The definitive answer to 2x1H VS 1H+Quiver (DH)

[phantom325]

Suggested to add by Who knows, thanks to him for the contribution!
Quivers can be JUST-AS-GOOD, when you hit Inferno and get the rare rolled +15% Attack Speed modifier.

They are VERY rare. I've only seen about five on the auction house so far. But if you get one of these at 60, it'll be the same.

Also to note:

1h X-Bow: Fastest weapons. (Low-lowend, medium-highend damage)
2H Bow: Medium Speed (Medium-lowend, High-highend damage)
2H X-Bow Slow Speed. (Medium-lowend, Very-high highend damage)


Many, many people are trying to determine what's best for themselves to use: 2 Hand Crossbows, or a Bow/Crossbow + a quiver. I'll help you decide what to use by talking about what factors contribute to each setup being better or worse than the other.

First, let me start off by saying the most important deciding factor is personal taste. If you love using one over the other, don't change your configuration and enjoy playing the game less.

Additionally, weapon DPS the ultimate deciding factor. Thus, this guide assumes comparing weapons with the same DPS.

With that out of the way, let's look at the various properties we need to consider.

Special Mechanics to consider

• Equipping 2xHand Crossbows passively increases your attack speed by 15%Most quivers increase attack speed by around 10%, but some have seen +12% quivers. /li]
• The damage spread on Hand Crossbows is larger than the damage spread on Bows or Crossbows, on the order of a 50% damage spread VS a 25% damage spread.

Generic Weapon Properties

• Weapon properties can be broken into the following broad categories:
• Static property - e.g. Dexterity. Such properties are 'always on' and give constant benefit.
• Bonus Damage - e.g. +10-20 Lightning damage. Typically adds additional DPS to a weapon.
• Proc on Hit - e.g. 'Chance to Fear on Hit'. Such properties only activate when striking an enemy.Proc on Enemy Death - e.g. 'Life after Kill'. Such properties only activate when killing an enemy.

Demon Hunter specific properties

• These properties are only found on hand crossbows and Quivers; Crossbows and Bows do not have these properties.
• Hatred regeneration - e.g. 'Increases hatred regeneration by 0.80 per second'. Self explanatory.
• Max Discipline - e.g. '+10 Maximum Discipline'. Self explanatory.
• It is important to note that Quivers do not receive a larger bonus than Hand Crossbows. Therefore, 2x Hand Crossbows with Demon Hunter specific properties will always have higher stats than a single Quiver will ever offer.

Given the above, we can make the following conclusions.
2xHand Crossbows is superior when:

• 1. You want more Hatred regeneration
• 2. You want more Max Discipline
• 3. The weapons you are using have proc on hit properties

1H+Quiver is superior when:

• 1. You want more consistent damage, with less random 'low end of the damage spread' instances
• 2. You want your abilities to, in general, hit harder.Due to the faster speed and the lower damage range of hand crossbows, your skills will do less damage, but you'll use them more often. In other words, you'll need to spend more hatred to kill a mob, but you'll also generate hatred faster.

It's worth considering the Time To Kill metric of most enemies; consider the following example: A mob's health is reduced by 50% when struck with a hand crossbow. It's reduced by 90% when struck by a regular bow. The bow did more damage, but both weapons will need to fire an additional shot to deliver the killing blow.

Additionally, the faster a weapon the faster the recovery time of firing it. Therefore, if you need to use vault or whatever a tenth of a second faster after firing your weapon then faster weapons come out on top.

Finally, abilities like Bola Shot + Impale have a higher chance to keep a boss stun-locked when using the faster 2xHand Crossbows setup.

TL;DR:
In conclusion, if you can find the correct stats on Hand Crossbows (proc on hit, +hatred regen and + max disc), then Hand Crossbows are better than 1H bows and crossbows.

NOTE: This is not my guide, it came from the Diablo 3 forums. Here's a link if you want to see original post: The definitive answer to 2x1H VS 1H+Quiver - Forums - Diablo III

[Danubis077]

2xHand refers to dual crossbows or 2hand xbow with quiver?

[phantom325]

2 one handed crossbows

[Duplicity]

Or, just get a Bow and have best of both worlds. Less spread than dual wielding, and also attacks fast! Real fast.

Along with Archery, you get 15% damage increase. But, once you get enough crit (With Archery) Crit damage is a lot more effective.

[Danubis077]

Thanks I appreciate this guide. +Rep

[who knows]

Hi, I would just like to add something to your guide:

Quivers can be JUST-AS-GOOD, when you hit Inferno and get the rare rolled +15% Attack Speed modifier.

They are VERY rare. I've only seen about five on the auction house so far. But if you get one of these at 60, it'll be the same.

Also to note:

1h X-Bow: Fastest weapons. (Low-lowend, medium-highend damage)
2H Bow: Medium Speed (Medium-lowend, High-highend damage)
2H X-Bow Slow Speed. (Medium-lowend, Very-high highend damage)

[phantom325]

Hi, I would just like to add something to your guide:

Quivers can be JUST-AS-GOOD, when you hit Inferno and get the rare rolled +15% Attack Speed modifier.

They are VERY rare. I've only seen about five on the auction house so far. But if you get one of these at 60, it'll be the same.

Also to note:

1h X-Bow: Fastest weapons. (Low-lowend, medium-highend damage)
2H Bow: Medium Speed (Medium-lowend, High-highend damage)
2H X-Bow Slow Speed. (Medium-lowend, Very-high highend damage)

Added, thanks! +3rep