I’ve been wracking my head around this for the past three weeks, I literally go back and forth on a daily basis about choosing one of these two. On one hand gameplay wise, numbers wise, I am more than well aware that Elysian Decree is just an utter monster of an ability. Not only does it synergize amazingly with both your talents and your PvP talents but conduits and legendries as well just make it completely busted - shortened cooldown, repeat decree, AoE soft cap, strong single target instant damage and on top of that you also have Summon Steward that offers more gifts than a Santa Clause. Not only do you have insane benefits but that ability also just flows well with your other toolkit and just feels right. In comparison Sinful Brand just looks pathetic - 1 minute cooldown, 3 min cooldown AoE tied to an “Oh crab” button, a dot, miniscule debuff benefits and next to it is Door of Shadows, a movement ability on the most mobile class in the game.
However on the other hand, Kyrian is NOT something I can see Demon Hunters being a part of, neither lorewise nor aesthetically. It’s all clean, sleek and angelic whereas DHs are gruff, spiky and…well, demonic. It feels like Demon Hunters would be corrupting the place just by standing there. Then there is also the Path which sounds like something that Illidan explicitly rejected when he destroyed Xe’ra. Even discounting this, I find myself not only agreeing with Devos and Uther but actually digging the whole Dark Angel schtick they have going on, except I can’t be a part of it. And then there are Venthyr who are aesthetically just right. It’s dark, dusty, crumbled, Venthyr have a stick stuck down south, it just feels right. The entire vampire theme and torturing souls, it’s edgy and I love it.
So, I can’t change how I feel about aesthetics and lore. I can’t change how I feel about gameplay and numbers either. It’s gotta break somewhere so do tell - what else should I know from either side that might tip the favor one way or the other. Will Sinful Brand get better and actually affect my gameplay instead of becoming “just another button to press”? Do Kyrians actually have that “edgier” side I’m looking for?
Edit - For the record, as far as I’m concerned DH has only one spec - Vengeance. I have no plans of going Havoc, ever. As far as minmaxing goes, so long I can gear enough to comfortably play current content without overexerting I don’t particularly care for competitive gameplay. I am in this for the story.
This was my dilemma as well, and you only have to look at my profile to see how it ultimately turned out.
I initially went with Venthyr for most of the same reasons you listed. For me, there’s also a strong element of individual characterisation in the Venthyr NPCs that seems to be missing from the Kyrians. Aside from Pelagos and Kleia, the Kyrians all feel similar to the extent that I tend to mix them up. I figured I’d just do the best I could tanking M+ as a Venthyr and hope things changed later on (like a new legendary that would shorten the CD of meta) to make sinful brand more powerful.
Then I got offered a tank spot in our raid group, and I started to think I should probably go Kyrian for the sake of being the best I could ‘for the team’. (No-one asked me to. It was entirely my decision.)
I reconciled it by reminding myself that my DH isn’t too choosy about where her power comes from. She can work with the Kyrian just as easily as she could the Venthyr as long as they’re giving her something that she can use to achieve her goals. But she doesn’t pretend to be something she’s not. She’s a loud DH causing a fel disruption in the pristine whiteness of Elysian Hold. If they want her help, they’ll have to live with that.
And everything you said about elysian decree is correct. It makes me grin in a way I haven’t done since watching twilight devasation proc. The biggest benefit is having total control over it and being able to play the full defensive build and still have zero threat issues.
I was wondering the same thing. I went Venthyr because i think it fits more my DH, after all he is power hungry and vengeful. Those are sins that are tied to Venthyr covenant.
As for the covenant abilities, they really are bad. The sinful brand is weak single target, in fact if you go Meta and spread the brand around it needs to hit more than 5 targets to have a chance of out damaging the Kyrian circle of death (which you can do every minute and meta is on 4 mins CD). Not to mention Kyrian ability also gives you orbs for healing and damage resource. The only good thing on sinful brand is the reduction of attack/cast speed, which tanks may benefit but on the other hand the kyrian circle gives you souls which not only heal you but also give you resource.
The Venthyr teleport is at best situational, if you play Vengence, you can substitute it with a jump anyway.
Bottom line. Go Venthyr only for the aesthetics and RP element. If you are after damage and functionality, Kyrian is absolutely the place to be.
So i had those thoughts exactly. Even tho i was looking for optimal skill-wise covenant i went for Venthyr and boy oh boy i don’t regret it. DoS is super fun and with DHs mobility already super fun it adds even more.
As for lore/visual side i think only Maldraxxus comes close to what DH needs.
