[1.3.0.8][HC][WIP] 2H Pierce Shadow Strike Infiltrator | Bonebleach Halberd | SR34+ | Ascendant Mode | Full Altar

Grim Dawn Classes, Skills and Builds
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2H Pierce Shadow Strike Infiltrator

Hi there!

This is still a work-in-progress, so I do not have videos yet.

I've been really trying to come up with ways to make Shadow Strike the main skill for a character that is also HC-safe.

I was always skeptical about Infiltrator as the class combination, but the new changes to Bonebleach Halberd finally pushed me over the edge and I gave it a go.

And it has been a blast so far!

So far I have climbed SR34, practically facetanking most things. The build is still far from min/maxed, so there is plenty of room to increase both DPS and survivability, mostly through gear.

GRIMTOOLS

https://www.grimtools.com/calc/2pJKow1Z

BUILD AT A GLANCE

Class Nightblade + Inquisitor = Infiltrator
Main Skill Shadow Strike
Damage Type Pierce
Weapon Bonebleach Halberd
Mode Hardcore
Health ~23k / ~21.5k without Bonebleach Health ascension
Physical Resistance ~40%
OA / DA ~4k / ~3.2k
Current SR SR34
Goal Shadow Strike first, HC safety second, then squeeze out DPS

CURRENT STATE

  • 23k life with the +600 Health ascension on Bonebleach Halberd, or around 21.5k without
  • 40% Physical Resistance
  • Around 4k OA
  • Around 3.2k DA
  • All resistances capped, although not at the 40%-75% overcap I would eventually like
  • Practically facetanked everything up to SR34, except obviously respecting Sunder
  • Haven't tried pushing further yet
  • No issues so far with Ascendant Mode + full Ascendant Altar

For where the gear currently is, I'm pretty happy with this.

There is still quite a bit that can be improved.

BUILD DECISIONS

Devotions

The devotion tree has been built specifically with survivability in mind.

There are obviously more offensive routes, but the whole point of this character for me was to see how far I could push Shadow Strike without turning it into something I wouldn't want to play in HC.

Shattered Realm Set

The Shattered Realm set is just really good for survivability while I work on better rare gear.

Eventually I have things like Murder Breastplate, Loghorrean, etc. in mind, but I don't have the final rare setup yet.

So for now SR set does the job very well.

Mageguard Legguards

I think Mageguard Legguards are BiS here.

Honestly I cannot think of a better alternative right now.

Bladetwister Signet

Bladetwister Signet is amazing because it provides -%RR and Elemental -> Pierce conversion.

Together with Bonebleach we can get around 90% Cold -> Pierce conversion, which makes it very hard to replace the ring.

Stoneplate Greaves

Stoneplate Greaves are there for the combination of:

  • OA
  • DA
  • Physical Resistance
  • Resistance fixing

And potentially Slow Resistance depending on how the final setup ends up, especially if I use Egellon.

Ring of Frost

Ring of Frost is there pretty much solely for defense.

WHERE I AM AT WITH IT

At this point I'm mostly trying to improve the gear before making bigger changes to the core setup.

I can currently jump into packs, cast Inquisitor Seal and stay there until things are killed.

Obviously Sunder is Sunder, I'm not intentionally standing in that just to prove a point. 🙂

I also haven't tried pushing past SR34 yet, so I don't want to make any claims about where the ceiling is.

But considering how unfinished the gear still is, I think there is quite a lot of room left.

Anyway, still very much WIP.

I'll update the post once I have better gear / push further / eventually record some videos.

Would be very interested in suggestions, especially if anyone sees a better gear option that keeps the same HC-safe approach.

4 Likes
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I was running a similar build in 1.2.1.6, since I had a triple rare Halberd stashed. Your build looks a lot better now than what I was doing back then though. I have to ask about the medal, why the odd conversion to Lightning when you could be running Mythical Pack of Treacherous Means for Acid to Pierce conversion (it also converts Elemental to Pierce, which can also give you some leeway)? Have you considered using a Galeslice’s Mark, since it adds more flat Pierce to SS?

You mention that you stand in Seal until everything is dead, so I assume you don’t zoom around with SS and just use it as a nuke inside Seal? I ask this because my main issue with the build at the time was the lack of a filler AA that I could use between SS/RoS discharges. That’s where I thought the build felt a bit clunky in terms of gameplay.

Please let me know what you make of this.

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Hi there @Androidon, thanks for the reply!

40% weapon damage with the new/increased Bonebleach Halberd is yummy! Since we do not have any acid damage, converting to lightning does not make any difference. We already have 90% cold to pierce conversion, rest of the damage types are not really relevant really.

Most of the flat damage we have come from added added pierce, physical and cold. They are all almost fully converted to pierce. Sure we have global added elemental damage too but I do not focus on the non-cold part so much.

For the belt I think +1 to all classes is just too valuable to skip. I am thinking of Gargoyle Waistguard with nice rolls to upgrade the belt.

Playstyle is jumping between packs and triggering Shadow Strike as much as possible. But in ascendant mode or with the ascension altar everything is too tanky, so you cannot really one shot packs anyway I think.

I think AAR could come in handy as well but I wanted this build to be Shadow Strike main. Seal of Blades also help a lot with clear and adds a lot of flat damage which is immensely value since with scale % weapon damage a lot in this build for Shadow Strike. I think the +1 charges gloves will make a huge difference too but I could not get my hands on one yet.

I actually started to seriously consider Galeslice now. Thanks!

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need that witch hunter medal prefix reroll or my “ocd” will make my brain itch :sweat_smile:

.edit, i just noticed you’re using a scaled hide in chest :thinking: - what for? you get 100% absorb with either plating or living armour, but more stats/res

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That’s what I like about these builds, as I do enjoy hopping around killing stuff with movement skills way too much. But then again my builds of the kind always lack that filler skill that closes the gaps with harder content. Like playing a Blitz build without a DAR to smack harder mobs in between Blitz charges. And so I’ve been trying to learn my way into building them in a less cluncky way.

What do I do next? I start Fangs with a Leap build with two extra charges and without a filler AA skill. :sweat_smile: