About multiple beam ray builds

[AngmarDT]

it’s an interesting idea and i would like to hear what praetorians/testers/advocates of multi-beam have to say about it.

[Ceno]

@AngmarDT

You switch the medal to Albrecht’s Commendation.

What other items do you propose to drop in order to get the third beam?

I have been asking to get +1 beam either on off-hand (as it is only used for aether AAR) or on Clairvoyant but nobody is reading!

Unless Clairvoyant gets a +1 Beam I don’t think you swap your medal here.

@AngmarDT

it’s an interesting idea and i would like to hear what praetorians/testers/advocates of multi-beam have to say about it.

About multiple beam ray builds

Functionally this is just making all +Beam items +2 Beams, as has been suggested. While until now I haven’t actually offered my opinion on the situation so much as trying to tease out how others are seeing it, here it is: I’m conflicted. Call me old-fashioned, but in my eyes items are like puzzle pieces for a complete build. If I’m a person who hates the way two-beams function and I find an item that would put me at two beams, I see that as a component of a finished product.…

[AngmarDT]

ok, i hope Zantai will have his say on this situation as well as initially i was super happy about Albrecht’s Commendation as it really is best-in-slot for aether AAR and you don’t have to hunt for green medal with Spellbinder prefix - aside the extra beam it provides.

This situation also leaves AAR of other damage types (cold, fire, phys, pierce, chaos) nowhere.

Only lightning and Vitality benefit from this.

[_maverick]

@Ceno

Unless Clairvoyant gets a +1 Beam

Hell no! / 10char

[Volek]

@AngmarDT

I have been asking to get +1 beam either on off-hand (as it is only used for aether AAR)

But that would mess with my tri-beerbeam binder Spellbinder, Level 100 (GD 1.3.0.6) - Grim Dawn Build Calculator

Although I guess in case the offhand gets +1 beam I could ditch the helmet and use the Clairvoyant helm instead (unless that one or the 2p bonus gets +1 beam as well)

@AngmarDT

This situation also leaves AAR of other damage types (cold, fire, phys, pierce, chaos) nowhere.

Only lightning and Vitality benefit from this.

Not really. As shown above, Aether AAR can have 3 beams, also here’s a Cold AAR Wereraven with 3 beams: Evoker, Level 100 (GD 1.3.0.6) - Grim Dawn Build Calculator

I was planning to level a chaos AAR character sometime later this week and try to make a tri-beam setup. As far as I’m concerned, the game gives you enough possibilities to make decent builds without having to use sets.

Edit:
I just realized that my Cold AAR evoker was a bit out of date, I was playing this build a year ago when FoA was still in testing. I was using Ramzul’s Storm Orb to make the Wereraven permanent, but that’s no longer necessary as both Wereforms have been changed to be permanent by default at some point before FoA release.

I quickly updated the build with the next best item I found in my stash that maintains OA and cast speed, as a result the dps went up by ~50k to over 500k. I’m sure this build can be optimized even further with an appropriate weapon but for now it’ll do. Evoker, Level 100 (GD 1.3.0.6) - Grim Dawn Build Calculator

[Gnomish_Inquisition]

can someone quick catch me up
did Zantai remove the fat invisible extra girth aar got a couple patches ago to appease the aoe requests?
Or is it only removed/reduced on multi beam items.
Or is the complaint that at the far end of the beam the invisible girth doesn’t overlap centre, requiring you to be a few meters closer than max range to target? (on double beam)

^centre target still being hit by aiming in the middle /

[RxJunkie]

AAR has a pretty wide invisible beam width that you can test on the dummy to see the size of it. Yes, with extra beams there is a point when they no longer overlap, but it is a bit away from you so you might have to get closer if the beams aren’t dealing damage in the center.

[AngmarDT]

Right, you skipped Clairvoyant set to get the helm. It’s a clever setup indeed but my proposal to add extra beam on Fleshwarped Tome does not hurt your build at all as you need Pulsing Shard for adtch to AAR in any case since you skip Mythical Essence of the Grim Dawn.

Good catch on cold AAR, i did not think it out properly, but questions about Physical, chaos, pierce and fire remains.

I just don’t see what is the reason to destroy the previous meta and force you to break Clairvoyant/Black flame sets to get more beams.

[_maverick]

@AngmarDT

It’s a clever setup indeed but my proposal to add extra beam on Fleshwarped Tome does not hurt your build at all

It hurts a standard AAR build that just does not want more beams.

[AngmarDT]

Maverick, i don’t like the extra beams as much as you do, but chances are multi beams are here to stay so we either try to negotiate adding the beam to some useful items which do not require breaking the whole setup and farming extra stuff and playing 3-beam setup with Albrecht’s Commendation which is obviously best in slot and lets us hardcap Spectral Wrath while providing all the stats we want - or we are left gimping ourselves playing single beam.

[_maverick]

The solution is clear. Items that add it add +2. Problem solved.

@AngmarDT

but chances are multi beams are here to stay so we either try to negotiate adding the beam to some useful items which do not require breaking the whole setup

No negotiating. Standard AAR setups should not be destroyed. Period.

[AngmarDT]

If it happens, it would be very good and i have no objections to it, but as of now i just don’t see it happening and Zantai’s silence in this regard makes me sad.

[Volek]

I’m currently leveling a chaos AAR Mystic and I was playing with 2 beams for the most part. It took me a minute or two to get used to it but it’s not that awkward anymore tbh.

Just keep the mouse cursor close to yourself so you can aim freely without the beam snapping to targets that are in the blind spot between beams, or use your mobility skill to get closer.

I think instead of slapping extra beams on more items or increasing the number of beams to +2 on every item it would be better to lower the arc degrees from 25 to 20. That would reduce the blind spot and make it easier to hit targets at a long range while still offering decent AoE.

[_maverick]

Yes, people can get used to clunkiness … and should we?

[Volek]

Well nobody is forcing you to play with 2 beams, you can just continue playing with 1 beam. Or get a Frostsnarl helm for the 3rd beam, both Frostsnarl and Voidplume Crest are target-farmable from level 40 onwards.

Same goes for the Albrecht’s Commendation medal, if you don’t like 2 beams, adapt to the situation and get a 3rd beam or just don’t use the medal.

As you once said yourself:

@_maverick

Then build it properly

As the “resident AAR builder” you should see this as an opportunity to make new exciting builds, but this “it’s new, I don’t know it, I don’t like it, I refuse to try it” mindset is so silly to me.
Also none of your old AAR builds got worse all of a sudden just because a few new items that open a different way to build and play have been added. You can still play them and still have the same results in high SR or whatever your measuring stick is.

[_maverick]

@Volek

As the “resident AAR builder” you should see this as an opportunity to make new exciting builds, but this “it’s new, I don’t know it, I don’t like it, I refuse to try it” mindset is so silly to me.

Look I don´t mind the new beams if they do not disallow 1 beam builds. Obviously even number of beams is not the best. And three beam builds could be a nice addition. But they should be niche not mainstream.

[Toxophilix]

For me, AAR has one of the strongest fantasies of any skill - zapping things with a laser that streams from your fingertips. I think that’s undermined if the beams shoot off in two different directions and don’t hit the thing in front of you.

[Critical_Miss]

The first two beams are just a warning. Don’t make me pull out the third beam!

[Volek]

@_maverick

Look I don´t mind the new beams if they do not disallow 1 beam builds.

I’m not seeing how they would disallow 1 beam builds. It’s not like Crate slapped extra beams on existing items, none of your old builds are dead or became clunky to play.

@_maverick

three beam builds could be a nice addition. But they should be niche not mainstream.

I don’t read the builds section of this forum so I don’t know if anyone posted multi-beam guides already and everyone started following them. But I can see them becoming somewhat trendy, just because 3 beams look so much cooler than only 1 beam.

I think for build variety it would be best to keep the +1 beam items in check so they don’t become too BiS and everyone feels obligated to use them, like it seems to be the case for the new Albrecht medal.

@Toxophilix

I think that’s undermined if the beams shoot off in two different directions and don’t hit the thing in front of you.

I think it became clear over the course of this thread that no one is really disagreeing with that.
As far as I’m concerned you got 3 options here:

1. build properly to get 3 or 5 beams (probably doesn’t work for all damage types, which should help keeping it niche)
2. adapt your playstyle to deal with the clunkiness of 2 and 4 beams (not too hard to do imo)
3. wait until Z has had enough of it and either
   a) increases beam count on items to +2 or
   b) adds more +1 beam items (would love to see some gloves with +1 beam as an alternative to the omnipresent M. Aetherreach) or
   c) reduces the beam arc degrees or
   d), and this is a silly idea that just came to me, talks the programmer into making the beams bend back together at the far end, kinda like this (excuse my lousy GIMP skills ):
   

[Gnomish_Inquisition]

@Volek

d)

technically beams are not crossing, so it’s not violating the fabric of space and time - this is the way Programmer