[1.1.9.6 - 1.2.1.5] Tempest Chargeable - Dawnbreaker Vindicator [sr+][vid]

Grim Dawn Classes, Skills and Builds
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Greetings! :slightly_smiling_face:

The forum became so desolate, build topics so rare. This is not right. At least untild GD2 comes out :laughing:. I still have many builds to share and here is one of them - Dawnbreaker Vindicator.

Why not Warder, you say? Well, it is good, but I wanted to try something else that makes sense. Tactitian does not have an AA replacer to sustain and has two conflicting auras to choose between - AoC and MB. Also, we have only one Retaliation Vindicator here, from AoM era, old and outdated severely.

Time to bring the archetype to the table again!

1. Grimtools link.

Heavy Lightning Retal setup with decent survivability and damage even against casters. 16/16 Savagery is optional, you can leave it one-pointed and throw skill points somewhere else (in Mogdrogen’s Pact for more Energy Regen, for example, you need to cast Grasping Vines often).

2. In-game character stats.
1.2.1.5_DV_general_stats
general stats, only passive buffs and Word of Renewal are active. Damage Per Second is for Savagery

1.2.1.5_DV_retaliation_stats
retaliation stats

1.2.1.5_DV_defense_stats
defense stats

3. Gear/Build explanation.
I took all gear with flat Lightning Retaliation since it has huge numbers range for some “flavor” reasons :angry:. To make it worthwhile in terms of damage. It costed some +1 Skills though.

  1. Core items.
    Set 1. Dawnseeker’s Light. A nice set for Lightning Retaliation Warders, its Inquisitor support is just some boring numbers to Word of Renewal :roll_eyes:. Anyway, it does its job. Some %RtA to Savagery, flat RR, good proc with RtA and other QoL stuff.
  2. Mandatory items.
    3 parts of Set 2. Dawnshield. Another great Lightning Retaliation set with huge numbers, points to Grasping Vines line for AoE damage, only 5% Phys Res at average, no OA/DA at all :rofl:.
    Rings. Creeping Ring. We do not have Lightning Retal rings and want some stats badly (OA/%Acid/Vitality/Aether Res mostly, %Slow Res is also great - for all green MIs). These are good ones even for non-Acid Retal builds. Easily farmable in Ancient Grove/during Ugdenbloom crusades.
    Pants. Anchorite’s Leg Armor. Flat and percentage Lightning Retal numbers, %Stun Res, points to Raging Tempest for more RR and Arcane Empowerment.
    Relic. Eye of the Storm. +1 to Shaman, big Lightning Retal numbers on relic and its granted aura. Bonus does not matter.
    Belt. Stormtouched Chains. Good Retaliation numbers, both flat and percentage, OA. Not much to choose from.
    Medal. Ikrix Scale. The only medal with Lightning Retal. Same stats as for Rings are desirable.
    Boots. Stormbearers. Flat Lightning Retal, %Phys Res, DA, proc with RtA. Stormtitans offer less than these boots and proc is overriden by AoC aura.

Craft with Reduced Stun/Freeze Duration (bonus is provided by Malmouth blacksmith in Steelcap District).

About Resistance Reduction. Total amount is ~105-111% (-33% from Wind Devils, -25% from AoC, -35% from Widow constellation and flat 12-18 from Dawnbreaker’s Sledge) plus 20% RR from Viper constellation, so it can vary. Of course, Valdaran, Morgoneth and Grava are annoying to beat, but not impossible. Just takes some time. No particular problems against other Nemeses.

4. Gameplay.
Charge into crowds, cast some Grasping Vines for AoE and single damage too, Shield Slam sometimes to proc Dryad and Savagely beat everything you see :grin:. Uptime WoR, use Inquisitor Seal and Wendigo Totem for defense and Will of the Fallen Kings for battlefield movements. Watch everything electrocuted by touching you :laughing:.

5. Videos.
Mad Queen (did not use Vines much to not proc her retal spikes).

Kra’Vall.

Lokarr (runs like a scared chicken).

Morgoneth.

SR 75 full (one death to Zantarin’s barrage, returned and beat his sorry a**e :sweat_smile:. Twice. No time lost).

Avatar of Mogdrogen (old video) (bad for melee Retal builds, high %Lightning Res, annoying Rats. Not a pleasant fight. But possible. Potions are in the video, no Clusters, occasional healpots).

Ravager of Minds (no potions, no Aether Clusters, occasional healpots, kiting. Greatly annoyed by totems - his and mine - and sunder projectiles. Just horrible boss design, in my opinion :-1:).

Callagadra (potions are in the video, no Aether Clusters, one healpot, facetank with evading on sunder. Its thick frame messes with our Seals and totem much :face_with_symbols_over_mouth:).

Okay, that was my Dawnbreaker Vindicator. Fun, sparky, not a Warder, somewhat annoying to pilot, but still good build to try. Hope you liked it as well. And had some feedback, of course. Feel free to comment, as usual.

Thank you for reading. Until next build!

13 Likes
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I forgot what I was going to write :thinking:… Ah, nevermind.

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Impessive! Did you try Crate with it?

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Thanks!

No, I didn’t try that boss yet. Crate does not attack in melee, so our damage output is severely reduced. Also, the build does not have great single-target damage and can create too many boxes to handle. Not to say that we have to facetank, against Crate :sweat_smile:.

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Good afternoon. Not a bad result, although I did a lot of things differently and it turned out even better ))

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Hello! Congratulations to you :slightly_smiling_face:.

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Hello! :slightly_smiling_face:

Some big buffs arrived with 1.1.9.7 patch:

  • Reduced monster % Lightning Resist by 3% on Ultimate difficulty and 2% on Elite difficulty
  • Dawnseeker’s Light Set: increased % Lightning Retaliation damage bonus to 200% and increased % Retaliation added to Attack modifier for Savagery to 7%
  • Mythical Dawnbreaker’s Beacon: increased Lightning Retaliation damage to 660
  • Mythical Dawnbreaker’s Duty: increased % All Retaliation damage to 80%
  • Oak Skin: increased % All Retaliation damage scaling with rank
  • Storm Touched: increased % Lightning Retaliation damage scaling with rank
  • Word of Renewal: reduced Cooldown to 12s

Retaliation number grows and it is pleasant to see, especially for Lightning Damage type :slightly_smiling_face:. See you!

8

Greetings!

This is 1.1.9.8 build update:

  • Rare Suffix - Scorched Ends: replaced Burn Retaliation with Fire Retaliation
  • Stormbearers: added 18% Elemental Resist
  • Lion: increased % Run Speed to 6% and increased % Health for pets to 8%
  • Targo the Builder: increased % Health to 12%

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

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Revive this topic? Yes, of course! We have 1.2.0.3 patch already :laughing:.

What is new for the build?

  • Ghoul: increased Health Regeneration to 16 and % Health Regeneration to 30%
  • Shieldmaiden: increased % Block Chance to 11%
  • Ghoulish Hunger: added % Increased Healing (Forgotten Gods only) and added % Cast Speed
  • Shield Wall: increased base % Armor by 10%
  • Mogdrogen’s Pact: increased Health Regeneration scaling with rank
  • Heart of the Wild: increased % Health Regeneration scaling with rank. Fixed Bleeding and Poison Duration Reduction to correctly reduce the duration of these dots, rather than being multipliers for other Duration Reduction effects.
  • Wendigo Totem: increased base % Heal to 3% and increased Damage and Energy Cost 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.

Insignificant buffs, that is all. I added Dryad devotion for better sustain, the gear is same :slightly_smiling_face:. GT link updated, as well as videos except for Mogdrogen.

Have a good time!

10

Hi! :grinning:

The upgrading continues. What is new for this build?

1.2.1.0 patch.

  • Shields now reduce incoming damage greater than your Shield Block Amount by 100%, up from 70%.
  • Component - Serrated Shell: added % Damage Reduction to the granted skill
  • Mythical Dawnguard Gauntlets: replaced % Physical Resist with 8% Attack Speed and reduced Lightning Retaliation to 120-400
  • Mythical Dawnguard Helm: Added 4% Total Speed. Removed % Physical Resist, % Total Retaliation and Health. Reduced Lightning Retaliation to 120-400
  • Mythical Dawnguard Plate: removed % Physical Resist and reduced Lightning Retaliation to 120-400
  • Dawnseeker’s Light Set: increased % Retaliation added to Attack modifier for Savagery to 12%. Increased Lightning Retaliation modifier for Word of Renewal to 1200 and added 1-800 Lightning Retaliation modifier for Counter Strike.
  • Mythical Dawnbreaker’s Duty: replaced % Elemental Resist with 8% Physical Resist
  • Mythical Dawnbreaker’s Sledge: replaced Lightning damage with 12% Total Speed and increased % Retaliation added to Attack modifier for Savagery to 8%
  • Dryad: reduced % Physical Resist to 3%
  • Ghoul: increased % Attack damage Converted to Health to 5%
  • Shieldmaiden: increased % Shield Damage Blocked to 160%
  • Widow: added 10 Defensive Ability
  • Entangling Vines: increased % Retaliation added to Attack scaling at ultimate ranks to 15% by max ultimate rank
  • Heart of the Wild: reduced % Health Regeneration scaling at ultimate ranks
  • Oak Skin: increased Defensive Ability scaling with rank to 108 by rank 12, 180 by max ultimate rank
  • Wind Devil: wind devils are now permanent like their Blade Spirit and Guardian of Empyrion cousins. All modifiers that affected their burst summon, duration and cooldown have been removed.
  • Vigor: added Armor scaling with rank

1.2.1.5 patch.

  • Arcane Bomb: reduced Cooldown to 1s, increased Radius by 44%, and increased the trigger area for the rune by 125%.
  • Shieldmaiden: increased Shield Recovery to 30%
  • Wind Devil: increased Electrocute damage scaling with rank. Added 20s Cooldown to address a Dot stacking exploit related to spamming resummons on the skill. Summoning Wind Devils now summons all of them at once.
  • Raging Tempest: increased Cold damage scaling with rank

Again, an unholy crusade against %Phys Res, but thankfully we got some of it through other buffed items. Also some armor and huge QoL with permanent Wind Devils :partying_face:. The build is almost unchanged except for one point from Entangling Vines - it was shifted into Vigor because of breakpoints reshuffle. GT link and screenshots were updated.

Have fun!