Hello there !
I have been playing for quite some time now, with a huge pause shortly after release because of computer failure. Since it was only my “leisure” PC I didn’t make the repairs a priority, and I ended up having it back to play grim dawn just 2 weeks ago.
And how the game has changed ! For the best imo.
Anyway, back to my topic.
I wanted to try a pure Demolitionist build, since I had tons of gear (notably most of the Ulzuin set. I don’t use the rifle though). And I just finished leveling him to 75 to put all the gear I wanted on him. Leveling was super easy up to now, and since I am vergeared now, I expect it to continue that way.
Here is an approximation of current spec : grimcalc.
The build is very agressive and control heavy. Health is low (under 6K at full gear lvl 75), but it works quite well actually. Seeing as how everything dies at a single sight, I will probably change my devotions to be more defensive (currently under a very generic Meteor shower setup).
There are actually 2 points I would like to point out:
-: Full demo works incredibly well
-: Energy is a huge problem… but for only one or two particular points that I am now going to develop.
Basically, the general gameplay is this:
-: There is a pack of monsters.
-: You throw a BWC
-: everyone dies
-: there is a second pack
-: You throw a cannister bomb
-: everyone dies
-: repeat every 5-7 seconds.
When there are tougher monster:
-: throw a stun jack to monsters that dare come close
-: throw grenado if they still dare be alive
With tough bosses/heroics (regular heroics are already dead at this point):
-: Start kitting and make work of that sweet Ulzuin’s Chosen passive
-: Be out of energy in 12 seconds
-: Spirit potion
-: Be oom in 8 seconds
-: Wait for potion cd
Let’s be clear: I have no quarrel with Ulzuin’s chosen as long as you really build for it. It’s still kind of weak compared to other ults but whatever.
I also have no quarrel with drinking potions. That’s normal gameplay. But as someone who actually put effort and spent 12-18 of hours playing with Ulzuin’s Chosen at its “max” potential: it doesn’t work out in the end.
Stun jack energy cost is fine.
Cannister bomb is fine too, since the skill is really powerfull.
But Grenado’s energy cost is terrible (and I didn’t fully maxed it). I actually avoid casting this skill as much as possible because I am actually thinking: “Why would I cast grenado now if it litterally replaces a Cannister usage in the next 20 seconds ?”
I kindly remind you here that my build is only consisting in skills with cooldown, so the energy issue should be diminished compared to a spell spam build !
There is a start of a solution to this problem: wear caster gear only. But as far as I know, there is no caster gear that boosts the “grenadier” part of the demolitionist, right ? And the Ulzuin set sounds perfect (gun excepted. And it’s still good) for this gameplay. But honestly, considering the speed at which energy goes away, I am not even sure doubling my regen (meaning gaining at least 250% raw energy regen stat) would completely solve the issue.
Another start of a solution would be to invest ~40 points into arcanist for max IEE and Arcane Will. (but that’s still not enough and damages the “max Ulzuin’s Chosen potential”)
I would be fine with running out of energy once in a while for very challenging fights. And just this would mean reducing Grenado energy cost to 0 (I tested this by… not using grenado 
). Ideally, I would really like to see an energy regen component added to Ulzuin’s Chosen, be it a proc chance or a static bonus.
The idea is to make Ulzuin’s Chosen proc a positive thing, rather than a " that’s nice, but I can’t really use that free grenado/cannister/stunjack 
"