Shadow Impale Demon Hunter Group Progression Variation

Even though it is not the top performing single target damage spec for groups, the Shadow Impale Demon Hunter is still very viable and highly ranking build in group clears.

Active Skills
Impale Chemical Burn Companion Wolf Companion 1 Vengeance Dark Heart 2 Marked for Death Contagion 3 Vault Tumble 4 Shadow Power Gloom
Passive Skills
Ambush Single Out Cull the Weak Awareness

The Shadow Impale DH does not alter his strategy significantly during group play, of course with the exception that he focuses on the Rift Guardian kill and drops any area damage considerations, as well as parts of his survivability (which is taken care of by support teammates instead). You will still rely on Impale as your main damage dealer, spamming it while buffed up with a trio of Vengeance, Shadow Power and Wolf Companion. You will support your AoE teammate with Marked for Death Contagion, and keep up with your team via Vaults.

A large part of your active skill selection remains the same as the Grenade-based build: Impale Ricochet as your damaging skill of choice; Vengeance remains an all-too-valuable self-buff, whose permanence you will still be striving for through 37%+ CDR on gear; Shadow Power is an integral part of Shadow set builds; Vault is an irreplaceable movement tool.

Since your toughness and crowd control will be taken care of by support teammates, switch Fan of Knives Bladed Armor out for the additive damage boost of Marked for Death Contagion to better assist your AoE DPS teammate. Companion Wolf Companion is retained from the solo progression build, as its damage buff affects the entire party and brings excellent value throughout the clear. Note that you can alternate to the toughness buff of Boar Companion for the group's convenience earlier on in a Season, or during the lower levels of GR progression, where DPS optimization is still not necessity.

In your passives, staples like Ambush, Cull the Weak and Awareness are still quite valuable even when grouped up. Since in group play survival is (mostly) not yours to manage, you should swap Numbing Traps into Single Out for consistency during the GR Guardian kill. If you trust your support teammates, you can even drop the cheat death of Awareness for the extra DPS of Steady Aim.

The vast majority of the Impale-specific items will remain unchanged during group progression. You will still be taking advantage of the mixture of the Shadow's Mantle and Aughild's Authority sets, doing the suggested 5-to-2 split from the soloing build and using a cubed Ring of Royal Grandeur to maximize their set powers. The duo of Karlei's Point and Holy Point Shot are an irreplaceable part of the build, so they also remain locked in place. The jewelry remains split between the Endless Walk set and a Convention of Elements.

In group GRs, you can switch belts to the glass cannon staple The Witching Hour to optimize damage against the boss.

To help you with farming the gear you need for your builds, we have two very useful guides that you can access by clicking the links below: a Salvage Guide to help you quickly check whether or not you can safely salvage a piece of gear and a Legendary Farming Guide to help you efficiently farm legendaries and set items.

The former Season 28 theme, the Altar of Rites, has been revised and re-added to Diablo 3 as a permanent character progression mechanic. — For virtually all builds and players of all skill levels — from casual to advanced — we recommend progressing through the Altar tree using the path outlined below. The suggested path is geared towards maximum quality of life first, then amplifying damage, and then mopping up the tree with defensive and edge case utility nodes.

Note that while they require reaching them with a Seal, Legendary Potion Powers are not part of the Seal cost system; Potions unlock with a separate resource called Primordial Ashes, obtained from salvaging Legendary or Set items of Primal (red bordered) quality. Upgrade them as soon as possible, and in the order shown below (courtesy of Caleko's Altar of Rites planner).

You can read more on the Altar of Rites, Seals and Legendary Potion Powers in our dedicated Altar of Rites Mechanics guide.

Bane of the Trapped remains a universally desired damage amplification gem. Gogok of Swiftness also remains part of the setup due to its valuable Attack Speed and Cooldown Reduction bonuses.

In group Greater Rifting, you will be tasked with taking down the Rift Guardian. No other gem will help you in that regard quite as much as Bane of the Stricken, which replaces the usual Pain Enhancer from its socket.

For more information about gems, please refer to our guide on gems.

Dawn will be a fixture in your weapons Cube slot, as its Vengeance cooldown reduction is too good to pass up. Stone Gauntlets also continue to be a stalwart source of defense. Ring of Royal Grandeur will occupy the jewelry Cube slot by necessity, to tie the bonuses of the Shadow and Aughild sets together.

The Kanai's Cube can be used for much more than simply extracting Legendary powers from items. Please refer to our Kanai's Cube guide for more information.

This Season revives the Pandemonium Kill Streak buff from Season 19. Each stack grants a bonus to movement speed and damage, capping at +50% movement speed and +100% damage at 1000 kills. Hitting specific kill thresholds unleashes powerful effects. Read more in our dedicated Season of the Eternal Conflict Mechanics Guide!

While speedfarming sees limited use from this theme, Greater Rift pushing benefits significantly. Effects like Geysers (150), Meteors (400), and Angels (500) can clear elites and Rift Guardians instantly. Players may reset streaks after 150 kills to repeatedly trigger Geysers or push for 500+ kills near boss fights, often using Nemesis Bracers to spawn extra enemies.

Because the most potent effects (Geysers, Meteors, Angels) can obliterate Rift Guardians instantly up to GR150, players can retool builds for efficiency and comfort. Here’s how:

Since you can rely on killstreak procs to clear the Rift Guardian, Bane of the Stricken can be safely omitted in favor of:

• Another generic damage-scaling legendary gem ( Bane of the Trapped for builds with any form of crowd control and/or melee range, Zei's Stone of Vengeance for far ranged builds, Taeguk for channeling builds, Simplicity's Strength for primary attack-focused builds, Enforcer for pet-oriented builds, etc.)
• A survivability-oriented legendary gem ( Esoteric Alteration, Molten Wildebeest's Gizzard), or additional utility ( Gogok of Swiftness for CDR-reliant builds, Pain Enhancer for attack speed-heavy builds, or Wreath of Lightning for extra movement speed).

Adjust your equipment to items that favor durability, health sustain, and ease of movement. Consider adjusting non-essential skills for the build to ones that pull, reposition, or otherwise displace enemies to facilitate large pulls of enemy packs. In more concrete terms, this means:

• For general Demon Hunter survivability, staple cross-class options like Unity (combined with the same ring on the follower plus a follower immortality token), and the Endless Walk set ( The Traveler's Pledge and The Compass Rose) offer a valuable balance between extra toughness and damage. Elusive Ring is also a strong class-specific contender, granting up to 60% damage reduction after using a mobility skill — something Demon Hunters do constantly.
• For additional defense, cross-class standouts like Unity (used with follower and immortality relic for them), and the Endless Walk set ( The Traveler's Pledge and The Compass Rose) are top picks, balancing damage reduction during movement with stationary damage scaling.
• Situational items that can bolster your defenses include Wraps of Clarity (providing a significant damage reduction after casting a primary, resource-generating skill), Aquila Cuirass (perfect for builds with minimal resource spending like LoD Rapid Fire), or Stone Gauntlets (their downside mitigated by wearing Ice Climbers, or Altar of Rites CC-immunity node), and even niche inclusions like Zoey's Secret (pet-based mitigation).
• Utility items like Nemesis Bracers are essential as more elites mean more killstreak maintenance and faster progression. When soloing, they should be equipped by your follower; in groups, at least one party member should commit to wearing them. Edge cases will see the inclusion of Warzechian Armguards or Krelm's Buff Belt (more speed for easier scouting and pulls), Strongarm Bracers (extra damage vs. displaced enemies), and even Lacuni Prowlers for straight attack speed. To facilitate large pulls, consider using a Follower equipped with The Ess of Johan, a proc-based analogue to an enemy-pulling skill (albeit outside your control).
• From a skill and passive perspective, always slot at least one movement tool: Vault Tumble or Smoke Screen Displacement are popular options, and Shadow set-based builds get Shadow Power Shadow Glide for free. Passive-wise, prioritize Ambush — against low total HP trash enemies, the extra damage to healthy targets can result in some quick killstreak stacks right at the start of a fight. A cheat death coming from Awareness can also be very handy for killstreak upkeep during risky, daring pulls.