Shadow/Marauder FoK Demon Hunter Speed Farming Variation

Last updated on Nov 18, 2020 at 09:00 by Deadset 1 comment

On this page, we explain everything that is specific to the Speed Farming variant of Shadow/Marauder FoK Demon Hunter. Updated for Patch 2.6.10 and Season 22.

1.

Speed Farming

The Shadow Fan of Knives Demon Hunter deals with regular Rift farming decently all the way through the highest Torments, making it a viable build for the task.

Within the limited scope of regular difficulties, the necessary damage and toughness to triumph over the enemy is significantly smaller. Thus, your best course of action is to improve utility and speed.

2.

Adapting Skills

Active Skills
Left Mouse Button Impale Icon Impale Impact Impact Right Mouse Button Fan of Knives Icon Fan of Knives Pinpoint Accuracy Pinpoint Accuracy 1 Vengeance Icon Vengeance Dark Heart Dark Heart 2 Vault Icon Vault Action Shot Action Shot 3 Companion Icon Companion Wolf Companion Wolf Companion 4 Shadow Power Icon Shadow Power Gloom Gloom
Passive Skills

The timing nature of the Lord Greenstone's Fan Lord Greenstone's Fan mechanic is disregarded in speed farming, where In-geom In-geom will ensure Fan of Knives Fan of Knives is available for every elite encounter. This variation takes Impale Impale, but only uses it as a proc to Chain of Shadows Chain of Shadows, allowing you to spam Vault Vault for mobility. Note that in the place of Marked for Death Marked for Death, you will run Shadow Power Shadow Power — because in regular farming you take advantage of the Shadow set 4-piece, which enables the skill and all its runes permanently.

You will still be using Pinpoint Accuracy Pinpoint Accuracy like the progression spec, but by stacking plenty of cooldown reduction and wearing In-geom In-geom you will cut the Fan of Knives Fan of Knives downtime enough to be unnoticeable.

In speedruns, the tame health numbers and quick fights devalue Bane of the Stricken Bane of the Stricken and its companion generator skill. You will be taking Impale Impale instead; not for its damage potential, but its interaction with the Chain of Shadows Chain of Shadows belt and resulting mobility.

When farming regular Rifts, build up mechanics like Sharpshooter Sharpshooter are set aside, and you are free to take advantage of the enormous mobility allowed by Chain of Shadows Chain of Shadows by slotting Vault Vault. The preferred rune is the offense-oriented Action Shot Action Shot, whose guaranteed crits will feed into speedrun-appropriate DoT gems like Pain Enhancer Pain Enhancer.

Since this build excels at mixing with the Sage set for additional Death's Breaths duritng normal Rifts, you will only be taking Wolf Companion Wolf Companion for a boost of damage.

The use of Shadow Power Shadow Power is relegated to speed farming, where you will be free to run the Shadow set 4-piece set bonus — granting you the effects of all the runes and making the skill last forever. As a side note, this allows you to pick the differently colored wings from the runes according to your transmog tastes. You will still passively enjoy the skill's damage reduction bonuses, movement speed increase, and increased Life per Hit.

Lastly, the progression-oriented Sharpshooter Sharpshooter and Numbing Traps Numbing Traps passives will be replaced during speed farming by Tactical Advantage Tactical Advantage and Blood Vengeance Blood Vengeance respectively. Blood Vengeance Blood Vengeance will not only expand your Hatred pool, but also enables a Reaper's Wraps Reaper's Wraps-like effect that replenishes both Hatred and Discipline when picking up health globes. This passive will benefit immensely from the worn Avarice Band Avarice Band in Torment runs and results in stable resources despite the heavy spending when speedrunning. Tactical Advantage Tactical Advantage will be used to bolster your maneuverability with an impressive 60% increase to your Movement Speed after using Vault Vault.

3.

Adapting Gear

The Death's Breath speed farm spec takes Sage's Purchase Sage's Purchase and Sage's Passage Sage's Passage by necessity, as the head slot is taken by Leoric's Crown Leoric's Crown. This leaves the Shadow set to occupy the shoulders with The Shadow's Burden The Shadow's Burden, the chest with The Shadow's Bane The Shadow's Bane and the pants with The Shadow's Coil The Shadow's Coil. You will complete the sets' 3- and 4-piece bonuses respectively by cubing a Ring of Royal Grandeur Ring of Royal Grandeur.

In the regular Rift farming variant, your helm slot will be taken by a Leoric's Crown Leoric's Crown. This unique item's superiority in providing CDR with a slotted Flawless Royal Diamond Flawless Royal Diamond will work in conjunction with In-geom In-geom to get you as close to perma-Vengeance Vengeance as you possibly can without a cubed Dawn Dawn.

In normal rifts, where you can easily overkill on toughness and mobility becomes a priority, a belt slot alternative is found in the Chain of Shadows Chain of Shadows belt. It enables free Vault Vaulting for 2 seconds after using Impale Impale — a power that single-handedly allows you to cover great distances, ignoring the limitations of your Discipline pool.

4.

Adapting Gemming

Pain Enhancer Pain Enhancer and Gem of Efficacious Toxin Gem of Efficacious Toxin will accompany Bane of the Stricken Bane of the Stricken in your other two gem slots for Torment farming. Both the buildup mechanic of Bane of the Stricken Bane of the Stricken and the protection of Esoteric Alteration Esoteric Alteration are overkill in Torment difficulties, incentivizing you to pick up these strong DoT gems instead. The bleed and poison effects (mostly applied by Vault Vault Action Shot Action Shot) will clean up random trash that is not worth your Fan of Knives Fan of Knives, or finish off anything remaining after you burst and move on.

Slot Gems
Jewelry
Helm
Torso and Pants
Weapon

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

5.

Adapting Kanai's Cube

In regular Rift farm, your priorities shift from conserving Fan of Knives Fan of Knives to spamming it as often as possible, necessitating the switch of the weapon Cube slot to In-geom In-geom. Note that you can wear your better rolled item between Lord Greenstone's Fan Lord Greenstone's Fan and In-geom In-geom, and cube the weaker.

Warzechian Armguards Warzechian Armguards are a suitable swap for the armor Cube slot, since speed is your primary concern.

The wait-and-burst tactic of Convention of Elements Convention of Elements is out of the question in regular Rift farm, and the jewelry Cube slot is best spent on Ring of Royal Grandeur Ring of Royal Grandeur, as it allows you to include Sage's set for its additional Death's Breaths.

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.

6.

Changelog

  • 18 Nov. 2020: No changes required for Season 22.
  • 30 Jun. 2020: No changes required for Season 21.
  • 21 Nov. 2019: Reviewed for Season 19.
  • 23 Aug. 2019: Reviewed for Season 18.
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