Grim Dawn ( Titan Quest \ Diablo fans )

[Ahhzz]

Throwing my toon up here for perusal, drooling, and ridicule

Sentinel, Level 83 (GD 1.1.2.2) - Grim Dawn Build Calculator

Build Calculator that allows to customize any aspect of Grim Dawn character build including equipment, skills, masteries and devotion

www.grimtools.com

 

[Kapone33]

Thanks to the OP for posting this. I would also like to thank all the members that talked about specifics. I just got back into the game and I love how well fleshed out the game is. I will definitely be playing this on the weekend.

 

[SaltyFish]

Fwiw I don't think GD has the better graphics (tastes, eh?) and while I really liked TQ's skill trees, GD's just felt, for the lack of a better word, sparse. The skill trees were a big part of the reason I quit GD in the end: too few points to come up with something effective and too repetitive gameplay using the skills I had skill points for. Tried both melee and ranged toons, never felt like I could keep a caster alive in GD.

Grim Dawn's skill tree is indeed much larger and more spread out than Titan Quest's. TQ masteries historically had 20 skills in 6 tiers that capped at 32 points (the recent Atlantis expansion adds 2 skills in a new 40 point tier). GD masteries are 27 skills (excluding special modifiers) in 9 tiers that cap at 50 points. To make matters worse, while both start off with 3 skill points per level, GD eventually gives diminishing skill points at high levels whereas TQ keeps it constant. So GD does feel starved for skill points coming from TQ. But at the same time there's the new devotion system with its own tree and points. So it kind of works out.

GD is deep allright. It's just that when it came down to skills, I had a hard time finding synergies and stuff I'd like to play. Granted, most of that was just me looking at numbers, I didn't have the time to actually build characters and try skills on my own extensively.
In TQ, it was pretty easy to spot Marksmanship, Onslaught or some spell for casters that, with synergies, will carry you through the game. In GD, not so much. Though I'm sure if I had the time, I could find said skills in GD, it wasn't easy to spot them by just looking at the skill tree. The dearth of skill points only made things worse (btw, after the expansions, are skill points still as scarce in GD?)

It is harder for me as well to come up with builds in GD than in TQ. But it might also be because TQ has been out longer so we all know what to (ab)use and GD reined in some of the former's balance issues. Post-nerf Ternion Attack is still in a league of its own in TQ even if it takes a bit more effort to get there now. GD's closest equivalent is probably Fire Strike and while it too remains very good post-nerf, it's not on the level of Ternion Attack. When doing TQ builds, masteries have no-brainer picks (Study Prey, Ternion Attack, Distort Reality) and trap picks (Life Drain, Flame Surge, Disarm Traps). But some you needed to try out because the skill descriptions don't always make it clear (e.g. Thunderball having no effect on a miss while Volcanic Orb does as well as their difference in trajectory). It is harder to discern such in GD (again a combination of balance and less familiarity) and the obvious TQ analogue skills don't perform the same (Savergy and Righteous Fervor are versions of Onslaught with less crazy scaling, Bloody Pox is sorta Plague but with different debuffs, etc.). There's also more damage types thrown around so there's less overlap/synergy potential. But remember you get a "third mastery" with Devotion. The massive size of it (I try to think of it like PoE's skill web that was stolen from FFX though it's not a perfect analogue) does make it hard to keep in mind interesting combinations, but it also provides a lot of opportunity to synergize with your masteries. At the very least, I do enjoy the fresh challenge of coming up with new builds and how it's not repeat of the same stuff from TQ.

All things said, I do miss how TQ spread around the pets/summons in its masteries. GD confines them to a few masteries and the devotion system.

 

[Vayra86]

Throwing my toon up here for perusal, drooling, and ridicule

Sentinel, Level 83 (GD 1.1.2.2) - Grim Dawn Build Calculator

Build Calculator that allows to customize any aspect of Grim Dawn character build including equipment, skills, masteries and devotion

www.grimtools.com

Definitely pick up Solael's Witchfire as a 1-pointer! (Or 2, if you take the other skill as well) Pretty good payoff especially for weapon damage based builds.

How is Eye of Reckoning synergy with acid/poison stats? I'm curious how that scales... Your build seems more physical-focused than anything else in base damage, yet your damage types focus on Poison and phys/fire/lightning (for Eye its about a 33% even split between the three). If you just use EoR to spam Guardian's Gaze around, you could use any other damage skill as well such as Bloody Pox, or Dreeg's Evil Eye, and I've also had great success linking this constellation to the Guardians of Empyrion. The Gaze eyes will spawn around them instead of you, so you don't need to facetank to have them proc and it also fits nicely with the skill cooldown as you can summon 2 of them. I had looots of Gaze eyes up that way

Also, are you aware that +x% damage on items will apply after damage conversion? So if you're converting physical damage into acid, you'll want to stack +x% Acid Damage. The bonus phys damage will be lost. You can also only convert once. So if you were thinking 'Phys > Fire > Acid' with your exclusive skill, that ain't gonna happen

Another quick win is swapping one Mark of Dreeg with this

Vitriolic Gallstone

Vitriolic Gallstone is a common component for use in Melee Weapons, Shields and caster Off-Hands. This item is available for crafting from the Blacksmith. It can also be received as part of Faction Bounty rewards for Homestead. Crafts one Vitriolic Gallstone Component.

grimdawn.gamepedia.com

It gives you an aura for moar damage. And you could even stack two of those.

Additionally I would suggest funneling more points into your attack skills and make all those buff skills one pointers. Except for the best ones. You could also move the point in Volcanic Might towards Tectonic Shift, it extends the range of Vire's Might.

 

[Ahhzz]

Definitely pick up Solael's Witchfire as a 1-pointer! (Or 2, if you take the other skill as well)

How is Eye of Reckoning synergy with acid/poison stats? I'm not seeing that, to be honest. Your build seems more physical-focused than anything else in base damage, yet your damage types focus on Poison and phys/fire/lightning (for Eye its about a 33% even split between the three). If you just use EoR to spam Dreeg's Eyes around, you could use any other damage skill as well such as Bloody Pox, or Dreeg's Evil Eye.

Also, are you aware that +x% damage on items will apply after damage conversion? So if you're converting physical damage into acid, you'll want to stack +x% Acid Damage. The bonus phys damage will be lost.

I wasn't really aware of the nuts and bolts of when it applied. With most of my gear, I simply look at what drops with +acid/poison, +phys, and Phys to Acid, and then try them on to see what happens. Path of three converts phys and fire to acid, as does my chestpiece. Add to that Pestilence and the asstd venom/acid auras on my weapon, I do a fair bit . I'll look tonite about my damage breakout: Grim Tools isn't that great about accuracy, it only grabs the Average values on gear, and doesn't bother with dps calcs heheh. You are right, I need to throw a point in Witchfire. I never use the shield anymore, so I need to drop my 2 from Safeguard and put them to witchfire.

I'm running into a "slowing". Went to deal with the tentacle monster NE of the Coven, and got myself slaughtered right quickly. I can be taught, altho it took 3 runs to do it: come back later . So, I'm bouncing around the area, re-killing heroes and bosses, looking for my nemesis, hoping to get a little better gear. I've swapped belts, which cost me 4kdps, but gave me a little more resist. I've got a few rings and amulets waiting for a level or two to try them on and check the stats. I think my current stated DPS is around 30k; I've lost a few because of working on survivability..

I use the EoR for dealing with the "mob mentality" of multiple mobs, I just run around, spot mobs, Dire's Might into them (which procs Tainted Eruption 51% of the time), throw a curse at what's left standing (or bowled over), and spin into them, or wander away, letting the dots and aura finish them. If I hit Champions or up, I do the same, and then toe-to-toe with Fervor, kicking off Dreeg's blood if my health drops to yellow. Some of the big boys, and all the bosses get a dose of Pestilence and Ascension, and I start Abolishing Evil every 4 seconds (middle mouse key bound to repeat "7" until clicked again lol). Last time I looked, that was doing about 30k per swing by itself, I think.

Oh well, much to do and learn. This is the highest I've pushed a toon yet, and I am enjoying the crap out of it. I may go back to my "hunter" build after this; I always have preferred standing back and sniping with a shield in front, but the first Oathkeeper I saw was something like this build, spinning around and throwing a shield all over: I had to try it heheh.

 

[Vayra86]

I wasn't really aware of the nuts and bolts of when it applied. With most of my gear, I simply look at what drops with +acid/poison, +phys, and Phys to Acid, and then try them on to see what happens. Path of three converts phys and fire to acid, as does my chestpiece. Add to that Pestilence and the asstd venom/acid auras on my weapon, I do a fair bit . I'll look tonite about my damage breakout: Grim Tools isn't that great about accuracy, it only grabs the Average values on gear, and doesn't bother with dps calcs heheh. You are right, I need to throw a point in Witchfire. I never use the shield anymore, so I need to drop my 2 from Safeguard and put them to witchfire.

I'm running into a "slowing". Went to deal with the tentacle monster NE of the Coven, and got myself slaughtered right quickly. I can be taught, altho it took 3 runs to do it: come back later . So, I'm bouncing around the area, re-killing heroes and bosses, looking for my nemesis, hoping to get a little better gear. I've swapped belts, which cost me 4kdps, but gave me a little more resist. I've got a few rings and amulets waiting for a level or two to try them on and check the stats. I think my current stated DPS is around 30k; I've lost a few because of working on survivability..

I use the EoR for dealing with the "mob mentality" of multiple mobs, I just run around, spot mobs, Dire's Might into them (which procs Tainted Eruption 51% of the time), throw a curse at what's left standing (or bowled over), and spin into them, or wander away, letting the dots and aura finish them. If I hit Champions or up, I do the same, and then toe-to-toe with Fervor, kicking off Dreeg's blood if my health drops to yellow. Some of the big boys, and all the bosses get a dose of Pestilence and Ascension, and I start Abolishing Evil every 4 seconds (middle mouse key bound to repeat "7" until clicked again lol). Last time I looked, that was doing about 30k per swing by itself, I think.

Oh well, much to do and learn. This is the highest I've pushed a toon yet, and I am enjoying the crap out of it. I may go back to my "hunter" build after this; I always have preferred standing back and sniping with a shield in front, but the first Oathkeeper I saw was something like this build, spinning around and throwing a shield all over: I had to try it heheh.

Cool That is some pretty decent damage though. I hadn't expected that given your setup. Nice.

EDIT: Its funny though I get stuck at the same point with many toons. Ashes expansion really is a noticeable difficulty increase on Ultimate (and below, as well).

Ranged... huh Here's what I am thinking of right now - and I already have the Harbinger set in the bank, except for the helmet... full Chaos damage

Pyromancer, Level 100 (GD 1.1.2.2) - Grim Dawn Build Calculator

Build Calculator that allows to customize any aspect of Grim Dawn character build including equipment, skills, masteries and devotion

www.grimtools.com

All I'm missing though is those sweet WPS skills. Instead I have a dual stack attack enhancer + load of added base damage... hmmmmmm

 

[phanbuey]

He's barefoot

"the barefoot pyromaniac of devil's crossing"

 

[Vayra86]

He's barefoot

"the barefoot pyromaniac of devil's crossing"

Still looking for Mythical Stinky Socks

 

[Ahhzz]

...

Another quick win is swapping one Mark of Dreeg with this

Vitriolic Gallstone

Vitriolic Gallstone is a common component for use in Melee Weapons, Shields and caster Off-Hands. This item is available for crafting from the Blacksmith. It can also be received as part of Faction Bounty rewards for Homestead. Crafts one Vitriolic Gallstone Component.

grimdawn.gamepedia.com

It gives you an aura for moar damage. And you could even stack two of those.

Additionally I would suggest funneling more points into your attack skills and make all those buff skills one pointers. Except for the best ones. You could also move the point in Volcanic Might towards Tectonic Shift, it extends the range of Vire's Might.

I only have one Dreeg Mark: it's a 2H . My stated DPS, standard, walkaround buff is 39k for Righteous, 14k for EoR. Without my "Hulk Smash" buff, I'm at 19k-31k on Abolish Evil, and my short buffs push that to 35k tops. My biggest single hit is 68k at once, and the highest number I saw on GrimInternals was around 140kdps.

My acid Damage on the sheet is 1794-3613, with a 1278% modifier. Poison is 2649, +1556%. Physical is 798-2406, at +262%. I took your advice on Witchfire, and pulled my shield skills. It was fun, but I'm enjoying this build more. I'll have to eval the buff drops... Attached to a lot of those numbers I did stick a point in Tectonic, but probably won't pull Volcanic: it has a knockdown that I enjoy.

For lack of a better one right now, I've got a Mythical Soulweave, and 7 or 8 rings and medals to try out in another 25% of a level. Still looking for a solid belt, better gloves, and something in a weapon that's not green, and still kicking ass lol. Hard to beat that thing so far, haven't seen anything within 5-600 points in a good while...

thanks for the advice

 

[Frick]

Loghlorrean I believe

Just wait until you fight the Kraken, AoM expansion, his little brother... He's mighty fun on Ultimate

70K is fine. Grim Dawn is not a game where you are supposed to run through maps in two minutes with stuff dying left and right, speed runs are not rewarded at all (quite the opposite, many secrets are found and randomly placed in world objects and even monster spawns often happen some time after passing through areas) and the gear requirements are pretty high to begin with. The DPS calculation is also very... very... inaccurate.

Lifesteal build... still wanting to do one, but I'm always getting stuck on the fact that lifesteal only applies to %Weapon damage and nothing else. Pretty big limitation. If you're struggling to see where other builds get their health from... on-hit procs (Wayward Soul etc.) and hard Health Regeneration stats. You can stack that very well (1k HP/sec is not uncommon). Also, just a heavy defense priority and mitigation allows you to run off health pots alone.

Ayep, tried Kraken on ulti a few days ago. I will get him some other time.

And life steal works in my commando build because many skills boost weapon damage, yeah.

And anyway now I dislike not having internet at home. I have Forgotten Gods and have it on the laptop ... but I don't know how to "activate" it on the desktop, if it is at all possible. Otherwise I'll have to wait for a few months when I'll visit the old folk. GoG has many upsides.

 

[bug]

Ayep, tried Kraken on ulti a few days ago. I will get him some other time.

And life steal works in my commando build because many skills boost weapon damage, yeah.

And anyway now I dislike not having internet at home. I have Forgotten Gods and have it on the laptop ... but I don't know how to "activate" it on the desktop, if it is at all possible. Otherwise I'll have to wait for a few months when I'll visit the old folk. GoG has many upsides.

Ha, you got it on Steam. Serves you well.

 

[ShurikN]

They released another hotfix, and broke Grim Internals again. Had to disable auto updates xD
Luckily I could play shattered realm without it. I got so reliant on it in the last month that it's impossible for me to play without it now.

 

[Ahhzz]

They released another hotfix, and broke Grim Internals again. Had to disable auto updates xD
Luckily I could play shattered realm without it. I got so reliant on it in the last month that it's impossible for me to play without it now.

Yeah, I'm still sitting on 1.1.2.0. I might try to update again in a bit, there were definitely some changes to the classes, just don't feel like risking a nerf right now lol.

 

[phanbuey]

Yeah, I'm still sitting on 1.1.2.0. I might try to update again in a bit, there were definitely some changes to the classes, just don't feel like risking a nerf right now lol.

I hate when they nerf stuff on single player...

 

[ShurikN]

I don't remember if there were significant nerfs to the classes or skills, but I do know certain sets were changed, and some claim that Ulzuin's set got nerfed in the process.
Also if you are already on 1.1.2.x, then you are good to go, as Hotfix patches (the "X" in version number) usually focus on bugs and fine tuning.
But as I said, some mods will get broken. So if you update, you cannot go back to the older one (like with gog)

 

[Ahhzz]

I don't remember if there were significant nerfs to the classes or skills, but I do know certain sets were changed, and some claim that Ulzuin's set got nerfed in the process.
Also if you are already on 1.1.2.x, then you are good to go, as Hotfix patches (the "X" in version number) usually focus on bugs and fine tuning.
But as I said, some mods will get broken. So if you update, you cannot go back to the older one (like with gog)

I know the Sword I was initially using (Dreegal'anore) got nerfed a bit (added resist, removed some damage), as with Eye of Reckoning (slowed movement speed) and Ascension (increased cooldown). I'm not using the sword right now in favor of a green 2H sword, and there was a buff to Fervor, so I might consider an update, as long as Grim Internals is caught up. I need to go ahead and download the current one and save it, so when GI gets updated, I can update them both heheh.

 

[Lorec]

You guys been tempting me with this game long enough!
Finally 70% off on steam. Got it already

Grim Dawn on Steam

Enter an apocalyptic fantasy world where humanity is on the brink of extinction, iron is valued above gold and trust is hard earned. This ARPG features complex character development, hundreds of unique items, crafting and quests with choice & consequence.

store.steampowered.com

 

[Ahhzz]

You guys been tempting me with this game long enough!
Finally 70% off on steam. Got it already

Grim Dawn on Steam

Enter an apocalyptic fantasy world where humanity is on the brink of extinction, iron is valued above gold and trust is hard earned. This ARPG features complex character development, hundreds of unique items, crafting and quests with choice & consequence.

store.steampowered.com

Good price!! I don't know that you'll get enough play time to warrant snagging Ashes before it goes back off sale, but even if you don't, the base game has tons of game play in it!! Enjoy
This is a pretty decent tutorial, a bit long at 45 minutes, but there's a lot to cover. The reddit page has a lot of info, and feel free to ask in here, we'd be glad to help with what we know

 

[phanbuey]

aight guys... im doing it...

Going to try a 2H ranged soldier inquisition. "DOOMGUY"

 

[Lorec]

Good price!! I don't know that you'll get enough play time to warrant snagging Ashes before it goes back off sale, but even if you don't, the base game has tons of game play in it!! Enjoy
This is a pretty decent tutorial, a bit long at 45 minutes, but there's a lot to cover. The reddit page has a lot of info, and feel free to ask in here, we'd be glad to help with what we know

Well, I will have a proper go at base game for now.
Both ashes and forgotten gods dlcs are on a slight sale only.
Base game is a steal though.

ty for that tutorial as well, i hate making first throw-out characters haha

 

[Frick]

Ha, you got it on Steam. Serves you well.

It was gifted though... But yeah, more or less. Steam is good and all but it doesn't mix well with an offline life.

 

[phanbuey]

So that build didn't last long at all... cadence kind of sucks.

 

[ShurikN]

So that build didn't last long at all... cadence kind of sucks.

Maybe go dual wield and focus on the 4 passives on the top of Inquisitor tree.

 

[phanbuey]

Maybe go dual wield and focus on the 4 passives on the top of Inquisitor tree.

It's just that the paladin (oathkeeper+inquisitioner) was so much stronger. Looks like oathkeeper + demolitionist might be pretty OP too - shield + tons of fire & retaliation.

 

[ShurikN]

It's just that the paladin (oathkeeper+inquisitioner) was so much stronger. Looks like oathkeeper + demolitionist might be pretty OP too - shield + tons of fire & retaliation.

I tried it. Wasn't particularly happy. Eventually the toon died on HC so I went with pure fire Soldier+Oath. You might build it better than I did tho.