Here I am!
First let’s review the most important changes in the latest patch.
This is a global buff to all physical build. Thus different types of builds are tested. It is very gratifying that some poor physical skills that were not able to play before, feel much much better now. Here are some examples.
The fisrt thing is the Havoc Cadence Tactician listed at the beginning of this topic. Now it’s not hard to it to do a sub 5 SR30-31 run. Sub 4:15 is still hard though. It’s pretty much there. Here I’m gonna show you a 4:45 run as a reference.
The second thing is the DW EoR Warlord listed above. It’s condition now is very similar to the Havoc Tactician. Also a 4:45 run will be shown here.
Besides, I also tested something that was abandoned for a long time. Physical FoI Paladin (Paladin, Level 100 (GD 1.2.1.6) - Grim Dawn Build Calculator) was also playable now. I remember it was fine before the armor-bypassing fix but after that it went into a trash bin. Now it’s SR30-31 time is 4:15-5:15. This is not very fast but can meet the expectation of many players here despite of top speedrunners.
Something that is not offically supported, physical (not-retal) DE, is also playable. I built a DK (Death Knight, Level 100 (GD 1.2.1.6) - Grim Dawn Build Calculator) and used it for tens of SR runs. The fastest run is 3:55, and in most cases it’s 4:30ish. Single target damage can’t be called high but AoE feels good.
Based on these performances, I should say the armor and armor absorption changes are very successful. It helped many very poor physical builds playable, and they’re definately more than the 4 I listed. Good job.
However, some top physical builds, who were just fine before the armor absorption change, now have the risk of being OP. In my mind there will be Avenger, Spellscourge, Warborn, Octavius and maybe something that I missed. I didn’t have enough time to test them all but I do have tested Spellscourge Battlemage (Battlemage, Level 100 (GD 1.2.1.6) - Grim Dawn Build Calculator). Here is the result.
SR30-31 - 3:30 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBsTrj0By1Q
5x SR30-31 - 19:51 (3:58 average) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpmYK4py0oU
SR time is about average 4:00. Damage is very very good. Tankiness is also insane. And the setup is very cheap. Only 2 MIs are needed. The double-rare MI weapon is a “Store goods”. Imo it will be a “top 20” or even “top 10” build. I think it can have a small nerf to balance. Blade Arc mods or Deva mods maybe.
As for
I don’t have enough time, but I believe @Mad_lee and his fellows have tested them.
By the way, since armor changes also affected physical retal builds, I would like to discuss them here a little. I have tested non-set WL (Warlord, Level 100 (GD 1.2.1.6) - Grim Dawn Build Calculator) and Stoneguard WL (Warlord, Level 100 (GD 1.2.1.6) - Grim Dawn Build Calculator) to see the difference. There are some results.
Non-set:
SR30-31 - 4:45 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-vBPCc-Avs
5x SR30-31 - 21:55 (4:23 average) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0zMHLbBQ-E
Ravager - 1:30 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2C9e9EzvV04
Stoneguard:
SR30-31 - 3:17 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8G_mb8j1eo8
5x SR30-31 - 20:54 (4:11 average) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9hO2dap0MY
Ravager - 1:03 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8u1v6fg9LNY
Their damage is still mid-tier level, but thanks to 3 mobility skills their SR time is not ugly. Non-set one is healthy. Though a very poor Ravager killer (though imo retal builds should at least be mid-tier ravager killers), non-set one is not a slow SR runner now. Average will be 4:30ish. Stoneguard+Final stop combination has better damage than non-set one. It can sometimes achieve super fast SR run depending on how easy it can gather enemies together. Overall both of them are OK. Nothing need to be done to them, at least to the non-set one. Stoneguard can have its proc buff cancelled, if there has to be a nerf.