Halp! Let's make a FUN build! =)

Grim Dawn Classes, Skills and Builds
1

Heya!

Sort of new to this game, swaped between 7-8 characters (max level 58) while getting a grasp on how the game works. Thus far, I’ve noticed the following:

 - In general, most "good" builds have too few active skills to be fun to play.
 - If you go too crazy with it, the game can literally become unbeatable. (Figured this while playing a 600 hp 0 physique demolist in act 2 ^^)
 - If you go with something standard, the game is a cake walk (or so it seems from my experience on veteran/elite).

Sooooo, I was thinking of how I could make the game fun to play, and challenging but beatable if I play well enough. It should be noted here that “well enough” cannot entail kiting everything to the corner of the screen and playing super defensive - that’s no fun!

Here’s a list of skills i like to see in a character: :smiley:

   - Loooots of active skills. Like, the more the better. I used to play WoW arena, so I'm used to 70+ keybinds. You cannot go too crazy here, it's not possible ^^
   - Active skills that are truely active skills. Assigning it to LMB and holding LMB down while swiping across the screen is not active.
   - High DPS. I want to be able to go through areas very quickly, and I don't want to artificially do it at a lower pace to keep energy in check.
   - Aimed skills are always fun! Thermite mines is a good example.
   - Cooldowns on skills make them much more fun! It's much more interesting to try and optimize the use of several abilities that have CDs than just clicking whatever and it's always ready. A good example was an "every nade you can immagine ulzin" build that I made some time ago.
  - Extremely spammy. It should be fast paced and have you bashing your keyboard frenatically, not pressing one button every second.

Here’s a list of booooring stuff :furious:

 - Holding down LMB 5 minutes in a row.
 - Not even trying to dodge enemy attacks. AKA what we called "ABC gameplay" in WoW - Always Be Chasing. No brain stick on target builds.
 - Extreme tankability. I feel like I can go make a cup of coffee and still be fine while playing my vit conjurer.

Soooo, what does this boil down to? I want a character that has lots of skills, preferrably with CDs and if you aim them it’s great, low max HP but not 1-hit territory, massive DPS and energy regen to sustain fast gameplay.

From what I’ve seen of this game thus far, this has to at least in part be a caster. My initial thought is demo/arcanist, with heavy spirit investment to keep HP low and few points in arcanist mastery to let us go for many skills.

However, my fear is that if I did this, I’d end up so low on physique that I’ll get crit and 1 hit since DA is tied to physique. I guess that’s what I can’t seem to find a way around: How do I forgo HP for more active skills/Damage/regen without losing DA at the same time?

Any ideas much appreciated! If you can link a grimcalc, even better!

TANKS FOR MAKING IT THROUGH THE WALL OF TEXT!! ;):wink:

2

Unlock Ultimate and finish it you’ll get a good idea what the game is about. Normal/Veteran/Elite opinions don’t really mean much since the actual game opens up in Ultimate

And its extremely fun and you can’t “lol dps” your way out of everything :slight_smile:

3

Poison builds rely on a lot of active skills and repositioning. My own Ranged Witch Hunter uses:

Blood of Dreeg
Pneumatic Burst
DEE
Dreeg Power from component
Dreeg power from relic
Amrasta Blade Burst (low CD active skill) on LMB
Blade Barrier in tough spots
Short duration pots

Check my link: http://www.grimdawn.com/forums/showthread.php?t=51232
There are also many other 1h+shield or DW poison builds out there.

4
  • Loooots of active skills. Like, the more the better. I used to play WoW arena, so I’m used to 70+ keybinds. You cannot go too crazy here, it’s not possible ^^
  • Active skills that are truely active skills. Assigning it to LMB and holding LMB down while swiping across the screen is not active.
  • High DPS. I want to be able to go through areas very quickly, and I don’t want to artificially do it at a lower pace to keep energy in check.
  • Aimed skills are always fun! Thermite mines is a good example.
  • Cooldowns on skills make them much more fun! It’s much more interesting to try and optimize the use of several abilities that have CDs than just clicking whatever and it’s always ready. A good example was an “every nade you can immagine ulzin” build that I made some time ago.
  • Extremely spammy. It should be fast paced and have you bashing your keyboard frenatically, not pressing one button every second.

Aside from being high DPS it sounds just like Trozan-style Druid.

5

Sounds good! Actually very happy to hear that since I just made it to elite, and it was like the biggest disappointment ever. I can’t even tell the difference from veteran :stuck_out_tongue:

I’m still concerned about the number of active skills though. Most end game builds I see posted here have like 5 buttons - there’s just no way I’d ever find that enjoyable for longer than a short spell of time.

Aside from being high DPS it sounds just like Trozan-style Druid.

You can’t have it all eh? Sounds very interesting, could you link a grimcalc to a fun spin on it? Thanks!

6

http://www.grimdawn.com/forums/showthread.php?t=48373
Something like that, although I would had picked Olexra’s instead of Wendigo Totem. It also helps immensely if you have Eastern set stashed, pretty much enough to get started on farming ultimate.

7

Weyu’s TSS Spellbreaker is nice. Check Build Compendium V (need to make you work a little ;))

8

I cant offer you a concrete build, but things to think about with making it “fun”. You can swap weapons to use different skills for maximum benefit. If you are using many active skills and no Auras then you can swap skill setups as well. So if you have skills from Components or Legendary gear you can use them all.

Most of us dont use all possible skills as we have auras and if you change skill bars the Auras are deactivated automatically. (kinda dumb here as I want to use more active skills and Auras).

Both of those should allow you more “fun” factors, also playing HC gives its own “fun”.

9

@Stupid Dragon Cthon: Thanks for the builds! They both seem rather lacking in the active skills department though? I was thinking something along these lines (0 thought put together in 1 min): http://grimcalc.com/build/1007-KC08US

Seems at least twice as many actives, probably unplayably bad as I just tossed it together, but hopefully it gives an idea of the lines I was thinking along.

@kleiser: Interesting to know, thanks for the tip! It is indeed a shame that auras cancel, and all together that we can’t have more keybinds.

10

Your build looks very chaotic, can’t even figure an idea behind it.

Overall, it’s because the game has very limited amount of skillpoints, so 4 skills you use regularly plus some other skills you use from time to time is quite much, actually. Because of low cooldowns it feels just enough for that kind of experience.

11

Basic idea was aimed offensive projectiles on cd (BWC, Grenado, Thermite, Inferno), fire/lightning/burn damage with boosts to said and resistance shred (BWC/mines). 4 forms of CD based CC to go along with a squishy playstyle all CD based as well. Then flashbang on top of that, because more buttons is fun and it’s good :smiley:

Like I said, this is probably not very playable since it was tossed together on the fly, just an example.

12

Uhm… No. I have all my auras on all my toons on the second bar.

13

Well, just try it then :stuck_out_tongue: To be honest, I had never considered Grenado since my friend killed his HC character with it by reflection. But that was quite long ago and imo reflect was nerfed since then (even though it’s not in any changelog). Usually it’s not a very common practice to use tons of one-pointers, e.g. OFF really wins from extra levels cuz it’s range is amazing. Also no idea why you plan to use something exotic like Wrath of Agrivix and 1pt stun jacks for stun (yeah, yeah, I know) but completely ignored Canister, which is a fine skill as both CC (1 pt main skill and 3pt transmuter) and AOE (12 pt with or without transmuter). As for BWC, you use non-CD version which is typically spammed to set the ground aflame and well, isn’t it the thing you wanted to avoid? Overall yeah, grenadeer is also the type of build you’d like, but while I’m pretty sure that I know how Druid is, cuz my friend played it quite a bit, I got zero info on grenadeer.

14

Depends on where you’re getting an aura (or anything else for that matter). If it’s from a component on a weapon and you switch to a weapon without it then the aura disappears I believe. Same as the skelly you get from the Black Grimnoire. Swap to the other slot without it and he goes poof!

15

Yes. But they stated it not referring to weapon swapping, just in general, which is incorrect.