With the revision of Natalya’s Vengeance in Patch 2.2.0, Demon Hunters have been raining down death from above on all their demonic adversaries. Ready to share his fiery vision, Schlangenbob#2315 sends in his take for this week’s Play Your Way.

About the Build:

Natalya’s Vengeance is a classic Diablo III set that received some major revisions in Patch 2.2.0. Now steadfastly focused around Rain of Vengeance, Demon Hunters everywhere are experimenting with different ways to utilize its powerful bonuses. Schlangenbob#2315 from our EU community is one of these players, and his fire-oriented take combines a spin-to-win attitude with a few tricks for keeping yourself safe!

An astounding amount of damage comes from Crashing Rain's effect; it can be tough to aim, but worth it to master.

Strafe has quickly been rising in popularity, and it’s easy to see why — it works beautifully with the redesigned Natalya’s, offering a way to seamlessly reduce the cooldown of Rain of Vengeance while keeping mobile and out of danger. This key element is the crux of Schlagenbob’s build, supported by several abilities to fuel his Hatred and a couple cards up his sleeve for when things turn sour.

The Skills:

Rain of Vengeance and Strafe are your go-to’s for dealing damage in this Fire-oriented build. You’ll find that everything else focuses around either keeping Strafe going or yourself out of trouble!

Active Skills:

• Rain of Vengeance (Anathema)
  • Primary damage dealer, particularly for single-target encounters
  • Grenade-oriented rune synergizes with Grenadier for a bit more punch
• Strafe (Rocket Storm)
  • Secondary damage dealer
  • Primarily used to reduce the cooldown of Rain of Vengeance (Anathema) via the Natalya’s Vengeance 2-piece bonus
• Smoke Screen (Lingering Fog)
  • Your get-out-of-Jailer-free card
  • Ideal for getting out of tricky (and dangerous) situations
• Fan of Knives (Fan of Daggers)
  • A stunning surprise for enemies that dare get too close
  • Great for positioning an approaching group in the line of your Rain of Vengeance
• Preparation (Punishment)
  • A handy refill to ensure your Strafe keeps on keepin’ on
• Companion (Bat)
  • Another quick refill for your Hatred-hungry Strafe
  • Also, super adorable. Just listen to him squeak!

Passive Skills:

• Cull the Weak
  • Primarily for use with a Rank 25 Bane of the Trapped
• Archery
  • Using the recommended items, offers you Critical Hit Chance and additional Hatred generation
• Grenadier
  • Synergizes with Rain of Vengeance (Anathema) for more damage
• Single Out
  • Great for finishing off Rift Guardians or picking off that one Treasure Goblin that tries to get away

Alternative Skills:

• Awareness
  • Swap out for Grenadier
  • Second-life ability that becomes a welcome boon in higher Greater Rifts

The Items:

Gearing for the Fiery Rain build is fairly straightforward, with plenty of clear choices. However, a few slots are open to interpretation, so feel free to customize to your preferences!

While it looks like Schlangenbob's Legendary gems are currently on loan, he otherwise looks quite ready to tackle a challenge!

Recommended Items:

• Natalya’s Vengeance (6-Piece Bonus)
  • Provides the necessary core for this build to function
• Crashing Rain
  • Further soups up Rain of Vengeance into a terrifyingly effective nuke

Complementary Items:

• Cindercoat
  • Reduces the resource cost of Strafe (Rocket Storm), increasing its uptime
  • Provides +% Fire Damage to benefit both Strafe (Rocket Storm) and Rain of Vengeance (Anathema)
• Calamity
  • Adds an additional damage kick by automatically applying Marked for Death to each enemy hit
  • When using Strafe, ensures this damage boost is almost always available
• Reaper’s Wraps
  • Supplements your constant Hatred expenditure from Strafe
• Hellfire Amulet
  • Especially helpful should it roll with Awareness or one of the recommended passive skills above
• Unity
  • As a vulnerable build, Unity on yourself (and your Follower) will go a long way in solo games

Recommended Legendary Gems:

• Taeguk
  • Constantly spending Hatred from Strafe means this buff will always be available
• Bane of the Trapped
  • Activated by Fan of Knives (Fan of Daggers)
  • A general excellent go-to for damage, especially past Rank 25
• Zei’s Stone of Vengeance
  • Strafe allows you to fire at targets from a distance and Fan of Knives will keep them there; Zei’s is a wonderful complement as a result

Recommended Stats:

• Attack Speed is a double edged sword here; it will make you run out of Hatred more quickly, but also reduce the cooldown of Rain of Vengeance faster. This becomes less of an issue when using a Cindercoat.
• Typical Damage stats are all a boon, including +% Bonus to Fire Damage, Critical Hit Chance, and Critical Hit Damage.
• Resource Cost Reduction is a nice supplement to this build, as you’re both safer and more effective while Strafing.

Recommended Difficulty and Game Mode:

This is a build ideal for Greater Rifts, where elite packs are plentiful and burst damage is in demand. Schlangenbob (which means Snake Bob, by the way, and is totally badass) has run this build up to Greater Rift 41 in Normal Non-Season, though he thinks with some more ideal gear rolls he could climb even higher.

While some effective escape methods are provided by this build, I can’t wholeheartedly recommend it for Hardcore without fitting a few more survivability tricks in. As always, watch your Toughness and don’t get in over your head!

Why We Like This Build:

Pacing and skill synergy are two of my favorite aspects to any build and the Fiery Rain Demon Hunter offers both. There’s a clear rhythm to each of your skills while continuing to Strafe, juggling the cooldown of Rain of Vengeance, Preparation, and Companion to keep your momentum up. Keeping an awareness of the availability for your Fan of Knives and Smoke Screen is equally important, as lacking one or the other could easily spell death for your character.

You go ahead and take a break there, Lyndon. My airborne beast of death and I got this.

Tell Us What You Think!

How have you been rocking your Demon Hunter this Season? Are you running Natalya’s Vengeance? Would you change anything about Schlangenbob’s build? Let us know in the comments or send us your build — we can’t wait to hear from you!

Next week, the spirits will guide us with the Witch Doctor. See you then!