- [2Hmelee] [1.3.0.7] Kurnhold’s Guardian (Ralfhskz)
- Damage: Physical, Bleeding
- Active Skills: Savagery, devouring swarm, wendigo totem, bonechilling cry, rallying cry
Hey hey, Grim Dawn community! Hope you’re all doing great!
Today I’m sharing with you another leveling guide for beginner players! For this one, I went with the Berserker + Shaman masteries.
If you’re looking for a tanky character that can hold his ground without constantly having to run away from enemies, while still dealing a pretty solid amount of damage — and using mostly target-farmable and faction gear — then I think you’re gonna like this one.
The title says this character deals Physical + Bleeding damage, but the build is actually more focused on Bleeding. Why?
Well, our character has great synergy for both increasing Bleeding damage and reducing the enemies’ resistance to it. So I decided to lean heavily into Bleeding as the main damage type.
Another nice thing about this character is that it doesn’t require you to constantly spam a bunch of buttons during gameplay. So, if you’re playing with a controller, you can definitely consider this build controller-friendly.
The gameplay is pretty simple and straightforward. You get close to the enemies, use devouring swarm, drop your wendigo totem, and then go smash your enemies with the full fury of savagery (the real bonk here comes from the WPS skill Feral Hunger), while your wind devils keep applying debuffs and reducing the enemies’ resistances even further.
All of this combined turns your character into an absolute war machine. He can take a ton of damage and has great HP regeneration, life steal and when you add the healing from wendigo totem on top of that, you get a really smooth gameplay experience without that constant feeling that you’re about to die.
This character was leveled completely from scratch. I didn’t use merits, mandates, XP-boosting gear, potions, or any kind of special leveling set.
I’d definitely recommend this character to anyone who’s just starting the game, doesn’t know much about fighting the bosses, nemesis and harder content yet, and wants a build that can also handle endgame farming smoothly and quickly.
The leveling:
I started this character by choosing the Shaman mastery.
Lvl 1-10 Primalist, Level 10 (GD 1.3.0.7) - Grim Dawn Build Calculator
Invest 2 points into Devouring Swarm and 1 point into the mastery bar every time you level up.
Early on, when you’re heading up to Burial Hill to complete the first quest, farm the weapon that drops from Barrog, just before the Lower Crossing riftgate.
Once you get the weapon, equip it and put 1 point into Savagery to add some extra damage while Devouring Swarm handles the damage over time and debuff.
I also put 1 point into Grasping Vines for some additional damage.
Once you reach level 10, choose Berserker as your second mastery. I then respecced the points from the mastery bar, Savagery, Grasping Vines and some from devouring swarm, and invested them into Werewolf to use its abilities as my main source of damage for the time being.
LVL 10-20 Primalist, Level 20 (GD 1.3.0.7) - Grim Dawn Build Calculator
At each level up, put 1 point into Werewolf and 2 points into the Berserker mastery bar until you unlock Voracity.
Then, put 1 point into Blight of Ch’thon and start maxing out Werewolf and Voracity.
Your gameplay at this point should be pretty straightforward: use Devouring Swarm to debuff enemies, move around quickly while dealing damage with Rip and Tear, and tear your enemies apart with Feral Claws.
Once you unlock your first 6 Devotion points, put 1 point into Eldritch (Crossroads) and complete the Bat devotion. For now, bind its proc to Feral Claws.
Lvl 20-30 Primalist, Level 30 (GD 1.3.0.7) - Grim Dawn Build Calculator
After defeating Warden Krieg, head straight toward the Old Arkovia region.
At the Rovers’ camp, talk to Hiram to unlock the mini-quest involving the troll a little further up the road. He’ll drop the weapon we’ll be using as the main weapon for this character: the Troll Bonecrusher.
Once you get the weapon, remove all your points from Werewolf and its modifiers, and put those points into Savagery (max out the might of the boar modifier) Brute Force, and start maxing out Feral Hunger.
Put a few points into Tenacity of the Boar as well. It’s also a good idea to put at least 1 point into Wendigo Totem, Mogdrogen’s Pact, and Heart of the Wild for now.
After that, start putting 3 points into the Berserker mastery bar every level until you unlock Bonechilling Cry.
For Devotions, put 1 point into Order (Crossroads) and complete Tortoise. Then put 1 point into Primordial and 1 point into Chaos (both through Crossroads), and complete Behemoth.
After defeating Cronley, I went back to Devil’s Crossing and headed straight into the Forgotten Gods DLC.
Lvl 30-40 Primalist, Level 40 (GD 1.3.0.7) - Grim Dawn Build Calculator
I chose the Cult of Dreeg as my first faction to ally with. The reason is simply that it gives us more opportunities to farm Gargoyle-type enemies, since the main helmet for this build will be farmed exclusively from them.
The Cult of Dreeg has a side quest in an exclusive area where more of these enemies spawn, so you’ll have that area available, as well as Astral Fields, which is one zone before the final boss area of the DLC.
After defeating the boss — which was easy, quick, and I was already able to fully facetank it — I went back to the Vanilla campaign.
As for skill points, keep Bonechilling Cry at a minimum of 12/12. After that, start putting all 3 points per level into the Shaman mastery bar.
Put 1 point into Wind Devil.
Edit: Thank you @DeputyChuck for reminding me about spending 1 point in maelstrom, this will increase the rend proccing greatly!
Now, moving on to Devotions:
- Complete Lizard.
- Complete Kraken.
- Remove Lizard.
- Complete Hawk.
- Remove Bat.
- Remove Eldritch, Chaos, Primordial, and Order — all from Crossroads.
- Put 1 point into Ascendant.
- Complete Falcon and bind its proc to Devouring Swarm.
- Remove Hawk.
- Complete Huntress and bind its proc to Wind Devil.
- Remove ascendant (crossroads)
Lvl 40-50 Primalist, Level 50 (GD 1.3.0.7) - Grim Dawn Build Calculator
As you continue your journey through the Vanilla campaign, farm one or two Gollus’ Rings while completing the side quests in Homestead. These will be our ring pair for the endgame.
- A little tip: You can upgrade your weapon in benevald’s shop near the blood grove rifgate!
Another item that will be useful all the way into the endgame is Zaria’s Pendant, which you can farm right at the entrance to Darkvale Gate.
Skill Points: Once you unlock Primal Bond, keep it at a minimum of 12/12.
For Devotions:
- Complete Owl.
- Complete Lotus.
- Complete Crab.
- Start working toward completing Assassin’s Blade.
Lvl 50-60 Primalist, Level 60 (GD 1.3.0.7) - Grim Dawn Build Calculator
As you’re wrapping up the new Forgotten Gods DLC, it’s time to farm your medal in Kruu’Sul Crags.
Look for the Hero mob Frostnarl the Chosen. He has 3 different spawn points, but they’re all easy to reach and easy to memorize.
An alternative medal option for this build is the Rylok Crest, which is also an excellent choice, so feel free to go with whichever one you prefer.
Skill Points: I maxed out Savagery and Tenacity of the Boar, then started putting some points into Mogdrogen’s Pact and Heart of the Wild.
You should also put 1 point into Amatok’s Pact and start maxing out Bloodfrenzy.
For Devotions:
- Complete Assassin’s Blade and bind its proc to Savagery.
- Complete Hawk.
- The final devotion to complete is Mogdrogen, the Wolf. Bind its proc to Feral Hunger.
Lvl 60-70 Primalist, Level 70 (GD 1.3.0.7) - Grim Dawn Build Calculator
At this point, you should already be playing on Elite difficulty.
The most important thing now is to take a look at your resistances and start upgrading your gear. Don’t forget to check whether you’ve already reached Honored status with some of the factions. If you have, make sure to buy their Writs to speed up your journey toward becoming Revered.
Keep rotating your skill points as needed. I started by maxing out Mogdrogen’s Pact and left Heart of the Wild at 10/10. Then I started maxing out Bloodfrenzy and began putting points into Rallying Cry.
Lvl 70-80 Primalist, Level 80 (GD 1.3.0.7) - Grim Dawn Build Calculator
Go through the entire campaign again and farm the key items for the build once more so you can keep crushing all the enemies with ease. Don’t worry about affixes for now; just make sure to keep all your resistances at 80% minimum. If possible, try to get them at least 20% overcapped for an even safer gameplay experience.
Lvl 80-90 Primalist, Level 90 (GD 1.3.0.7) - Grim Dawn Build Calculator
Once you reach level 94, I recommend starting to farm the budget version of your endgame gear.
Starting with the chest armor, I went with the Malmouth Vanguard Cuirass because of its damage bonuses and solid physical resistance.
For the shoulders, I got really lucky and ended up dropping these Mythical Bloodfury Spaulders, which work really well for our character. If you haven’t dropped them yet, my original plan was to use Korvan Spaulders, which you can preferably farm in Tomb of the Heretic.
Speaking of Forgotten Gods areas, don’t forget to farm a decent helmet for your endgame setup.
Still in this DLC, go farm Gannar’vakkar for our endgame budget amulet for now, the mythical heart of the sand king, he spawns a little further from the sunbane oasis riftgate.
For the legs, I’m using the ever-reliable Dreeg-Sect Legguards.
Take a few more trips around Gollus’ neighborhood and farm yourself a pair of his rings.
For the belt, you have a few options: Calcified Sash,Manticore waistguard, Chains of Brandis, or you can craft belts with Shaman or Berserker bonuses. In this case, I found it easier to farm a Chains of Brandis for now.
For boots, I’m using the useful and cheap Elite Legion Greaves. I have the mythical windshear greaves planned for a more advanced setup.
For the gloves, I ended up dropping this little beauty. It may not be the best option out there, but it works surprisingly well for a more modest setup.
I originally planned to use The Crimson Claws, but if you don’t have either of those, you can use Elite Rhowari Grips or try crafting Plagueguard Grips if you already have the blueprint.
I also did a few rounds of the infamous Benevald shop-reset trick and managed to get a decent version of the weapon for the endgame. (Come on, there are double-rares out there that are absolutely worth your patience!)
Finally, pay Frostnarl another visit and farm an endgame version of his medal. Or go smash some Chthonians to farm a decent Rylok Crest if you prefer that option.
Here’s a useful tip: to get decent affixes more easily, go back to Elite difficulty and head to the Ascension Altar in Kurnhold.
Offer items that increase your chances of getting double-rare drops and improve the odds of getting items with Bleeding damage-related bonuses.
This way, you can farm safely and efficiently.
This is how my character looked when he reached level 100:
Primalist, Level 100 (GD 1.3.0.7) - Grim Dawn Build Calculator
I started doing some endgame testing around this point. The character can tank DLC bosses, Nemesis bosses, and some of the tougher encounters very reliably. It can also handle the Skeleton Key dungeons and farm SR 26–27 pretty quickly, even with a more modest setup.
Here I’ll leave some videos showing the gameplay and performance of the budget setup.
Beginner primalist X Rashalga
Beginner primalist X kra’vall
Beginner primalist X Theodin Marcell
Beginner primalist X Korvaak
Beginner primalist X Beronath
Beginner primalist X SR26-27
Beginner primalist - Steps of torment run
Beginner primalist - Port Valbury run
Beginner primalist - Ancient Grove run
Beginner primalist - Bastion of Chaos run
Beginner primalist - Tomb of the Heretic run
After those tests i tried lokarr and bourbon clones. Build was able to beat them on this budget setup too.
Beginner primalist X Lokarr (tried to tank him more than I should, don’t make this same mistake and pls be more careful here)
Beginner primalist X Bourbon Clones
Build actual spec: Primalist, Level 100 (GD 1.3.0.7) - Grim Dawn Build Calculator
What now? Well, I tought about using jarldin’s fury set, the mythical bloodrager or even trying the nature’s avenger set for a more powerful endgame setup, but didn’t dropped their blueprints, only one or two pieces of them. If you’re luckier than me, go ahead and please try them and send us some precious feedback about build’s performance under those legendary equipment.
I hope this leveling guide was helpful, especially for players who are just getting into the game and learning the ropes, as well as for more casual players.
Thanks for reading all the way to the end!
Cheers!
