A personification of storm (1.1.2.0-1.1.8.1) - the rise of Druid (EVERYTHING+)

[Dmt]

I love storms. The sound of thunder.
The peal of rain. Lightning as it flashes, again and again.
It reminds me that man should respect nature, and not fight against it.

Hello, boys’n girls! Here we go with one of my the oldest and most favorite build. After a long way of balancing, Druid now might take own place in the sun. Easy for leveling and gearing, fun and strong for endgame. All in all, Iove this build so much

1.1.7.2 Update: a couple of players from our discord made some variations of Druid, and it made me to look again at my old Trozan build (with some advice from @mad_lee). Atm it’s one of the highest DPS spec, and I don’t know what might be improved further.

Grimtools (current spec)
Grimtools (old spec, also possible)

*Permabuffs only

Gear
All the gear used is kind the BiS, no need to change smth, though you may look at possible alternatives:

Note:

1. Until you don’t use the same setup I provide with GT link, I’n not in charge of miscellaneous failures.
2. Until you don’t use the same setup I provide with GT link, you prob need different augments/components.
3. Green offhand and belt are necessary. However, obtaining optimal suffix/affix is sometimes easier than farm legendary items. Usually, it takes 2-3 hours.

• Belt farm - check enemy location via Grimtools.
• Offhand farm - check enemy location via Grimtools.

Alternatives:

Variant without MI rings

• Amulet - Mythical Starfury Emerald, Mythical Iskandra’s Focusing Prism, Mythical Stormcaller’s Gem (epic), Mythical Arcane Eclipse (epic), Wendigo Sky Pendant (faction);
• Gloves are in pair with pants. Alternatives for gloves - Mythical Light’s Defender Gauntlets for sweet bonuses, Cindertouch, Mythical Purging Touch (epic), Mythical Runesinged Handguards (epic);
• For pants there are no many variants. The only one I might recommend - Mythical Leggings of Arcane Currents;
• Boots - Mythical Footpads of the Grey Magi or crafted greens;
• As soon as you need some defensive stats on the medal slot, very good alternative is Mark of Fierce Resolve, Mythical Illusionist’s Mark;
• For relic Druid has wide choice - Eye of the Storm, Iskandra’s Balance or even Serenity.

Gameplay

Kiting skill dependent caster. Spam your offensive skills, watch for defensive cooldowns and keep the distance. The more you learn how to pilot, the better output you get from the build. The most dangerous enemies for the build are chargers or stunners, however it’s noticeable only in high SR.
Be especially careful with:

• Fabius “the Unseen” Gonzar - big DA shred, high burst damage with Shadow Strike
• Grava’Thul, the Voiddrinker - beware of disrupt strike
• The Iron Maiden - several stun abilities
• Rashalga, the Mad Queen and Slathsarr Aethergaze are common headache.

Build’s performance

• SR105 boss room. Don’t try it at home.
• Crucible 170EX no buffs.
• Crucible run by @supertolik .
• Crucible run by @mad_lee.
• SR 95, boss room.
• SR 100 (holy shit), boss room and incredible naked run by @supertolik.
• SR 75-76 run without health pots.
• Crate of Entertainment kill.
• Callagadra kill

Old vids:

• Crucible 170EX no buffs.
• Crucible 170EX no buffs on the new arene.
• SR 85 run. I recommend use Courageous Tincture vs. heavy melees like Maiden.
• SR 90 boss room. Alkamir, Valdaran, Alex, Zanti. Faction boosters are recommended.
• Crate of Entertainment. Nothing special.
• Ravager of Minds kill. Hit’n run him, rearrange some skills for more OA.
• Crucible run by @Slev1n.

Useful links

FG SC legit trade thread #1

Starting a Forgotten Gods Softcore trading thread, legit only plz! For a guide on how to trade in Grim Dawn look here

GD Acronym and Abbreviation List

Please reply with acronym or abbreviation discussions and reply with anything I missed. I don’t know all of them, but learning about them is what this thread is for! I’ll update the original post with new suggestions. If you want to look up an abbreviation you’ve heard, try pressing Ctrl+F (that will in most browsers open the search function) and type it out, then hit Enter. You’ll be pointed to the first entry which matches your search. Mind you that some abbreviations depend on context. For…

[Belzzzz]

your gt link is empty.

[Dmt]

your gt link is empty.

whoops:eek:

[Maya]

I saw Bird in the Title. I did not see any birds in the build.

0/10 Birbs, literally unplayable.

[Belzzzz]

2 things bug me:

• your medal: you chose it for the OA and the tribal damage ?
• your pierce resistance isn’t capped. You kite a lot but it would mean less damage taken and then less skill to play

Medal alternatives: Ludrigan for another proc. Tempest Sigil (epic) for more points in Star Pact.
https://www.grimtools.com/db/items/8949
https://www.grimtools.com/db/items/12134

[Dmt]

2 things bug me:

• your medal: you chose it for the OA and the tribal damage ?
• your pierce resistance isn’t capped. You kite a lot but it would mean less damage taken and then less skill to play

Pierce res means nothing, only Fabius deals some pierce damage, but he is not a problem at all:p
Medal for OA, aether res and racial damage

[Dmt]

I saw Bird in the Title. I did not see any birds in the build.

0/10 Birbs, literally unplayable.

:eek:

[Belzzzz]

Pierce res means nothing, only Fabius deals some pierce damage, but he is not a problem at all:p
Medal for OA, aether res and racial damage

A lot of Nemesis have some sort of pierce damage, the Iron Maiden, KupaCabana, Reaper and other bosses like Lokarr and the Mad Queen.

Your aether resistance is already well over-capped.

[Nery]

Hey,Dmt you are on fire!When I posted my Druid,I said is forgotten class,but now I am happy to see the classic re-created.Interesting idea about cataclysm,boots are helping with kiting,like these rings.Just curious about the medal,you get it for OA and racial bonus is it worth it?

[mad_lee]

Nice take on a classical build.

I remember I have posted a similiar spec in our discord not so long ago, but it was cold focused: here it is.

Yours look kind of better damage-wise on paper, but I am not sure. Lightning should be better than Cold for casting.

I would recommend trying this new medal and also investing more in Star Pact. But overall, I am impressed! Nice twist!

[ya1]

Nice Trozan remake. Cataclysm is BiS, no doubt. And imo good choice of medal. Nothing else gives aether and pierce res with a bunch of useful stats (beast racial rules)

I’d only give up on that da augment and cap pierce/chaos res. Imo more important than 30 more da. And maybe use one Kymon’s Will.

[feelgodstoya]

cool build mate…

its funny that even as a guide maker you are surprised by tss power

lots of questionable choices here or there but build works as it seems.

more guides always better

[Belzzzz]

And imo good choice of medal. Nothing else gives aether and pierce res with a bunch of useful stats (beast racial rules)

Only pierce res is needed on this, aether is over-capped already. I’d trade racial damage for +3 star pact (%cdr).

I forgot to mention in my first post: nice idea of TSS + Cataclysm, and nice build

[Dmt]

A lot of Nemesis have some sort of pierce damage, the Iron Maiden, KupaCabana, Reaper and other bosses like Lokarr and the Mad Queen.

Your aether resistance is already well over-capped.

I believe I can make a little tweaks for pierce

Hey,Dmt you are on fire!When I posted my Druid,I said is forgotten class,but now I am happy to see the classic re-created.Interesting idea about cataclysm,boots are helping with kiting,like these rings.Just curious about the medal,you get it for OA and racial bonus is it worth it?

It is worth, the builds dps depends on crits, so the more OA -> more procs -> more damage

[Dmt]

cool build mate…

its funny that even as a guide maker you are surprised by tss power

lots of questionable choices here or there but build works as it seems.

more guides always better

Not a mate:D
Actually the TSS itself is a piece of crap and deals very little damage:rolleyes:

Hey,Dmt you are on fire!When I posted my Druid,I said is forgotten class,but now I am happy to see the classic re-created.Interesting idea about cataclysm,boots are helping with kiting,like these rings.Just curious about the medal,you get it for OA and racial bonus is it worth it?

Thanks! Classic never dies!

[Dmt]

Nice take on a classical build.

I remember I have posted a similiar spec in our discord not so long ago, but it was cold focused: here it is.

Yours look kind of better damage-wise on paper, but I am not sure. Lightning should be better than Cold for casting.

I would recommend trying this new medal and also investing more in Star Pact. But overall, I am impressed! Nice twist!

With such cdr additional 2% isn’t a big deal
I posted this concept in our discord 6-7 months ago. Me, you and John Smith polished it alltogether, but in the end I decided to go for lightning spec 'cause there is much more lightning damage theт cold

Nice Trozan remake. Cataclysm is BiS, no doubt. And imo good choice of medal. Nothing else gives aether and pierce res with a bunch of useful stats (beast racial rules)

I’d only give up on that da augment and cap pierce/chaos res. Imo more important than 30 more da. And maybe use one Kymon’s Will.

Kymon’s Will works with non WD skills?

[Dmt]

Huge thanks to our great Medea Fleecestealer for renaming the thread:)
Now it has more appropriate title:cool:

[Strannik]

Dmt, nice build!
BTW, do you remember my devotion setup for full focused lightning builds? Did you try it to unleash the true power?

[feelgodstoya]

Not a mate:D
Actually the TSS itself is a piece of crap and deals very little damage:rolleyes:

well, i wish i could say ‘sure if you say so’, but in different builds single TSS can drop any nemesis or mq hp by %25-40 after small RR’s applied…

ill just drop a legit ‘sure’ here :rolleyes:

[mad_lee]

With such cdr additional 2% isn’t a big deal

More you can get - better it scales. 2% is pretty big imo.