I found this old topic by @WyreZ asking a similar question. The consensus was that DA stacking isn’t useful and OA stacking has diminishing returns, so it’s better to look for more %damage. To me it wasn’t entirely clear at what point it starts to have diminishing returns.
I was wondering how much you can stack while not having a completely retarded build, so… I collected all the high OA items I could find that still kinda fit together and managed to gather over 4700 OA (with temp buffs up).
I’m not sure Drain Essence is the most exciting skill to go for, but it seemed to kinda fit with the items I found. I’m kinda tempted to try it, but if it’s completely retarded I’d rather spend my time on something else.
First and foremost, your build needs fixing because Judicator’s (its DR and RR) doesn’t work with your skills. Only with weapon damage skills and the movement one is not enough to apply it properly in such a build.
If you sacrifice other things then it’s gonna be too much especially if farming SR where monsters don’t have much DA usually. You almost never see this much OA in optimized builds and it’s not like builders are not trying. I don’t think I’ve this much in years.
you don’t have Drain Essence and Decomposition maxed
Casting Speed is not 200% or close
These two are more important for example than more OA. First you need to cover the basics.
For Ravager and Callagadra it’s more valuable since they have high DA. You only have 100% hit chance at 3600 or so IIRC so it’s good event if you don’t have much Crit damage.
This is how much I got on my Chillwhisper Reaper, Level 100 (GD 1.2.0.3) - Grim Dawn Build Calculator (also have Nemesis, Seal of Annihilation, Inspiritation). Still a lot but I didn’t sacrifice much for it really. Only % Cold damage magic suffix on pants because I have “Of Attack” instead there but I was too lazy to do the math / testing which is better. More % damage could be better in SR maybe for sups as well.
You can check in the calculator below what’s more beneficial for you - % damage or more OA for a given DA of a monster. For example add 200 OA and see how much average damage increases and do the same for % damage. Although your skills have different Crit values which might make the comparison difficult but it’s still useful for developing a better intuition.
It is exciting for me and for who played it in FoA’s annoucement stream - that’s a video proof that the skill is exciting. I don’t like that you cannot destroy objects with it though.
For Viper as well. But if a reduction is on a proc, not just a single stat / line, you don’t need weapon damage. For example this would work with Drain Essence
Really too bad about those rings. They helped a lot.
It’s got ~4k OA now. And I lost some hp somewhere in the process, but DE is almost maxed out, has some modifiers and ends up with +150-160% crit damage. Also casting speed is up to almost 190 (just get some good rolls and you’re probably good).
Really wish I had some more + points in Occultist sklls though. But eh… you can’t have eveything I guses
Edit: This might be better with call of the grave instead of second node of witch… thingy.
I’m leveling my char and I asked her opinion, she said: “I’m out of energy”
Maybe only joking but if you have troubles: hunt for “Of Insight” greens from totems. Only tag enemies briefly initially for Decay to kill them. For me it was fine even before the cost reduction and damage buff in some patch (on Veteran and soft-capping 1st and 3rd node of DE quickly).
I picked up a old char I had laying around at around level 30 and went straight to ultimate. It’s mostly ok, but longer fights with bosses and such is a bit tricky Luckily the potions refresh fast enough to fill my energy back up when it runs out. It’ll get better soon when I get to higher levels with better gear and such.
This is what I currently have. Resists are actually 80%+ in game, but only barely.
Current challenges:
Energy regen. Though it’s much better already, it’s still not enough to not run out from time to time. Usually energy potions are enough to keep me going, but I don’t like it.
Fabius (I hate this guy). I know how to fight him, but I can’t see wtf he’s doing with all the crit damage popups
Moosi, he often manages to freeze me, forever (till I die)
I probably need to find some more DA as well.
I wanted to farm another Ilgor medal, but I just realized he’s far away behind a skeleton key. So maybe I’ll keep the current one… Not sure yet. Might also go for something completely different.
I’d still like that Gul’Amash off-hand, but who knows when I’ll find it.
I think I still want that chest that I planned on, but currently I don’t have enough physique. I’ll see if I will fix that when I get to level 100 or if I’ll go for something else. However, the Uro one does have +7.5 energy regen… So not sure how bad it will be without. If I do replace it, I’ll probably replace the helmet with the wreath that I planned on.
I did SR65 easy when I was on level 94, as long as no fabius and no moosi
Most trash dies in a flash. Quite regularly orange crits, but OA is not as high as I’d like.
I also have some skills to boost crit damage, but I’m actually not sure if it’s worth it. Drain essence currently already does x2.something, so whether it’s 2.2 or 2.3 doesn’t really matter that much… (that’d be +10%crit).
I’m also wondering if maybe possession would be better, for the absorb and disrupt protection. But I lose 15% cast speed, so I’d have to find that elsewhere. That’d actually be possible with other gloves But the current ones have a nice damage boost, adcth, + DE skills, and nice OA.
Oh, also not sure about the relic. The rr is nice, but I have so many skills already…
What are these components though. Seal of Annihilation has -10% Energy cost so that’s the first thing you get if you struggle with Energy. Focusing Prism too.
I forgot about Focusing Prism, I can actually afford that one I’ll farm some resources soon anyway, but I wanted to check if this set is worth it. It at least doesn’t feel worse, so with the conversion it’s probably better.
I also think I will tweak the devotions a bit. I don’t need the points in spider and dryad and can replace lion with a 2 yellow one. Probably better to spend some points on defensive stuff like throne, tortoise or sailor. Or maybe ghoul
maybe for sups as well.
who played it in FoA’s annoucement stream - that’s a video proof that the skill is exciting. I don’t like that you cannot destroy objects with it though.
I deliberately just stacked OA here, just to see how much I could get.
I will give it a go later to focus more on the skills first and see how much OA I lose.
They helped a lot.
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