I have always felt like 1H/shield was the way to go because it gave much more defense
while 1handers contributed just as good damage as a 2hander, and there are more options of them.
So a few days ago when i was trading for a pair of rings for my 2handed Reaper build,
the player simply laughed and mocked all 2handed builds because they had no place in Grim Dawn,
and “quote - there simply isn’t a 2hander that makes up for lack of defense” .
So i asked around on Discord and the general opinion is the same there… 1handed&shield or
dualwield makes 2handed redundant by lightyears. One of the replies was - “Zentai forgot 2handers”.
In a game that prides itself on builds and options, a gazillion of items, and superior design art
on the 2handers, why are we in this situation where 2handed builds are frowned upon ?.
Don’t know, never played it. I’m just telling about the general opinion when asked about 2handers,
that they’re not worth doing becase … its easily outperformed by DW or s/b .
You can read what the build does, you can also look in the build compendium for other 2H builds and judge for yourself.
Problem with 2H builds is mostly sustain. They lack attack speed (2H have lower attack animation and base attack speed), have larger damage spread, and is therefore more susceptible to fumble.
Like someone also mentioned on discord, when opting for a 2hander, a player also
makes a chose to have 1 less Augment and 1 less Component added to gear.
One less augment yes, the 2H versions of augments is not “twice as strong” as the 1H versions.
One less component is not perhaps a game changer but it is something.
I am not following here, are you suggesting that 2 Seal of blades are worse than 1? We have already touched upon the fact that 2H can’t use 2 components.
yes, there are like two threads that @adoomgod made a few months ago like “what does 2handers really need?” I can try to find them
As I said, the “real” problem of 2H are the missing 2nd component. And this discussion has been here since…I started with Grim Dawn. And with these “better” components since AoM the gap has even widened (imho).
Ye i’m not mathematician when it comes to builds and min/maxing, the only thing
i care about - passionately - is balance in all things . And if 2handers has an issiue,
it’s not something that will get solved by putting our heads in the sand.
Given that those two threads have nearly 200 posts between them I don’t think anyone is putting their heads in the sand. But so far the devs haven’t made any changes except for what may be detailed in the changelogs.
Lots of virtual ink have been used,to describe that 2h are rarely competitive.
Top tier are currently Stormweaver Vindicator and Rancor builds.Forcewave Warlord and WB are good too,there are few others decent like Ultos or Wildblood.But there are damage types without much options,even average.
Also blue 2h are really bad.From all of them,I haven’t use even one.For melee DW outperforms 2h variant.Like compare Korba DW Trickster with 2h melee,big difference.
Yeah, it would be nice, if components granted 2x bonuses to 2-handers, just like Augments do.
Also, Nightblade provides TOO GREAT support for auto-attack DW, while Shaman’s support to 2-handed auto-attack is pathetic. Therefore DW builds (almost all with Nightblade) rock, and 2-handers suck. Not to mention, that to “band-aid” 2-handers, Crate added OP “Kraken” constellation, and every 2-h build is forced to take it, even if it doesnt use chaos/primordial affinity.
Kraken should be nerfed, to be more in-line with other constellations, and damage (and other stats) for 2-handers should be buffed accordingly.
I checked all the 2h melee builds, and i found out all of them can do C+. I found 1 soulrend build that i didn’t know it is c+ but can kill 12 sec lokkar.
I don’t really understand why u don’t find any 2h builds?
2h weapons that i didn’t find an build of them or they are just waste:
Gutsmasher - Rancor better (bleed) Leviathan better (physical)
Mythical Guillotine - Rancor better. Further i don’t undestand this weapon… Necromancer doesn’t contain any bleed dmg.
Many 2H weapons have been getting buffs patch after patch though, and they tend to have strong skill modifiers or +2 to several masteries which are selling points.
Not just the few top tier ones mentioned already but also others like Raka’Jax, Avenger’s Crusher, Evoker of Elgoloth, and Wildblood Crusher among others are excellent and more than viable in endgame content.
I’d say 2H’s main problem is their lack of attack speed (which is compounded by the lack of multi hit attacks for melee compared to DW) which can get you killed quickly because of Fumble since enemies aren’t dying fast enough or you’re not getting life steal.
This requires you to reposition to wait out the effect or to lower your damage intake which many DW builds can just tank their way through, which is a reason why 2H is worse.
There have been many suggestions and threads on the topic already which are worth reading so I won’t bother rehashing all the stuff here.
If you want to play 2H, play 2H because it’s viable. No point in wondering if some other build type is better since it’s not a competition unless you make one of it.
this is the current mindset of the community towards 2h. people play 2h because its viable and fun for them. but 2h can’t compete with 1h and dw. 2h can’t be played competitively for end game, unless crate address the reasonable problems that people on 2h thread stated.
