Ranged + Pet Pyromancer advice

Grim Dawn Classes, Skills and Builds
1

I am playing around with an idea for a Warcraft style hunter, with a rifle and pet, but not the multi pet build like the Lazy Pokemon build (it looks cool, but not what I want right now. I don’t expect this to be the most effective build in the game, but I also want one that will let me play and enjoy.

I haven’t played much GD with pets, so I would like a little advice with them.

Here is my prospective build at level 20 and at level 30.

  • Is the Familiar worth having with just a single point in it, or is it a waste?
  • For the Hell Hound, it seems like pumping the dependent skills but keeping the Hound at level 1 would work, since he is easy to recast. Is that really true?
  • I don’t really want to make this a dual wield character. Is Pistol and caster off-hand viable, or should I stick with the best rifle/crossbow I find?
  • My current idea is to stop the Demolitionist Mastery at 25, then max the Occultist mastery, and make the Occultist pets the main thrust of the build, aside from Fire Strike.

I was planning to dump a lot of points into the Fire Strike path but not sure how to apportion points in the Occultist tree. Advice would be welcome.

2
  1. It’s not worth it for conjurer…i can’t tell you much more, you will have to try it.
  2. No. He dies very quickly if you don’t level him (you also need items with pet buffs).
  3. 1H + Offhand should be fine, you could use Grimoire for another permanent pet.
3

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fH1LVYEnks - vid vs Undead Nemmy on elite
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86epBwU0iP0 - vid of “on attack” pet buffs which is a requirement for a hybrid build
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzOyhesX6xM - Vid of SoT full clear part 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5W_DtL7_1A - vid of SoT full clear part 2

Key Notes and answers to your questions.

  • “Hellhound” must be maxed. 1 point isn’t enough. Maybe Ok for Normal. Not sure. For early levelling it may be OK to just leave him at 1. But must be maxed late game.
  • “Familiar” is not worth having (because you yourself are the ranged support)
  • Aim to get “Witching Hour” it will help your build tremendously late game.
  • Flashbang is a must. It procs devotion skills and is a big part of your game.
  • Blood of Dreeg/CoF should be considered even if it’s just 1 point.
  • Pyro’s are squishy - Once you hit Ultimate maxing “Possession” is worth considering.
  • Infernal Breath is not worth the investment. In the above vid I’m using a maxed Hellhound. Count the times were you think “infernal breath” was worth while. The hellhound can attack 3-5 times in the amount of time it takes him to cast Infernal Breath. Avoid, avoid, avoid.

Hellhound ends with 70,000 - 80,000 HP with most resists capped. In the first vid it held onto the attention of the Undead Nemmy on Elite the entire time. Even late game you’ll see enemies try to run past him and fade before coming close.

4

Thanks to you both for your advice. I will play around a bit. Dropping the 1 point familiar sounds like an immediate thing to do. I will start adding some points to the Hound. I haven’t used Flashbangs much, but will play with them some.