[1.1.2.0] Dervish Pet-Hybrid

Grim Dawn Classes, Skills and Builds
1

Hi all,

ever since the addon came out I wanted to make a Dervish pet build since the pets are immortal. So no re-summoning of pets during combat anymore :wink:

However I noticed that the damage output is not that high. Therefore we warned:
This build is mediocre and just some personal brew, certainly not everyoneā€™s favourite choice.

Anyways, letā€™s start with the Grimtools link.
(The green items are my currently equipped items and can certainly have improved prefixes or suffixes)

If you think ā€œOMG, ANOTHER BUILD THAT NEEDS A FULL LEGENDARY SETā€¦ SHAME!!!ā€, fear not it is not that bad - which you will see in a minute.

First some general information (if they even make sense):

Pros

  • Unkillable pets
  • Pets scale with player damage
  • Flexible item slots
  • More than 400 OA reduction
  • Hybrid build (pets and Phantasmal Blades)

Cons

  • Needs an essential Legendary and is not really fun to play before
  • Damage output
  • Hybrid build
  • Pretty much everything else that is not listed under ā€˜Prosā€™

Items
You can get them one by one after farming legendaries. The only essential legendary is the Demonslayer amulet as it converts the Blade Spiritā€™s pierce damage to vitality damage. The latter one will be the main damage type and is the only type that all the used pets have in common.
If you want the set ordered by priority, here you go:
Amulet > Hat > Jacket > Pistol

The ā€˜Word of Solaelā€™ off-hand can be obtained by a faction vendor and therefore should not be the problem. It is nice since you get an extra guardian.

The Meditation relic is best in slot in my opinion since it provides +1 to Oathkeeper skills and a nice damage boost for your pets due to its aura. If you donā€™t have a blueprint for a +1 Oathkeeper or a +1 to all skills relic, you can just use the Sacred Talisman. The damage boost granted by the skill is really significant for this build and therefore not a bad choice.

For the belt slot, you should aim for a (Mythical) Crimson Lotus instead of a green belt due to the +1 to Oathkeeper. If you donā€™t get that belt, just use anything else that boost your vitality damage and resistances.

The shoulders should be Korvan Pauldrons with good pre-/suffixes since it offers vitality damage, life, resistance through prefixes, +3 to Celestial Presence as well as some elemental to vitality conversion (which is good for your Blade Spirits).

The rest of the items is flexible. As I said you want to get the full Demonslayer set after some time. For the other item slots just focus on resistances, health and vitality damage.

Devotions
Defense-wise you have Behemoth and Chariot of the Dead. Since the build is lacking defensive ability, I thought Murmur, Mistress of Rumor and Huntress are quite good additions since their procs provide some OA reduction. Moreover their procs offer some RR for our petsā€™ secondary damage types which is also quite useful.

With patch 1.1.2.0, RR was added to the skeletons summoned by Raise the Dead. Since these skeletons also scale with player damage bonuses they are a must have.

ā€¦ oh and there is Rattosh, the Veilwardenā€¦ obviously.

To proc the attack devotion skills, I prefer the following setup:
Phantasmal Blades -> Raise the Dead
Blade Spirit -> Will of Rattosh
Guardians of Empyrion -> Rumor
Judgement -> Rend

Skills
Since I also mentioned the skills in the last section, here is a small skill overview:

  • Phantasmal Blades: your private non-pet damage source
  • Summon Guardian of Empyrion: unkillable player scaling pet
  • Blade Spirit: unkillable player scaling pet
  • Judgement: just 1 skill point to proc Rend (has 100% chance on attack)
  • Ascension: more survivability and damage for pets
  • Path of Three: damage and skill cooldown
  • Presence of Virtue: a bit of everything
  • Resilience: (1 skill point is enough)
  • Veil of Shadow: OA and speed debuff, RR is secondary since it does not grant vitality RR

Leveling
If you still think it is a good idea to play this build then Iā€™m pretty sure you will run away now. Since the Demonslayer amulet can be equipped at level 94 you wonā€™t have a common damage type on lower levels.

For this reason, I donā€™t recommend you to level with this build before reaching that level. I tried it in game version 1.1.1.2 and it just takes an eternity to kill bosses and sometimes even heroes.

So you should start with something else, preferably with a Nightblade and the skill Amarastaā€™s Blade Burst. Perhaps it is also an option to switch to Phantasmal Blades later on. I have not yet started with an Oathkeeper and therefore canā€™t recommend a certain leveling skill.

Closing
Although the build does not feel very powerful it is fun to play. I did all main content except superbosses or nemesis (due to lack of reputation).

Iā€™m open for improvements and if there are some errors please notify me. Hopefully, at least one person has a new favourite build now :wink:

Community Feedback
Slightly different skill/devotion setup based on ya_'s feedback: Grimtools

2

Nice original concept, and I like your write-up. Just two biggies:

  • no Pneumatic Burst line

  • no Dying God

3

Thx for the feedback!

It was a hard decision to drop Pneumatic Burst. Would you think that I should go without Veil of Shadows and less points in Haven and instead put the points into Pneumatic Burst and Shadow Dance?

I have never considered Dying God. Probably because I have always been afraid of the life drain. Perhaps I should give it a try.

4

Iā€™m pretty sure the damage isnā€™t that high is because the pets are invincible.

5

Yeah, thatā€™s true. Itā€™s quite funny that I showed a few items in the build that I donā€™t even have so far. So my experiences refer to a weaker version of the build. After switching devotions and skills like ya_ recommended, the damage output feels better than I thought.