Build Introduction
The ColdWord Defender is an extremely tanky and high-damage cooldown caster, capable of both face-tanking and kiting, that combines the sheer Cold power of Rune of Hagarrad with the ease-of-use Word of Pain offers. It is suitable for a first character as it is easy to level, has excellent MI and faction support, and can acquire powerful MIs as early as Act 2. Late-game it can handle content on Ascendant (even with some Ascension Altar effects active), including the campaign, storm totems, roguelike dungeons, and SR 30-31. It can also clear waves 180 â 190 of the Crucible on Gladiator difficulty, and can hit extremely high shield stats (99-100% Block Chance and -99% to -100% Block Recovery) when fully buffed.
Whatâs particularly impressive is that this build only has room to grow. All testing with this build was done without ascending any pieces of gear, and the upcoming patch (Grim Dawn V1.3.1 Public Playtest Changelog) looks like it will possibly buff some key parts of this build (mainly the proposed buffs to Inquisitor and Soldier).
This build requires the Fangs of Asterkarn expansion, and all leveling and testing with this build was done on controller.
Class Options
Tactician vs Paladin
Tactician (Soldier + Inquisitor) can hit 100% Block Chance and -100% Block Recovery while Overguard is active. It has a much more active playstyle since you need to keep on top of additional cooldowns (War Cry & Overguard), and relies on the Hand of Ultos devotion for additional RR it otherwise lacks (using Inquisitor Seal offensively to do so). It utilizes Terrify for Type A RR instead of Elemental Storm.
Paladin (Oathkeeper + Inquisitor) can hit 99% Block Chance and -99% Block Recovery with full uptime. It has a more relaxed playstyle and significantly better energy management, and its higher amount of RR actually requires less effort to get (thanks to Celestial Presence & Elemental Storm). However, it relies on the Autumn Boar constellation to grab shield stats it canât get otherwise, forcing us to max mid-tier devotions (like Crab and Rhowanâs Crown) instead of being able to grab a high-tier one like Ultos or Leviathan.
Other Class Options
Other class combinations might also work for this build. Apostate (Necromancer + Inquisitor) and Vindicator (Shaman + Inquisitor) would likely work thanks to easy access to Cold RR and high health pools, with Apostate possibly being the better options thanks to the additional bonuses from the buildâs signature dagger & shield.
Playstyle / Main Attack Skills
Main Attack Skills
This build has 3 main attack skills:
#1 - Rune of Hagarrad
This buildâs main damage-dealer. It sets a rune on the ground that arms itself after 1 second; once armed it will explode when an enemy gets near it, sending a number of icy projectiles from its center out in all directions. Due to its DA shred and the sheer number of projectiles (itâll have 11 at end-game), it has great single-target damage and can easily trigger devotions. It also has a large spread and inflicts Frostburn, giving it great crowd-clearing capabilities. Its main drawbacks are its split damage (almost a 50-50 split between Piercing and Cold), the fact that itâs not the easiest ability to use, and its high point investment (needing Rune of Hagarrad, Biting Cold, Chillsurge, and Artifact Handling). The first drawback is fixed by our gear, while the second is fixed by a mix of experience and our other attack skills. The last drawback weâll just have to work around as a part of this build.
#2 - Word of Pain
This buildâs complementary skill to Rune of Hagarrad. We utilize a 1-12-1 spread (1 point in Word of Pain, 12 points in Word of Agony, 1 point in Death Sentence) in this build, causing Word of Pain to tag a large group of enemies and deal significant Lightning damage over time to them. This damage is devastating in the early game, a nice addition in the mid-game, and is rather limited late-game. Once we hit our endgame build, our endgame legendary weapon converts all its Lightning damage to Cold damage making it rather significant again. Word of Pain can easily trigger devotions against groups of enemies, and also does okay in this regard when used against lone bosses.
#3 - Chillspikes
This buildâs spammable attack skill, it serves as a replacement for your default weapon attack to fill the time between Rune uses. It rapidly shoots a shotgun-like spread of 5 icy projectiles that can pierce enemies, making it perfect for triggering devotions and piling on damage. It also has a split between Piercing and Cold damage, so all Piercing â Cold damage conversion you gain for Rune of Hagarrad also buffs Chillspikes as well! The Chillspikes skill is acquired from the Seal of the Night component, which requires level 75.
Playstyle
General gameplan for this build:
- Keep yourself buffed with Word of Renewal & potion effects
- Cast an Inquisitor Seal on the ground for defense and stand in it. If using Tactician, position one or two of them offensively during fights to trigger Hand of Ultos
- Set up any Rune of Hagarrad on the ground beforehand for tough fights / bosses / totems
- Tag bosses or groups of enemies with Word of Pain. If using Tactician, also use War Cry off-cooldown
- Cast additional Rune of Hagarrad for more damage, attacking enemies with Chillspikes or default weapon attack in-between uses
- Heal when needed with Word of Renewal and/or potions
- Use Overguard/Ascension for extra defense against heroes, bosses, and big pulls
- Regain energy & damage absorption shield through potion use (see Potion Setup)
- Reposition with leap & dodges as needed
- If you encounter an enemy/situation you cannot face-tank, utilize Word of Pain and Rune of Hagarrad to damage enemies while kiting. Place runes in front of you so they are armed by the time enemies have chased after you
Controller tip - you do not need to swap weapon sets or manually hold position with this build. Consider changing âWeapon Swapâ and âHold Positionâ with additional action skill uses, so you can use all active abilities in this build without having to switch bars mid-combat. (Long-lasting consumables and permanent abilities like Summon Guardian of Empyrion can still be put on your second action bar.)
Layers of Defense / Surviving on Ascendant
On Ascendant, it feels like relying on health regeneration or healing-over-time effects is a trap; they alone canât outpace the high amount of incoming damage and can give you a false sense of security.
I found the far better option for this build was to avoid taking as much damage upfront as possible. To this end, this build utilizes:
- Damage Absorption == Aurora relic (15,000/15s), Menhirus potion modifier (~11,000/12s), Seal of Ancestry (9,000/16s vs Aether/Chaos), Arcane Barrier (2900/3s vs Elemental/Poison/Vitality/Aether/Chaos - Paladin only)
- Blocking Damage == 99-100% Shield Block Chance (with Terrobullum potion modifier), -99% to -100% Shield Block Recovery, bonuses to Shield Damage Blocked
- Flat Damage Reduction == Inquisitor Seal (250), Overguard (96 - Tactician only), Ascension (30 - Paladin only)
Along with the other forms of defenses (buffed health, armor, & DA), debuffs (OA shred, impaired aim, slower enemy attack speed, & reduced damage dealt), and CC (confusion, freeze, terrify, & skill disruption) this build has access to, it ends up having a significant amount of survivability even on Ascendant. It cannot face-tank everything, but it can stand its ground against a surprising number of bosses and nemesis enemies even through Sunder.
Leveling Setup
Grimtools link for an example Leveling setup (Tactician): Tactician, Level 100 (GD 1.3.0.8) - Grim Dawn Build Calculator
Grimtools link for an example Leveling setup (Paladin): Paladin, Level 100 (GD 1.3.0.8) - Grim Dawn Build Calculator
Leveling gear & information
Gear while leveling doesnât really matter too much outside of some key gear (mainly Monster Infrequents, or MIs) we want to keep up on, and making sure you have high enough armor and resistances to survive. Use what you get along with the key gear mentioned below and you should do fine.
Here are the locations & availability for the key gear for this build (pieces to keep up on in bold):
Act 1 -
- none
Act 2 -
- Spectral Longsword & Wradlithâs Bulwark (Baros Wradlith at Spined Cove [Arkovian Foothills Rift], and undead vendor within Steps of Torment [Broken Hills Rift])
- Ulrapraxâs Sting (Ulraprax at Swarming Hive [Twin Falls Rift])
Act 3 -
- Spectral Longsword (Benevald vendor at Blood Grove [Blood Grove Rift])
- Deathâs Frost Seal (Order of Deathâs Vigil reputation)
Act 4 -
- Mark of Nacrathan (Nacrathan at Lost Tomb of the Damned [Fort Ikon Rift])
Act 5 (AoM) -
- Coven Lethal Waistguard (Coven of Ugdenbog reputation)
- Ugdenbog Waistguard (Naxen Shade at Barrowholm Mine [Barrowholm Rift] & spikeshell enemies)
- Living Ring (plant enemies, and plant vendor within Ancient Grove [Covenâs Refuge Rift])
Act 6 (AoM) -
- Malmouth reputation equipment (Head, Chest, Shoulder, Relic)
Act 7 (FG) -
- Gargoyle Gaze (gargoyle enemies at Astral Fields [Eldritch Gate Rift] & Basalt Crags [Vanguard of the Three Rift])
- Magi Mantle (Magi bosses in Tomb of the Heretic [Lost Oasis Rift])
- Nightstalker Pendant (Cult of Bysmiel reputation)
Act 8 (FoA) -
- Glacial Defender (Glacial Defiler at Glacierbound Cave [Aurora Pinnacle Rift])
- Prismatic Plume Crest (Avinnia of the Western Winds at Bitter Wind Pass [Aurora Pinnacle Rift])
- Kurn Arcane Band (Kurn reputation)
- Anumâfol, the Cutting Wind (Kurn reputation, level 94+)
Early MIs that have later upgrades can be ignored after you have their upgrades:
- Wradlithâs Bulwark â Glacial Defender
- Mark of Nacrathan â Prismatic Plume Crest
- Ulrapraxâs Sting â Nightstalker Pendant
Farm MIs every 10-15 levels or so to keep them up-to-date. Do not worry too much about prefixes & suffixes until level 94, where we can transition to the Budget setup of this build.
Budget Setup
Grimtools link for Budget setup (Tactician): Tactician, Level 100 (GD 1.3.0.8) - Grim Dawn Build Calculator
Grimtools link for Budget setup (Paladin): Paladin, Level 100 (GD 1.3.0.8) - Grim Dawn Build Calculator
Budget Setup details & tips
Note - the gloves and boots are just placeholders; replace them with anything better you find.
The Budget setup is our intermediate step between our Leveling and Endgame setups, using mostly gear that is guaranteed or easily farmable. We can continue to use the Spectral Longsword until we have enough other pieces of gear that give us Piercing â Cold damage conversion. Once we have a few good pieces that can do that (particularly some chest and gloves), we can transition to this buildâs Endgame setup.
Since several MIs in the Budget setup are still used in the Endgame setup (Gargoyle Gaze, Glacial Defender, Magi Mantle, Ugdenbog Waistguard, Prismatic Plume Crest), we can farm good versions of these and reroll their prefixes & suffixes after you unlock that function. Getting Double Rare versions of each (where the MI has a rare prefix & rare suffix) can be a big boost to your stats, resistances, and skills. Consider using a single Frozen Aster at the Ascendance Altar with each play session, as the enemy stat increase isnât that much and the voidmarked ambushes are a great way of getting the Ashes of Awakening youâll need for rerolls.
Endgame Setup
Grimtools link for Endgame setup (Tactician): Tactician, Level 100 (GD 1.3.0.8) - Grim Dawn Build Calculator
Grimtools link for Endgame setup (Paladin): Paladin, Level 100 (GD 1.3.0.8) - Grim Dawn Build Calculator
Endgame setup details & tips
Our Endgame setup requires multiple items that are only acquireable via random drops. The most important ones are those that provide Piercing â Cold Damage Conversion, so we can make the swap from our Spectral Longsword to Anumâfol, the Cutting Wind without reducing the damage of Rune of Hagarrad. See the Gear section for a list of your best options for getting this damage conversion from random drops.
We should be hitting at least +8 in the most relevant offensive skills for our build. Since we already get +3 to all skills in Inquisitor from our amulet, belt, and relic, we can get the rest (at least +5) from:
- Rune of Hagarrad - Gargoyle Gaze (+3), Prismatic Plume Crest (+3), Infiltratorâs medal prefix (+2)
- Biting Cold - Glacial Defender (+3), Mythical Chilling Grip of Hagarrad (+3), Nightscorn ring (+2)
- Chillsurge - Magi Mantle (+3), Mythical Shadeleather Leggings (+2), Mythical Amatokâs Step (+2)
- Word of Agony - Anumâfol, the Cutting Wind (+3), Living Ring (+3)
Additional points in other skills are nice bonuses, but not strictly necessary. Tactician can get additional points in War Cry from the âof Kingsâ suffix on its helm and shoulders MIs. Both builds can get additional points in Word of Renewal from the Interrogatorâs helm prefix.
Factions
Faction choices
Order of Deathâs Vigil vs Kymonâs Chosen: go with Order of Deathâs Vigil. It has more gear and consumables focused on Cold damage, including guaranteed blue rings that are great for our build early on and Ice-Blood Oil (a long-lasting consumable we can use the entire game that provides +80% Cold & Frostburn damage).
Outcast: be friendly, they have a few pieces of early gear you can consider.
Barrowholm: be friendly, they have some health armor augments you might want for this build later on.
Cults: go with the Cult of Bysmiel. They offer the earliest leap (Emblem of the Leaping Mantis) as well as the blueprint for the best-in-slot legendary amulet for this build (Nightstalker Pendant).
Attributes
Attribute spread
Only put points into Cunning and Spirit as you need to in order to equip gear. Usually this is 0-5 points in Cunning and 0-30 points in Spirit.
Put all remaining points into Physique for more health.
Skill Explanations & Order
Skill Explanations
Inquisitor:
- Rune of Hagarrad - our main attack skill as explained before. Its main node and each of its upgrades (Biting Cold and Chillsurge) are all worth maxing out. Biting Cold helps considerably by shredding enemy Defensive Ability (making your chance to crit more likely), while Chillsurge provides more Frostburn damage and grants an extra projectile at the 15/12 and 20/12 breakpoints.
- Word of Pain - as explained before, we have a 1-12-1 spread for this skill (1 point in Word of Pain, 12 points in Word of Agony, 1 point in Death Sentence). The lower points in Word of Pain and Death Sentence keeps the skillâs energy cost down and saves us points we can spend elsewhere.
- Word of Renewal - we want to max Word of Renewal for a solid heal & DA buff, max out Vigor for additional health & armor, and get enough to hit 10/10 for Steel Resolve.
- Inquisitor Seal - as one of our main defensive skills, we want this maxed out; its high damage absorption makes you significantly tankier while you stand on it. Arcane Empowerment just gets a single point to give us some extra damage.
- Aura of Censure - an amazing skill that simultaneously reduces the damage enemies deal while also lowering their elemental resistances (which includes both Cold and Lightning resistances). Youâll want to be somewhat close to enemies so theyâll be affected by it.
- Artifact Handling - makes Rune of Hagarrad easier to use and buffs its damage; max this.
- Deadly Aim - a single point skill for a nice buff to our damage and OA. Itâll trigger off basically any critical hit so it has fairly good uptime.
Soldier:
- War Cry - hits all enemies in a large area around you to instantly reduce their max health and damage dealt. Terrify modifier adds CC and RR (the same type as Elemental Storm, which is why we skip it for the Tactician). Hit 12/12 War Cry for the range, and 3/3 Terrify to max out its RR.
- Overguard - gives you a host of defensive stats, the most important of which are the shield stats (+shield damage blocked & -shield recovery time). Markovianâs Defense modifier is well worth grabbing for the extra stats and better uptime, and since you can place multiple runes before tough fights you can frontload a lot of damage before activating Overguard (incurring its damage penalty).
- Shield Training - put enough points in this skill to hit 100% Block Chance with Terrobullum (potion modifier) active and -100% Shield Recovery Rate with Overguard active. The exact point amount can vary depending on your gear and their rolls.
- Military Conditioning - boosts your health; max it.
- Fighting Spirit - provides a large boost to damage and OA; max it.
- Field Command - a constant buff we can attach a defensive devotion to. While weâd like to max it, Fighting Spirit provides more OA while Word of Renewal provides a bigger boost to DA - so our points are better spent elsewhere.
- Menhirâs Will - a circuit breaker that heals you when your health gets too low. Worth at least a point, if not 2-3 of them.
- Veterancy - just a single point here for some bonus stats.
Oathkeeper:
- Presence of Virtue - a constant buff we can attach a defensive devotion to, it also boosts our OA and energy regeneration. Weâd like to max it out, but since itâs one of the last things weâll put a lot of points into itâs not likely weâll do so. Haven has some great defensive stats so we want it to hit 10/10.
- Resilience - hit the 3/12 breakpoint here for a nice defensive buff that triggers when your health drops below 66%
- Ascension - one point in both Ascension and Clarity of Purpose will provide a good mix of offense and defense on-demand for only 2 points of investment.
- Summon Guardian of Empyrion - the guardians themselves are invulnerable and we donât care about their damage, so they are fine at one point. Celestial Presence is amazing for reducing the elemental resistances of enemies so max it.
Skill Order (which order to get skills while leveling)
- Start with Inquisitor
- Grab Word of Pain
- Put almost everything into the Inquisitor bar until you unlock Word of Agony
- Put ~4 points in Word of Renewal while maxing out Word of Agony
- After Word of Agony is maxed, invest into the Inquisitor bar until you unlock Artifact Handling. You can put 1 point in everything our build uses in Inquisitor along the way (Rune of Hagarrad, Biting Cold, Chillsurge, Inquisitor Seal, Arcane Empowerment, Vigor, Steel Resolve, Death Sentence, Deadly Aim)
- Max out Artifact Handling
- Put points into Rune of Hagarrad as you also work towards maxing out the Inquisitor bar
- Once the Inquisitor bar is maxed, max out Aura of Censure and Rune of Hagarrad
- Begin investing into Soldier/Oathkeeper bar as you continue to put points into Chillsurge and Inquisitor Seal (max out both of them)
- Invest into the Soldier/Oathkeeper bar until you hit their needed amount (25 in Soldier, 50 in Oathkeeper). Along the way, put 1 point in everything our build uses
- Max out any skills related to RR (Soldier - 12/12 War Cry & 3/3 Terrify; Oathkeeper - 12/12 Celestial Presence)
- Max out Biting Cold
- Invest into your defenses by putting points into Word of Renewal, Vigor, and Steel Resolve, as well as any skills that affect shield use (Soldier - Overguard & Shield Training; Oathkeeper - Haven)
- Put any extra points into circuit breakers (Soldier - Menhirâs Will; Oathkeeper - Resilience) as desired
- Put all remaining points into skills that boost your OA (Soldier - Fighting Spirit & Field Command; Oathkeeper - Presence of Virtue)
Devotion Setups
Tactician Devotion Setup
We can skip Elemental Storm as it does not stack with Terrify, and skipping it gives us enough points to max out Ultos. This is good as we want the extra RR that Hand of Ultos provides as a Tactician.
Constellations:
- Blue Crossroads
- Scarab
- Panther
- Green Crossroads
- Quill
- Amatok the Spirit of Winter (Blizzard â Rune of Hagarrad)
- -remove Green Crossroads
- Red Crossroads
- Jackal
- Behemoth (Giantâs Blood â Word of Renewal)
- -remove Jackal
- Murmur, Mistress of Rumors (Rumor â Inquisitor Seal > Chillspikes)
- -remove Red Crossroads
- Owl
- Hyrian, Guardian of the Celestial Gates (Hyrianâs Glare â Aura of Censure)
- Purple Crossroads
- -remove Owl
- Chariot of the Dead (Wayward Soul â Field Command)
- Shieldmaiden
- -remove Panther
- Ultos, Shepard of Storms (Hand of Ultos â Inquisitor Seal)
- one free point remaining (I put it in Yellow Crossroads for +5% health)
Paladin Devotion Setup
Without Overguard or Shield Training, we need to grab Autumn Boar for additional shield stats. Since this prevents us from grabbing a high-tier constellation like Ultos or Leviathan, we opt to max out Rhowanâs Crown and Crab instead to help mitigate the loss of offensive stats and grab another source of damage absorption (Arcane Barrier).
Constellations:
- Blue Crossroads
- Scarab
- Panther
- Green Crossroads
- Quill
- Amatok the Spirit of Winter (Blizzard â Rune of Hagarrad)
- -remove Green Crossroads
- -remove Blue Crossroads
- Toad
- Rhowanâs Crown (Elemental Storm â Word of Pain)
- Hyrian, Guardian of the Celestial Gates (Hyrianâs Glare â Aura of Censure)
- Crab (Arcane Barrier â Presence of Virtue)
- Red Crossroads
- Jackal
- Behemoth (Giantâs Blood â Word of Renewal)
- -remove Toad
- -remove Jackal
- Murmur, Mistress of Rumors (Rumor â Summon Guardian > Chillspikes)
- -remove Red Crossroads
- Shieldmaiden
- -remove Panther
- Autumn Boar (all except Trample)
Gear
Here Iâll go over some of the key pieces of gear this build uses in more detail.
Entire game gear
- Spectral Longsword - a farmable & guaranteed MI sword available as soon as early Act 2, it provides an enormous amount for this build (good stats, +2 Rune of Hagarrad, a Frostburn bonus for Rune of Hagarrad, and extremely valuable Piercing â Cold damage conversion). It can easily be used all the way until level 100 and is the go-to weapon option for the Leveling and Budget setups for this build. Guaranteed from a few vendors (Blood Grove & Steps of Torment vendors), but also very worth farming from an early boss as that boss also drops a good shield to use early on for this build. You can continue to use this weapon until you have enough other sources of Piercing â Cold damage conversion to swap to Anumâfol at endgame
Early game gear
-
Wradlithâs Bulwark - a guaranteed MI shield that drops from a boss in early Act 2, it has good Cold stats and can be farmed at the same time as a Spectral Longsword. Quite good for this build early on, and we can use it all the way until the end of the Fangs of Asterkarn expansion where weâll get an upgrade (Glacial Defender)
-
Ulrapraxâs Sting - a guaranteed MI amulet that provides +1 to all Inquisitor skills and has some Lightning stats to buff our Word of Pain/Agony. A solid, reliable option for an amulet until we can replace it much later (Nightstalker Pendant)
-
Deathâs Frost Seal - a guaranteed rare ring with good stats for this build, we can acquire 1 or 2 of them from the Order of Deathâs Vigil faction at Honored reputation. If your luck with rings is terrible like mine, these will be your go-to option until we find better replacements later
-
Mark of Nacrathan - a guaranteed MI medal with some decent Cold stats and a buff to our survivability. Itâs a good guaranteed option to use until we get a better option later in the game (Prismatic Plume Crest)
-
Coven Lethal Waistguard - a craftable belt available through the Coven of Ugdenbog faction, it provides +1 to all Inquisitor skills. Since it only crafts with either a prefix or suffix (never both), we can replace it far later once we care about those more (level 94+)
-
Vendetta - a craftable relic available through the Malmouth Resistance faction, it provides +1 to all Inquisitor skills and is our go-to guaranteed relic option
Late/End game gear
-
Anumâfol, the Cutting Wind - the signature weapon of this build, this dagger replaces our trusty Spectral Longsword at endgame and is accessible by maxing out reputation with the Kurn faction. It comes with huge Cold & Frostburn bonuses, fully converts the Lightning Damage from Word of Pain/Agony into Cold Damage, causes Word of Pain to inflict Frostburn, and reduces the Cold resistance of enemies by another -8%. While it is a huge boon to this build, make sure you have other sources of Piercing â Cold conversion (see below) before replacing your Spectral Longsword with this dagger
-
Glacial Defender - the signature shield of this build, this guaranteed MI heavily buffs Rune of Hagarrad and gives it a second charge. The second charge actually does a lot, making it easier to use, smoother to use, giving it better burst damage, and making it easier to set up bigger traps for totems and bosses. Its base defensive stats are also quite good, with a solid amount of damage blocked and 0.8s block recovery. This build heavily benefits from high shield stats, so itâs highly recommended to get one that will increase your Shield Block Chance by 11%
-
Gargoyle Gaze - a farmable MI helm that heavily buffs Rune of Hagarrad. After you can hit the 20/12 Chillsurge breakpoint without one, replace your Malmouth faction helmet with one of these to buff your runeâs damage even further
-
Magi Mantle - a farmable MI shoulder that gives us +3 Chillsurge, allowing us to meet the 20/12 Chillsurge breakpoint with just another +2 in Chillsurge elsewhere (typically from the Malmouth faction helmet, Shadeleather Leggings, or Mythical Shadeleather Leggings)
-
Ugdenbog Waistguard - a farmable & guaranteed MI belt that provides +1 to all Inquisitor skills, similar to the Coven faction belt. Unlike that faction belt, this MI belt can roll with both a prefix and a suffix, giving it a much higher potential for stats and resistances (especially after you can reroll prefixes & suffixes endgame). In addition to farming one, you can also buy 1+ of them from the plant vendor inside the Ancient Grove
-
Kurn Arcane Band - a guaranteed rare ring from the Kurn faction at Honored reputation. If you have no luck with getting other rings as random drops, these are your go-to option as they boost your elemental damage, health, Aether Resistance, and provide +2 Vigor
-
Living Ring - a farmable & guaranteed MI ring that provides +3 to Word of Agony, it becomes much more valuable after swapping your weapon to Anumâfol. While you can farm plant monsters to try and get one, the easiest way to acquire them is actually running the Ancient Grove; the plant vendor inside seems to be guaranteed to have 1+ of these available for purchase, and their prefix/suffix can be rerolled in the end game giving them great potential for stats and resistances
-
Nightstalker Pendant - the best-in-slot legendary amulet for this build is also from a faction (Cult of Bysmiel), making it incredibly accessible. It provides good stats for this build, +1 to all skills in Inquisitor, and provides extra crit damage & Frostburn application for Rune of Hagarrad
-
Prismatic Plume Crest - a farmable MI medal that is best-in-slot for this build. It has good stats, +3 Rune of Hagarrad, and provides Rune of Hagarrad with a unique +1 projectile bonus (improving its single-target and AoE damage even further)
-
Aurora - this relic offers an amazing boost to your survivability by providing damage absorption for all damage, plus some good defensive stats and +1 to all skills. Youâll need some rare materials and the ability to craft the Salvation relic in order to craft it. I had the best luck farming Ulderthorm Tempestborn in Glacial Grotto in order to get its blueprint to drop
Best sources of Piercing -> Cold Damage Conversion for this build
- Sword - Spectral Longsword (40-60%, adds +2 Rune of Hagarrad & Frostburn bonus)
- Chest - Mythical/Awakened Cortosian Chestguard (24-36%)
- Hands - Mythical Chilling Grip of Hagarrad (20-30%, adds +3 Biting Cold)
- Ring - Nightscorn (12-18%, adds +2 Biting Cold)
- Ring - Alkamosâ Touch of Anguish / Dread (12-18%)
- Ring - Mythical Dawnshard Band (6.67-10% for Cold, as it has 20-30% Piercing â Elemental conversion; adds +2 Vigor)
Note that 100% Piercing â Cold Damage Conversion isnât necessary for the build to clear content in Ultimate or Ascendant (Iâve found 60%+ is sufficient, but more is better - especially for Ascendant). My personal favorite mix is using the options for Chest, Hands, and one Nightscorn ring.
Potion Setup
Tonic of Mending & Elixir of Spirit
This build heavily relies on potion effects to maximize its survivability. Be sure to pre-buff before combat, especially since Menhirus has a permanent duration (you can start every fight with a full damage absorption shield).
Tonic of Mending:
- Vial (+50% potion modifier potency)
- Sansochromatis (restores 38% health over time)
- Terrobullum (30 second buff that provides +30% Shield Block Chance and increases armor by 38%)
Elixir of Spirit:
- Vial (+50% potion modifier potency)
- Menhirus (50% of current health gained as Damage Absorption)
- Navitochromatis (restores 38% energy over time)
Tip - potion use this in the build pairs really well with Word of Renewal. Vigor will boost your max health, so Word of Renewal followed by a quick Tonic of Mending will buff your health pool without losing any constitution. When already buffed, Word of Renewal (to heal you) followed by a quick Elixir of Spirit will typically allow you to gain the full value of Menhirus, which can reach upwards of 11,000+ damage absorption at end game with this build.