Grenades: Throw a wide spread of
three grenades that explode after one second, each dealing 95% weapon
damage as Fire damage. Generates 3 Hatred.
Grenades is probably one of the strangest skills available to the Demon Hunter. Where a shooting skill will generally have a range of ‘as far as the game tracks the arrow’, and most other skills have a range of either ‘wherever you just clicked’ or ‘set number of yards’, Grenades functions just... weirdly. The distance from your Demon Hunter that you click determines how hard the grenades are thrown- but they can’t reach the edge of the screen. What’s more, they not only bounce but have a slightly variable detonation time, so it’s virtually impossible to aim them accurately.
Fortunately, that doesn’t matter much. The grenades are thrown in a wide ninety-degree spread, and each explodes for a fairly large area effect. If you happen to not be so good on the battlefield control aspect of using the Demon Hunter, but still need area-effect damage, this is probably your best Primary skill. The three grenades will cover a pretty respectable portion of the screen at their longest reach (roughly a quarter, if I’m not mistaken), and while the damage isn’t too big for each grenade, it’s pretty easy to just keep tossing them out there. Just make sure you've used your control skills to keep yourself safe in the meantime- the one second delay can kill you.
Tinkerer: Throw a wide spread of
three grenades that explode after one second, each dealing 95% weapon
damage as Fire damage. Generates 6 Hatred.
The more area-effect alternative to Justice is Served for generating Hatred, there’s really not anything to say about Tinkerer that hasn’t been said about Grenades.
Cluster Grenades: Throw a group
of smaller grenades that explode after one second, dealing 115% weapon
damage as Fire damage in an 8-yard radius area. Generates 3 Hatred.
Cluster Grenades turns Grenades from a nearly screen-spanning area of modest damage into a smaller area of acceptable damage. It could be said to be strictly inferior to Bola Shot, if not for the fact that you can drop it where there isn’t an enemy (yet). This really isn’t all that spectacular.
Fire Bomb: Throw a single grenade that explodes after one second, dealing 123% Fire damage. Generates 3 Hatred.
An even more focused form of Grenades, Fire Bomb still isn’t anything to shout about. These three runes really beg the question of what actually makes Grenades an interesting Primary skill to use. The damage is a little better than Cluster Grenades... and that’s really all it’s got.
Stun Grenades: Throw a wide
spread of three grenades that explode after one second, each dealing 95%
weapon damage as Fire damage, with a 25% chance to Stun each enemy hit
for 1.5 seconds. Generates 3 Hatred.
Stun Grenades is where the magic really comes in. On their own Grenades aren’t too special other than that they cover a large area. This rune, however, turns that area into a very large danger zone for enemies, and make this a much better skill for dealing with spread-out masses of enemies- particularly since Stun can be used both defensively (stop hitting me) and offensively (stop running away when I hit you).
Gas Grenades: Throw a wide spread
of three grenades that explode after one second, each dealing 95%
weapon damage as Poison damage. The area covered by the explosions is
filled with poisonous gas, dealing 75% weapon damage as Poison damage
over 3 seconds to anything within the area. Generates 3 Hatred.
Gas Grenades are the other form of Grenades that are really worth considering. The initial damage still isn’t anything special, but turning huge swaths of the screen into venomous zones of continual damage can really give an advantage to the Demon Hunter’s allies. A skilled, evasive Demon Hunter can use this immensely to their advantage, never stopping long enough to get hit- only long enough to drop more poison gas right where they’re luring their enemies through.
