So I’m super new to the game, and pretty overwhelmed by everything. I don’t mind following guids or builds the other people put together, since I know that they’ll work for the most part. I personally enjoy playing archers or spellcasters in most other games, or something that dishes out a ton of damage, but I have no idea where to start. I think that crucible is the hardest difficulty, so I guess something that could clear everything in the game would be pretty cool. Any suggestions or tips about the game are greatly appreciated. Thank you guys so much!
Hello and welcome to Grim Dawn!
Starting out with a ranged build says to me you probably want to be a fire strike auto attacker. This is a very flexible option, rather than being ‘the best at x’, because it can be adjusted for the type of gear you find to deal fire damage, lightning damage, both, or possibly physical damage. It also can be used in melee so you can swap out if you find a great melee weapon while levelling.
That said, tons of damage in Grim Dawn is not usually enough. When you get to Ultimate, you’ll find that even trash mobs often survive long enough to pose a threat unless you’re dishing out 50k+ dps. Defenses are necessary. I would recommend soldier for a defensive class and also a good class for a new player, which would make my suggestion a commando (soldier/demolitionist) because it has multiple good defensive and passive options as well as good offensive options.
If you want to play crucible, your options shrink somewhat. Crucible by its nature favors tanky, high health builds because there is very little room to maneuver and there are very high concentrations of enemies in small time windows. A sword+shield class is usually considered to be best in Crucible and ranged builds are usually considered to be sub-par at it, though exceptions exist.
^ Agreed. Fire Strike can be done easily, and focus on multiple different damage types. I WOULD recommend focusing solely on Demolitionist as you are leveling through Normal, and pick a specific damage type(s) before entering Elite. Depending on what damages you choose, your best second class is different.
Fire only means you can use Soldier or Shaman for the tankiness it adds, and not use anything else from them, really.
Aether/Fire means you’d want Arcanist, for Reckless Power, and the various helpful passives it offers.
Lightning/Fire means Shaman, so Stormcaller’s Pact, maybe Wind Devils if you enjoy them, and of course Heart Of The Wild, for tankiness.
Fire/Chaos would be best as Occultist, to use Brimstone in Demo, and Possession/Solael’s Witchfire in Occultist.
Also, if you are going Fire/Lightning, you only need the first three parts of Fire Strike. If you are going Fire/Chaos, you don’t want the third part, but you do want the fourth. If you aren’t using either, you CAN simply use the first two parts ONLY, though some still skip the third part and get the fourth. This matters because you can’t respec your mastery bar, so you don’t want to go further than you really need by accident.
As mentioned, there are melee options also. Generally you might want to keep an eye out for the Aetherials with Rifles, as a Fire Fleshwarped rifle can actually, if rolled well, be as good as a legendary.
I guess it’s not the worst thing in the world to run a sword + shield character for once. Who knows, maybe I’ll enjoy it more than I think. What would you recommend for if were to go for a more tanky route?
Well i wouldn’t worry too much about experimenting with builds, even if they arent 100% viable. If you hit a wall, with the shared stash, your still finding gear for other chars along the way. One of my all time favorite builds focused on shaman’s grasping vines/bleed damage. Not the best build for ultimate but i had fun while grabbing epics.
For sword and shield though, cadence Witchblades are pretty powerful. Firestrike commandos are pretty fantastic as well.