Are patch 11.2 side quests hinting at the possibility of a new Demon Hunter spec — or Void Elf Demon Hunters?

Almost as soon as we got word of the contents of patch 11.2, rumors began spreading among the playerbase due to a very interesting inclusion in the otherwise Ethereal-heavy Manaforge Omega raid: an optional boss fight against three Demon Hunters. The obvious question is “why are there Demon Hunters on K’aresh?” Perhaps they came with us, of course, but once we started learning more details about Adarus Duskblaze and his two pals, there were immediately two obvious points of speculation: a new Void-themed Demon Hunter specialization, or the possibility of opening up Demon Hunters as a class to new races — specifically, Void Elves.

And while this is all speculation based on PTR content, there’s strong evidence to suggest changes to Demon Hunters in the future.

Could a third Demon Hunter spec be coming to the game?

Once images and the Encounter Journal were available, it became very obvious that Adarus and his crew — known as The Soul Hunters — seemed themed around the existing Demon Hunter specs… mostly. Velaryn Bloodwrath, the lighter-armored of the two whose spec we can pinpoint, wields traditional Demon Hunter warglaives and uses Havoc Demon Hunter abilities like Blade Dance and Eye Beam. Ilyssa Darksorrow, the more heavily kitted-out Demon Hunter, uses the style of fist weapon we’re familiar with from the Aldrachi Warblades, as well as Vengeance Demon Hunter standbys like Sigil of Chains and Spirit Bomb. (Interestingly, she also shares a surname with a Night Elf Demon Hunter who turned traitor in Azsuna, whom we killed as part of the questing experience in Azsuna. Maybe she’s related and holding a grudge?)

Adarus, however, is unlike the other two. Due to the events of a certain side quest chain — more on that in a bit — Adarus wields an all-new set of Void-themed abilities, like Consume, Voidstep, and even a new dark blue Metamorphosis form (complete with its own unique icon). This isn’t the first time that we’ve seen the intermingling of demons and shadow; warlocks have been summoning Voidwalkers for ages, and the dreadlords notably used Void magic heavily while working with the Burning Legion. But it is the first time we’ve seen it hinted at so strongly with Demon Hunters, and in such a way that seems to blatantly scream “here’s a new spec on the way!”

However, while Blizzard is now familiar with adding new specs in the middle of an expansion, a lot of questions still need to be answered. How would it differentiate itself from Havoc and Vengeance in a meaningful way? Would it be a DPS or a tank spec? What would happen to the current Hero Talent setup? Right now, Demon Hunters are unique in that they only have two Hero specs; they would need a third set of Hero Talents, and likely either Havoc or Vengeance would lose access to an existing one, and their tier set for the next patch would need to change as well. Also, how would this be introduced in lore? After all, we’re killing the only Void Demon Hunter that we know of. (I have a sort of tinfoil hat possibility involving Legion Remix, but we’ll leave that aside for now.) It’s an interesting idea to toy with, but there are a lot of logistical hurdles to clear first.

However, there is another possibility raised in patch 11.2 that seems way more likely to become a reality: Void Elf Demon Hunters.

The case for Void Elf Demon Hunters

One of the side quest chains in Ghosts of K’aresh — not fully testable yet, though its quest text is datamined — tasks us with accompanying Magister Umbric’s apprentice, Leona Darkstrider, as she engages in some risky business with the Illidari. A Demon Hunter named Adarus Duskblaze (yes, the same one) has struck a deal with Leona: she teaches him how to harness the Void, and he teaches her the way of the Illidari. Very straightforward! The quest chain sees you helping Leona hunt down a Void-channeling artifact of some kind and then attempting a ritual to imbue Adarus with shadowy power. While we don’t know all the details, it doesn’t seem to go well; quest text from the final quest implies that you were forced to push Adarus through a portal to prevent his unrestrained Void energy from bringing the cave down upon you and Leona both.

Now, it would seem like this is a dead end, too: obviously Adarus doesn’t get to teach Leona how to be a Demon Hunter, because he doesn’t finish his ritual properly and then we presumably kill him inside Manaforge Omega. However, interestingly, we’ve seen Void Elf Demon Hunters before, just not in World of Warcraft — the Fractured in Alterac Valley set in Hearthstone featured a common Demon Hunter card called Battleworn Vanguard, which on closer inspection is definitely a very buff Void Elf Demon Hunter! (The giveaway is the hair tentacles, a distinctly Void Elf feature.)

Furthermore, adding a new race to a class is a much simpler affair than all the logistics required to add a new spec; perhaps Leona knows just enough to enable Void Elves to adopt the Demon Hunter class, creating an unstoppable combo of fantastic mobility and half-priced transmog — truly a force to be reckoned with. While it’s not justified in lore like the Void Elves, Blizzard could even open up Demon Hunters to Nightborne players as well, if they’re interested in keeping the balance of class/race options for both factions even. Even if they don’t, however, I’d say this one seems like a pretty open-and-shut case hinting at a new option for Demon Hunter race choice in the future; of course, we all thought we might get Night Elf Paladins when Delas Moonfang became one, too, so I guess we’ll still be playing the waiting game.