You’ve been caught in a lie,
You can’t deny it!
Unknown Poet, circa 2008
Foreword
This was born as a grimtools draft for a friend, Seemann, who at that time had about 20 or so fully decked out characters already and about 2150 hours in Grim Dawn. I really wanted to level my new Trickster with him (we have a history of leveling characters together). So I had to come up with a build that he has not seen before, something gimmicky yet effective. Once he leveled it it turned out be pretty decent, so I asked him for a save folder for this character so I could share the build with forums.
Build Concept
Minimum Effort/Skill/Focus Requiered Ranged Autoattacker
Purifiers are known to be the best ranged autoattacking characters. But when you are playing ranged Purifier gameplay is not as smooth as one would expect from an autoattacking character. Reason is Thermite Mines - most clunky and probably the worst resist reduction skill in all of Grim Dawn. Vindicators are a bit more streamlined, but Wind Devils are a bit incosistent when it comes to resist reduction.
This build however combines two of the best resist reduction skills and is as smooth as they get: playing it is extremely easy.
Maximum Destruction
While some still live in the past, prefering super tanky DA stacking builds, build meta has shifted towards balanced offensive builds that clear all content in record times. And arms race is pushing builders to come up with stronger and more min-maxed builds. This build rivals top ranged auto-attackers such as Spanksalot’s Dagallon Purifier or Ptirodaktill’s Luminari Purifier in Crucible clear times and in some aspects surpasses them. Builds strength is stacking a massive amount of three damage types with huge instant Resist Reduction.
Tanky Cannon
Despite not having 3700 DA or as some say “Double Hit points”, this build facetanks most Nemeses combinations in Crucible Gladiator 150-170. It’s extremely resilient and close to unkillable as long as you keep pressing that mouse one while standing in a seal.
1.1.2.5 Update
Remade this build for Forgotten Gods. No greens required. X1X2’s similiar Tactician inspired me to use full Runibinder after a lot of failed testing attempts with Bonemonger’s Fury set.
The Build
<<<<<<GRIMTOOLS>>>>>>
*craft everything for Stun resistance. For Campaign you can put two points from Jackal into Empty Throne for more Stun res.
Gear
Core of the build is Runebinder Spellthrower. A weapon that offers a disgustintly strong auto-attacking skill Runic Bolts. We are looking for a weapon maximum amount of flat elemental damage, cdr and %elemental. All jewellery pieces offer us a massive amount of flat damage as well as very decent stats. Chausses of Barbaros were chosen for their huge OA and a proc that greatly boosts build’s offense.
Skills and Devotions
Skill distribution is obvious, we are softcapping all relevant skills, while overcapping the most important ones. Rune of Hagarrad line is a 3 point investment (+1 point in Artifact Handling) that offers us a nice cc-spell plus very decent DA shred.
Devotion route is simple yet effective. I chose to go Dying God because of unusual for an auto-attacker amount of CDR that build is packing (up to 19%), thanks to that we have Hungering Void up 99% of the time. Ultos gives us great stats, flat lightning damage and a very strong proc. Ghoul is a circuit breaker that makes immortal for its duration.
Leveling and Attribute points distribution
You can level as an Occultist maxing out DEE line or you can level as an Inquisitor with Word of Pain, rushing to Aura of Censure and later combining it with Curse of Frailty elemental RR.
At level 50 equip dual Deviltongues, at level 55 use Beronath’s shard and inquisiotor’s WPS.
Put enough points in Cunning in order to equip our weapon and enough into spirit so you can equip chest. Notice, that chest offers %spirit, so you can put in less points into Spirit than chest requires, equip any item that gives +spirit and then equip chest and take off that temporary +spirit item.
The Showdown
Probably the simplest tutorial ever. You drop Inquisitor’s Seal, cast Curse of Frailty, you shoot Runic Bolts untill whatever is in front of you dies. Use Rune of Hagarrad versus big hero packs or fat bosses for DA shred/Crowd Control.
In Crucible, use this comprehensive guide. There are certain waves where we got to meet certain Nemeses at the gates and kill them before everyone else gangs up on you. Your playstyle is generally pretty aggressive. Beware of skill disruption (especially one that Grava casts). Always stay inside of an Inquisitor’s Seal. I recommend using Aetherward Oil on Wave 169 and positioning near Anasteria’s Spawn (bottom right corner) and killing her first, then killing Shaper of Flesh + two fatsos, leaving Krieg for last, and slowly starting to position yourself towards bottom left corner for wave 170.
Stats
All permanent buffs active (plus WoR and BoD)
Magical - with Runic Bolts charges (100% uptime in battle) and inside of Inquisitor’s Seal
Build’s Pros and Cons
Pros
- Massive damage that no monster can fully counter because it combines 3 damage types
- -109% Elemental Resist Reduction combined with 25% Elemental Resist Reduction from Hand of Ultos proc. -69% Elemental RR is applied instantly (thru CoF and Aura of Censure)
- 76% WPS chance
- Almost hard capped Inquisitor Seal making you almost invincible
- Around 30% Physical Resist + decent CC resists + two big healing spells
Cons
- Low hp pool
- Not reasonably powerful
Videos
1.1.2.5 7 minute Crucible 150-170 run
This soundtrack is required(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsFSUCKolzg)to be played in another tab while watching the runs without sound
Crucible Gladiator 150-170 4buffs/no banners 9 minute run (accidentally turned off sound in recording software for that one)
Crucible Gladiator 150-170 4buffs/no banners 9:43 minute run (literally the third time I’ve played this character in Crucible)
A quick Ancient Grove run (8 minutes)
In Conclusion
I would like to thank Seemann for choosing to play a build I theorycrafted and providing me with save file once build was leveled. I also would like to thank Valinov for pointing out that Mythical Spellgaze is actually a much better helmet option than Ravager’s Dreadgaze.
