Chakram (10 Hatred): Launch a swirling blade that deals 150% weapon damage as Physical damage to all enemies in its path.
Chakram is the first line-of-damage option you really get as a Demon Hunter- unlike the namesake real-world weapon, the chakram you throw with this skill penetrates everything but terrain, creating a simple... well, a line of damage. It also isn’t shaped like a real-world chakram, looking more like a hybrid between a chakram and a shuriken (throwing star). At any rate, if you have issues with your attacks being blocked by enemies between you and what you want to kill, Chakram gives you an option that not only will reach the target, but has a low enough Hatred cost that you can throw it around without many worries about having to stop and take a breather. Mind, it travels that line in a weird corkscrew pattern, so it takes a while and puts the damage out in a weird pattern. Watch out for enemies that slip through the holes in the loops.
Twin Chakrams (10 Hatred): Launch a pair of swirling blades, each of which deals 150% weapon damage as Physical damage to all enemies in its path.
Twin Chakrams, aside from being a misspelling (chakram is like sheep- if you have more than one, you have a bunch of chakram), is a very usable variation of Chakram. Much like the first rune for several of the Demon Hunter skills I’ve already covered, it basically means ‘Do more of what you were already doing’. In this case, it’s by launching a second chakram along with the first, for increased damage and increased area. This isn’t a spread, like many of the multi-fire skills in Diablo III, which makes it easier to target, but a little less damaging in mass-combat situations.
Serpentine (10 Hatred): Launch a swirling blade in a curved line that deals 203% weapon damage as Poison damage to all enemies in its path.
Serpentine will either frustrate you or benefit you. The improved damage is unquestionably nice, but many people will find it impossible to develop a knack for using the curved flight path to their advantage. If you’re not properly prepared for the way the blade curves, you’ll find yourself hitting far fewer enemies- but if you can adjust for it, you will often wind up hitting more targets than with an ordinary Chakram throw.
Razor Disk (10 Hatred): Launch a spiralling blade from the target point that deals 165% weapon damage as Arcane damage to all enemies in its path.
If you’d rather have an even stranger area of effect with your Chakram attacks, then you’re going to be amused and bemused by Razor Disk. The spiralling path, again, can be hard to plot, but if you can use it properly and adjust, will make the attack even more potent than the increased damage number would indicate.
Boomerang (10 Hatred): Launch a
blade that deals 188% weapon damage as Lightning damage to all enemies
in a loop that arcs out from and returns to you.
Boomerang is the third ‘strange motion’ option for your Chakram attack, and like both the previous ones its combination of increased damage and strange motion can result in vastly more damage than the raw numbers would account for- if you use it right. As before- keep an eye on it, learn its path, learn how to use it- and you can make sharp, spinning magic.
Shuriken Cloud (10 Hatred): Create
a swirling cloud of blades around you for 120 seconds that deals 30%
weapon damage as Physical damage every second to enemies near you.
Shuriken Cloud transforms Chakram from an attack into a retributive defense- and, with your extreme mobility, an entertaining way to make running past your enemies into a fatal assault. Particularly when combined with Strafe, this rune can be hilariously powerful at a very small Hatred cost, as long as you’re willing to take your time about killing things.
