[1.0.6.1] Savagery Vindicator - 85% WPS chance, 460k crits unbuffed/unbannered

Grim Dawn Classes, Skills and Builds
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1

Shoutout to the boys.

GT link: https://www.grimtools.com/calc/xZyd7dnV
Edits to the link: 7/10 storm spread (mad_lee), Maelstrom (veretragna), Hell’s bane (most everyone :p)

YT link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5F08nJLwSII&feature=youtu.be

Disclaimer
I hate vindicators.

There. I said it.

The least versatile of all class combinations, the items available for vindicators force players to build them as shooters or as totem summoners.

I was originally planning on building a physical wind devil vindicator (and will probably do some test runs on it in the future), however, the 20% WD modifier on the evoker of egoloth piqued my curiosity.

I wondered what would happen if I paired that with bloodragers cowl for an additional 20% WD modifier.

The result is a build so broken that I’m ashamed I did 150-170 with 4 buffs and a vanguard banner. :rolleyes:

Able to consistently crit for 300-400k unbuffed/unbannered, this vindicator puts cadence to shame.

Hell. Its maximum damage of 890k is greater than that of my super polished spellbreaker’s. How this guy’s autoattacks can dish more damage than shadow strike I will never know.

Offense

  1. ~2.9k OA before buffs/procs
  2. +160% crit damage with hungering void
  3. With hell’s bane ammo: 70% physical --> lightning conversion with average rolls
  4. 175% Attack speed before buffs/procs
  5. -102 RR
  6. A huge, fuckoff amount of flat damage.
  7. Deadly aim = Roid Rage.

Defence

  1. ~3.2k DA
  2. ~2.2k armor, 100% absorption, 8% phys res
  3. 350 damage absorption from seal
  4. On demand heal
  5. Ghoul
  6. 17k hp
  7. 10% Damage reduction from stormtitans
  8. 13/10 Feral hunger

Devotions

  1. All crossroads except ascendant
  2. Quill, Hawk, 3 nodes into crown --> Bind to wind devil
  3. Eel, Widow --> Bind to Stormspread
  4. Kraken, Ghoul, Hydra
  5. Ultos (ignore chaos res node) --> Bind to Savagery
  6. Watchtower, Dying God --> Bind to Feral Hunger

Itemization
Is quite flexible, truth be told. For how incredibly OP this build is, it’s very very cheap to build.

Direwolf crest was chosen to get +2 savagery and OA.

Amulet is a flex slot. However, BiS amulet is the one used in the GT link. Other viable options include:

  • Empowered Essence of beronath (craftable)
  • Conduit of wild whispers - keep either: (i) Feral hunger modifier, (ii) Wind devil modifier
  • Peerless eye of beronath
  • Aetherbolt pendant (as suggested by Mrs. Veretragna, and tested by yours truly)
  • Conduit of runic whispers with lightning modifier to chilling rounds.

Pants…truth be told, I GDstashed what I believe to be a BiS pair just to see what this build can do if pimped out. But honestly, you don’t need them.

Feralmane, Arcane harmony, Legwraps of the Tranquil mind, Mageguard legguards, really great pants - are all…well. Really great pants.

Weapon component: Originally, this build featured seal of the void to get 100% WPS, but I’ve since swapped it out for hell’s bane. I’m still very much so undecided on this change. While hell’s bane DOES offer better DPS on paper, seal of the void offers more AoE which is something this build lacks.

Both are EXTREMELY competitive.

Just pick whatever fixes your resists.

Stormcaller’s pact vs. Aura of Censure
This was a difficult choice for me to make. I ultimately chose stormcaller’s for better physical --> Lightning conversion.

The fact that it scales better in ultimate levels is a nice bonus too.

Furthermore, the shaman’s mastery bar offers more physique and HP which I will happily take.

How would I personally level this spec?

Is there a need to do something about vindicators?
Thoughts? Questions? Comments? Criticism?

I welcome them all. :slight_smile:

2

Nice rework of Weyu’s one. Always glad to see your builds, man, keep it up)

3

Umm. You can do this, totem, runes, wind devil cataclysm, lightning dagallon. But I agree vindicator feels boring :stuck_out_tongue:

Hell. Its maximum damage of 890k is greater than that of my super polished spellbreaker’s. How this guy’s autoattacks can dish more damage than shadow strike I will never know.

Your feral hunger does 395% weapon damage. Plus deadly aim becoming a blood sigil proc and everything becomes paper.

Nice build. Tried this concept once and surprised I deal shit damage. Turns out I forgot to put arcane bomb lol.

Btw, can you do me a favor and change something in the title before Zantai reads this and makes this obsolete when FG comes? :slight_smile:

4

Nice build here, spanks!

To be correct, 507% weapon damage.
(165+40)120118% * 175% = 507%.

5

Yeah, forgot about savagery charges.

6

I have a Savagery Vindicator myself, although I use him strictly for campaign, couldn’t care enough to tune it for Crucible, Vindicators are too squishy for my taste.

My suggestions: bind Ultos to Savagery and Arcane Bomb to Storm Spread. Also, 26/16 Savager and 24/16 Savagery is the same thing basically.

7

I can’t change the title :eek:

Sorry x1x1x1x2!

To everyone else, thanks for the nice comments. But am I the only one here who feels that vindicators need some tweaking?

The fact that the bloodrager’s cowl is BiS for ALL savagery builds is kinda an issue don’t you think?

@mad_lee: 24/16 --> 26/16 has a difference of 5% WD, 23 flat lightning damage, and 12% lightning damage. Is that worth giving up the direwolf medal?

8

That’s freaking absurd. I’m basically constantly dishing out cadence level hits with 100% WPS chance. :rolleyes:

EDIT: My math is horribad. As an asian, I’m ashamed. :p. I’m doing what…~290% WD per hit before WPS.

@Korsar: I didn’t even know weyu did a evoker vindicator. I’m just glad I’m starting to build like the vets. :stuck_out_tongue:

9

I might try that Bloodrager’s Cowl now, lol, you’ve done it, Fluff has done it (on his warder), feels like it’s a big item for Savagery based builds. Although my Vindicator already melts stuff in seconds.

I’ve noticed one serious mistake in your grimtools, Storm Spread should be at 7/10 for that additional projectile

10

Shaman is a squishy mastery and they need to make up for it by their offense. I don’t think evoker or bloodrager’s helm need any nerf.

Heck, even the infamous malkadarr Korba is really hard to make it as consistent crucible build as it’s so very glassy.

BTW, great build. This is actually one of my next project, haven’t leveled a vindicator though, you beat me to punch…

Sent from my Redmi Note 3 using Tapatalk

11

Seems like it, but would be nice to see difference in dummy killtime between bloodrager’s cowl and Light’s Defender Helm.

Weyu, Ptirodaktill and some other guys around the forum) But we’re always glad to see new sigh.

12

Yeah. Bursting does around 331%, chilling 226%*3, storm 96%*4 (you should add 1 more point tonstorm for an extra projectile) and 508% on feral. At 25% chance each.

Still not the best when it comes to savagery numbers, imo. Fluff’s avenger warder does around 842% on zolhan’s and ~500 on feral and upheaval. Maybe vit ritualists can give us similar numbers.

13

Man. I feel bad now since I cheat using GDstash. :undecided:

@Mad_lee - you’re absolutely right, must’ve made a mistake while min-maxing the WPS.

14

You should. +2 to savagery and extra weapon damage is sooo good.

15

Yeah. But the avenger set gives zolhan a fat 60% WD. I don’t think any set can compete with that in terms of DPS.

P.S. The inqui’s WPS line has a 20% proc chance each. Void rounds from the component adds an additional 16% chance of 130% WD which is ~380%.

So:

  1. Feral hunger = 508%
  2. Bursting round = 331%
  3. Chilling round = 226% * 3 = 678%
  4. Stormspread = 96% * 4 = 384% (at best)
  5. voidrounds = 380%

All in all, it averages out to around 460% WD under ideal circumstances (i.e. assuming that stormspread ALWAYS shotguns).

16

Yes, 2H savagery hits like a truck nowadays :smiley:

17

I really wonder what a 2H FoI vindicator can do. :rolleyes:

Especially with the +18% WD modifier from conduit of runic whispers.

EDIT: On a separate note, fluff mentioned to me once that the attack animation on ZT and MA for 2H melee weapons is piss poor. It’s definitely something worth looking into to more accurately assess the DPS differential.

18

For Savagery builds ZT is always direct damage increase, but for Cadence builds it’s just yet another regular attack, not buffed by anything. Cadence builds should test its behavior on dummy

19

Don’t do it m8 :smiley:

Did you test hell ammo vs void seal? I love the wps for it, but hell is pretty big dps boost

20

I have not. Is it worth the loss of the WPS and 4% attack speed?