The Demon Hunter

Demon Hunters are the most recent class added to World of Warcraft. Like death knights, they are a hero class, starting at level 98 rather than 1. Demons are also unique in having only two specializations, Havoc for damage dealing and Vengeance for tanking.

Despite only becoming playable in Legion, demon hunters have an important history in World of Warcraft, and it all begins with one iconic character, Illidan Stormrage.

Illidan, the brother of the first night elf archdruid Malfurion Stormrage, was a Highborne night elf born in Suramar more than 10,000 years ago. Unlike most of the Highborne who stayed loyal to Azshara and worked with the Burning Legion, the brothers Malfurion were important figures in the rebellion against Azshara. Illidan at this point was a mage, ever seeking out new powers to use to thwart the demons. This need to stop the Legion and protect Azeroth would become an overriding obsession for Illidan. Time and time again he would put his and others’ lives in danger in his quest. He was even known to drain the power (and lives) of other Highborne mages helping him in order to feed himself more power to fight with.

However, when the priestess of Elune Tyrande Whisperwind, whom both the Stormrage brothers loved, chose Malfurion, Illidan walked away from the rebellion. During this time, he killed a Legion doomguard commander, Azzinoth, and took his glaives as his own weapons, becoming known as the iconic Warglaives of Azzinoth that Illidan is known for wielding. Illidan went on to seek out a powerful artifact, the Demon Soul, to close the Legion’s portal at the Well of Eternity. To do so he had to feign allegiance to Azshara in order to get access to the artifact...and give it to the Legion. While doing so, Sargeras, gazing through the open portal, looked into Illidan and saw his plan. Sargeras wanted the artifact as well, so he helped empower Illidan, with the idea that the Demon Soul could be used to reinforce and expand the portal. Sargeras burned out Illidan’s eyes, replacing them with felfire orbs that can see magical energy, and covering his body in green fel runes. This was Illidan’s first step to becoming a demon hunter, the first demon hunter.

After Iillidan’s 10,000 year imprisonment after the events of the War of the Ancients and the Sundering, Illidan would escape to Outland, and begin drawing a following of both night elves and blood elves. These elves had either lost everything during the Third War, or were convinced that Illidan’s by-any-means-necessary attitude was the only way to protect the world. These elves underwent similar ordeals to what Illidan went through, having their eyes burned out and replaced with felfire orbs, allowing them to see magic. Most elves died during the training, but those that survived became the Illidari, and fought alongside naga under Lady Vashj who joined Illidan, as well as demons summoned and bound by the Illidari. Illidan would create a motley army also including fel orcs and Broken draenei.

The Illidari would go on to strike Legion worlds one after another, until eventually Illidan was confronted and defeated by the heroes of Azeroth, he and his demon hunters were imprisoned in the night elf Wardens’ prison on the Broken Isles. In Legion, the Wardens would awaken the surviving demon hunters after the Legion attacks the facility and takes Illidan’s prison crystal where he is encased. From here, the playable demon hunter enters the scene, with blood elf demon hunters going back to the Horde, and night elf demon hunters return to the Alliance.

Demon hunters have two specializations, one for damage dealing and the other for tanking, the good thing is that their equipment is identical for each spec, as in they use the same weapon-types; one handed weapons and warglaives. Both demon hunters also have the ability to unfurl their demon wings and slow their falling speed. Both specs also have access to Metamorphosis, allowing them to take on a more demonic form and empower themselves greatly for short periods.

Havoc - "A brooding master of warglaives and the destructive power of Fel magic."

The slaver caravan arrived in the sethrak settlement, and for a brief moment, the chained vulpera could rest. Bound from neck to neck, the vulpera caravan had been marched through the scorching desert for two days. They had been set upon at night by a sethrak warparty, and having mostly women and children, had been ill-equipped to defend themselves from a group of the heavily armed serpent men. The slavers were here to meet a group of foreign slavers, goblins, who had agreed to sell the sethrak a powerful foe to bind to a stone and use to train their men. The vulpera had given up hope that the Horde would save them. The dunes were vast and the sethrak had many canyons to hide in. The goblins arrived with a large crate on a wagon, took their pay, and as they prepared to use their rocket packs to leave, one goblin flashed the vulpera a toothy grin and stuck his thumb up. As soon as the goblins were up and away, the sethrak approached the crate and looked into the single open slot, seeing only green eyes staring back. At once the canyon filled with a gutteral yell as the crate exploded in a blast of green fel energy. All the vulpera were knocked down in the blast, as well as the sethrak. What stood in the wagon where the crate had been filled all who saw it with fear. A great demon, with horns, wings, pitch black skin ethced with green runes, stood. He didn't stand for long, as soon a blur of wings, horns, and blades began sweeping through the sethrak. The demon's warglaives flashed in the desert sun. Great beams of destruction from the demons eyes tore into the sethrak warparty, leaving dust and shadows on the canyon walls. The sethrak's one mounted scout, riding on a krolusk, made a run for the end of the canyon. The krolusk made it, but the rider died on the saddle, as the glaive whistled back to the demon. In a blast of chaotic energy, the demon was gone, and a blood elf stood among the vulpera. He broke their chains, and told them, "Pain leads to strength. Use this experience to become stronger than you were".

Havoc is the damage-dealing specialization for demon hunters. It focuses on rapid mobility, and unloading damage quickly, as well as being generally an easier spec to pick up and learn. It has a solid toolkit, with Fel Rush propelling them forward, with Chaos Strike and Demonblade form the core of their strikes, with Blade Dance giving them the ability to hit all targets in front of them. In addition, Havoc gets the famous Illidan ability to channel felfire from their eyes with Eye Beam, offering a powerful short cooldown attack. Havoc demon hunters are mobile, and capable of altering their talents to customize their damage focus between single-target and AoE damage. Havoc’s Metamorphosis turns them into a demonic form akin to Illidan’s own monstrous form, greatly increasing their damage and giving them 25% haste for 30 seconds.  

Vengeance - "Embraces the demon within to incinerate enemies and protect their allies."

Waycrest Manor had once been a place of pride and beauty for the good people of Drustvar. Now it sat as the base of a coven of dark witches who held the region in their clutches. The forests teemed with wicker constructs that served the will of the coven. The villages were either overrun and ensorceled into servitude or were under siege. Within the manor, a group of children sat in cages. A great pig-man, so large he could hardly move, sand and joked with the children about how they were going to make a tasty meal for him. The children had been brought to the manor from Corlain, a town down the hill from the manor's gates. Their parents were now thralls to the coven, and beyond saving. As the corpulent swine prepared his great pot of boiling vegetables and broth, the sounds of battle echoed through the manor. A crone ran into the kitchen and told the pig to guard the kitchen area, as the Order of Embers, an ancient sect of inquisitors, had breached the gates of the manor. The Order had been reformed by the Outlander, a foreigner who had come to Kul Tiras. Little was known by the crones of Waycrest about this Outlander, as until now he had been tearing down the Coven's defenses in the forests. Corlain must have fallen to the foreigner and the Order. The mansion lurched as a great ball of green fire came through the roof of the kitchen. The explosion sent tables flying and smashed the cage the children where in. Standing amindst the rubble and green embers was a tall, purple elf with massive horns. He quickly cut down two of the wicker constructs in th kitchen, bone spines erupted from his skin, absorbing blows, and he cleaved the wicker beasts down. The children fled from the kitchen in fear as the elf assaulted the great pig, searing a sigil on the creatures slimy swollen hide that engulfed him in emerald flames. The crone ran after the children. In the courtyard of the manor, the children could hear the Order's inquisitors fighting through the foyer, help was almost to them. But the witch caught them before they could flee, standing between them and the Order. She cackled and told them their fates were sealed, that the Coven would reduce all of Drustvar to ruin. Those were her last words, as the entire wall of the west side of the courtyard collapsed, and a giant, horned and armored demon loped out of the rubble. In a great leap the demon's body infused with flame and crashed at the witch's side. Before she could react, she was hoisted into the air as she looked into the vaguely elven face of the demon. "Suffer not the witch to live" he growled, before a great bellowing gout of green flame erupted from his mouth, pierced the night sky above him, and illuminating the courtyard. When he finally dropped the crone, the children saw the now headless witch lay before them. Little William gave her a quick kick. In another bound of fel green fire the demon was upon a group of wicker beasts, but luckily, the Order arrived and helped secure the courtyard. But not before they turned one last time to see the elf that had saved them sowing pain and despair among the Coven.

Vengeance is the tanking spec, and it allows demon hunters to mitigate damage while keeping an enemy’s attention on themselves. Vengeance focuses on sigils that have various effects, aoe attacks to keep multiple enemies focused on you, and damage mitigation abilities. The various sigils available to Vengeance, Sigils of Flame, Silence, and Misery offer a fire DoT effect, a spell silence, and a fear crowd-control mechanic respectively. Vengeance demon hunters can also sprout Demon Spikes from their bodies increasing their parry chance and reducing damage taken. Vengeance demon hunters rip Soul Fragments from their enemies, which heal the demon hunter when touched. They also have Soul Cleave, which strikes all enemies in front of the demon hunter, healing for a large amount, and consuming all soul fragments in the area. Vengeance has talents that greatly impact their gameplay, allowing a degree of customization. Vengeance’s Metamorphosis gives the demon hunter a different form than Havoc’s, no wings, however, the demonic form is large, armored, and viciously strikes at their enemies with massive clawed hands, in addition to increasing health by 30%.

Demon hunters are a fun class. Havoc is currently considered one of, if not the most, strongest damage spec in the game currently. It is also easy to pick up for new players, allowing a new player to quickly be competitive with others after getting some gear. Demon Hunters also have amazing mobility with Fel Rush (Havoc), Glide, Infernal Strike (Vengeance) and Vengeful Retreat (Havoc). So whether you want to play a easy-to-learn powerful class, or just want to play the edgy anti-hero, demon hunters are a great choice for exploring the World of Warcraft!