Beginner build question

Hey guys,

I am very new to GD and even if i read most topics on the compendium i still did not find a real clue to answer my question and would like your insights

I am playing an arcanist lvl38 so far, using PRM only. I still did not choose a second class.

I am looking for a mobile, fast clearing and also good against bosses build. The build should be arcanist + ???.
What would be your advice? Not too gear dependant would be nice, but not mendatory. (it will come with time)

I know that may be the kind of question kind of borring for HL players, but i would very much appreciate some help here.

Thanks a lot for reading and your time.

BR

well its hard to give you a specific answer, it depends if you want to stay on PRM or not also, many combianaison would work, talking simple, you can see it that way:

if you take demolitionist, youll have mostly support on fire and litghtning, flashbang/therminte mines for debuff and resists reduction, blast shield for survivability, vindictive flame for several things including mobility…

nightblade will give you some extra cold dmg, OA, debuff, shadow wtrike for great mobility, pneumatic burst as well +good heal/passive

going shamann will give you more about lightning dmg, totems and tankiness with extra hp

these three options would work through whole game including ultimate of course, check the skills these classes can offer with grimcalc, description should help about your choice.

honestly i think all three classes would work, nightblade would give you the more mobility imo but “only” cold damage

Thanks a lot for your answer Thrasheur.

I do not want in particular to stick with PRM.

I am very much interested in the shadow strike brought by nightblade fir its mobility.
If i choose that combination, do you have any build/advices in particular that would do?

NB: i’ve already spent 15 points in spirit and the rest in physique. Dont know if that matters.

Thanks again, very much appreciate :wink:

about attributes, dont spend more into spirit, dont put into cunning aswell, you can go full physique from now, still save some, like 5 or 10 in case you need some for some gear when reaching last levels.

well if you go nightblade, the main idea and “easiest” will be to focus your dmg on cold/frostburn to get the best from both classes, for example staying as caster you can switch to trozan sky shard, if you go melee both dual wield and 2h works, even if 2h version will need more specific gear about the weapon when youll have more option in dual wielding imo; still you can always switch to one to anoher; always keep in mind you can reset your skill points and devotions BUT not attributes and the mastery point (the ones you put into a class to unlock skills).

there are many good spellbreaker builds around, especially since they got buffed in .8

http://www.grimdawn.com/forums/showthread.php?t=47243

http://www.grimdawn.com/forums/showthread.php?t=49058

http://www.grimdawn.com/forums/showthread.php?t=50212

http://www.grimdawn.com/forums/showthread.php?p=462312

http://www.grimdawn.com/forums/showthread.php?t=50262

http://www.grimdawn.com/forums/showthread.php?t=51396

all those builds are good, even if requiring more or less gear, they all work good and show you that you can build a lot of completly different things around cold spellbreaker.
you should have in these enough examples and ideas, still you can stick to one, also here is a more beginner friendly one

http://www.grimdawn.com/forums/showthread.php?t=50343

Thanks again for your time!
I switched for the beginner friendly one. This is a total change of gameplay this now i play as melee.
The gameplay is way nicer, but I have huge health problem. I shadow strike on the pack, then use amarasta’s blade burst (lethal assault maxed) + trozan’s sky shard sky shard, then weapon attack. But my life is disappearing is seconds ^^
Then pneumatic burst when needed (instead of health potion…) and mirror ereoctes if in deep s**t.
Should i be looking for life leech or something like that to sustain?
Also, all my gear was cast speed & spirit aimed. If i well understood now i will go for stacking cold damage and attack speed?

Thanks again for your help :wink:

try to put more points pneumatic burst and shadow dance, maybe use flash freeze in arcanist for some control on mobs, later aim on nightfall onshadow strike line, also ring of steel transmutted and circle of slaughter for % to fumble.

yes look for cold/frostburn, since you dont have auto attack you should look for cd reduction imo, btw star pact exclusive arcanist skill help with that.

also if you feel like taking too much dmg put some more point into maiven spehere of protection in arcanist; and finaly when following a guide/build always feel free to change it to more offensive or defensive, especially while leveling, that applies also on devotion

You must use blade barrier also, because pneuma, barrier & mirror are a holy trinity for spellbreaker.

I am a little bit better managing health and am looking for more damage at the moment. Very hard to find decent gear ^^

Thanks for the barrier advice this is also a good one!

i have exactly same build guide for you if you are interested,

http://www.grimdawn.com/forums/showthread.php?t=50587

same concept, shadow strike -> ABB for LA buff -> RoS -> TSS

i am huge fan of spellbreakers in GD main campaign, they are prolly fastest farmers of main campaign and have enough tankiness to farm all roguelikes with minimum gear thnx to pburst + mirror + blade barrier and veil of shadows and some fumble…

these kind of playstyle doesnt suit for newbie and you may struggle till you get used to combos and situations, i would change devotion something like that

http://grimcalc.com/build/1008-e2hdLF
** 5 pts to spend, go whatever you need from here, just made basic devo to give idea for you

this devo would let you farm and lvl safely, then you can always go greedy devotion when you feel stronger…

Thanks for the advice feelgodstoya!

Yeah the playstyle is not the easiest but way more interesting and dynamic as you say. I’m getting used to it :wink:
I’ve seen you play RoS. I play Olexra’s flash freeze instead for immobilizing. Should i still go for RoS in your opinion?
Where does most of you dmg come from in that build? TSS?

Also your last link does not work (no point assigned) :wink:

Thanks!

ya RoS is better than OFF imo, cause of fumble and reliable proc your celestials vs bosses… OFF mostly doesnt hit bosses aswell

well i just made devotion not entire skilll tree, and 5 pts leftover to spend for dmg or other things you may need.

For one of the most mobile, highest single target damage builds with good trash clear is our dw coldbreaker. We consider it god tier for campaign farming. It falls short in crucible due to lacking survivability, but can reliably run through all other content at no danger of dying, provided you learn the rotation and know your enemies. (Under 10 seconds mad queen speaks for itself.)

I think kidpid (who is more active than me here) posted a guide to it, but I can’t find the link. The closest I found would be this: http://www.grimdawn.com/forums/showthread.php?t=51789&highlight=kidpid

While perhaps outliner builds may be more fun to make, this is probably the best one.

Keep in mind you need to be high level for SS to shine, and you should use different skills (OFF + CT, PB etc.) for leveling. It works with okay gear and scales incredibly well with better gear.