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[ChairmanPoo]

Hello, I think we HAD a dedicated GD thread back in the day, but since it's not within living memory I've decided to start one anew. Mostly to discuss and muse about char builds.


My main character right now is a summoner Apostate. Currently level 35, the main idea  and core build is to use word of renewal and inquisitor seal to provide more damage and survivability to skeletons.
( I was going to post a link to the build but grimtools is down)
Anyways, this is what I'm doing, in this order
- Max skeletons and undead legion
- Max Word of renewal and steel resolve
- Max Inquisitor seal and arcane empowerment (roughly at the same time as the above) 
- Max will of the crypt *** I'M HERE CURRENTLY: From now on planned features
- Max call of the grave, master of death.
- Max spectral blinding
from here things get blurrier: I was planning to invest the remainder points in a combination of spectral wrath and blight fiend. Given that I plan to use BF only as a decoy and that my skellies might benefit from spectral wrath lowered vit resistance (and my spectres from the lowered aether resistance) I might go with that and leave points in BF at a minimal level (as it's damage doesnt really synergy with my other damage bonus skills


I'm finding that inquisitor seal reeeallly boosts your skelly survivability, so I'm looking a lot into that. I've not completely thought through what devotions I'm picking, for now I have panther and fiend (for skeletons)


Other shit I'm trying at the same time

- Cabalist (I'm struggling a bit mostly because there are too many things I like  to take. I think in the end I'm going to need to make sacrifices and either downscale the necro part of cabalist drastically, or downscale the familiar and use it only for the aura)

- Gunslinger apostate: fooling around with this one. Idea is aether damage build with a crypt fiend as a tanky decoy.

- Electric raven warlock: possibly combined with a tanky hellhound.

- Purifier (nuff said. cookie cutter though I have to think the devotions through)

- Summoner ritualist (as with cabalist... I have to think through what I want to do with this one)

[Teneb]

I recommend the Crucible for testing build quickly. (Also it's fun)

Was playing a phantasmal blade spam Reaper (Nightblade + Necromancer) before my PC troubles. Works surprisingly well.

[Biowraith]

I'm very much amateur hour with my builds compared with the guys on the Grim Dawn forums and Discord (especially as I try to avoid repetition of powers and class combos across my characters).  My main is a level 90 Ritualist summoner.  Grimtools is apparently down just now so I'll just post what I've specced so far (I don't recall what the last few points will be in):

Necromancer

• Maxxed Raise Skeletons, with 11 in Undead Legion and 10 in Will of the Crypt
• 11 in Summon Blight Fiend with 1 each in Rotting Fumes and Blight Burst (for a bit of threat & confuse)
• 14 in Reap Spirit
• 7 in Master of Death
• 1 in Spectral Binding with 6 in Spectral Wrath (for the -Vit Resist)
• 1 in Call of the Grave
• 1 in Ill Omen (to proc a devotion)

Shaman

• 12 in Mogroden's Pact with 10 in Heart of the Wild, plus 1 in Oak Skin (cos it buffs the pets as well as me)
• 10 in Summon Briarthorn with 1 in Ground Slam (just for the threat) and 11 in Emboldening Presence
• 5 in Grasping Vines with 3 in Entangling Vines (points in the former to increase area and the latter to increase the reliability of the root aspect)
• 8 in Devouring Swarm (for the -Vit Resist)

Devotions

• Bat - proc slotted into Briarthorn
• Wendigo - proc slotted into Raise Skeletons
• Shepherd's Crook - proc slotted into Reap Spirit
• Manticore - proc slotted into Blight Fiend
• Bysmiel's Bonds - proc slotted into Ill Omen
• Rattosh, the Veilwarden - proc slotted into Grasping Vines
• Ulo the Keeper of the Waters - proc slotted into Devouring Swarm
• Staff of Rattosh
• Typhos, Jailer of Souls
• Oklaine's Lantern

I've got a Black Grimoire of Og'Napesh for another summon, though I could really do with replacing that with something (maybe the Mythical version if I can find it).

Currently in act 2 of Ultimate, working pretty nicely so far though I dunno how it'll do against Nemesis spawns and the like.

Other characters (well, the ones I've levelled past 10 or so - I have another 20 or so planned but not really played):

• Conjurer - started as a pet build until I made my Ritualist, I've switched it to a Bleed build.
• Trickster - indirect damage via Wind Devils, Blade Spirits, Vines, and Blade Trap (and lots of Devotion procs).
• Warlock - chaos modded Albrecht's Aether Ray, with protective buffs from both classes and Devastation as a nuke.
• Warder - physical/bleed/trauma using Blade Arc as attack replacer and Forcewave on a recharge.
• Commando - sword & board retaliation tank.
• Blademaster - dual wield pierce, pretty straightforward
• Elementalist - using Primal Strike as attack replacer, totems for extra damage, some lighting themed attacks from gear.
• Sorcerer - all the bombs, just using Arcanist for buffs
• Purifier - flamethrower and blackwater cocktails, everything on fire (though I wish cocktails had a wider area)
• Infiltrator - elemental gunslinger

[ChairmanPoo]

I've been testing my (half built) apostate summoner in both out of depth dungeons and the crucible (not to destruction... I called it quits at round 50). So far skeletons supported by Word of Renewal + Inquisitor Seal, with spectral wrath applying maluses... are pretty tanky. My impression is that they get better survival rates than I did a while ago on a cabalist with blood of dreeg and the raven aura (but WITHOUT buffed bonds of bysmiel at the time... this will likely change in my next build). I will probably either reduce blight fiend to a three-point token wonder or drop it altogether, and divest the points to reap spirit (given that by and large I'm making this a pet vitality build with a skill that boosts aether damage, and another skill that lowers vitality and aether resistance.... might as well go with the skill that deals aether damage and creates a vitality drain temporary pet no?), plus minus vigor

Something like this would be the end goal  https://www.grimtools.com/calc/pZrqmYLV

Purifier - flamethrower and blackwater cocktails, everything on fire (though I wish cocktails had a wider area)

No love for dual wield gunslinger purifiers? I find them pretty hardcore.


Re: cabalist: I'm rethinking it and I might go around something on these terms

https://www.grimtools.com/calc/O2GQ1bJZ
It's too bad that I dont have the points to spare to further buff HH and possibly go for possession (damage absorption is always handy). I might have to rethink this a bit
Edit: maybe something like this? https://www.grimtools.com/calc/b28vm8DZ that way I get an extra proc for doom bolt.
If I need more procs I might take a couple of points out of here and there to add a few proccing skills (maybe CoF)
Edit 2: something like this : https://www.grimtools.com/calc/xZy4QywV

[Biowraith]

No love for dual wield gunslinger purifiers? I find them pretty hardcore.

It definitely appeals, but I have 2 other gunslinger characters (an Infiltrator who probably has way too many damage types, and a Pyromancer) and I always like to have one everything-on-fire character in any game I play.  Plus as I say, I try to avoid repeating class combinations and power picks, even though it's sometimes to the detriment of optimal builds.

Now that grimtools is back, here's my target Ritualist: https://www.grimtools.com/calc/b28W1KGN
I've only found one of the items so far, but he's still 4 levels too low for most of them anyway.


Edit: I'd definitely say work CoF into your build, it's super good.  I'd personally move a couple more points into the main skill, to increase its area and slow debuff (the -phys resist will help the skellies too).
Edit2: I'm not sure if it's actually a good idea since the game rewards focus and specialisation, but I also try to factor in +skills items into my builds - use them to justify dropping a point or two from several skills to allow me to take one more skill elsewhere.  It depends how well the skills in question scale after max though, some of them have better return for points spent than others (and one or two hit key upgrades like increasing the summon cap on Reap Spirit to 2).

[ChairmanPoo]

Addenum: I did a trial-to-destruction on my level 43 apostate skel summoner, made it to level 100 of crucible before falling. Was killed by some storm boss who was 6 levels greater than me. Splash damage is a problem.

All in all I'm finding this build fairly solid TBH...

[Teneb]

Addenum: I did a trial-to-destruction on my level 43 apostate skel summoner, made it to level 100 of crucible before falling. Was killed by some storm boss who was 6 levels greater than me. Splash damage is a problem.

All in all I'm finding this build fairly solid TBH...

That's pretty good. Crucible will always be your level or higher, meaning that particular boss will always outrank you by 6. How are your devotions (and remember that you can trade in crucible tributes for devotion points).

[ChairmanPoo]

My main one is fiend for skellies (fire). I also have panther and rattosh stqff as I was aiming for Cthon, but I'm not too convinced, and am strongly considering a different devotion setup. I was considering sticking with fiend but going for Mordrogen instead

Crucible will always be your level or higher, meaning that particular boss will always outrank you by 6

Yes but I'm hoping that a more complete build with better items  will make a difference

Possibly a better devotion layout too. Like I said I'm highly skeptical of my current one. I think I'd get better mileage of other devotions.

I was almost killed in round 80something by ANOTHER elemental novaer... which I survived largely because he was smaller. My impression from my current setup is that my skellies are pretty tough, but not so much against elemental splash, although I can replace them fast enough to make a difference. Really, what did my char in was that I had little in the way of elemental resistance too.

All other things the skeletons-on-a-seal dispatched fairly quickly, tbh

[Biowraith]

Yeah, my summoner's been my most successful crucible character - I cleared wave 150 on him the other day.  I think my next best was my retaliation tank who got around wave 100, but he struggled a bit with the time limits cos he relies on people hitting him for most of his damage output so stragglers that don't leave the starting green energy field areas take him longer to hunt down and kill.

I find the main things that kill my pets are AoE effects (the expansion zones were particularly rough first time through - first all the poison plants exploding, then all the aether death patches in Malmouth proper), and the main things that kill my character tend to be the big heavy hitters when they rush through/past my pets unexpectedly and I'm dead before I realise what's happening.

A lot of my devotion choices were to get resistances for my pets - I have them at 80% elemental and chaos resists, 71% aether, and 30-50% on the rest.  That's helped a lot.

[ChairmanPoo]

Yeah I think I need that way more than damage. Skeletons deal ungodly DPS as it is... esp with magi/knights. Survival is the biggest issue

[ragnar119]

Is there a expansion coming out for this game if I remember good?

[Biowraith]

Yeah, Forgotten Gods, due Q1 2019. 

Basically, it adds:
Oathkeeper class - seems to be shield based.
A new chapter with associated quests and zones.
9 new constellations
Some more attribute and skill points, presumably as quest rewards (level and devotion caps are not changing).
New game mode - Shattered Realm, which seems to be an endless dungeon kinda thing.
Transmuting - convert your unwanted/duplicate set items into other items within the same set, or into an item from a random other set.
And new items and augments.

[Teneb]

Yeah, Forgotten Gods, due Q1 2019. 

Basically, it adds:
Oathkeeper class - seems to be shield based.
A new chapter with associated quests and zones.
9 new constellations
Some more attribute and skill points, presumably as quest rewards (level and devotion caps are not changing).
New game mode - Shattered Realm, which seems to be an endless dungeon kinda thing.
Transmuting - convert your unwanted/duplicate set items into other items within the same set, or into an item from a random other set.
And new items and augments.

Very likely will have at least another dungeon, and I would be surprised if there wasn't some sort of super world boss (like the Ravager) and secret quest(s).

[Jopax]

Don't forget movement skills!

Finally, you no longer have to slog trough several minutes of underleveled mobs every time you want to do the steps of torment or a similar dungeon with no nearby portal :V

[Teneb]

Came up with a build for Purifier (Demo/Inquisitor) focusing on fire damage (with a little lightning on the side) through area abilities rather than auto-attacks.

For your perusing. Includes devotions, though I probably will end up tweaking those.