Withering Fire

Withering Fire is a rune effect in Rapid Fire, a Hatred-spending Demon Hunter skill.

This rune effect changes the damage type to Fire, as well as dropping the initial casting cost from 20 to 5 Hatred.

The fire damage doesn't make a great deal of difference, as under-emphasized and unvaried as monster resistances are in Diablo III. Monsters may sometimes ignite from a fire critical hit and take a bit of fire damage over time, but the main contribution of that effect is the cool stacks of charred, burning corpses left behind.

The big benefit to this rune effect is dropping the casting cost from 20 to 5. This makes the skill much more variable and available, since it's no longer too Hatred-expensive to fire it for just a second or two. With this rune effect players need not hesitate to unleash a short burst of Withering Fire, instead of saving it for larger targets that will take a few seconds of sustained attack.

Skill Rune Effects

See the Rapid Fire rune effects page for a more thorough description of rune effects, including screenshots, videos, and strategy tips.

Name	Level	Description

<skill subcat="Bow skill" class="DemonHunter">Rapid Fire</skill> <skill class="DemonHunter" rune="Withering Fire">Rapid Fire</skill>

Media

Screenshots and videos will be added post-release.

Development

Prior to the February 2012 skill and rune system overhaul, this effect was created by the Golden Rune, which granted the following effect with a level seven rune:

Withering Fire

[e] Reduce initial Hatred cost by 20.

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