Take a Deep Dive into the New Demon Hunter Specialization, Devourer

With Alpha approaching, we wanted to take a closer look at the upcoming third Demon Hunter specialization: Devourer-the new damage-dealing spec for Demon Hunters focused on delivering new gameplay by using Void magic. The Devourer features distinct gameplay mechanics that vary depending on your specialization and Hero Talents.

Harnessing the Void

A Devourer Demon Hunter's rotation focuses on generating Soul Fragments with Consume, gathering them with Reap, and eventually ascending into a higher state of being through Void Metamorphosis once enough Souls have been collected. In addition to the Souls resource, your abilities will also generate Fury that can be spent with Void Ray, unleashing a beam of concentrated Void Energy at your foes.

Let's explore the key abilities of the Devourer Demon Hunter!

Consume is an ability that can be cast while moving, deals Cosmic damage, and generates both Soul Fragments and Fury. This spell will serve as your filler, generating a consistent stream of Fury and soul fragments.

Generated Soul Fragments can be picked up by either walking near them or casting Reap. Reap can be augmented with different talents to generate Fury, deal additional damage based on Soul fragments harvested, or deal additional area of effect damage.

Void Ray is Devourer's version of Demon Hunter's iconic Eye Beam and can be cast once you're fueled with enough Fury. Void Ray is a medium-range frontal ability that consumes Fury over its channel duration.

Unlike other Demon Hunter specializations, Void Ray has no cooldown and can be cast much more frequently. Void Ray can be adjusted via talents to generate additional Soul Fragments or deal additional damage when hitting a single target. Additionally, we're focusing on interactions between Reap and Void Ray that let you reset the cooldown of Reap after casting Void Ray or turning Reap into an area of effect ability after casting Void Ray.

To get a jump start on your resource generation, Soul Immolation is Devourer's version of Immolation Aura. It generates additional Soul Fragments and Fury over its duration. If you prefer not to focus on casting this manually, talent options are available that allow you to cast it automatically during your rotation.

Void Metamorphosis and Collapsing Star

Once you're full of soul fragments, you'll be able to enter Void Metamorphosis, which transforms your character and grants you new abilities. Once in Void Metamorphosis, your Fury will slowly trickle down, and you'll be fighting to stay in the form as long as possible. As you gather Soul Fragments in Void Metamorphosis, you'll be able to cast Collapsing Star, which lets you channel the power of your devoured souls into a single attack, dealing massive Cosmic damage to your target and nearby enemies.

Through your specialization talents, you'll be able to augment Void Metamorphosis and Collapsing Star in a plethora of different ways, including causing Collapsing Star to deal additional damage per subsequent cast, reducing the cost for entering Void Metamorphosis, or causing Collapsing Star to generate Soul Fragments when cast.

Melee Mechanics

Don't worry - all that Glaive training won't have gone to waste! Unlike other caster specializations, Devourer has a suite of unique melee abilities, easily accessible throughout the left-most branch of the Devourer specialization tree.

Devourer's version of Felblade, now called Voidblade, kicks off a short combo sequence. You dash into melee and strike your target directly, dealing Cosmic damage and generating Fury. Voidblade is then replaced with Hungering Slash for a short duration. Hungering Slash releases a whirlwind strike with your Void Scythe, dealing significant damage, generating Fury, and shattering lesser soul fragments from your enemies. The last step of the combo attack is Vengeful Retreat, which gets substantially empowered by a follow-up talent called Voidstep. After your Hungering Slash, Vengeful Retreat's cooldown is reset, and it releases a burst of high-damaging void energy upon activation.

Fel-Scarred's new iteration, Void-Scarred, has been built with this snappy combo attack in mind. Metamorphosis resets and enhances your melee combo chain, causing each strike to release powerful Voidsurges during its execution.

The capstone of the combo strike build is The Hunt, a familiar and powerful damage cooldown that will also kick off the Hungering Slash combo sequence. Better yet, the Void-Scarred Hero Talent tree significantly enhances the availability and power of The Hunt.

We expect Devourer Demon Hunters will want to take spec talents that grant them more frequent access to Void Metamorphosis-even at the cost of a shorter duration-to repeatedly trigger these resets and Voidsurge bonuses.

Annihilator

While Void-Scarred is all about embracing your inner Demon Hunter and cutting your opponents down to size with devastating combo attacks, Annihilator is all about drawing upon the fundamental forces controlled by the Void and using them to wipe your enemies out of existence.

Annihilator keys into Reap and Collapsing Star, heavily empowering both abilities. Damage from Reap will summon Voidfall meteors at your target's location, dealing massive damage. Collapsing Star will summon a barrage of Voidfall meteors shortly after it deals damage, further decimating the area.

Annihilators will enjoy a bevy of Haste bonuses, improved soul fragment generation, and significantly enhanced Collapsing Stars, making them ideal for longer and more powerful Void Metamorphosis windows.

Apex Talents

The pinnacle of Devourer's arsenal is their cataclysmic nuke, Collapsing Star. To ensure that it was hitting our fantasy and damage goals, we decided to make it the star of the show for Devourer's Apex Talents.

Devourer's Apex Talent, lovingly named Midnight, causes Collapsing Star to always critical strike and deal additional critical strike damage based on your critical strike chance.

The last Apex Talent node is a game-changer. While previously you'd have to work your way up to Collapsing Star once you enter Void Metamorphosis, you'll instead release an explosion of soul fragments and immediately gain access to Collapsing Star, allowing you to get your damage rolling significantly earlier than before!

Closing Thoughts and Alpha Expectations

Devourer will be available in the first Alpha Phase and can be accessed by simply swapping your specialization. While Devourer as a specialization is ready for feedback, please keep in mind that we're still working on a few remaining bits around its itemization, class talents, and visual effects.

For our players in the Public Alpha test, we'd love feedback in this thread on these specific points:

• Rotational feedback
  • Are there any points in Devourer's rotation where you're unsure what your next button press should be?
  • Are you finding it too easy or too hard to stay in Void Metamorphosis for an extended duration?
• Damage distribution
  • Is too much of your power tied to Collapsing Star?
• Hero Talent Trees
  • Do the two playstyles of Void-Scarred and Annihilator feel distinct?
  • Is Void-Scarred a must-pick in some forms of content relative to Annihilator or vice-versa?
• Auras, Tracking, and Rotational Abilities
  • Devourer is designed to be easy to pick up and play. If you feel plagued by excessive resource management, aura tracking, and degenerative optimizations, we'd love to hear about them.
• Talent Choices
  • Do you feel like there are meaningful decisions to be made in the Devourer specialization tree?