One-Hander Feedback Thread

Grim Dawn Ideas and Feedback
41

Oh, my bad, I misunderstood your reference to the Bludgeon. I agree that a redesign would be best.

How so? Accounting for shard damage, DoTs and cooldown, you lose ~20% of TSS’s base damage by picking Asterkarn over Starkeeper. Iskandra TSS already has some ~140% critical damage bonus, which means that an additional 18% amounts to just about 12% extra damage on critical hits only. The radius modifier is beefy but I’ve never managed to appreciate its effect in practice.

(I don’t say this to be antagonistic, I’m trying to understand if there is a situation where one would actually have reason to use Asterkarn.)

42

Regarding Corruptian. Normally, I’d put a build together and try to play it before I give my honest thoughts on something but I can’t really do that with Corruptian - the weapon just seems to contradict itself and lacks item support to shine. I’ve given my thoughts on it before (though it was right before the forum move) but I’ll list them below:

  1. The Physical to Acid conversion is problematic.
Summary

To me, this is primarily a Physical-based weapon rather than Acid or Poison - it is designed to support Soldier, Necromancer and Occultist. All of which are commonly chosen in Physical builds whether it’s for the active skills in Soldier, resist reduction in all 3 or the fact that converting damage to Physical such as Chaos, Acid, Vitality, Aether or Elemental is bountiful and/or easy to do.

Just brainstorming ideas or putting them forward gives me these:

  1. Remove the conversion entirely.
  2. Reverse it to be Acid converted to Physical, you can even consider bumping the conversion value from 15% to 45% as it will pair well either when dual-wielded, with Ugdenbog Girdle or Inashkor’s Corrupted Head for 100% conversion.
  1. Physical Ravenous Earth/Dreeg’s Evil Eye lacks item support.
Summary

Building up skill ranks in either skill is going to be a challenge for a character that wants to use this weapon. There are a few ways to go about it but you will always be scraping the barrel with what we have at our disposal.

Now, while items could get bonuses added in here and there to existing items, I’m going to make a far easier suggestion - revise Corruptian to be a Physical Retaliation weapon around Ravenous Earth/Dreeg’s Evil Eye.

This means that getting high skill ranks doesn’t mean as much anymore and instead is a nice extra as the bulk of your damage will instead come from amassing Retaliation damage.

I don’t expect the weapon to be “perfect” but I think the important part is giving it an identity and these ideas try to do just that. Any issues regarding stats it has/should have can be ironed out afterwards.

43

Yeah I was a bit unclear about the “buffed Spectral bludgeon” part :slight_smile:

44

What if the weapon provided a toggle skill similar to Beronath sword but for Lightning > Cold damage? (perhaps also for Fire > cold… or chaos > cold :stuck_out_tongue: )

45

1.1.4 is shaping up to be pretty fricken cool, but at some point later today I will have to make Z tear his hair out by adding a bunch more caster daggers and scepters to this list :confused:

46

Speaking of Witch Moon I tried to use it on my budget Cold Rune Vindicator guide. But random weapon with decent +%cold and frostburn damage will be better.
This is the build I tested Witch Moon on btw https://www.grimtools.com/calc/Q2zAJDRN so it has some pierce to cold conversion (helm and chest). The faction scepter in the Grim Tool link gives about 6% more damage actually than Witch Moon.
Perhaps changing the flat pierce to frostburn damage on RoH would an alternative?

47

If that’s right, then I guess I assumed the wrong reason for Asterkarn performing better. I tested it a lot when I finished the build, and it reliably kept getting better kill times for dummies and bosses, but usually not by too much.

Maybe with the extra projectile (that lands in a random spot in an area where you click) and less hit radius, it misses the target more often? Maybe in short fights, the cooldown reset and critical strikes are less consistent? Or it’s a combination of factors.

48

Giving shard of asterkarn a new side identity (wind devil part can stay imo) seems like the best idea so far imo. Maybe make it a cold caster dagger for tricksters/vindicators/infiltrators focusing on cold wind devil+storm box+Blade Trap(skill needs some love). Also 100%phys to cold to wind devil alongside global lightning to cold conversion would be nice aswell I guess(45%+).

49

Hi doom, is this thread also talking about offhand too?
If yes, I want to raise Hellscourge.
I love sigil and can’t help seeing that fire sigil is really lack on support, especially on item skill modifier and +skills. Rarely see that fire equipmennts have any plus skills to sigil. With proper support, I think it will make elemental occultist caster viable, which can make warlock and deceiver (this class is already decent) more interesting.

This offhand clearly need to give more damage bump to sigil, maybe also flat cdr, and more damaging proc. I’ve never seen someone use this offhand.

1 Like
50

That’s the missing string :smile: Shields and off hand topic.

51

Offhand feedback is coming in a new thread later. It shall be… DA FINAL THREAD, as I’ve covered everything else. Well first I actually have to finish this thread.

52

Adding more one-handers to the OP

Stormheart (pretty underpowered build archetypes)
https://www.grimtools.com/db/items/9471
TLDR; Replace chaos to lightning with Physical to lightning. lightning FS and Cadence could use more support in other items if you can find a place to sprinkle them in Z. The mods can be stronger for them on this weapon otherwise.

Lightning cadence is like 11minute crucible in 1.0.7.1 which is astoundingly slow for lightning and the updates afterward made it worse. Changing the global bonus to phys to lightning would at least let Soldier and Demo benefit more from other parts of its kit. Melee firestrike really doesn’t need the chaos dmg much and can always just go Temper.

It could lose Stormcaller’s pact and go +1 Shaman if you want to help the Warder route. Otherwise drop shaman completely and go for +Firestrike, +static strike, +cadence, +deadly momentum to make it a very focused item.

Decree of Aldritch (Oh how the mighty have fallen)
https://www.grimtools.com/db/items/9336
Zantai, please let me make a case for this: Make. Devastation. Great. Again.

Please just up the recharge bonus on the thing, and maybe give it something additional like more aether dmg for devastation if you feel like it. Devastation mains should have top tier times in Crucible. Crucible is practically a match made in heaven for devastation’s mechanic. I promise to you that even if you let this item give devastation builds top tier clear times they’ll fall WAY shorter in Shattered Realm because no lifesteal from devastation, you have to be mobile, and you can’t facetank the mobs in high SR. And it’d be fun.

Pandemic (Just underpowered)
https://www.grimtools.com/db/items/8448
TLDR: The %vit damage can be matching the acid dmg, or just closer. The vit mod on RE could be higher, the builds clear in like 9:40+ crucible pre 1.1.4 and they are not as safe in SR. The Guardians of Empyrion thing doesn’t seem to be panning out.

I think the ultimate ranks of Guardian scaling still needs to be improved since they’re not that good, and getting +skills to guardians isn’t super easy to mix together in a cohesive build.

Chillflame Evoker (Firestrike Okay, but item has issues)
https://www.grimtools.com/db/items/8532
The use of this item is mostly carried by high synergy combos and other stuff. This is a prime place to replace Rune of Hagarrad with support for cold grenado or cold jacks or both. Or cold Callador’s Tempest. It could become a good fit for Harra or rimetongue I guess. The +skills to OFF is useless on it because OFF is only good with mageslayer and for weapons you already have a couple better options by far. Unless this item adds -%freeze resist to OFF.

Nex and Ortus really are the top tier for cold firestrike. Potentially could redesign this item around an aspect of any cold set that isn’t doing too great. Could try cold rune of kalastor as well. But the item support isn’t there for cold RoK.

Vampirris (weaksauce looking)
https://www.grimtools.com/db/items/11685
Haven’t played it. Afraid to try it. But not a single build for it I can find on the forum either so until we get feedback it awaits a more detailed review.

Scion of Bitter Winds (Need the community to test it, my hands are full enough guys)
https://www.grimtools.com/db/items/11775
Looks like a downgrade for DE. If it is to support Reaper DE builds it should probably give energy regen to PB instead of extra life healed, +3 in DE instead of Pneumatic burst, or night’s chill. Or just ignore me because I’m too tired to make heads or tails of this at the moment. If anyone has tried this semi thoroughly I’d appreciate your words.

Spelldrinker (meme item)
https://www.grimtools.com/db/items/8534
TLDR; the majority of skill bonuses on it are completely ignored. Here is the only good build for this item: https://www.grimtools.com/calc/62a9RAg2

Notice that it’s an apostate. It ignores the arcanist stuff, the demo stuff, the oathkeeper stuff. It is a great build carried by bonemonger being very very good, though the build became a bit less insane since updates.

Please change the design of the skills/skill mods on this.

With this I believe I’ve listed all the non set one-handers I think need a good deal of attention

53

I want to mention Dracarris, but its problem is pretty much the fact that it is built for Hybrid playstyle which as a whole seems lacking. And without the Proc, there are much more attractive choices. Haven’t seen any pet builds use it since Dashiv’s Pet Pyromancer.

54

Oh right, that thing. I feel like it should just go even harder into hellhound + player hybrid and see what happens. I’d love to see a hellfire + infernal breath angle since infernal breath doesn’t seem to ever get taken on pet builds. Maybe Infernal Breath should do more than just damage though.

55

Incase of non hybrid pet builds, the problem with Hellhound is mostly that it takes too many points to max out its line and the only way to get more than 1 is to go for Lost souls, in which case Skeletons will eat most of your points + the new Reap Spirit ends up being a better investment.

56

Oh believe me, I want triple houndies build so bad.

1 Like
57

No I prefer to keep the chaos to lightning, since there is basically no other item that grants this as a global conversion.

The weapon already has skill modifier conversion on Cadence and FS so why should it have global conversion too? For those two hits that is not a Cadance “blow”? Those hits is like 5% of your damage output anyways.

58

I thought that, but lightning cadence sucks apparently… so… Maybe the chaos to lightning can go elsewhere. I dunno. Or keep it and we figure something else out. I just want all the hearts to be good

59

They are freebie items and should be treated as faction items IMO.

Pandemic (Just underpowered)
https://www.grimtools.com/db/items/8448
link goes to Amarastan Crusher.
But yes, RE needs some love

60

If they were just placeholders for other gear I’d agree but they’re freebies most people miss and only players who play attention or read guides tend to find them. And they’re lore related. And they attempt to do cool conversion stuff so I want them to at least be mid tier. Stormheart 11 minutes too much. Sub 10 as lightning cadence without being too glassy would be nice.

Thanks for letting me know, I’ll fix the link. (done)