^How I feel everytime I make a build using eldritch pact. I love how those projectiles look like they are shooting out from my crotch.
#turndown4what
Thanks to…:
- @StrUktO
- @mad_lee
- @cinder
- @Nery
- @valinov
-
@x1x1x1x2 (but fuck you too, because formatting this thing is such a pain
)
SHOWCASE: BiS’d Dark One’s Ritualist with 3 double rolled M.I’s (Fixed affixes; 7min 25s Naked clear; 5:20 (3 + 1) clear; SR 83)
GT: https://www.grimtools.com/calc/w26qR6xN
YT (naked): https://youtu.be/W7jO_eTZ10g
YT (3 + 1): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1O5RHtLjBb8 <— Piloted by spanks with a more offensive set up; 5:20 clear
YT (3 + 1): https://youtu.be/mkzB51qvGr4 <— Piloted by @Nery with the setup shown above; 5:37 clear
YT (SR 83): https://youtu.be/rXpxWhHPw-4 <---- Piloted by @Nery
Realistic end game dark one’s ritualist guide
Recommended GT with Ghoul + Guardian’s gaze: https://www.grimtools.com/calc/lNk68dRZ
GT: https://www.grimtools.com/calc/pZrOPBGN <— This is the GT I used in the videos below
YT (4 + 0; 6min 45s): https://youtu.be/cPrttPuZjZ0
YT (Naked; 9min 30s): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDvLCXOkk-c&feature=youtu.be
^Screenshot of build using the Recommended GT. All passives up, no procs active.
How does the build work offensively?
- Stack raw damage on RE with perfect conversion
- Stack %vit damage on RE with 22/12 blood pact, Soul harvest, Harbinger of souls, etc. (in game value of 3400% with DG)
- Use crazy flat damage + adcth on biting blades for more DPS
How does the build work defensively?
- Plant 2x wendigo, and enjoy 22% hp heals every 0.5s. <-- Is damage still getting through?
- No: Keep facetanking.
- Yes: Activate bloodthirster <-- Is damage still getting through?
- No: Keep facetanking.
- Yes: Activate MoT
#profit.
Alternative itemization (note: Build used in video/guide is NOT BiS’d)
- BiS Pants - Reaper legguards with +3 to blood pact, and +3 to soul harvest
- Alternative budget pants - Wraithborne pants
- Alternative relic - Necrosis, Meditation <-- Choice depends on your resists
- Alternative component - Symbol of solael for more DPS, but I prefer haunted steel.
- Alternative amulet: Undying whisper conduit with RE skill mod + slow res crafting bonus (BiS defensively); Venomfire (budget)
- Alternative weapon (BiS): Bone spike
Crafting bonus
- You really want slow res on the offhand. Freeze res works too.
Devotions
- If you can get healthy OA/DA values, screw hawk/ultos. GET GUARDIAN’S GAZE FOR THAT MASSIVE DPS PROC. (I didn’t use it in the video just to demonstrate how effective a non-BiS’d setup can be).
- Ghoul is another phenomenal devotion worth considering. It is what I used in my BiS set up.
Levelling Guide (this will be added on gradually, as I intend to make this a build journal. I also may or may not finish the journal. This largely depends on life.)
NOTE: This guide assumes that the reader has the AoM, FG, and crucible expansions. I will also be playing largely self found, but will also be using my library of blueprints to craft items. If you are missing a blue print you need, head over to the trading thread. I am sure MANY veterans will be willing to help you out. I will also use GDstash to produce crap like faction rep and aether crystals because I ain’t got the time to farm that shit, and write this thing.
Some generic advice:
- As soon as you can, get a mobility rune. I’m using emblem of focused rage
- Always, always, always stockpile shit like: Spectral swords/bludgeons, troll bonecrushers, etc. because you’re going to need them to craft relics.
- Try to craft haunt ASAP. Not only is this a great relic to use all the way to level 90’s, but you’re going to need it for blood orb offhand.
- Focus on fixing your resists right from the get go. You’re going to need it.
For a video demonstration of how the spec plays during the level 70 - 94 levelling abyss, click on journal entry 8: Levels 76 - 79.
1. Levels 1 - 16
https://www.grimtools.com/calc/eZPO7DlV
- This took me about 45 minutes. It would’ve been twice as fast if I had remembered to use the freaking roid juice from malmouth.
-
Skill progression…
a. 16/16 devouring swarm
b. 12/12 mogdrogen’s pact (this gives you much needed energy regen to spam devouring swarm)
c. 1 point into savagery, and 3 into transmutor (Use a 2H. Ez 8% phys res for 4 skill points)
d. Rest into mastery bar with the intent on 12/12 tenacity of the boar
e. All stats dumped into physique -
Levelling modus operandi
a. Read lore in main campaign to level. (Invested everything into devouring swarm)
b. Went into crucible and did waves 1 - 10 until I had 6 devotion points and loot
c. Used devotion points to get Bat
d. Returned to MC to finish first quest and to get the shrine there.
e. Remaining 2 devotion points were invested into jackal.
2. Levels 16 - 23
https://www.grimtools.com/calc/q2Mnn37V
This took me about 45 minutes. I didn’t forget the roid juice this time.
-
Skill progression…
a. Got impatient with the progression to tenacity of the boar
b. Respecced into spectral wrath and ravenous earth.
c. The current plan is to max spectral binding if I need the OA.
d. All stats dumped into physique -
Levelling modus operandi
a. I played through MC without completing many side quests, and stopped upon reaching the warden’s lab.
b. Took all the shrines I could find
c. Completed jackal and viper.
d. Next constellation I’m going for - Revenant. -
Comments
a. Be sure to hold onto a bunch of spectral longswords, troll bonecrushers, etc. as you will need them to craft relics eventually
3. Levels 23 - 45
https://www.grimtools.com/calc/RZROOBPN
Righty ho…so I did a 2 hour session this time. And 2 things I need to get off my chest:
i. It is SO refreshing to play legit again
ii. Holy shit, did things get harder. I died 4 times
- Once when I disrespected warden krieg
- Another when I disrespected cronley
- Another when I disrespected Guardian of solael (yup, I’m 2/3 done with the hidden path)
- Another when I got distracted by my phone.
Ended the session upon clearing out gyver’s lumber mill.
Anyway, onto the journal entry
-
Skill progression…
a. Maxed out RE
b. Maxed out decay
c. Maxed our spectral binding
d. 6 points into MoT
e. Making my way to oak skin because I need that armor and resist. -
Levelling modus operandi
a. Zipped through MC, doing side quests which were convenient (e.g. searching for Dahlia in smuggler’s pass)
b. Went out of my way to get devotion points, with the exception of pine barren. Felt too damn far for me.
c. Bro-tip: Aggro a bunch of enemies, make them congregate, RE them to oblivion.
d. Completed revenant, and am 3 nodes into sailor’s guide -
Comments
a. I crafted my first relic (spectre). I suggest you look up the crafting requirements of the end game relic you want, and start crafting what’s needed to get there. Relic of choice for me is eldritch pact.
b. Take your time in smuggler’s pass. I got 4-5 bone spikes in one clear.
c. MoT is a life saver. USE IT.
d. I also picked Cult of Dreeg, because I want that venomfire recipe.
4. Levels 45 - 53
https://www.grimtools.com/calc/RZRO5qPN
Actual levelling of the build took slightly longer than an hour, however I spent quite a bit of time experimenting with different devotion pathing so that you, the reader, wouldn’t have to fumble around in the dark.
You’re welcome. <3
I ended the session upon reaching the gates of the necropolis.
Devotions
The moment you get 25 devotion points, you want to refund all of them via the spirit guide, or the tonic of clarity if you have one.
You’re going to go in this exact order:
- Bat (refund crossroad)
- Jackal + primordial crossroad
- Eel
- Wendigo + chaos crossroad
- Revenant (refund both crossroads)
The reason why I didn’t do this at the start is because I wanted to level revenant asap.
Do note that wendigo will NOT be used in the end game version of this build. It is merely a transitional costellation I’m temporarily using for more sustain, and damage.
The next constellation I’m currently gunning for is Rattosh for more -RR. I would’ve loved to go for Dying God, but as it currently stands, I don’t think I have the sustain needed for its upkeep.
Crafting components for resistances
It is absolutely crucial that you start to patch up your resists. This means crafting wardstones, runestones, purified salts, etc.
Craft what you can to fix what you need.
Put more expensive components on cheaper gear, so that when you come across an upgrade, you can simply keep the component when you dismantle said item.
DO NOT cling onto blues. With a handful of exceptions, these items will become obsolete in the long run, but the components attached to them will forever be useful either as a placeholder till you can craft better components, or as one of the “ingredients” for some other item.
Crafting relics
The relic I crafted was none other than haunt which will eventually be used to craft eldritch pact.
I will repeat myself once more. These relics are EXPENSIVE to craft. So make sure that you’re crafting one which will eventually build up to the end relic of your choice.
However, given how much bang for your buck haunt gives the build, I think I’ll be holding on to this bad boy for quite some time.
Together with symbol of solael, I’m stacking about -135% vitality RR this early in the game, and am one shotting mobs.
Knowing which items to keep
Anything which gives OA, DA, resists, %vit damage, and relevant +skills (e.g. RE, spectral wrath, devouring swarm, etc) are all great choices.
If I’m being honest, I found the item drop rate to be vastly kinder than when I was first playing veteran. A quick glance at my level 53 GT will show you how many relevant items I found.
I understand that my playthrough is too small a sample size to accurately represent the average experience of all GD players, but it seems unlikely for me to be vastly “luckier” than every one else.
Augments
If you used the faction mandates, and were efficiently completing side quests where convenient, you should be honored with most of the factions you’ve come across.
So put those ring augments to use. I got me 5x vitality damage augments for my jewellery + weapon + offhand, for a grand total of 125% vitality damage.
This alone was a 20% damage increase.
Skill point distribution
Having hardcapped all my offensive skills, I’m now focused on defence. This includes oak skin, heart of the wild, and tenacity of the boar.
Levelling modus operandi
Per the usual. Zip through MC focusing on side convenient side quests + devotions.
Try to “clump” these objectives together.
For example, the moment I got dynamite in cronley’s hideout, I headed back to devil’s crossing to begin the hidden quest.
This way, I could do the hidden quest as I plodded along the campaign without needing to double back. I then killed the sentinel only after accepting annie’s second side quest, in which the player has to return to the east marsh.
5. Levels 53 - 60
https://www.grimtools.com/calc/aZq37R62
I’ve found a couple of legendary vitality weapons thus far - crimson spike, and death omen to be precise.
But none of them can beat bone spike. DO NOT be too eager to equip these fancy new purples. I assure you, they are ALMOST ALWAYS worse for this build than a relevantly (not godly) rolled bonespike.
I also went dumpster diving in my legit mules from back in the day, and found a praetorian helm. So that’s what I’m going with.
The increase in durability has made me forgo trying to get to rattosh. Dying god, here I come.
Levelling took me about 90 minutes. I ended the run after completing the ritual @ ugdenbog. I also sided with barrowholm for the faction rep.
-
Skill progression…
a. Maxed out tenacity of the boar
b. Making my way to harbinger of souls -
Levelling modus operandi
a. Am focusing on side quests now, while trying to efficiently kill mobs.
b. I’m also taking my time in ugdenbog as I’m looking for a basilisk crest. Note, the level of this item is entirely irrelevant. If you find a GG-rolled one, freaking keep it even if you outlevel it. As you can see in my GT, it is used entirely for resists, and the skill modifier. So any increment in its %damage value is irrelevant to this build. -
Comments
a. Be sure to CLUMP your quests well. E.g. look for the janaxxia and laria before reaching barrowholm.
6. Levels 60 - 70
https://www.grimtools.com/calc/a2E4kb3N
This was the most soulcrushing 2h I’ve suffered through in GD in the past year.
The first 30 minutes was enjoyable as I zipped through to the sewers in Malmouth, which was when I decided to try SR.
Holy. Shit.
That grind to 15 to get the first shattered waystone was literally:
To make matters worse, the audio on my dying laptop decided it was fine time to turn itself off at the literal halfway point - shard 7.
So you’ll forgive me for choosing not to expound on my decision making process. You can just do what I did above, and get to 70.
Gear and devotions remain fairly unchanged, which should make things more straightforward.
Despite my deep dislike for SR, I must admit that it’s very lucrative as far as levelling goes. When I cashed in at shard 15 (or was it 16?) I gained 4 levels, and levelled up twice while progressing through it.
I’m still crushing mobs, but my biggest buggerboo with the build now is a lack of OA, and I’m trying to fix that via devotions (DG + Hawk + viper)
7. Levels 70 - 76
https://www.grimtools.com/calc/d2j15WmN
I actually don’t know how long this levelling bit took me, as it was done in snippets. If I had to hazard a guess, I’d say 60 - 90 minutes.
I’m focusing on getting to ultimate asap as I’m decently close to 94 and want to start farming for the dark one’s set asap.
Ended the session upon reaching the portal at smuggler’s pass in Elite.
-
Skill progression…
a. 10/10 Heart of the wild
b. Rest dumped into the shaman mastery bar -
Levelling modus operandi
a. Zipped through elite, doing convenient side quests + grabbing devotions.
b. OA is A LOT better now
d. Completed DG, viper, and hawk. Gonna make my way towards Rattosh -
Comments
a. Got rid of all my pitiful gear and replaced them with faction bought stuff from barrowholm. Noticed a nice spike in damage.
8. Levels 76 - 79
https://www.grimtools.com/calc/0V03vG92
Just a short 30 minute playthrough. Nothing new to add, really.
But here’s a video demonstrating how the spec plays while levelling in the 70 - 94 abyss
Ended the session upon killing the amalgamation.
9. Levels 79 - 97
https://www.grimtools.com/calc/M2g9PWyZ
Alright, I did some powerlevelling, and turndown4wot jr. has officially crossed the level 94 hurdle, and she’s picked herself some pretty nice purps along the way.
I wanted to do EVERYTHING legit (minus the shit I mentioned above - e.g. farming aether crystals), so I dusted off packmule #6, and got out a tonne of ugdenblooms and iron bits.
I then wanted to see for myself how annoying crafting a relevant conduit would be.
I crafted 37 conduits before finally getting one with the RE skill mod (I’m not even talking about resists here). So… maybe I was unlucky, or maybe this is nothing out of the ordinary, but holy shit.
JUST USE VENOMFIRE
Arcane harmony pants + blood orb + eldritch pact were likewise crafted.
-
Skill progression…
a. Just maxing out wendigo totem and blood pact -
Levelling modus operandi
a. Zipped through ultimate, making a beeline for Malmouth. Dark one’s is within my sights now.
d. All devotions are complete, and I’ve transitioned to the devotions shown in the recommended GT -
Comments
a. Each time I logged into this spec, I would clear out Mountain Deeps once to farm for a decent bonespike. Found the beaut I’m using on my last clear, and it’s probably going to remain unchanged unless I can find a double rare.
Process might take a while, but here’s a quick summary on levelling…
- Max out devouring swarm first. This is by far your levelling bread-&-butter
- Next max out spectral wrath
- Max out RE skill line minus foul eruption
- One point in mogdrogen’s pact, 10/10 the other 2 nodes
- Max tenacity of the boar
- Max out Harbinger of souls
- From hereonafter, focus on resists, stats, OA/DA, etc.
Questions? Thoughts? Comments?
Hope ya’ll enjoyed the guide.
