I’ve been flip-flopping between characters during this content lull, and have come to a startling conclusion. If you, a) want to play DPS, b) aren’t in a cutting edge mythic raid team, and c) don’t have any RP/lore/aesthetic objections why not - you should be playing Havoc Demon Hunter!
I’m going to talk in some length about the pros and cons of this spec and why it is the spec for you (and pretty much everyone else):
+Mobility only rivalled by WW Monk (who sadly doesn’t share most of the other pros below)
+Easy 4 button rotation that is the same for both ST and AoE. There may be one or two other buttons that you’ll want to press occasionally but is there a spec that has an easier rotation than Havoc now?
+While you’re rolling your face across these 4 skills you’ll be healing yourself for at least 10% passively. If this doesn’t sound attractive to you, you can alternately talent into an immunity to cheese some mechanics.
+No need to target switch to spread DoTs/debuffs. 2 of those rotational skills we mentioned earlier will apply Chaos Brand to everything. Your work here is done.
+Speaking of Chaos Brand, DH is one of 2 classes that bring a debuff that can’t be replicated by scrolls or anything else.
+One of, if not the best personal damage reduction in the game. 50% dodge and 35% DR for 10 secs on short 1 min CD? Yes please!
+Free, instant cast, 40 sec CD AoE stun. If for some reason you don’t mind spending some fury and it having an extra 20 sec CD, and can handle an extra button to press in this complex spec, you can talent for a 4 second ranged ST stun to make people cry(harder) in PvP.
+One of only 2 ccs in the game that doesn’t put you in combat and can be used for M+ skips.
+Forces you to play an Elf master-race, therefore bringing a useful M+ racial in either Arcane Torrent or Shadowmeld.
+Strong in ALL game modes. In terms of melee, bettered only by Fury Warrior overall in Eternal Palace which itself brings the square root of f-all utility and toolkit.
+Darkness is super strong group utility. Raid teams even consider it to be a healing cooldown of sorts.
+Not particularly azerite trait or essence dependent compared to other specs. If you can get 3x Furious Gaze, great. If not, continue melting faces with whatever you have. Some specs might as well not exist without perfect azerite combinations.
+Similar stat priority for Havoc and Vengeance. Can share most of its gear with it’s tank off-spec, including weapons. Something that only Blood/Unholy can also do (but why would you choose to play a class that needs a zimmer frame to get around?)
+When you Blade Dance (every 9 seconds or less with haste), you will dodge everything for 1 second, also allowing for some more pungent cheese.
+Strong community perception of the spec, meaning a higher chance of invites.
And now for the cons:
-There are many galaxy-brain players who have figured this out and are already playing Havoc, so you might face competition for a raid spot. Maybe the real problem is that Mythic guilds are doing it wrong and they should just take 14 Havocs instead.
-They don’t have stealth or shroud. Havoc having an incomplete toolkit is surely an oversight by Blizzard and will likely be addressed in an upcoming patch.
Cards on the table time. I play BM Hunter, the ‘girlfriend spec’ of WoW, but at least I have to worry about things like Frenzy stacks and Beast Cleave uptime to be most effective. Havoc needs to worry about whether their keyboard is plugged in or not. If this post smacks of jealousy, you’re absolutely right. My good friend in game plays Havoc and got a 455 socketed Razor Coral in week 1 of normal EP and now I openly hate him for it. He too flip-flopped around before he finally tried Havoc and now he refuses to play anything else. He has clearly ascended to something greater than us mere mortals.
The approach of Shadowlands might be a good time to put Legion’s poster child ‘hero’ class back in it’s box. Everyone has already forgotten what Illidan sacrificed so time for Blizzard to give them the Death Knight treatment. At the very least, they could nerf the poop out of this passive Demonic build and reward higher-level gameplay by buffing Momentum like it was at times in Legion. I can guarantee you’d see people leave DH in droves if it actually took… skill (gasp!) to be competitive.
Until then, if you can’t beat em’, join em’. The Korrak’s Revenge event is still on and it will take me only a day or so to level a DH to max. After reading this, I’ll likely see you there too.
