I posted this earlier on reddit, but this place is more active.
So I was thinking of making a ranged Commando build. I would like to use a rifle, and after looking at grimcalc, I came up with some ideas of how to develop my character.
Damage types in both versions are physical and fire
Here I don’t go as deep in Soldier as I did in the previous version, which allows me to get Mortar Trap and Ulzuin’s Chosen from Demolitionist.
The dillema is this: is it worthwhile to invest so many skill points in Soldier mastery just for Break Morale? In both versions I plan on getting Elemental Storm from Devotion tree, so I’ll get reduction of elemental resistance, which is in this case relevant for fire damage. Do I need reduction for physical resistance also? If I opt out of Break Morale, I can get skills which add significantly more flat physical damage (Mortar Trap + The Big One), and get Ulzuin’s Chosen.
Also, does combining physical and fire damage make any sense at all? It seems to me that it does, because a lot of Demolitionist’s skills support both damage types simultaneously, as does the Ulzuin’s Torch constellation. But I have two doubts about this:
Are there any good Empowered Epic, Double Rare or Legendary rifles which support both physical and fire damage?
Can stat points be menaningfully distributed for both physical and fire damage? The way I see it, Cunning is needed either way, because of increase to offensive ability which it provides. But if I do combine physical and fire, I’ll definitely have to invest in Spirit. Would that investment be too high to be useful?
Bear in mind, all I’m asking is would this build be capable of finishing the game on Ultimate. I’m not particularly interested in achieving record clearing speeds or killing Nemeses or the Mad Queen in 30 seconds.
It uses specific separate items, Doesn’t require a set.
Cadence route. Phys/Pierce hybrid requiring Valdun’s set. I have posted a grim calc with the the skills and devotions (it’s just for a general view on it, I have not taken into account the + skills on Valduns because I’d have to check each item). The essential is there for skills, With the rest of them, do wahtever you want. More points in demo mastery for health and sats, Warcry line…whatever you want(just don’t bother with grnado or cannister as they require dedicated items and don’t synergyze well with rifle). Same for devotions. The overall essential is there.
Put Assasin’s mark on cadence and Falconswoop on Rifle activated ability for huge shotgun action. Happy camping
Looking at my proposed build, both of you are right, it is spread too thin. However, I am a bit anxious about not having any AoE skill apart from Fire Strike line.
Would the Fissure from the devotions be a good replacement, if bound to Flashbang, for example?
my main farming character is a variation of the versatile commando that superfluff linked to. i have an Infernal Brimstone on swap for melee combat, otherwise i use hellborne rifle.
my devotions are:
kraken
scholar’s light
rhowan’s crown (4 pts)
solael’s witchblade
hydra
ulzuin’s torch (6 pts)
magi (2 pts)
chariot of the dead
empty throne
hawk
viper
green crossroads
items are:
weapon - hellborne/infernal brimstone
head - clairvoyant’s hat
rings - 2x entropic coil
amulet - peerless eye of beronath
shoulders - shadowflame mantle
chest - divinesteel hauberk
legs - empowered legplates of valor
belt - ulzuin’s torment
medal - mark of divinity
boots - golemborn greaves/green boots depends on resists i need
gloves - handguards of justice
relic - ulzuin’s pyroclasm (+brimstone and searing light)
i also have an alternate setup using the keeper of the flame set, higher DPS (but lower sheet damage), more resists except for physical resist.
i can kill nemeses and mad queen no problem, iron maiden is the only hard opponent, sometimes she gets nasty weapons and it’s hard to kill her. i’ve never run away from her though.
do not worry about AoE - Brimstone is more than enough.
Brimstone is AOE don’t worry. Use Shadowflame mantle. It has an awesome proc specialized for rifles and makes Brimstone stronger. Check out this build as well. It’s more dps oriented
although a pyromancer you can certanly mix it up to your needs
BTW. Fissure is only good in very specific situations. You need to proc it a lot and stand in one place a lot for it to build up damage. It’s very bad for a rifle build. Trust Brimstone + Ulzuin’s Pyroclasm
I can’t attached images with the stupid browser I have at work :(.
Anyway. Fissure is fine but it won’t make or break a build. In theory it should do tons of damage and in the end it’s just ok (i have it on a specialized BWC facetank build and it’s more for the burn damage bonuses than fissure itself). If that is a dual pistol image you posted then what benefits your build the most is the flat fire damage Magi has. That is good.
Its a pistol and shield, oathbreaker, it doesn’t do much dmg on its own, but have fissure, meteor shower, eldritch fire +4 procs from gear to support it, basically its a tank build but it clears ultra fast.
With all those procs and devotions abilities its clear trash almost the same as dual wielders. It kills Fabius for less than min (~50 sec), it needs more for Mos. Mad Queen is a bit tricky due to shotgun aura, so its better to equip a sword or some other 1h melee for killing her.
For faster nemesis kill time its switchable to cadence. That switch and change of devo setup doubles single target dmg but you lose so many nice procs, so I prefer it like this.
