seems very simple on words but in-game that’s really hard. High regen values make the day on casters or in SR when you have 1-on-1 encounters but not when you are assaulted by multiple nemesis and debuffed af.
And yes, almost all melee builds live only by ADctH.
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I was always kiting Grava before 1.1.6.0 with chars that don’t have burst to kill him fast enough. Now it’s very hard to reliably disengage from the battle against bosses, actions get chain-interrupted.
But it’s only my experience. I brought this boss up because bosses like items are subject of balance and Grava being unbalanced finally taken it’s toll on me.
I’ve made and tested tons and tons of melee chars but the only two i ever deleted without any back-up were fire based. And both went into the void because of one single enemy.
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if trying to disengage from Grava in Cruci, you may easily face Benn’s traps, Moosi’s freeze, IM’s stun etc and then Grava would charge into you and disrupt your skills (what actually means that you’re dead).
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Another “funny” combination is Grava with Valdaran. You think you escaped those pools? Please teleport back into the mess. And while you are at it, eat up a meteor as well.
You talk about gimping him generally not only in CR and I say no to that so yes it is relevant. Change him in CR to whatever you want. I don’t care.
Seems like we’ve been here before. Here are just a few threads.
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I’d say it definitely wouldn’t hurt to adjust him in Shattered Realm as well. Even at Shards 65-66.
Seems like players always hated how he was designed, no surprise here. I know it’s impossible to change Crate’s mind about havining nullification spell on monsters but I hope that this “feature” will not appear in Grim Dawn.
I think Grava is there OK. He keeps you out of the sleep mode. And you have to start trying hard. My hate goes to Mad Queen and Kuba for cold melee builds.
Most of complaints i’ve seen on the forum are referring to his null balls. It’s very irritating to turn the auras on but if you consider the balls as one-shots, like Zantarin has, it doesn’t seem imbalanced.
What makes the boss imbalanced is 52% fumble. The boss already has strong auras and abilities that reduce your dmg output significantly. When a melee build gets what’s left halved, it’s awful experience and makes you not wanna play melee in the endgame if your setup isn’t minmaxed.
Except in the Crucible his Fumble pools are half as effective…
Along with virtually every other fumble effect.
Do they stack chances in some way? When i stand in the pool, it definitely feels like i’m missing way more than 1/4 of hits.
They do not.
Probably how 95% chance to hit in D2 feels like you’re missing half the time. 
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I don’t remember missing in D2 at all, maybe because i played so long ago 
Anyway, something about Grava makes me feel like a natural punching bag. With all melee builds, even with aether based where deadly Reaper and Aleks are supposed to be the toughest enemies.
Grava in particular of all Nemesis bosses is so gimped in the Crucible, it’s pretty sad. His wings are clipped.
- No Nullification
- Reduced fumble
- No % Health penalty on his aura (this is also the case in the Shattered Realm)
Only other Nemesis with nerfs that significant would be Kubacabra, since he can’t split and his healing pools are severely nerfed.
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Maybe it is cumulative effect of everything he does, how he lowers your abilities to fight other bosses despite the reduced effect. I’ve never had major problems with him in SR65-76, even when i had to fight him together with another boss (except Benn, perhaps).
The way Nemesis bosses synergize with other opponents is kind of the entire point of them. Valdaran by himself is not that tough, but when he starts teleporting you into the bad stuff other enemies are casting, he can be brutal.
I might add that Nemesis bosses being tougher against certain playstyle archetypes is also the desired result. How successful we were at that is up to debate, but that is very much the intent.
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Gotcha.
It’s just that i don’t think other playstyles, casters, pet builds or passive dmg, have the same personal nemesis.
I think all damage types have their personal Nemesis, Kuba is especially bad for cold, Reaper for chaos, etc. Enemies having 94% resistances forces you to invest heavily in damage in Crucible and RR.
But for playstyles, I can say melee is most susceptible one, since you are prone to take all possible hits, without being proper tank.
But pets for example are really exposed against Alex, you can’t make all of them avoid the meteor, it’s painful to lose pets. He’s really bad and Sentinel can ‘’‘steal’’ you pets, so he’s almost like personal Nemesis.
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Pierce struggles with Kaisan because of high as shit pierce res, tanking your leeching and allowing him to survive longer, giving him more opportunities to spawn crystals and kill you.
So here is my experience with fire BA and Grava (https://www.grimtools.com/calc/w26LboeZ).
This build in my hands can pass the crucible in around 6-6:30 minutes. But when Grava spawns chanse to rip increases greatly. Also don’t forget that sanctified bone has been recently nerfed. So it seems to me that his Fire and Lightning resists need to be reduced or nerfed his pets (fumble and life duration).
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