A beginner and his build

Grim Dawn Classes, Skills and Builds
1

Hello all! I finally decided to purchase myself a copy of this game based off of how amazing the reviews were, gameplay videos ive watched and the warmth this community has shown on these forum boards. I gotta say, coming from diablo 3, this community looks like royalty compared to the diablo shit show jesters and their horrible disposition on their forum boards.

With all that said, I am completely dumbfounded with the depth of customization this game offers. This is was more immersive than what im accustomed to coming from d3, so my initial question is, and i hate to be that guy, what is an op build i can work towards on my first character? Im sure there are plenty of viable builds out there that offer a fun experience, but I would like something thatll rip through the game, preferably.

Are melee and ranged characters on even footing? Or does one type offer a distinct advantage? Ive heard dot in this game is a strong feature, true/false? Ive looked into witchblades a bit on youtube and they seem pretty good and capable, but i heard somewhere theyve been nerfed a bit in the past and arent as good as they used to be and theres better alternatives. Im so clueless :confused:

Also if there are any guides that could be helpful in how to progress stat/skill wise regarding a certain build, please enlighten me so i can try and grow my understanding of this amazing game. Thanks! :smiley:

2

Check the Build Compendium for high-level descriptions of various builds to get a taste of what’s out there.

In very general terms currently melee is considered stronger in the endgame over ranged casters due to a wider variety of defensive options as well as a lot of endgame farming revolving around killing a single boss, but there are plenty of caster builds that can do well enough. Witchblades are still pretty good, just not up on a tier by themselves after nerfs.

DoT is strong now that it can crit with every tick of application. Since you mentioned it, this Witch Hunter is a decent starting character since it doesn’t require a lot gear to be decent.

3

thank you for your reply, i will definitely check that section out!


https://grimcalc.com/build/WRP7Fh

whats your opinion on that build? this things looks retarded op, but then again im am not well versed on builds in this game and this could be some 7/10 standard shit lol

also, how is this for a buid, http://www.grimdawn.com/forums/showthread.php?t=48162&page=11
looks very promising to a newbie, but would like some more seasoned players inputs!

4

This build is great for a new player: http://www.grimdawn.com/forums/showthread.php?p=357843#post357843
Good clearing speed, DoT, health + healing. Simple concept and gameplay. No gear requirement.

5

Welcome, I hope you have fun with this game as I have, and keep in mind that GD has a different “endgame” the focus here is not to farm forever but to always create new characters and enjoy the incredible variety of builds.

About melee/ranged, depends on your playstyle tbh, since GD uses a system that combine classes, a “melee” can be made ranged with proper combination and skills, so in terms of power they are equal but melee builds are more “calm” to play since they will depend less on skills and procs and more in normal attacks. Mage/ranged builds you need to be faster and more focus, I remember a post from GD China were a guy finish Crucible Gladiator with a mage and was amazing how he used 10+ skills while dodging attacks.

As for a build, there is a lot of builds that are quite good. I personally loved the saboteur dual wielding https://grimcalc.com/build/1007-vCE1oR

6

Ah, a D3 runaway. Welcome to the upgrade! Joking aside, one warning…In D3, without this custimization, the point became GRift climbing, and perfectly rolled gear. Here, we have no GRift or equivalent, and perfect gear isn’t what we usually focus on…Here, it’s more about finishing one build, and making another, rather than an end game. This may change in time…But it’s unlikely to be soon.

Melee/Ranged/Casting is all about even, none have a distinct advantage, with the caveat that if you go for a melee build without Shaman or Soldier, you will be a bit squishy compared to any melee build running those. That’s specifically thanks to the % Health boosts in both classes, though Soldier has other benefits. You can run Shaman or Soldier with non-melee as well, but for Melee, it’s a risk to not do it. It CAN be done, but it’s harder.

DOTs in this game can stack, so if you cause multiple, they all stack up. More importantly, each tick of damage checks for a crit, and DOTs CAN crit in this game. It’s a significant boost to their overall damage, because of that. DOT focused builds are popular, and even in non-DOT focused builds, they can make up a significant portion of your damage. Dreeg’s Evil Eye is a good example, especially if you look at a DEE build using the Focused Gaze transmuter. Those builds are entirely about throwing a single DOT source and watching as everything melts away.

For Stats, Physique is the only stat you really want. You may need a few points into Cunning or Spirit to wear gear pieces, but in general, you want to put every point possible into Physique. It’s a bit of a game flaw at the moment.

7

Welcome OP, we’re glad to have you in the community :smiley:

As for builds, my advice to you is that ranged characters seem fiercely OP in normal mode but struggle in the higher difficulties. Same with casters but moreso. If you know what you’re doing, all 3 are about equally viable, but tanky melee builds have the smoothest ‘curve’ in my experience without any particular spikes or valleys in difficulty.

Warder/Witchblade/Blademaster/Commando with a mace and shield are kind of the ‘go to’ in the current patch from what I’ve seen. The cadence buff in the last major update rendered physical/pierce builds using soldier slightly stronger than most other builds in terms of damage potential without lowering their survivability. Some builds, max gear dual wield blademasters in particular, have higher peak DPS, but the survivability that comes from pneumatic burst or blood of dreeg (powerful heal abilities for the nightblade and occultist respectively) is hard to beat for a new player who might find himself in hot water now and then.

To design a build of your own, start with two questions: “How do I kill enemies?” and “How do I not die?” and work from there.

8

More like “How do i beat the main content?” and “How do i not make my GD experience frustrating?”

New build makers shouldn’t focus on nemeses imho. Not that they’re too hard, but if you kill a nemeses in 30 minutes and you see some video with a 15 sec kill then you’d be dejected.

Start small and achieve big (or something like that :D)

9

thank you to everyone who has commented in here and offered me some advice, im greatly appreciative!

i will take all of what you guys said and think it over.

however, if someone can tell me if either of these 2 builds are strong, and viable in end game, i would be super grateful!

http://www.grimdawn.com/forums/showthread.php?t=48162

these 2 seem extremely fun to play, but are they viable?

10

Duck King knows his stuff, i’d recommend his builds

Ed’s Sabo is no less. I give it up my vote :smiley:

Try both imo.

11

Both are VIABLE…But. Venomblade is gear dependent. As the name suggests, you want the Venomblade’s Pact set items…And you aren’t likely to have that any time soon.

The other is also functional, but the downside is the tankiness…It’s not. Generally new players are advised to go with something that can take a few good hits, because you are 100% going to wander into areas you shouldn’t and almost die. Nemesis spawns, various hidden areas, that kind of thing.

For a starting build, generally look for something with Soldier in it, because Soldier makes being tanky easy. http://grimdawn.com/forums/showthread.php?p=426740#post426740 This guide is not great, but something like this may be your easiest bet…Dreeg’s Evil Eye has damage galore, and only gets better when you get better gear. That particular guide does skip Military Conditioning, which is generally not a good idea in Soldier.

Pick a specific skill you like, and we can maybe suggest ways to use that without dying the second you run into a surprise. If it helps, WolfOverclockedGames, on YouTube, has done Skill Overviews for some of these skills, so you can see what they do.

12

Go with whats fun. I find its good to have a general idea on what to put points into, but as you get gear and reach harder content you will adapt and change your points and constellations to suit your needs.

Some guides offer step by step guides on what to invest and when to change. These guides also have end gear that is assumed you will have.

Personally I find that the gear you find ALWAYS seems to be meant for another class. Once I get a few good pieces for a particular class I aim to build around that. For example my first toon was a Blademaster (mistake very gear dependant) then a dual wield pistol sorcerer. I eventually accumulated a lot of BiS gear for a summoner and now he’s my farming char.

101’s you want to keep in mind:

In ultimate resists are KING. Was recently farming some mats and ran into a nemesis and I just couldn’t kill him. I used a potion to put my self at resit cap and had no issue (16% can make all the world of a difference).

Focus on getting a mix of defensive/offensive constellations (maybe even more so on defensive). Its easy enough to get the offence you need from gear. As you get BiS you have more freedom

try to reach 2500+ OA and 2000+ DA. I believe these are some basic caps that allow crits and not getting critically hit with out causing balancing constraints.

Most masteries have 1 point wonders and some abilities aren’t worth having more points past their max from plus skills (diminishing returns… its up to you if you want to justify the extra points for smaller gains), so you can reallocate some of these into other abilities or passives.

You can’t respec points once you spent them into masteries or character attribute points. As mentioned mainly going into physical with a few into spi/cunning for gear requirements you can’t go wrong. Once you have a better idea of a class and BiS gear you can then then focus more on other attribute points. You “generally” want to max one mastery and have 32-50 points into a second mastery (for abilites and stat points). Going pure one mastery is only possible as a soldier atm, but they are looking to nerfing that class within the week.

Item type filter is your friend (its beside your health bar to the left).

Normal is for funz, elite is for farming (for ultimate) and more serious build focus. Ultimate requires a lot of fine tuning and gear.

As other mentioned this is all about trying new builds once you establish a character and character development has meaning here compared to D3. The journey is getting your character to 85 while D3 its about climbing grifts (end game).

As far as less gear dependency try to aim for a caster DoT build or possibly a dual wield melee/ranged pyromancer.

This is just 2 cents from a noob that has barely played compared to a lot of folks here… Hope it helps :slight_smile: