viper doesn’t stack with hand of ultos, is that the answer? for some reason i thought only the “reduce by X” doesn’t stack, but neither “reduce by x” nor “reduce by X%” stack?
That’s right, viper and ultos is the same kind of rr so they don’t stack. Jackal isn’t bad, but total speed isn’t all that impactful on a build like this.
On the other hand, Vulture has more resists and provides roughly same OA as viper, while Lizard is getting buffed in 1.2 and is a decent sustain boost.
I’ve never tried runes before and decided to give this a try…its a blast! Well done! Any suggestions on where to take this for endgame beyond what you posted or do you just consider this a leveling build?
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Glad you enjoy!
You can play lightning RoK in end game as shown above with the “end game” version of the build or you can respec to an entirely different build; Paladin might be one of the most versatile classes in the game.
Personally, I enjoyed aether gunner (with rutnick blasters + bonemonger set) and physical shattering smash (built around Siegebreaker shield) a lot. I posted those a good while ago, working on updating them for 1.2 at the moment 
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Viper and Ultos are pretty low value for resistance shred (end-game) because of how they’re applied. Ultos has the advantage of also being a damage proc though.
First you apply the sum of all your ‘-n% X resistance’ types. This is a flat subtraction from the enemy’s resistances. Then you apply ‘n% Reduced Target’s X Resistance’ which applies only the largest one, is a multiplier and has very low effect when enemy resistances are close to 0. Last you apply the highest source of ‘n Reduced Target’s X Resistance’ that you have. This is again a subtraction and can go negative.
So for an example, pretend you’re attacking Father Kymon, who has 60% lightning resistances. (I’m going to do lightning only for simplicitty)
This build has -35% Lightning Resistance from the Widow constellation, -30% Elemental from Aura of Censure and -8% from the Aetherbolt pendant, for a total of -73% Lightning Resistance. This is applied first and reduces Father kymon to -13% Lightning Resistances. Since ‘n% Reduced Target’s X Resistance’ is a multiplier, we then remove 20% of -13, taking him to -15.6%. Then you apply the 24 Reduced Target’s Resistances for 3 seconds that the shield applies to RoK and Father Kymon’s effective resistance to lightning becomes -39.6%.
If we take Valdaran,the Storm Scourge as another example, this time we reduce his 88% by 73% in the first step, leaving him on 15%, which then get multiplied by 0.8 (20% reduced from Ultos) and leaves him on 12%. Ultos applied a MASSIVE 3% resistance shred.
Ultos and Viper are good early when you don’t have large sources of -x% resistances and it has a large number to multiply. Later on it does very little or even nothing to a majority of mobs.
EDIT to fix maths, thanks to tqFan
This is false, I even have such example in my calculator thread
Here is also a video proof / dummy test of that Question about Viper Devo (vs. Ultos specifically) - #14 by tqFan
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Assuming it applies to negatives, then we’d be getting:
-13 - (13*0.8)= -15.6%
So not completely worthless, just close. If you had significantly more or less -x% resistances than the target, then Ultos/Viper get stronger. The closer you get to being at 0 after the first type is applied the less effect you get from Viper/Ultos.
Thanks for pointing it out, and with useful sources as well.
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Sure, sure, I don’t disagree with your conclusions at all.
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Would bane be better than vendetta?
Of course, but it’s also a random legendary drop, so I didn’t want to include it in the budget version.
Oh, I didn’t know it was a random drop. Thanks, guess I got lucky.
EDIT: Looks like it’s still reducing cooldown when I search up the skill online, that’s confusing! My game just doesn’t show it.
Double edit: Oookay the cooldown changes on the rune when I remove points from artifact handling, so it works, the game just doesn’t show cooldown reduction when I cursor over artifact handling. I guess your build is fine!
Original text: Hmmmm I’m starting fresh in 1.2 using this build, since it was marked as that here on the forums, but it’s not updated for 1.2, at least not fully. The passive skill Artifact Handling no longer reduces the cooldown of Rune of Kalastor. Not sure if it’s a good thing to max it now. Makes me curious what else has changed and how much of a nerf that is to the build, will continue with the build since it seems fun so far and will give more feedback if I notice more relevant changes.
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Uh that’s weird the tooltip in-game really doesn’t show the -skill recharge anymore
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Made a bug report.
v1.2.0.2: “Fixed an issue with missing Cooldown Reduction modifiers in masteries and on items.”
Getting back into GD after a fairly long break and really enjoying this build - landmines and kiting is a very different style of play from my earlier characters. In particular, dropping a full stack of runes on top of a shrine and getting the “cleared” message as soon as I turn it on is never going to get old.
A good caster offhand with Hell’s Bane Ammo seems like a better play over the Obsidian Bulwark, at least through lower difficulties where resist reduction doesn’t matter as much.
Glad you like it!
The Storm Box offhand is a solid choice as well. Although keep in mind that if you use this you’ll eventually need to go a different devotion route and will be missing out on a good chunk of physical resistance. Another argument in favor of Bulwark is the +1 projectile modifier, which is a bigger deal than it sounds.
Not even really optimized yet and I just instapopped Ultimate Mad Queen. This is so much fun. Paladin, Level 98 (GD 1.2.0.3) - Grim Dawn Build Calculator
I love the fact that Korvaak’s Eye turns OA into a defensive stat. I haven’t yet felt like I needed any additional defenses from a shield, I just keep pumping OA and letting my hammerbros petrify everything.
New player here, thank you so much for the detailed guide! One question, how are you able to get sailor’s devotion w/o selecting the middle crossroads?
Constellations can support themselves once completed.
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