Hunter, A Comprehensive Perilous Guide
My regular group and I (we call ourselves The Menials) are starting a series of guides on our preferred classes for Perilous and have decided to open with the Hunter, a staple in our lineup. This guide is a collaborative effort and if you guys enjoy it, more will be forthcoming. So, with no further ado, here's the Hunter!
Video Link Here
Active Skills:
Stealth with Lost in the Shadows – 50% damage bonus is nothing to be laughed at. The fact that this cleanses fire wraith burns, allows repositioning, auto-crits, and most of all ignores god damn friendly unit collision makes this one of the top tier skills to grab. 24 second cooldown is reduced by autos which makes the lack of I Was Never Here irrelevant. CDR is multiplied x3 when using the Bow of the Griffon, should all three shots connect, giving hilariously low CDs.
Leaping Shot with Rolling Draw – 600% weapon damage nuke although it's rare that all will connect. Cleanses knockdowns and can get you out of panics in a pinch. This skill really shines when combined with stealth as the auto crit burst fire will instakill many important targets on perilous, or at least make it damn close. Use it for damage. Use it for an escape. Use it for the excellent knockdown extra shot. Just use it.
Explosive Arrow – Basic starting skill. The damage isn't going to woo judges in most cases. However, the stamina cost is low, the AOE is respectable, the knockdown is very handy, tracking and animations will never betray you, and it can very easily full refresh the cooldown on your stealth if fired into a cluster. Whether or not to upgrade it is personal preference. I personally use this skill more in a rotation and don't take it.
Toxic Cloud with Contact Poison – This skill is insane, but only really shines on perilous. The weapon damage is misleading and rather high. Run with a keeper with static cage, a legionnaire, or go to a choke point, making sure not to stand between enemy archers and their targets of choice. Then set it and forget it. With explosive toxin its not uncommon in the final room to have this going long enough for the cooldown to refresh itself. On lower difficulties enemies lack the hp pool to make this effective. It also gives the ever elusive poison kills. The value.
Passives Nabbed:
Explosive Toxin
Easy to Miss (Preference)
On the Razors Edge (Optional)
Passives are 100% preference. I personally really enjoy using Easy to Miss and setting up a flanking position and shotgunning people with The Griffon. However, when paired with a Keeper or Ele it may be safer to stay by the mages, making these passives less valuable.
Strategy
Vs Venatori
Venatori clears are fairly simple. Stealth into leaping shot is excellent at taking down the brutes' large models. Playing as an assassin, your priority is to take out the spellbinders. The elemental weapons, barriers, and mines they lay down are by far the most dangerous part of this faction. Afterwards go for stalkers, then brutes, and finally archers. This is your most effective toxic cloud faction so set them up in the very frequent large clusters you find for extra damage or just on the front lines for brute/zealot damage. Watch for stalkers and chain knockdown with rolling draw and explosive shot. Their tracking on twin fang is as horrible as your own so consistently strafing should keep you safe.
Final Room – This boss is a joke. Ignore her and largely focus on keeping up a consistent toxic cloud and taking out brutes for your warriors. Kill her at your leisure.
Vs Red Templar
Red Templars have a large amount of range amidst their ranks between the attacks of knights and horrors. Fortunately the knights have a rather large model, so leaping shot burst is reliable but still sometimes won't instantly kill. They will make you regret your decision miserably if you don't. Your targeting priorities are knights followed by shadows. While shadow models are small, leaping shot burst should be used constantly on these guys. It only takes one mistake to lose someone to one of these. When horrors gain a barrier they have a small spirit damage aura around them. This will break your stealth so watch yourself. Hand bolts can be dodged by strafing but the homing ones from their backs must be LOS'd immediately upon being spotting or you will regret it.
Final Room – With stealth you won't be the one tanking this guy. Still, watch his patterns. Walking into a spin or a line nuke will be less than pleasant. Getting behind him and abusing cripple will allow you to put a lot of hurt on him while he attempts to walk up to his target. Upon drinking his second potion and gaining his leap he will frequently switch targets with his leap instead of being dedicated to a single target. Keep mobile and focus him hard when he hits this form. Watch for knight and horror ranged and play safe. Toxic cloud should be used in choke points when possible but only when safe to do so.
Vs Demons
Demons are your worst toxic cloud faction as wraiths won't take damage from the poisoned effect but will still take some from the AOE. Avoid clustering with your mages as terrors get some incredible value if you do. Leaping shot out of knockdowns when they occur, cleanse the broken fire wraith damage dots with stealth, and focus on maintaining consistent dps. Despair demons are your number one priority period. Try to take them down before they get their barrier on and your runs will be much smoother. Otherwise go for fear demons as their attacks, though unreliable, will hurt.
Final Room – Don't cluster with anyone. If you have a spirit tonic on you pop it, as wraith damage adds up quick. Clear terrors ASAP and then fear demons. The demon commander shouldn't be on you with stealth but keep an eye out for if someone goes down. If he goes under for you when you're lining up a explosive arrow or just strafing you're probably already dead. Crippling him if he LOS's himself from his target puts on some great damage but he has around 80k hp on perilous so unless you have other high single damage target characters he will probably be near last to die. If you do have other high single target characters or get him caught for an elongated time in a static cage feel free to hunt him down for your wall. You can take him down in under a minute with a stealth into static cage plus leaping shot crits.
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