My Journey into Vengeance Demon Hunter - A Surprising Change

Introduction

If you've been following the tanking scene in World of Warcraft, you might have noticed that the Brewmaster class has fallen off for high keys. Before the recent talent changes, it was a painful experience to tank half of the keys on fortified. Brackenhide and Freehold high fortified keys seemed downright impossible. I had to rely on Rolling Fort Brew, Dampen, and multiple Sac's just to survive a single pull. It didn't feel "strong" to tank with Brewmaster.

The Decision to Change

Despite being stubborn about rerolling, I had to face the reality of the situation. I simply couldn't stick with Brewmaster anymore. With real-life responsibilities taking up a significant amount of my time, I preferred spending my game time doing high keys rather than constantly gearing up characters or raiding. I had two options in mind: reroll as a Vengeance Demon Hunter (VDH) or Guardian Druid. Both classes were strong at the time, but the VDH gameplay appealed more to my preferences, so I took the leap.

The Learning Process

About a month ago, I geared up my VDH and began my journey. I was fortunate to land a 441 Beacon from the vault, acquired my tier set, and grinded crests to improve my gear. However, the real challenge was learning to play the VDH class effectively while managing "tank responsibilities" in high keys. Tasks like calling kicks, coordinating defensives, and directing the group were much more challenging on a class I wasn't familiar with.

The Stages of Learning

The learning process for VDH happened in stages. Initially, I focused on mastering the basic rotation of building and spending souls, but I still struggled with getting initial threat in keys. Fortunately, swapping to Elysian Decree proved to be an effective opener for generating threat when grouping multiple packs.

Overcoming Challenges

As I progressed, I encountered the harsh reality that allowing spikes to be down could result in death during certain pulls. To optimize calcified spikes, I experimented with a spikes cancelaura macro. Eventually, I settled on using both methods: using the macro when facing dangerous situations and manually refreshing spikes when it was safe to do so. This flexibility proved vital in adapting to various pull scenarios and key levels.

The Nuances of Fiery Brand and Recrimation

The most challenging aspect of VDH was optimizing Fiery Brand and Recrimation (4pc) buff to extend brands. This optimization greatly influenced both damage output and survivability. It required careful consideration of which mobs to spend the recrimation buff on, especially when facing mobs with long-lasting brands or dealing with spitefuls and low HP mobs. The difficulty increased with larger and more challenging packs. Sometimes, during hectic moments, I prioritized brand management on tank buster mobs to ensure protection against high damage.

Min-Maxing Tank DPS

With the basics mastered, I'm now focused on min-maxing my tank DPS through trinkets, talents, routes, rotation, potion usage, and coordinating offensive cooldowns. The goal is to maximize my effectiveness as a VDH in every situation.

The Journey Continues

In total, it took me around 1.5 months to transition from a novice VDH player to tanking keys between levels 26 and 27. As time goes on, I become increasingly comfortable putting my class on autopilot, allowing me to fully concentrate on the dungeon mechanics. Nonetheless, I acknowledge that there's still much to learn and optimize both for VDH and the tank role in general.

Embracing Change

In retrospect, I'm genuinely glad that I made the decision to reroll. Committing to learning a new class and pushing its limits has been an enjoyable experience. I resisted the urge to jump between classes, like considering Guardian Druid, without prior experience. Instead, I wholeheartedly embraced the challenge of mastering VDH.

Looking Ahead

Going forward, I'm open to rerolling early in a patch cycle and fully committing to a different class. This approach aligns well with my work/life schedule and in-game preferences (no raiding!). However, considering the strength of the 4pc set bonus, I don't expect to continue playing VDH in patch 10.2. Depending on future buffs and set bonuses, I may switch to Monk or another tank class to explore new challenges and further improve my tanking skills.