Would the Steed Stone counter the penalty? I'd be all for that if so. This build started out as a tank of an archer, as Ben so kindly pointed out, but as more and more crowd control options entered the fray with each additional DLC it evolved to fit your own personal preferences. It can surely be played just as tanky as originally intended, but you can also go the more agile route and rely primarily on "get off me" buttons like Whirlwind Cloak, Ice Form, and Ash runes than just your own heavily armored face to subvert damage. Just make sure you aren't running and hiding and you're living the Demonhunter dream! In fact, as I do believe I've previously discussed with Nal (and I still can't wait for her SkyRe update when time permits!) Glass Armor with a Temple Priest/Novice Hood looks as amazing as any heavy armor combos I may have emphasized in the build, so go ham as you see fit! In fact, and I've mentioned this in other posts around this site recently, my all-time favorite playthrough in Skyrim wasn't a Demonhunter but a more console-friendly streamlined take on it I dubbed my Bowknight. Azhidal's Armor with Heavy Dawnguard Helmet (my favorite looking armor combo in the game now for sure), Enhanced Crossbow, Whirlwind Cloak, Steed Stone, a few crowd control shouts, Smithing, and any other support crafting/magic you might desire and you've got an action-packed archer playthrough that embodies the premise behind this build with less menu-juggling for those of us with only two hotkeys. So even I had my own alternative take on this build of mine I ended up preferring! Long story short, instead of using shadows and cowardice to support your archery needs, use spells, shouts, poisons, bashes and so on to keep enemies off your ass as you wade right on out into the open and announce your arrival with a hail of arrows. There, you've nailed the Demonhunter build. :)