[1.1.9.6 - 1.2.1.2] Vehemence Deniable - Octavius Paladin [sr+][vid]

[Willnoword]

Hi fellas!

A little bit late to 1.1.9.6 party, made new builds in previous patch with 1.1.9.4 offline calculator, long-term internet problems . Glad they have not turned into pumpkins. Here is one of them, many times reshuffled, but at last finalized - Octavius Paladin.

I know that I said some time ago - I do not like Templars, Paladins and later on - Witch Hunters (no, I rather hate that class ). Does not mean that builds are never devised though. At least one more-or-less stable is enough. Or I cannot call myself a GD player . Today’s patient - or Paladin family overall - is full of compromises, QoL trades, discarded ideas. All my paladins did not have workable OA/DA, damage, survivability (to my surprise), performed poorly in basic campaign trials . Not good for such ancient class. Maybe I just do not have the knack for them, who knows…

But stop speculating, you are here to see the build . And here it is.

1. Grimtools link.

Paladin, Level 100 (GD 1.2.1.2) - Grim Dawn Build Calculator

Empyrion devotion tree variant had no stats, especially OA, and sustain, so I discarded it. Dryad/Scales for healing since ADCtH is pretty low. The rest is quite standard for Physical builds - Assassin, Bear, Ulzaad, Vire etc.

2. In-game character stats.

general stats, only permanent buffs and WoR are active, Damage Per Second is for RF

damage stats

defense stats

3. Gear/Build explanation.
Survivability and skillpoints - these two criteria determined my gear choice (Octavius is so points-starved ). Here are the items.

1. Core items.
   Set. Ardor of Octavius. Physical support for our main skills - AoM and RoK, full global Elemental-to-Physical conversion for the rest. It is mostly Internal Trauma oriented, but for our purposes serves well too.
2. Mandatory items.
   Amulet. Azrakaa’s Sands. +1 to All Skills, huge %Health, %Max res, great proc, even %CDR. Just take it, nothing is better.
   Ring 1. Ring of the Black Matriarch. A boring Physical RR ring for RF abusers .
   Ring 2. Gargabol’s Ring. +3 to RF, Physical affinity. Look for OA/DA, Pierce/Vitality/Acid resistances.
   Pants. Chausses of Barbaros. Their proc is helpful for this speed-starved build, +3 to Shattering Smash is also nice.
   Relic. Serenity. +1 to All Skills, Reflected Damage Reduction (so that we do not fear Reflective mobs at all), circuit-breaker (for Paladins - take as many as you can, based on my experience).
   Belt. Gladiator’s Distinction. Vitality-to-Physical conversion for Scales never gets old, huh?
   Medal. Mark of Kalastor. Nice bonuses to RoK, %Stun res, OA, %Armor, proc is a nice addition. Craftable.
   Gloves. Colossal Grasp. Even heavily nerfed they are still BiS for all Physical S&B builds. Its stats are great - damage and defensive, passive ability etc.
   Boots. Earthshatter Threads. Great Physical slot with +2 to RoK, %Phys Res, %Petrify and %Freeze Res, DA, DR skill (wish it could be bigger in area).
3. Can be changed.
   Weapon. War’s Rebuke. For an Epic item it provides solid +1 to All Skills, massive %Armor, flat Health, DA. Proc is whatever. Better than Totally Normal Shield. Additional %AS would be nice, however. Alternative - Touch of Purity (if you do not mind pressing more buttons), +1 to All Skills, modifiers to WoR. Thanks for the idea, @Crab_Turtle_2112 .

Craft with whatever you want.

About Resistance Reduction. Total amount is ~85-87% (-25% from GoE aura, -10% from Black Matriarch ring proc, -32% from Assassin’s Blade constellation and flat 18-20 from either Shattering Smash or Scales constellation (when hit)). Not great, just okay. So far no problems against usual SR threats and Nemeses.

4. Gameplay.
AoM → RoK → Seal under yourselves if the fight takes longer than two seconds → Ground Smash for DR and healing via Dryad. RF as a filler to life-leech. Uptime WoR for healing/its bonuses, Ascension for defense/additional damage. Amatok out of danger.

5. Videos.
Mad Queen.

Kra’Vall.

Lokarr.

Morgoneth.

SR 75 full.

Avatar of Mogdrogen (old video) (tough fight, but no healpots/Clusters used, only defensive procs and WoR . Potions are in the video).

Callagadra (potions are in the video, no Aether Clusters, occasional healpots, facetanking with evading on Sunder).

Crate boss (potions are in the video, one Aether Cluster, occasional healpots, kiting and horrible runes gameplay, especially in the start ).

Clones of Bourbon (potions are in the video, no Aether Clusters and healpots, facetanking).

Ravager’s cultists were exterminated, only Reaper walks sometimes. No fight then .

Conclusions. The build does not feel safe against big celestials, in other areas it is viable (not slow, not fast). Still do not like Paladins much, but this one I dislike slightly less .

Thank you for visiting my build showcase. Have your questions written, feedback voiced, critique delivered, all is welcome.

Until next time!

[Willnoword]

This one is for me .

[Crab_Turtle_2112]

Cool build, love me some Octavius. This is the one I made for season 3 of the community league (no league item used though). Paladin, Level 100 (GD 1.1.9.6) - Grim Dawn Build Calculator (GD League Season 3 Mod) built to take down the hardest league bosses in hardcore, so probably not as versatile as yours. Just thought I’d share for comparison.

[Willnoword]

Nice weapon choice, could be an alternative if you do not mind another button to press . How did I miss it?
P.S. I know nothing about community league, but, according to your build, it seems that those bosses punish autoattackers hard .

[Crab_Turtle_2112]

Not all of them but one in particular was basically Bullet Hell Uber Loxmere with tons of DoTs. Hence the kiting build with 50% uptime DoT immunity

[Horvak]

I started this build, but i don´t get the 8 point order requirement for scales of ulcana in the devotion tree. Is there a way to give a devotion guide?

[The_Coyote]

check “How to make devotions support themselves” here

Devotions: A how-to on maximizing them

HUGE thanks and much love to…: @malawiglenn @myhr2 @Rhylthar @korsar @sigatrev This guide wouldn’t be half as complete if it weren’t for you lot. <3 Preface The discussion on how-to plan devotions is an extremely complex one, especially when considering damage-conversion mechanics and the introduction of even more pieces to this very dynamic puzzle. Hopefully this guide will help less experienced players elucidate this matter so that they may dominate cairn with the righteous wrath of the…

[Willnoword]

@Horvak

Is there a way to give a devotion guide?

No problem!

1. Crossroads Order point (Yellow);
2. Complete Assassin’s Blade constellation;
3. Complete Lotus constellation;
4. Complete Owl constellation;
5. Crossroads Primordial point (Blue);
6. Complete Sailor’s Guide constellation;
7. Complete Ulzaad, Herald of Korvaak constellation;
8. Complete Dire Bear constellation;
9. Complete Chariot of the Dead constellation;
10. Complete Panther constellation;
11. Complete Solemn Watcher constellation;
12. Complete Scales of Ulcama constellation;
13. Remove Panther constellation;
14. Remove Order point from Crossroads;
15. Crossroads Ascendant point (Purple);
16. Complete Azrakaa, the Eternal Sands constellation.

The topic above linked by @The_Coyote should explain the details. Good luck!

[Horvak]

Thank you very much, guys

[Learc]

How can i start level this build?

[Willnoword]

@Learc

How can i start level this build?

I did this. Start with Oathkeeper, melee S&B with Aegis of Menhir as AoE/nuke ability.

1. Your spam attack - Righteous Fervor - goes to 16/16 or 24/16 (if you get the gear with + to RF), its Consecration modifier - to 12/12 and 1/12 Retribution.
2. Aegis of Menhir - all points to max level, its Avenging Shield modifier - to 10/12 (to get 4 target bonus) and 12/12 Reprisal.
3. Summon Guardian of Empyrion - one point, its Celestial Presence - at least 12/12.
4. Divine Mandate - all points to max level.
5. Ascension - all points to max level, its Clarity of Purpose modifier - one point.
6. Resilience - one point.
7. Presence of Virtue - all points to max level, its Haven modifier - one point and Rebuke - all points to max level.
8. Vire’s Might - one point, its Tectonic Shift modifier - one point.
9. Safeguard - all points to max level.
10. Smite and Shattering Smash - 10/10 or 11/10.

Only at ~80 lvl I started investing points into Inquisitor mastery and its generic skills like WoR and Deadly Aim. Almost solo Oathkeeper all the way through vanilla Veteran and part Elite difficulty, it is quite doable. Devotion tree path was mentioned above, only bind Assassin’s Blade to Aegis and Ulzaad to Vire’s Might, since we do not use Rune of Kalastor during leveling process. Use common gear with %Physical Damage, bonuses to RF and Aegis, resistances to not get one-shot. Avoid Physical-to-Something conversion on weapons, shields, amulets etc. Then respec/equp gear at lvl 94. Done!

It is only viable if you have all endgame gear waiting in your stash. If not - use one of Beginner’s Guides to make somewhat usable Oathkeeper-based class to farm totems/dungeons/low SR and so on. And then respec when all gear is collected. Depends on what you have.

Sorry, I am not good at beginner’s guides . I hope that at least some of those directions will lead to success. Good luck!

[Learc]

Thank you for taking the time to answer and it has helped me a lot, it is much more than I imagined.

[Willnoword]

Hi!

It is time to “update” the build for 1.1.9.7 patch. We are so close to the end!

• Ardor of Octavius Set: increased Physical damage modifier for Rune of Kalastor to 240 and % Internal Trauma damage modifiers for Aegis of Menhir and Forcewave to 600%
• Word of Renewal: reduced Cooldown to 12s

No any major changes, so play the build and have fun!

[Willnoword]

Greetings!

This is 1.1.9.8 build update:

• Mythical Colossal Grasp: reduced % Internal Trauma on the granted passive
• Ardor of Octavius Set: replaced Internal Trauma damage bonus with 25 Physical damage
• Bulwark of Octavius: reduced Internal Trauma damage to 84 / 5s. Increased Internal Trauma damage modifiers for Aegis of Menhir and Forcewave to 220 / 3s.
• Pauldrons of Octavius: added 22 Internal Trauma damage / 5s
• Visor of Octavius: removed Internal Trauma damage. Increased Internal Trauma damage modifier for Rune of Kalastor to 200 / 2s.
• Chariot of the Dead: increased % Stun Resist to 20% and Health to 250
• Dire Bear: increased % Health to 6%
• Sailor’s Guide: added 15% Fire Resist and increased % Run Speed to 10%
• Scales of Ulcama: increased % Health to 6%, Health to 250 and % Run Speed to 6%
• Solemn Watcher: replaced % Cold Resist with 18% Chaos Resist
• Ulzaad, Herald of Korvaak: increased Health to 500 and Defensive Ability to 25. Removed % Cold Resist
• Wayward Soul: reduced Cooldown to 8s and Duration to 5s
• Avenging Shield: increased % Crit damage scaling with rank to 35% by rank 12, 55% by max ultimate rank
• Reprisal: increased Burn damage scaling with rank
• Smite: sped up the 1h-ed and dual-wield melee animation hit frame by 20% to match comparable WPS skills. Average DPS of this ability remains unchanged.

The build is up-to-date. Have fun!

[Willnoword]

Hello and welcome to 1.2.0.3 patch, guys!

Crate is not going to stop working with GD, so I will continue updating my builds. Here are changes for this one:

• Dryad: reduced Energy Regeneration to 1.0
• Scales of Ulcama: reduced Energy Regeneration to 2.5 and incrased Health Regeneration to 30 and Defensive Ability to 45
• Dryad’s Blessing: increased Healing scaling with rank
• Ulzaad’s Decree: increased Armor scaling with rank
• Wayward Soul: increased Armor scaling with rank
• Inquisitor Seal: increased Energy Cost scaling with rank
• Word of Renewal: increased Duration to 60s. Increased Energy Cost and Heal scaling with rank. Increased % Heal scaling at ultimate ranks.
• Ascension: increased Energy Cost scaling with rank
• Avenging Shield: increased bounce Range by 16%
• Smite: increased base % Weapon damage by 15%
• Shattering Smash: increased base % Weapon damage by 15%

The build was upgraded to accomodate Dryad devotion (and Turtel ) for extra sustain and defense. Added new videos too (Callagadra, Crate and Clones of Bourbon) and updated old ones (except for Mogdrogen).

Have a nice day!

[Zhunter]

I usually only read and tried out builds with GDstash to find a good build to my taste, fun, tanky and can faceroll content (but I don’t like pet builds in GD lol).

I tried a lot of builds in 1.9.x and current version, and to be honest, this paladin is the one to tick all the interests, tanky, good damage and faceroll the content, just a bit too much piano though

Thank you for the build, this one is one of the best melee build I’ve tried in years. It is as tanky as Retaliation Warlord/Warder, and can put out decent dps, almost no MI is required. A very good build to follow for beginners and new starters.

[Willnoword]

Hello again!

Let us update this Paladin for 1.2.1.2 patch, shall we?

• Shields now reduce incoming damage greater than your Shield Block Amount by 100%, up from 70%.
• Component - Seal of Might: replaced % Physical Resist with 8% Armor on the granted skill
• Component - Unholy Inscription: added 5% Attack damage Converted to Health and removed % Vitality damage
• Mythical Colossal Grasp: added 4% Block Chance and removed % Physical Resist. Reduced % Internal Trauma damage modifier for Overguard to 100%.
• Mythical Ring of the Black Matriarch: added 2% Attack damage Converted to Health
• Dire Bear: replaced Physical damage and % Defensive Ability with 4% Attack damage Converted to Health
• Dryad: reduced % Physical Resist to 3%
• Scales of Ulcama: increased % Attack damage Converted to Health to 5%
• Ulzaad: added 2% Defensive Ability
• Maul: increased % Attack damage Converted to Health scaling with rank
• Aura of Conviction: increased % Damage scaling with rank to 135% by rank 12, 210% by max ultimate rank. Reduced % Physical Resist scaling with rank to 10% by rank 12, 13% by max ultimate rank.
• Rune of Kalastor: reduced Arming Time to 1s
• Vigor: added Armor scaling with rank
• Haven: reduced % Health scaling with rank to 20% by rank 10, 32% by max ultimate rank
• Resilience: reduced % Physical Resist scaling with rank to 10% by rank 12, 15% by max ultimate rank
• Summon Guardian of Empyrion: reduced Burn damage scaling with rank

A Great Crusade against %Phys res happened in this patch . So I had to return to Earthshatter Threads and its Ground Smash instead of Gandarr’s Horn, discard Divine Mandate, Chariot, Turtle and Azrakaa almost completely in favor of Aura of Conviction with Vire. The build is still good and tankyish, even Callagadra was somewhat easier than before (even though Seals management is PitA ). Grimtools link updated, new screenshots added.

Until next message!