[1.1.9.4 - 1.2.1.0] (DW Melee) A for Aether - Melee Aether Spellbreaker [4:15 Crucible] [SR75-76] [Avatar, Ravager, Crate]

Grim Dawn Classes, Skills and Builds
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Introduction

I don’t really know what to write as an introduction as this build is super-obvious and simple so guess I’ll just put here a mad_lee’s quote:

Pierce Nightblade - Belgo BM: dedicated set, tons of synergy, special set AA, 15k hp, massive armor and phys res, steroided wps War Cry STRUGGLING to go below 4:30 in the most fantasy green spec

Aether Nightblade - Aether Spellbreaker: random items, bum AA, not even 12k hp, no armor, no good DR, bum wps EASY sub 4:20

It’s a bit of a joke but has a good amount of bitter truth as pierce/cold/acid NBs are in really bad shape now, and making, say, chaos sabo or aether breaker results in better performance despite these damage types having zero in common with NB by default.

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Gear explanation

  • Weapon – tested different combos (Mindwarp + Heart of Theodin, Blaze Herald + Heart) and 2 Blaze Heralds appeared to be bis, given better RR and full pierce convert;

  • Helm – BiS by any means due to conversion and RR;

  • Armor – 4 pieces of Krieg are quite good here for bonuses;

  • Belt – for extra damage and ADctH;

  • Rings – also tested different combos (Magelords, Magelord + Albrecht, Albrecht + Haunt, Haunt + Magelord). Two Albrechts are BiS for OA and chaos conversion.

Pros and cons of the build

Pros

  • Very smooth and simple gameplay – basically AA and Aether Corruption;

  • A lot of racial against most enemies (human, aetherials, chthonians and undead).

Cons

  • Despite quite good RR and a lot of racial aether-resistant nemesis could be a mess (Reaper especially);

  • Not very good stun res, but it’s not a big deal.

Crucible

Average time I had was about 4:40-4:50, though with some luck is goes that fast as in videos. Note that these timers are pulled off by experienced pilots that do multiple runs to record the best one.

4:14 run by nofika4u

4:26 run by myself

4:29 run by myself

Shattered Realm

SR75-76

SR90

Superbosses

Avatar of Mogdrogen - safe but quite boring fight because of often stuns.

Ravager of Minds – quite safe fight too, though one can also take 1-1 RoS for fumbles.

I also tried both Calla and Crate but didn’t succeed in it. Having only one fail-safe (MoE) and mostly direct damage alongside with mediocre stun/petrify makes these bosses too hard to defeat.

Summary and thoughts

Is the build good? For sure, yes. It’s one of the best builds I’ve played lately as it’s super-simple, has good damage and sustain and it’s quite fun. Wanted to make an aether spellbreaker for a long time (probably since Blaze Herald was released), so now I’m really happy with this one.

Despite overall good stats, build lacks some HP/cc-resists for challenges like Crate or naked ex crucible, though it’s doesn’t make it worse for me.

So feel free to download the build, play it and write your impressions/feedback. Hope you’ll have fun with it as I did!

Special thanks to @romanN1 and @nofika4u that played the build and pushed it for some solid timer.

22 Likes
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Nice one. I wondered there for a second how Albrechts could ever be better than Magelords and then I realized: Nightblade doesn’t really have any flat cold.

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that’s it. Magelords boost Corruption’s and Spear’s damage, though with double Albrechts we gain a ton of OA, fully cover el res and also gain full chaos conversion and 2 extra aoe-procs.

4

Lethal Assault?

5

no real benefit from taking it tbh, also we hardly have points for it.
almost all (if not all) non-cold/acid NBs now don’t use LA even if they have conversion as it’s hard to get ranks and basically it’s not worth interrupting AA for a short buff.

6

Great time for aether Spellbreaker.

And pro tip for builders, if you want DW melee, you choose physical and Warlord. And if you want Nightblade, then go… aether :damage_aether:

2 Likes
7

And DW ranged. And 2h melee. And retal. And some casters. :rofl:

1 Like
8

I still hope for banana to update his short guide “How to win in GD” but for current patch.

1 Like
9

or chaos, either will do. but ofc not Rah’Zin :peka:

2 Likes
10

Smooth build, finally another strong Spellbreaker! Also to avoid any misconceptions, sub 4:20 is far from easy :sweat_smile:

1 Like
11

yeah, great job for that run!
I myself broke it only a few times and obviously not with this build despite I run Crucible quite a lot :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:
nevertheless, aether breaker is overall better than cold one (dw), what a world we live in

1 Like
12

High flat, high racial damage, more RR so it’s not that surprising and we all know single cold/light/fire RR melee builds struggles a lot. Nice polishing for more damage, still amazed by how Beronath performs better than Theodin AA.

2 Likes
13

Spellbreaker, Level 100 (GD 1.1.9.4) - Grim Dawn Build Calculator it’s mageslayer breaker I made some patches ago (also posted on forum)
it’s like triple-RR cold build with fat dots and %damage but it’s just unpleasant to play. not saying that Shackes mut turns the build into a pupkin.

they have ~5k sheet difference (and Heart of Theodin has better sheet damage) but Blaze Herald gives RR and pierce conversion that outweight that flat and AA.

2 Likes
14

Nice build @afanasenkov26! My Belgo BM is crying right now :cry:

1 Like
15

Well, since I yielded to GDstash; I can upgrade my build with double rare weapons to see the difference for myself :slight_smile:

3 Likes
16

“You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain"

9 Likes
17

First step: play legit. Grind for every piece of gear.

Second step: use GD stash, create double rares, so you can have build of a max potential.

Third step: start using one green and one yellow affixes on MI items for ‘‘realistic’’ items created with this program.

8 Likes
18

3.800 hours of grinding should be enough :stuck_out_tongue:

3 Likes
19

Fourth step: make GTs and play them in mind palace.

6 Likes
20

I often play builds in mind palace and they are always godlike record breakers. I don’t make them, so that I can’t break the game :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

2 Likes