I haven’t check it yet but considering big % damage this build can have, it will not affect the performance much.
Also some of MI items were slightly buffed, including the weapon, shield and medal. So that’s all good changes. Also Bonespike boost Devouring Swarm, making it even more appealing.
Nice advises to @CioCio build, you beat me to the punch with augments/devotions suggestions 
About resistances, top row is reduced by -25% elite, all resistances are decreased by another -25% on ultimate.
GrimTools is updated to 1.1.7.0 and the skill proc of Dark One’s set is now 150%, just for everyones information.
I don’t think it will kill the build but maybe change some gear, but it’s anyway always changing, right?
Personal update: I just finished FG on elite at lvl 87 and the last part of the journey begins 
(payed my toll in 3 deaths to Korvaak because he could one-hit me, thanks to Lokarr’s 
).
@Nery your suggestions to switch from normal to elite at 65 and to ultimate at 85 are really accurate, I used a few potions of clarity though, that’s why I am a little higher now.
This is the current build: GT
Hey @Nery,
Thank you for this great build and guide! I’ve been rocking it as my main character (mostly SSF) due to how tanky it is without much gear.
I’m currently level 85, about to transition into Ultimate after finishing FG Elite (skipped part of AoM elite).
Here’s my GT. Would you have any recommendations for improvements (either skill point allocation or gear/augments) before Ultimate?
Currently have had 0 deaths on this character (definitely HC viable so far), only close call was Rashalga on Elite (mostly because I wasn’t prepared haha).
Thanks for the great guide!
Thanks for your feedback!
Rashalga is dangerous foe, especially in Ultimate have nasty retal aura.
I also leveled SSF (solo self found?). And zero deaths so far are tribute not only to the build but to your play as well.
For your build I still prefer Boneblade/Bonespike weapon. Sigil mod is nice though, I will admit.
At this point I will try to fit more gear with vitality % damage boost and try to cover resistances with components/augments. Gloves are main culprit here, low level, no % damage or stats. For medal you can farm in the future Rylok one for huge Sigil damage boost. Belt is OK, but at level 94, you need to change it. Your left ring needs updating, you can craft few with blacksmith for example. Also pants are kinda bad. They don’t give damage, DA or OA. Only perk are the resistances. Maybe do the hidden path quest to get Solael guardain pants.
Survivor Ingenuity are better than your current jewels augments. Check if your Devil’s Crossing rep is maxed. But extra OA/DA will make your build better. Also +20% all damage includes vitality and decay.
I would use Scaled Hide in shoulders, Chains of Oleron or other component in chest and Bone in head. Or Bone/Kilrian soul in chest and Prismatic Diamond in head slot. Also I would use Mark of Illusion if I can cap my vitality res. DA and spirit are nice. Although Soul Shard is also not bad component for this build.
Since your OA is low, you can go 16/16 Blood of Dreeg next.
PS, Welcome to the forum!
Hey Nery,
Thanks for the advice on the equipment. I’ll definitely get my Devil Crossing rep maxed out for that nice augment and farm the MIs you suggested.
A couple quick additional questions:
Regarding this part:
I tend to do Sigil stacking on either bosses/totems/shrines, which is probably why I stuck with the Scepter MI a bit more. Is the -RR% from the Bone MI considerably better?
Thanks for your feedback!
https://www.grimtools.com/map/monsters/156
Or any vitality belt really, some of the guys have GT links with different belts.
Hey Nery,
Thanks for the guide! That’s a very helpful baseline metric to look as otherwise I have no idea.
One other thing I’ve had an issue with is when any area rolls the Leech modifier. Where I’ve had a pack of heroes take nearly 2-3 minutes to die as they would almost instant heal their hp from the modifier. Only way I could kill would be to slowly pull them apart then hopefully burst them down one by one.
Is there any better way to deal with this modifier (admittedly getting more damage is probably best thing here) or should I just aim for a reroll if needed to be.
I haven’t particularly noticed other modifiers being as threatening but maybe that’ll change in Ultimate.
@Nery Since I use the same MI as weapon so there is a question: The bonusses from Lantern devotion are limited to wearing a caster off-hand, scepter or dagger. So wouldn’t using Boneblade (sword) and Bonewall (shield) together block you out of it? That is actually the main reason and my unwillingness to invest into cunning 
, why I preferred Bonespike and Ascended Source as weapons on my playthrough. And the patch made them even better 
.
Btw: I never mentioned, I also play SSF, but I use GD-Stash to put all the epics and legendarys in a bank. I use move as default from DB though, I don’t copy or forge with GD-Stash.
Yes, good observation, it won’t work. Only will grant affinity, meh. But at level 94, when you can equip GulAmash off-hand you’ll see the full effect of the build.
Also Bonespike got buffed to support Devouring swarm, so more incentive to use it.
@McGeezer Leeching is the worst mutator for this build but it’s strange that the effect is so dramatic. Separate the mobs is good idea. Also look for “support” heroes, they are healers and can hide in packs and always heal the boss to full strength.
Gotcha, I think it was a Support hero as I killed the boss in the area with the same mutator without any issue. Just had issue with that pack of heroes.
Thanks for the advice, I’ll check back in after Ultimate.
Hi! Looks like a very interesting build–I’m coming back to Grim Dawn after a long while away and trying to figure out what to play. I play HC, though–are there any changes you’d recommend to this build based on that, or priorities for gearing?
Hi and welcome back!
You can see from the videos @RektbyProtoss play it in HC mode. I would say that you need to care more about resistances, DA and health. Build otherwise is very solid, have nice healing and physical resistance.
Other of course is player’s skills and awareness.
Thanks much!
So I turned 94 yesterday (wearing Lokarr’s still) and I’m now trying to get Morgoneth’s ring with my BM. He is giving me a hard time though. I had to learn to read him first like e.g. Lokarr. It seems I know how to beat him now 
. Will post the new build, when it’s ready to roll.
PSA for Grim Dawn first-timers doing this build : make sure you get the actual ‘Rattosh, the Veilwarden’ devotion that’s toward the bottom of the constellation map and not the ‘Staff of Rattosh’ devotion that’s at the top of the map. I know, I know, this is obvious stuff if you compare the stats but maybe it’s not so obvious if you don’t know there’s two Rattosh-themed devotions and you happen to see the wrong one first.
Honestly I was examining the Staff of Rattosh devotion thinking it was the one and couldn’t figure out what the fuss was about. Then I finally noticed the big daddy Rattosh +180% vitality dmg boosting devotion. 
@Knife Am I understanding you correctly that a good general strategy is: rather than leave yourself in limbo (i.e., between skills) in the middle of the mastery bar, better to invest points in placeholder skills until you amass enough skill points that you can take your mastery bar down to the next skill tier in a single re-spec? For example, say you’re sitting at Oak Skin at mastery level 25 … one could use skills that aren’t critical to the build (e.g., Solael’s Witchfire, Destruction, etc.) as pointbanks til you amass the 15 points needed to go ahead and take mastery from 25 to 40 to nab Corrupted Totems via re-spec at spirit guide?
It at least seems more fun that way. 
Yes thats what i meant. Thats just my personal preference though. No harm done, either, since respecs are easily affordable.
So, I can finally run the endgame build (still need Morgoneth’s ring though, so I use a substitute which is not too bad either).
And I need to become revered with Barrowholm, so I can change the augments on weapon and off-hand (although I’m not so sure I need to… yet ).
It took quite many farming sessions with my BM to gather all the materials and especially all the MIs for the relic (I can’t even remember, how many different relics I had to craft on the way to the end result 
), the weapon and the amulet. There was always something still missing, just to name a few: Servitor’s Corruptor, Troll Bonecrusher, Spectral Longsword, Kilrian’s Shattered Soul… When crafting components I even ran out of Ugdenblooms, so I had to go and farm those too.
But this was all worth it 
. This build obliterates normal content!
Now I still need to cruise through ultimate, which I will try to enjoy and use to gain the final 6 levels, get all missing skill and attribute points and level devotion procs.
Thank you again @Nery for this easy to follow guide. I hope the build meets my expectations and I have a good farming build now. It is really fun to play too actually .
Hey @Nery,
Just an update on the current progress of this build. Just finished farming my Dark One’s set and hit 100 along the way.
Albeit I definitely have a lot more improvements on pretty much every piece except the Dark Ones lol.
I can definitely say this build is HC viable (though I did play in SC as it’s my first 100), as I was able to farm Dark Ones set and hit 100 without really any large difficulties.
Major things I’d say of note that could help would be to get Blood of Dreeg’s high enough to offset the Dying God proc self-damage and using a shield primarily for more survivability.
Cthonic Arcane packs are probably the scariest for me on this build with their Oppression aura and damage spikes.
Thanks, good to know. I’ve gotten distracted by guns but I will keep that in mind for when I come back to this. (Idk if it’s rampant altoholism or just an impressively short attention span.)
This is looking mighty! Slightly low DA will be corrected with Ravager’s Eye when you reach revered status.
I can feel your pain from crafting all pieces for this build, especially level 94 relics are quite expensive.
I think if you are accustomed to piano caster style you can’t be disappointed by the sheer power of this build.
You are building real tank my friend
Durable prefix gives massive physical res and also your Bonespike is with Decay suffix for massive % vitality boost. If I can find Bonespike/Boneblade weapon like Demonic of Decay, I wouldn’t bother to sub it wit legendary.
Chtonic pacts tends to do burst damage and can almost outheal this build, but didn’t die against them of course.
Nothing wrong with that. Game is encouraging you to be alcoholic
If you like Guns you could try the freshly buffed vitality DW pistols Defiler and you can never go wrong with Purifier or 2H Thunderous Strike Vindicator.
But this build can be you HC farmer.
That’s sound strategy, especially if you main attacking skill is deep in the mastery bar. Instead of rushing down the bar and skip skills, you build around other spells and passive skills and you progress gradually. Then you respec your unneeded skills points and max your new spell. For example you can do this strategy with AAR or Eye of Reckoning.
Here is useful but mind both Swarm, Pox and even Sigil are fairly early in mastery bars and can be taken without the need of detours.
