Hey there.
Most of the time I play either summoners or high regen + huge HP pool facetanks, sometimes both.
This evening I remembered that I had another type of guy just sitting there waiting for his turn (to rip).
I’m not asking for a build advice, but just for the context: this is an Elemental DW Ranged Battlemage by @Dantioch
So I was running SR27 and I met Fabius and Reaper of the Lost (separately) and both gave me a hard time and a heart attack. Eventually I managed to finish both and the toon lives to see another day, but I realized I really need to get to know the fights. So I’m here asking for advice.
For Reaper, It went fine, I think I was dodging sunders, but then suddenly BOOM I’m down to like 2-3k hp. Not sure what exactly it was. Panic mirror and then the fight is over in a few seconds. I have a feeling that I survived that randomly. Wanna know what’s going on.
For Fabius, it was better but also somehow worse.
He didn’t burst me like Reaper did, but at some points he would just disappear, but I kept taking damage (and the toon is full on ADCtH, regen is nonexistent). I assumed it was going to be a Shadow Strike, but Fabius kept sitting there for quite a few seconds, meanwhile I was slowly but surely taking damage. My assumption is that either Blade Spirit or Night’s Chill was damaging me.
I already learned a lot from you guys regarding other fights, hope I will learn once more about these two.
reaper has 3 things to be aware of, (i’ll take a guess what happened too)
Sunder swipe like ravager (he’s mini Rav after all)
wraiths that double debuff you (ie overcaps)
Aaaand a projectile nova that can “bug” out and shotgun you (my guess is this is what happened to you if you didn’t get sunder swiped) - it’s not really a bug just don’t step “into” it on convergence
Fabby has 2½ things
First ofc his shadow strike, if you get the hang of it you can last second avoid it or sidestep it. Probably his most dangerous direct attack. Can also be kited if you’re like an aoe/dotter/pet build
Then he has Blade Barrier he will trigger at X “rando” point in time after getting beaten a bit Fabius "the Unseen" Gonzar - Grim Dawn Monster Database
This can sometimes “kill” melees from a mix of reflect and retal/feel like it’s hurting a lot, but you’re basically suiciding, just stop attacking when he BBs.
Other part is then the degree of his debuffs/dots like blade spirits, can be a bit touch and feel with those how much it can all hurt combined vs sustain/only having HP pot left
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This build runs low Vitality res overcaps and Reapers minions shred 30% vitality and he himself shreds 430 DA so this open a window for one shots . Build runs low HP pool as well for endgame , skill tree also bad with a lot of dimishing returns kicks in when Arcane will sits on 7/10 which is a mistake in my opinion . Build needs one or two greens to be more flexible
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Holy fuck
I watched at x0.25 for like 10 times in a row.
Might as well be what happened to me.
Definitely didn’t get sundered.
Thanks for the tips.
That’s nice to know!
Appreciate the suggestions, but I don’t have the mental capacity to juggle the pieces.
Also playing HC and only farmed gear (no GD stash or whatever ppl use to spawn items), so not a lot of things to experiment with (I’m poor, lol), nor margins for error.
I think I’ll stick to Ancient Grove with this build then 
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That’s fine just I wouldn’t push my luck in SR with this build too much gaps in the itemisation and skill tree
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I suddenly remembered that you already commented on this one when I struggled with leveling it.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Grimdawn/comments/1pzgp8x/comment/nwpzpe3/
Good times 
I’ll try thinking about adding greens. A belt seems like an easy slot, not much going on in there.
Feel free to share your ideas if you get inspiration.
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Well few pointers I can do without changing the conception of the build are :
- SR reflection is nerfed to the ground so 2 x Titan plating is overkill , elemental damage users mitigate reflection very easily by absorbs ,leech and elemental res. I would helm plating for Prismatic Diamond it’s a win win cause you have Vitality res problems
- Elemental balance is strictly 8/12 every point after that is a bad trade especially when you run glass cannon , I would hard cap Arcane will instead
- I would farm any MI pants with of Vitality suffix to push the life bar ( usually Kuba comes with Deadly Momentum ranks but Solael works as well for the leech and not so annoying to farm)
- I would get rid of Ghoul and Murmur and grab Hyriam ( elemental flats , a lot of life and nice defensive proc ). Procing three different RR devotions is just no go and Murmur here provides almost nothing
- I would change weapon components for 1 Oleron’s blood ( cheap DR source ) and 1 Hell’s bane Ammo ( leech ) or Silvercore bolts ( damage) . Cadence setups usually don’t need WPS pool cause your main damage comes from the Cadence hit rather than the WPS and 2x Seal of the void comes with parasitic conversion
- Ugdensalve is good cheap craft to bring some extra life during SR runs , that will make your circuit breakers more effective
- I can’t see the Jewelrys augments but I like Osyr’s Wisdom on elemental setups cause all useful mods and all this resistances open slots and components slots
- Bloodfury spaulders unfortunately doesn’t fit , Elite Coven Arcane mantle is prob the best budget option
This small changes will put the build on track and SR viable but still SR hides risks , as we said in HC - It’s not “if” , it’s “when” , RNG got us all at some point
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By staying close face to face with Fabius can make him not using his shadow strike, when he is standing and starts to aura farming, stop attacking him and he waste his blade barrier.
Reaper can be more dangerous if you keep your distance as he will be more likely to spawn his ghost if you are outside his melee range, I usually move when he starts the sunder animation, but run him in circle so he doesn’t have time to spawn his ghost.
Many enemies in GD will use their strongest skill when you are running away
Few things people haven’t mentioned:
If you’re practiced at dodging Fabius’ Shadow Strike, when he pops his Blade Barrier can be a good time to create some distance and let your Constitution heal you up. He will Shadow Strike after you but if you can dodge it it’s fine. The thing about Blade Barrier is that not only does he reflect damage (and apply retaliation back onto you if you’re melee), but because of the 100 % absorb you can’t leech. Even if you’re not attacking him, your health will keep going down because of the ticks from his Veil of Shadow aura, even worse if he still has his Blade Spirits up. So during Blade Barrier you can lose a bit of health just waiting it out, and then when he comes out of the BB, a few hits can drain what health you have remaining. So make sure to either pop a heal, use your own invulnerability tools, or create distance to heal up through Constitution. You don’t want Fabius coming out of BB when you have less than, say, 70 % health.
For Reaper, one important thing is that not only do his summoned wraiths have an RR aura, they also do an RR blast on death. If you have the option, it’s best to kill the wraiths at a distance so the on death proc doesn’t touch you. Alternatively, if you have skill disruption, that will straight up disable the blast, so stuff like War Cry or Aura of Censure can help make the fight really easy. Other than the sunder, the Wraith summons are the most dangerous part of the fight, he can be fairly harmless without them.
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Thanks for such a detailed breakdown of the fights, especially Fabius one!
The main issue here is the character moving into the Reaper’s spot just as it died and standing in the exact spot all the projectiles were returning to.
Basically impossible to eat the whole nova as long as the Reaper lives.
Coincidentally, Fabius’ Blade Spirits have a death explosion, which can shotgun/instagib you too, if you are standing right on top of them. Always be aware of their position when finishing Fabius off.
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