!!!SPOILER ALERT!!!
If you haven’t already guessed from the title, this post will be looking at what my impressions are of the brand new playable class on World of Warcraft. This is currently only available to those who pre-purchased the game, so there are spoilers ahead for those of you who are waiting patiently until the 30th.
Although the Demon Hunters were released with Wednesday’s patch (the 10th of August), I haven’t actually had time to sit down and try out the new class… until yesterday!
Character Creation
There’s not much different in the character creation section, other than the fact that you can choose which horn type you want, what tattoo style and colour you’d prefer, and whether you want your Demon Hunter to wear some form of a blindfold or not… they are supposedly blind, after all.
This is the final character that I decided on. Meet Elutari – fear her wrath!
Entering Mardum
After entering the world, you’re met with a cinematic, which is always one of the highlights of World of Warcraft. You’ll be filled in on the story of the Demon Hunters, with Illidan leading the way. Following the well-animated cinematic, you’ll be dropped into a landscape which looks very green and foreboding – could the Legion be nearby? Of course they are…
You’re instantly greeted by our lord and saviour Illidan Stormrage giving you directions as to what he want you to achieve in this land – ultimately finding Sargeras’ Keystone so that he can use it to defeat the burning legion.
As he was talking (and can I just say how much I love the narrative of the storyline appearing at the bottom of the screen? What a great idea rather than having to rely on the chat box) I took the chance to look around. The environment is absolutely beautiful and better than I was expecting if I’m completely honest. This screenshot doesn’t even do it justice – the green is incredible!
Your Class Mount
So, after following the chain of quests which sees you recruiting some of the forces which Illidan himself has sent to aid you, you’ll also find that you’ve been granted your very own mount – the Felsaber. I’m a sucker for mounts, and for a class mount, this actually looks pretty damn cool – even though I’d much prefer having the one with fur which every Demon Hunter NPC seems to be riding.
There’s a lot of quests in this area, and you’ll soon find yourself hitting 100 (Demon Hunters start out at level 98). There are some pretty strong enemies but they’re no match for the Demon Hunter’s power and you can solo most mobs with ease.
The rotation is actually really simple, too. You have to build fury (the purple bar) to use specific skills, but the skills that you do have hit hard and fast – something that I’m loving at the moment, but I know it will be nerfed in an upcoming patch like the Death Knights encountered back in Wrath of the Lich King days.
You’ll also be asked to choose whether you want to specialise in either Havoc or Vengeance specs – Havoc being the DPS choice, Vengeance being tank based. I went Havoc – just because I need to be in the mood to tank – and I just wasn’t at that point in time.
Taking a look at the skills, they all seem fast paced. The first talent that I chose was Fel Mastery – a talent which increases the damage done by Fel Rush by a huge 50% and granting 25 fury when cast. This gives a huge boost to DPS outright and gives you 50 fury to use straight away as you can cast it twice in rapid succession. It also looks pretty badass zooming into battle.
This screenshot isn’t really anything to do with my first look, I just thought that the enemy looked hilarious!
The Double Jump
One of the coolest things that I found way too late into the first look is that Demon Hunters have a double jump passive ability. If you jump and jump again, your character will sprout wings which will allow you to float gracefully to the ground. This could come in handy… please don’t nerf it, Blizzard!
Landing Critical Hits
As a DPS, it’s always great when you land critical hits on top of your other high damage attacks.
Demon Hunters are no different, and actually have a pretty epic skill that not only turns you into a scary looking flying demon for a split second (see screenshot above), it also critically hits every single time. Eye Beam is one of my favourite skills – it’s nice to see health drain quickly from your enemies, but the Demon Hunter doesn’t seem to have a problem with that anyway.
Even the taxi mounts in the area look pretty damn cool – I really hope they release a similar model at some point within Legion – or release it just for Demon Hunters like they did with the Winged Steed of the Ebon Blade for Death Knights!
The Present Day
Once you’ve followed the storyline in Mardum and got the keystone, you’ll head back through a portal to Illidan – who has mysteriously disappeared and you will be faced with Maiev Shadowsong. This is showing the part of the lore where Maiev takes Illidan captive in the Vault of the Wardens, and because you are one of his Demon Hunters, you’re taken along too.
It’s not long before you’re called upon to the present day when Maiev realises that the best chance of defeating the Legion is you and your kind – after all, you’re the best Demon Hunters around!
You’re set free into the chaos, and you’re expected to help the Wardens push the Legion back. There’s a whole new set of quests set in the present day, and they’re all super straight forward!
This is how Elutari looked after all the quests in the present day were completed – she looks pretty awesome, right?!
So, What Do I Think?
I am actually really enjoying playing as a Demon Hunter – it’s a completely different style of play than what I’m used to (I usually prefer to play ranged/casters) but I am actually feeling good about playing a melee class for once.
The content has been fun and engaging, and there are some super huge plot twists that I wasn’t expecting at all. If you haven’t had the chance to try a Demon Hunter yet, I guarantee it will be worth the wait!
Have you played the early access to the Demon Hunter class? What has been your favourite part?
Excuse This Honesty 