For people like me, who click the GrimTools link first and only continue reading if they like what they see, here is the final build:
🔥 GRIMTOOLS 🔥
The idea behind the build
My first build in Grim Dawn was a dual-pistol Fire Purifier, and that playstyle was one of the main reasons I fell in love with the game. Some time ago, while roaming around Cairn yet again, I had an idea:
What if I made another Fire Purifier, but this time as a caster?
The idea was simple: use only skills that do Fire damage, or whose damage can be converted to Fire. But I did not want to just make another fire caster. I also wanted the build to feel believable.
I imagined what a real soldier in Cairn would do if he saw a monster in front of him. He would probably:
- Lay down some mines.
- Set up a mortar.
- Throw every grenade he had.
I tried to make this work as a Purifier, but around levels 80–90 I realized it was not going to work. There were two main problems:
- I was constantly running out of Energy.
- I did not have enough OA and DA.
So I had to drop Inquisitor and replace it with a class that could help solve both problems: Arcanist.
And that is how the Fire Bombardier was born.
Skill choices
As I said above, from Demolitionist we take everything a real soldier needs:
- Thermite Mine — resistance reduction.
- Grenado — grenade #1.
- Canister Bomb — grenade #2.
- Blackwater Cocktail — grenade #3.
Then we take the support skills:
- Flame Touched — Fire damage and OA.
- Temper — DA.
- Blast Shield — defense.
- Vindictive Flame — defense and speed.
And, of course, the foundation of the entire build: Ulzuin’s Chosen. The whole build is based on its cooldown resets, which allow us to throw Grenado and Canister Bomb again and again.
Things get a little more interesting with Arcanist:
- Inner Focus — Spirit and OA.
- Overload — more OA.
- Elemental Balance — critical damage.
- Maiven’s Sphere of Protection — defense.
- Arcane Will — damage boost.
- Mental Alacrity — helps with the Energy problem and gives us more casting speed.
I also thought about some of the other Arcanist skills, but none of them felt right for this build:
- Reckless Power adds too much Aether damage, and I could not find a good way to convert it to Fire.
- Devastation needs very different gear and too many skill points to work well.
- Taking Star Pact only for cooldown reduction felt like too much.
After choosing all these skills, one question remained: which one should be the main damage skill?
- Blackwater Cocktail needs too many specific items to work as a late-game damage skill.
- I simply do not like the animation of Canister Bomb, and I still do not fully understand how the skill works.
- Grenado fits both the theme and the gameplay I wanted.
Now that the main damage skill and the general skill setup were decided, it was time to choose the gear.
Gear Choices
Since Grenado is our main damage skill, and a large part of its base damage is Physical, we need a way to convert it to Fire. There are two items that can do this:
At first, I tried building around Cindercore. It worked quite well. However, once I got closer to the endgame, it became clear that I did not have enough survivability.
Vilgazor’s Heart gives us the conversion we need and also provides some extra health, so I decided to rebuild around it.
After switching to the amulet, the next question was which weapon to use. I searched the Item Database (and my own stash) for items with bonuses to both Grenado and Canister Bomb. That is how I found Mythical Adversary (and I already had three of them in my stash).
I also checked GrimTools, and it looks like there are not many builds using this weapon (please correct me if some builds simply do not show up there):
This made me even more interested in trying it. It is always nice to make something at least a little original instead of simply copying someone else’s build.
Mythical Adversary fits both the theme of the build and the skills we use. Its bonuses allow Grenado and Canister Bomb to reduce each other’s cooldowns, which is exactly what we need.
Next comes the set. The obvious candidate is Ulzuin’s Infernal Avatar. Since our weapon and amulet slots are already occupied, we can only use three pieces: the head, chest and shoulders. Fortunately, that is exactly enough to get the 3-piece bonus with 15% Physical Resistance.
Next are the gloves and belt. Mythical Gauntlets of Ignaffar buff Grenado, while Mythical Ulzuin’s Torment is pretty much the default belt for a Fire Grenado caster: OA, DA, +2 to Grenado and +1 to all skills in Demolitionist.
Mythical Hellforged Legplates also buff Grenado. The boots are more or less a free slot, so I went with Mythical Boneshatter Treads, which I already had in my stash. The main thing I was looking for here was Physical Resistance.
I did not want to make the build a glass cannon. I knew it would not be able to facetank Celestials anyway, but I wanted it to survive a couple of hits and give me enough time to run away.
Both ring slots are taken by Gargabol’s Ring, which also buffs Grenado. I had to reroll them a few times to get the stats I needed (health, resistances, OA and DA), but overall it was not particularly difficult.
Finally, the medal is Kymon’s Badge. It can easily be bought from the secret vendor in Blood Grove, so getting a usable one is not a problem. It gives Grenado +30% Crit Damage (and also reduces its cooldown by 0.5 seconds).
Devotions
Let’s go through them one by one.
Must-have constellations
- Ghoul — a must-have for any build that heals through weapon damage. Since Mythical Adversary adds weapon damage to both Grenado and Canister Bomb, this constellation gives us excellent healing.
- Viper — similar to Ghoul, but this time for reducing Elemental Resistance. Since both of our main skills have weapon damage, they can apply its resistance reduction.
- Solael’s Witchblade — a must-have for almost any build focused on Fire damage.
Ranged weapon
Since the build uses a ranged weapon, Hydra and Kraken are simply too good to ignore, so we take both. Together they give us damage, healing, Crit Damage and OA.
Defense
- Behemoth — one of my favorite constellations, and I take it in almost every build. It gives us healing and a lot of health.
- Solemn Watcher — as I mentioned earlier, I did not want to make the build a glass cannon. This constellation gives us a good amount of DA, armor and resistances. Most importantly, it gives us the last two yellow affinity points we need for Harvestman’s Scythe.
- Harvestman’s Scythe — an excellent constellation that gives us a lot of useful stats and regeneration, adding even more healing on top of Behemoth and Ghoul.
Crit Damage and OA
- Hawk and Raven — taken for Crit Damage, OA and the green affinity we need for the final constellation.
Final constellation
- Ulzuin’s Torch — the best constellation for Fire damage builds. I could not complete it, but I had enough points to reach Meteor Shower, which is one of the build’s main damage sources.
I also want to mention Magi, which fits the concept of the build very well. I used it for most of the game, but eventually removed it from the final version because:
- Other constellations give us much more for the same number of points.
- Seven devotion points for only three affinity points is too much.
- We simply do not have enough points for it.
Build Performance
I do not run Shattered Realm or Crucible, and I did not plan to fight any of the new Fangs of Asterkarn Celestials or Crate of Entertainment. (I am simply not interested in spending that much time on special setups). However, Lokarr, Mogdrogen, Ravager and Callagadra were all defeated.
I had to make a few small adjustments to the augments and components for each Celestial. For Callagadra and Ravager, I used this version of the build GrimTools.
Here are the videos as proof (I did not record the Lokarr fight because I do not think he is much of a challenge, and even a relatively weak build can kill him):
Conclusion
I liked the build. Yes, it is possible to get more out of it by spending more time and finding better gear. But I achieved what I originally planned and I am happy with the result.
Maybe at some point I will try to kill the Fangs of Asterkarn Celestials and Crate of Entertainment.
This is the first build I have posted publicly, so I would be happy to hear your thoughts and suggestions.