Is this build completely outdated?

Grim Dawn Classes, Skills and Builds
1

Hi,

I’ve been playing Grim Dawn for some time now (bought the game as act2 was released)

Even though I was definitely not a fanatic, I have played my share of the time casually. Though recently the game sparked a new interest in me and I’ve decided to pick up my old character where I left him. (level 50 Witchblade)

Prior to the official release, I was rocking a 2h Blade Arc build using the Scythe of Tenebris. Which seemed to me, at least back then, to be a very viable build. (I could run SoT in veteran quite easily)

Eversince I came back I have been stubborn enough to stick with the same build all the way up to 85, but I am kind of hitting a wall right now.
I’m unsure if it’s simply my gear alignment that isn’t proper, or simply the build that is outdated.

I am pretty much invincible in elite right now, but ultimate is causing quite the headache, and I’ve been looking for references on this website to gather some insights, but in vain. Nobody seems to be playing this build anymore.

I’m not sure how to use the whole attire (grim calc links and what not), but it is a pretty straight forward build.

Soldier:
Fighting Spirit - max
BA - 12/16
Laceration - max
War cry - max
Field Command - max
Squad Tactics - max
Decorated Soldier - max
Veterancy - 1/10
Military Conditioning - max
Menhir’s Will - 1

Occultist:
Sigil of Consumption - 1
Destruction - 1
Doom Bolt - 1
Possession - max
Solael’s Witchfire - max
Consecrated Blade - 3/3
Second Rite - 10/12
Blood of Dregg - 1
Aspect of the Guardian - 1
Curse of Frailty - 1
Vulnerability - 1

Head: Eye of the Beholder
Weapon: Obsidian Juggernaut
Chest: Vestment of Dreeg
Rings: (2x) Rhowari Void Seal
Amulet: Thread of Mortality
Legs: Empowered Hermit’s Legguards
Gloves: Voidsteel Gauntlets
Boots: Voidwalker Footpads
Belt: Sash of the Bloodlord
Medal: Mark of the False Gods
Relic: Terror
Weapon Switch: Empowered Lichguard + Touch of Purity

Keep in mind all of these items were self found on my way to 85, during these last two weeks. I have no intention of modifying my save file or whatever.

Most of my components/augments are resistances oriented. I’m sitting on 14k health, 50+ all resists (85% vit, 88% chaos), but yet am still taking copious amounts of damage in ultimate still. Nothing my life steal can ever overcome.

I’m just looking for any advice at this point, because I strongly doubt my ability to tackle on act4… (I’ve just gotten to the Sorrow Bastion)

2

I don’t know if it is outdated, but I have yet to see any build guides for witchblade, maybe it’s just me, don’t know.

But seeing as there are plenty of guides for almost every other build I would guess it might not be viable, or at the least not as efficient as other classes.

Regardless this is my new experimental HC Vet build I am aiming for http://grimcalc.com/build/PC1wcf . Probably will die around lvl 40 like my previous 5 first HC characters. though.

3

Okay so here is the build you currently have. Lets go over the problems with it and go from there…

First off at lot of these one off points make no sense. 1 point sigil + destruction and 1 point doom bolt? You are wasting your time casting them at such low investment. Same with CoF + Vuln (especially for a chaos build!) Blood of Dreeg/Guardian is a bit better - at least you’ll see a noticable benefit with your +skills, but it could be better.

Then there are the skills you are over invested in - Laceration gives poor returns without phenomenal crit chance, Fighting Spirit is nice but only has a 1/3 up time max (keep in mind the cooldown starts only AFTER the buff wears off in the case of fighting spirit/Menhir’s Will), and the damage increase from Second Rite not terrible per-say, but questionable for the investment. Now depending on devotions there are a few ways we could take this…

Go heavy into health regen, more points into Menhir’s Wall, max out Blood of Dreeg and take points out of Laceraction, Fighting spirit, and 2nd rite. Something along the lines of this and go into devotions to get high health regen effects from Behemoth, Lizard, Scales, and Tree of Life. You should be able to hit 500+ health regen before procs. Also sigil will very much be worth casting with more investment.

I also see you have an Obsidian Juggernaut. You could try dropping blade arc entirely and going towards a build using solely the OJ cast. Keep in mind it actually does 3X the listed damage to targets close to you.

4

Sigil is mainly for the life steal, I do have a few + skills on my gear, enough to make it somewhat sustainable. Doom Bolt is solely because it’s somewhat useful to pick out pesky ranged or simply shoot while I’m kiting. CoF I could probably part with, even though if feels almost better than Terrify (the -phys res looks like it turns into chaos damage from the 3/3 green nodes to solael’s… i could be wrong)

You do have a point with Laceration, even though last time I tried reducing it I felt like my damage suffered.
As for my devotion I went for something along these lines:

Lizard, Lion, Fox, Dryad, Scales, Behemoth, Kraken, Solael’s Witchblade, Turtoise, Ulo’s

I have thought about using the OJ cast, but it feels too much like a Seismic Slam barbarian from d3… which I did not enjoy very much.