What this is all about
I enjoyed Titan Quest back in the day especially it’s dual class system, so I was excited to hear Grim Dawn and loosely followed it’s development. But I didn’t start playing until several months after its release.
When I got my first level on my first character I looked through the different classes to plan what build combination to go with. However, a horrible thought entered my mind when I got to the Demolitionist class:
"Wait, can I beat the game just by throwing bombs at everything?"
By this time other people had already found the answer that yes, it was in fact possible. And with that I went for a pure Demolitionist for my first character, at first following Dandy’s build guide (Forum Link) (Note, don’t click the build guide link in that post)
And I had a great time. In fact I think the pure Demolitionist is by far my favorite class. Every part of Grim Dawn I conquered with my Demolitionist first. And with it I was able to complete all the content in the game.
Before the Forgotten Gods DLC was released I tried to complete the crucible with my Demolitionist because that was the going criteria for a real build and I wanted to make a post about my love of the class. However, just days before I finally made a successful run I was beaten to the punch by Menpe. (Forum Link).
But the effort lead me to thinking about other gear setups that could be viable. So for my own amusement I started casually making other Demolition setups and then running them through the crucible.
In the end I was able to make 17 variations that can succesfully complete the crucible. So before there are even greater alterations made after the release of Fangs of Asterkarn I’m making this guide to describe the pure Demolitionist class.
And although this mostly done under 1.2.1.2, the changes in the recent patch didn’t impact this class in any real way, so they should all still work in 1.2.1.4. I could just re-test every variation, but I’m far too lazy for that.
Primary Build Setup
This is the main Demolitionist setup that I played through the game from just after Ashes of Malmouth was released until today. With it I was able to clear all of the content of the game, even all celestial bosses. Other builds may be stronger, but it’s what I’m most familiar with and prefered playing. So it comes first.
Fire and Chaos Demolitionist
Primary build - Grimtools Crucible in 8:30 with 1 buff and SR 75-76 (now 30-31) in 11:15
double rare MI - Grimtools crucible in 7:31 no buffs and SR 75-76 (now 30-31) in 10:01
Single rare MI - Grimtools Didn’t test
With the release of Ashes of Malmouth the mythical infernal champion set became an intriguing option for demolitionists, as it enables blackwater cocktail and thermite mine to be used more for damage and not just for their debuffs.
Which is the general idea with how this class is played. Grenado, Canister Bomb and Blackwater Cocktail can all be used individually to take out weaker mobs, but for anything with heft BWC and Thermite Mines are used together to create a blanket of fire, while Grenado and CB are thrown at their faces until they die. And Flashbang is there to debuff and control mobs while they burn.
While it’s possible to play at a distance from mobs, or to kite them to death, the best strategy for bigger foes is to stay as close to them as possible for as long as possible. Not only because of aura damage and procs, but because it keeps them in the TM/BWC fire blanket for longer periods of time. Which means more damage.
Playing optimally then means being very aggressive while also trying to pay attention to enemy movements and attacks so you can physically move out of the way and dodge their damage. And you need to get a good feeling of when and where to throw which bombs to maximize their efficiency since the cooldowns are far to long to entirely rely on spam casting
The primary setup is easy enough to get; I found all this equipment in game using just the demolitionist. No need for third party tools or anything, this is entirely feasible class from the start of the game to the end.
There are really only two gearing difficulties.
First, good boots will take a while to craft. You don’t need the affixes I suggest, just whatever covers your resistance needs. I used a few different variants while playing, all of which worked fine. Just keep crafting until you’re satisfied with the results, before that just wear whatever works. And if the boots you have don’t max your resists then just swap out one of the rings with whatever covers the areas that your boots lack.
The other thing is that stun resist isn’t perfect so it’s best to try getting more from crafted gear bonuses by using Kaylon. Luckily 5 pieces of gear have recipes so it’s not all that hard to roll 2-3 pieces with more stun resist. But it can take some time to grind for materials.
If you want what is possibly the BIS build then there are two MI that will greatly increase damage: Vilgazor’s Heart and Kymon’s badge. Mostly these items will drop Grenado’s recovery time to almost a second while adding a lot more damage. This greatly increases killing speed. The amulet might be a bit of a pain to farm legitimately, but not impossible.
General Comments on this Build
Leveling
My preference is to put at least one point into Demolitionist class each level until it’s maxed, and also one point into every skill that will be used when available.
But in general, start by leveling stun jacks. When BWC becomes available you can either stick with SJ or respec to BWC.
When CB becomes available you have a choice: either stick with BWC or go all in on CB. Whichever you decide max that one first. Afterwards max the other.
Max Ulzuin’s Chosen, then go for Grenado.
Then start putting points into thermite mine and vindictive flame in whatever order you wish. Or level them together, whatever you prefer. Then start leveling flame touched and temper and finish off with blast shield.
Until you get your final gear focus on getting max resists first and foremost. Behind that is health and mana, and any stat bonuses needed for gear. Then comes +skills, +% damage, and damage modifiers. Everything else is behind that.
Crucible
Empyrion’s Guidance was used for safety, but it’s probably not necessary.
I only tested these setups on the crucible of the dead. The larger maps are more frustrating as it takes much longer for this build to kill spread out individual enemies as opposed to swarms of enemies.
The goal is to keep as many enemies as possible in the blanket of fire from TM and BWC for as long as possible while throwing bombs for damage and Flashbang for crowd control. Prioritize bosses, as AoE damage will kill most mobs from splash damage alone.
Use dodge and rune skills to jump out of harms way. To maximize damage on bosses keep them in kill zone by jumping from one side of the flames of BWC to the other. This will keep most enemies standing in fire, which is what you want.
It’s also important to get a feel for how much DoT this build does. It’s not necessary to completely kill something before moving on to another target, because they will generally die from burning damage.
While the devotion setup enables this build to face tank a lot of damage, if you want to survive it’s best to always keep moving. The pure Demo is generally squishy, so use the terrain and walls of the crucible to move out of harms way and avoid damage when necessary.
The two biggest killers for every pure Demo build are entrapment and Archmage Aleksander. Entrapment because moving around to avoid damage is core to survivability for this class. And Aleksander has that annoying projectile that deals a large amount of damage when hit.
So levels with both Benn’Jahr and Aleksander are annoying, as one will stop your movement while the other hits you for most of your health. So prioritize killing one when they both show up. And always keep moving (when possible).
This setup has some mana issues, so potions will need to be used regularly. Otherwise not too hard once you get the hang of piloting this build.
Empyrion’s Guidance probably isn’t absolutely necessary, but it makes each run easier. In fact, that time quoted for the double rare MI setup was done without the buff as I forgot to get it before starting the run and only realized it upon completion.
Shattered Realms
Because the SR doesn’t send wave after wave of mobs it’s a lot easier for the pure Demo as it allows for healing procs to come back online more often when needed. So surviving isn’t a problem.
Unfortunately the pure demo isn’t the fastest at dealing damage, so this will never be a top tier class. However, it’s easy enough to stay positive on the timer, but it means being very aggressive. Jump right into the fray and throw everything you’ve got. Which is actually kind of fun.
Gameplay wise is just like the main campaign. Grenado, CB or BWC for weaker mobs, and a thermite mine/BWC fire blanket for bigger enemies. Flashbang for CC and health.
For boss fights I didn’t push my luck all that often, usually only luring out two bosses at a time to fight. I have fought more, and it’s certainly doable but, obviously, fighting fewer bosses is safer.
I went farther than level 76, but i found SR to be kind of grindy so I gave up trying to push to the classes limit. With the new patch lessening the grind I’ll eventually see how far it can go.
Superbosses
Didn’t time these fights. For one I kept forgetting. But mostly this is because the pure demolitionist isn’t the fastest at killing single targets anyway. Everything fought with the primary build setup.
Mogdrogen- Easy, but takes some time. The key thing is to stay out of the lightning area of effect spell, because if you just stand still you will die. So jump out of the way whenever it’s recast, then go back to throwing bombs. Ignore the spawns, as your AoE damage will kill them quickly enough. Not much else to say
Callagadra- On my first attempt I died instantly within the first 2 seconds. His AoE damage just melts this class. On the second attempt I killed him by kiting the whole time. It took way too long, but it’s feasible.
The safest strategy is to walk back a few yards and lay down TM and BWC approximately inbetween him and you, then throw a canister bomb. He should start moving forward, at which point throw grenado. If everything was timed right he’ll be directly hit by every attack and take a decent amount of damage. If Ulzuin’s Chosen procs, then cast grenado and CB again. After he attacks but before he move again walk back and repeat. This works, but takes a very long time.
Crate of Entertainment - Only tried once. I didn’t realize that the lesser crates respawned more when killed, so I inadvertently created a massive army. I eventually retreated to the entrance to face CoE alone for a bit before the rest caught up. When they all arrived I used an aether cluster, which I still had hotkeyed from the journey to the dungeon itself, and used that time to jump over the mass of crates to head back inside the building and up the stairs. Crate of Entertainment was able to follow, but the rest got stuck on the ground floor. Once alone it was easy to kill the crate while standing right next to it the whole time.
Despite all my screwups, and that this is an AoE class in a fight designed to punish that fact, it was still entirely manageable. I had plenty of time to think and regroup. If you know what you’re doing it shouldn’t be a problem, It will probably just going to be a long drawn out fight. Don’t just spam attacks, try to aim your casts to minimize splash damage. And move around the map to try to isolate the Crate.
Ravager’s - Went with Ravager of Souls because I thought it would be hardest fight for this class. Was definitely a pain. Another kiting fight, mostly because of the spawns, as you don’t have enough healing procs to survive their attacks for long. Standing still means instant death.
So keep a tree, or rock, or some other part of the level between you and them. Since more spawn as the fight goes on it means you need to stay in one general area for as long as possible so they all spawn near that point. When that area is no longer safe, move away to a safer location not in their line of sight.
As for the Ravager themselves, they do considerable damage but it’s generally manageable on it’s own. But don’t just stand still, move and dodge attacks as often as possible. And keep using flashbang (or whatever else you want) to proc dryad’s blessing.
When it’s health gets low and more spirits spawn it means running away more often. It’s a pain, but doable.
Lokarr - Just move around the pillars. Your bombs can deal damage around corners and the pillars protect you from harm. Easy.
Every other boss was too easy to mention
Devotions and alternative setups
I don’t have a devotion guide, sorry. I changed devotion setups so much while playing that I don’t have anything definitive here. If you want survivability then aim for tree of life first and start with its prereqs. If you want more damage first then aim for solael’s witchblade.
As I said originally I followed Dandy’s guide when first playing, and this setup was about getting as many damage procs going as possible with maybe only one or two healing procs. It was fun watching all the explosions go off, but it meant that the character was extremely squishy and prone to dying if not careful.
To survive the crucible I had change focus with devotions to be all about healing, as this class has no innate recovery abilities. This has resulted in all of the builds being a little homogenous, as they all veer towards similar devotions.
However, if you just want to play the main game and don’t mind an occasional death then it may be more fun to respec devotions to be more focused on damage skills. Something like this: Grimtools
I did something like this throughout the entire main campaign. And with this you can complete 99% of the game. This setup wont be able to kill Crate or Callagadra. I didn’t side with Barrowholm originally so I can’t say anything about the Ravager’s. And it’s unlikely that you can take down Kra’vall. But everything else, including Mogdrogen and Lokarr are possible.
To succeed without healing procs means you need to physically dodge and move out of the way of attacks to survive. Which is what I loved the most about this kind of setup. It’s much more skill oriented, because if you just stand still and throw bombs you’ll die a lot.
The devotion setup I am suggesting is less exciting, but it should make your character able to survive all the content of the game.
Alternative builds
First grouping includes ones that I completed the Crucible with just one buff, Empryrion’s Guidance. Almost everyone was tested with double rare MI, but alternative single rare builds are provided that should be more legitimately feasible.
Fire Demolitionist
Double rare MI - Grimtools - Crucible in 6:29
MI - Grimtools
After Menpe beat me to posting a guide I decided to just make a Demo that was based around doing as much damage as possible. This was the outcome. And it definitely has some of the highest Grenado and Canister Bomb damage of any of these variants.
However, it has a very small mana pool. The largest drain of resources comes from casting Thermite Mine, so they have to be used very carefully and sparingly.
Which means that the optimal play is to keep enemies in one small area, where TM and BWC are laid down, for as long as possible. With high damage and aggressive play incentivized it means this setup has one of the lowest clear times of all pure Demolitionist setups.
Mortar trap was added because there was diminishing returns for all other skills. At least this adds some extra damage and debuffs.
Fire and Physical Demolitionist
Double rare MI - Grimtools - Crucible in 8:04
MI - Grimtools
The Mythical Adversary is interesting. By giving Grenado and CB weapon damage they could both gain life steal, which, in theory, means greater survivability.
Like some other builds BWC and TM are demoted to simple debuffs. To help add some extra damage, and even more debuffs, mortar trap was added.
Has some mana issues, so some care needs to be taken with casting TM. Mana potions will need to be used regularly.
Kills quickly and generally well rounded, but some bosses just destroy this setup. Means managing your location with dodges to survive. It took a number of attempts before a successful run, and on that final one I had to do a lot of kiting on floor 170.
The life steal can help with survivability, but shouldn’t be relied upon to survive the SR or Crucible. I played around with this setup on my main character and tried changing devotions to be about pure damage, but died very quickly inside the SR. With the provided devotion setup I could clear the SR without a problem.
Chaos Demolitionist
Double rare MI - Grimtools - Crucible in 8:11
MI - Grimtools
Ok, the name is a lie because chaos doesn’t have any DoT, so it’s still technically a fire and chaos build. Or rather a Chaos and Burn demolitionist.
Very stable setup. Kills quickly and rarely near death. Level 170 is a pain due to low trap resistance.
Plays exactly like the Fire Chaos demolitionist build, just with a much more efficient and powerful thermite mine.
And just like the Fire Chaos build, this one has the same problem of low stun resist. But also has 5 items that can come from recipes. So craft them from Kaylon and hope for the best. Can also switch corpse dust for Runebound Topaz if one so wishes.
The real weakness in this build is that it needs a 100% conversion to fire to work. With the amulet, offhand and ring, the range goes from 78% to 112%. Getting just average rolls only nets 95% conversion. Not impossible, but may require some farming if one were to try making this legitimately.
Went with Mythical Grim Fate because I always love the idea of corpse explosion. But the Mythical Dracarris could be another option. Don’t know, didn’t try it.
Fire and Lightning Demolitionist
Double rare MI - Grimtools - Crucible in 6:18
MI - Grimtools
Good old Ulzuin’s Infernal Avatar. The set is based around buffing CB, even adding weapon damage for a little bit of life steal.
No mana issues. Spam cast to your heart’s content.
Very stable setup. Kills quick and rarely near death. Pretty durable, especially because of the extra life steal and lots of physical defense. Which means it’s much easier to face tank mobs. Combined this allows for a very aggressive play style which is how I got the lowest Crucible clear time of all variants.
Lightning Demolitionist
Double rare MI - Grimtools Crucible in 7:39
MI - Grimtools
This build has some of the highest raw damage of these variants, as every skill is completely converted to lightning damage…
…provided that the Barrelsmith Destroyer’s have a combined 100% fire conversion. Together they range from 72% to 104%. This is the main downside to this setup, that it would take some farming to find near perfect conversions for it to work.
While the shoulder pads may look pretty hard to find, those are just BIS. If you were to try creating this build legitimately you could replace them with Incendiary Shoulderplates, as they provide +2 BWC skill and chaos resist for the cost of some health and physical resist. Otherwise they are suitable replacements until you can get a good Iron Maiden’s Mantle roll.
Anyway, this build is very strong. It obliterates enemies, and had an easy run through the Crucible.
However, due to having all three bombs this setup is much spammier than other builds. A real keyboard smasher.
Cold I Demolitionist
double rare MI - Grimtools - Crucible in 7:47
MI* - Grimtools - Crucible in 7:43
*switch one point of physique to cunning for it to be accurate
Possibly my favorite variant. This build is based around the Conduit of Destruction converting Thermite Mine into cold damage. What’s really great is that it also increases the number of mines in each cast. This enables TM to cover a large area, meaning it can now function much like BWC. With nearly maxed skill points Thermite Mine is now a primary damage dealer of this build.
My only regret is I couldn’t get BWC to convert fully to cold damage, so it’s just a debuff here.
Also needs 100% fire damage converted to cold. With helm, amulet and belt, the range is from 82% to 118%. So just getting average stats will just barely hit 100.
Kills quickly and fairly durable. Which is good because it gets best results when standing next to enemies due to procs and auras.
Due to Thermite Mine spam it needs to chug mana potions every couple of minutes, but not the worst in mana problems.
I love this build so much I redid the crucible again with single rare MI. As I suspected, most of these variants should perform equally to their double rare counterparts.
And not only that I started playing a character on the main campaign. This guide is geared towards survivable builds so they can do end game content but that isn’t as much fun in the main game, so I switched to something focused in damage procs as seen here: Grimtools
In a change of pace gameplay is to start with Thermite mine, which can kill most mobs. Any stragglers get a grenado or CB. For big enemies throw in a BWC and hit them with everything you got.
Cold II Demolitionist
Double rare MI - Grimtools - Crucible in 9:58
MI - Grimtools
While I was trying to get the other cold build to work I decided to just make a more traditional setup. Which was much easier to theory craft, and much easier to play as it completed the crucible on the first attempt
It’s very squishy, but otherwise relatively easy.
With stunjacks being focused on over CB there are fluctuations in damage output from positioning and cast point, but usually deals good damage. Just remember that to maximize SJ damage on bosses you need to stand right next to them so they get hit by as many jacks as possible.
On the one attempt I made I had a very bad 170 which involved running away a lot to regroup. Easily could have ~1 minute faster clear time.
Piercing damage conversion isn’t vital, so don’t worry about getting good rolls on those items.
Cold and Pierce Demolitionist
Double rare MI - Grimtools - Crucible in 9:32
MI - Grimtools
Pierce seems to pair with cold damage so why not make a variant with that combo.
It’s very Squishy. This is one of the builds that died a number of times in testing before a successful run. Needed to retreat a lot on floors with 4 or 5 superbosses.
On the final run had a good pace overall, but Fabius was a damage sponge both times I fought him.
Galeslice’s Mark is used to ensure 100% fire conversion. If you were to get perfect rolls on the helm and belt that would total 96%, in which case you could switch out the medal for whatever you please.
The only difference between the double rare and rare builds is that the latter has less stun resist. Once again, try to make that up with crafting bonuses.
Physical Demolitionist
Double rare MI - Grimtools - Crucible in 9:48
MI - Grimtools
The Mythical Beronath, Reforged is interesting because it’s skill converts elemental and chaos damage. Demolitionists are all about elemental and chaos damage. So this would convert almost everything the demolitionist has to physical damage.
This setup is tanky. Very few near death moments.
It does decent damage, but not top tier. Of course it’s slow to kill physical resist enemies.
Thermite mine is useless here so it’s gone, meaning this build doesn’t have the mana issues that most other variants have. Overall just a good a sturdy build.
Alternative builds II
This second group involves setups that I used two buffs to get through the crucible. The first is of course Empyrion’s Guidance, but the second was usually Might of Amatok. This is because the damage output of these variants is below the average of the previous builds. With the buff they usually equaled the other setups in damage.
Pierce Demolitionist
Double rare MI - Grimtools - Crucible in 9:20 w/ Might of Amatok
MI - Grimtools
With most setups the biggest issue was with converting pierce damage to whatever type was needed. This build bucks that trend by focusing on just pierce. And it turned out to just be a worse version of the physical setup.
While the raw damage numbers are close to each other, the killing speed of this setup is drastically less. Tried once to complete the crucible with just Empyrion’s Guidance, and had a completion time over 13 minutes.
It also has less defense and is much squishier. It took a number of deaths before getting a successful run.
On that final run I had a good overall pace, but had to play defensively (i.e. run away) on a few floors, which increased the completion time.
Occasional mana potion use, but not a significant problem.
So this build is feasible, but why bother when physical damage is better in every way.
Retaliation (Fire/Lightning) Demolitionist
Double rare MI - Grimtools - Crucible in 7:44 w/ Blessing of Ulo
MI - Grimtools
The only setup here that didn’t use Might of Amatok. Blessing of Ulo was used instead because status resistances are incredibly low. May be possible to clear it without it, but I didn’t feel like trying
Despite the low skill level in spells and lack of damage bonuses, this setup has one of the highest damage outputs of all Demolitionists. This build’s BWC does about as much damage as other Demos that use the High Potency modifier. And it’s now spammable.
Extremely low mana. I think the smallest mana pool of all pure demolitionists. Can be overcome by minimizing casts of thermite mine. Which once again means optimal play revolves around keeping enemies in one small area. And this is best accomplished by staying very close to everything.
Which I guess is on brand, as this build should want everything to hit it as much as possible. So play very aggressively up in enemies faces.
Actually a lot of fun to play compared to other builds. May make a character for the main campaign someday
Vindictive Flame (Chaos) Demolitionist
MI - Grimtools - Crucible in 7:57 w/ Might of Amatok
Probably didn’t need Might of Amatok, but was worried about damage output. Cleared on first attempt, so didn’t feel like trying again. Only tried with a shield that had one rare affix, because not more was really needed for this build.
Has mana issues. Which, again, means optimal play revolves around trying to keep enemies in same area over thermite mines as long as possible. Which works well with vindictive flame as main attack. Just stay close to what you want to kill.
Most floors can just stand in place and tank damage. On some boss floors a few jumps may be needed. On floor 165 will need to jump constantly to survive. On floor 170 it’s good to keep running around to avoid damage until boss number thin out.
And remember, this means staying close to the TM/BWC flame blanket. So jump from one side of it’s boundary to the other as needed.
Can put points that are in Grenado and Ulzuin’s chosen into anything else, even Fire Strike if you wish. The damage in Grenado is pitiful, I only used it because I had a lot of leftover skill points and nowhere to put them.
This is a very tanky build with decent damage.
Acid Demolitionist
Double rare MI - Grimtools - Crucible in 8:33 w/ Might of Amatok
MI - Grimtools
I am shocked that this works at all. Well, sort of.
This build requires near perfect stats for the conversion on the sword and helm. With perfect rolls, you can get 96% elemental and 64% physical conversion to Acid. Without this the build doesn’t really work.
But, if you can get that, then this is a surprisingly tanky build. 34% physical resist on top of good overall resists.
Good CB damage, but Grenado and Stun Jacks are pretty lackluster
Because thermite mine is useless for this build, and BWC is replaced with Manticore’s Acid Spray, there’s no fire blanket you need to keep enemies within. So when I first cleared the crucible, which was also a first attempt, I just ran in circles around enemies mobs throwing bombs at them. It was safe and worked.
For this last clear attempt I just face tanked enemies as long as possible, throwing whatever was on cooldown. Which turns out to be the more efficient clearing method.
Again, I’m just surprised this works
Vitality Demolitionist
Double rare MI - Grimtools - Crucible in 7:59 w/ Might of Amatok
MI - Grimtools
Another build that I’m suprised actually works. But, again, only sort of.
Fire damage conversion is easy enough to accomplish. But pierce is a bit of a pain. With the ring, helm and shoulders together the range is between 72% and 108%. So average roles will get to 90% conversion. Which means that extremely good rolls are necessary.
Chaos conversion can range from 60%-90%. It’s less vital (haha) than fire conversion as it only applies to BWC. But more is better.
On top of that I am using a badge of mastery with +5 CB. Good luck crafting that legitimately. Although a +3 CB and +2 Grenado could work as well, making it somewhat more feasible.
Beyond all of that it has Good damage and can clear mobs quickly. Except for vitality resistant bosses, which can be a slog.
Had a few close calls. Because of low trap resist level 170 can be a huge pain with the combo of Big guy casting traps and aether mage summoning meteors.
But a decent, if weak, build
Aether I Demolitionist
Double rare MI - Grimtools - Crucible in 8:38 w/ Might of Amatok
Not a real build. In that I doubt anyone would ever try to legitimately farm the gear for this in game.
It require two MI swords with specific affixes. And both swords need to roll with near perfect conversions to pierce, and perfect conversion to physical damage.
On top of that, it requires near perfect rolls on conversion stats on one ring, armor, amulet, shoulders, and belt.
And for that effort you get a pure Demolitionists with sub par damage. So I didn’t even try to create a setup with only single rare MI. This is a build that is created from crafting items from outside programs.
Anyway, generally tanky and fast killing. On floors with multiple bosses, especially 160 and 170, a lot of retreating is needed to succeed. Had a lot of deaths before I got a good feel for retreating more strategically to move just outside of harms way, but close enough to keep enemies in range for more attacks.
So if nothing else this setup trained me to play Demolitionists better.
Not horrible, but not worth the effort.
Also the title is a lie, because this build is really an Aether and Burn Demolitionist
Aether II Demolitionist
Double rare MI - Grimtools
MI - Grimtools - Crucible in 9:41 w/ Might of Amatok
I prioritized the other Aether setup because I was initially trying to stick to CB and Grenado. But to make something that was at least conceivably plausible I made this variation which goes for a SJ and Grenado combo.
This time there are only three items that need near perfect conversion rolls. One ring, the helm and shoulder pads. And only one is MI. And the helm can be re-rolled through crafting. With perfect stats they combine for 96% elemental conversion to Aether. Whatever is leftover will be affected by the 40-60% fire conversion and the 24-36% lightning conversion of the gun and armor respectively.
Also is only just able to hit stat requirements for gear. Don’t overlook the one devotion point in Autumn Boar, and swap the frozen heart for a polished emerald if you get bad gear rolls.
Build is squishier than it looks. Some bosses, especially reaper of souls, just tear through it. Otherwise can stand toe to toe with enemies for some time before needing to move.
Also, not surprisingly, is slow to kill aether oriented bosses. But otherwise does decent enough damage.
Needs some mana potions. So either use thermite mine sparingly, fighting around the same ones for as long as possible, or just use a mana potion whenever it’s on cooldown.
Altogether not a terrible setup for what it is.
Since this was the last build I made and tested I went with single rare MI items. Again, these should be just as viable as their double rare counterparts.