[1.0.2.1] The Immortal Retaliator - Avenger of Cairn Tactician (Full Tank)

Grim Dawn Classes, Skills and Builds
, , , ,
1

Markovian Tactician - The Immortal Retaliator, Avenger of Cairn

[SIZE=“4”]Some men just want to watch the world burn… while drinking tea[/SIZE]

Welcome to the finally properly structured and tested the build I call Avenger of Cairn. This guy gives no fucks to anyone, tanks Nemesises head-on and enjoys the scenery, while mobs around him scream in agony and pain… at least if you are properly geared.

Build 1 - http://www.grimtools.com/calc/0V0AaAEZ

Key Points:
-Maxed out Counter Strike
-Menhir’s Wall
-Menhir’s Will
-Word of Renewal

This setup is intended for casual run through mobs and heroes such. You will see your health bar moving VERY RARELY, unless you are fighting a Nemesis or a special monster of some kind. All of the above skills with new skill modifiers increase your Retaliation exponentially, while providing tons of survivability. Word of Renewal, in particular, allows not maxing Aether and Chaos resists, since it takes care of them. This build tanks vanilla Nemesises with absolutely no problems, some may take longer, though.
The problem with Retaliation builds was always a problem of clear speed. However, aside from the few enemies, this is not an issue here.

The build features over 350k Retaliation Damage, 88% Chance to Block along with ~10k Damage Blocked and 95% Block Recovery. Damage Reflect - 261%.

Fabius Cuts himself on his own Blades - https://youtu.be/zWduL4O6wLM
Valdaran Slogfest - https://youtu.be/sd9hBurw1is [OLD VIDEO - With Mythical Agony he goes down in 5-6 minutes. Long, but doable]
Avenger of Cairn clearing Gloomwald - https://youtu.be/C1eDu7VxdZ8
Avenger of Cairn busting through Barrowholm Mine - https://youtu.be/nXApypVc_zQ
Kupacabra finally destroyed! Holy shit, what an ass! - https://youtu.be/YbiIeTfgRMA
Defeating Gabal’Thunn, the infamous Madman - https://youtu.be/CQDOb29QMlI
Slaying Lunal’Valgoth, the Overgrown Spider - https://youtu.be/QMgtTvxk3Do
Crushing the Mountain on 2x speed - https://youtu.be/B61zk-jt_KM
Mowing Down Reaper of the Lost Souls - https://youtu.be/mtDjR7-aFbc

This build has also killed the following: Zantarin, Iron Maiden, Alexsander

Equipment:
Main Weapon - Mythical Dawnbreaker’s Sledge [Haunted Steel\Hexer’s Kiss]
Shield - Mythical Dawnbreaker’s Duty [Mark of Myrmidon\Ravager’s Eye]
Helm - Mythical Markovian Visor [Prismatic Diamond\Venomguard Powder]
Right Ring - Mythical Closed Fist of Vengeance [Soul Shard\Survivor’s Resilience]
Left Ring - Mythical Open Hand of Mercy [Runebound Topaz\Survivor’s Resilience]
Amulet - Mythical Avenger of Cairn [Seal of Ancestry OR Seal of Annihilation\Survivor’s Resilience]
Shoulders - Mythical Dawnbreaker’s Shoulderguard [Ugdenbog Leather\Venomguard Powder]
Gloves - Mythical Blacksteel Gauntlets [Bladed Plating\Venomguard Powder]
Boots - Mythical Golemborn Greaves [Mark of Mogdrogen\Malmouth Fortifying Powder]
Medal - Mythical Markovian’s Stratagem [Black Tallow]
Belt - Mythical Thorn Girdle of the Misty Glade [Ugdenbog Leather\Malmouth Fortifying Powder]
Legs - Mythical Thornhide Legguards [Ancient Armor Plate\Wendigo Lifescent Powder]
Armor - Mythical Markovian’s Platemail [Living Armor\Mankind’s Vigil]
Relic - Doom

NOTE: Not every legendary can be the same as in Grimtools, so if you lack resists somewhere - improvise. My in-game character has Spellscorched Plating equipped on gloves and Malmouth Woundsear Powder instead of Fortifying Powder, since he was lacking in both Bleed and Vitality.

Stats Distribution Guide:

Physique - 53
Cunning - 45
Spirit - 7

Devotion Setup Guide:
+1 point in Order Crossroads
Complete Lion
Complete Dryad
-1 point from Order Crossroads
+1 point in Primordial Crossroads
Complete Lizard
Complete Eel
-1 point from Primordial Crossroads
Complete Shieldmaiden
+5 Points to Targo the Builder
Complete Hound
Complete Obelisk of Menhir
+1 point in Ascendant Crossroads
Complete Toad
-1 point from Ascendant Crossroads
Complete Messenger of War
+1 point in Primordial Crossroads
+4 points in Tree of Life
Complete Wolverine

Next two builds I’m talking about are special. They are using optimized equipment to slay at least two the most dangerous bosses in the entire game - Rashalga, the Mad Queen and Ravager of Souls.

The thing with Rashalga everyone is familiar with, right? She has the deadliest and most powerful retaliation aura in the game. Many lost their characters to her scream, and many more will. So, I hope by using this guide you will proceed to slaughter the bitch and walk away unscathed.
Let’s start with her aura. She triggers more often if the character uses some form of projectile. That’s the first step. She also heals herself frequently. The heal is not so much, we can deal with it with huge Retaliation spikes she gladly provides, but what to do about aura? It’s quite simple, actually - don’t use any equipment, where procs count as projectiles. Remove any nodes from devotions that do so too. Once you understand the mechanic behind this, all that’s left is pure defence gearing.

Build 2 - http://www.grimtools.com/calc/M2galbOZ

This is a special, ANTI-BULLSHIT GIMMICK BOSS COUNTER-COMBAT MECHANISM, aka ANBUGIBOCOCOMECHA.
What does it do? It gives a shit ton of DA, tons of protective and retaliation procs, heals you, etc. In other words, it does everything to keep you alive, but at the same time kicks back opponent’s ass. With this setup, I was able to farm Rashalga very safely. Not even once she lowered my health below 40% gate level. What a pity, I wanted to see Menhir’s Will proccing and all that Retaliation flying straight into her face.

The build features 335k Retaliation Damage, 90% Chance to Block with ~8k Damage blocked and 101% Block Recovery. Damage Reflect - 223%.

NOTE: As always, keep in mind that not every legendary in Tools is the same in-game, so improvise. I got Seal of Annihilation here on amulet to deal with Rashalga faster, if crit actually procs.

Mad Queen 1 minute 20 seconds Kill with Full Tanking (5 consistent kills in a row) - https://youtu.be/-WSQ68IF9uw

Equipment - largely remains the same, aside from few tweaks:
Shield - Mythical Zolhan’s Revenge [Mark of Myrmidon\Ravager’s Eye]
Main Weapon - Stone Pummeler [Haunted Steel\Hexer’s Kiss]
Shoulders - Mythical Markovian’s Vanguard [Ugdenbog Leather\Venomguard Powder]
Belt - Stoneguard Girdle [Ugdenbog Leather\Wendigo Lifescent Powder]
Chest Armor - Gildor’s Guard [Living Armor\Wendigo Lifescent Powder]

Build 3 - http://www.grimtools.com/calc/lNkBKYDZ

Slight tweak to the previous one for more defence and a few very good special procs.
This build was used to kill Ravager of Souls. A thesis and a video on him will be provided later, when I’ll be done with recording. Or you can visit Fluff’s thread for more information, since this build owes it to him for far more proficiency in killing Ravager.

This build features 311k Retaliation Damage, 89% Chance to Block with ~8k damage blocked and 99% Block Recovery. Damage Reflect - 223%.

Equipment - We swapped the Amulet for Stoneguard Ward [Survivor’s Resilience\Seal of Ancestry]

Stats Distribution Guide for Both Builds:

Physique - 93
Cunning - 5
Spirit - 7

Leveling Guide:
Coming soon…

2

its looks like really htonian and aetherial bastard child.
1/3 from real retaliator, 1/3 from markovian strong damage build, and 1/3 from uncomplited new sets.
LOL:D

3

As long as it does it’s job, I suppose. Which it does, of course, heheh.

By the way, the damage on this build is quite good for pure defensive stats. With Cadence and enough leveled Markovian and Zolhan you will dish nice enough damage, while Retaliation will be doing additional job in killing your adversaries.

4

Too much Defensive Ability just causes mobs to miss causing retaliation to be less effective. My Death Knight retaliation build runs 2994 DA and a chance to be hit of 67-70%.

5

Yeah, too much DA. 2700 is the better number for retaliation. Makes them not crit but lets them not miss so much.

6

Huh. Guess I went a little overboard with stacking defence, I guess. Time to reconsider some devotion choices then.
Thanks for the info, guys.

7

I made the same mistake

Also note that high DA characters can still be killed by the likes of Mogdrogen and Mad Queen.
They might go down slower but DA doesn’t make you unkillable, HP regen is a good point for immortality though

8

Yeah, I know. That’s why I also have numerous other means to counter it.

Wanted to change devotions, but actually couldn’t. So I lowered my Physique instead. Still giant HP and Health Regen numbers, though, so it’s fine.

DA is now 2871. Can’t lower it any more anyway since Physique equipment doesn’t allow it.

9

Less than 7k armor 0/10 shitbuild

jk it looks nice

10

You can take chaos crossroad’s 5% health instead of behemoth’s 4%.

Unforgivable mistake! :slight_smile: /s

11

Thanks, Ceno. Your approval means a lot to me.

Ahhh, oh no! But seriously, the last point was basically an afterthought, since devotions were already planned.
Nevertheless, since we are MINMAXING AS FUCK, you are completely correct. Appreciated the input.

12

Something ticked me… and I decided to return to this build for a second. Applied Mark of the Myrmidon to the shield and… well.

It now sports 95% Block Recovery, over 160k Retaliation Damage and 53% Damage Reflect.

And yes, I know about high DA. I learned to like it slow and steady.At least this character is truly unkillable now. Also he still has Cadence, which definitely means something at least.

13

Is it possible for you to put in the order for Devotion? I have no idea where to start.

14

Yes, of course. As soon as I finish with my Range Cadence build. Still polishing it, but don’t worry, you’ll get everything needed for each of my build.

15

And so this build receives yet another good (but probably the last) update directly to it’s head, by inserting there a Prismatic Diamond.

It now has 73% Damage Reflect and a new absorption source.

16

The build now has the first successful recorded video against Mad Queen - 1 min. 50 seconds Kill.

Watch it here - https://youtu.be/Ug0j8Ijx1n0

17

After numerous runs on Mad Queen with this build, I concluded that the success rate to kill her is 2 to 1.

There are various factors applying to it. She can be pretty passive the entire fight and if your Retaliation is proccing well, she’ll be down quickly - minimum results I achived after tinkering is 30-40 seconds.
But sometimes she is agressive as fuck and uses her retaliation like every 3-4 seconds. In this case, I’s advisable to run away or kill the worms nearby.
Still, very often she can just oneshot you basically, shredding nearly 18k HP in one single hit, so be careful.

And yes, I lowered my DA, so Retaliation would proc more often, trash mob clear speed multiplied at least by two, heroes take longer, but still go down pretty quickly with my health bar stuck in place.

The biggest Annoyance is definitely Valdaran.

He couldn’t damage me at all, so I just stayed near him for 10 minutes, then he basically killed himself. I was so bored, I didn’t even record this. However, this was before my stat redistribution, so now he goes down faster.
The video will be up too.

I also tested this build on Fabius - the results were absolutely marvelous.

Watch it here and apologize for delay on showing the firs half of the fight. Basically, I was almost sleeping already, so when I noticed him, half of his health was already gone somewhere.

The build already followed a huge revamp to increase Retaliation up to over 440k damage, but I’m still tinkering with it, so final results will be posted later.

18

Added the guide. Enjoy, guys.

Still conducting testing on Mad Queen (managed to do 4 consistent kills in a row will full tanking) and Kupacabra.

Kupacabra is a fucking asshole.

Also, check out new MQ kill video in the OP.

19

Seems like another good alternative to Warder retaliation build. What kind of retaliation damage can this build pull off at the max?

20

The build offers four sources of Retaliation, which, when stack, can hit up to 400+k damage.
The highest I’ve seen is 403k on some Colossi in Malmouth Harbor. Very satisfying seeing his health suddenly shredded off, when usually people tend to kite these guys, and you are tanking them face to face.