Which made me curious about how I could theory craft around it, and decided to try and set up an infinite loop TSS + Overguard Battlemage.
The idea is to have 100% block + 100% Recovery to constantly refresh TSS which in turn refreshes Overguard.
If you’re curious about the Theory Craft progression I’ve preserved all of the grimtools links in the “old” section below.
Lokarr down on HC Ascendant Calla down on HC Ultimate Avatar of Mogdrogen down on HC Ascendant FoA Avatar of Mogdrogen down on HC Ascendant - 100% face tank Killed The Dread on Hardcore Ascendant SR31 knocked out - This is typically as far as I go in SR for most builds Up next - More Celestials!
SR31 Grimtools: Battlemage, Level 100 (GD 1.3.0.6) - Grim Dawn Build Calculator
Still haven’t found the Mythical Eternal Haunt… The hunt continues!
Devotions still have a few levels to go too. They were all under leveled as I was experimenting with different setups, so there will be some more natural growth to this builds capability.
This update had me switch to:
The Dread Helm: Juiced for Cold damage and got a single rare to drop w/ Rimefrost
Moosi Shoulderguards I had in stash to get +3 TSS
A pair of double rare Stoneplate Greaves that took a TON of scrap to craft.
A new Weaver Band that I farmed in the Convicts Tunnel/Devil’s Aquafer from the Spiders that are guaranteed spawn there. I’m going to spend more time farming them to try and get a better roll, but this one was good enough for now. This is a good place to farm them as it’s a quick in and reset from Devil’s Crossing.
I’m not quite 100% there yet… there are definitely some upgrades to be had all around, so feel free to call my baby ugly as I’d like to find the ways that I might not be seeing yet to make this build better.
It’s totally a work in progress, lots of things are subject to change as I experiment.
Activate Overgaurd
Activate Terrobellum Potion to cap block
Start spamming TSS
Everytime you block TSS cooldown is reduced by 2 seconds making it almost like a default weapon attack, and then TSS extends the duration of Overgaurd.
So far in practice I’m able to maintain 100% uptime while in combat, and it shreds Ultimate.
Also, for having low HP it is surprisingly tanky.
Over Max Resistances, Weapon Damage added to TSS + ADctH, 41% Phys Resist, and a couple of defensive procs to smooth out anything big that comes in.
Plus stuff just gets frozen a lot, so your CC acts as a decent defensive buffer.
Yeah, I was using the non-mythical Shard of Asterkarn when I was leveling and switched to the bludgeon when I was trying out OFF in the build.
I can definitely switch off of that weapon though, OFF is completely unnecessary, you really have no time in the rotation for it cuz you can spam TSS so fast, plus you’re already freezing things, so it’s defensive CC isn’t needed
True, I have a boatload of Ugdenbog Girdles in my stash, the +1 to soldier isn’t as impactful as the Arcanist though as there aren’t as many skills that need upgrading on that side of the classes.
Doing a little Port Valbury farming this afternoon would be a fun way to level out to 100 with this toon so the Ygraad isn’t a bad target at first.
Fresh at 100 took this toon for a spin in Hardcore Ascendant and it’s solid so far for campaign content, and doing some skeleton dungeons… with the big man disabled, I don’t want to rip this character like that just yet! lol
I usually just drop augments across armor to fix resistances at first to see how things are going and then make my way back around to fill in the final augments/components.
So yeah, there’s still room there for some more improvements.
I’ve been face tanking everything in Hardcore Ascendant.
Face Tanked Korvaak at the end of FG no problem.
Single Target Damage falls off a little bit, especially with bosses that don’t attack quickly, which slows down the TSS feedback loop, but it’s definitely not zDPS.
Clears trash and crowds exceptionally fast!
I’ll be playing this toon for a bit longer still, it’s a lot of fun, and very flashy, so there’ll be more updates as I get them.
The Dread has been taken down with this build as is, even with some more noticeable upgrades to be made, and It was a pretty comfortable kill.
I face tanked all of his attacks except for his Sunder and the Red Ball attack without issue.
Got hit a few times by both attacks, but just popped Mirror to be safe and was fine.
Some Ideas for next steps:
Helm: The Dread for +1 all skills and other bonuses
Boots: Crafted Stoneplate Greaves @ Devil’s Crossing for bonus Armor % and resistances
Shoulders: Switch to Moosi Shoulderguards for +3 TSS to move some extra points around
Ring: Mythical version of Eternal Haunt when I finally find that damn recipe
Is it the fastest clearing character I’ve ever played/made? No
Is it fun and HC viable? Absolutely
Super interesting build archetype but relying on block will always feel bad in fights where there’s hardly anything to block. Fighting Beronath must be a pain for example. Or something like Zantarin.
Too much stuff that you want to simply side step instead of tank - FOA bosses aren’t light on damage.
