Build Intro:
After years of playing Grim Dawn, I decided to give myself a bit of a challenge- A hardcore attempt with a character that has the aptitude of both a Nightblade and Demolitionist. More specifically, a saboteur. And then to spice things up even further, I had this wild idea when sorting out my collection of items- Why not make a 2 handed ranged variant? Considering that I’ve chosen to mix two masteries with next to no synergy in terms of damage and top it all off with a playstyle that offers limited build variety; The end results were surprising to say the least.
Source: https://twitter.com/Terk_MC/status/1320782797422972930
Pros & Cons
PROS
- Good (but not excellent) & consistent Single Target damage
- Good crowd control in the form of Blackwater cocktail + Thermite Mine
- Able to deal damage in a large radius while kiting or playing defensively from range
- Devastating when fighting around chokepoints and corners
- Good survivability vs projectiles (Shadow Dance + up to 1,000 health regeneration, high mobility)
- Great at taking down large and slow moving or stationary targets
- Has access to debuffs (flashbang + Veil of Shadow) which can seriously hinder mob efficiency
CONS
- Bulk of damage is not frontloaded (Due to Blackwater cocktail + Thermite Mine)
- Terrain may get in the way of positioning enemies within the damage radius of skills
- Significantly slower clear times due to defensive playstyle
- Fast and mobile enemies can easily outrun damage radius of skills
- Must always avoid big hits whenever possible
- Has some energy issues (Use skills sparingly during drawn out engagements)
- Recommended for players who want a bit more challenge, since this build is restrictive than most
Leveling
For this build, you would want to:
- Invest 1 point into Demo mastery, then max Fire Strike
- Bring Demo mastery up to 5, then max Flame Touched
- Bring Demo mastery up to 10, then raise Explosive Strike to 6
- Bring Demo mastery up to 15, then max the modifier- Searing Might
- Invest 1 point into Nightblade mastery, then raise Veil of Shadow to 3
- Bring NB mastery up to 5, then raise Pneumatic Burst to 4
- Per level up- 2 points into Blackwater cocktail until it is maxed, 1 point into Vindictive Flame until it is at 6 points
- For the next two level ups- 1 point per level into Vindictive Flame until it is at 8 points, 2 points per level until Demo mastery is at 19 points
- For the next level up- Put 1 point into Demo mastery (It should be at 20 now), 1 point into Temper and 1 point into Ulzuin’s Wrath
- Per level up- Put 2 points into Demon fire, 1 point into NB mastery (It should be at 11 now)
From this point on per level up, follow the list below as closely possible. My skill points distribution is usually 2 Demo / 1 NB per level ( From Lvl 2 - 50) and then 1 Demo / 1 NB (Lvl 51 - 90):
- max Agonizing Flames in the Demo Tree
- max Brimstone
- Keep pumping 1 point into Nightblade tree per level up until it reaches 20. Anatomy of Murder is now unlocked. Allocate 1 point into Anatomy of Murder per level up until it is maxed. This is crucial in order to meet Cunning requirements for future gear.
Put only a single point into Static Strike Along the way and ignore every other skill that isn’t mentioned until the 3 tasks above are done.
Once the 3 requirements are fulfilled, then it is up to you to fill in the rest of the skills. I recommend prioritizing Thermite mine and Hellfire mine, Then shadow dance.
Blade barrier is a nice skill to grab along the way and 8 points into blast shield would be wise at this point.
The rest are up to you, but leave out flashbang and searing light until the desolator rifle has been assembled.
At level 50, try to equip a Burning Purifier if possible
At level 75, Empowered Hellmaw Shotgun if possible. This can carry you until level 94 provided you DON’T switch over to ultimate difficultly
Farmable / Buyable substitutes are:
Constellations
Devotions
- Blue Crossroads
- Gallows
- Green Crossroads
- Scholar’s Light
- Kraken
- Fiend (Bind skill to Blackwater Cocktail)
- Solael’s Witchblade (Bind skill to Fire Strike)
- Giant’s Blood (4 nodes only, Bind skill to Vindictive Flame)
- Ghoul (Bind skill to Flame Touched)
- Refund Blue Crossroads
- Purple Crossroads
- Empty Throne
- Hydra
- Magi
- Refund Purple Crossroads
- Ulzuin’s Torch (6 nodes only)
Build
-
Saboteur, Level 100 (GD 1.1.9.6) - Grim Dawn Build Calculator : Final Build
Attribute points- Physique / 43 Cunning / 52 Spirit / 12
Note that there seems to be a difference between the actual skill points I acquired in game when compared with the total spent on my build in the planner. I actually lack about 5 - 6 extra skill points in game.
Either I made a mistake (If so, then please point it out in the comments) or the item attributes have changed after the recent patch and I’m still not aware about it.
Either way, feel free to deduct points from ‘Temper’ in the Demolitionist Tree since my actual value in-game currently sits at 12/12 points, while the linked build planner shows up as 17/12 points. It’s not really a huge loss though, since Temper isn’t that huge of a damage contributor in this case. But feel free to redistribute points from blast shield or from the Nightblade Tree if you like a bit more damage.
-Gear Breakdown-
This build utilizes The Infernal Champion set to drastically enhance the effect of Blackwater cocktails, with the other non-set legendary items being picked based on their +skill bonuses and +% fire damage.
In terms of a 2 handed ranged build, the Desolator rifle felt like the most natural pick to deal with enemies that can easily close the distance. When BC + TM prove to be ineffective, Spamming Flashbang when it is off cooldown tends to greatly disrupt the amounts of hits that the enemy can land long enough for the Saboteur to move/teleport out and counterattack from range. This can be repeated for as long as necessary since the Desolator causes Flashbang to use zero energy.
For the Medal, Korvaak’s Brand was picked solely due to the fact that it grants 6% ADCTH to Fire Strike, which helps a lot in terms of survivability.
Head: Mythical Infernal Knight’s Faceguard
Amulet: Shard of the Eternal Flame
Ring 1: Mythical Combustion Band
Ring 2: Mythical Combustion Band
Weapon: The Desolator
Chest: Mythical Infernal Knight’s Jacket
Shoulder: Mythical Infernal Knight’s Pauldrons
Belt: Mythical Infernal Knight’s Girdle
Pants: Mythical Runeplates of Ignaffar
Gloves: Mythical Wyrmbone Handguards
Boots: Mythical Wyrmscale Footguards
Medal: Mythical Korvaak’s Brand
Relic: Korvaak’s Deception
Final Words:
On paper, it felt as if the build would fail catastrophically once I hit Ultimate difficulty, but the reality was that it actually performed well and finished the campaign alive.
Unfortunately, I also can somewhat understand just why the Saboteur isn’t even half as popular as other class combos- it’s ‘good’, but never ‘great’.
-Purifier (Inquisitor + Demolitionist) Already does ranged fire strike better
-Sorcerer (Arcanist + Demolitionist) Can do Blackwater Cocktail better (I haven’t tried it, but I’ve seen several guides based on this)
Arguably, the Ranged Saboteur’s shinning point is the fact that the class can literally be built to kite monsters to death, which not every class can do easily. However, the strongest counter-argument is that the Saboteur might be more powerful and distinct as a combo class of its own if it went down the DW melee route. The Sacred Harmony weapon set is practically made for the saboteur and I do recall a lot more items that a melee build can use, which is certainly better than the limited selection of ranged options available.
But the biggest take at the end of the day is that the Saboteur isn’t as bad as anyone thinks it is- It might be one of the worse choices for Min-maxers or for those who are super into Crucible/SR/Super Boss hunting, but it offered a breath of fresh air for people like me who are more into unorthodox playstyles. This is the first time I’ve ever seen the Nightblade mastery being picked solely for its support/defensive skills. I’ve always regarded the Nightblade as a damage only pick, but having the demolitionist tree contribute almost all the damage while investing minimally down the Nightblade path, made me felt as if my understanding of the game was challenged yet again after so long.
in closing, there really isn’t anything I can do to sell this kind of build, but I do urge veteren players who want a different experience to give this a go, because it certainly did shake up my perceptions of the game quite a bit even after playing for so long now.
Thematically, the name ‘Saboteur’ couldn’t have been more appropriate in this case due to how the class uses flashbangs to disrupt foes, while forcing them to attack from range whenever possible and having an easier time dodging said projectiles. It’s basically all about putting the hostiles at a disadvantage. In fact, it would be of greater benefit in a coop setting since another player can help to lure enemies into the effects of BC + TM, while the Saboteur suppresses with Flashbangs from a range to help melee allies survive longer and making every mob more vulnerable.