A how-to on getting loot efficiently on solo play + advice on levelling

[sir_spanksalot]

Go to GT build calculator. Put in the item of interest in its respective slot.

Click on it.

Immediately above the item, you’ll see prefixes and suffixes.

You can filter them by rarity as well.

I think it’s best shown with an example:

https://www.grimtools.com/calc/w263Xl8V <— Base solael sect pants

https://www.grimtools.com/calc/q2mWxr0Z <— GG double rolled pants

[sir_spanksalot]

It’s also worth noting that many green affixes give +skill points. For example, an ‘of ferocity’ suffix on a weapon gives it physical damage, attack speed, and +2 to savagery.

+4 if it’s a 2H.

[kalarro]

Go to GT build calculator. Put in the item of interest in its respective slot.

Click on it.

Immediately above the item, you’ll see prefixes and suffixes.

You can filter them by rarity as well.

I think it’s best shown with an example:

https://www.grimtools.com/calc/w263Xl8V <— Base solael sect pants

https://www.grimtools.com/calc/q2mWxr0Z <— GG double rolled pants

Sorry I still dont get it.

Checking your example, in one of the links I see the base item, I get that. In the other one, I see the item with prefixes and afixes. But it’s the same info I would see in the game. How do I know, without major knowledge of the stats, that this version deserves keeping and another one with other prefixes and subfixes doesnt?
OP said to check GT, and I dont see how this helps.

I even use rainbow mod and keep double-rares. But I still sell tons and tons of greens each game, and Im pretty sure im selling some useful stuff. I was curious about OPs hint on using GT to determine if an item is good or not, but in your example I see the same info as ingame.

[malawiglenn]

Sorry I still dont get it.

Checking your example, in one of the links I see the base item, I get that. In the other one, I see the item with prefixes and afixes. But it’s the same info I would see in the game. How do I know, without major knowledge of the stats, that this version deserves keeping and another one with other prefixes and subfixes doesnt?
OP said to check GT, and I dont see how this helps.

I even use rainbow mod and keep double-rares. But I still sell tons and tons of greens each game, and Im pretty sure im selling some useful stuff. I was curious about OPs hint on using GT to determine if an item is good or not, but in your example I see the same info as ingame.

I think he just means that in GT you can see if affix is magic or rare tier

If you have rainbow mod you already have this information in game

[sir_spanksalot]

Sorry I still dont get it.

Checking your example, in one of the links I see the base item, I get that. In the other one, I see the item with prefixes and afixes. But it’s the same info I would see in the game. How do I know, without major knowledge of the stats, that this version deserves keeping and another one with other prefixes and subfixes doesnt?
OP said to check GT, and I dont see how this helps.

I even use rainbow mod and keep double-rares. But I still sell tons and tons of greens each game, and Im pretty sure im selling some useful stuff. I was curious about OPs hint on using GT to determine if an item is good or not, but in your example I see the same info as ingame.

It means that you can go to GT and see the entire list of affixes attached to the item.

If you’re not sure if an item is worth keeping, go look up what the affixes do.

[gregory_portman]

Sorry I still dont get it.

Checking your example, in one of the links I see the base item, I get that. In the other one, I see the item with prefixes and afixes. But it’s the same info I would see in the game. How do I know, without major knowledge of the stats, that this version deserves keeping and another one with other prefixes and subfixes doesnt?
OP said to check GT, and I dont see how this helps.

I even use rainbow mod and keep double-rares. But I still sell tons and tons of greens each game, and Im pretty sure im selling some useful stuff. I was curious about OPs hint on using GT to determine if an item is good or not, but in your example I see the same info as ingame.

Try to look at this:

Generally speaking - more to the right side of the chart are potentially more powerful items. This chart is not perfect but I’ve created it to visualize itemization in Grim Dawn Better. I hope it will help you a bit with understanding the itemisation

Still you can get double rare that is utter crap for any build… unfortunately ;( Need to praise to RNJesus And how to know what is utter crap? Well that comes with exp. Same as in PoE. You can have spell dagger, phys dagger. Same for 2handers, etc. etc.

One of the general rules is: I’ll say that +1 to any skills are almost always better than +%dmg.
But still not true for every item. blah blah blah…

Just play and learn

[kalarro]

Try to look at this:

Generally speaking - more to the right side of the chart are potentially more powerful items. This chart is not perfect but I’ve created it to visualize itemization in Grim Dawn Better. I hope it will help you a bit with understanding the itemisation

Still you can get double rare that is utter crap for any build… unfortunately ;( Need to praise to RNJesus And how to know what is utter crap? Well that comes with exp. Same as in PoE. You can have spell dagger, phys dagger. Same for 2handers, etc. etc.

One of the general rules is: I’ll say that +1 to any skills are almost always better than +%dmg.
But still not true for every item. blah blah blah…

Just play and learn

Thanks, looks useful

PoE is much worse in this regards. It was so hard to know what to keep there.

[ya1]

A little tip: if you see ‘Redeemer’ or ‘Preserver,’ which you will 80% of the time, it’s most likely vendor trash.

[sir_spanksalot]

It’s also possible to get an excellently rolled redeemer/preserver item though.

@portman: That’s awesome. Imma include it in the OP. <3

[sir_spanksalot]

I never expected the OP to grow in length so quickly nor for people to be this interested in it.

If it’s very useful, perhaps it warrants a sticky in the guides/tutorial section.

I shall leave it to the discretion of the forum - makes no difference one way or another to me.

[Dreamsickle]

Would you be able to add a section on powerleveling celestial powers? I’m using a build that has several and would like to know if there are any tricks to get those leveled faster.

[malawiglenn]

Would you be able to add a section on powerleveling celestial powers? I’m using a build that has several and would like to know if there are any tricks to get those leveled faster.

They level up by getting exp too.

[sir_spanksalot]

Would you be able to add a section on powerleveling celestial powers? I’m using a build that has several and would like to know if there are any tricks to get those leveled faster.

What malawiglenn said. Same rules apply.

EDIT: I think they need to be bound to a skill and actively used though. They also benefit from exp pots/Lokarr’s set.

[malawiglenn]

What malawiglenn said. Same rules apply.

EDIT: I think they need to be bound to a skill and actively used though. They also benefit from exp pots/Lokarr’s set.

Yup. Having them bound to a skill is enough. You do not need to deal damage or use that skill, as long as devo is bound it gets exp.

Yes exp pots and Lokarr set will boost exp gained by devos too.

[Volek]

If you haven’t noticed by now, you tend to level a lot faster by killing a bunch of trash mobs than you would from taking on the big, the bad, and the ugly.

A good way to think of it is as such:
a. Mobs = Levels
b. Boss = Loot

Since your primary concern as a low level toon should be levels and not items, I suggest rushing past bosses.

Afaik you can’t rush past bosses as you have to kill them to progress in the main quest (from the top of my head, apart from side quest bosses such as Archon Barthollem, only Krieg can be skipped entirely, and you can chose to ignore Zaria when she attacks you).
Quests give the most XP, imho most sidequests are worth the effort especially when using XP pots. So if anything, I’d rush past the mobs and ONLY kill bosses and fulfill quests.

But maybe you were talking about heroes? Well I don’t rush past heroes either. It’s not right to let them live
Also, not focusing on gear at all doesn’t sound too efficient to me, as you might be under-equipped when facing bosses like Cronley. Unless you know exactly what you’re doing. Which I am not apparently :rolleyes:

I’d like to add, if you’re a relatively new player bounties are a good way to gain some extra XP and ofc reputation which is necessary for certain faction quests. But in order to do this efficiently, you have to know which bounties are worth the effort and which aren’t.
Now with warrants and writs/mandates applied to new characters I rarely do bounties anymore, with the exception of DC bounties that target Cronley’s Gang. DC quartermaster has some nice stuff and Cronley infamy is quite hard to get so any opportunity to farm infamy should be taken.

Well, I have 400 hours into the game and havent reached 94 with any char. I think leveling is more fun than having them at max level.

That’s what I thought for the first 800 hrs or so. I had much fun starting the game over and over with all kinds of different characters. Then one day I got my first build to 100 and it opened my mind. Seeing the fruit of your labor is very rewarding. You should try it some time! Unlike in other games (coughD3cough) hitting max level is not the end of the line, there is so much looting and crafting and fine-tuning it’s worth another 800 hrs of fun at least.

And don’t forget to destroy every clock in each boss room. There’s a special reward for this. (just kidding, that’s my OCD, I can’t bear the ticktock of the clocks)

What is OCD? I do that too just for fun, and for that same reason I always destroy the sofas in Karroz’ chambers and Scorv Egdenor’s office :rolleyes:
Scorv never blinks an eye about that, he’s probably just glad that I didn’t kill him and his posse right away

This is probably a stupid question, but can you get devotion points by just farming XP on crucible? Aren’t devotion points only unlockable through devotion shrines?

Yes you can, in fact that is how I get 5 or 6 devotion points before even getting to the first shrine in the campaign.

1. Create a fresh char and open a crucible game
2. Grab any items from your shared stash that might help leveling (Lokarr’s set, Gazerman, XP pots, level 1 components)
3. Optional: Start campaign and grab either Olman’s Axe, Francis’ Gun or any other rares that drop in Lower Crossing. Here’s a list available freebies: Lower Crossing Rares
4. Start the crucible, survive the first round (10 waves) and cash in, do not continue with the next round
5. Cashing in will give you 3 tribute tokens which you can spend on 1 devotion point (talk to the NPC with green arrow above their head)
6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 until a devotion point costs 5 tribute. Now you should have gained quite a few levels and have some decent gear from crucible rewards
7. Start main campaign, rush to the shrines in Act 1 and kill Warden Krieg with about 12 devotion points which should give you at least two finished constellations

[sir_spanksalot]

Afaik you can’t rush past bosses as you have to kill them to progress in the main quest (from the top of my head, apart from side quest bosses such as Archon Barthollem, only Krieg can be skipped entirely, and you can chose to ignore Zaria when she attacks you).
Quests give the most XP, imho most sidequests are worth the effort especially when using XP pots. So if anything, I’d rush past the mobs and ONLY kill bosses and fulfill quests.

But maybe you were talking about heroes? Well I don’t rush past heroes either. It’s not right to let them live
Also, not focusing on gear at all doesn’t sound too efficient to me, as you might be under-equipped when facing bosses like Cronley. Unless you know exactly what you’re doing. Which I am not apparently

Yup, that’s what I meant - heroes, not bosses

When I say don’t focus too much on gear, I mean to say don’t bother going to the ends of the earth, trying to open every little treasure chest. This is especially true at lower difficulties since purps only really drop in ultimate.

[Nery]

There are some Bosses that are necessary to beat in order to progress in game and if you’re newish to the game and don’t have items available can be problematic.So I suggest to use potions to be able to progress.Especially if you’re low on resistances.Aether resistance one can help you against Krieg,Teo,Cronley,Lucius and chaos is helpful against Chtonics.If you have low DA buy courageous tinctures from Homestead,if you have low health-use Royal jelly essence.

[Kekkuli]

Well this goes against everything i personally enjoy. I always do all side quests, kill 90% of mobs on most maps (not on aom areas maybe) and search most of the secret places. This is how i’ve always done it and shall do in the future. If i want speed&efficiency, i go for poe.

I’m a bit concerned about OK, it doesn’t seem to have very good leveling skills. All of the skills will probably shine with good item support but there is lack of spammable aoe skills in general. Aom has too high of a cooldown to start with, righteous fervor doesn’t seem to have any aoe and judgement has cd as well. Eor seems like the only option but i’m not sure how well it would work without any skill modifiers and lots of +skills.

[sir_spanksalot]

Thanks nery. New section added!

[sir_spanksalot]

Well this goes against everything i personally enjoy. I always do all side quests, kill 90% of mobs on most maps (not on aom areas maybe) and search most of the secret places. This is how i’ve always done it and shall do in the future. If i want speed&efficiency, i go for poe.

I’m a bit concerned about OK, it doesn’t seem to have very good leveling skills. All of the skills will probably shine with good item support but there is lack of spammable aoe skills in general. Aom has too high of a cooldown to start with, righteous fervor doesn’t seem to have any aoe and judgement has cd as well. Eor seems like the only option but i’m not sure how well it would work without any skill modifiers and lots of +skills.

Like I said in the preamble - this how-to is aimed at those interested in efficiency. You don’t have to do a thing I or the other vets have suggested in the OP.

Can’t comment on OK yet. Will add that later. Though greater fireblast is always a good levelling skill which can be used by anyone.