Havoc Demon Hunter Patch 9.2 Changes Analysis and Tier Set Thoughts

This page will go over how the changes in Patch 9.2, Eternity's End, will affect Havoc Demon Hunters, specifically how the changes might impact its playstyle, best Legendary choices, and Covenants. If you are simply interested in what the current changes are for Demon Hunters in Patch 9.2 in general, you can instead read our full list of changes to the entire Demon Hunter class on our dedicated page below. For an additional list of content coming with Patch 9.2, you can also check out our Patch 9.2 Overview page.

Unfortunately Patch 9.2 has come with no changes to the core toolkit for Havoc Demon Hunters, however some new system changes are impactful to your decision making.

Similar to the base toolkit no Talent changes are present for Havoc.

Within the new Sepulcher of the First Ones raid that will be coming in Patch 9.2, every class will once again earn pieces of a gear set that is uniquely class-themed with its own two-piece and four-piece bonuses for every specialization. For Havoc Demon Hunter, these set bonuses are:

• Havoc DH 2-Piece — Blade Dance and Chaos Strike damage is increased by 20% (includes Metamorphosis' versions Death Sweep and Annihilation).
• Havoc DH 4-Piece — Metamorphosis casts last for an additional 6 seconds, and every 60 Fury you spend reduces its cooldown by 1 second.

Following the more recent rework, Havoc's bonuses have become more dull but that is not necessarily a bad thing — they now engage with multiple different builds which is extremely important given the benefits Patch 9.1.5's Covenant unlocking did.

The 2-piece is a flat bonus to primary spenders (in Chaos Strike and Blade Dance), allowing it to function for any regular build that focuses on spending Fury on Chaos Strike, or one that prioritizes Blade Dance usage on cooldown due to First Blood.

The 4-piece grants a small increase in Metamorphosis duration (note this does not interact with Demonic) and grants some cooldown reduction from performing your rotation. This averages the cooldown to somewhere between 3 minutes and 3 minutes, 15 seconds depending on the build with full uptime, allowing for better alignment in some fights. It does however have the problem that if a fight does not grant extra uses, the bonus provides very little.

As it stands the 2-piece is the standout just because it is always functional, but the 4-piece can give some fringe uses depending on encounter or content type. Even with that considered though, the bonus itself is not really that impactful and changes very little with Havoc gameplay.

This patch brings no changes to the current Covenant and Conduit balance for Havoc, but remember that Patch 9.1.5 did open up the option to freely switch Covenants. Thanks to this, the already quite healthy array of builds that were opened up still have a chance to see play depending on the scenario.

Patch 9.2 introduces the ability to equip both one of your class Legendary options and the Legendary granted to your chosen Covenant at the same time. For Demon Hunters these powers are as follows:

• Kyrian — Blind Faith — Elysian Decree shatters two additional Lesser Soul Fragments, and grants a 20 second buff that provides a stacking 1% Versatility buff and 10 Fury for each Fragment consumed. Now caps at 20% Versatility.
• Necrolord — Demonic Oath — killing your Fodder to the Flame Demons will apply Fiery Brand to nearby targets, and increases the duration of the Demon Soul buff by 8 seconds.
• Night Fae — Blazing Slaughter — casting The Hunt applies Immolation Aura, and each target hit grants a stacking 4% Agility buff for 12 seconds.
• Venthyr — Agony Gaze — Your Sinful Brand deals 10% additional damage, and its duration is increased by 0.75 seconds whenever the target is hit by your Eye Beam.

The way this is accessed is via the new reputation provided in Zereth Mortis granting you the Unity Legendary Power; when equipped, it will always switch to the Covenant-appropriate effect each time you swap, enhancing the flexibility of your Covenant choice.

With it explained that any combination of Covenant Legendary Power and regular Legendary Power can be used in Patch 9.2, it now opens up some combinations and potential synergy. For Havoc however many of the Legendary options are throwaway bonuses that do not change a great deal, but we will look at each below.

Kyrian and Necrolord both provide Legendary bonuses that were not particularly desirable previously, and Patch 9.2 is unlikely to change that. Kyrian is unlikely to see play, but Necrolord has some potential given the right circumstances — unfortunately the Legendary does little to encourage it.

Blazing Slaughter has already seen play in Mythic+ situations for burst AoE and this opens up the option to be paired with other flat burst AoE options such as Collective Anguish or a Burning Wound build. Aside from that, the single-target options for Night Fae tend to lean into First Blood (and Dancing with Fate), and can potentially be used with Chaos Theory, but do not have direct synergies with the Blazing Slaughter effect.

Agony Gaze is by far the most important effect for Havoc coming into Patch 9.2. It was already an extremely desirable craft having extreme value in single-target and niche mass AoE scenarios, and is the only Covenant legendary with direct synergy with others. This can be paired with either Collective Anguish (which when used with Cycle of Hatred can realistically maintain AoE Sinful Brand permanently when applied via Metamorphosis) as the bonus cast triggers the effect; or Darkglare Boon which can be used to guarantee uptime for any situation and leans into the Eye Beam-focused nature of a Venthyr build.