Hatred

Hatred and Discipline are the Demon Hunter's twin-resources. The system works very much as it was described in a series of interviews in February 2011[1]. Generally speaking, the action/combat skills expend Hatred, which recharges quickly, while the tactical/movement/support skills expends Discipline, which recharges slowly.

A wise Demon Hunter uses a mixture of skills, spamming attacks that use Hatred and supplementing that with more powerful, strategic attacks fueled by Discipline.[2]

See the Demon Hunter skills page for specific details on which skills use Hatred and which use Discipline.

Developer Quotes

The Hatred-Discipline bulb.

The basic system was first described in February 2011 during interviews with Christian Lichtner and Jason Bender.[3]

We’ve split their kit into the idea of discipline – prepared, deliberate, precise – a character who builds his traps ahead of time and knows every weakness of his enemy and exactly what he has to do to take it out. Then there’s hatred, this almost blind drive – they can’t stop themselves from getting involved which means they’re probably angry at themselves for having that taint and it makes it worse. So they’re obsessed in that way. Their skills match that: They have some very aggressive skills that come out of that hatred school, and they have discipline skills, that deliberate, intentional preparedness. ...the inspiration for what we’ve done since then has been based on this idea of aggression and hatred versus discipline and self-mastery. So, the skill set definitely reflects those two schools of thought and the resource system reinforces the skill set accordingly. But we’re still testing it and making sure it really plays as smoothly as we want it to.

More details came in an interview with Gamespot.[4]

So with their resources and their skill trees, we split their skills into the categories of discipline, including traps, preparation, things that take a lot of forethought, and hatred, which is the red-eyes insanity the fuels their high-powered burst attacks, alpha strikes, multishots, flame arrows, and things like that. [The demon hunter] really feels more visceral, and there’s some interesting interplay in the resource system that allows you to switch back and forth between your discipline abilities and your hatred abilities. It’s a little more complex and nuanced than some of the other classes; it’s a class about precision and playing [one skill set] off the other.

...we want the demon hunter to have some highly regenerative, more accessible hatred abilities that he always has up and can use to zip around and keep the pace [of combat] up. But then the discipline side tends to be a more precious resource that you have to manage a lot more carefully. You really pick and choose when you want to use your discipline abilities because they make a big difference in how you escape, how you set up an attack…things like that.

Some abilities use hatred; some use discipline. That’s where we’re at in development. But we want to make sure you’re bouncing back and forth between the two without having to switch a stance or anything cumbersome like that. So you’ll have abilities from both camps accessible at all times, depending on how you build your character. Some demon hunters may focus on hatred, with lots of shooting and moving around, and try to amp up that ability as much as possible, while some may focus on discipline instead. [Either way], the default path is going to be a little of both.

H/D with tool tips displayed.

References

Template:Skill navbox Necromancer primary

Template:Skill navbox Necromancer secondary

Template:Skill navbox Necromancer corpses

Template:Skill navbox Necromancer bloodandbone

Template:Skill navbox Necromancer reanimation

Template:Skill navbox Necromancer curses