Hello, I recently started playing, but being a compulsive planner I can’t help but try to “predesign” (As far as I can) my build.
I love spreading dots, and pox seemed solid, even though it’s damage is still too low for me to judge.
I was thinking of trying something like this:
Link: grimcalc com/build/stxCOy
(sorry for dodging posting limitation, but I don’t want to spam threads just so that I can post a build link)
But I don’t know from where should I lose the extra 20 or so points that I overbudgeted. Should I lose a damage passive like one of the toggles? Lose a resistance rebuff (do they even stack?)
Is something like that (slow, pox, dot, drop totems, repeat) even viable for ultimate?
Bloody pox was never taken seriously there, but there may actually be a way to use it, in a bleeding build. It might be too complicated for the first build though. I’m almost sure it will need some gear to shine
I think Bloody Pox is a good support skill (offers decend damage and cc). You can boost the damage with Solael’s Witchfire & Second Rite and Possesion (and Aspect of the Guardian). For DoT based build you should utilize “obnoxious poison bomb” and “Dreegs infite gaze”, the last two are component skills. Your main damage will then be Vitality and Poison.
Playing my Occultist with this build and at least in the mid 30s the clear speed and single target dps are intense. If its good for late game I don’t know but it is fun to play. http://grimcalc.com/build/XIYPF5
That’s pretty much what I will go for.
Bloody Pox is a great support skill if you’re specced for it. The thing about Bloody Pox is that it scales off two things in particular - enemy HP, and -resist debuffs. This makes it ideal for pet builds and DoT builds, since these usually stack a lot of -resist debuffs.
Your build looks OK in theory, as long as you use Plaguebearer’s/Mark of Dreeg/Venom-Tipped Arrows or some other -resist combination. You will need a lot of health regen though, from gear/devotions, or you can move points around to max BoD/Heart of the Wild. You can leave Solael’s Witchfire at level 1 or skip it, +%vitality damage is easy to get from gear. On that note, if you’re short on points you can either max BP and leave its synergies at level 1 or leave BP at level 1 and max its synergies. With the former, you’re basically capitalizing on BP’s health reduction damage. With the latter, you’re using BP to deliver flat vitality/poison damage. You can worry about maxing everything once you get a lot of +skills gear.
And yeah, you will need +skills gear to help you manage your end-game skill point distribution.
The main problem I foresee with this build is the lack of health regen. Builds like these usually rely on Sigil of Consumption for additional lifesteal since you can’t rely on normal lifesteal due to the lack of %weapon damage.
I suppose you can use a combination of gear/devotions to deal with that. If you’re still too squishy just get a shield with physical damage resistance.
What kind of -resist should i look for? For the moment i think vitality is the best?
OK, crash course in the way resistance reduction works: Advanced Mechanics: Ways to Reduce a Target’s Resistance by Raiyaz
Some of the info is outdated, but the concept is the same. You can use Graceful Dusk/the Grim Dawn wiki to search for what type of items/components you’d need.
Does the -% health scale off anything?
Mostly monster HP and resistance reduction. Note that unique monsters have a unique health reduction resistance, which is why you also need to be able to deal high vitality/poison/etc damage.
For health regen, wouldn’t wendigo heal me?
You’ll need more than wendigo to keep you alive in ultimate.
Where should i put my stat points? everything in cunning?
No. If you want to stack stats it’s usually better to do it using items instead of stat points. Stat points go to either gear requirements or wherever else they’re needed after.
Note that you’re using multiple damage types and not all of them are DoTs. Vitality damage is different from vitality decay. See Game Mechanics for more info.
A build that uses a similar core concept to yours is the Flowermancer. Everything else is different, but that build is very successful so you can use it as a sort of guide.