Need 1.0.0.7 Sword and Board build please!

Grim Dawn Classes, Skills and Builds
1

Hi guys,

Been trying to get into Grim Dawn for a few years, highest level i got so far is 68, and then i seem to run out of steam, put the game down and play other things then eventually come back as i feel i have unfinished business :slight_smile:

The thing is, i actually enjoy farming type games, put many hours into D3, WoW, Torchlight 2, The Division etc, so why cant i just stick it through GD?

Maybe because most of the builds i try look great but really lack in one area or another, GD seems to really punish bad builds the further into the game you go, which is actually really good, as it rewards really well thought out and made builds.

With that said, one type of build ive yet to try is a Sword and Board type affair, most of my characters run out of steam as they are casters and become very squishy the further into the game i get, so i figure if i want to learn the end game, i am going to need a character thats alot more resilient, and then go from there. So i figure a Sword and Shield type heavy tank approach might be the best way forward?

Does anyone have a cookie cutter type build thats not really dependant certain items or set items etc but will obviously get stronger with them?

I figured there should be a base build that anyone can play that will atleast get you to 85 comfortably and able to start farming end game in search of better items to refine the build? basically what i need is a guide of where to put my points, even better if its brokendown into 10 or 20 level or so details?

Am i asking too much? am i just a noob who should ā€œGit gud and learn2play?ā€ ive been looking around the board and theres actually information overload, i thought i had found some witchblade cadance build but it seems it was nerfed and is not so good anymore and the info is out dated?

someone, please, help me! i want to love this game, well i do love it, but i get frustrated around lvl65 or so and end up putting it down as my characters just fall woefully short.

2

You cant go wrong much when you pick something with soldier in it and go sword and board phys dmg. WB, Blademaster, Commando, pick the one and its straight forward.

3

Battlemage, battlemage would be wrong.:stuck_out_tongue:

4

Not necessarily, tho it is weaker.

5

Iā€™ve had the same issues as OP, so been looking for some advice - the only other similar thread said go Blademaster and 2H with Blade Arc to level until 70-75. And focus on Soldier until then (soā€¦ still time to change to WB or Commando if itā€™s better?).

Soā€¦ is 2H better or 1H/shield? Are there no skills from Nightblade that are useful/needed until 75?

Any other advice would be very welcome. Most questions like this get an answer along the lines of ā€œDepends what you like to playā€. Doesnā€™t really help :frowning:

TBH I prefer caster toons, but I want to get a toon that is as powerful as possible all the way through the levelling process - and that can play Ultimate and get some gear for other builds. So Iā€™ll live with melee for that (and hope they fix the caster issues).

Old question, I know - never seems to get a straight answer that Iā€™ve seen though, JoVā€™s above is the nearest Iā€™ve seen.

Thanks in advance.

6

Physical Commando

I rolled this shortly after he posted the guide. As long as I play the ā€œWoW danceā€ and not stand in pools of unthinkableā€¦it melts most content, and I only have 1 of the BiS items.

7

There is not much difference between WB, BM and commando if you go sword and board.
Reason to advice leveling with 2h weapon is because its the fastest way, you can level with sword and shield from beginning.
1h + shield is much better, and yes there are some really useful skils from NB like pneumatic burst, vail of shadows, shadow dance, blade barrier,ā€¦

But that is secondary now when you told that you like casters more.

There are bunch of casters builds capable of doing all those thing you stated and they even require less gear to be efficient enough.
Poison DOT DEE WH, BWC sorcerer, CT Sorcerer, PB builds, Vitality castersā€¦
For starting and farming items is much easier to start with caster, I did it using above mentioned DEE WH build.
I will probably tomorrow or next day make a guide for sorcerer BWC build that is totally op and can do everything almost like melee builds, and have much better clear time thus is better for farming at start.

8

Thanks it would be good see that Sorc build. I have a level 54 SB that was going to be a PB build but I levelled as OFF/TSS but it got a bit underpowered and it was hard to switch to PB - maybe I just couldnā€™t get enough points into PB from the Arcanist side, maybe I should have started in NB?

Iā€™m considering switching it to a SS cold/pierce build to level. But anywayā€¦

I would like to see the caster levelling guide for that sorc you mentioned - especially if it can avoid having ā€˜flat spotsā€™ like all my builds run into so far.

Thanks for response :slight_smile:

9

Quick questions:

  1. Is WB the best end-game build currently? Reading some of the builds it sounds like thatā€™s what people think?

  2. JoV - for your sorc build, would I start as Demo or Arc? Levelling as OFF/TSS or Fire Strike / Flashbang Iā€™m guessing?

10

Thanks for the info, interesting build at end gameā€¦

Did you have any trouble levelling it (any times it was under-powered, so you couldnā€™t progress)?

11

You will not have problems leveling with soldier whatever you choose as second class. Bellow is a quote from the commando build:

Blitz is Fantastic for AOE and face smashing both early and late game. My advice early game put around 5 levels max in Cadence, 1 fighting form, slowly max Deadly momentum (very important), max blitz slowly Blitz (+1 Blindside for AOE), and then start maxing Bulwark. Put Falcon Swoop on Blitz (51% chance and hitā€™s 2x) early and then Assassinā€™s mark on Cadence. You will destroy content. Remember to put some Ectoplasm in Jewlery because Blitz costs a lot early game.

I wouldnā€™t level with demmo, I donā€™t find Cannister bomb to be that fast. Itā€™s spectacualr early game sure but has long CD. Blitz + Deadly momentum+ Bulwark feel very good friom start to finnish. (Donā€™t forget some life steal, You can use a Hollowed fang early game in weapon and later on haunted steel, any item with vampiric or of voracity affix)

ORā€¦you can level 2h if you want with blade arc. Personally i donā€™t like it that much but many people do.

12

Thanks mate - I missed your post for a couple of hours because I hadnā€™t realised that there was a page 2 :frowning:

Iā€™d found the text you quoted by then and the bit where it says that Falcon is only used while levelling.

Presumably the skills that are to be levelled slowly - Iā€™ll know when to up it when I have enough energy to be comfortable at the current level and more (presumably I run out of energy if I go too fast).

Iā€™ll give this a go and create a Sorc in parallel if JoV posts his new guide.

Hope it works - it would be nice to level without getting stuck for once!

13

  1. Most people like it a lot, and its a good build but not the best imho.

  2. I find most interesting way to lvl up sorc is PRM/devastation, just have to be careful to not over invest in prm cuz of energy consumption, so add pts slowly . But OFF/TSS/CT/CB/ or even BWC from start could work also.

14

I realise itā€™s time consuming, but Iā€™m wondering if that BWC Sorc build has been put on the back burner for now.
Shame - I was looking forward to hear the levelling method you mentioned.

Iā€™m also interested in the levelling with DEE WH. Sounds good.

I looked at both setups andā€¦ I just havenā€™t played enough to be able to work out whether a build will work in the end or not. Levellng is one thing but itā€™s a pain not being able to switch one of the classes or being able to change attribute allocation.

Any advice on above 2 builds would be much appreciated, even if itā€™s not a full build for sticky-ing.