I love this build. Atm lvl-ing on ultimate. (lvl90)
Can I use this selfound axe?
Ty
This is pretty strong…wow.
With the release of patch 1.0.4.0, I’ve updated the guide sections for Necromancer Abilities (very minor changes) and Pet Devotions (some updates to T1/T2 rankings). V2.0 of the build is still under development - lots of holiday stuff taking up GD time.
I’m not sure how well you’re expecting to fare at endgame using a level 35 relic instead of a proper endgame relic. Any of the relics discussed in the guide (Primal Instinct, Bysmiel’s Domination, or Dirge of Arkovia) would be leaps and bounds better.
I had also specifically mentioned in the build post that “hardcap Raise Skeletons at 26/16 for the massive additional base damage, which is the most critical part of this build’s functionality”. You’d output a lot more damage by reaching 26/16 on Raise Skeletons before you start playing around with items like Azragor.
There are lots of other odds and ends to fix - you definitely need a 2nd Glyph for conversion, your pet OA/AS are still pretty low, etc. - but those two issues above are the biggest ones holding your back.
Sure, use the item if it’s better than your Master’s Spellblade with a non-Plaguebearer’s affix. However, the build requires the exact base item and affix combo at endgame, which is why I suggested starting to craft early.
Hi!
You guys, know how i can find this blueprint? I mean: it comes from Nemesis, Bosses, quests etc?
Nice guide, btw!
Thx!
Hello!
I just wanted to say that I am new to Grim Dawn, and I levelled to about 55 and became incredibly frustrated when I arrived in Act 6… Tried to make my own skeleton build but it turned out Skeletons / Drain Essence is not a very good synnergy. 
Found your build, respecced and I am now feeling much more confident, aiming for much higher DPS (I didn’t even know augments were a thing!) and I am progressing steadily!
Thanks a bunch! You just made the game fun again!
Hello!
I just wanted to say that I am new to Grim Dawn, and I levelled to about 55 and became incredibly frustrated when I arrived in Act 6… Tried to make my own skeleton build but it turned out Skeletons / Drain Essence is not a very good synnergy.
Found your build, respecced and I am now feeling much more confident, aiming for much higher DPS (I didn’t even know augments were a thing!) and I am progressing steadily!
Thanks a bunch! You just made the game fun again!
Steamrolling hardcore content using Reaper’s Skelly build. am going to most probably respec to this variant when I reach max lvl. 
I am trying to follow this build, but with totally self found gear it is tough to come across anything that really boosts my skellies. I’m still doing okay though, romping through Ultimate at lvl 94 (yeah, I know).
I don’t ever play the Crucible, and I’m missing a few key blueprints so I don’t have quite the clout as this exact build, but… I do okay. My skeletons are tied to fire, and yes it is weird to take advantage of that when they are all ranged or want to follow me around like puppies. I just keep moving, keeping bombing spells as fast as I can, and try to keep an avenue of escape eyeballed if I do need to make a run for it. Honestly, one of the odd things about such an insanely pet dependent build is that you have to play a little tanky, if for no other reason than to trigger the Reap Spirit and take advantage of that teeny-tiny Siphon AOE. I find that with the right timing of Dreeg it is best to simply plunge myself right through a mob, even with multiple Heroes, which if nothing else definitely drags my pets along with me.
One thing that is really annoying, I can survive even the bosses with only minor kiting drama, but… Any Nemesis (any of them) will insta-gib me before I even see them onscreen. Like, seriously I died probably a dozen times just trying to figure out WHAT was killing me in the swamps on Elite. There was simply zero chance of surviving being spotted by that nonsense, he could run about twice as fast as me so just one of his ‘breath’ attacks was a death so quick I couldn’t even move my mouse fast enough to see his name.
The only other thing I have noticed is that I sometimes die to input lag, where I know I have hit a key and it doesn’t respond. I have no shortage of oomph to play this game, and it definitely only happens when things are utterly bonkers onscreen. It’s possible that I could fix this by turning something down in the graphics settings, but there certainly isn’t a framerate problem…
Thanks for the guide, not even for the exact build itself but rather the detailed explanations of the various damages that make tinkering with the skill tree so much more potent.
Still love pets, always have and always will, and your build is just so well-written – thanks! It’s more than a guide, it’s a tome of knowledge, hat’s off.
I’m still leveling and hence lack all of the gear (first char, still no blueprint for a master spellblade), but crushing elite with the crap I’ve found. May I ask:
- I’ve equipped burning weapons, electric weapons (enchanted flint, hell’S bane ammo), and the aura from a Deathchill I just got (was using that crab relic) – those three add flat damage, and that should be good, right? I mean, those are decent components to use, and a decent relic until I get better, right? “Flat damage is best damage”?
- How do you use consumables? I mean I really don’t need them now, but I bet I will if I were to try über-bosses or gladiator. I mean besides potions, things such as a beast tincture or a defensive elixir. I seem to never have time to use them, I would have to open my inventory and click them in the heat of battle, since all my hotkeys are fully assigned, also alternative hotkey bar. Conceivably I could make room by starting a playsession, turning on my 7 buffs, and then re-assigning those to consumables, but that’s mighty unpleasant, especially since I dont have much time to play. Any tips?
- I seem to be getting quite a lot of useful flat damage from will of the crypt at higher levels, easily comparable with flat bonuses from other sources, so if skeletons are still my main damage source (I only have 13 pets at the moment), can I take your assessment in your guide “Abilities” with a grain of salt?
- The blueprint I can see for the Stormbringer of Malmouth looks much different from your listed in GT: only 80% of Vitality converted. Has my patch been somehow screwed?
- Until I can find a Primal Instinct, do you think Impurity is decent? I just got its blueprint, and had been using Deathchill before. While Deathchill surely has much tastier flat damage aura bonuses, I’m able to support another skeleton by equipping the +1 skills from Impurity.
thank you!
if skellies are meant to die all the time - why the eternity of cooldown on them? 3 by 3 by 3 by 3, from an arpg standpoint, that’s eternity to summon group of guys that get wiped by one or two AOEs from a stronger mob. I mean, one has to play to level 100, you can’t just think of your main dps source as disposable in a boss fight…
And mad queen, she’s easy. Do the BoC boss in 5 seconds and not have your army die… 
so where is the grimtool link for latest patch best version of this? Can’t read all of them its like encyclopedia :rolleyes:
I used to play your Dracarris build and that was fun, but this is on a different level.
This. build. is. awesome!
I am rolling right now, even took out Mad Queen in Veteran, something I had only been able to do once.
I can help - a little. As for hotkeys, yes all 20 hotkeys are locked down and like you I simply have no room for emergency consumables, the most important of which is ‘Tincture of the Beast’ for this kind of build. When you know you are walking into a serious situation, opening your inventory and gulping back low grade but long term (ie: 450 second health regen boost) is feasible. Otherwise, if you go through this thread from the beginning you will see that some people get around it by mixing common buffs/pets as part of a mouse wheel up/down, so that randomly spinning it around can take care of several low spirit spells that aren’t target critical.
Another way to go is to turn to 3rd party solutions that allow for macros to be programmed so one key blows multiple spells. The use of such is fairly easy, and several macros are in the thread for such a purpose. A warning though, these apps can trigger anti-cheating code in several big titles out there, so you need to be extremely careful using it or you risk having your account perma-banned in a game like Destiny 2 as a perfect example.
Personally, I live without the emergency potions and rely on keeping an escape avenue open at all times. Of course, this doesn’t help when a door locks behind you in a boss situation - and in these cases it is critical to master the art of ‘strategic kiting’, aka running your ass off. Luckily most boss situation allow for a circular jogging pattern to keep your distance from bosses, in these situations it is critical to make sure your summons stay up and that you are distracting the aggro of the boss into your pets and debuffs at every opportunity. This is NOT easy when you are running nonstop, but I haven’t been forced to change up my key bindings yet.
As for your other question, the answer to anything related to blueprints is that they are random drops %99 of the time, with a few key exceptions where late game faction vendors or ‘hidden vendors’ have a chance to hold something you are looking for. This will never apply to relics, mind you. Obviously the bigger the boss, the better the chance of a blueprint drop. The Arkovian Undercity is a good place to farm, as is any place where you have to use a Skeleton Key to enter an area. There are a few blueprints that seem to have a non random drop location, it is always worth a quick peruse of Google for a particular item. Of course, there is always the option to trade someone for the item you need, but otherwise as a general rule of thumb you just need to wait for the random drop.
At what point should I turn the blight fiend into a walking bomb instead of a permanent minion?
Also, does a Plaguebearer’s Master’s Spellblade even exist anymore? Been trying to spawn it for awhile, have like 45ish tries, and haven’t seen one yet.
Or is there an alternative? i dont have the blueprint and i just got lvl 90.
Thank you for creating this build! I’m having a lot of fun with this build. Pet builds are really hard to manage in Cruci, but this build can.
It is sad though that some people like pet builds for their laziness, but summoners are more like casters recently in Grim Dawn. The dev should create a passive skill to keep the pets “immune to all attacks for X seconds after summoned” for future updates to completely distinguish summoners from casters.
After 65+ attempts and no plaguebearer’s, I became curious.
I went into GD Trained Hard and turned on the option for infinite materials.
Over 500 crafts later, not a single plaguebearer’s master’s spellblade. I think something is up, DaShiv.
Link to the 1.4.0+ build? Sorry if I’m incapable of reading a wall of text to find the link hidden somewhere. I appreciate the amount of detail and effort that TC is doing to showcase his build, and I’m sure that’s useful to a lot of people, but what would be most useful to me is a link to the 1.4.0+ build.
I believe the OP is perfectly viable in 1.4.0, I am currently level 75 and in ultimate and things are going fine, even without the weapon he recommends.