FINALLY! - I have a build that can facetank Morgoneth in Ultimate

Before I start, I will confess that I am NO expert in end game theory crafting and all my character builds use SELF-FOUND or CRAFTED items that I acquire via the campaign mode. I have however been playing the game from its inception so I do consider myself somewhat skilled in character builds.

I have several characters in the 94+ range.
Most of them have been able to defeat Morgoneth in Elite, but were getting TOTALLED in Ultimate.

Surprisingly my Witchblade, which was my VERY FIRST character I ever started Grim Dawn with is now able to facetank Morgoneth with ease.

This character started off as most first time Grim Dawn players do as wanting to be a master of ALL skills. Throughout the years and learning from my other builds and with the items farmed, my old wonky Witchblade has suddenly become one of my more powerful characters, if some of my config seems suboptimal, or just looks crazy, it may mean that I have not yet found better stuff for my stash or that is just the way the character originally developed during play with items, skills, devotions etc.

I am not a fan of tuning a character’s setup just to take down a specific boss, either the character can kill the boss or not. I make notes of what bosses and nemesis my end game characters can comfortably handle and target them when I farm.

For example, this build wrecks Father Kymon and Korvaak in FG Ultimate and can facetank Fabious and Morgoneth with ease.

Not tested yet against other nemesis or bosses like Lokarr, but that is not a worry for me at the moment as I have another “Immortal Army” character that melts Lokarr, but she sadly withers in the face of Morgoneth and some of the other super bosses. My devastating Acid Sentinel can wipe out Kubucabra and Gargabol in seconds, but Lokarr kills her almost by just looking at her.

This is one of the great features of Grim Dawn whereby you can build a character that obliterates a super boss in seconds, but then fails miserably against some other bosses or areas. There is NO MAGIC SILVER BULLET - Always someone stronger, faster or more powerful than you :grim_dawn:

Having a nice stable array of characters with different builds with notes of which each one can defeat which bosses and nemesis you are trying to farm is a great advantage as you really do not want to farm a super boss with a character that was designed to speed farm or clear mobs.

This is the build and look I have eventually ended up with for my starter Witchblade character “KANE”.

image

Many theory crafters may have lots of opinions and comments on it, but I can guarantee that you can stand face to face with Morgoneth and Fabious and bash away until they are dead. Works for me when I want to farm these guys.

https://www.grimtools.com/calc/d2jyRMnN

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Take those points from those overcaps in Fightning Sporit and Form, Counter Strike and some other places and push occultist. Take Blood of Dreeg at softcap both nodes. Also, cap Witchfire.

Also, components and augments are a bit wrong.

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Nice, congrats on the build!

I’m surprised no Blood of Dreeg. That skill is so good. Equally surprised you’re able to face tank these guys without it! Testament to the builds strength and durability! I still dont have complete Warborn set but I’ll absolutely be using it once I get it.

Thanks for the advice, I will give it a try. As I said this was my very first character from long ago that I really didn’t quite understand what I was doing then, hence why the build is like 99% soldier and devotions etc. look a little wonky. That is the way he evolved in a gut feel sort of experimental manner. That is also why I was quite surprised when it thrashed Morgoneth when my other high level more recent chars fail with that boss in Ultimate.

Haven’t really had the need for Blood of Dreeg yet as he does not take a lot of damage. Even if he gets hit hard in a one shot I can normally just kite away and he recovers fairly quickly. In the case of rare really bad damage hits, popping a potion is all that is required.

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Nice :+1:

Not taking blood of dreeg in this build is a crime :wink:
Just joking around. I looks like a cool build to me!

Thanks,
I just have taken him on a run thru Port Valbury on Ultimate, (unchanged yet from the original build as I am still thinking about changing stuff), and he had no problem face tanking anything in there INCLUDING the Nemesis Valdaran, the 3 Watchers and the 3 Council bosses.

Blood of Dreeg just adds another key that needs to be pressed and I like to keep keys to a minimum as I find I can fight better that way, and as I am not having any issues with needing the heal from it I have not added it yet.

Maybe when I attempt the dreaded Callagadra, the Blood of Dreeg might be something to consider?
I have ZERO characters at the moment that can take that beast down, so it will be interesting to see what happens.

Yeah that’s what I mean when I say it’s a testament to your build’s strength and durability! All that armor with 100% absorb, among other things, but still! My retaliation witchblade would certainly die without the blood of Dreeg, but then again hes using Empowered Guardman’s set. So yeah. I love that set, so hard to part with it but once I get complete “of the three” or “warborn” sets I’ll likely switch it up and follow your lead on this

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There’s really not much to think about. You’re an occultist? You take BoD. Always. AotG gives 12% phys res and 100% acid res at rank 12. Phys res alone is worth it. And you don’t have to worry about one resistance and can invest in sth else in its place.

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