Most efficient nemesis farming procedure

Grim Dawn Gameplay Discussion
1

This has been probably answered before, perhaps even multiple times, but as the game gets updated etc. this is prone to changes and change of opinions, so I usually like to get the most recent meta opinions possible.

I think, actually I’m pretty sure that the best farming strategy in the game is just playing crucible, perhaps playing certain area of crucible, for example after wave 100 in aspirant and repeat. Don’t know for sure, this is my guess since I’m one of the few people on this forum that don’t like crucible. I just can’t force myself to like another horde mode, I just find it boring and unimaginative. You get waves after waves of (what it seems) random enemies thrown together without logic behind it. Yea I know there should be some purpose but it seems rushed and badly put together. I look at crucible as a good measure for build strength and that’s also what the general meta says. But not much more that that, I certainly don’t enjoy playing it.

Ok long story short, while farming for endgame legendaries for me actually one of the most important aspects is to not get bored to death. It is already painful enough having to grind for faction rep to nemesis (I’m looking at you cronley’s, order, kymon’s), and once you finally get there you wanna farm some nemesis bosses.

So my idea still is that the most efficient way would be just to farm Fabius/Zantarin/Iron Maiden over and over again.

But I remember reading somewhere a while ago that those should supposedly be regarded as so-called “lesser nemesis” as they are from “lesser and smaller optional” factions. I see how this logic could somewhat make sense even though I’m not sure I like it.

From my experience also not even other “regular” nemesis are guaranteed to drop a legendary from a chest, as I just recently killed Benn’jahr on ultimate and received 0 purples and 0 purple recipes.

So what I want to hear is what is considered the best nemesis killing strategy?

As experienced players know there are multiple factors that count when calculating this, to name just a few:

  • The ease, speed and reliability of killing a nemesis (depends on a build, but let’s say you have a pretty decent tanky endgame build - sword and board with somewhat decent OA also)
  • The ease of finding a nemesis (as few spawn points as possible)
  • The loot quality (I’m not sure there should even be a difference between various nemesis on ultimate difficulty).

Bottom line, I know there’s probably a thousand different farming procedures that people like, but I want to stick mostly to nemesis farming in this thread. The main reason behind that is that I also enjoy fighting nemesis, so I don’t feel like I’m just mindlessly grinding when farming - like with most other farming methods.

2

Run Steps of Torment, Bastion of Chaos, and Ancient Grove. Rinse and repeat. Decent chances of 3 of the nemesis along the way but not reliant on luck finding nems for loot (and a steady income of ugdenbloom + all skele key parts). I average around 10 legendaries/hour - and i tend to dink around a little bit.

3

You are not alone, i tried but i never liked crucible. I have 3k hrs in this game and just something like 20 in crucible, in the current state of the game (pre shattered realms release) you can get your stuff in roguelike dungeons. If you like nemesis fighting too you can run steps of torment and when moos is not there you chase him in the few missing locations.

4

I have one build that is designed to run BoC and Chtonic areas as fast & safe as possible, then I have another one designed for SoT and undead Areas, one for Grove and beasts/kuba and another one for Aethereial areas (aleksander)

5

Adoomgod started this thread a little while ago which may have some routes that would be useful.

http://www.grimdawn.com/forums/showthread.php?t=79036

6

I’m not a big fan of the crucible either, so nemesis farming is a good thing that didn’t get boring for me yet.

I always start at the gates of Necropolis, there’s a chance to find Valdaran and Benn’Jhar there. If Val’s not there, I check the Wardens laboratory, also paying Krieg a visit and afterwards, if Val’s still missing, I’ll go back to the laboratory rift and check the cellar.
I’ll then go to Cronleys hideout, check outside for Fabius, including Haneffy mine, Cronleys hideout itself afterwards, then the other spawn points. Moos afterwards, mostly arcovian undercity and steps of torment. Finally Iron Maiden / Zantarin and sometimes the AoM nemesis bosses.

It’s actually depening on your luck if you get legendaries from nemesis bosses, some times I get zero, other times 2-3.

7

Thanks, this will prove extremely useful!

8

Here’s my take on the utility of going after different nemeses:

  1. Fabius. Despite having more spawn points than the next one on the list, he sits on an incredibly useful and hero-rich run, especially if you use bounties to spawn a few more heroes in Cronley’s mine. Dynamite’s always welcome, Cronley’s ring is always welcome, and most of the spawn points have at least one boss along the way.
  2. Iron Maiden/Zantarin. Has very few spawn points, and the difference in loot quality isn’t as big as some people make it out to be. Doesn’t measure up to Fabius because both Fort Haron and Barthollem’s Tomb are iffy on things outside of nemeses, with the MI from Malkadarr/Archon being the one exception.
  3. Grava’thul. The most locationally constrained “greater” nemesis along with Moose. Mourndale and its rift nets a 60% chance of running into him along with three bosses. Depending on your love of roguelike dungeons, you might consider Moose more useful.
  4. Moosliauke. I rate him a little lower than Grava because i tend not to run through roguelikes. If you like SoT, then he might be closer to #2-3. Middle of the road as far as areas go.
  5. Reaper. I don’t have alot of chars hostile to Barrowholm, but Reaper’s spawn points are a little scattered, with the Gloomwald and Barrowholm ones not having much else on the way.
  6. Kuba/Aleksander. Both are in relatively expansive areas, with Kuba being in a roguelike and Aleks running all over Malmouth. Both the Ancient Grove and Theodin’s House of Meat are target-rich, but the rest of their areas are decidedly less so. Again, depends on personal preference.
  7. Valdaran. Same as the previous point, but Port Valbury is by far the most annoying of the roguelikes and none of his other spawn points have much else that’s useful.
  8. Benny: I heard you like spawn points, so we put spawn points for his spawn points for double the farming fun. Never worth the hassle.
9

Personally, I skip the roguelikes

For Valdaran - check all spawn points before checking the Port Valbury outskirts.
For Fabius, Grava, Iron Maiden and Zantarin - check all spawn points
For Reaper - Don’t bother, Barrowholm are your fiends I mean friends.
For Moosy - Check all spawn points and stop after you’ve killed Zarthuzelan
For Benny - Check Tomb of the Watchers, Gates of Necropolis, Seal of the Loghorrean and Darkvale Gate (that’s 18 out of 46) which are not bad odds.
For Kubacabra - Check all spawns but don’t bother running Ancient Grove unless you feel up to it.
For Aleksander - Check all spawns from Steelcap District to Crown Hill and all points in Crown Hill as well as making sure to check the Ransacked Lighthouse (16 out of 29) locations.

Generally speaking the biggest pains are Aleksander and Benny.

10

I hit Alek when I farm for Krieg’s gear. He usually spawns on bottom level of the fleshworks. You can make quick work of him if you find a location that protects you from his big meteor (someplace indoors/ under cover).