[1.1.7.2 - 1.2.1.2] Hunger insatiable - Valguur Cabalist [sr+] [mi] [vid]

[Willnoword]

Greetings and welcome to my Valguur Cabalist guide!
If you look for piano-like “not-very-tough” Vitality caster, which is not Dark One and Radaggan, but tries to compete nonetheless, then this is the right place. No more words, here is the build!

1. Grimtools link
Cabalist, Level 100 (GD 1.1.8.0) - Grim Dawn Build Calculator - old setup with Bone Harvest
Cabalist, Level 100 (GD 1.2.1.2) - Grim Dawn Build Calculator - current setup

2. In-game character stats

general stats, only passive and Blood of Dreeg buffs are active

magic stats

defence parameters

3. Gear/Build explanation
Cabalist has great Vitality support, from percentage and skills to Resistance Reduction both sides. Unfortunately, the class lacks CC resists (except Disruption) and overall weak in OA/DA department. Valguur set does not help much as well. So almost every item in this build is basically core (except for shoulders, we can use Dark One shoulders and juggle with resistances on MIs). MI Suffixes “of Readiness” or “of Attack” are almost mandatory . It is good that those items can be farmed on one route. So…good luck . Craft for Stun/Freeze resistance (blacksmith in Steelcap District, Malmouth).

And what do we get? A dark wizard, who curses enemies and drains their life through full Vitality Sigils of Consumption and Siphon Souls (with an impressive display of violence). Weak-willed ones crawl away in confusion and die by dozens, while strong ones cannot even hit him, only watch in frustration and despair at their health bars going down. Really nice .

About Resistance Reduction. Total amount is ~132% (-29% from Curse of Frailty modifier, -35% from Spectral Wrath (when hit), -28% from Rattosh constellation, -10% from Siphon Souls set modifier, -10% from Cursebearer ring (when hit) and 20 flat from Scales constellation (when hit)). Looks good (if we forget that many hard enemies have huge Vitality Resistance ).

4. Gameplay
As I said, piano-like. Rotation “Curse of Frailty → Ill Omen (if there are many tough enemies) → Sigil of Consumption → Wendigo Rush (if needed) → Siphon Souls → spam Oblivion”. Repeat. If you need extra damage - Call of the Grave. Uptime Blood of Dreeg and do not forget debuffs. Stack Sigils under bosses, use Siphon and you will be OK (most of the time). Mark of Torment for dire situations.

5. Videos.
Mad Queen.

Kra’Vall.

Lokarr (somewhat scary now )

Morgoneth.

SR 75 full (an unfortunate pull in boss room, had to tank three bosses and their minions at once).

Avatar of Mogdrogen (old video)

Ravager of Flesh (potions are in the video, no Aether Clusters, one healpot after killing the boss , facetanking with evading on Sunder).

Callagadra (potions are in the video, no Aether Clusters, occasional healpots on phase 2, kiting).

Crate boss (potions are in the video, one tactical Aether Cluster, no healpots, kiting).

Clones of Bourbon (potions are in the video, no Aether Clusters and healpots, facetanking with some repositioning).

Thank you for visiting this topic. Hope you found it interesting and useful . As always, any suggestions/critics are welcome!

[Willnoword]

Reserved for future changes.

[Retal_Abuser]

Nice to see that people are still playing valguur’s , 2 questions.
Does Call of the Grave actually give you % vitality damage ( it shows on Grimtools) and have you tried replacing Bone harvest bar with Ravenous Earth? I think RE has more consistent damage and also removes the need to have Ill omen because of Decay.

[Willnoword]

Thanks!

Does Call of the Grave actually give you % vitality damage

Yes, it gives you (not pets, as I thought before) Vitality and Crit boost. Strange, but it works.

replacing Bone harvest bar with Ravenous Earth

Ill Omen spreads better, its damage is irrelevant, only Damage Reduction mechanic. Also, Soul Harvest modifier of Bone Harvest gives me more Vitality Damage.

[Willnoword]

Added Avatar of Mogdrogen fight. Only Stormshroud potion was used. It was really fast and easy, at least during first half of the fight . More Celestials are coming!

[Willnoword]

There was a nice brawl with Ravager of Flesh . Setup I used is slightly different because of new Rylok Mark https://www.grimtools.com/calc/4ZD1wGQN. Video was added, potions are shown there. Enjoy!

[Willnoword]

While I think how to beat Callagadra, here is my Crucible video . Nice facetanking, bad piloting - 7 minutes 59 seconds. Does this build deserve [cr] tag, what do you think?

[AngmarDT]

Is Ghoul really needed? I don’t see any weapon damage in the build.

[Ptirodaktill]

Ghoul is not needed, you can use alternative devotion path https://www.grimtools.com/calc/O2G0ObqV
Also fang is better that claw and eldrich pact >serenity.
And destruction seems like horrible invesment to me. Around 200 flat dmg for 11 points? Dread seems better.

[Willnoword]

Is Ghoul really needed? I don’t see any weapon damage in the build.

Bone Harvest and procs from Bat/Scales devotions have %WD. But the reason I took Ghoul is for circuit-breaker. Just to feel safer .

Ghoul is not needed, you can use alternative devotion path https://www.grimtools.com/calc/O2G0ObqV
Also fang is better that claw and eldrich pact >serenity.

Too risky for me in terms of CC resistances and DA, also another button to press in already overburdened piano play. Fang of Ch’thon? Eh… As an alternative, maybe. And yes, damage-wise Pact relic is supreme. But Serenity I like more . By the way, what is the point in Second rite?

And destruction seems like horrible invesment to me. Around 200 flat dmg for 11 points? Dread seems better.

Upgrade Sigil, the main skill or Bone Harvest, which I use as a filler and Soul Harvest/Dying God proc?..

This build (and, well, almost all my builds) I tried to make as close to universal as possible. So I can beat SR, Crucible, Celestials, Nemeses, everything without changing Devotions/gear, only potions and some augments if needed. Maybe not optimal, but guaranteed.

[Willnoword]

Here is damage comparison for Sigil of Consumption and Bone Harvest (without any buffs).

(1 - 8/12 Dread, 2 - 19/12 Dread)

(1 - 22/12 Destruction, 2 - no points, 3 - 11/12 Destruction)

Sigils we can stack under enemies (up to 3), Bone Harvest hits once. Vitality Decay is better on Harvest. But it is not Decay stacking build, for which I would definitely choose another Devotion path, gear or maybe another build completely.

[Ptirodaktill]

Too risky for me in terms of CC resistances and DA, also another button to press in already overburdened piano play. Fang of Ch’thon? Eh… As an alternative, maybe. And yes, damage-wise Pact relic is supreme. But Serenity I like more . By the way, what is the point in Second rite?

Ptirodaktill:

Flat dmg for devotions procs. Just checked https://www.grimtools.com/calc/4VxwX3a2 this pal, finished in 6:30 on first try with 4 buffs no banner. 1850 DA under debuffs
https://youtu.be/M7nnxTdUbXI dropped Blood boil to onepointer . Funny, its ended faster that my fevered rage valguur, hm.

[Willnoword]

You were fortunate not to get Cruel mutator . So, no DA meta then (in Crucible, of course)? Great piloting by the way!

[Willnoword]

Hello again! Some news about last big Celestial - Callagadra. In short - I have beaten her, the build is worse than my Black Flame Warlock, do not try that nasty gargoyle with it . Kill proof:

But if it is not enough and you want to see full version of my disaster, videos were added. About the fight - everything that Callagadra makes is enough to almost one-shot you. Unexpected tornadoes from below, teleports, regular swipes - literally everything. I do not like that boss at all (only Crate is worse ).

Few words about Crucible. The build is slow for it (my best time remains 7 minutes 59 seconds), but reliable. So, if you farm Crucible and do not care much about timers, this is a solid build that can hold against double Reapers, or Fabiuses, or Maidens (or even three of them at once ). Kubacabra and Zantarin are slow to kill and can spoil your speedruns.

[Ptirodaktill]

You can speed it up considerably with some extra dmg . Serenity is clearly not doing much on the build that heal from 0 to max in one tick, Eldrich pact is way better. You also strugle with RR as chuppa take forever to kill - Fang of Chton and Sigil of depraved provide -30% RR with autoapply and some extra dmg. Also that amulet is a trap, you only gain 1 extra tick of SoC, not two https://www.grimtools.com/db/items/8997 this one is far better offensively.
Also max wasting instead of Blood boil - almost same OA reduction, but more dmg and better trash clearing potential.

[Willnoword]

You can speed it up considerably with some extra dmg . Serenity is clearly not doing much on the build that heal from 0 to max in one tick, Eldrich pact is way better. You also strugle with RR as chuppa take forever to kill - Fang of Chton and Sigil of depraved provide -30% RR with autoapply and some extra dmg. Also that amulet is a trap, you only gain 1 extra tick of SoC, not two https://www.grimtools.com/db/items/8997 this one is far better offensively.
Also max wasting instead of Blood boil - almost same OA reduction, but more dmg and better trash clearing potential.

Something like this? If I understood everything right (Signet of the Fallen reduces RR, not Sigil of Depraved). A small remark: Kuba and all other resistant enemies are slower to kill, not forever (at least, in Crucible, Nemeses there are much weakened). Trash mobs die with acceptable speed, no complaints. But yes, in comparison with top-tier “less than 5 minutes” Crucible gladiators it is really slow build.

[Ptirodaktill]

yeah, mixed these rings
Build is capable of 4 runs on one set of blessings while facetanking all content, so you definitely can make it faster =)

[Willnoword]

Somewhat late update! 1.1.8.0 brought some nerfs to Vitality characters, and even more to Valguur :

• Tip the Scales: reduced Resist Reduction to 20 and reduced damage
• Vulnerability: adjusted Resist Reduction scaling with rank to compensate for monster Resist changes
• Spectral Wrath: adjusted Resist Reduction scaling with rank to compensate for monster Resist changes
• Valguur’s Hunger Set: increased Vitality damage modifier for Sigil of Consumption to 140 and reduced its % Attack damage Converted to Health modifier to 4%. Reduced % Life Leech Resist Reduction modifier for Siphon Souls to -5%.

Now we are more vulnerable than before, so be careful. Also, because of this:

• Call of the Grave: now also grants % damage and % Crit damage for the caster. Removed Health Regen for pets and combined the % damage bonuses into % All damage.

I shifted some points from Soul Harvest to Call of the Grave, now it is our additional Dying God proc without penalties .
Grimtools link and guide were updated according to the changes. Also, added a new Crucible video with better timer results.

[Willnoword]

Cool to see someone making use of call of the grave without pets. Nice choice of mainhand!

It became more important for Necromancers themselves than pets, in my opinion. If only developers left Health Regen, it was such a good mechanic .

Since the modifier is giving you 10% crit for free, and one pointing it will give you quite a few points for good value, and OA is not on the higher side: perhaps it is worth testing call of the grave only 1 pointed and with the points put back into another damage source. May improve overall damage ofthe build.

Now it gives me 20% Crit Damage and 175% Vitality Damage . I think it is more than 45% Vitality Damage on Soul Harvest. Anyway, I do not have much options left for skill points, unless I change some gear. Maybe in the future.

Updated stats screenshots according to build tweaks (defence parameters are the same).

[Willnoword]

1.1.8.1 patch added nothing, removed nothing .