Known by many names he is The Betrayer, The Lord of the Outland, The Ruler of Naga. He is The Demon Hunter Illidan Stormrage, neither night elf nor demon, but something more. The world of Azeroth is under attack once again from a power larger and stronger that any has seen before. Both Horde and Alliance will need to band together and call upon the help of this outcast race if they’re going to survive, in World of Warcraft’s latest expansion Legion.

What Are Demon Hunters?

Demon Hunters are Night Elves and Blood Elves that wield the power of the fel. Shunned by their elven brethren for using the magic of the Legion, they were founded and trained by Illidan to fight against the Burning Legion no matter the cost.

Similar to Death Knights, Demon Hunters are a hero class and you’re limited to just one per realm. Hero classes start at a higher level than standard classes and that in order to unlock them you’ll need to have a Level 70 character in the realm as their pre-requisite. Demon Hunters being at Level 98 and will be ready to jump straight into the Legion expansion.

Special Abilities

Demon Hunters are more dexterous than any of the other races. These melee focused assassins have sacrificed their natural vision for Spectral Sight, a preternatural perception that allows them to detect targets regular mortals cannot see.

Members of the Demon Hunter class can double-jump and glide as well as slow-fall that mitigate fall damage. With their greater agility they can rush enemies in combat to deal damage to everything in their path with Fel Rush. Or even skillfully avoiding enemy attacks with Vengeful Retreat, a quick backward leap.

However a Demon Hunter is always at war within themselves and the magic of the fel will pull you in an out of a twisted demonic form. Using Metamorphosis a Demon Hunter is able to transform into a themselves into the very embodiment of a Demon. Where the Demon leaps into the air and slams back into the ground to stun enemies nearby.

Classes

There are two sepcialisations for Demon Hunters, Havoc which focuses on Damage Per Second and Vengeance which is more of a Tank. Much like a Death Knights Runic Power and a Warrior’s Rage, Fury and Pain are resources generated in combat as a Demon Hunter when you both deal and take damage.

Fury and Pain are used to power a wide variety of Demon Hunter attacks and abilities, which will ultimately depend on your character’s specialization.

Havoc

Havoc will be your starting specialization and is automatically assigned when you start. This specialization focuses entirely on dealing damage while moving around the battlefield. With Havoc, your primary weapon is a set of warglaives and your active resource is Fury. While playing Havoc, you’ll also get access to a plethora of offensive abilities to use in combat such as Eye Beam, Blade Dance, and Metamorphosis.

Havoc is a specialization focused on making the most of your Fury pool while reacting to situations across the battlefield. What’s great about Havoc is it also provides you with a ton of movement-related abilities that allow you to navigate better than any other player, giving you an advantage in both dungeon and raid encounters.

Vengence

Vengeance on the other hand, is a specialization focused entirely on taking damage and moving about the battlefield to contain dangerous situations for your allies. Vengeance Demon Hunters are the kings of mobility in raids and other encounters thanks to their double jump combined with Infernal Strike, which allows them to jump anywhere within 30 yards and deal a moderate amount of damage.

Currently, Vengeance is a specialization focused on a mix of healing and damage mitigation while dealing out massive amounts of AOE burst damage with their abilities. While playing Vengeance, you’ll get access to a set of warglaives as well, which further augment your damage and self-mitigation abilities.

There’s no doubt Demon Hunters are the most compelling addition World of Warcraft has seen for years due to their interesting backstory and excellent design. Not only do they have a direct connection to one of the most respected characters in the Warcraft franchise, but they revolve around a completely fresh set of abilities that flesh out completely new styles of play.