- <<< GRIMTOOLS >>> [Melee] [1.2.1.6] SSF, HC Champion of the Light Hybrid build (Cripptid)
- Damage: Lightning, Lightning Retaliation
- Active Skills: Righteous Fervor, Grasping Vines
Introduction
Hello everyone, today, I’m excited to share one of my unconventional GD builds with you. These builds are often labeled as weird, bad, unoptimized, or unusual by others, but I have a deep appreciation for them nonetheless. Not every character needs to be an overpowered Conjurer or Warlord. I enjoy experimenting with different builds and classes to see what unique outcomes I can achieve.
The Save file of the character.
_Champion of the Light.zip (853.7 KB)
Just drop the file into your C:\Users.…\Documents\My Games\Grim Dawn\save\main
OR
If you use Cloud Saves then drop it into your C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\userdata\ ….…\remote\save\main
The Build
Build Explanation
The Dawnshield is an Epic set that can be easily obtained in 2-4 hours of grinding, it fits new players who want to create an ‘off-meta’ hybrid build.
It grants A LOT of Flat Lighting Retaliation damage, and we are going to use that, the Righteous Fervor deals a portion of Retaliation damage when used thanks to the Retribution.
RF has a small problem, it deals Physical Damage
This is partially fixed with good rolls on your main weapon,
I got lucky and got max Physical to Lightning conversion of 54% and max Physical resistance roll, and thanks to the Stormscaller Pact we get additional 15%, in total 69% global conversion, we can get it even higher with Components like Seal of Skies.
I have realized that I can also use Grasping Vines, just like RF it deals a portion of Retaliation damage, as a result, it deals decent AoE damage.
Constellations
Vital constellations:
- Viper or/and Ultos for its Resistance Reduction, they do not stack with each other, but they are both solid constellations nonetheless.
- Widow, same reason, for its Resistance Reduction.
- Kraken, thanks to one of the latest patches, it now also grants Retaliation damage!
- Rhowan’s Crown, even more Resistance Reduction.
Getting as much resistance reduction as possible is vital, for example the Mogdrogen has 123% Lightning Resistance with a Passive bonus of extra 28% Lightning resistance, … yeah…
Other constellations:
- Hyrian, I took it because it supports both Lightning and Retaliation, but over all the constellation is a bit weak.
- Phoenix, Phoenix constellation is powerful, it also supports Retaliation and Elemental, but procs only when you land a Crit, you need a lot of Offensive Ability 3k+ to deal Crits consistently.
Phoenix also need 3 Order Affinity, you will have to take the Lion as well. - Fox for 6% Life Leech
- Chariot for Stun and Slow Resistance, it also functions as a safety net when HP drops below 60%.
- Incomplete Spider for 5% attack speed and incomplete Sailor’s Guide for %Slow Resistance
Set Farm for lvl 94+
I have farmed Ultimate totems in the Act 1 for about 3 hours, starting from Lower Crossing Rift and ending at the Warden’s Lab Rift, sometimes I would go to the Act 2 a bit as well, but not too far.
If you are lucky you can get the Blueprint: Mythical Dawnguard Helm, you need any 5 set pieces, if you get duplicates like multiple weapons you can transform them at the inventor in other missing Set pieces, you can either go to the Crucible Inventor or DLC’s Inventors in the Malmouth or Forgotten Gods, but you need to complete their quests first to unlock the Transmutation.
Other Gear
The set covers almost all slots, as for the pants if you haven’t found Mythical Stormcage Legguards then you can use budget Mythical Anchorite’s Leg Armor or to farm Solael-Sect Legguards from * Guardian of Solael [Map]
Stormbearers are ideal because it supports both Lightning, Retaliation and has a decent Physical Resistance bonus, but you can temporarily use any Lightning/Elemental boots like Mythical Boots of Primordial Rage or Mythical Wyrmscale Footguards.
The game has very few good Retaliation medals, lucky you can farm Ikrix Scale from * Ikrix, the Ravener [Map] try finding Elemental or Lightning affixes with some good OA/DA bonuses.
Gargoyle Girdle is another excellent belt, it has innate retaliation bonuses, all you have to do is to get an elemental or lightning affix. It can be farmed here Grim Dawn World Map.
Ring slots aren’t that vital, i bought a Living Ring from Vinelton from Ancinet Grove if you are patient you can even buy a triple rare Living ring, second ring was Gargabol’s Ring to get +3 to RF, with it have lvl 26 RF.
Pros:
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Great damage, both AoE and Single Target, it actually surprised me.
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25k flat damage, not bad for a Hybrid Build
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Decent Retaliation, maybe a little less than a dedicated Retaliation Build
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Decent Armor, 3600 with active RF, turns the character into a decent Bruiser.
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Very good HP pool, 23k HP.
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Decent Resistances, you can easily cover the missing resistances with Augments.
Cons:
- Low Attack Speed (barely got 155%)
- Low self-sustain, had to take Fox for (6% leech), Unholy Inscription(5%) and Seal of Blades(5%) to reach 16% Life Leech, which is not bad, but i had to dance with the tambourine to get it.
- Low CC resistance, doable if Ascension is active, but without it the character is vulnerable.
- Relatively low OA, needs good Affixes to fix it. (3K OA, 3.2K with Ascension)
- Can be overwhelmed with multiple powerful bosses in Gladiator Crucible and SR 35+, going to Crucible without buffs or towers is risky, starting from SR 30+ it gets dangerous.
Progression
(I made some adjustments to my build before killing Mog, i used Mythical Azrakaa’s Sands to get extra maximum lightning resistances)
(i also had to adjust my build a bit for Callagadra, i changed my belt for Mythical Hammerfall Girdle)
PS: Overall an ok build, the Mog and Calla kills took an eternity, other more optimized builds can kill them in 2-3 minutes, but for an Epic set it’s a decent result.
As mentioned before, the build lacks self-sustain, life leech is inconsistent, if you get CC’ed, or debuffed with -%Damage Dealt or debuffed with Fumble, you basically dont heal at all, i did my best to cover all CC’s to be as nibmle as possible.
The build cannot really turn it into a Regenerator, because the only source of Regen is Mogdrogen Pact, even if you max it with Gollus Rings the best you can reach is about 1.3k-1.5k HP regen. Someone already made a Dawnshield Regenerator build but he is a Warder [1.2] Beginner's Retaliation Warden.