While traps and pets may be basking in the spotlight in the current high tier game, let's not forget the roots of this nephalem warrior. String up your bow and get ready to snipe from the darkness this week with Abachio#2399's "Lightning Rage Nocturne" build!

About the Build:

If you were to distill the core of the Demon Hunter class, what truly encapsulates the essence of this fierce ranged vigilante? Projectiles, traps, and a generous dose of agile stealth maneuvers all come to mind. One also might think of an expert marksman, and that's where the Lightning Rage Nocturne build comes in.

Steering away from the ever-popular M6 build, Abachio has focused his efforts on a build that's both visually and thematically appealing without sacrificing the ability to dole out substantial damage.

Vengeance is mine! No, seriously, it's right there on my bar.

"I wanted to create a Demon Hunter build which I would enjoy both playing and looking at," Abachio writes in. "Having said that, I also wanted it to have a theme. I was aiming for a solo, lightning-based Demon Hunter."

With skills that sport not only interesting visuals but effective mechanics, like Vengeance and Elemental Arrow, he's definitely achieved this goal. Strong support in the form of utility skills including Smoke Screen and Strafe round things out by providing the evasive maneuvers necessary for escaping those inevitable tricky situations.

The Skills:

This build focuses on the damage provided by Elemental Arrow. Additional skills primarily serve as cooldowns for burst damage or offer utility-oriented effects to keep you out of danger.

Active Skills:

• Elemental Arrow (Ball Lightning)
  • Primary damage dealer
  • Using Kridershot, also the primary Hatred generator
• Strafe (Drifting Shadow)
  • Secondary damage dealer
  • Offers an escape by allowing movement through enemies
  • Quick method of regenerating Discipline in conjunction with Night Stalker
• Smoke Screen (Special Recipe)
  • Great escape option for many Elite and Champion affixes
  • Provides additional life regeneration
• Shadow Power (Well of Darkness)
  • Primary line of defense
  • Provides substantial life regeneration
• Vengeance (Dark Heart)
  • Serves as massive damage cooldown
  • Synergizes well with Gogok of Swiftness for reduced downtime
  • Looks badass!
• Rain of Vengeance (Shade)
  • Massive damage dealer and nuke
  • When used with Natalya’s Vengeance, a more reliable and frequent source of area of effect damage
  • Great for clearing out common enemies

Passive Skills:

• Ambush
  • Great source of up-front damage
• Blood Vengeance
  • Boosts resource regeneration, offering higher uptime for Strafe
• Cull the Weak
  • When using The Shadow’s Mantle 4-piece bonus, provides an additional damage increase
• Night Stalker
  • Discipline generator for Smoke Screen and Shadow Power

Alternative Skills:

• Any Lightning-based Generator
  • Substitute for Strafe (Drifting Shadow)
  • In the event you haven't yet acquired a Kridershot
  • Recommended options include:
    • Bolas (Thunder Ball)
      • Great for additional Hatred generation
    • Hungering Arrow (Shatter Shot)
      • Offers good supplemental area of effect damage
    • Evasive Fire (Surge)
      • Long distance backflip provides additional maneuverability
• Perfectionist
  • Swap out for Cull the Weak
  • A great survivability option if you’re on the squishy side
• Archery
  • Substitute for Blood Vengeance
  • If you find you don’t need the additional Hatred generation, offers a substantial boost to damage

The Items:

While the list below can be viewed as daunting, remember that not all items are necessary to make this build function. Even if you lack a Kridershot, substituting in a generator allows you to capture a similar look and feel with minimal adjustment.

Abachio's wish list includes a new Ring of Royal Grandeur with Critical Hit Damage and a Witching Hour to complement his already impressive collection of gear.

Required Items:

• Kridershot
  • Most integral item in the build
  • Turns Elemental Arrow into a Hatred generator, eliminating the need for a Primary skill
• Ring of Royal Grandeur
  • Necessary to obtain multiple set bonuses from Natalya’s Vengeance and The Shadow’s Mantle
• Natalya's Vengeance (4 piece)
  • Provides a substantial boost to burst damage with a low cooldown Rain of Vengeance
  • Set bonuses provide plenty of additional damage and survivability stats
• The Shadow's Mantle (4 piece)
  • Shadow Power using every rune provides a substantial boost to survivability and utility
  • Offers an additional second life ability
• Meticulous Bolts
  • Vastly increases damage capability of Elemental Arrow

Complementary Items:

• Aughild's Authority
  • Great for filling in the spots between other set items
  • Able to be crafted, offering an accessible source of survivability and damage
• Blackthorne's Battlegear
  • Reasonable option to fill in missing gear while working towards Natalya’s Vengeance and The Shadow’s Mantle
  • Can potentially fit 3-piece bonus into build while utilizing other sets
  • Great source of Toughness
• Thundergod's Vigor
  • Source of additional +Lightning Damage

Recommended Legendary Gems:

• Gogok of Swiftness is extremely valuable for its always-welcome Attack Speed, but the Cooldown Reduction at Rank 25 is the real treat.
• Once you have acquired the 4-piece bonus from The Shadow’s Mantle, consider using Bane of the Trapped for additional bonus damage and slows to keep your enemies at bay.
• Finally, while there isn't a particular elemental synergy, Gem of Efficacious Toxin will nicely round out your damage dealing capabilities and Strafe will do a lovely job of quickly applying this damage over time to your enemies.

Recommended Stats:

• Resource Cost Reduction and Cooldown Reduction will be your two biggest friends in increasing the uptime of your strongest damage dealing abilities. Resource Cost Reduction will provide a higher uptime for Strafe while Cooldown Reduction increases Vengeance and Rain of Vengeance usage.
• Critical Hit Chance is also significantly useful, as it will directly impact your Discipline generation from Night Stalker.
• Lastly, consider spending your Paragon points on additional Cooldown Reduction and Life on Hit to increase your overall sustain.

Recommended Difficulty and Game Mode:

Abachio is currently rocking the Lightning Rage Nocturne build in Torment 6 and, as of the time of submission, has reached up to Greater Rift 26 when solo in Normal mode.

This is a great build for both Bounties and Rifting, and with the right balance of gear and passives, offers enough survivability to take into Hardcore. As always, don’t rush into a difficulty too quickly and be sure to thoroughly test your limits!

Why We Like This Build:

This is a very back-to-basics kind of build, and that’s what makes it so appealing. Lightning is an unusual element for Demon Hunters and Abachio's build is strengthened by rarely utilized Set bonuses, resulting in a play style that is unique and fun. If Demon Hunters appeal to you is to because you enjoy shooting demons in the face, then you should definitely give this build a try!

The best part about Strafe is that you don't have to pick and choose; you can just shoot *every* demon in the face. No one's left out!

Tell Us What You Think!

Have you been yearning for a different change of pace from your 6-piece Marauder set? Have you found an awesome Kridershot? Is there another item you've found that's totally changed the way you look at your Demon Hunter? We want to see how you’ve taken your vengeful nephalem and made them your own, so join us in the comments and let us know!

Got a unique hero that you want to share? We’re returning to the spirit world next week by embracing our inner Witch Doctor, so get those builds to us and we just might meet again on the front page!