Warning : I haven’t played in a while, and didn’t update the guide for 1.2. Thus, builds below are probably outdated. That being said, the core concept should still work, so you can still read if you want the reasoning behind. For example, @Beastcaller did an alternative version : Conjurer, Level 100 (GD 1.2.0.2) - Grim Dawn Build Calculator that should be able to facetank most content in the game.
Greetings ! I’ve been having a lot of fun lately building my first successful hardcore character, so I decided to share it there. Last time I built around the Winter King’s blade, this time I decided to try this item Fleshwarped Bulwark which is available quite early (around lvl 30) and made the HC journey much easier.
The build :
GrimTool link
Here is the regular build : GT-link for all-purpose set up , this set up in my opinion provides the best compromise between offense and survivability. With slight changes (augments, skill distribution) you can aim for specific target like celestials, and it should be able to beat everything in the game.
Example of a greenless version (except for the shield of course) : greenless version
Example of an alternative version by Duskdeep86 : Duskdeep86’s build (it was made in 1.1.9.4 )
For those interested, 1.1.9.2 versions I originally posted :
grimtool link for my old regular setup
here is the old dreamed version with perfect affixes (in my opinion) : click here
Build description
It is all about stacking a lot of flat damages (max lvl Blood of dreeg and Mogdrogen pact for example), and all about stacking pets who will capitalize on the aforementionned flat damages (up to 19 pets !). I chose acid conversion for 3 reasons : 1)I love Ghol set, 2)Blood of Dreeg 3) I wanted to try this Mythical Blightshard Amulet. It turns out that the build has a surprisingly high dps (higher than my expectations at least). Note that high conversions rolls are needed on rings, and to a lesser extent on the amulet (if you want 100% phys to acid conversion, it is possible with this scepter : Mythical Blightstone Invoker, but you’ll lose those 3 cute little chtonics 
)
I tryed to take a picture with all the pets visibles, but it’s quite hard actually, these idiots are walking on each other
On the defensive side, we have around 22k hp, 65->80% phys res (depending on affixe/rolls), 1k8 HP regen (3k with procs). You are obviously not immortal, but you are resilient enough to actually see death coming, while having enough time ahead of you to deal with it.
Performances :
Celestials
Ravager of Mind
The regular build should work with a bit of kiting. I however recommend to invest heavily in wendigo totem, and to change augments accordingly (def/regen augment on armor pieces, and offensive augment on rings and weapon/shield). Huge offense is needed to summon spiders and proc seal of annihilation despite the offense debuff of ravager.
video : Ravager 1min10
build used in the video : Ravager set up
back in 1.1.9.2. :
Ravager 1min28
Grimtool old link for Ravager (basically dominator prefixe over taskmaster on legs, 17 on ground slam over primal spirit, and def augment on useless res against him)
Avatar of Mogdrogen
The fight might be tough if you don’t have “of the wild” affixe, which give a lot of elem resist for your pets. Here again I suggest to adjust your augments, you need a lot of elem resist, stun resist, and enough offense to crit from time to time.
video : Mogdrogen 1min20
build used in the video : Mog set up
here is a video against Mog from Duskdepp86 (in 1.1.9.4) : Dusk vs Mog
Callagadra
This fight is way harder (for me at least), but you shoul be able to escape if things go wrong, thanks to the survivability of the build. You need to be comfortable with re-summoning your pets during the fight (it was not easy on controller for me), because they *will* die.video : Callagadra 3min30
build used in the video : Cally set up
here is a video from Duskdeep86 : Callagadra fight
Bourbon and Lokarr are easily handled by the build (around 20 sec on average for the later) :
Fight vs Lokarr 15sec
and here is the fight vs Crate :
Hesitant firts attempt vs Crate
Crucible
I’m not that much into crucible, and I’m not very good at it, however, I did some crucible sessions to see if you can do it without dying and in a decent timer. I first started with the regular set up, without trouble in about 5min30-6min. I then tryed with more agressive augments, and without wendigo totem (for more points in CoF). I recorded a 4min50 run at best, most of the time it is about 5"20.
video of the 4min50 run : 4min50 run 4 blessing+1 vanguard banner
example of 4 runs session : crucible 4 runs in a row
build used : Crucible specs
old video with the 1.1.9.1 set up :
Cr150-170 4 blessings -1 Vanguard banner -full of pharma 5min 20 (pharma used : all the royal jelly things for extra regen, the two ugdenbog juice things that give +HP, the Mogdrogen Elixir for pet total speed, and wrath of the beast tincture+ the tincture that pop a pet during the fight)
SR
The build can consistently go through SR 75-76 without trouble, in 8-14 min depending on the maps/mutators (11-12 min most of the time). Don’t aggro the whole map, though…and be extra carefull if there is a lurking Alex, he can be deadly to your pets+he has a huge poison resist, and I suggest you to take anti freeze consumable if there is Moozi.
At the moment I only pushed a 80, without trouble, I plan to push further when I’m done with the character, to see how far it goes and seek a glorious death^^
Duskdeep86 past through a 99 and unfortunately died in SR 100 from Reaper hands. Maybe in soft core with some death and a bit of fishing you can go further, I don’t know I have zero experience in deep SR.
Skill point/Devotions :
Devotions
As always, the devotions path shown in the GT links are not set in stones, feel free to experiment, however, here are imo the core devotions :
- Murmur, Mistress of Rumor ( for acid RR, oviously)
- Mogdrogen the Wolf ( huge total speed buff is very valuable with primal instinct )
- Shepherd’s Crook ( cheap and good constellation for pets, that help for Mogdrogen the Wolf)
Once you have those, I recommand these :
- Bysmiel command (not for the global RR, we already have Ghol, but for the extra pet, and the quite good nods for pets)
- Behemoth (especially in HC, it can help)
The rest is up to you, but here are some devotions that are worth mentionning :
- Huntress (the build can pack a lot of bleed damage, especially if you chose the sand king amulet)
- Eldricht fire (if you don’t have blightshard amulet, this could help your dermapterans to shine
, + we have some chaos damages here and there, you could even pair it with the solael witchfire mod) - every strong AoE you could bind to a pet ( Leviathan, Amatok, Fiend, Falcon etc.)
- Feel free to try the blue devotions for pets, I don’t like them but they are for sure safer.
Skill points
You should max out mogdrogen pact, blood of dreeg, and primal bond. I strongly recommand to max out briarthorn and emboldening presence. Of course, take at least one point in devouring swarm (for Ghol bonus) and at least 10 pts in vulnerability.
You can invest in Wendigo totem, especially in HC, or in Primal spirit (especially if you chose Necrolord gaze).
You can invest more heavily in Curse of Frailty and Devouring swarm if you want a bleed support (especially with sand king amulet), in this case you should take the Huntress devotion. Investing 3 pts in consecrated blade (in Solael Witchfire Branch) could be an option, especially if you have poor conversion rolls on your rings (after all, chaos is probably better than physical, even without a lot of support), in this case you should take Solael witchblade devotion.
Alternative items :
This build revolves around several key items that I consider to be the irreducible core : Ghol’s malice set, 2 Mythical Yugol’s Ichor (try to have as much % phys to acid conversion), Primal instinct, and of course the Fleshwarped Bulwark.
Concerning the shield’s affixe, I suggest of Mending or of Immortality for suffixe, for prefixe there’s a lot of valuable options : Durable, Keeper, Enduring, Impassable, Hoarfrost, Immovable. If you don’t care that much about physical resist, you can go for a CDR approach : chronomancer or supercharged (CDR is desirable because of devotion procs, and especially if you invest in primal spirit). Note that you can reset this shield in the vendor in Valbury.
That being said, this leaves room for several item slots that are open to debate :
Head
First helm that comes to mind is Mythical Circlet of the Great Serpent, and even the non mythical version is interesting with its unique proc. Mythical Necrolord’s Gaze provides interesting stats, go for it if you want to invest in primal spirit (which could be the optimal choice for crucible). I chosed Spectral Crown for the physical res it provides for both you and pets, it is not hard to farm but it is long and boring, go for pets affixes if possible. A good Ascendant Cowl should be strong too, especially if you invest a lot in ground slam.
Weapon
I chosed Mythical Black Hand of Sanar’Siin for the 3 little extra pets, but here is a list of alternative weapons to consider :
- Salazar’s sovereign blade a cool extra pet, with RR, this thing cannot be bad !
- Mythical Blightstone Invoker can be used to achieve 100% phys to acid conversion.
- Mythical Black Scourge helps a lot with skill points, good pet stats, infortunately the proc is hard to get (YOU have to deliver the fatal blow, not your pets)
- Mythical Plaguebearer of Dreeg this one might be decent because of the RR proc that seems strong, unfortunately the skill points it gives are totally useless here.
Neck
Mythical Blightshard Amulet is arguably BIS here, especially in 1.1.9.5 with 100% elem to acid conversion, wich really boost your little dermapterans. On top of that you have 2 distant pets with native acid damages and reduction to ennemy physical damages. That said, there’s a couple of decent alternative options :
- Mythical Heart of the Sand King is strong and can lead to an heavy bleed support (you should max CoF, invest in devouring swarm and take Huntress devotion if you chose this amulet).
- Mythical Heart of the Mountain should be decent, it is an extra pet after all, and Rumor affect cold damages too…
- Zaria’s Pendant is super strong, especially if you invest in ground slam and if you have godlike affixes.
Legs
Mythical Wildshorn Legguards gives a lot of useful skill points. Pet acid retaliation feat the theme, but I don’t know if it provides relevant damages. However, I prefer Bysmiel-Sect Legguards because of phys res for pets, and for trap resist ( I HATE being trapped into a null orb, for example…).
Belt
Mythical Nosferattis is overall the best here I think, but you can go for Mythical Shadowfiend’s Cord or for an exceptionnal Chains of Brandis.
Boots
Well, I can’t think of any other good option here, other boots seem strickly inferior 
.
!
