Since the only beginner build for Reaper is a vit PB caster that is over three years old and somewhat outdated, I decided to give it a try and came up with a cold DW reaper (inspired by Malkadarr’s Dreadblade), which can then transition into the target-farmable Morgoneth’s set with Alkamos Rings.
Devotion route is mostly copied from the Korba build from the Top 20 Builds topic, but with Solemn Watcher instead of Tortoise and two points in Jackal for total speed instead of Berserker (since this build uses swords). I have some doubt as to whether the build can scrape enough OA to really make use of Ultos and Blizzard.
After Alkamos and Morgoneth sets are equipped, the build ditches ABB as a primary damage source and maxes Nightfall with some points into SS line, and picks up Ill Omen for the RR granted by the Morgoneth set. Preliminary draft without components/affixes/augments: Reaper, Level 100 (GD 1.2.1.0) - Grim Dawn Build Calculator
Please let me know what things you would improve on the first or second build, and whether this would be a decent beginner build in the first place. I am currently levelling the build as a proof of concept, and if I am sufficiently pleased with the outcome, I will turn it into a proper build guide.
You can throw in a Spectral Battle Axe to get access to the Berserker nodes. It’s also just a good weapon that is available early.
You’ll need a way to convert Acid-> Cold (which doesn’t really exist, at most 30% global on shoulders), otherwise ABB on that devotion map will be less than impressive.
Rings I would use: Living Rings until blue Alkamos or Ruby/Sapphire of Elemental Balance. Viloth’s rings don’t really drop with cold affixes.
While you use ABB, you should probably use the other Ilgorr medal.
Dread for Bone Harvest is really bad imo for a build that wants to get close and leech life back.
Needs Ill Omen for DR
I’d consider Deathmarked Set over Morgoneth, similar to the Deathmarked Dervish from Top20. The Morgoneth GT you have probably needs to choose a clearer path, Shadow Strike + ABB + BH + WPS is a bit much.
Upon further consideration, I would probably go for sth like this (res augments not withstanding):
Dropping most of the buttons to keep it simple and also to have enough skill points for the important stuff
Silver Sentinel is relatively easy to acquire via transmutation, and it’ll be good for dozens of hours, until you get either Morgo or Deathmarked, to transition into sth that makes more use of the Necro portion.
Main reason I did not include sets like Elemental Balance or Silver Sentinel was because they are random. You will need to farm Lost Oasis often enough that I think you can expect some other good stuff to drop as well, but at least you know certain enemies drop the stuff you need. The build you posted is a definite improvement though. I am however not sure people will find guaranteed equipment that will get them through Ultimate Lost Oasis.
I like the inclusion of the Spectral Battleaxe. I had intented to use that item before you get to Malkadarr’s Dreadblade, but never considered you could stick with one of them for the Berserker nodes. Good call! One other annoying part would be that you can only get the Dreadblades from Crucible or SR, after you inevitably side with the Order of Death’s Vigil.
Acid to Cold conversion I thought I had included, but this is obviously not the case (must have confused it with Vit->Cold which I get mostly on the belt, and which would be needed for Soul Harvest conversion. It irks me a bit that this conversion seems to be unavailable except when you include something like Mythical Olexra’s Chill, which would not be suitable for a budget build. Perhaps we will see more of it included in the next DLC.
As for the rings, I used Viloths mostly because they are a guaranteed source of ABB skillpoints, that also give points for Necrotic Edge. Silver Sentinel and other Illgor medal fixes this mostly, which allows for better rings.
Good call on Dread
On the Morgoneth version: Yeah, especially with no conversion for Acid->Cold… Starting out, I mostly chose Morgoneth’s set because it is a target-farmable more lategame option, and thought it was pretty good for Reaper builds, but perhaps not so much in the state my build is in.
Elemental Balance or Silver Sentinel […] are random
It’s not 100% ideal. You can transmute any lvl94 blue set-pieces relatively cheaply into random ones, for 35k iron and 1 Aether Crystal iirc. That way you can collect just any 3 pieces and spend ~1-2 million (which you will usually have by then) and get Silver Sentinel nearly guaranteed.
Elemental Harmony is pretty optional anyways and has 2 fairly common blueprints, so hitting totems will usually give you one before you even need them. Then you can transmute into the other ring, if needed.
When in doubt, test it by playing the build on a fresh file, without blueprints, and see for yourself.
The hardest to find will be the gloves.
Just play Nightblade until you finish Homestead, join Kymon’s gang and then you can just stay with them. They will begrudgingly allow a Necro-class to stay, if you had joined them before-hand.
And the only thing you are missing is the hybrid Aether/Vit augment, which isn’t important.
Morgo Set had a good Reaper build in the 1.1.9 days, haven’t really seen it around but I doubt it’s completely bad now. But “target-farmable” is a bit of a stretch, while completing the farm for the set, you will probably also have most other sets farmed up.
