Back 1.0.3 Patch
Nether Tentacle (NT) was used on 99% of DH build as their primary single target and AoE attack due to its ball lightning multiple "tick" effect combined with full 155% damage. The healing part was ignored since most DH's die instantly anyway after 1 hit

Post Patch
Post patch, I've found that while NT no longer ticks "multiple times" (which btw was not intended of the spell, it was a bug), it is still one of the most effective right click AoE attacks we have in our arsenal. Blizzard decided to nerf the damage of monsters and from that, emerges a new type of Demon Hunter. With the switch from pure glass cannon to tanky/resistance DH, our skill comp now adds in Shadow Power - Gloom (reduces all incoming damage by 65% and heals you back 20% of damage you deal)... The real pro of this build is that you can still retain high DPS (I get around 90K without sharpshooter), but tank 2-3 hits now instead of instantly dying (even in act3-4).

With my build, 45,000 Life, and 400Res all. I've discovered that NT heals a good chunk of life back and can keep you at full life all the time. In addition to having gloom/smokescreen as an "o shit" button for the rare occasion where its needed.

Conclusion:
NT used to be good due to glitch making it attack harder than ball lightning while still keeping ball lightning's ticking effect (Ball lightning hits each opponent 2x (77.5% per tick) also equaling to 155%.)
NT is STILL good due to its healing effect and flat 155% damage.

Only time Ball lightning is better than NT post patch is vs really big monsters like belial or azmodan.... Vs everything else... that heal and instant 155% > multiple ticks of 77.5% + bigger aoe imo. Vs small single target monsters, i use devouring arrow anyway.

Any feedback on this? Agree? Disagree?

This post was edited by Azn Masta on Jun 25 2012 07:35am

i feel its better then ball lightning by an extreme margin

and it hits hard as shit too

i hate ball lightning because ill see 10k dmg here 10k dmg there a few 40k crits

nt ill still see 180k crit here 60k dmg here 200k crit there

This post was edited by Beyondtheft on Jun 25 2012 07:19am

as i said in the other topic, i playtested the 3 main runes of elemental arrow too (Ball, Frozen and NT) and i came out with the same result:
NT > all

even for "low DHs" like me

I would have thought that frost is better for low/mid end DHs due to its utility. Vayne vs Ashe scenario for those familar with league

Thanks, i made my DH later on. Making it nice and tanky now and used lightning ball because i read the nerfs.
Ill give NT a try then Lets see how this goes with already 1k life on hit :>

traps with the added lightning dmg works like dream to me. Kinda off topic but you guys should check it out. Crazy nuke with 3 traps

for 90 hatred it isnt worht it

Cluster arrow with loaded for bear
Cluster arrow with cluster bomb
spike traps with scatter
impale with grievous wounds
are all harder hitting nukes with less hatred cost


and if no one here was spoiled by nt pre patch well lets just say it was a tad bit overpowered if you see here...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_Do1bBbgPs

This post was edited by Beyondtheft on Jun 25 2012 07:37am

the 1sec chill effect at 60% slow is just not enough to prevent monsters to rush to you, i however need caltrops (torturous ground) to kite em well,
also frozen arrow doesn't hit all the mobs like NT does and its hitbox is way smaller than NT, on the other hand Ball hits more mobs than NT but doesnt give the same huge dmg and has to life leech...

i'll try to use shadow power/gloom instead of the bat... just to check it out if it's viable with mid gear

EDIT: i now use entangling shot with justice is served as main attack to fill up hatred and slow effect frozen's like... than spam NT all the way out, it's lovely the BIG-BADA-BOOM effect of fire elemental dmg weapon also

This post was edited by Shirl86 on Jun 25 2012 07:37am

shadow power i've found is super useful IF you can tank 1-2 hits naturally... cuz now you can stand in attacks vs mobs and not die....

Let me see if i can post a video up against butcher and snake mobs pre belial etc... i literally do not get hurt at all vs them and i don't even have to move around. I just sit there and tank (and im not talkinn athene 3 sec kills... im talking actually tanking all of their hits with a demon hunter and sitting in plagues/desecration and mortar and being fine)

This post was edited by Azn Masta on Jun 25 2012 07:40am

Ball lightning + Nightstalker + high crit % = profit