Was able to kill the base game boss in Ultimate so far, but had a few close calls on the hidden path bosses. I know my gear is subpar, still using underleved slots, but i just don’t really know what to get in terms of gear. Would also like some feedback on how to improve the build. This is an HC character btw. Build link : Druid, Level 100 (GD 1.1.9.5) - Grim Dawn Build Calculator
bump. help a brother out!
quick note
Wendigo’s mark devotion, when attached to pseudo pets does not heal player; devotion proc needs %weapon dmg for pseudo pet to be able to heal you via a lifesteal proc
alright i have legit no idea where really to begin there
assuming you are dead set on an AAR druid, i probably wouldn’t do aether, and i def wouldn’t do clairvoyant
i’d either go meme and do (full) vitality because at least Shammy supports that a little - or lightning, maybe cold, because Shaman supports that a lot easier
your totems do lightnign dmg (you have no conversion) but you’re focusing very hard in aether dmg for your aar (which make sense) which means your totem doesn’t do “much”
starting point would be to try consolidate your dmg types, ie make your totem deal the same dmg as your aar/vice versa so your dmg boosters are applied in full to all your main offensive
^another point to why an elemental dmg type aar or vitality would be easier since totems natively does that easily
devos are a bit of a mess, you’re mainly aether dmg yet take Ultos and Crown which are elemental devos (won’t increase AAR dmg even a tiny bit)
total of 0 vitality conversion into a dmg type you support, which means wendigo mark heals you very little (aside from the current misplaced trigger attachment ofc)
once you decide “what” you wanna do, then item farm/upgrades will be easier - personally i’d have no idea where to begin try kit out an aether AAR/totem druid, aside from like LIght’s Defender set (random drop) which has mild totem support and has %aether dmg boosters in it
lightning would probably be fairly reasonable, possibly even cold, maybe even vitality even if it’s maybe not super druid oriented usually
ex of a lightning druid quickly found [1.1.6.2] Druid - lightning AAR + Storm Totems | SR 80 | Cruci 150-170 | Lokarr | Mad Queen | Korvaak | Dungeon Bosses
little “old”, unsure how many tweaks there is to dust it off for today’s Cairn, and don’t know if Mergos had it HC viable “as is”, otherwise that might be additional tweaks to consider too when getting there
either way, once you decide on a direction it might get easier to suggest stuff/gear for going down X specific path you take
anyways, if you are not dead set on aar, there are ofc loads of other druid options too, all avail in both the starter compendium and full endgame compendium
if nothing else, general stuff to take away from this could be;
unify/consolidate your dmg output, incl devos/RR
keep in mind your dmg type, and your conversions when picking things, incl devos, so they benefit you (ex being currently wasted vitality dmg on wendigo mark devo)
*slight side note, AAR doesnt’ benefit from global lifesteal (character page 2), so that can be something to keep in mind
stat attention, like CC res and phys res if possible (specially since HC)
personal note is i don’t like to incorporate too much “Interrupt”/piano casting on an AAR type build if possible to reasonably avoid
Thanks for the pointers. This is and older character i built last time i played like 3 years ago, from what i remember i wanted it to be tanky and have good damage thats why i choose AAR, and took up totems as a way of sustain, hence why i took the transmuter for storm totem to do Vitality damage. I think at some point i must have tought about going lighting and that’s why the devotions are like that.
I tought wendigo would heal, since i have %weapon dmg applies to AAR on the off hand? if not, then maybe i should go with bat? if that’s a no go i’ll trade that offhand for something else i guess, maybe one of the +1 storm totems one?
I saw a set that gives wind devils +1 total, and makes it so you get 4 wind devils at once when you cast, i wonder if there’s something similar for storm totems? I found totems to be a bit clunky even if they’re good. they last too litle and having to recast constantly since they’re also my sustain kinda hurts the AAR playstyle.
Edit: i guess i’d like a way to max out mavens 22/12 and Primal bond 22/12 to have uber damage aborption to make it tankier. Really torn between vitality and lighting damage right now. And i guess devotions will need a major remake right!?
Edit2: i was under the impression +light damage would apply to the vitality damage from storm totems since it’s being transmuted into vit from lightning?
not that big if you go Lightnign 
devo changes aren’t really that hard, with Ashes of Malmouth you have super easy access to free full reset devos in a potion
leveling potential new ones happens rather quick, and you can even boost it with XP pots, only requires reputation, and if that char doesn’ have the reputation and another does, that char can put the xp pots in shared stats
Devos also level up mega quick in Shattered Realm should even quest be completed already
personally i don’t think 22+22 maiven and primal bond will be “necessary”, sure could easily go primal bond if you go vitality anyway, but going out of your way to stack +skill points to those skills i don’t think will provide the defence to warrant it
there are other ways to get chonky, and it’s worth to note that Maiven and primal bond are multiplicative when they combine their absorb not additive, so it’s not a simple full 20+15 absorb
primal bond also doesn’t give 1% absorb per point after softcap, so you get 5% more for the next 10 points, hardly worth that intense investment on a hunt from skillpoints on items (imo)
that’s not how conversion works
%dmg/global dmg boosters, like from your items, devos and buff passives apply after conversion, so you want to boost the dmg type you convert into
devotion procs also don’t get automatically converted if attached to pet just because pet was converted through the modifier
misunderstanding
the offhand, pulsing shard does not give weapon dmg to AAR, it gives direct lifesteal
if it had given weapon dmg then global lifesteal (page 2) would apply to AAR; in accordance with the amount of %weapon dmg given to AAR (global lifesteal scales down below 100% with %WD, with cap at 100%WD)
but, that has 0 influence on how wendigo works, for AAR or your pet
the devotion proc itself needs to have %Weapon Dmg for it to be able to heal you if applied to pseudo pet (so yes bat would heal you if on totem)
Wendigo itself, if attached to any of your own player skills, would heal you according to wendigo mark proc’s own native stats, regardless of your own global lifesteal or lifesteal to AAR (since those are totally separate stats)
^likewise if you attached Bat/Twing fangs proc to AAR it would still heal you “as described” from its own stats, regardless if you had weapon dmg to AAR or the heal modifier from pulsing shard; the healing from the devo proc itself/the amount and trigger is purely base on its own native stat values
hmm if i remember well, there’s an amulet that gives %WD to AAR, so that would work with wendigo right? Does ghoul work too? I just feel like my sustain is not that good as it is right now.
what would be the damage type with the highest potential for this build?
you are still misunderstanding how it works
wendigo is 100% unrelated to AAR weapon dmg, in any and all ways
wendigo mark devotion not applying heal when attached to totem is because Wendigo Mark not having native weapon dmg (unlike Bat proc) - adding WD to AAR does not fix or change this
AAR having weapon dmg/necklace, only matters in terms of global lifesteal (the stat you have in char page 2), it would not affect procs whatsoever, or how procs heal when attached to XY skill or pet
all it would do is change your native healing from AAR itself, by confering 16% of your global lifesteal stats; if your lifestea in character page 2 is 20% you would now get 3% lifesteal attached to AAR
^again this is 100% irrelevant to wendigo mark and the other devotion procs or how they work or heal you
if you attach wendigo mark to AAR “right now”, without having %WD necklace; wendigo mark will heal you
if you attach wendigo mark to totem “right now”, wendigo mark will not heal you
if you attach wendigo mark to totem “later”, while having %WD to AAR necklace; wendigo mark will still not heal you
as for the healing from AAR itself, sadly the %weapon dmg necklace is so bad/so low it’s no longer worth to use
you get more healing from pulsing shard, but even then there is another necklace that also offers more healing (natively to AAR - still unrelated to devo procs) Mythical Essence of the Grim Dawn - Items - Grim Dawn Item Database
for a devotion proc to heal player; when it is attached to a player scaled pet, like totem: The devotion proc itself must have %weapon dmg
if a devotion proc is attached to player attack skills, it doesn’t matter if the skill or the proc has %weapon dmg, it will heal player regardless; since the proc heals from its native stats not your %weapon dmg anyway
pseudo pets/player scaled pets just can’t apply healing onto player if the devotion proc itself has no %weapon dmg
again, bat proc on totem will heal you, wendigo mark on totem will never heal you, no matter what you do
^for wendigo mark to heal you, you need to attach it to a player attack skill, no matter your own %weapon dmg or the skill’s %weapon dmg (ex if you attach wendigo mark to Trozan it will also still heal player; if you attach wendigo mark to wind devil; even if you use Callidor or regular blank weapon auto attacks, wind devil will still not heal you with wendigo proc)
hope this helped clarify it (and didn’t just make it more confusing)
i think i understand it now, totems / wind devils = no go with wendigo. so the best thing is probably to attach it to a high frequency hit skill, since dmg on the skill doesnt matter also. So either Grasping Vines or Devouring Swarm.
Edit: Do i need %wd on AAR for Ghoul to work?
the lifesteal portion yes
since Ghoul is a global buff it confers global lifesteal
and for global lifesteal to work/heal your attack must be a weapon attack or have %weapon dmg
*worth to keep in mind ghoul can still be nice simply from the temporary physical resist it provides even without the lifesteal (in general the %wd necklace for AAR isn’t worth it even for Ghoul)