[1.2.1.6.] (S&B) Poison & Acid Pyromancer Leveling / Tips (My first build ever)

Grim Dawn Classes, Skills and Builds
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Intro:
So did post my first build that i used for farming in early ultimate. Link here.
However i also did level with this build so i will give you some tips and rough gear examples that i used to get to lvl 100 ultimate. Also because this forum does not let me embed to much links i will provide screen shots where possible.
Edit: So since it wasn’t very clear for some people. This isn’t a good build. It was just my first build ever and i wanted to immortalize it and post it here. Its also why i haven’t summited it on the popular build compendiums. It’s just an idea although a bad one maybe. Also this is not a new player leveling guide it’s just how i leveled.
Again sorry but i don’t care too much about formatting so i will type out stuff and you can try to follow along.

Now for the leveling section for this build i will show you some gear, and give you relative tips on obtaining that gear through leveling.

The early grim tools link i will provide here and if i am able to i will provide more:
LvL 61 End of Normal Difficulty - Pyromancer, Level 61 (GD 1.2.1.6) - Grim Dawn Build Calculator

LVL 61 poison pyro
LVL 61 poison pyro1006×730 233 KB

Demo 61 skills
Demo 61 skills1000×643 215 KB

Occu 61 skills
Occu 61 skills1007×630 215 KB

devo 61 poison pyro
devo 61 poison pyro1920×918 339 KB

Thoughts:
This is my gear from level 61 when i completed the game on normal with all of the dlcs and everything. And honestly because i was having fun i continued farming gear and items in normal before moving into elite so my items at the end of normal before moving into elite where way better than this.

TIPS:

Early leveling / completing the campaign on normal:

1.Okej then so early leveling is simple you want to either focus all of your points into dreeg’s evil eye as that can just clear packs of mobs or focus into fire strike, and use basic attacks mostly.
For support pick hellhound or summon familiar i went with hellhound because he can tank and pull aggro if you are having a rough time.

2.Get some damage on your gear, and farm out a decent sword for early on swords i think are the best weapon type. This sword specifically is an MI that drops in Gloomwald and Ugdenbog mostly.

3.Invest your attributes mostly into spirit and physique, BUT do be sure to put a couple of points into cunning for weapon requirements.

5.The rings, amulet and talisman are all MI or very common rare drops so pick up items along the way and try to find the best combo of stats on them. Better said turn off your item filter of and pick up items. (i know great tip right)

6.Best stats ussualy consist of damage, hp, resistances, and maybe a skill bonus as well.
My amulet is a good example of a good item that you can get super early on no farming required mostly.
It’s a lvl 10 amulet with good skill extra stats and decent damage.

7.Some rare gear that you might want to keep an eye out for are double rare items and Vilescorn boots and gloves since they are very decent stat buffs early on.

8.Also if you are not finding acid damage items early on focus on fire strike since you can also scale fire damage pretty well in this build.

9.Important tip about permanent Auras. Level them accordingly to the skill that you are investing first into (Possession if Poisson, Flame Touched/Vindictive flame if fire), and level your Vindictive Flame by at least a couple of levels even prior to getting done with the main campaign, aka. prior to Loghorrean fight.

10.Use your summon to pull aggro in tougher fights that you are not prepared for. I personally did some areas that i had no business being in and the dog saved me quite a few times.

  1. Make yourself friendly with all factions if possible because later you will want some gear and augments that they have to sell. Especially the coven of Ugdenbod and Barrowholm.

Elite Swap:
So here is the grim tools link that i will provide to that if i can if not you will get a screenshot either way.
Grim Tools-Pyromancer, Level 67 (GD 1.2.1.6) - Grim Dawn Build Calculator

LVL 67 poison pyro
LVL 67 poison pyro1016×727 235 KB

Demo skills 67
Demo skills 67995×638 214 KB

occu skills 67
occu skills 671007×641 217 KB

devo 67
devo 671920×916 350 KB

Thoughts:
As you can see i was lvl 67 before moving into elite and honestly because of the gear that i had, and the couple of extra levels that i picked up i speedran through elite. In like one day i got to level 80 and completed elite with no problems just because of the better gear and items that i got. Although i don’t know if i would recommend this to you because ultimate progression is quite slow because of that. So maybe do elite normally and then speed through ultimate. Idkn it’s your choice.

Elite Tips :

  1. Use the crafting bench to craft gear like [White lotus] if possible.
  2. Use components such as - Vitriolic Gallstone and Mark of Dreeg to upgrade your entire setup.
  3. Use Augments if you have the rep from factions.
  4. Buy gear from factions like Barrowholm , Ugdenbog.
  5. Use crafting bench to craft Malediction it’s Bis by far.
  6. Pick up the rest of the shrines until you get to 55 before moving into ultimate.
  7. Use tonic of Reshaping if necessary but be careful about physique and cunning.
  8. Try to focus on resistances now since they are more important than in normal.
  9. Use the movement skill of choice later take Scorpion Strike.
  10. Respec and try out different stuff no rules here what fells better do that.

Ultimate Swap:

LVL 89 Poison pyro
LVL 89 Poison pyro1003×723 236 KB

demo skills 89
demo skills 89997×633 211 KB

occul skills 89
occul skills 89999×643 218 KB

devo 89
devo 891918×913 329 KB

GT Screenshots again since i did not think to take them in game lol.(Smh)

Here is my gear from the end of elite going into early ultimate.
Grim Tools-Pyromancer, Level 89 (GD 1.2.1.6) - Grim Dawn Build Calculator

Thoughts:
So Ultimate with this build is quite similar to early normal difficulty. What i mean by that is while yes the effects on the screen are more abundant. The playstyle stays the same. what i mean by that is. Use fire strike, press eye of dreeg when off cooldown, press mark , press blood of dreeg, and repeat. It’s quite sluggish if you have gotten used to playing fast however if you are like me and don’t care to much about speed then it’s fine. Also i just used the build for farming in Ultimate so take it as you will.

Ultimate tips:

  1. Get revered with most of the factions.
  2. Get augments and rare components now since they make your setup a lot better.
  3. Look for the [Meat shield] or an alternative.
  4. Get better amulet [Mythical Plaugemancer’s Amulet] is one of the best choices.
  5. Korvan Pauldrons drop from FG enemies mostly, and are a good start before you get sets.
  6. Get as much hp as possible before set items come into the build.
  7. Have fun and facetank with da stank.

Outro:
Well this is the end of this build and honestly it served me quite well but as i have said before.
This build has some serious downsides so i will most likely try out something stronger. But as a first build i do think it’s quite nice. If you want to see a better version go to my previous post.
Glhf. Peace.

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Very nice 1st try, certainly far better than my 1st attempt.

Excluding the tenths of possibilities of alternative Pyromancer builds, please consider altering your devotion to include Murmur devotion tree , minus poison reduction is a must-have for any poison build.
Fire strike does almost nothing, I would invest points in maximising Dreeg’s evil eye , and increasing offensive ability.

a rough retake on your build (maybe a bit more boring but certainly more powerful.

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No offense but this looks like a dreadful experience overall both for leveling and endgame. You are choosing Acid damage for a class that is really not suited for it since Demolitionist offers absolutely nothing for it and you are doing it with with some major mistakes like not even picking up Murmur in devotions and just randomly distributing skill points (one point in Raven, but also just one point in cof? And one point in SW transmuter??).
I understand playing and doing whatever builds you like, but posting it as a “Guide / Tips” is just misleading. I recommend just playing the game and having fun with it, if you want to share your experience you can post it as a build diary and maybe get some helpful advice along the way, but posting it as a guide is just wrong.

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Yep i get that. I just wanted to post tips for the maybe one person that might try to replicate what i did here. And if you find the build to be horrible i did not say it was ever good it was just my idea that i did, and deiced to share it. To be fair i did include also a section where i purposefully say it’s not good and slow for the average arpg player.

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Yeah i already figured dee was way better to just focus on. Idkn if its boring tho, might try it out.

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Stuff you can improve for the future when do guides and builds are

  • getting frequent Grim tools stamps like every 10-15 levels , cause you jump straight to 67 as your first check point
  • tips like “craft this random drop low level blueprint " , “get this low level legendary that’s absolutely random and you can out scale level range before it ever drops” and " craft this Mythical relic that’s absolutely random drop” are not helpful to begginers
  • do your research on basic mechanics cause skipping Murmur on a Acid setup is huge gap in your build
  • sentences like " I don’t care about formatting " are very discouraging for the reader and honestly I almost stop there
  • make a proper plan for the playthrough cause half is grim tools ,half is screenshots and it looks like you forgot to get the links or just decide to make the guide mid leveling
    On the bright side you admire this build is not good and it’s just your first one which I respect a lot
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technicality of mechanics/“build validity accuracy” aside, i also don’t think it’s so terrible if, “less optimal”, this was my first experience stories get posted, because i think it’s good sometimes to get those highlights that GD truly allows a lot of stuff to be possible, even if it’s not as strong or good/fast killing or easy to play as other stuff.
It serves that neat contrast to beginners sometimes thinking they have to use a guide/only use these 5-10 approved starters, regardless of fun, giving the impression the game is harder or more restrictive than perhaps it is.

And with the proper caveats that it’s in no way claiming to be the best way to handle things(or even a good build), it’s what they did and still managed to succeed with, demonstrating the "you too can just wing it"concept, that’s part of what GD campaign should(imo) be praised for.

Guide formatting is definitely still a potential helpful/important aspect tho, and i respect builders taking the time/care to do so when i know i cba to apply the same effort to a post :sweat_smile:

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I agree just the presentation and some of the sentences highlight very "I don’t care " and chaotic approach . I know it takes a lot of hours to format edit ,add links ,pictures and stuff , some people even add sheets and more advanced HTML coding but still a wee touch can grab the attention of the reader

1 Like