Hi! 
The time has come to build something different, almost completely new for me. A pet build capable of endgame content. A small remark - this is not my first attempt. There were Skeleton + Blight Fiend + Reap Spirit Cabalists, Cold Briarthorn Druids etc. Some were okay, others not so much. Pet architecture is like from another reality. I felt like my Taken character was a fat stat stick (or rather, totem) that spawns various monstrosities and debuffs. Not killing enemies face-to-face is something unusual. Maybe I played too much Warlords 
. Anyway, let us talk about today’s build.
I wanted to try specifically Chaos pets since it is my favorite type of damage in the game and great Dying God constellation offers bonuses to pets as well. The natural choice was freshly-buffed Desecrator Covenant set and Occultist main mastery. But what of support second one? Necromancer and Shaman for additional pets? Nah, they do not have any Chaos support. And I needed RR. Only two choices remained - Demolitionist and Inquisitor. Pyromancer for Chaos offers only clunky RR through Thermite Mines… and that’s it 
. Flame Touched aura has meager impact. On the other hand, Deceiver has juicy buffs (Word of Renewal line - also healing, Aura of Conviction) and useful Chaos RR (Word of Pain). That was my final choice.
So I made and tested Desecrator Covenant Deceiver against various content and then realised - there was another way to build Chaos pets 
. By combining Shepherd of Lost Souls set with Blood Orb of Ch’Thon for additional Hellhound and full Elemental-to-Chaos conversion. I tested it too, because why not?
In this topic I will demonstrate two builds - Desecrator Covenant (DC) and Shepherd of Lost Souls (SoLS) - simultaneously, so you can see the difference between them, all pros/cons. Let’s go!
1. Grimtools link.
Deceiver, Level 100 (GD 1.1.9.5) - Grim Dawn Build Calculator - Desecrator Covenant variant;
Deceiver, Level 100 (GD 1.1.9.5) - Grim Dawn Build Calculator - Shepherd of Lost Souls variant.
The devotion tree is the same - with Dying God and Ishtak as T3, also Bysmiel’s Bonds for additional pet spawn and flat RR. Fiend bound to Hellhounds is good for AoE damage. Compact and simple (no Tree of Life unfortunately 
).
2. In-game character stats.
DC general stats, only passive buffs, Blood of Dreeg and Word of Renewal are active
SoLS general stats, only passive buffs, Blood of Dreeg and Word of Renewal are active
DC pet stats
SoLS pet stats
DC defense stats
SoLS defense stats
3. Gear/Build explanation.
For DC and SoLS builds gear is same in common slots with more/less impact. Let’s look at it.
- Core items.
Set. Desecrator Covenant (for DC obviously
). Full Physical-to-Chaos (great for Hellhound and Eldritch Hound), up to 60% Elemental-to-Chaos (great for Hellhound and Raven) conversions, bunch of skillpoints (+2 to Occultist on top), good Pet bonuses. Great Epic set that blocks every great Pet slot 
. But your two (three) minions are mighty indeed.
Set. Shepherd of Lost Souls (for SoLS). Allows to summon two angry Hell doggos with less CD. Sounds wonderful. No significant bonuses to Raven unfortunately (except common).
Off-hand. Blood Orb of Ch’thon (for SoLS). Converts all Elemental-to-Chaos damage for you and pets (great for Hellhound and Raven), +1 to Occultist. Craftable. - Mandatory items.
Rings. Voidwhisper Band (both DC and SoLS). Great Chaos pets ring with bonuses to Hellhound and its aura Hellfire, Freeze Resistance for you, Vitality-to-Chaos conversion for your pets (actual for SoLS only) and proc with additional damage as well as Physical-to-Chaos conversion (has more impact on SoLS since it has only 45% constant Physical-to-Chaos conversion through Solael’s Witchfire modifier).
Amulet. Will of Bysmiel (for DC). Makes our Raven shoot 7 piercing projectiles, sounds huge for AoE indeed. +1 to Occultist on top.
Medal. Halion’s Crest (for SoLS). Our Hellhounds become faster and angrier
! “Wraithbound” prefix is good for Stun Resistance, any decent suffix is obviously great (I gained Nemesis reputation with Cronley’s Gang while farming the medal, the variant I use is most useful, not the best).
Chest. Fiendmaster Raiment (both DC and SoLS). An amasing chest slot for Chaos pets with CC aura for them. Just take it, nothing is better, in my opinion.
Pants. Bysmiel-Sect Legguards (both DC and SoLS). Good MI pants with Trap CC and Phys res. Look for “of the Wild” suffix for %Elemental Resistance to pets, prefix is up to you.
Relic. Mogdrogen’s Ardor (both DC and SoLS). Juicy Pet bonuses, +1 to All Skills (really needed). Completion bonus can be any.
Belt. Nosferattis (both DC and SoLS). +1 to Occultist, %Bleed and Phys res, Stun and Mind Control (important for DC). You can use Shadowfiend’s Cord for Pierce Res cap, of course, but, to be honest, Callagadra and Fabius are manageable with Nosferattis, and these are the only two cases for that resistance to matter. So I did not bother.
Gloves. Touch of the Everliving Grove (both DC and SoLS). Pierce Resistance for pets (important), +2 to WoR, some healing proc for you (not much, but better than nothing).
Boots. Grim Harvest Boots (both DC and SoLS). %Elemental Resistance for pets, %Phys for you. An OK slot, sturdy and not hard to get.
Craft with Reduced Stun Duration (bonus is provided by Malmouth blacksmith in Steelcap District).
About Resistance Reduction. Total amount is ~86% (-26% from WoP modifier, -35% from Solael’s Witchblade constellation and flat 25 from Bysmiel’s Bonds pet). Benn and Reaper are pretty sturdy (though manageable), Kuba is annoying maybe for all Pet builds due to its healing pools, others are more or less the same.
4. Gameplay.
Debuff your enemies with WoP and let your minions do all heavy-lifting 
. Throw some Dreeg eyes to proc Hungering Void and do not forget to uptime BoD/WoR for healing/buffs. Amatok’s Breath for battlefield movement. Lazy pet builds 
.
5. Videos.
Avatar of Mogdrogen (DC). Only healpots.
Clones of Bourbon (DC).
Clones of Bourbon (SoLS).
Kra’Vall (DC).
Kra’Vall (SoLS).
Lokarr (DC).
Lokarr (SoLS).
Mad Queen (DC).
Mad Queen (SoLS).
Morgoneth (DC).
Morgoneth (SoLS).
Ravager of Minds (DC). Healpots and some Beast tinctures from Rovers.
Ravager of Minds (SoLS). Healpots and some Beast tinctures from Rovers.
Callagadra (DC). Healpots and some Beast tinctures from Rovers. Forgot to turn on video recording, sorry . The fight was ~20-30 minutes of constant kiting.
Callagadra (SoLS). Healpots and some Beast tinctures from Rovers.
SR 75 full (DC).
SR 75 full (SoLS).
Crate boss is not possible for DC variant, too low damage output. SoLS in right hands can, in theory, do it. I just do not have enough patience for that mob .
So, these are my pet builds - one concept, two variants to implement it. DC is viable, SoLS is better. Which one did you like most? Have I succeeded as a pet builder? Feel free to comment .
In these turbulent times I wish everyone sunny day and clear sky. Let all disasters go away as soon as possible. Stay safe and healthy!
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