[1.2.1.3] The PASSIVIST - How to complete the game without using active skills

Grim Dawn Classes, Skills and Builds
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Morgoneth is done:

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Final snapshot: Elementalist, Level 100 (GD 1.2.1.2) - Grim Dawn Build Calculator

Honestly, not much I would change other than that damn medal. Maybe better Gollus rings, but I was really tired of running that, and the RNG on them is not helpful.

Overcaps are super low, but otherwise… the build is an absolute tank… can facetank anything that isn’t a celestial.

The damage however… bleah!
If I meet a regenerator enemy, that encounter just went from 5 seconds to literal minutes… There is even a totem I abandoned because I was getting nowhere after 5 solid minutes…

An interesting challenge. One that I intend to try again while waiting for FoA, and this time, I will do the grind at the start just for completeness sake… Wish me thorns

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Started my new passivist: I’m going for Dervish as mentioned.

My goal here is to target key pieces of gear that are certain to drop: Bolvar’s pendant and Scarab shell shield (So I don,t have to go through the whole playthrough without a key piece like last time)

I did the early grind this time… huh! I’m glad its over. Got a “of thorns” piece of chest armor pretty early, but it was still not fun…

Went for Night’s chill first, and I thought it would improve my lot once I got it. It did… but barely. The damage was anemic. At one point I nearly lost interest: I was thinking “Am I just recreating the same build but worse ?” Since the damage wasn’t there… but the previous one at least had heaps of health regen.

Then I reached a point where I could refund almost all my points from Veil of shadow and Night’s chill and put points into blade spirit… and then the lights went on. Now this thing had proper damage… so I poured every point I got into it until it was maxed.

I forgot to take snapshots before, but here goes for level 29: Dervish, Level 29 (GD 1.2.1.2) - Grim Dawn Build Calculator

Once I’m able to, I will go get either for Wradlith’s bulwark or Scarab shell whichever becomes available first. Both of which can be farmed fairly quickly, but Wralidth’s bulwark is a guaranteed drop, so I might go for that to start.

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Nice start!

For your sanity you probably want to max Guardian of Empyrion as soon as possible after. Should take you about 8 or 9 levels from here if you remove the other points from NB that are not Blade Spirit.

I have theorycrafted a vit-based Trickster version using Morgoneth’s set. Leveling will be done primarily with Wind Devils and Bat: Trickster, Level 100 (GD 1.2.1.2) - Grim Dawn Build Calculator
Still thinking about how to fill the rest of the gear slots. Another idea I had was for a fire-based GoE focused Shieldbreaker, using Imp for damage, but that will come later.

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I’ve played a lot since that snapshot.
At that point, my biggest issue was survivability. The damage is there with just Blade spirit maxed (Totems last about 4 seconds total) and GoE don’t deal bleed damage. But I need them out there spreading their aura and carrying Rend. So I did as you suggested, but will max out celestial presence first, then Haven for much needed health.

Got myself a Bolvar’s pendant and a Scarab shell, and now blade spirit are absolutely melting everything.

Snapshot at 46: Dervish, Level 46 (GD 1.2.1.2) - Grim Dawn Build Calculator

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Got to Elite. damage is off the charts (Well, it feels like a regular active build) but survival depends a lot on me being on point kiting because the build is not tanky at all right now.

Farmed a new scarab shell, got some faction gear, got a new Bolvar’s pendant (That happened to have the exact same (useless) affixes as the previous one). Put points back into veil of shadow to try to gain some artificial DA, put also some points into Presence of Virtue for OA, but I might move those around as OA is fine, and I could have some more armor putting those into Safeguard or Phantasmal armor.

Blade spirit and GoE have a very different AI behavior, so it’s a bit unpredictable where they will go, but that sort of works out as they cover a lot of ground. Guardinas really can’t kill anything though… even with a maxed-out aura. Eventually I’ll look out ofr gear that boosts vitality as well as bleed so that they can contribute (And make twin fangs more potent) I’ll also move to path of the 3, but right now, the single point in Divine mandate is giving me 13% crit, so it’s better and I have other priorities right now. Kinda tempted to max out resilience with how squishy the build is.

I say squishy, but I’ve only dies once so far to a silly piloting mistake (And forgetting that resistances drop when you move up difficulty)… so I went to face the guardian of Dreeg with -15% poison resist… it didn’t last long.

I had a pretty good path for relics: First crafted Guile, which was part of the recipe for Slaughter, so I just had to unequip it… and Slaughter was in the recipe for Belgothian’s carnage too… And would you know it but Belgothian’s carnage is part of the recipe to craft deathstalker, which is my end-game goal… funny how that just works out :slight_smile:

So far so good!

Snapshot: Dervish, Level 66 (GD 1.2.1.2) - Grim Dawn Build Calculator

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Just to be thorough :

Option 3: (Not recommended and requires a well-stocked stash from previous characters)
You sneak around and activate the ruined shrines in the burial cave, the hidden path and the cavern in Burwitch outskirts. Then you buy blue crossroad, 1st and leftmost nods in Wraith. You now have 25-85 lightning retal. (you could also buy red crossroad, then first 2 nods in Rat for 20 acid retal.)

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Good find, though it would invalidate the SSF part of the challenge.

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Great thread, I dig the diary.

I wound up converging on a very similar challenge without perma-summons: Move on every slot. You may get a kick out of the SSF-factor on some of these:
#2 Fave - Fire Commando, focused on undoing damage with 100% uptime ADCtH 2H weapon damage from When Hit procs to be pseudo-invincible. It felt like it sometimes. I like all things ret and this scratched the itch.
#1 Fave - Vit Death Knight. It was fun so I kept going. Decently versatile and gets very strong with optimal, accessible items.
The opposite build - After having 14 move buttons, here’s where I wound up. I wanted 14 “cast 2H weapon damage 24/7” buttons. It’s as much set-n-forget proc monster 2H WD as I could muster. There’s quite a few variants and I’m surprised I haven’t found a build quite like this yet. Maybe I need to lurk more.

Related idle ideas

Ideas - Idle Cold DW axes, focused on spamming On Attack with crit refreshes. Too unreliable and probably gated by Half-DW. Felt extra odd to not even default attack.
Ideas - Idle Vitality research. Non-WD isn’t as good.
Ideas - Idle Vitality research #2, mostly an item bank
Ideas - Untested, Agrivix set + Eternity.
Ideas - If I opted for summons (minus all those actives ofc)

Notes and cheese
  • Knockdown spam can be a big self-nerf.
  • I could never tell if I had too much or too little ADCtH.
  • There’s a lot of nuance to procs, like how Vire’s Might+Tsunami is randomly way good. I’m still not sure which are best.
  • The first few levels felt like a puzzle. I farmed for ret items or bought them with iron, vendor-hopping between Wightmire and DC. Attuned Lodestones are great. There’s an xbow that has a Ring of Steel proc off of a corpse as early as level 8 iirc.

  • You can totally invest in Demol+VindiFlame, have it active, and undo it after killing things. Too cheesy, so I avoided it. Also, summoning summons is a very active activity imo :stuck_out_tongue:

Character list lol

gd-sufferhorses

Thanks for the inspo!

Edit: Mogdrogen :skull:

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Challenge completed with a Dervish

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Here’s the build at level 100 : Dervish, Level 100 (GD 1.2.1.2) - Grim Dawn Build Calculator

The road to 94 was actually pretty chill, and once there, I was able to craft a piece of the Demon slayer set 4 times, and transmute to get the other pieces. Once that was done and I had 5 blade spirit, it was pretty smooth sailing.

The devotion map is almost all defensive, and it works like a charm. I died a total of 2 times during the playthrough, once to inattention (Standing on aether) and once to a piloting mistake, and both of them before level 50.

Compared to my previous character, this one is a little more fragile (I need to actively kite during tough fights) but the damage is MUCH better. It actually felt like a really good "normal’ build while doing mobs. I could basically just ignore what was going on around me and concentrate on the route and map.

I’m sold: this playthrough felt like a sightseeing tour. I found myself looking at the map and reading lore notes as there was combat around me without a care, it was refreshing. :slight_smile:

I’m also sold on using a gun for passivist runs: the combination of “opening” crates and spoil orbs without moving, and Hydra’s extra move speed is something I will have to adjust to not always having.

I’m already planning my next character, and while it may not be a strict passivist this time, I’m definitely gonna tailor my choice of skills on what this run felt like. (I’m not against using movement runes and heal skills from time to time, but I will steer away from really involved combat skills)

With the new patch, Inquisitor is getting increased movement speed on ranged expertise, so maybe it’s time to try that Aura of Censure playthrough :slight_smile:

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So i have been building up an Archon, just mucking about with the passive only playstyle as i dont button mash due to nerve damage. With the new changes to Wind Devil, what would an appropriate face tanking skill build and devotion tree look like? Any ideas would be welcome =) And thank you all for continuing on with the passivist playstyle, I know i am not the only non button masher who wants to play and do the things =)

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Look at my first playthrough in this thread. While not an Archon, it was focused on wind devil.

The health regen part of the devotion might not be what you’re looking for, but it’s a start.
The obvious thing to aim for for end-game would be the cyclone set that adds fire damage to wind devil (and an extra summon) … or the Pyran set that adds lightning to guardians of Empyrion.

For starters, wind devil and Mogdrogen’s pact should be your priority.

What level are you ? Do you want a leveling guide or rather a finished suggestion of what to aim for ?
Because sometimes, it’s best to put points in some skills earlier on, and move them out later, and vice-versa

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Hey thanks for the quick reply, i really appreciate your time!! Im currently level 77 on normal, just getting ready to head in to Malmouth. If you perhaps have a leveling guide handy, id sure take a look at it and give it a try.

Ive been trying out each of the builds listed in here to see what would suite me best for my playstyle. I like being the unstoppable wall of you cant hurt me whilst my invincible pets go on a rampage =)

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One of the issues i’ve been having (other than skills / devotion tree) is trying to figure out what is the best weapon / shields to use and how to figure out what stats i should be lookiing for. It gets confusing from time to time, any suggestions would be welcome.

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That’s a start: Archon, Level 77 (GD 1.2.1.3) - Grim Dawn Build Calculator

Obviously, there are some choices to be made both in skills and devotions.

For example, you should use a 2-handed weapon and put points into brute force for extra health and devotions into Kraken…

OR

Get a shield, and put points into safeguard.
Ideally, your main weapon could be a gun, so you can place points into Hydra (The other weapon-specific devotions don’t really help with that playstyle and damage type)

Obviously, you will also put points into Stormcaller’s pact, Divine mandate, or Path of the three, depending on the damage type you chose.

The devotion map above is made with health regen in mind, but if you’d rather go with more armor and DA, try this: Archon, Level 77 (GD 1.2.1.3) - Grim Dawn Build Calculator

The only thing that can increase the damage of GoE and Wind Devil (other than maxing their skills) are items that say " xxx (damage type) to wind devil"

There are a few more for GoE than for wind devil, but both could work.

Cyclone works great, Pyran also, but you could go vitality with Morgoneth set (Pretty hard to do in SSF playthrough, but if that specific challenge doesn’t appeal to you, this is a real possibility)

You can also go Vitality without the Morgoneth set, using Bolvar’s pendant and Pandemic Dagger.

And there is also Bartholeme’s Gavel that adds 2 summons to GoE, which is as good as increasing their damage directly (and even better in certain aspects)

I can totally echo the feeling. :slight_smile:

If changing character is not an issue for you, I suggest you give Blade Spirit a try. Of the 3 player-scaled pets, they are by far the most effective and they require the least points investment. They are also very easy to level: Just farm a Scarab shell periodically as you level up for absurd bleed damage. The demonslayer set is entirely craftable (well, one piece is and the rest can be transmuted) And I think the chillwhisper is the same… Both are great for endgame, though Demonslayer offers an extra summon, allows you to use the Scarab shell shield and uses a gun, which gives you access to Hydra… I have yet to try Chillwhisper fully though.

If your Passivist journey is more about the nerve damage you mentioned and not the challenge this thread proposes… and you don’t mind pressing a single button from time to time, getting just a movement medal augment will give you access to a skill to bind attack devotions to without costing you precious skill points. Personally, have remapped some of the actions slots to “scroll up” and “Scroll down” on my mousewheel, so I can have 5 different actions while still playing with just one hand. (LMB, RMB, Scrlup, scrlDown, and one of the easily reachable side button, that I generally use for evade) Sometimes, just having word of pain or curse of frailty available, while not really in-line with a full passivist character, can make a lot of difference without changing the overall feel)

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Thanks for the feedback, i appreciate it. Yes my passivist journey is ALL about the nerve damage, wont go into specifics, lets just say I jumped outa planes for the Army and lived, got some long and short term memory issues due to TBI’s from the ground remindiing me that yes, gravity always wins and the ground is indeed made of hard!

I have a few characters i’ve been building up, so I am not stuck on any particular one. I have a lvl 70 Warder, a 71 Commando, a 77 Paladin, a 71 Infiltrator, a 50 Dervish, and a 95 Blademaster.

I guess what im looking for is: an unkillable (or as tanky as possible) character that I can go forth and do all the things on every difficulty without having to spam any buttons, idealy, not pushing any buttons. I can and do follow build guides as best as I can, memory issues not withstanding.

I have problems trying to figure out / understand how to put some skill tree’s together, whilst some others are pretty self explanatory. Figuring out the Devotion tree, and how to Devotion Jenga things together, and then what stats to look for on things gets difficult. I am a sucker for anything that says + to all skills in insert mastery here lol, and I am a stickler for max your resistances at all times. Still trying to figure out armor, but i think stuffing on + armor absorb thingets is helping /shrug

So, yea, TLDR version i guess. Tank go forth, laugh at the enemies that bounce off you, while either your immortal minions or Aura, or both, melt them =)

Thanks again for taking the time to help out, I really cant say that enough, Its been rough going trying to fumble through =)

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Could you say if your mouse hand is ok ?
If it was possible to fit all actions to the mouse, would that help ?
I’m asking because you will have to press at least the left mouse button to move, so adding an action to that button is basically the same thing… wondering how mobile your hand is to use the right button, the side button and the scroll wheel.

Not going to make you a piano build, but having access to about 2 actions increases your options tenfold.

We can take this to PM if you prefer not to get into the more specifics of your condition publicly :slight_smile:

If you stop at “everything but the celestials” the number of options you have is also multiplied. Realistically, most celestials usually require good reflex and a rather complex sequence of skill use to beat. Ravager, Crate, Calla, and Mogdrogen are probably out of reach for most builds like you describe.

Everything else though, is completely on the table.

I got you.
That sounds like a Blade Spirit build alright, or a Blood Knight set. (Or both)

Personally, I LOVE health regen as a method of sustain without the risks involving using heal actions and circuit breaker, but a build that has a lot of life leach on a mostly passive skill can do basically the same (Like the blood knight set with counterstrike)

A Pyran build is also a VERY neat choice. You have to redeploy your mortars periodically, but they last for a very long time have a lot of range. With the set, you basically click once to clear the screen. It’s a foolproof build with tons of health regen that allows you to kite while things melt around you.

Using what characters you have, we can probably make a very good Blood Knight out of your blademaster, and Dervish is full of potential too. Commando can be an absolute tank but lacks the pet, so you’ll probably have to supplement with an active skill. Blade Arc and BWC are solid choices here.

I’ll make a few mockup builds and share them with you by PM. Let me know which you are most interested in.

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Again, thanks for the help DeputyChuck, i truely appreciate it. I can use my mouse hand pretty well, moving around and mouse buttons etc, i have a good mouse with 12 side action buttons. My issues are either button mashing or holding down a button for more than a few seconds. I prefer to not button mash, and set it and forget it works best for me.

Oh i didnt know there was like end game boss’s lol, I just know of the campain, game difficulty, and Crucible and Shattered Realms (really like the shattered realms). So if i can learn how to do things, or have good folks to bounce ideas off of, that would be awesome. Not afraid of taking time to grind/farm or level.

I do like massive regen and damage mitigation / shield blocking. Nothing says get off my lawn you darn kids… er deamons… like sipping your warm beverage of choice, whilst petting the fur baby nation, while watching the baddies get their teeth knocked out trying to eat through your shield and regen, something about that just tickles that inner gladiator in me =)

So yea, whatever you have in mind im willing to give it a shot. Me and farming arcane crystals in the east side of Homestead are no strangers to be honest!

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I got interested in trying a straightforward build using one button which you don’t even need to spam.

I present you… the PASSiVISIT!

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Keynotes and comments: I didn’t pick Widow devotion, which could grant you way more power, but that would require at least 1 more skill and different devotion distribution placement. However, if you want to try this build yourself, you should start with farming the dagger and two “Gollus” rings with attack suffixes which contribute quite a lot to the health regen, which is the main gimmick.

I tested it in Shard 36 solo and Ravager of Minds super boss, and while it’s possible to beat such levels and things I don’t recommend doing those.

Gladiator 170 naked was easy tho, within the timer. :cowboy_hat_face:

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Pyran Shieldbreaker

Minimal input, lots of health regen

Bleed Conjurer
A retooled version of my Hemorrhager build with fewer buttons. This one requires the application of a pair of “curses” but very little else. I bound both to scroll up and scroll down on the mouse wheel, so it’s basically just like one button. Use devouring swarm against tough targets… that’s it.

Otherwise, there’s my last Passivist build a few posts above. The devotions and skill placement make sense, but the gear could be improved since this was a SSF run. I would move a few points to the Pneumatic burst line however.

I’m trying to make a Blood Knight Blademaster right now. I’ll post it later.

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Lotta options, thats great!

Think ill try the gun/shield combo, with regen. If im reading that planner correctly, there was 20 devotion points left to put some into …ummm… Hydra i believe? So ill start working towards that. I picked up some random green one handed pistol with fire damage, and have a Faiths Guard, and some other odds and ends. I will end up putting the ancient armor component on the chest and legs i think it goes in, to up the armor absorb.

So that should leave some devotion points to play around with. Which would be better ya think, tryin to get into the Obelisk of Menhier for the armor absorb, shield regen and stone form?