Dying too fast and killing too slowly

Grim Dawn Gameplay Discussion
1

Playing a lvl 32 solly using a two-handed with blade arc as default wa. Cant 1 shot mobs and bosses hit 30% of max hp each time. I rely on health pots for regen through mobs and bosses. Using spirit pots when it runs out (and it runs out fairly fast)

POE taught me that resists and hp is king so I’ve been stacking those on my devotions and items

I’m going to put future points into blade arc and squad tactics for more phy dmg. As for devotion im going for Scales of Ulcama next for more hp and survivability. I want to get more dmg but I don’t know where to get it. Any tips?

Attachment: Dps and resists.jpg
Attachment: devotion.jpg
Attachment: masteries.jpg

2

I would suggest to add a few points to:

Menhir’s Will (this could save you many times)
Military Conditioning (for more hp and physique)
Warcry + Break Morale (dmg reduction and RR)

Instead of using Oleron’s Rage you might consider using Menhir’s Bulwark instead.

I haven’t used Blade Arc myself yet, but from what i read is that Cadence is superior.

3

He’s using a 2h weapon so menhir’s bulwark is useless.
As for upping your damage get Blade Arc maxed out fast as you can (it gives you much better damage now then lacerate does)
You might need to wear a caster helmet and or ectoplasm components to sustain energy cost of maxed blade arc.
Grab some life steal as soon as you can (look for hallowed fang component pieces)

Devotion wise make sure you grab Giant’s Blood in Behemoth devotion.

After Maxing out Blade Arc start maxing out Field Command.
and putting points in Warcry and Break Morale (will help with Survivability and Damage)
Few Points in Fighting Spirit is also quite useful.

I would take at least 4 points out of Decorated Soldier and Scars of Battle for now, as Resists aren’t really that needed this early.

4

Oow yeah forgot about the shield requirement of Menhir’s Bulwark.:rolleyes:

Maybe a few points in counter strike.

Assassins Mark for devotion.

5

I’ll do these things, will update soon.

6

Thx I’ll shift my focus into this

I tried cadence but its pretty awkward without more attack speed tho and I want mob clear more than single target dps

7

Just a single point in War Cry gives you the full 33% health reduction, so that’s usually more than adequate to start with.

Field command / squad tactics… attack speed makes so much difference to everything

8

I find Forcewave much better than Blade Arc, especially early on. Clears crowd way faster and safer due to its range.

9

Since you play a battlemage I recommend putting at least some points in the arcanist skill tree. 1 point in mirror of errectos is a must and as many points in maivens sphere, since it is the best defensive spell in the game. Also if you wanna use bladearc as your main attack, be sure to max it out as fast as possible. 1 point in each counter strike and fightingspirit is a must as well. also spend some points in veterancy for overall tankyness. Also if you have trouble with mana regen, you can put ectoplasma components on your jewelery. This should make your life easier in higher difficulties.
For endgame: Sword and shield is far superior to 2 hand in grim dawn, so you might wanna consider changing to 1h and cadence and a shield.

10

It would be helpful for us if we knew, if you just want to level your char, or if you are building something that will have to carry you all the way to 85/100.

if building
I think overall you will have to respec that build at some point, cause blade arc will never really synergize with any of the stuff the arcanist would ever add to the build. (have tried some “off-meta”[5 or 6, which worked surprisingly well] , non min/max builds) but i dont see any chance to make that one work, cause you have split focus on 3-5 dmg sources which dont really go hand in hand. (lategame blade arc is pretty much a “stacking-dots-source”)

Also you will need at least some points in circuitbreakers like Mirror or menhirs will