okay, so i suck at “definite rankings”/favourites and that type stuff allround generally with things, but lets see if i can use the “criterias” to add some context to my strange “rankings”
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Blademaster
undisputed master of awesomeness fun and entertainment, possibly the best mastery combo ever conceived to grace Cairn past present & future
forgetting the sheer glee of your regular run of the mill dw wps/belgo BM, there is plenty of variety in the combo to have fun different ways, and it effectively allows you to spice things up in viable ways ranging from “glassy” to more “tanky” depending on what one prefer.
It’s the AllStar, has everything and does even more and never lets you down -
Nightblade >everything × ∞
okay this might be a little “cheating” since BM uptop already includes this, but Nightblade is easily my favourite mastery with some of my absolute favourite skills, and it pairs beautifully with so many other masteries utilizing those skills in samey or different ways.
Even if it’s a 1 trick pony build or samey gimmick over and over, whether it’s dervish, witch hunter, infiltrator, breaker, etc etc they are all great and most importantly; fun, because of what Nightblade does for all of them.
Nightblade is basically the mastery messiah of Grim Dawn, it saves anything, and makes anything good (and fun) -
Oathkeeper - anything; Aegis of Menhir/Vire’s Might
alright already a bit vague i get it, but since it’s more about the skills imo it doesn’t really matter what you combine it with or which of the combos are technically most efficient.
The point is Oathkeeper brought some of the most awesome skills to the game, and few things are as satisfying playing or leveling as either Aegis of Menhir, or even Vire’s Might as decent “secondary” choice.
The sound of using Aegis just trigger those little drips of dopamine and make your brain nice and mushy of gratification
, sprinkle a couple of treats of ragdoll ontop and you can skip your doze of Zoloft for the day -
Retaliation
again not so much about a “specific” class as it is a playstyle/“skill” concept, tho could be said retal Warlord might be the “best”, tho i’m not sure if that means it alone wins the spot, since entertainment is a big deal for me too and there are some fun RATA stuff out there
And ofc praying to the Primordials that Z’s neverending “nerf train”/retal’ism ends and that they will remain both powerful and fun, both passively and offensively -
Zeus/Thor lightning god, aka Shaman w Primal Strike - anything
Few individual skills are as spectacular as Primal Strike and the overall “flashyness” all of the “basic”/usual lightning stuff provides in FX. It might be simple design when you look close, or get repetitive going off 24/7 with less than 0.5sec intervals, or “muddled”/samey FX covering the screen when you have Ultos Tempest Spear Torrent etc etc everything going off at once.
But it’s dang entertaining all the same, at least to me. - i kinda wish we could get a bonus FX modifer to add additional flashy effects to the light show, VoS or not
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AAR/Devastation Arcanist - “anything”
Take your pick, it’s kinda hard to screw up an “Arcanist” these days building around one of its core skills. Doesn’t even have to be the ever strong AAR, tho that definitely is a big part of it. But aside from PRM, everything in the Arcanist tree is just “great” even if not always top tier entertainment and performance at the same time.
Even going from 1-100 on Callidor is not something to scoff at, and there is “always” room for some Devastation lulz, even if it’s just 1pt while leveling for giggles.
And i would find it hard to pick one above the other, tho lock and binder definitely makes it a tougher contest to decide a favourite on. -
Bleeding
pick your poison, or in this case your hemorrhagic source.
most bleed builds combine some of the fun skills, fun masteries, with a fun and potent dmg approach, and lets you be a “hybrid” melee kiter if you feel uneasy waiting for things to die of exsanguination. -
alright so this is kinda a tossup between “a” dmg type, skills, and masteries
Vitality(not necessarily), Occultist/Necromancer/Shaman, Ravenous Earth Sigils Pox/plagues and general “red” draining stuff.
While it’s sorta a “slow burn”, stuff like the good ol’ Vit Conjurer, Ritualist, or RE/Sigil like spam fest is kinda awesome and being one of the few “low dmg” killers i enjoy or “tolerate” during ex leveling. Ridic sustain making you borderline immortal means you’re somehow a “tanky” caster @_@, while you have tons of exciting effects going off,
and with a few wonder skills, Pox, leveling doesn’t always feel like slog even tho it is intermittently. RE, Vines, even totems and ofc Sigil or Doombolt all are entertaining to use, and stronk skills, so your immortality doesn’t necessarily come with the downside penalty of doing crapola dmg, even tho it might not initially pack the biggest omph, (or after Z “destroys” ‘the 1 thing that made you great’
) -
Soldier
it’s the most boring mono mastery by far at a glance, but, everything in it “works”, and works with anything. It’s neigh impossible to wreck a soldier build, and while individually some of the skills might not be super entertaining, it has the staple of the “best”/easy approach leveling skills in FW.
Blade Arc is fun no doubt, retal is fun no doubt(twinked), it’s hard to not be excited about Blitz, it has non-crap wps for shts and giggle on top because it wasn’t an OP mastery enough to begin with, and it ofc has the beloved by all, the every person (incl devs) totally knows how functions and never needs explaining: -
Cadence
Rivaled by few in dmg output, and perceived “suckyness” for leveling, Cadence might just be one of the best underappreciated skills, with dopamine gratification satisfaction factor you need a licensed MD to help you with replace. Only “downside” is you either gotta know what you’re doing, or have the right stuff to utilize it or “tolerance” to “forgive” it, tho Ulvar did make a good showing and confirming it’s not total trash.
Good news is that you can get that same awesome sound FX from Maul and Bullrush, so even if your build or leveling approach wont include Cadence, you can still get that melty brain oozer tingling sensation
my “worst”/most disliked rankings, just for balance
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- Pet builds, “any” of them.
alright this one might not be “fair”, and no offense to our lovely pet lover Lady Birb Maya,
but, pet builds in GD are just “terrible” to play in terms of enjoyment for me, and are not really fun to build around because you’re sorta “locked” in in terms of “variety”/flexibility if you want something semi decent (at least from a casual level). And moreover, “aggro”/threat is just stupidly borked mechanic in GD.
-let me be clear, i don’t dispute Pet Powa or efficiency or capabilty or even beginner friendliness, if i had to recommend an easy to go to class/build for beginners, entry level or farming, it’s hard to not recommend a pet build, specially conjurer.
But, personally, they just don’t jive for me, and i know it can seem strange that i find a “passive” build like pets “boring” when i love retaliation, which might just be even more passive.
Love all you do Maya, and i really hope you keep making more and updated pet builds
(and that Z doesn’t obliterate them in 1.1.9 
), because i still have my hopes up that one day a pet build emerges i enjoy playing for the full duration
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- Pet builds, “any” of them.
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- FoI,
and this is just me, and it’s mainly just for leveling, but it’s just one of those skills that make you ask the question “why, why are you here, and why should i pick you; when AAR exists”
-clever Zantai retorts with “but not all inquisitors have access to AAR”, and it’s true, but they still have access to better and more fun skills (imo)
, that are also easier to build around.
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- FoI,
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- PRM,
“Please Rescue Me”, skill crying out desperately for attention to be “fixed”/put out of its misery. Iit’s not “fun” to level with, and i don’t like it suped up either, even tho it’s arguable a fairly spectacular skill visually, few things feel as much like an expensive/over invested dud as this
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- PRM,
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- Drain Essence, i just don’t like it, and my own endgame approaches with it wasn’t fun either, and i haven’t really been interested in trying the "elite builders"s approach to it
and the absolute worst class i despise playing(leveling) in the game is
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- Battlemage. It is just bad and boring in all the “right” places - and no, “avoiding” it with a cookie cutter FW leveling isn’t a solution, a class should “feel” better than this and not require unique gimmicks to not want to claw your eyes out.
+bonus points for phys AAR leveling being possible now tho
but if there ever was a class i wanted to GDstash/use the blank template save, Battlemage is it, and it needs a few more saving graces than a couple of (current) MIs for me to bother with again.
- Battlemage. It is just bad and boring in all the “right” places - and no, “avoiding” it with a cookie cutter FW leveling isn’t a solution, a class should “feel” better than this and not require unique gimmicks to not want to claw your eyes out.