[1.0.6.1] Lazy Traplord: Runebinder Vindicator that refuses to kite (150-170 4buffs/no banners 9min

Grim Dawn Classes, Skills and Builds
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Foreword

I will try to make this guide as short as possible. I wanted a rune build except I don’t really like runes and the rune builds playstyle. And my auto-attacking Vindicator was getting really old. So I decided to build a rune character out of it. After a lot of trial and error I made a build that I was happy with: minimum skill and kiting requirement and a lot of destruction and carnage.

Build Concept

Exploiting best mastery and best Crucible clearing spells to the max

Inquisitor is currently miles ahead of any other class. With Inquisitor you can make anything work. So this build takes all of the best skills Inquisitor offers and then some more. Result is obviously a huge success.

Minimized kiting and stress-free piloting

Something that I require of my own builds is durability and relative ease in piloting. Shaman mastery is not the best support class for a sturdy rune caster, but this build makes it work. With a little bit of proper positioning we rarely have to kite.

Very fast Crucible clears

Yep. That’s what you get with a polished rune build. -140% to Elemental Resist + 25% reduction from Hand of Ultos + 23% cold resist reduction from Murmur. Stuff melts.

1.0.7.1 Update. I hate that it had to come down to this, but I had to seriously patch up build’s defenses since in 1.0.7.1 build was always dying to Reapers on waves 160 and 170. So quite a bit of offensive had to go. Build still shreds though, recorded new video, ~7:40, 6:40 and 7:30 clear times, meaning it can easily do sub-7 minutes consistently on a good computer.

The Build

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Gear

Core of the build is Runebinder set. Set is ridiculously strong for any rune based build. 19% CDR weapon and 5th set bonus are pretty insane as well. All other items are obvious choices (boot slot is flexible, you just need a green boot with a lot of resist in it), glove choice is somewhat unorthodox. I chose them over Chilling Grip for their stats: the offer massive hp/oa plus a crafting bonus and a decent proc. With Chilling Grip getting OA to an adequate level is a problem.

Skills and Devotions

Here is where it took a lot of trial and error. Turned out, key to minimal kiting was 12/12 Wendigo Totem, it allows you to stand in Inquisitor Seal versus any Nemesis one on one and with good positioning you can stand against 2 or even 3 Nemeses at the same time. Bat devotion is also key to our survival. Crab helps quite a bit as well. Everything is built so you can survive without moving much while runes tear everything apart.

Leveling and Attribute Points distribution

You can level as Shaman abusing maxed out Devouring Swarm untill level 20. After that you can switch to transmuted Primal Strike, it can take you as far as level 50. After that you can equip dual Deviltongues and play as Savagery + inquisitor WPS auto-attacker pretty much untill level 94 (you can switch to two-handed ranged weapon if you like).

All atribute points go into physique except few that go into cunning since we need it to equip our weapon.

The Showdown

How to Play

It’s a Crucible oriented build, and although it will tear anything in Main Campaign apart, Crucible is where it really shines. Our playstyle is basically rune spam and seals spam and Wind Devils spam, all while standing inside of a hardcapped Inquisitor Seal with Wendigo Totem deployed. Well, that is basically it. You shoot stuff with Runic bolts occassionaly just to get that +180% elemental damage buff. Try to position yourself at the gates where AOE nemeses gonna spawn and finish them first. Most annoying combo is Iron Maiden + Reaper. Sometimes you have to kite unfortunately, but with some Crucible skill you won’t have to.

Stats

With all permanent buffs:

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With Deadly Aim and Inspiration up:
2AQyX4p.jpg937×1136

Builds Pros and Cons

Pros:

  • massive single-target and aoe damage
  • Rune of Hagarad and hard capped Inquisitor Seal
  • tanky with minimum piloting skill requirement

Cons:

  • Runes are tedious and boring
  • Sometimes you have to kite

Videos:
1.0.7.1 new spec 150-170 3x run with 3 blessings and 1 banner NEW!!!

Half-leveled devotions 3 buffs/no banners 11 minute run

4 buffs/no banners 9 minutes run (fully leveled devotions)

In conclusion

I think it’s high time for runes to be nerfed.

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Round of Imaginary Q&A

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nice build! however your poison/acid res is undercapped, so especially some ground effects may become a hazard(?)

the gloves may be unorthodox but they fit really well, runic bolts is also a great choice, giving you the effect of savagery without point investment

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As you can see in screenshots it is capped. And in no way ground effects are a hazard to this build. If you didn’t manage to soft-cap it with items, you can swap one of the 3% health armor augment with poison resist one.

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Surely not Kalastor…

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You should try going anderos amplifier + obsidian bulwark AKA fuck RR yes to Kalastor setup :p. I use it on my deceiver and it rocks.

Kudos to the very sturdy build tho. I see you’re now a fan of bat on you new builds :stuck_out_tongue: I’m sad cause there’s no seeker.

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Kalastor is op as hell, not as op as Hagarad though.

Nah, weapon from Runebinder is too good + 5th set bonus is just godly. I found Bat to be extremely good for casters/kiters, especially for someone who doesn’t pilot perfectly.

Also, I would love to get Seeker one day, but devotion route to it is just ridiculous.

8

Nice Runemaster, well done!
Did you consider taking Alkamos rings instead of current? Converting unused pierce into useful cold might result in better clear times even if you sacrifice 4% total damage mod from Artifact Handling.

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you don’t loose 4% total damage, you loose 116/120 = 0.96666 -> 3.3% loss (that is, dropping AH from 20/10 to 16/10)

Converting 15% of the pierce damage from RoH will modify total damage by a lot more to safely compensate for the loss. There must another reason for why not using Alkamos here. (also you would get some additional ranged damage by converting that pierce from Ranged expertice and arcane empowerment)

I would like to know this, because I am considering Alkamos for my vindicator which will look very similar to this one :stuck_out_tongue: (I only have one of alkamos rings atm so perpahs not that much of an issue)

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I haven’t tbh. However it might not outweigh loss of damage from lower Artifact Handling as well as loss of 200% to Fire Damage and a loss of never ending proc that actually does quite a bit of damage too.

And honestly, I am too lazy to test it, I really detest runes playstyle, it’s the least exciting/engaging version of Grim Dawn I have ever played.

I am also really hoping that Spanksalot records a decent run with fully leveled devotions that will reflect build’s true strength.

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Can I expect this build in compendium? :slight_smile: And others too

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I keep forgetting. I will try, but can’t promise anything :slight_smile:

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No problem mate!

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Imo, weapon isn’t really good unless you utilize Runic bolts damage often, which means a hybrid build like what Shopping did or a pure ranged build like the one I have. 5 pc bonus is soo good, tho. The only reason to use the weapon on pure rune builds imo.

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This nicely highlights the best of Inquisitor. All that is needed for more “lazy” is a movement skill to hop from group to group…and there should be some in FG.

I see you could have completed chariot instead of bat. I’ve not been overly impressed with bat’s leech due to its vector, but you don’t really need the heal or the DA. And looks like you can camp in the middle of it all, so seems reasonable.

Nice to see some variety in devotions. +!

I think it’s high time for runes to be nerfed.

Likely more than that: 1/2 OA boost, 1/2 %DR, 1/2 flat DR, 1/2 %resistances, and a few other nerfs to bursting, etc. I am surprised they actually made the auras exclusive, tbh…

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What’s no good about it? It gives masive elemental damage bonus (340 on mine), 19% maximum CDR and completes 5th set bonus which is better than any Crescent Moon proc (or really ANY resist reduction proc in-game) by a country mile. Runic Bolts can be built around, I agree, and it would be a seperate build (I have a build for them that my friend is leveling at the moment, might make a guide too if it turns out to be as sick as it looks on paper).

In my case I use Runic Bolts for +180% to elemental damage.

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Because all of those, aside from the 5 pc bonus which I mentioned as the only real reason you use the bow, can be obtained by getting 1h + offhand/shield. Maybe it’s just my bias towards skill mods but the bow is nothing special wthout the 5 pc bonus.

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Good stuff :slight_smile:
Inquisitor is truly the best mastery in the game atm.

I think Ptiro mentioned in the “reasonably powerful builds” thread that he cleaned 150-170 in 6 minutes with this version https://www.grimtools.com/calc/4NOKkJKN

I am using this version https://www.grimtools.com/calc/YVWKPYdV and works like a charm (cleaned 170 with it on my first try, which means the Rune is truly OP considering my horrible piloting skills) xD

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Just a bit of trivia about Rune Vindicators:

The following skills:

  • Both Runes
  • Wendigo Totem
  • Wind Devil
  • Elemental Storm

…cannot proc Deadly Aim or any on-attack item or mastery procs for that matter because they are all considered player pets. Something to keep in mind especially when leveling.

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Infiltrators are a bit stronger, when it comes to rune builds.

Jesus, has Crate gone mad, Inquisitor mastery is literally unplayable, needs a buff!

JK, although really useful trivia and I just checked it, you are absolutely correct.

Another annoying thing is that ring proc is also not procced by ANY of those things.

I wish I knew that before doing rune build. Thank god Censure procs stuff like crazy.