The Embodiment of the Marauder Demon Hunter is one of the oldest builds for the class, reaching all the way back before Seasons. It dominated the leaderboards during Season 1 thanks to the auto-firing Sentries in combination with the "Slowball" Ball Lightning, before the set lost this ability. This however didn't prevent Marauder to shine during Season 2, using this time around Cluster Bombs with wall-bouncing strategies.
While it supports variety of different skills, it is most effectively used with Multishot and Cluster Arrow, which are performing at nearly equal levels.
The basic idea is to set up a Sentry line of defense that will boost your and their damage and fire your skills when you do. With the changes introduced in Season 25 giving the set back its auto-fire ability and boosting Sentry damage through the (6) Bonus, the main source of damage done became once again the turrets instead of the Demon Hunter's attacks. Unfortunately, this change also killed the Cluster Bombs build as Hellcat Waistguard does not work with Sentry attacks.
This build is an Area Damage (AD) build, since Sentries, and most importantly their Cluster Arrow or Multishot attacks can proc it. This build develops a completely unique playstyle with intriguing interactions (see Mechanics), where you become a tactician, deploying Sentries in strategic spots and letting them wreak havoc on the battlefield at your signal.
Huge AoE coverage ✔ Unique pushing playstyle ✔ Summons an army of pets ✔ Different competitive builds ✔
❌ Low mobility ❌ Difficult to play ❌ Requires positioning ❌ Long recovery after death
Core Setup
Core Item Build
Items
Embodiment of the Marauder provides a 47,500% damage multiplier to Multishot, Cluster Arrow and Sentry with 5 turrets up.
Yang's Recurve provides an amazing 50% Resource Cost Reduction bonus for great synergy with Captain Crimson's Trimmings.
For Multishot setups, the bow is also an important damage multiplier, adding a 200% damage bonus and 50% Attack Speed and Dead Man's Legacy adds another 200% damage multiplier and double damage against targets below 60% life.
For Cluster Arrow variants, Manticore is the alternative cube choice for 400% extra damage and 50% Resource Cost Reduction.
Bombardier's Rucksack gives us two more Sentries, adding 66.6% extra damage from the set (from 28,500% to a 47,500% multiplier) and roughly doubling the damage done by Sentries from its stats. For Cluster Arrow variants it also adds another 200% damage multiplier.
Ring of Royal Grandeur is required to combine the two sets.
Zoey's Secret provides 63% damage reduction from having all 7 pets.
Wraps of Clarity gives another 50% damage reduction after using a Generator.
Global Stat Priorities
The offensive stat priorities are Sentry Damage > Critical Hit Damage > Fire Damage > Cluster Arrow/Multishot Damage > Critical Hit Chance > Area Damage = Attack Speed = Damage > Dexterity = Cooldown Reduction (at higher Paragon and for Speedfarming more Dexterity should be replaced with CDR such as rolling mainstat off on Gloves/Shoulders). All remaining affixes go towards defense in the following order: All Resistance > Elite Damage Reduction > Vitality > Life % > Armor. Make sure to roll at least one item with Life per Hit (ideally Bracers) to get a bit of recovery.
While most skill bonuses are in the additive damage category, Sentry counts as a pet skill and thus provides a multiplicative damage bonus for all their attacks.
Assembling the Build
1. Do the Challenge Rift for the materials to cubeLegendary Powers. You can complete this once a week for additional resources and we always update the guide for you!
2. Gather the full Embodiment of the Marauder set. Each piece can be gambled from Kadala for Bloodshards. Do not salvage any duplicate pieces you find! Instead convert them to another part of the set with Recipe 4 in Kanai's Cube. If you have extra materials you can use Recipe 3 to craft the remaining pieces, but this is expensive and not recommended for new players.
Amulets to get Squirt's Necklace, The Traveler's Pledge and The Flavor of Time
Anything from the Gamble list in Step 3 that you haven't already acquired.
5. Do Bounties to acquire several important items for this build:
Act 1: Ring of Royal Grandeur
Act 2: Gloves of Worship (for your follower)
Act 3: Avarice Band
Act 4: Can drop any bounty item from any act
Bounty Turn In: Recipes for Captain Crimson's Trimmings, Sage's Journey und Cain's Destiny
6. Use Primordial Ashes in Kanai's Cube with the new Curiosity of Lorath Nahr recipe to obtain a free Crafted Primal Ancient. Since you can only equip one of them, choosing the right item to focus matters! Great candidates are Weapons, Offhands, Jewelry or any item with an important multiplier. With that in mind, we recommend getting one of the following items:
Yang's Recurve
Bombardier's Rucksack
Squirt's Necklace
Item Stat Priorities
SLOT
ITEM
STAT PRIORITY
Main-Hand
Yang's Recurve Manticore (Cubed) Odyssey's End (Cubed)
1. Damage Range 2. Socket Ramaladni's Gift 3. Attack Speed 4. Damage % 5. Area Damage 6. Dexterity
1. Dexterity 2. All Resistance 3. Vitality 4. Life %
Potion
Bottomless Potion of Kulle-Aid
For breaking walls to pull enemies and increase DPS
Gems
Enforcer is the main legendary gem, providing up to 60% multiplicative damage for Sentry.
Bane of the Trapped adds another 60% multiplier against slowed targets. With good Sentry Polar Station placement, this should be up permanently.
Zei's Stone of Vengeance adds another up to 80% multiplier depending on the distance of the target to the player character. Generally you will be positioned far away, easily maxing out the bonus on most targets.
For high end pushes, Bane of the Stricken can be included to finish the Rift Guardian much faster, replacing Zei's Stone of Vengeance.
Boon of the Hoarder and Bane of the Powerful are great swaps in Torment 16 Rifts.
Skills
Cluster Arrow Loaded for Bear or Multishot Arsenal are our main DPS skills.
Sentry Polar Station activates the Embodiment of the Marauder (6) bonus giving us a massive 47,500% damage multiplier when all 5 are out. They also slow enemies to activate Bane of the Trapped and Cull the Weak.
Vengeance is used for a timed 40% multiplicative damage increase and 50% damage reduction from Dark Heart. In speedfarming, Seethe is also an option for more Hatred.
Evasive Fire is our generator that activates Focus and Wraps of Clarity for 50% damage increase and damage reduction, respectively.
Companion gives us the full zoo: Raven (useless), Spider Companion (slows passively, AoE slow active), Boar Companion (Life Regen + 20% All Res passive, AoE Taunt active), Ferret Companion (10% Movement Speed passive, saves 20 points from Paragons), Bat Companion (1 Hatred Regen passive, 50 Hatred generation active) and finally Wolf Companion (15% multiplicative damage bonus for 10 seconds active). In total you will have 7 pets counting towards Zoey's Secret giving you up to 63% damage reduction, making a high roll on that legendary affix a priority (if not cubed). Since we get all runes from the Embodiment of the Marauder (2) Bonus, it doesn't matter which one you choose - all of the will provide their passive and active effects simultaneously. The main reason to use this skill is to activate the Wolf's damage bonus.
Vault Tumble gives us mobility, allows us to dodge attacks, aggro monsters and move into Oculus Rings.
Passives
Custom Engineering makes Sentry last 60 instead of 30 seconds and increases the maximum number of Sentries from 4 to 5 (when wearing a Bombardier's Rucksack). For the Embodiment of the Marauder (6) Bonus multiplier this means an increase of 25% DPS (38,000% -> 47,500%). Effectively this passive contributes around 50% extra damage.
Grenadier increases the damage output and size of the grenades from Cluster Arrow Loaded for Bear. For rocket-based setups, this is replaced by Ballistics for 100% bonus damage to rockets fired from Multishot Arsenal, Cluster Arrow Shooting Stars or Cluster Arrow Maelstrom.
Cull the Weak is another strong damage passive giving 20% multiplicative damage against slowed enemies, which is easy to maintain on all targets from Sentry Polar Station. In speedruns, this is generally swapped out for Tactical Advantage.
The last passive slot is flexible:
The offensive go-to choice is Ambush when you are tanky enough.
Steady Aim can be used in speedfarming variants for more damage.
Numbing Traps is great defense and easily activated from a variety of effects, effectively adding 33% bonus toughness.
Awareness could be used if you prefer to have a cheat death.
Perfectionist if you want to get some unconditional extra defense.
Blood Vengeance is amazing for T16 Rifts.
Paragon Points
Core
Offensive
Defensive
Utility
1. Movement Speed1
1. Cooldown Reduction
1. All Resistance
1. Area Damage
2. Dexterity
2. Critical Hit Damage
2. Armor
2. Life per Hit
3. Vitality2
3. Critical Hit Chance
3. Life %
3. Resource Cost Reduction
4. Maximum Hatred
4. Attack Speed
4. Life per Second
4. Pickup Radius
1 You only need to put 30 points in Movement Speed (less if you have a roll on your Boots) as the 10% from the Ferret Companions counts towards the 25% cap. 2 Add a bit of Vitality if you feel too squishy (a total of 800,000 Life is recommended).
Follower
Patch 2.7.0 revamped the follower system giving all 3 hirelings new powers and the emanate system. The first thing you should do is read our complete follower guide and remember the key takeaways:
The emanation system allows followers to share certain legendary and set powers with you. The most important ones are: The Flavor of Time, Nemesis Bracers, Avarice Band, Sage’s Journey and Cain’s Destiny. Click the guide above for the full list.
Follower’s powers are based on their main stat (maxed at 25,000, but they have a 2.5x multiplier so you only need 10,000). This means we stack Intelligence on the Enchantress, Dexterity on the Scoundrel and Strength on the Templar.
Guardian's Jeopardy(2) Bonus works for followers by improving their inherent stat multiplier from x2.5 to x3.5, making it slightly easier to hit the 25,000 main stat threshold if needed.
Followers share 20% of their Experience, Magic and Gold Find stats with you.
Legendary gems do not work on followers, except Esoteric Alteration and Mutilation Guard.
With Enforcer equipped on the player it's much easier to keep followers alive even without an immortality relic. The 90% damage reduction counts for them, too.
Cooldown Reduction does not work for any follower skill except the Templar’s Heal.
Followers never deal significant damage; you’re on your own to clear the content.
Select Follower
Speed GR Enchantress
T16 Enchantress
T16 Enchantress
For T16 we recommend this Enchantress setup because she is the only follower that gives Cooldown Reduction, allowing you to spam your abilities more. Since this is T16 content, she’ll stay alive with Esoteric Alteration and Mutilation Guard and use Hand of the Prophet to gain all skills. This will give us Cooldown Reduction, Elemental Damage, Reduced Damage from Ranged Attacks, Armor, Attack Speed, and a Cheat Death.
Stat Priorities:
Since we do not have the immortality focus, we need to stack survivability on our Enchantress.
Intelligence > Vitality > Life % > Armor > All Resistance > Life Per Hit > Attack Speed.
Key Items:
The Flavor of Time: For double duration on Pylons.
Nemesis Bracers: For extra Elites, Death’s Breaths and In-geom procs.
Avarice Band: For the insane pickup radius.
Ring of Royal Grandeur: To complete our sets.
Gloves of Worship: For 10 Minute Shrine Buffs.
Sage’s Journey: For double Death’s Breaths.
Cain’s Destiny: For 25% more Greater Rift Keystones.
Speed GR Enchantress
Speed GR Enchantress
For speed Greater Rifts we recommend this Enchantress setup because she is the only follower that gives Cooldown Reduction, allowing you to spam your abilities more. Since this is speed content, she’ll stay alive with Esoteric Alteration and Mutilation Guard and use Hand of the Prophet to gain all skills. This will give us Cooldown Reduction, Elemental Damage, Reduced Damage from Ranged Attacks, Armor, Attack Speed, and a Cheat Death.
Stat Priorities:
Since we do not have the immortality focus, we need to stack survivability on our Enchantress.
Intelligence > Vitality > Life % > Armor > All Resistance > Life Per Hit > Attack Speed.
Key Items:
The Flavor of Time: For double duration on Pylons.
Nemesis Bracers: For more progression from Elites.
Oculus Ring: For 85% increased damage.
Ice Climbers: To make your follower immune to Freeze and Immobilize effects.
Hellfire Ring, Leoric's Crown and Cain's Destiny: For more Experience and Attack Speed.
GR Pushing Templar
GR Pushing Templar
For Greater Rift pushing we recommend this Templar setup for the sustain from Heal, 10% increased damage from Onslaught, and the very powerful cheat death mechanic from Guardian. This is the only follower build that stacks Cooldown Reduction because it works with Heal. With Enforcer equipped on our chracter, he can survive without the immortality relic, so we can use the 50% CDR.
Stat Priorities:
Since we have the immortality relic, we do not need to stack survivability on our Templar.
Strength > Cooldown Reduction > Toughness.
Key Items:
The Flavor of Time: For double duration on Pylons.
Nemesis Bracers: For more progression from Elites.
Oculus Ring: For 85% increased damage.
Unity: For 50% damage reduction if you're also wearing one.
Ice Climbers: To make your follower immune to Freeze and Immobilize effects.
Leoric's Crown and Captain Crimson's Trimmings: For more Cooldown Reduction on Heal.
Gameplay
Cast Sentry 5 times to get the full benefit of Embodiment of the Marauder. Refresh them regularly (60 sec duration) and whenever you make a new pull to slow enemies through Polar Station. Kite enemies together and place Sentries in the middle for maximum area damage.
Regularly cast Evasive Fire to maintain Wraps of Clarity at all times for the damage reduction and to aggro enemies from a distance.
Make large pulls that you can mow down enemies using Cluster Arrow or Multishot. Use these whenever you have enough resources and enemies are in a good spot. You don't actually need to hit the enemies as almost all damage comes from Sentry attacks, but make sure you activate Restraint with it.
Try to spawn Oculus Rings and position yourself in them when you nuke.
Circle around a pull of enemies you want to kill so that they don't move away from your turrets.
Use Companion when you are missing around 1/3 of your total Hatred to refill it and you are about to nuke.
Activate Vengeance when you are ready for a big nuke phase.
Keep up Squirt's Necklace as much as possible for the extra damage buff by standing behind your line of defense.
Kite leftover enemies towards the next pull where you set up all your Sentries again and repeat.
Hardcore
The build can be played on Hardcore, but it's rather squishy. You can add extra damage reduction either through Endless Walk + Elusive Ring or rolling more Vitality on your gear. Make sure to always run with Awareness; the best passives to replace are Cull the Weak to cut offense or Numbing Traps if you want to reduce your defenses instead.
Check out our dedicated Hardcore Survival Guide to learn more about how to succeed in this game mode!
Variants
Nephalem Rifts
Speed GRs
GR Solo Push
GR Group Push
Echoing Nightmare
T16 Rifts Multishot Setup
Concept This setup focuses on going super fast and doing most of the damage with the Demon Hunter's attacks, using Sentry mostly as a buff for the set.
We add Goldwrap along with other typical T16 items like Avarice Band (on the follower) and Boon of the Hoarder and Bane of the Powerful.
Preparation Focused Mind ensures a consistent high Discipline pool together with Blood Vengeance so that we can spam Shadow Power and Smoke Screen.
Gameplay Set up your turrets and blast away with Multishot.
Setups For more consistent damage reduction, Goldwrap can be replaced with Zoey's Secret.
In groups, swap Warzechian Armguards with Nemesis Bracers and Pandemonium Loop with Avarice Band. If you want to get more Death's Breath, also swap Captain Crimson's Trimmings with Sage's Journey.
It's also possible to play a T16 Embodiment of the Marauder build with Cluster Arrow Maelstrom at a similar pace. For that, replace Yang's Recurve and Dead Man's Legacy with Manticore and Echoing Fury and roll Cold instead of Fire on your items.
Select Build Version
Cluster Arrow
Cluster Arrow Speed GRs
Concept For speedruns, the only important change to make is dropping Cull the Weak for Tactical Advantage. Additionally, (Area) Damage rolls should be dropped in favor of more Cooldown Reduction. You can play Fire Loaded for Bear without rockets, Cold Maelstrom or Physical Shooting Stars. In the latter cases, you want to replace Steady Aim with Ballistics. The difference between Multishot and Cluster Arrow is marginal, they are able to reach almost exactly the same levels.
Gameplay As described in the gameplay section above: Keep up your buffs (5x Sentry, Wraps of Clarity, Bastions of Will) at all times. When you find a pack of enemies, place a Sentry or two, mow down enemies with Multishot and move on. Activate Vengeance when needed for bigger bursts.
In general, place your turrets in corners with a good vision of the battlefield so that they hit the most targets possible with their cone-shaped AoE and kite enemies around in front of them. One turret in the center makes sense for the slow to keep them in place and activate your damage multipliers.
Setups For more consistent Squirt's Necklace uptime you can replace Zoey's Secret with St. Archew's Gage, but you will be much squishier when the shield is down.
When playing the Cold version you can also run Frostburn (which double-dips for a total of 40% Cold damage increase with Sentry attacks) to squeeze out more DPS.
Multishot Speed GRs
Concept For speedruns, the only important change to make is dropping Cull the Weak for Tactical Advantage. Additionally, (Area) Damage rolls should be dropped in favor of more Cooldown Reduction.
The difference between Multishot and Cluster Arrow is marginal, they are able to reach exactly the same levels.
Gameplay As described in the gameplay section above: Keep up your buffs (5x Sentry, Wraps of Clarity, Bastions of Will) at all times. When you find a pack of enemies, place a Sentry or two, mow down enemies with Multishot and move on. Activate Vengeance when needed for bigger bursts.
In general, place your turrets in corners with a good vision of the battlefield so that they hit the most targets possible with their cone-shaped AoE and kite enemies around in front of them. One turret in the center makes sense for the slow to keep them in place and activate your damage multipliers.
Setups For more consistent Squirt's Necklace uptime you can replace Zoey's Secret with St. Archew's Gage, but you will be much squishier when the shield is down.
Group Speed GRs
Concept For speedruns, we drop Grenadier for Tactical Advantage. Additionally, (Area) Damage rolls should be dropped in favor of more Cooldown Reduction.
In groups, you are usually tanky enough and have a Support DH that provides Wolf Companion to the party so that St. Archew's Gage is better than Zoey's Secret. We also run with Preparation Punishment instead of Companion for more Hatred. Cluster Arrow Loaded for Bear is usually the way to go for groups but Multishot works just fine, too.
Gameplay As described in the gameplay section above: Keep up your buffs (5x Sentry, Wraps of Clarity, Bastions of Will) at all times. When you find a pack of enemies, place a Sentry or two, mow down enemies with Multishot and move on. Activate Vengeance when needed for bigger bursts.
Setups To gain back some extra toughness, you can swap back to Companion and Zoey's Secret but you will lose your Squirt's Necklace buff much more often.
Select Build Version
Cluster Arrow
Fire Cluster Arrow Solo Push FnR
Concept This is the main push version described in the main sections of the guide. The setup focuses on high damage with a strategic playstyle. The power difference between Cluster Arrow and Multishot is marginal, they are able to reach almost exactly the same levels.
Gameplay As described in the gameplay section above: Keep up your buffs (5x Sentry, Wraps of Clarity, Bastions of Will) at all times. Gather enemies with Evasive Fire and mow them down with Cluster Arrow when you have made a large pull. Activate Vengeance when needed for bigger bursts.
Contrary to the Multishot variant, focus on placing your turrets in the middle of a large pack so that the explosions hit the most targets possible.
Setups Instead of Bastions of Will and Squirt's Necklace, you can also play a more relaxed version with Endless Walk and Convention of Elements. In this case, you can use your Wolf Companion as early as mid-Physical cycle to gain the benefit throughout all of Cold and Fire, too.
Fire Multishot Solo Push FnR
Concept This is an alternative push build very similar to the Cluster Arrow variant. The power difference between the two is marginal, they are able to reach almost exactly the same levels.
Gameplay As described in the gameplay section above: Keep up your buffs (5x Sentry, Wraps of Clarity, Bastions of Will) at all times. Gather enemies with Evasive Fire and mow them down with Multishot when you have made a large pull. Activate Vengeance when needed for bigger bursts.
In general, place your turrets in corners with a good vision of the battlefield so that they hit the most targets possible with their cone-shaped AoE and kite enemies around in front of them. One turret in the center makes sense for the slow to keep them in place and activate your damage multipliers.
Setups Instead of Bastions of Will and Squirt's Necklace, you can also play a more relaxed version with Endless Walk and Convention of Elements. In this case, you can use your Wolf Companion as early as mid-Physical cycle to gain the benefit throughout all of Cold and Fire, too.
Fire Cluster Arrow Group Push
Concept Other than in solo, the higher damage numbers of Cluster Arrow Loaded for Bear shine above other options when supported by a team that buffs and brings enemies to you.
Gameplay As described in the gameplay section above: Keep up your buffs (5x Sentry, Wraps of Clarity) at all times. Find a place to set up your turrets and place all of your Sentries exactly on top of each other. Ideally, they should be exactly in the center of a monster group.
Stand still as much as possible to increase the damage buff of Endless Walk. As the Fire cycle of Convention of Elements approaches, try to spawn an Oculus Ring and jump in to nuke during the buff. Activate Vengeance exactly in that moment for bigger bursts and survivability.
If a Support DH is present, avoid using Companion as you will unnecessarily taunt enemies with Boar Companion and the Wolf Companion buffs don't stack. All it does is make it harder to group enemies.
Setups When no other Rift Guardian Killer is available, replace Zei's Stone of Vengeance with Bane of the Stricken. To increase your toughness, use Evasive Fire Hardened, which makes Hatred management slightly more difficult.
Echoing Nightmare Setup
Concept For Echoing Nightmares we use a build similar to the Multishot Push variant, just with Smoke Screen and more Resource Cost Reduction. For more information check out our full Echoing Nightmare Guide and take a look at our Echoing Nightmare Build Tier List and META post for the best builds and strategies!
Gameplay Click Speed Pylon as soon as the challenge starts and all the other Pylons at around wave 90. At wave 122 you can stop attacking and run to the corner to let the timer run out.
Keep up your buffs (5x Sentry, Wraps of Clarity, Bastions of Will) at all times. Mow down enemies with Multishot whenever you see them and activate Vengeance when needed for bigger bursts. In general, place your turrets in corners with a good vision of the battlefield so that they hit the most targets possible with their cone-shaped AoE and kite enemies around in front of them. One turret in the center makes sense for the slow to keep them in place and activate your damage multipliers.
Video Guide
Mechanics
Embodiment of the Marauder(2) Bonus
Companion gains the active and passive effect of all runes:
Bat Companion passively grants you 1 Hatred per Second and 50 Hatred instantly on activation, which is great as we are starving for resource.
Boar Companion passively grants you 20% to all Resistances and 10,728 Life Regen. On activation, taunts all monsters within 20 yards for 5 seconds.
Wolf Companion grants you 15% separate damage multiplier for 10 seconds on activation, which also works for party members.
Ferret Companions pickup Gold for you and provide you with 10% Movement Speed, unfortunately counting towards the normal 25% Movement Speed cap. On activation, trigger a screenwide Gold and Health Globes pickup.
Spider Companion attacks and active effect applies respectively 60% and 80% Movement Speed Slows on enemies.
With Zoey's Secret, you gain up to 9% damage reduction per companion, stacking additively. In combination with Embodiment of the Marauder(2) Bonus, you're getting a 63% damage reduction buff as you have 7 Companions. Adding The Cloak of Garwulf for 2 additional Wolf Companions can even buff this damage reduction up to 81%!
Embodiment of the Marauder(4) Bonus
Sentries fire a Hatred Spender when you do. Sentry always shoots towards the closest enemy within line of sight, regardless of the distance.
Sentry Damage on your items is a separate damage multiplier for Sentries and Hatred Spenders they shoot.
Hatred Spenders fired by Sentries can proc Area Damage, but they cannot proc other effects such as Life on Hit or Hellcat Waistguard.
Hatred Spenders fired by Sentries benefit from Pet Damage like Enforcer.
The damage multiplier from Zei's Stone of Vengeance depends on the distance between the player and the monster at the moment of impact, the position of the Sentry is irrelevant.
The automatic attacks happen around once every second, or around 25% faster with Tasker and Theo equipped.
Sentries generally target the closest enemy, so they can easily get distracted by single enemies walking by. This is what makes positioning very important.
Multiple spenders can't be combined for automatic attacks, the sentries will choose only one of them (in the order of their Hatred cost).
Cluster Arrow fired by sentries has an infinite range as long as there is an unbroken line of sight between the turret and a target.
Summary
Keep up important buffs (Wraps of Clarity, Bastions of Will) at all times.
Set up your Sentry line of defense to benefit from your set bonus and mow down enemies.
Enjoy a variety of different setups at equal performance using either MultishotArsenal / Full Broadside or Cluster ArrowLoaded for Bear / Shooting Stars / Maelstrom.
I hope you enjoyed this guide and have fun with this classic Demon Hunter build. Good luck!
Credits
Guide & updates by wudijo Contributions by Northwar, Raxxanterax & Chewingnom
