quite a while ago I played a 2h ranged sorcerer build. I’m well aware that other builds are more common (like blackwater cocktail builds). But I like the agile playstyle of 2h ranged, the flashbang. Furthermore I like to trigger Mirror of Ereoctes to the right time and reflect the damage if the enemies are to close. My playstyle is based on hit and run tactic. So gameplay wise I have a lot of fun with this build. Unfortunately in late ultimate I’m dying all the time and I’m not sure if my dmg output becomes to low, if I’m going to sacrifice damage for survivability. I’m well aware that a don’t distributed my attributes properly since my spend to much on dex and to few on physique. Do you have any feedback, suggestions for this build? Should I focus on different equipment attributes? Should I change my skills or devotion points? My contraint is that this should still be a 2h ranged build with high single target dmg.
You have some skill points that can be redistributed (as useless for a 2-hand build (Searing Strike) - or seemly not used (Calidor’s Tempest), or remove / lower the investment in some to get get some other skills) and use almost no augments on your armor (at least in grimtools) and therefore have really large resistance holes (beside physical resistance, all damage resistance should now be at least 80 or extremely close to 80)). For a level 89 build to have still 4 devotions points left is also rather uncommon (are the points unspend or do you have to unlock them?)
Made some small adjustments to devotions and skills, added faction augments (from faction that could have max reputation by now) to armor - was a quick change, so far from perfect (still a bit more damage, faster attack speed, and higher resistances) - Sorcerer, Level 89 (GD 1.2.0.2) - Grim Dawn Build Calculator (edit: missed the gloves component - should also be changed to something more useful)
You will need to redistribute some of your skill points and place them into Thermite Mine. Resistance reduction is a crucial component for the damage of any build in Ultimate difficulty. Most people dislike mines but you don’t really have much of a choice if you want your build to deal more damage. I have diverted points away from Mirror of Ereoctes and Flashbang/Searing Light, Stun Jacks, Blast Shield, Static Strike and Searing Strike (this only works with one handed melee weapons). I know you said you like them Flashbang and Mirror, but these are the kind of skills that only require minimal investment to be effective. Throwing too many points into them will leave your build severely weakened. Instead, you should probably invest into Mines (as I said earlier), max out Brimstone, put one point into Ulzuin’s Wrath and Inner Focus and max your Arcanist mastery bar and invest into Reckless Power. This should greatly help when it comes to damage. Once you reach level 90, you should pay a visit to any factions you have revered reputation with and check their augments. I have placed some of these higher level augments on your equipment as reference, but you will need level 90 for them.
You also have too many points in cunning. Since your build is about Fire or Chaos damage, you will only need enough cunning to equip your highest level gun. Cunning scales offensive ability but you can get better values with better equipment, components and augments. And Fire/Chaos damage scales from spirit, but you probably won’t need to invest anything here. The highest value needed to equip The Desolator (which I’m using as an example) is 552 cunning. You don’t need to go beyond that. Investing in physique will improve your incredibly low health pool and defensive ability which will improves your odds of surviving.
I changed your devotions a bit. I kept most of your choices, but I swapped Raise the Dead for Elemental Storm as it is a better source of flat RR for a fire build and added Behemoth as an additional circuit breaker. I will place here how I made the changes to the devotions and share a link to the adjustments I made on your build.
Thank you very much for taking the time and helping me with these detailed explanations. I already applied some of the suggestions to my build and will continue to do so. You helped me a lot to understand the game.
Reviewing the links you provided I have a question: You both prioritized “Brimstone” over “Static Strike” and “Overload” over “Static Strike” which are both passive enhancements - how do you min-max these distributions conveniently? I tried to play a bit with the skill points in Grim Tools while trying to maximize my DPS. Unfortunately the DPS amount isn’t calculated in Grim Tools. What is the approach here? Is DPS is right attribute to maximize? Or are there some rule of thumb to be aware of? For me it is difficult to compare “Brimstone” and “Static Strike” and decide which of them is better for my build.
Brimstone applies flat damage which will get %multiplied with your fire damage and casts different projectiles each dealing that multiplied damage, where static strike only provides little % fire damage overall
WhiteWalker already explained Brimstone, so I’ll add a bit about Overload. Overload provides a guaranteed effect on each hit. It will either do Burn, Frostburn or Electrocute damage. Ideally, you would want burn all the time, but it is simply an okay bonus. You can obtain damage conversion from Cold and Lightning to Fire and this would turn both Frostburn and Electrocute into Burn, but this requires very specific items. Don’t worry about it too much for now. This is min-maxing that is only important for end game objectives. Overload also gives you more flat offensive ability and Aether resistance. You get extra offensive strenght and a bit of extra defense on top. Comparing to Static Strike which has a chance to apply a bit of extra lightning damage, some extra % Fire damage and a knockdown, it is far more useful to invest into Overload. The extra offensive ability is the big deal here as it will allow you to crit more often.
I have 2h sorcerer too and it has 100 lvl. I rebuild it following Your advices and i have this one below. But I can’t kill Morgoneth on Elite still I know that Morgoneth himself deals Phys, Cold, and Vitality damage, He also has 35 resist reduction and a big amount of DA shred. I increased resist, DA and life since my first attempt. Any ideas?
When it comes to damage, you should be more than fine, but I see a few problems. First, Olexra’s Flash Freeze is not worth using for Fire RR. Morgoneth has 133% Freeze Resistance. With the changes to OFF, it can now reduce his Freeze Resistance to about 96% at its current level. However, OFF applies its RR based on how long the enemy remains frozen. If the enemy is frozen for a very short time then you only get a tiny window to actually take advantage of the RR. This window for you vs Morgoneth is exactly 0.192 seconds. Yup. You literally have RR on him for 1/10th of a second. OFF is fine against most regular enemies, bosses and heroes, but Morgoneth is a different tier. Without the Mageslayer set, it isn’t going to be helpful against him. You should place more points into Thermite Mine if you want your RR to be effective.
The other thing is your choice for flat RR. Tip the Scales deals vitality damage. Without conversion of vitality to fire, you aren’t going to be able to take advantage of its healing potential. Elemental Storm is much stronger for any kind of elemental build. You should probably take it or find equipment that will convert vitality damage to fire.
Other than that, It’s more about learning how to behave against him. He is a melee enemy so he will constantly try to close the gap on you. He will usually use his jump attack and that is one of his most dangerous moves. Try to stand your ground and burst him down as fast as possible. And pay attention to whatever wraith spawns during the fight. If the Shade of Sethris appears, you should kill him first as he deals a lot of physical damage. Hope this helps and good luck!
I know that Morgoneth himself deals Phys, Cold, and Vitality damage, He also has 35 resist reduction and a big amount of DA shred. I increased resist, DA and life since my first attempt. Any ideas?