My best Character so far. Elementalist Stun Jacks

https://www.grimtools.com/calc/YVWzAkn2

Would love any feedback or advice on how to make this build better.

Iā€™m actually getting this same build together as well. Personally, i think points in flashbang are mandatory, as you get no oa from the shaman side at all. Ulzuins chosen is pretty good as well, since your main dps ability is stun jacks and it buffs them a lot. You also want thermite mines, as resistance reduction is one of the best ways to amplify your damage. For devotions, you probably want to nab widow, for resistance reduction reasons. Remember, all forms of ā€œ-n% resistanceā€ stack. If its written in any other way it doesnt stack with the same reduction type. An example being elemental storm, that says ā€œn reduced targets resistancesā€. So anything else that says ā€œreduced targets resistancesā€ wont stack with it. The game will only count the highest value.

Iā€™m sure its just a playstyle thing, but i used to have my points in mostly the same places, and felt super squishy with no way to fight when enemies inevitably closed the distance, so i turned my build into this.
https://www.grimtools.com/calc/0V0XM3aV
It allows me to pretty much just stand my ground and spam buttons at things until they die.

Cool! Thanks! This is just the kind of feed back I wanted!

as for -n vs -% resistances. I will try widow and see how it goes. (hate ā€˜wastingā€™ all the prerequisites though)

I think you missed the fact I was not using fast jacks but slow jacks (with area effect and stun) so flash bang was not that important.

As for survivability, I have x4 your HP regen and 25% more base health. I donā€™t find my build terribly squishy at all, can stand and bang against most bosses (final hidden oasis boss I have to kite).

I also just got a sweet overseer eye (+26% casting speed) last night so will try fast jacks.
How does your build handle Mana drain?
Why do you use ultos mace when casting speed is what you want for fast jacks?

Anyway thanks again.

Flash Bang is also for cc, but primarily as a DA reduction. DA reduction helps, because it allows you to crit more often. There is no relation to what you use slow jacks and flash bang for. Also, stuns dont really work on any enemy thats an actual threat in ultimate, whereas fumble and impaired aim work on everyone. But esp for your build, i would heavily suggest it, as your OA/DA values are pretty low for an endgame toon. You usually want to shoot for around 2800 of each at least. Mind you, thats a totally arbitrary number, but i rarely get crit and crit often enough on toons that reach that.

Also, this build is different from what i used to use. I told you my build was similar to yours, for my (very braindead) playstyle, i just couldnt make it work. I dont like thinking about when to press what, and i normally dont play mages either. So my build is for literally just pressing every button that does a thing until everything dies. I dont really time things.

I think my hp regen and mana management is fine. There are rare moments where my mana dips to half, but thats about as bad as it gets. No need for pots. Healing rain has an 80% uptime, so iā€™m constantly getting mana and hp. And going for healing rain also allows me to use stone form, which is hands down the strongest defensive constellation in the game

I use ultos mace because i liked its synergy with the defensive devotions i like to take and the shield i use. I used to use the same scepter you do, with the tomb of names for the -RR and cast speed, but it felt like i was giving up survivability for a little extra damage.

Again tho, iā€™d like to reiterate, iā€™m a player that likes to play with 0 technical skill, and i build accordingly to enable that. The only real criticism i have for your build is that you need to crank those OA/DA values up, and get some -rr in your build. Oh and it might help if you put giants blood on your blast shield, because then it will only proc in emergency situations instead of at random times when you already have full hp. Oh and keep your resistances being more overcapped in mind as well, not so much a problem in regular campaign, but in shattered realm and crucible, youā€™ll notice a LOT of enemies debuff ur resistances by 30-40%

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I will type this list as I go about the Grimtools link so bare with me if this is going to be a bit chaotic :smiley:

  • You used components to push health really high while your DA and some of your resists remain quite low (DA aim for 2.8k+, Resists aim for 80+20%). You should think about using other components (e.g. bloodied crystals) to change that. Have a look for other grimtools links which components are generally the most used for reference.
  • You ignored thermite mine, despite it being a great source of -rr%
  • You ignored temer, despite it being a greate source of DA
  • Flashbang can help with your low OA
  • Devotions are a bit all over the place. Without digging to deep try getting widow for -rr% and spear of the heavens (gerenally good stats and very good proc). Drop Sythe, Crab and Turtoise for it. You can/should get Bat for sustain. While tempest looks decent it is unsually never used. Get Viper.
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Thanks I am learning alot here!.

Why do you take resists above the cap? (ie why +20% over 80?)

Because some heroes/bosses can reduce your resistances.

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Totally overlooked that you only have 87% armor absorption, resulting in you effectively not utilizing 13% of your armor.

For the game mechanics:
When taking physical damage the game checks for your armor value and everything above that value goes through and hits you. But thats not all. The damage below your armor gets multiplied by (1-armor absorption) and still hits you. That results in you still taking (1-0.87)=0.13 times the damage below your armor.

Edit: Just noticed again how stupidly finnicky Grim Dawnā€™s mechanics are :stuck_out_tongue:

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wow there is a TON of stuff to learn. how do I improve my armor absorb?

Oh yes. I am taking some of the advice here onboard. Still a work in progress, but here is my updated char.

https://www.grimtools.com/calc/b2895lGV

Game guide is a good place to start.

https://www.grimdawn.com/guide/

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Armor Absorption usually comes from chest, pants and shoulder components, e.g. your sacret plating gives 12%. Other notable components are Ancienct Armor Plate (gives armor aswell), Living Armor (gives ele res aswell) and scaled hide (highest armor absporption but no resistances, use when in really dire need for Armor Absorption)

I played a bit around with components, skill allocation and devotions I hope you can drawn some inspiration from that: https://www.grimtools.com/calc/4ZDvpYw2

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Wow thanks. Lost consider!

I am mining ug blooms for bloody crystals. Have already gone with scaled hide on my pants. Was thinking about what to put in my chest once that is doneā€¦

But adding 2 new skillsā€¦ flash bang and Wendigoā€¦ When I am already pounding out 6 skillsā€¦ From just a play perspective it seems awful busy. (lots and lots of button smashā€¦)

Does blood pacts %6 health from attack damage apply to stun jacks? I thought it was only from defualt weapon attacks?

Also 1200hp? Man that looks lightā€¦

Remember that thing i said about not wanting to think about all the buttons i have to press? lol Now youre getting it.

Theres a lot more to survivability than the amount of hp that you have man. Resistances, block chance, dodge chance, DA, adcthā€¦ it all matters. Think of hp as a buffer to all those other aspects of surviving. It seems like youre thinking of it the other way around, where everything else supports your hp pool. The average hp pool of a non-tank is usually `12-15000. Youre on the high end because you value hp more than the (consensus) ā€œmore importantā€ stats.

And blood pacts buff (adcth, attack damage converted to health) only applies to things with a ā€œ%weapon damageā€ component. Default attacks inherently have that, yes, but as long as the skill or constellation proc has % weapon damage, it works with adcth.

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Well thanks guys. I am working my way towards your general advice.

https://www.grimtools.com/calc/b289YxyV