[1.0.3.2.] Dreeg's Sniper - 2h rifle WH 60k/blade build - Gladiator Solo, All Nemeses and...Ravager

Grim Dawn Classes, Skills and Builds
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[i] Hello there, cultists of Dreeg ! We all know that 2h rifle builds have a notorious reputation of being very bad and, IMO, that is not necessarily too far removed from the truth. From the high deflection chance every important boss in the game has, to the lack of mobility, absence of real nukes and AoE fumble effects mobs throw at you, 2h rifle characters are almost at the bottom of the barrel when it comes to GD builds. We also know that WH is generally considered a very “squishy” class, capable of dishing high damage, but being, otherwise, made of paper. This build, like Superfluff’s 2h Inquisitor, proves you, however, that 2h rifle builds can reliably farm all nemeses and finish Gladiator Crucible, though nobody should expect tier 0 clear times or 5 min Ravager videos out of them.

Baring this in mind, I advise you to see this build as what it is, viz. a very balanced , solo gladiator capable rifle build that can dish considerable amounts of damage (especially vs human enemies such as Iron Maiden & Fabius) while maintaining a high level of survivability and resistance to CC effects. Like the Chaos AAR Warlock I made in 1.0.0.5. to prove that you CAN finish Gladiator with AAR while keeping your Death Count to zero, this build is meant to show exactly the same: you can make a relatively strong “tanky” WH rifleman that can finish Gladiator and…Ravager (if you have the patience, ofc), even with minimum greens. This build, ofc, is nowhere near the top of what I have so don’t flame me for it being bad…I know it is. [/i]

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[u]Grim Tools:http://www.grimtools.com/calc/O2GlyAXV[/u]


OBS: The OA/DA values, as well as stun resistance, might vary due to the rolls on the items, as well as the bonuses provided by the smiths. Every craftable piece, for example, is made at Kaylon, having thus either resistance to stun or freeze. This is very important, because you can stack around 15 stun resistance just from crafting. Also, bare in mind that effective DA is higher because you also debuff OA through different sources. Otherwise, 2.8k is trash !

Pros & Cons:
Pros:
Balanced build.In terms of single-target damage, AoE, survivability and mobility, I would give this build 4/5*. CC, however, is comfortably siting at 5* as even your biggest enemies will end up frozen, confused or slowed to a high degree.
Safe build. Half DoT/Half Burst build while allowing you to keep a distance…
Very strong vs humans and ch’thonics. Bonuses from the Nightblade mastery will make fights vs Fabius & Iron Maiden borderline trivial. Silvercore (which you SHOULD have on swap) will allow you to reach 600k+ shotguns in the rifts.
Minimal usage of double rolled greens.
Doesn’t struggle with any enemy type. PB has 6 damage types (counting WD component) and all of them can be reliably debuffed and amplified.
Not OP.The build is immune to the strongest enemy of them all: Mr. Zantai. Due to how weak ranged builds and CD P-Blades are, on one hand and how widespread deflect chance is among the bosses and nemeses, on the other, this build would probably not receive nerfs. There is absolutely nothing in this build that abuses an OP item, ability or mechanic. In fact, there is almost 0 support for CD P-Blades. IF, in any case, something will be nerfed I will craft you a Venomlance myself and send it to you.

Cons:
In order to reach massive dps you have to facetank.
Does not allow you to be reckless.Yes, even a moderately bad player can finish Gladiator Crucible with it, but this is not a S&B DK or WB build. You can’t facetank Iron Maiden + 2xFabius at the same time. You will have to kite.
No real gear support.Gear will either support DEE or transmuted P-Blades, not CDR P-Blades. All skill modifiers for that are trash.
RNG factor.There will be times where you mop the floor with Fabius in 12s and others where you will need 15-20. Sure, you can facetank with no problem, but due to how high deflect chance is compared with dodge chance, you should expect 20-30% dps fluctuations.

Devotion Binding:
Bloody Pox -> Twin Fangs. OBS:This will give you enormous sustain, especially in crowded places such as Malmouth or the Crucible.
Niddalla’s Final Strike -> Rumor.
Phantasmal Blades -> Acid Spray. OBS: This might not seem rational in terms of AoE, but you want to make sure the bosses are debuffed. Of course, for more AOE you can put Acid Spray on CoF, but that will make your dps more RNG-dependent vs bosses.
DEE -> Tainted Eruption. OBS: Roughly the same cooldown with CDR, therefore a guaranteed proc every time you throw the poison grenades.
Blood of Dreeg -> Giant’s Blood. OBS: This is in place in order to ensure that your character still benefits from the heal and HP regeneration even when he is against bosses that nullify auras.

Devotion Progression:
Green Crossroads -> Hawk -> Bat -> Blue Crossroads -> Sailor’s Guide -> Kraken (complete clockwise) -> Behemoth (just the 3 stars, ofc) -> Manticore -> Murmur -> Eel -> Solemn Watcher -> Substract Eel + Blue and Green Crossroads -> Rat -> Spider -> Ulzuin’s Torch (first 3 stars) -> Abomination.

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Gameplay/Explanation:

Why does it work ?
1. Resistance Reduction:. WH’s have one of the highest intrinsic RR in the game when it comes to acid/poison and (surprisingly) cold. With Manticore and Murmur and not counting “%RR”, you will decrease the mob’s resistances by 111. That’s huge…

2. Broad Damage Spectrum:. PBlades is 2/3 spirit damage and 1/3 cunning. Because you can reliably decrease all damage types through RR and the high cunning bonus of the Nightblade mastery you will not encounter any region in the game in which you will struggle. Sure, you might notice a decrease in DPS in Gloomwald/Ugdenbloom and a high increase when you are visiting the rifts or killing human enemies BUT, as a whole, the broad damage spectrum of PBlades goes in your favor, not against you.

3. ADctH: Because P-Blades have an intrinisic ADctH to them and shotguns can reach 420k vs humans and north of 600k vs Ch’thonics (with Silverbolt), you could probably get to full health when (and if) MoD activates. This is basically another life insurance besides Divine Intervention which actually proced only once in 5 days of playtime for me, more specifically in the Ravager fight.

4. High DA and dodge: Because you can decrease the mob’s OA through murmur (guaranteed proc with Niddalla), Bloody Pox and Veil of Shadow, your effective DA is somewhere around 3100+. Add to that a 50% chance to dodge (fumble + inherent) and you can bet there will be runs where bosses such as Fabius will not even damage you before you make him a pile of bones.

The Gameplay: There’s really not much to say about this aspect, except that playing this char is like dancing ballet. Most mobs (even the big ones) will either get confused or frozen while you navigate through their ranks gracefully, shooting piercing blades left and right that leave gaping wounds blistering with venom in their wake.

Generally, gameplay revolves around poison cycles, as follows:
STEP 1: ABB triggers lethal assault and charges the cold + acid values on all of your %WD skills.
STEP 2: Niddalla shotgun debuffs on an AoE.
STEP 3: RoS applies a fumble effect through Circle of Slaughter.
STEP 4: DEE decreases Physical damage while applying a DoT (and, ofc, triggers the Abomination proc)
STEP 5: P-Blades shotgun.
STEP 6: Repeat.
OBS: The build is perfectly capable of “face-tanking” around 85-90% of the game’s bosses but I designed it in such a way that you are not forced to if you don’t want. As such, you can put 80k-100k DoTs (even more with some gear changes) from a distance so your dps does not plummet if you don’t want to facetank. In fact, you SHOULDN’T even think about face-tanking some bosses (e.g. the Ravager, MQ during her “periods”, etc.).

[b] Challenges: [/b]

[u] Nemeses: [/u] All nemeses can be killed in reasonable time in a very safe manner. Once you get BoD you can even facetank for a marginal 3-4s increase in your kill time. Fabius and Iron Maiden go down the fastest because you stack a lot of +%damage to humans. Due to high dodge, overcapped lightning resistance and flat absorption shields, Valdaran also goes down pretty fast.

[u] Gladiator Crucible: [/u] As much as I wanted I could not maintain the maximum bonus without any DMG buff. As you can see from the picture I generally run it with only Empyrion’s Guidance. Maybe with Ulzuin + Amatok you could maintain in always at 10x but the biggest problem is running around the map (especially Crucible of the Sands) with no mobility skills. Still, you might want to have a melee weapon with a riftstone on you swap instead of the Silverbolt. This helps you a lot to avoid overcrowding. Nonetheless, the point is to maintain Death Count stable at zero and up until now I survived a lot of shit (e.g. 2xValdaran + Zantarin, 2xFabius + Maiden).

[u] Special Bosses: [/u]

  1. The Mad Queen fight is very one-dimensional and boring. There is absolutely no way she could kill you even if you don’t pay attention to her “periods” and shotgun her from point-blank (*You have MoD after all). However, I advise you to avoid shotgunning MQ when she has her aura on. Unfortunately, MQ benefits not only from a 19% deflect chance which is completely absurd for a 15ft giant earwig, but also an ability that adds a supplementary %chance to avoid projectiles. This means that MQ kill times will never reach 10-15s levels. Nonetheless, the boss is entirely trivial for a ranged build, more so a DoT ranged build.

  2. The Ravager. Make a “punching bag” retaliation tank character and memorize his move set. This is another one-dimensional and boring fight. All you have to do is find a sufficiently large object (e.g. tree, altar) you can run around while throwing DEE and other poison skills at the Ravager. You should also respec such that you have ULO in order to cleanse his DoTs. Relic should also be replaced with Dreeg’s Affliction while amulet should be the Dreeg’s set one. You should also use a combination of Quillthrower and Venomlance in order to maximize dps.
    Be prepared for a very long and boring fight. There is nothing to say here – it tests your patience !!!

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Video section:
*Will be added soon when I have the time. Don’t worry, I promise I will (at least for 140-150 Gladiator).
Gladiator Solo (130-150) with no banners: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ak4yf4mXU0

P.S.:

  1. Have fun, until ranged builds (especially 2h rifle) will fall even lower in 1.0.4.0. with 30 extra crucible waves. :slight_smile:
  2. 60k/blade is global average. Vs Humans and Ch’thonics (with Silverbolt) you will reach 100k.
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Nice build =)
I see ppl start to discover untransmuted PB strength =)

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Like…quad shotgun Infiltrator build ? Yeah, I have that as well as CDR Spellbreaker (which is massively strong). Won’t post any more guides though.

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Nice build and the way you pin down context is always good to read.

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Thanks for this build. It is very different from other builds I play and I will enjoy having it in my stable.

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Is it possible to play with this build as a dual wield melee?

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Dude just buy some illusions already, that shoulder piece doesn’t fit with any kind of outfit, Jesus.

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No, sir, absolutely NOT ! You can’t adapt anything from gear to devotion to a dw setup here.

IF you want to play a dw melee Witch Hunter, check Jajaja’s wonderful “melee series” which happens to include what you want. There you go:
http://www.grimdawn.com/forums/showthread.php?t=63379

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I’ll wait for the “hentai” shoulderpads in 1.0.4.0. :smiley:

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You really hate that Venomancer head don’t you:D. I think that even if youi are more dps focused than Dot like mine that helm is still and interesting choice

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I hate how it makes you look - I admit it, but I took the Harbinger helm because it is one of the few items in game (the other being Valdun’s hat) that actually gives you some considerable bonuses for being a ranged build (+4% DA, for example, is basically a Ravager’s Eye/Topaz and 10% CD reduction is half a tome). I find these bonuses considerable for 2h builds that have the inherent downside of not being able to use 2 components.

Take it more as a “challenge” build that fills a gap. WH is massively unpopular now as a class and ranged builds are not far off in terms of popularity. CDR P-blades were also not used since the Time Dilation period (1.0.0.4.) and they haven’t received item support in AoM either.

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Well yes the headpiece is good only for DPS focused WH i.e if you want to focus on ABB like I do on Breaker and Infiltrator then that head is very useful. For this build though the defensive bonuses from Harbinger head are too good to give up

And AoD it’s a good build but don’t take it the wrong way, your build could use a trip to the illusionist :stuck_out_tongue:

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You hate illusionist as well then? I’m a bit of a purist myself but when I see overly large spiky boots on a lady or smth I gotta use it.

@Chthon. i focus on DoTs so more %weapon dmg more DoT

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Or when you’re running around with giant dildo

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The only character I used illusions on was an Infiltrator because…it fits, you know. :smiley:

Cairn was devastated by the grim-dark equivalent of a nuclear war, it is expected of you to look like shit. Nonetheless, I will use some illusions at least for the chest and shoulder piece - I admit they don’t look good on anything. The Vestments of the Great Guardian are borderline pink after all :rolleyes:

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So some thoughts from looking at the build.

Is this venomlance just a stat stick in this build or do you actually shoot with it? If it is a stat stick why not go with mythical quillthrower? It seems like it would give you a substantial damage boost and you get eye of the guardian that has the chance to proc off of all the AoE and shotgun damage you have.

If you’ve already got an expensive shotgun ability and you aren’t doing much in the way of cold damage would malediction relic not be the better option for the acid/poison boost? You’d lose the attack speed bonus but you don’t seem to have any attacks that really rely on attack speed.

Would tainted eruption not be better served on curse of frailty? Also do you need manticore when you already have so much resist reduction?

The build is great I just wonder if there are ways to tweak it for maximum damage output.

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  1. Venomlance is not a stat stick. It is there primarily because it provides +2 Nightblade, which allows me to reach 24/26 P-Blades in order to have 6 blades. This is very important, because an extra blade can mean anything from 20k to 80k dmg, depending on your enemy and the amount of RR you put on the target.

The Quillthrower is more of an ABB/DoT weapon. Sure, you can make a P-Blades build around the Quillthrower also, but you must somehow find a way to supplement the +2 Nightblade you lose that way. Quickdraw gloves are a possibility, but you’ll lose OA that way…

Another merit the Venomlance has is that it represents a craftable weapon. The most ‘costly’ ingredient in the recipe is the Blight relic, so you can craft 2x-3x without farming like mad for some rare ingredients (READ: Ugdenblooms :rolleyes: ). Whether you craft it at Angrim or Kaylon, the bonuses can be very nice.

  1. Malediction would, indeed, result in higher burst potential because it compliments the primary damage type. This is exactly the relic I used from lvl. 60 to lvl 90. The reason we take Niddalla’s Outbreak, however, has to do with defenses… not only does it offer +1 Nightblade, but it also gives you Aether resistance. Aether overcap does more for you in Malmouth and the Crucible (Anasteria) than a small increase in DPS. Also, the Niddalla shotgun can reach 10k/blade. As such, out in the open, that could mean 100k without deflection roughly every 2.8s.

3) Tainted Eruption on CoF would work only in crowded places. Even though the solution would result in a “lazier” build, you might want to control when the Tainted Eruption procs because the last thing you need is to CoF a group from a distance and put 0 DoTs on anyone. Remember that TE is centred on your character, not the point of the trigger. With the CDR you have, DEE and TE cooldown coincide. It will proc reliably vs single targets as well as crowds and, most importantly, when you want.

4) Manticore is great for this build because you also benefit from all bonuses. More RR is always better, especially now when the amount of “diseased” and poison resistant enemies has increased (check Malmouth, for example).

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Ah, thank you for the reply. Appreciate the insight and the explanation. Really like the build. Maybe if I ever get the venomlance and things I will try this build.

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All these discussions on the forums about finishing Gladiator solo reminded me that I have to upload some videos, so I did. You can find a 130-150 run on the first page with no banners and potions.

I previously did a 100-150 run with 2 x Iron Maiden and Valdaran finished at over 9.000.000 and 10x before so that’s why you see the green items on the ground at the end of the video. Unfortunately, I forgot to record the whole thing but you can trust me it was quite scary. I ran back 130-150 to record this. So there you go…a ranged WH finishing Gladiator solo quite reliably with 0 deaths after more than 40 runs. Double Moosi + Zantarin f****d up my 10x score but the risk of freeze + shotgun was too great. No record breaking time, ofc, but I don’t play careless because I will ultimately try this build in HC after I can determine if it can survive a statistical significant number of crucible runs.

P.S.
1): I am sorry for the video quality. Unfortunately, I am not in the video making business nor do I like playing at less than 60 fps.
2): No, I don’t care about the build compendium so probably I will never post it there.
3): I am sorry for the delay, but, you know…I’m just a casual player :frowning: