GrimTools: Cabalist, Level 100 (GD 1.2.0.3) - Grim Dawn Build Calculator
I’ve been having fun exploring the possibilities of hybrid builds. I love the power and versatility of pet builds, but prefer the playstyle of non-pet builds.
This is a 2-handed vitality damage melee/pet hybrid build, with a tonne of pets and good supplementary damage from the player. The build is a chaotic playstyle of leaping in to join the battle with your pets, slicing through enemies with Reaping Arc while keeping an eye constantly glancing on your skeleton count and pet health. I find it fun, but it’s certainly not a ‘lazy’ build. The highest hit from the player so far is around 264k, and while this isn’t massive for a pure non-pet build, it’s still significant enough amidst the damage of the pets.
One of the important things I’ve found while making hybrid builds is that, pet builds are typically skill-point-hungry, so my approach so far has been to get a weapon attack skill from items or components instead (like Reaping Arc from the relic), allowing better skill point distribution toward the pets themselves.
Typically, hybrid builds aren’t as powerful as straight up pet builds, nor are they as powerful as straight up non-pet builds. But despite this, I wanted to explore the concept to see what I could come up with. I’ve always admired the might of a good pet build, but the playstyle is rarely my first preference. So, I wanted to make something that had some of the benefits of pet builds with a more engaged player experience. And here we are!
Video: Crucible 150-170 in ~7:50
The build has the following pets:
- 12 Skeletal Warriors (4 at a time, 6.7s cooldown)
- 2 Blight Fiends
- 2 Sundered Wraiths (Reap Spirit)
- 4 Eldritch Webweaver
- 1 Eldritch Talon
- And a partridge in a pair treeeeeeee~ (not true, this build cannot summon partridges)
While the pets on this build are a bit squishy when it comes to resistances, I’ve never found myself without at least one of the blight fiends up, and rebuilding the skeleton army never feels like it takes too long.
This build lacks persistent % damage absorption, so at times can take some spike damage, and it’s physical resistance is fine, but could be higher. With 24k hp and 34% lifesteal, this build doesn’t typically feel squishy, but at times you can feel the spike damage, as can the pets.
Enjoy!