Based on my recent retal adventure, I thought it would be worth talking about these two underused weapons and get some ideas from the community on how to improve them.
I’ll start with the Brimstone since I just finished a Grenado Commando with it:
So the grenado build happened mostly by accident. I was trying out various 1hand & board fire combos and then decided to throw the brimstone on and… hey it actually works. But looking at the stats on it, it’s not “supposed” to be a bomber weapon. They suggest a melee RF Shieldbreaker but I found it a miserable experience. Instead I recreated the grenado Commando gear on a Shieldbreaker and it plays like I expected it would. Stronger damage potential but much squishier due to reduced regen and no damage absorb.
Grenado Shieldbreaker test SR 30-31 (4:17)
So other than those two builds, I’m not sure what else you could do with this weapon in current form. Maybe use an Okaloth helm for Rta Sigil Pyromancer, or some other hybrid retal setup.
Suggestions:
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Rta Blade Arc mod: Retal BA doesn’t exist but this seems like it would be a good item to put it on. Would also open up other build possibilities.
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+2 Soldier skills: There’s only two retal 2-handers in the game (along with the Dreegal) so I don’t think having it support three classes is too much here.
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Buff the “Rain of Fire” proc a bit
On to the other:
I’m not sure what this weapon’s identity is supposed to be. There’s no speed rolls and I’m not sure why Nightblade skills are here over Oathkeeper. I tried to come up with something according to the mods, so here’s a melee Sentinel:
GT: Sentinel, Level 100 (GD 1.2.1.6) - Grim Dawn Build Calculator
A lot to unpack here. Acid Judgment looks pretty cool but that’s all I can say for it. Damage is way too low. For supporting gear, 4 piece Perdition gives the most flat retal but attack speed is abysmal. On the defensive side I had to dedicate half of the devotions to survivability just so the character wouldn’t feel like a wet noodle. Despite the health regen mod to blood of dreeg it still feels insufficient.
Suggestions:
- Buff Rta to Judgment. 25% is too low.
- Buff flat retal value to global and BoD mod
- Attack speed roll
- Add poison duration
- Add an acid-themed proc similar to the Brimstone
Or for a more drastic idea, move the Rta judgment mod to another item (Pestilence of Dreeg for example) and rework the weapon as Rta Eye of Reckoning. This already exists on Mythical Agony but this would be a better template for it, I would think.