Help me improve my Reaper

Grim Dawn Classes, Skills and Builds
1

Hi there,

I’d like some serious advices about my necro/nightblade.

Here is the build : https:// www .grimtools. com/calc/62axax3N (sorry, had to add some spaces, because my post count is only 1 hehe)

It’s a very fun build, going through packs is easy, but I’m running into problems as soon as I see Purple named (90% are managable though) , and I’m not even talking about the nemesis, whom I can’t even scratch.

Now I’ve built my whole char around vita/cold and a bit of poison, and I can’t see myself just trashing everything I have. I know I’ve got a good heal on hit, and I lack OA/DA, but I don’t know how to change all that.

So i’m looking forward to some professional advices :stuck_out_tongue:

2

This build… is very bad. I don’t even know, where to start.

First of all, welcome to the forums mate :smiley:

Ok, about the build. Mixed damage on a build is usually a bad idea. I guess you were trying to get something like a cold/vitility hybrid - that’s not going to work at all. I suggest you focus on cold for example, because that’s on of the easiest damage types to understand. Reaper isn’t the best option for cold builds, but it’s ok.

Ok, now we have a damage type to work with. One of the most important things for every build is to get resistance reduction. There are 3 types of RR (resistance reduction): % reduced, -%, and so called “flat” rr (smth like 30 reduced, for example). Just remember % reduced and flat - don’t stack with themselves, only the highest is applied. -% stacks with each other, when it comes from different sources. When you design a build, you must get all the available sources of rr that you can (especially the -% that stacks with each other). This will increase your overall damage and allow you to deal with some resistant mobs and stuff.

Now, that we know about the rr and how it works (well, kinda), let’s talk about skills. Most builds have the primary damage skill that it focuses on. In case of the cold Reaper, this skill can be Bone Harvest (with the Harvester of Death transmuter of course). You want to maximize this skill, invest as many points as you possibly can in the skill itself and in most cases - in the whole skill line.

Let’s look closer to Bone Harvest. This skill has WD (weapon damage). this means that it benifits from falt damage sources, like Nightblade’s Lethal Assault for example. What you can do, is you can cast ABB (Amarasta’s Blade Burst) first and then cast your Bone Harvest, to get a lot of damage. You also want to have some falt damage on your gear as well.

Ok about the gear and other skills… I’ve theorycrafted a cold Reaper as an example for you, so you can see how this build is supposed to look like. Not the best Reaper out there, but it’s ok for the MC. Feel free to ask any questions :wink:

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

3 Likes
3

Best welcome ever!

“Your build sux, welcome to grim dawn forum” :smiley:

4

Well, I’ve tried my best :stuck_out_tongue: Never said I was good at welcoming people :rolleyes:

5

Hello ChaK_ and welcome to the forums! It’s recommended to go to this thread first and get the 3 post count you need to post links.

As for your build…Here’s a quick rebuild that I focused on redoing the components and augments mostly, with some skill changes and a devotion rework.

https://www.grimtools.com/calc/d2jwR14V

It’s not perfect but it’s a lot better in most departments. A big downside is the loss of stun resist, which you can offset by taking the first star of throne if you prefer.

6

You’ve made my day :smiley:

7

Well, thanks a lot for your time… and your warming welcome :smiley:

I’m a bit skeptical about the build you proposed me. First of I’m currectly very focused on vita damage, with cold as a secondary, so why go to cold only and not vita? Is it more efficient, or easier to find stuff for it?

But that’s VERY interesting, and give me a lot of insights (and work).

8

Well, thank you also. This one requires less work, I might consider it while gathering stuff for something more cold oriented

9

Budget Phantasmal blade set-up

https://www.grimtools.com/calc/M2gRPWvN

Vitality ranged/caster. Pretty good actually. Require mostly faction gear and random greens that fills your resistances etc.

10

Well, you can indeed focus on vitality damage, but I think cold is generally easier to build with, imo. I find vitility to be a little harder to figure out for new players, even though there are a lot of items that support it.

11

Thing is, RIGHT NOW, I really don’t have the stuff for a cold based build. I’ve tried with some item in my bank, but I’m loosing too much. So while farming I’ll remain on vita based damage.

Your (and others) post helped me a lot, my toon is better now, but still far from my desires, so i’ll go farm some cold gear, whom stat seems indeed easier to add up.

Anyway, I haven’t found much -res% for vita. In fact only spectral wrath give -35%, so I would like to add some more. Any idea?

12

Thing is for vitality, you get so much healing and stuff “for free” so it is very good element for newer players.

Have a look at the Phantasmal blade build I posted, it is actually pretty decent for main campaign farming.

13

I did, I did, but I don’t know :smiley:

If i’m going phantasmal, I can’t have Bone Harvest anymore, which I think, deals way more damages in my case. The bleeding on pahntasmal doesn’t really seem efficient, as I don’t have any other bleeding stuff.

I might give it a try though

14

You spam Phantasmal blades and you can hit one mob with more than one.

Dont care about the bleed, we are using spam PB on this one. Thus, the most damage is vitality.

We have Ravenous Earth as backup spell also.

No way Boneharvest can do more DPS than spam PB :rolleyes:

You asked for professional advice, I just gave it to you. (2.2k posts, 3 beginner guides)

I will make some forgotten gods chances later and make a guide

15

sure, just discussing, don’t take it personnaly :o

As I said, I’ll give it a shot :slight_smile:

16

If want to use boneharvest for some reason, get a 2hander with vit dmg and casting speed instead.

17

Yeah, I have the Wildblood crusher

18

Yeah that is a good wpn to use in such case. Remove points from the RE base skill (keep decay for dmg reduction) and get bone harvest + transmuter

19

also whatever focus damage type you focus on …try to increase it’s DoT damage type…cold for example (i’m building my second reaper currently) has lots of frostburn to go with nightblade… i focus on night’schill and spectral binding maxed first and foremost…i use shadow strike for mobility and ring of steel with cold modifier for freeze while my damage buffs DoT… my main damage is blade burst for multi target and buff damage and with binding and nights chill damageing DoT even just being near mobs melee is usually just clean up

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20

Can anyone tell me why Spectral Binding is so good here (for Cold Reaper)? Seems like we’re doing a lot of casting so the OA won’t be that great and we’re randomly dipping in to Aether?