiment goes I have the gear for 2 more 100K DPS strafe DHs....in Hardcore!

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Well, I hit 19 and could not resist the urge to power level myself. ZOMG what a bunch of fun. Too bad I died at 41 wearing close to 300M in gear and gems for my own idiocy. I forgot to swap health potions, first time I needed one it did not even dent my health pool lol. Oh well, live and learn I guess. The Cain's set has been replaced, as have most of the gems.

I got my 2nd try up to 10 this morning (solo) before they shut the server down. Once she's 19 I am going to power level myself again, although probably a bit more cautiously this time. I can't afford another debacle like that and still have the "If my 60 dies" reserve cash.

Got it down second time around. The follower DH made it to 60, and I'm having a blast. What really tickles me most about this is that the noob DH gets more and better (legendary/set) drops than my p(77) MF capped main. By p(6) she got a CC Nat ring, Nat chest, and two +disc DMLs to drop. I haven't seen a Nat ring drop since I found a Mark in 1.03 LMAO.

So I now have a very balanced 251K DPS DH team rocking MP2 inferno and pulling off amazingly fast power levels.

DH1: 161.8K DPS 1.65 APS 54%CC 462%CD 82K HP 490AR 4.2K armor 700 regen 350 LoH 835K eHP
Mouse1- Bola/volatile for A1, A3, A4; Grenades/stun for A2
Mouse2-Strafe/demo; Full MS rune for power leveling.
Skill1-SP/Gloom; Caltrops JS for power leveling.
Skill2-SS/Lingering; Displacement for power leveling.
Skill3-Prep/Battle Scars
Skill4-Companion/Bat

Vengeance, Nightstalker, and Perfectionist.

DH2: 89.9KDPS 1.67 APS 49%CC 379%CD 85K HP 500AR 5.5K armor 1200 regen 450 LoH 829K eHP
Mouse1-Grenades/stun
Mouse2-Strafe/Emberstrafe (still playing runes); Full MS rune for power leveling.
Skill1-SP/Gloom; Caltrops JS for power leveling.
Skill2-SS/Lingering; Displacement for power leveling.
Skill3-Prep/Battle Scars
Skill4-Companion/Bat

Vengeance, Nightstalker, and Perfectionist.

Now being in Hardcore brings it's own special considerations to the table. Either DH could solo MP3-4 easy, and manage MP6-7 with only DC to worry about. In fact they have both separately run ubers MP6, and I plan on multiboxing ubers eventually- provided I have some good backup. Running 2 clients changes things due to crowd control affixes like Knockback and Fear causing desync. I must be able to kill before my team gets separated and running in opposite directions. That means staying in MP2-3 where extra health and/or shielding packs can be killed in under 20 seconds. It also limits the areas I run- confined spaces like Cathedral and Halls in A1, VotA and Archives in A2, Alk runs in A3.

Other thoughts:
I have been theory crafting on a WW support barb build to put in the mix for my 2nd account. Inspiring presence and Impunity? Hello, McFly? I'm going to build him with lots of vit and regen so I can skip out on WotB and forget about him in desync situations. Half the gear I need has dropped since I started dual boxing LMAO.

Feel free to PM me if you want to theory craft or add me in game. Just remember if you want to run with me I play HC

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here is the end result of all my testings and refinings
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JO8wy_n3ZiI