[1.0.5.1] Abomasnow Hail Warlock - Cause we don't have enough Arcani.. I mean Warlocks for Crucible

Grim Dawn Classes, Skills and Builds
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Abomasnow Hail Warlock - Cold Devastation/TSS Warlock

I’ve always wanted to build around the old Diviner set when the offhand still gave you Cold Devastation but the set was shit. Now the set is decent but was changed to a vit-aether set instead of cold-aether. Still I had daydreams of snow even though I never knew what snow feels like cause I grew up on a tropical country. This past few days I decided to make a snowman cause I was tired of EV training an Aerodactyl and I came up with this.

So this is basically just a devastation build with cold instead of fire and I put TSS in as secondary skill cause Warlock really has no other choice.

Also why Warlock? Well because (1) it’s (imo) underloved, it’s not that the class is so bad but Aetherlock is basically a discount Spellbinder with Doom Bolt instead of RR and Chaoslock lacks RR for some reason. (2) It’s got better QoL than Druid cause of CoF and has easier skill distribution than Mage hunter cause I’m not forced to take Censure and give up Star Pact, and (3) There’s no good heavy armor option for cold so Aspect of the Guardian’s Physical resist helps a lot with armor issues.

I could complete 151-170 with this on about 15-18 mins (4 buffs 1 banner). I know it’s not the strongest but it’s viable and unique for my tastes so I like it. The biggest problem for this build is 170 Kuba + Grava/Reaper. Kuba’s kinda hard to kill if you can’t focus on him cause he’s got 94% base cold resist and this build doesn’t have dots aside from Frozen Core, so he’ll be healing the heavy hitters for longer than most other builds. It’s not a problem with 160 because 2 other nemeses won’t be enough to stall you that long but 170 is another story. There’s a chance you lose multi at 170 with Kupa/Grava combo on small arenas.

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The build: Grimtools


Char sheet with all buffs

Gear, Skills and Devotions

My goal when I theorycrafted this was to have 26/16 Devastation with the lowest cooldown possible, so Terrnox Aether Tome and Annie Helm are core for me. Amulet is obvious for the conversion. I opted for the Eastern Set instead of Trozan cause I can’t use the hat for the full set proc. Of course you can remove Annie Helm and go full Trozan instead but I didn’t want that.

Cold affixes for the offhand is basically necessary cause it’s not a cold weapon. Also, Spellbinder affix for the medal is also needed if you want 26/16 Devastation. Rings are chosen to help with the Kuba problem I stated above but If you wanna be tankier then Judic rings or Stalwart can do.

For skills, Devastation maxed, whole TSS line maxed cause I can. CoF maxed for easier RR spread, the trash slow is also a nice bonus. The rest are standard CDR protocol.

For crucible, Hourglass is a must. But you can go Leviathan or Ultos for campaign. You’re usually tanky enough not to need a second mirror for campaign.

Closing

I’m happy with this build and even though it’s not really that polished yet, I don’t have a lot of time to improve this cause Pokemon is life.

Thanks for taking the time to read! Also, leave your favorite Pokemon if you comment, just because you can. Not forcing you guys anyway.

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I’ll start with Jirachi.

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Nice. I forgot that mod existed on the medal.

Too bad Ascendant hood can’t Equal Outcast’s Secret. If it at least had + 3 to devastation the CDR is manageable. You would then have more cold.

Anywat congrats. I like the idea of elemental devastation. Would be really cool if it changed colour

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Yeah. Ascendant Hood not having at least +2 to Devastation is a big turnoff. It would force you to use another aether item for devastation which would hurt this a lot.

The color change is something I wished since long ago. Imagine thousands of big TSS rocks dropping to the ground.

Thanks!

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Interesting take on the concept. I did this with a Breaker (more focus on PB instead of TSS).
Is CoF’s RR having more QoL why you didn’t go with Breaker cause Phanatsmal Blades’ “Insta Heal” is kinda handy

Also kinda odd to see Outcast’s Secret here, how is treating you? I assume you went for the mod and not for the granted skill

EDIT:

Okay now I know why you didn’t go for Ascendant Helm

EDIT:

Are you referring to Go? I haven’t played it since the first 2 months or so. My answer is Mewtwo or Ho-Oh

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Forgot about breaker in the OP. Didn’t go breaker cause it’s more buttons and I lose a very reliable murmur activator in CoF. Also physical res in aspect is so good for low armor builds. Breaker is better for people who can handle the buttons cause BB+Mirror.

And anything pokemon really. I don’t play Go anymore cause I rooted my phone and it’s a nuisance making it work on rooted phones. I play leafgreen atm.

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Yeah I got used to button mashing a little if not a lot.

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cool build. ( no pun intended)
any chance of a gameplay video, one day?

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If I ever get a better rig (which could take a few months) and I’m still playing the build then yes. But for now I can’t. My laptop can’t handle it, sorry.

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Nice build. Good to see more Warlock builds as well.

That topic title made me chuckle too :p. Between the yeti, the diamond dino, the ice cream-cicle and the snow fox, I’ll take the yeti.

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That bonus elemental dmg and + 3 to EB are kinda stupid, MI head armors are the only ones had forgotten, noone uses them.:undecided:

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Thank you! Yeti best icemon.

Outcast’s Secret is an MI :p. It’s true that the green ones are mostly useless though. The mods on Ascendant hood are so good but the skil bonus is just out of place. If helms had class affixes like medals do it (and some others) might’ve been strong.

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Wow, a Warlock beating Crucible. Good job and unconventional approach.

Thanks, Aboma.

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Thanks! I think Warlock just needed more love. In an ideal world though Spellbreaker is always better, as I discussed with Chthon. But some of us filthy mortals just can’t press so much buttons. :stuck_out_tongue:

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Why is Warlock considered underdog? Clairvoyant DB /DEvastation Warlocks are THE CDR casters of this game.

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I just feel like it’s a discount version of spellbinder. But with doom bolt instead of RR.

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but…up to 4x-5x DB:o

And imho spellbinder needs to stop being shown as reference point. The mirror/Torment TD thing allows for pretty much anything to work. The spellbinder is in it’s own class because of this and not a particularly fair comparison to any other build in the game. Even sorc

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Uhh, not quite. I am not even talking Clairvoyant warlock, the double nuker concept has more varied itemization now. Even w/o Clairvoyant Set you deal insane amounts of damage.
The lack of RR hurts a little but not much

Call me old fashioned but I prefer Blast Shield over MoT.

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It’s not just Mark/Mirror though. Spectral wrath coupled with easy conversions on Magelord rings/decree/violent decay belt and spellbinder has everything going for it with pure aether devastations and CT, something warlock can’t totally afford cause you wanna go either clairvoyant or AD rings to support Doom Bolt conversion. Maybe I’m just too big into RR and I admit I haven’t explored it so much so maybe I’m exaggerating here.

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Yes, SB is the spoiled child of GD:)

Eh. Codex of eternal lies kinda makes up for the rr thing. The only problem is that you need Haunt instead of eternity. Or you can use corruption component.

I say “or” because it becomes too cast intensive.

JoV and Drizzto had great success with clairvoyant warlock pre AoM, could be worth an update