New Player four toons above 94, still learning, just WRECKED Rekt and Boris but have a Warder and Mythical Guillotine question

Grim Dawn General Discussion
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I am really very new to Grim Dawn so I will start my question(s) with a little preface. My first character was a Warder because when I bought the game and did (very little) research, it seemed the Warder was the best starting toon for beginners. Since my first video gaming started with Elden Rings last year (at 59 years old), I thought frequent dying was okay. Then at about level 40 with the Warder getting frustrating, I watched a video from Arcadelife to try to learn a bit more about the game. He was showing how to build a Purifier, so I followed his guide videos until about lvl 35, (act 3?) and I realized I now knew enough game basics to start over with the Warden. I also learned that dying should not be a tolerated thing in GD. Note to self – stop dying!

But first… I decided to build a Dervish because I had a lot of acid stuff. That went well and I took him to lvl 100, completing Ultimate. I still am a rank amateur, unable to kill Ravager on Ultimate (Dervish, Druid and Purifier all have completed Ultimate, while the Spellbinder is at lvl 100 yet never bothered clearing Malmouth on Ultimate), nor can I handle Lokkar and a bunch of other higher stuff. So… I built the Druid since I had a lot of Korvan lightning stuff. At lvl 100, the Druid was okay, very colorful, had okay stats, but my Resistances sucked! Yep, sucked. I probably have good gear but since I do not have the Blueprint for Sacred Plating (the only, yes ONLY Rare blueprint - seemingly impossible to find), I was struggling to get the Vitality Resistance to anything worth Ultimate. After several days of nothing but doing farming runs, dungeons, etc. with all my toons, still no Sacred Plating. When the Fist of Ultos dropped for me on a farming run this morning, I switched from the Charged Korvan Storm Halberd and, well, wow, Primal Strike damage went up 35% to about 62,000, but I still could not balance resistances. So…

I decided to venture off into the scary land of Shattered Realms (using the Acid Dervish since she has better Resistances). I did a little reading, watched a beginner video, then jumped in, with the intent of seeing if I could get a blueprint. Thirty-ish minutes later SR21 completed, went for my rewards. One blueprint, a Mask. Darn RNG! I did decide to buy one of the SR Chest pieces for the good Vitality Resist.

Next, I decided to use the SR Chest piece and my damage dropped to about 58,000 (Character page II). I will take it since I was then able to balance out my resistances much better. I am not joyful with the results but at least everything is above the 80%, with most well about 120%. Since the DPS went down but my resistances were better balanced, I immediately decided to make a Four Hills test/farming run for dynamite (that sucked - only 3 pieces found between both Cronley’s and Hanneffy’s Mines). After running Cronley’s I noticed my Primal Strike status on page II was now showing up differently. Primal Strike is now showing a spread of damage from 56085 – 110505. What?! I have no idea how it doubled since I have not made any changes other than the SR Chest piece. I noticed this jump when I wiped out Cronley in about 7 seconds. I thought, “WTF, that should not have happened since my DPS is lower with this new chest piece.” Then I looked at my Character Window page II and found that damage anomaly. Not sure why this happened but I do know, RESISTANCES MATTER and damage changes are a mystery.

I then thought, hhmmm… If I can wipe out Cronley so quickly, why not try those two *^!#$% men in the Pit, you know the two, Rekt ByProtoss and his good buddy Boris. Those two always decimate me on Ultimate. The plan: turn on the Nvidia screen recorder; run Hanneffy’s to try to get some dynamite; and then see how long I can survive before Rekt wrecks me, hopefully without the typical one-shot. What? Wait! No! I annihilated those two in less than 13 seconds. Yes, under 13 seconds between the two of them. If I knew how to upload a video I would so that it can be shown even a beginner can actually get something right, even if he does not know how he did it! Since starting that Warder, I have learned a lot about this game. Primary for any beginner are the following lessons:

Lesson 1 – do not die.
Lesson 2 – focus on one damage type and build it up.
Lesson 3 – RESITANCES MATTER.
Lessons 1 and 2 I learned form Arcadelife. Lesson 3 I learned from the school of hard life.
And, not really a lesson, but a reality, the game really does not begin until Ultimate, lvl 94+, when the gearing matters and the dungeons, areas, etc. really start getting interesting/challenging. Prior to Ultimate lvl 94, the player is only gearing up and learning.

Disclaimer, I think it is fair to note that I loosely based the Druid from both a RektByProtos video and the beginner’s guide on Grim Tools by Stupid_Dragon). Should I apologize to RektbyProtos for his lessons on how to wreck Rekt? No… I used Stupid_Dragon’s guide, as well, and without ArcadeLife’s video, I would probably have stopped even playing Grim Dawn.
Wait, was I supposed to be asking a question? Or two? After all that, how about just one?

Back to the Warder. I do not want to abandon that toon. I want to build it up and I have a lot of gear now. Going through the gear, I feel like I want to build towards using the Mythical Guillotine, but I also want to branch out my abilities and game play, so maybe Sword and Board? The Druid is a 2H melee storm god. The Dervish is a duel wielding melee acid master. The Purifier a duel-wielding pistol artisan, although too squishy at the moment. The Spellbinder, an AAR laser-master, still does not have great gear but does have amazing resistances, all above 130, most above 150. All four are worth trying to build better to complete all the game, but since I have the Warder and want to challenge myself in creating the toon to something viable (building it myself without any Warder guides, videos, etc.) for end game, I want to get it to at least 100.

As noted above, I have not tried any Sword and Board, nor caster, unless the Spellbinder counts as a caster. I am not inclined towards a caster at this time, but maybe if I learn enough. The issue I have with the Spellbinder and the Purifier is kiting and not dying. The two melee toons I can attack, get up close and personal, run if necessary to heel up a bit, then jump back in to finish my victims. I have not learned the art of ranged fighting yet. This leaves continuing 2H Melee, what I originally started with on the Warder, trying to build up a toon for the Mythical Guillotine, or go Sword and Board.
Again, SandB or 2H for the Warder? I am not looking for build guides, just thoughts on which of those two fighting styles might be better for getting the Warder through Ultimate and maybe beyond. What might add to my play-style and what might be FUN! (Possible weapons I have for the S%B would be: Mythical Agony, Mythical Reaver’s Claw, Targo’s Mallet, Mythical Brutallax, or Mythical Ravager’s Bite for possible physical or pierce damage type, as well as any of those Totally Normal not-shield weapons.

Now I will shut up and open this up for discussions, suggestions, comments. Thanks for being patient if you read all of this. Thanks for being a great community.

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Welcome to the forum!

Sorry for only quick answer but I’m in work :slight_smile:

For warder I would definitely go for 2h melee. There is lots of items to go for either physical or lightning damage.

Nice to see new people still starting their voyage with GD. Good luck and have fun!

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I love how you’re not messing around with any easy games, but you went straight for some of the hardest game genres out there :smiley:

Druid is actually a little better at being a 2h ranged storm good or a totem caster. Soldier provides additional tankyness for 2h melee, so you can basically play as a 2h melee storm god.

2h lightning Primal Strike is imo the most fun and one of the strongest playstyles for a Warder. For the absolute endgame there are arguably stronger (not more fun tho) setups, like e.g. Avenger Warder, but until then enjoy being a Storm God.

Since you mentioned mythical Guillotine. That and also mythical Gutripper in combination with the bloodrager set are great weapons for a bleed Warder.

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No need for any apologies for a late reply when I wrote that long message at about 1 in the morning. I started that Warder as bleed/physical and I think I will continue. RektbyProtoss suggested 2H Primal Strike, again, close to my original attempt, and he also suggested the Bloodrager set if I go with the bleed for the Warder. Looking at my stash (I am using GD Item Assistant - the only mod or add-on I have) I found I have the Mythical Bloodrager’s Shoulderguard and Coat already, as well as the blueprint for the Cowl, so completing the set would be quite easy.

Thanks.

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Yes, Sir, when I started with Elden Rings it was because I was house-locked after a major surgery. I decided to reach out and try something new to keep from losing my sanity and Elden Rings looked interesting with flashy promotions. My choice my have been a mistake, but my dedication was relentless. I completed every ending from that game and collected almost every single item, goal, etc. (started on PC but shifted to XBox X). I found the forum there to be very divisive, though, with 50% support for new players and 50% haters of anyone not playing their way. From reading the forums here, I think the GD players are 100% in on helping and supporting.

Now I had another major surgery and am stuck at home again for at least two months and found GD. Obviously, with four toons at 100, I am not messing around but trying to make the most of this game.

Since I have the Mythical Guillotine, and 3 of 4 of the Bloodrager’s, with the blueprint so I can make the missing Gem, I might go that route. I started this GD venture with the Warder intending to be a bleed build so now that you and others have taught me a few things via your videos and this forum, I think I will try to get that character into fighting form, trying for bleed, since I have one lightning character now.

I do not know what the “Avenger” is so I might do some research. As I wrote, I do not want to follow anyone’s guide with this Warder fix. I have been studying the devotions and trying to figure out a route for it based on what I already have, although, by I intend to see how far I can get the Dervish through SR so I might end up with a lot more, and better, gear.

On gear… after the Warder, I think I might try something based on Cold/Frostburn. I am not sure why, but it seems about 70% of all my best loot is Cold based. It makes me feel like Crate is trying to force me to build into that damage type!

Back to the Warder build. I do not know how to use the Grim Tools for building a character. I made a spreadsheet to calculate major gear stats (damage, resistances, armor, armor absorb, etc.), but that was a pain and is not very efficient. I might research the Avenger as well as try to find some instruction on Tools.

Thank you for the response and the mention of Bloodrager’s. It seems 2H is the what I will plan on for now and maybe S%B when I build cold (that Nightshard shield keeps haunting me, with three drops already.)

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I am a bit slow witted. I realized that “Avenger Warder” is the Nature’s Avenger set based. I have three of the four pieces, missing only the chest armor. I have four of the Crusher, with wildly varying stats but did notice it is a Warder weapon based on Brute Force. It seems the Bloodrager’s and Avenger’s sets are both 3/4 so now I just need to learn to use the GD Tools and figure out a path for the Warder using either of these sets.

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If you have duplicate items of a set you can transmute them into other set pieces via the inventor. Also make sure to choose the best rolled one and preferably keep the one with 100% Lightning to phys conversion.

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Or Archon. :grinning:

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Yes, sir, thank you. Since I have four of the Crusher, you are right, I actually do, indirectly, have the compete set already. I did this to complete the Dagallon’s set my Purifier uses. I needed the Annihilator pistol but in the process, three attempts? I was able to upgrade two other pieces to better stats for my build, so that was nice.

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RektbyProtoss, Foehammer, Bananow9393, thank you. Here is what I have so far, lvl 100 Avenger Warder:

[I should rewrite what I have below, but I am too lazy. Immediately after writing that long message, I re-ran SoT just to complete the Dahlia secret quest and wouldn’t it just figure, the missing blueprint for Sacred Plating dropped in the Treasure Trove. I ended up not using it for this toon but I will definitely use it on two of my others, hopefully getting their resistance issues fixed. Since I chose not to use it, I went ahead and added Augments to the rest of my gear, therefore, I had to adjust the GD Calc posting, so the new one is above.]

I have “mostly” fixed Olivia, the Warder, the pathetic first character I attempted. She was at lvl 40 when I quit playing that toon since she did from almost everything and I realized I needed to either quit GD or learn it better.

As noted earlier, I watched a couple of videos, read a several guides, and then followed a beginners guide on YouTube by Arcadelife for a Purifier and from RektbyProtoss for a Spellbinder. I did not complete either of the guides but I did finish both toons to lvl 100. I found that these guides taught me enough to try to continue my own. Thank you gentlemen!

Having completed four toon to lvl 100, I decided it was time to revisit the Warder and see if I could fix her. That is why I started this thread. After several suggestions (much appreciated), I decided to go the Avenger route since I had all of that Legendary gear. I reset many of Olivia’s skills getting away from Forcewave and Cadence, which were recommended from my very first reading about GD. For me, those were either just not working or I did not know how to utilize them. I also reset all the Devotions, using a potion. I looked at the Nature’s Avenger set and decided to work towards Savage, Zolhan’s Technique, Brute Force and Upheaval, while also focusing on Oak Skin because of some accessories.

Amazingly, along the way towards reaching lvl 94 to equip that gear, I had some great stuff drop. Almost immediately, a Troll Crusher dropped that I used all the way through Normal and Elite (I did use the potions to increase experience points, and one ring for 5% for a while). I had some really good gear drop along the way to get me to the Nature’s Avenger set.

Normally, I whine about the horrid RNG for the drops I need, but for gearing the Warder on this run, I did okay. While running SoT 20 times, yes, twenty, to try to get the blueprint for Sacred Plating (never did get it – still the only epic blueprint I am missing and I am beginning to think its existence is only a myth – I had the entire Adornments of Valiance set drop. It was crazy because the first two pieces, ring and amulet (?) dropped at the same time from the chests at the end. That made me decide to equip the set until I could get to lvl 94, where I have much better Avenger Warder sets. At lvl 92, I had just finished reaching Revered with Solael, completing revered for all Factions, was just about to rift out to Devil’s Crossing from near the Sunward Spire Shrine, when I decided to go kill a few trolls standing close enough to just let me waste the 30 seconds. Who would have believed it, one of those trolls dropped the Gutsmasher! RNG sucks? Well, normally, but on this run, not so much. The Gutsmasher worked great for the build I was trying to create. Now I had to rethink going with the Bloodrager set, which I have 3 or 4 pieces, or continuing as I was for Avenger. The Gutsmasher immediately doubled my damage, as well as adding points to skills. Reaching 94 was pretty eay now. Okay, it was already easy since restarting Olivia as she has never even came close to dying since the regroup. I am not sure health has ever dropped below 75%. While doing Act 1 on Ultimate, rushing through, I reached Ulgrim, sent him to Devil’s Crossing, then decided to do the Totem which as near by before finishing the Act. Who would have thought, Blueprint Mark of Consumption dropped. RNG was still working for me, except that mythical Sacred Plating. I decided to keep with the Avenger set because when I equipped all that gear, with the set bonuses, the Gutsmasher was only about 200 damage higher yet benefits where lower. I did not try to see how Olivia would look with the Bloodrager set.

I stopped using my Attribute and Skill points when I was at lvl 92. Warder Olivia is mostly compete but she has some issues and I am not sure which route to take with her at this time. I want to better figure out and understand the character and get a feel of what I really need to do to finish her. I have linked a Grim Tools Build Calculator for how she stands now. I noticed that with buffs on or off, the calculator does not correctly reflect what I have in-game, so that confuses me, since this is a direct load, not a build. That does not concern me, however. She walked thorough the Warden as if he was nothing more than a gnat. Okay, it was slow. Much slower than any of my other builds on Ultimate, but Olivia’s health never dropped below about 95%, as far as I could tell, maybe not even 97. She did the same with Cronley. He did not make her flinch. The boys down at the Pit thought they could be an issue but they were not much more than a time consuming irritation. It took about one minute for those two together. I have not used a single health potion since restarting this build and while fighting on Ultimate, so far (at Necropolis now), I have not had to even use the Windigo Totem. But there remain issues.

While finishing Vanilla Elite, Olivia’s Energy ran out right as she killed Loghorrean. While fighting the boys in the Pit on Ultimate, they had a healer behind them rebuffing them and their health which was draining my Energy and keeping kept their health rebounding when it reached about 50%. I ran away, then ran back to them, to rebuild Energy, then wiped them both out almost immediately. I did not see the healer so not sure if it died or what.

My issues with the build so far, and my thoughts, are these:

The Crit Damage sucks. I do not know how to build it up. It is definitely lower than on any of my other toons.

Offensive Ability is needs to come up. I think this is part of why major boss kills take too long. To try to raise OA, I would like to use that darn Sacred Plating, but well, no. Since I still have 11 skill points, I was thinking about adding to Field Command or Fighting Spirit. With my lvl 94 gear equipped, Zolhan’s Technique jumped in skill points, so I was considering removing a few to lower it from 19 to 15, giving my 4 more points to utilize.

Although Olivia seems pretty tanky now, I have not really pushed her. I am considering using the four I might take from Zolhan’s and using them in Menhir’s Bulwark.

Resistances are not a major issue but they are not really correct. I have kept the Adormant’s of Valiance set because of the Resistances and because the Spirit Attributes are too low to equip several the really good accessories I have, such as the Mark of Consumption. Aether and Vitality are my issues, and yet again, I lament not having the Sacred Plating. I have thought about pulling one point (2, maybe) from Mogdrogen’s Pact and Heart of the Wild, to add to Oak Skin. This would increase both Pierce and Aether Resistance a little, and that would help her.

Attributes really need reworking. Since Oliva was already at 40 when I restarted her, I did not reset the Attributes and the first things I read on GD said, “Always put all Attribute points into Physique.” Well, I do not agree with this at all, and yet, still, many people on many forums, swear that Physique is all you need, except to maybe equip a particular piece of gear. For Olivia, I would like to pull at least 9, maybe 10 points out of Physique and add them to Cunning, for the Bleed, and also put enough into Spirit to build energy and to reach 399 to equip the rings, amulets and medals I have in reserve for her.

And since I circled back to Energy… I was frustrated at the Pit, having to run away, while also scared at the Loghorrean because of Energy issues. After the Pit, I put Royal Jelly Extract on a quick slot, for immediate use in battle if necessary. I have not needed to use it but I was dangerously close a few times with bosses. For some reason, Grim Dawn Calculator does not show the Extract as being slotted but I guess that is because it is not real gear?

I would like to use the Massacre Relic, but I do not have the blueprint. I have not fully set everything because many gear pieces still do not have Augments or Components, since I have not finalized what I want to do. When starting Ultimate, I thought I would add what was necessary until I had better stuff but so far, I have just not had the need. I have not tried anything major, such as the Ravager or Lokkhar, because I just finished Vanilla and some of FG. I know finishing all the Augments and Components should be done now, since I can use Darlet to remove and change those later, but I just do not know what to use.

So, that was another too long story!

To summarize, these are the issues I have and welcome any constructive suggestions, since I feel I have build the character well enough on my own, so far:

Crit Damage is too low.

Offensive Ability is too low. Skills and changing Augments and Consumables can help with this.

Resistances are low but work for now. Redoing accessories might make it work and will definitely require me to redo almost all Augments and Consumables but for now, the set I am using seems to work for Olivia.

Attributes are probably all wrong for this toon, and I need to refocus Spirit for rings as well as Energy.

That is it. If you read all this, bless you! And thank you.

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My little toon beat Lokarr today. now, I know, most players have probably beat him many times but since this is my first build without guides I am happy with the kill. It was LONG. I think about six minutes? All those Bourbon clones sure distract.

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Congrats on first Lokarr kill! First time really gets into your guts for excitement.

Also it takes a lot of knowledge and experience about game to make build which is able to and then pilot and win that fight.

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Thanks. It sure took a lot of jumping away and regrouping. I am very glad I added a movement glyph the medal. Being able to jump away from Lokarr, or a cluster of clones, to another target while Blitz was not available, made a huge difference. I am not great a 'piloting" or kiting so every extra bit helps.

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I can add, that 6 minutes is not that long. Killing Morgoneth for the first time on Ultimate took me over 10.

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Thanks. I guess I am too impatient still.

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My second and third runs took 3m50sec each, so I think I have my pattern figured out. Sadly, all I get for drops are the Lokarr’s Gaze. At least my toon is doing its job and my piloting seems to be improving.

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I guess I should have been very, very happy with this builds kills of Mogdrogen. I have been leveling up a Archon toon, doing very, very well with it. Except…

When I went to battle Mogdrogen , Ultimate, lvl 100, it was a stalemate. I brought him to about 35% in under 5 minutes. At about 25 minutes into the battle, he was still at 35%. I am unable to get him any lower than this with my Archon. I paused the game, calling it a draw. I am not sure if I want to try to continue or just run away. I really think I am not going to get below this 35% mark without respecing something, RR probably.

So, I you were right, under 10 minutes should have made me feel great!