Nice guide. I will try it tomorrow.
Best regards.
Hello.
I am level 23 and I am having several issues with this build:
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By putting all points into Physique I have ran out of energy every now and then and I cannot equip Hound’s bite yet because my Cunning is low. Also what weapons do you recommend for low levels (until 30 or so)?. There seems not to be that many poison/acid oriented weapons at the beginning, but maybe it’s just bad luck with RNG. Do you recommend Rift slicers? The seem to have nice poison/acid boosts but very low damage.
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You don’t mention Nidalla’s hidden hand anywhere in the leveling guide. Is it an overlook?
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Too many abilities to choose from. This build feels somewhat that it’s stretched too thin.
I’m happy to help.
- You shouldn’t have too many energy issues at level 20ish. ABB doesn’t cost that much energy, and you can get away with only using it every 4 seconds. Pneumatic Burst only gets used to keep the buff up and if you need a heal. Ring of Steel, if you have it, can be an energy sink, but I only used it as a CC against tougher enemies, not as a constant damage source. I only put one point into it and the transmuter, and only use it if you find yourself surrounded by a bunch of dangerous enemies. That should help.
Putting some points into Cunning is fine, this build isn’t that picky about attribute points. I did find Cunning and Spirit gear that helped a lot.
To be honest, at low levels any weapon will do. Lethal Assault provides way more flat damage than your weapon itself, so it’ll work with just about anything. They key stat is to find faster attacking weapons. Daggers are fast, which is why I recommend them, and look for ones with the Alacrity suffix.
Monster resistances are also not such a problem at low levels, plus you won’t have stacked a ton of bonuses to a particular damage type, so mixing damage types is fine. Lethal Assault provides flat Cold and Acid damage, so gear boosting those types is nice.
Rift Slicers can be nice, but they can be harder to farm for. Don’t worry about farming at low level, just use fast attacking weapons.
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I wouldn’t get Nidalla’s Hidden Hand until near the end. There are much more powerful skills to prioritize first. NHH is really good at ultimate levels, because it scales better and better (first 8 points give you 39 Acid damage, the next 8 give you an additional +60). But at low levels you won’t have skill boosts, so just focus on other skills. In my leveling guide I didn’t mention them because I only got them at the end from level 75-85.
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The build can make good use of more skill points, but the core is really simple and doesn’t require that much. Just max Lethal Assault, Fire Strike and Explosive Strike and you have enough. Honestly, with just those damage skills I could plow through Elite bosses quite easily.
Edit: Also just a reminder that GrimCalc is messed up for Demo skills. Will check up and see if it’s fixed and will update if it is.
Looks like Grimcalc is fixed. I’ve updated all the GrimCalcs including the leveling guide. I’ve changed the leveling order to get Fire Strike and Explosive Strike much earlier, since the AOE now provided by Explosive Strike is excellent.
This is a really interesting build, a bit different than anything else I’ve seen posted. Thank you for posting it and a special thank you for the thorough explanation of the synergies at play. I learned a lot reading it.
I also have a leveling question. You say in the leveling section, " Bring Fire Strike to 10 and Explosive Strike to 12, and get Searing Strike. Here we replace our default attack with Fire Strike." The word ordering seems to imply that we start using Fire Strike as the main attack only after we’ve gotten spent 23 points in the Fire Strike line.
I’m thinking that since most of the actual value of ABB comes from Lethal Assault, it makes sense to us Fire Strike as the main (left button) attack well before all those points are expended, using ABB only when the LA buff runs out. Is that correct? Is there an optimal switch point?
Thanks!
I’ve actually updated the leveling guide, I believe the text you quoted was from a prior version. The main difference is that I recommend getting Fire Strike+Explosive Strike earlier, because under the new patch Explosive Strike provides excellent AOE damage for the build.
To answer your question, I would start using Fire Strike as soon as I get Explosive Strike. My wording may not have been very clear. I recommend leveling Demolitionist mastery to 10, get 1 point in Fire Strike, and then just level up Explosive Strike until it’s maxed before adding more points to the base skill. The moment you get any points in Explosive Strike, I would start using it.
Here’s why I recommend leveling that way: if we level up Fire Strike, it only applies to single target hits. That’s not bad, but Explosive Strike will apply to both single-target and AOE, and each point gives more % weapon damage. Rushing for Explosive Strike is just much better. Also, leaving Fire Strike at 1 point means the skill only costs 1 energy point, and Explosive Strike levels are free in energy cost. This greatly reduces our energy needs until later in the game. Ultimately, of course we want to max Fire Strike as well.
You are correct that ABB’s value comes from Lethal Assault. I do use Fire Strike as my LMB attack, and just hit with ABB once every 4 seconds to keep up Lethal Assault. In fact, once I got access to Explosive Strike, I removed all but one point in ABB itself and moved those points to Explosive Strike. The build sees a big increase in damage output at that point. At that point, the build becomes a lot of fun, seeing Explosive Strike attacks blast an area of enemies with every hit is very satisfying.
Build mechanics and theory section is amazing. It should be posted outside of this guide for every new Player who wants to understand key dmg mechanics of the game. Fantastic read and also nice build. My sincere congratulations! Cheers. GP
Thanks gregory! I am considering writing something up at some point.
I’ve actually gone through and re-leveled a new character with this build to test out all the changes and also as a refresher for myself. I’ve reached level 25 and just killed Darius Cronley, and played entirely self-found (no twinking). I’ve stopped here but can continue if people need more help leveling past that point, but at this point the core of the build is basically complete.
Some observations:
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The updated leveling guide is definitely the right way to proceed. Explosive Strike is amazing and rushing for it is the right path. Basically, the early goals are in order: max Lethal Assault, get Pneumatic Burst at a reasonable level (I stopped at 8 for now), then max Explosive Strike followed by Fire Strike. As mentioned previously, once you get Explosive Strike start using Fire Strike as your main LMB attack. Once you get to that point, the AOE clear speed of the build jumps dramatically.
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I haven’t noticed any energy issues. I’ve used energy potions about 3 times total for the character. The most energy intensive point is when ABB is still used as the main attack and Pneumatic Burst is leveled up, but otherwise the build never needs energy potions. After switching to Fire Strike energy use goes down.
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As I mentioned earlier, the build can use basically any weapon. Damage type doesn’t matter. The only thing that is important is attack speed. Look for fast base weapons with attack speed affixes. A Slithtongue is guaranteed loot and usable as an early weapon, but quickly becomes outclassed if faster weapons are found.
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The build is actually a better way to level a DW Saboteur than the “Tri-element” or fire based Sabo. I tried respeccing into that to compare, and this version has about twice the DPS of a Fire-based version that maxes Flame Touched. Testing on the dummy confirms average hit is about twice the damage.
Here are some pictures of the build at lvl 25:
Hello guys.
I have just started this build again, now that leveling guide is correct.
Here is one TIP for you: Keep in mind that ABB also works for RANGED WEAPONS. You can alternate both weapon loadouts if you do not want to get toe to toe with enemies at earlier levels. I am playing veteran.
First loadout is Dual Wield. Second loadout is pistol + shield. When using it with ABB it also does AOE damage. Neat.
After a second retry I am abandoning this build for good (although I saved my character just to be on the safe side). My main issue is that this build is too squishy for Veteran mode (where the game pits you against two or three bosses at once). I died once at level 12. A pity because the concept idea is quite original and nice.
Sorry to hear that. Well if you wanted specific tips I am happy help.
I did play through completely self-found until lvl 25 on Veteran to check the leveling experience and didn’t die at all. You do have to know when to disengage, but I didn’t find it all that squishy either. I face tanked Warden Krieg, and definitely couldn’t do that in Veteran with some of my other chars. It is definitely not a uber leveling build, though to be honest no dual-wielding melee build is. If you want to level as a dual-wielder, I haven’t found any DW build that actually has an easier time than this build.
I like to level my chars the way I intend to play them at the end. The leveling guide reflects that, but you don’t have to follow that. You always have the option of picking one of the easier leveling methods and switching to this build later on. For example, leveling as a Demolitionist with Fire Blast and Greater Fire Blast is a piece of cake, or Nightblade with Phantasmal Blades is also pretty easy.
Or, if this is one of your first chars, you could go with one of the really uber leveling builds to gain experience and build up an inventory to twink other characters. Sorcerer with OFF and Fireblast for example, or Shaman with Devouring Swam, for instance. Certainly, using a twinked char for leveling this build makes it easier.
Good luck and let me know if you have more questions.
Edit: You may also just consider starting with Fire Strike + Explosive Strike and getting Lethal Assault later. May make the really early levels easier (since you mentioned lvl 12)
I’ve found this build to be quite strong. I admit that I’ve been playing quite a while now and do have lots of gear stowed away in GDStash, which I’m sure makes it easier. I do have a couple of thoughts/tricks that make early/mid-tier leveling easier and should be helpful without twinking:
- Other than maxing weapon speed, use tanky gear, for example, Combat Medics’s Mark, and gear the gives "attack damage converted to health, for example, Warp Shard.
- The Ruination relic is available at level 18 and the triggered power it enables give +45 attack speed; it is awesome for taking down bosses quickly.
The combination of “attack damage converted to health” with increased weapon speed provides strong healing to go along with strong damage.
Another thing is that at level 15, you can put a Mark of Dreeg in each of your weapons for a significant boost in DPS plus provides another strong AoE attack that may help out now and then. If you aren’t using anything special for the weapons, save the component and destroy the old weapon when you are ready to switch weapons.
Yet another thought, if you are having issues surviving, consider putting 1 point into Veil of Shadow for a little extra defense (decreases enemies ability to hit and crit you). Alternatively, or in addition, you can put 1 point in Flashbang and Searing Light as that does a great job of messing up whole groups of enemies.
All great recommendations! I agree.
Thanks. I will try it again at a later time.
Do you have any advice on which faction to choose (Kymon or Deaths Vigil)?
That faction choice doesn’t matter all that much. Neither one has too much support for this build. Death’s Vigil has some cold equipment, which can be usable as we have a lot of flat cold damage, but otherwise the availability of augments is the only difference. Kymon’s has a 7% Vitality / 7% Chaos augment that I find very useful, Death’s Vigil has a 10% Lightning / 7% Aether that can also be useful. I ended up choosing Death’s Vigil but you won’t be gimped with Kymon’s either.
Definitely make sure to choose the Outcast though.
Now I am doing a lot better. I am still level 13 and because I have crappy melee weapons I am doing somewhat better damage combining ABB+Fire strike using a 2H rifle. I am switching back and forth melee+ranged though and doing a lot of kiting. As soon as I get Explosive strike things will change. Those meanies are going to have it.
Thank you! 