[1.2.1.5] Gutsplosive Conjurer w/ Gutsmasher (SR32+)

First time posting my build here so apologies if it is a little incoherent. I will also try to explain the thought process behind the build - a wall of text warning.

Gutsmasher is a fun weapon. It allows you to gut and smash enemies at the same time. Despite the very tempting +2 to all Occultist skills bonus and some great perks that come with the mastery, I do not see any Conjurer builds using this weapon on Grimtools. So I decided to post the results of my attempt to make it work.

Here are two video examples of clearing SR30-31:

  1. An average run: https://youtu.be/IHI_EpbFqDo

  2. This one got unlucky mutator combination (Regenerative and Toughened) which usually makes SR feel like a slog. Ironically, it took about as much time as the other run: https://youtu.be/tNEuUfPfObk

SR32-33 is pretty much identical. At SR34+ it gets dicey and you can’t reliably facetank everything

Performance

The goal was a decently fast and comfy SR30 clearer and I believe that it worked out quite well. No piano, no need to kite (most of the time anyway), just unga bunga through hordes of monsters. It is easy to play and clears both chunks and bosses quite quickly.

This is a mixed physical/bleed, fairly tanky auto-attack build with quite a bit of AoE. Most of the damage comes from bleed, but decent physical damage and RR coupled with high ADCTH helps to facetank pretty much all of SR30 and SR32 without issues.

It can push SR36 with some good piloting, but I would not call it a comfortable experience. The damage is there but the reliance on life steal and lack of a good circuit breaker mean that it is prone to dying spontaneously. Might be a skill issue though, I play like an ape. It also can’t really deal with celestials.

Gameplay

You run into an enemy horde and hold LMB. Savagery with powerful bleed on Upheaval and Feral Huger provide a lot of damage output, Gutsplosion proc makes it even faster at clearing chunks. Both Curse of Frailty and Wendigo Totem have wide AoE and long duration so there is no need to recast them often. Devouring Swarm is the only button you need to press frequently. I use Violent Delights augment for maneuvering.

Pretty much the same with bosses. In SR30 or 32 you don’t even need to avoid Sunder most of the time.

Masteries

Shaman: the obvious one. It’s the core of the build and all the skills in it are quite straightforward. Savagery + WPS for damage, Devouring Swarm for Bleed RR. Primal Bond and Wendigo Totem for the buffs. Mogdrogen’s Pact for all round survivability boost. I didn’t use Entangling Vines for attack speed reduction because of a lucky MI drop, it would be recommended otherwise.

Occultist: Curse of Frailty is amazing. It provides both Physical and Bleed RR with wide AoE and duration, and it also comes with a hefty -DA, which, to my understanding, stacks with other sources like Seal of Annihilation and Howl of Mogdrogen for the total of 379 reduction. Blood of Dreeg gives OA and flat HP regen (which synergizes well with %HP regen Shaman bonuses) and phys resist. Solael’s Witchfire is a 1-pointer. Overall, fairly light on points, but with a lot of bang for the buck.

Equipment

Gutsmasher: the star of the build. Big stick smash, with physical and bleed damage, +2 to all Occultist skills, attack speed, %HP bonus, good bonuses to Savagery, and some not very relevant conversions. The skill is good for chunks and not so good against bosses.

Bloodrager’s Endless Frenzy: mastery bonuses are meh, but the stats and procs alone make it worth using.

Crimson Claws: BiS and it’s not even close.

Lacerator Girdle: not the best belt for the build stat wise, but 15% damage reduction AoE proc is one of the very few ways this build can reliably apply damage debuff.

Mark of Consumption: no physical damage but amazing overall. ADCTH on Upheaval, lots of bleed, OA bonus, great skill bonuses, 12% damage to undead.

Stormtitan Threads: again no phys damage, but I love the HP bonus on these boots. Stun resistance is also very useful.

Ring of the Black Matriarch: no bleed damage, but otherwise superb. Physical RR, +2 to Curse of Frailty, life steal, attack speed.

Cronley’s Signet: I primarily use this because I got one with big OA bonuses, and this build really needs OA.

Solael-Sect Legguards: Freeze resist and ADCTH are great. My pair has Renegade prefix which provides attack speed reduction. The alternative is to put a couple of points into Entangling Vines.

Massacre relic: probably BiS. Deathstalker might be as good as well

Note that while Grimtools shows 60% stun resist, I crafted the helmet and the medal with stun resist, so it’s actually capped in the game. If you can’t craft anything, you need stun resist on one of the MI’s.

Devotions

Howl of Mogdrogen: the “main” devotion of the build. Huge bleed bonuses, DA reduction. Attack speed, % HP regen and lots of OA are the icing on the cake. Also gives % more damage to undead, but weaker than the medal.

Huntress: bleed RR. % bonus damage to beasts is great as well.

Assassin’s Blade: physical RR.

Scales of Ulcama: even more RR and ADCTH.

Kraken: great damage, HP and attack speed bonuses for 2H builds.

Falcon: cheap extra damage.

Fox and Toad for more ADCTH.

Lion and Panther are just tagging along.

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