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 Shepherd of Lost Souls variant as more powerful one. Let’s go!
1. Grimtools link.
Deceiver, Level 100 (GD 1.1.9.5) - Grim Dawn Build Calculator - Desecrator Covenant variant, just for history . It is viable, but hard to beat two Hellhounds.
Deceiver, Level 100 (GD 1.2.0.3) - Grim Dawn Build Calculator - Shepherd of Lost Souls variant I use.
The devotion tree includes Dying God and Ishtak as T3, also Bysmiel’s Bonds for additional pet spawn. Fiend bound to Hellhounds is good for AoE damage. Compact and simple (no Tree of Life unfortunately ).
2. In-game character stats.
general stats, only passive buffs, Blood of Dreeg and Word of Renewal are active
pet stats
defense stats
3. Gear/Build explanation.
As much Chaos conversion as possible, a little bit defense for character - these are two main criterias for gear choice. Let’s look at it.
- Core items.
Set. Shepherd of Lost Souls. 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. Converts all Elemental-to-Chaos damage for you and pets (great for Hellhound and Raven), +1 to Occultist. Craftable. - Mandatory items.
Rings. Voidwhisper Band. Great Chaos pets ring with bonuses to Hellhound and its aura Hellfire, Freeze Resistance for you, proc with additional damage as well as Physical-to-Chaos conversion.
Medal. Halion’s Crest. 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. 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. 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. Juicy Pet bonuses, +1 to All Skills (really needed). Completion bonus can be any.
Gloves. Touch of the Everliving Grove. Pierce Resistance for pets (important), +2 to WoR, some healing proc for you (not much, but better than nothing).
Boots. Grim Harvest Boots. %Elemental Resistance for pets, %Phys for you. An OK slot, sturdy and not hard to get. - Can be changed.
Belt. Nosferattis. +1 to Occultist, %Bleed and Phys res, Stun and Mind Control. Any +1 to Occultist belt like Shadowfiend Cord or Puppetmaster Links with right affixes also fit well. Not Lunal’Valgoth one though, it has bad Elemental-to-Vitality conversion.
Craft with Reduced Stun Duration (bonus is provided by Malmouth blacksmith in Steelcap District).
About Resistance Reduction. Total amount is ~79-86% (-26% from WoP modifier, -35% from Solael’s Witchblade constellation and flat 18-25 from either Ishtak proc or 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.
Mad Queen (turn her away of your sight).
Kra’Vall.
Lokarr.
Morgoneth.
SR 75 full.
Avatar of Mogdrogen (old video, done with Desecrator Covenant set). Only healpots.
Ravager of Flesh (do not bother with potions, the boss has too much dispel. No Aether Clusters, occasional healpots and Beast Tinctures).
Callagadra (Elixir of Mogdrogen, no Aether Clusters, occasional healpots and Beast Tinctures. Tornadoes, especially big ones, are pretty lethal against pets ).
Crate boss (Elixir of Mogdrogen, no Aether Clusters, occasional healpots and Beast Tinctures. Annoying crates as usual, mess with our pets greatly).
Clones of Bourbon (Elixir of Mogdrogen, no Aether Clusters, healpots or Beast Tinctures).
So, this is my pet build. Definitely had fun with it, but pet playstyle overall is not my cup of tea, I prefer beating enemies by myself . Anyway, 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!