Hello everyone!
This is my first actual build posted here so I hope everyone enjoys. I see a lot of new players posting about tips for a fun build/class to play, so I hope this delivers!
The build revolves around two simple concepts…
- Spill the blood (Bleed)
- Drink the blood (Vitality + Life Leech)
The Trickster gives us good sources of bleed and vitality damage, as well as bleed/vitality resist reduction in the form of Devouring Swarm. We go dual wield because why the hell not, and the Nightblade tree provides nice support and gives us a 5 second CD heal.
Things this build is:
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Not gear dependent. I’ve been playing with self-found/crafted gear.
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Hardcore Ultimate viable. I’m currently halfway through Ultimate right now and only have 2 deaths total for the character; one when I took the character to Ultimate way too early (I’ll provide a list of criteria in the guide so you all don’t make the same mistake), and one from Elite Alkamos due to unfortunate freezes (lesson learned: drink Hoarfrost Potions before the fight =P).
UPDATE - Going through Ultimate I received 4 more deaths. They are as follows…
- Nacrathan the Timeless under Tomb of the Archon, he dropped rocks on me. This could have been avoided if I played more carefully. Didn’t even pop Blade Barrier…yeah I’m bad.
2, 3) Both to Commander Lucius’s Devastation ability. Holy shit that move does damage. Just run when he puts his hand in the air. Otherwise you should be able to handle him if you’re careful. - Pack of Shaleborn in the rift in Plains of Strife. Pure carelessness.
So to reiterate, I would still say this is Hardcore Ultimate VIABLE. It’s not guaranteed, but certainly possible. Killed Ultimate Log without much problem.
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Quick to get going.
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Fun
Things this build is NOT:
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Optimized. I don’t care about clearing speeds or kill times; all I care about is being able to clear content.
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Lazy. There are a lot of buttons to press, and you can’t just waltz into 3-4 hero monsters and expect to breeze through it. You need to be aware of dangers, e.g. don’t stay in a pool of acid/aether/etc., pull back if you’re health’s dropping quick, etc. You need to play smart with this build. If you’ve never fought a particular boss before, play it very careful at first until you become familiar with it’s attack patterns, and engage when you think you have an opening.
Skills/Build
Ultimate BiS Gear Set-Up + Grimcalc w/ +skills
Head: Clairvoyant’s Hat (Leathery Hide / Spellward Powder (Death’s Vigil))
Shoulders: Wildblood Mantle (Scaled Hide / Spellward Powder (Death’s Vigil))
Chest: Dread Armor of Azragor (Chains of Oleron / Mankind’s Vigil (Black Legion))
Main hand: Crimson Spike (Oleron’s Blood / Essence of Ch’thon (Black Legion))
Offhand: Brutallax (Haunted Steel / Arkovian Bonemeal (Rovers))
Hands: Stonehide Exalted Vambraces of Rapid Reflexes (Unholy Inscription / Spellward Powder (Death’s Vigil))
Waist: Wildblood Girdle (Dense Fur / Outcast’s Skyguard Powder (Outcasts))
Legs: Boneweave Leggings (Scaled Hide / Mankind’s Vigil (Black Legion))
Feet: Stonehide Exalted Sabatons of Kings (Molten Skin / Flameweave Powder (Homestead))
Amulet: The Peerless Eye of Beronath (Dread Skull / Mogdrogen’s Sanctity (Rovers))
Rings: Signet of the Fallen (Corpse Dust / Survivor’s Ingenuity (Devil’s Crossing))
Rings: Incorruptible Cronley’s Signet of Attack (Corpse Dust / Survivor’s Ingenuity (Devil’s Crossing))
Medal: Direwolf Crest (Dread Skull)
Relic: Belgothian’s Carnage
Grimcalc build
Click here to view equipment configuration
Now then! On to the fun stuff. I’m going to post a list of skills to prioritize with skill points so you’ll know what to do. If I say “Max”, it means max out the skill with points. If I say something like “12/12”, it means put points into the skill until it’s 12/12, meaning if you have gear bonuses that pushes your skill to 13/12, you should take a point out and place it somewhere else. One-Point Wonders mean you should only place a single point in the skill, once you have a gear providing + to all skills for a mastery.
Starting with the highest priority and working our way down…
Devouring Swarm - Max
Pneumatic Burst - 12/12
Breath of Belgothian - 1/1
Wendigo Totem - 12/12
Circle of Slaughter - Max
Savagery - Max
Amarasta’s Quick Cut - 5/8
Primal Bond - 12/12
Heart of the Wild - 10/10
Storm Touched - 3/12 (for attack speed only)
Veil of Shadow - 10/10
Tenacity of the Boar - 12/12
Blood Pact - Max
Anatomy of Murder - Max if possible (but you probably won’t have enough)
One-Point Wonders:
Phantasmal Armor
Blade Barrier
Shadow Dance
Ring of Steel
Dual Blades
Mogdrogen’s Pact
I’ll be providing a more detailed skill list to follow as you level, but this is the general guideline of the build. The meat of the damage will come from Savagery, Circle of Slaughter, and Devotion procs (of which you’ll have a ridiculous amount).
Devotions
Speaking of Devotions, here is the path you will follow.
Crossroads - Ascendant
Falcon (bind to Devouring Swarm, switch to Slam/Brutal Slam/Ring of Steel when you get Rend)
Bat (bind to Savagery)
Crossroads - Chaos
Huntress (only 5 points, straight to the Rend power and bind it to Devouring Swarm, switch to Wendigo Totem when you get Acid Spray)
Jackal
REMOVE Crossroads - Chaos
Manticore (bind to Devouring Swarm, switch to either Slam/Brutal Slam/Bloodbath/Ring of Steel when you get Wendigo’s Mark (whichever is free), switch to Beronath’s Gaze if you find Peerless Eye of Beronath amulet)
REMOVE Crossroads - Ascendant
Crossroads - Primordial
Eel
Wendigo (bind to Devouring Swarm)
REMOVE Jackal
Fox
Empty Throne
Crossroads - Ascendant
Harpy
Mogdrogen the Wolf (bind to Bloodbath/Brutal Slam/Oleron’s Blood if one is free, otherwise bind to Amarasta’s Quick Cut)
This will give you a whopping 6 devotion procs to play with, and they are lots of fun You’ll have about -85 or so resistance reduction to both Vitality and Bleed, which will make your attacks do good damage. There aren’t any defensive procs that we’ll be getting, and from my experience they are not needed between the Wendigo Totem heals, 5 second PB heals, MASSIVE life steal from weapon attacks/Wendigo’s Mark/Devouring Swarm, decent health from Heart of the Wild, damage reduction from Primal Bond, and Blade Barrier as a last resort.
Gear
Before I get to the leveling guide, I wanted to share how I went about selecting/using my self-found gear until level 50 (after that, you start to find legendaries and can benefit from gear more specific to the build). Here is how I prioritized magic/rare/epic armor/jewelry drops, from highest priority going down…
Resistances (specifically, balanced resistances. Prioritize Aether/Chaos over others)
Health
Armor Value
Energy Regen
Energy
Offensive/Defensive Ability
Vitality/Bleed damage
For weapons, I just picked whichever gave the higher listed DPS value. You don’t really need to care too much about finding bleed/vitality specific weapons until later in the game. Also, components are a BIG deal, especially ones for weapons. For armor, you should only worry about using them to help resistances; check your blacksmith when you get him to see what kinds you can try and craft to help balance you out. Having great resistances across the board makes it MUCH easier for you to survive, so don’t slack on this (especially if you’re going HC). Here’s a list of special components to look out for…
Chipped Claw - Get one ASAP and put it in your weapon. It gives you the Slam ability; this will be your heavy hitter early game.
Serrated Spike - Get one ASAP and put it in your other weapon. It gives you the Piercing Aura ability, which will help you deal a little more damage. You can later use the Inventor to get the Spike back and turn it into a…
Hollowed Fang - Get one when you can and replace the Serrated Spike. This gives you a source of Vitality damage, life steal, and the Bloodthirster ability which gives you massive life steal for a short duration. I’m currently level 75 and still using them.
Ectoplasm - Put it in your rings when you get it, this will help with energy problems that will inevitably crop up.
Severe Claw - Replaces the Chipped Claw. Basically the same as the Chipped Claw but better in every way, including the skill it gives.
Leather Hide - Place this in your helmet when you can make it. This will give you stun resistance; a hard-to-find type of resistance.
Dread Skulls - These come a little later, but they give good stats as well as attack speed. Put 2 in your amulet/medal when you can.
Haunted Steel - Replaces the Hollowed Fang when you can get it. Basically the same as a Hollowed Fang, but better in every way.
Oleron’s Blood - Replaces the Severe Claw. Ideally, use this along with 1 Haunted Steel. Bloody Whetstone could be good too, but Oleron’s Blood’s skill reduces the damage of the target by 20% and works on big bad bosses, so this will be very helpful to survival.
Relic List (follow this order)
Ruination
Bladesworn Talisman
Rampage
Slaughter (using your previous Ruination/Rampage) (when you get this, replace Slam/Brutal Slam with Bloodbath)
Belgothian’s Carnage (using your previous Slaughter/Bladesworn Talisman to create the Nemesis relic needed as a prerequisite)
Leveling Guide
Now, on to the leveling guide!
Attributes - All into Physique
1-10:
5 points Shaman
Devouring Swarm (DS) - 12/16
When you hit level 10, pick Nightblade and put 10 points in it, 1 into Breath of Belgothian, 1 into Pneumatic Burst (PB), and 1 into Shaman. You can now dual wield!
Mastery Total: 6 points Shaman, 10 points Nightblade
Devouring Swarm is going to be your bread and butter initially. At 12/16 it should shred most bad guys until the Warden’s Cellar or so. I did NOT fight Guthook (a big bad goblin dude, he’s in a cave in Burrwitch Outskirts) because I thought I would die, but you may be able to kill him safely by kiting and using DS. Otherwise you should have no issues.
Active Skills:
Left Mouse Button: Slam
Right Mouse Button: DS
Key 1: PB
11-20:
2 points PB/1 point Shaman until 12/12 PB
2 points Shaman/1 point DS until 16/16 DS
When you hit 20 points in Shaman, put 1 point in Wendigo Totem (WT)
Mastery Total: 20 points Shaman, 10 points Nightblade
Same as before, you should have Falcon complete around now so bind it to DS. PB is a buff as well as a heal; train yourself to look at your buffs and remember to cast it if the duration is about to run out, even if you don’t need the heal.
Active Skills:
Left Mouse Button: Slam
Right Mouse Button: DS
Key 1: PB
Key 2: Wendigo Totem
21-30:
1 point Savagery
2 points WT/1 point Nightblade until 12/12 WT
When you hit 15 points in Nightblade, do 1 point Dual Blades, 2 points Amarasta’s Quick Cut/1 point Nightblade until 5/8 Amarasta’s Quick Cut
1 point Savagery/2 points Nightblade
Put 1 point into Blade Barrier (BB) when you hit 20 points in Nightblade Mastery
Mastery Total: 20 points Shaman, 20 points Nightblade
Switch Savagery to your main attack and put Slam (or Brutal Slam if you’re lucky) on a keybind, along with Blade Barrier. You may have Bat around now so put it on Savagery. Around now you really start to take off and demolish most mobs with your melee attacks, but always throw out a DS on mobs first to apply the resist reduction and proc chances for Falcon. You also become very hard to kill at this point, as the Bat fangs, Wendigo Totem, and PBs are all great sources of healing. Remember to keep using DS, WT, and your Slams.
Active Skills:
Left Mouse Button: Savagery
Right Mouse Button: DS
Key 1: PB
Key 2: Slam/Brutal Slam
Key 3: WT
Key 4: BB
Key 5: Bloodthirster (if you have a Hollowed Fang)
31-40:
2 points Nightblade/1 point Savagery
When you hit 40 points in Nightblade mastery, put 1 point in Ring of Steel and 1 point in Circle of Slaughter (CoS).
Mastery Total: 20 points Shaman, 40 points Nightblade
Not much excitement going on leveling-wise, but you shouldn’t mind as you should be beasting through the content having a blast. If you have Rend by now put it on DS and put Falcon on the Slam/Brutal Slam, switching it to CoS when you get it at 40 or 41. Something you should begin to be aware of as well is to prioritize your reputation with the Rovers. They will be providing you good augments when you hit Honored reputation with them (Arkovian Bonemeal/Troll Wart Powder for your weapons and Arkovian Rose Powder for your rings/amulet for resists), and when you hit Revered they will give you the recipe to make the sword Empowered Omen; you’ll eventually need 2 of these before you enter Ultimate, but that’s a bit of a ways off yet. Also around now you should be hitting Homestead; when given the chance to side with Kymon’s Chosen or Death’s Vigil, choose Death’s Vigil.
Active Skills:
Left Mouse Button: Savagery
Right Mouse Button: DS
Key 1: PB
Key 2: Brutal Slam
Key 3: CoS
Key 4: WT
Key 5: BB
Key 6: Bloodthirster
41-50:
2 points CoS/1 point Shaman until 12/12 CoS
2 points Shaman/1 point Savagery until 16/16 Savagery
Mastery Total: 30 points Shaman, 40 points Nightblade
Straightforward again, level up CoS and invest in Shaman/Savagery. Keep in mind the numbers may be different if you happened to find gear that provides bonuses to certain skills. Keep up the same strategy you’ve been using. When you’re given a choice to side with the witch or the Black Legion, side with the witch as she will eventually give you access to good augments. If you have Slaughter relic by now, swap Bloodbath for the Slam/Brutal Slam. When you get the Slaughter relic, activate your One-Point Wonders for Nightblade (Phantasmal Armor, Anatomy of Murder, Shadow Dance, Veil of Shadow) and remove a point from PB. If you get Acid Spray, put it on DS and swap Rend to the WT. Also, congratulations! You should have beat Veteran by now. Before moving to Elite, make sure you are at least level 50, and your resistances are great (80% for top row, 50% or so for Bleed/Vitality, 30% or so for Chaos/Aether are acceptable). And once you take the plunge, be cautious when adjusting to the new strength of the enemies, especially if you’ve never been in Elite before.
Active Skills:
Left Mouse Button: Savagery
Right Mouse Button: DS
Key 1: PB
Key 2: Brutal Slam/Bloodbath
Key 3: CoS
Key 4: WT
Key 5: BB
Key 6: Bloodthirster
51-60:
1 point Mogdrogen’s Pact
1 point Heart of the Wild/1 point Shaman
When you hit 32 points in Shaman, put 3 points in Storm Touched
When you hit 40 points in Shaman, put 1 point in Blood Pact
Mastery Totals: 40 points Shaman, 40 points Nightblade
At this point you can start keeping an eye out for legendaries. The list will be at the bottom of this guide, but otherwise keep following the same rules you’ve been following. Weapons-wise, you can start looking to branch out into epics that focus on vitality or bleed, even if they have less on-paper DPS than other weapons. I personally got really lucky and found the entire Praetorian Armor set by level 50; the armor + resists they provide had me using the whole set until Act 2 of Ultimate. In addition, the first legendary that I received (reward for beating Veteran) were the Boneweave Leggings. I’m sure having these items made my playthrough a bit smoother, but I’m confident you’ll make do even if you only have blues/greens. You’ll probably be getting Wendigo completed around now, swap Wendigo’s Mark to DS while putting Acid Spray on Bloodbath.
Active Skills:
Left Mouse Button: Savagery
Right Mouse Button: DS
Key 1: PB
Key 2: Bloodbath
Key 3: CoS
Key 4: WT
Key 5: BB
Key 6: Bloodthirster
61-70
1 point Heart of the Wild/1 point Shaman until 10/10 Heart of the Wild
1 point Blood Pact / 1 point Shaman until 50 points in Shaman
12/12 Primal Bond
You should be breezing through the second half of Elite at this point; perhaps killing Elite Log a little before 70. Congratulations again! Now the real fun will begin. Before you enter Ultimate, you have a checklist you need to complete.
- You must be level 70. This is to be able to access augments from different factions, speaking of…
- You must be Revered with Rovers, Devil’s Crossing, and/or Homestead. If possible, Black Legion and Outcast as well. They have access to augments that are necessary to get…
- Resistances. You NEED to have at least 60% in Ultimate with EVERY resistance. No if’s, and’s or buts, and if you’re hardcore you should make that bare minimum 70%. This may be a tall order; you may need to farm Elite for components or gear to get those resistances. Ultimate just hits like a truck, and resistances are crucial.
- Health. Make sure you have a decent amount…at least 8k with all the buffs.
- You did get Revered with Rovers right? Good. Buy the Empowered Omen recipe from the quartermaster and make two of them (you can wield them as early as level 65). Unless you’ve found legendary BiS weapons (Butcher of Burrwitch, Crimson Spike, or Brutallax) or some level 70+ Bleed epic weapons, these two swords are capable of seeing you through Ultimate, and boy will you need them.
Active Skills:
Left Mouse Button: Savagery
Right Mouse Button: DS
Key 1: PB
Key 2: Bloodbath
Key 3: CoS
Key 4: WT
Key 5: BB
Key 6: Bloodthirster
71-85
Veil of Shadow 10/10
Tenacity of the Boar 12/12
Blood Pact Max
Remaining points in Anatomy of Murder if you have any
Now you’re in Ultimate. Play it safe at all times; sometimes it may seem like you can tank anything but run into the wrong boss and it’ll come crashing down. You’re fast though and you have lots of heals so as long as you’re careful you should be able to handle the game content. I haven’t tested this build against Ultimate Nemesis however, and that’s a huge caveat. I did try against Ultimate Mad Queen and while I didn’t die, I actually had DPS problems to the point where I couldn’t out DPS her heal. The Empowered Omens will get you past Ultimate Log, but you’ll probably need to farm BiS gear to handle the extra content. I haven’t tested against Sentinel. Couple of things…
- If you can craft Belgothian’s Shears, do it. It’ll reduce all your cooldowns by a lot and make you even more survivable.
- Get Oleron’s Blood and Haunted Steel for your swords. Use Bloodthirster as another heal.
- When you get Howl of Mogdrogen, bind it to Oleron’s Blood. That component is strong because it deals 350% weapon damage with each weapon you have, meaning your Flat damage is magnified by x7 (!!!). Not to mention the 20% damage reduction to enemies that work on bosses to help with your survivability.
Good luck and have fun, feel free to post with any questions/comments/possible improvements!
