Room in this game for a "support build"

I’ve always enjoyed playing support classes. I’ve been playing mostly Path of Exile for the last little while and have really enjoyed the support classes I’ve made in that game (mass auras, quadcurse) especially since they introduced the guardian ascendancy.

Is there room in Grim Dawn for a “pure” support build? AKA a build that can’t solo any content, has essentially zero damage output but provides immense support to allies. I havn’t played GD since the level cap was 35 and am looking to get back in to it.

I was thinking a build like this:
http://grimcalc.com/build/UFNHywS

I would just spam curse of frailty and war cry on cooldown while building myself super tanky to always be in the middle of the fight drawing aggro.

The buffs come from field command/squad tactics and the summon familiar’s Mend Flesh and Storm Spirit alongside additional healing from Blood of Dreeg. Putting lots of points into the soldier tanky skills would make me nearly unkillable, I would think at least.

On top of this I would run as many of the auras (coldstone, wrathstone, hell’s bane ammo etc.) as I possibly can.

Finally, I would wear gear like “of kings” suffix which provides bonus damage and speed to allies and equip other gear which provides additional auras/allied bonuses.

I was also looking at the Shaman class which provides Mogredon’s Pact and the Briarthorns’ emboldening roar, would shaman class potentially provide a better alternative to the occultist?

Also, I have never seen or used the devotion system, would anybody have any devotions to recommend that fit the theme of a support build?

Thanks!

If you play in a group yes, but if you want to be pulling aggro then you will most likely need to use Demolitionist as 1 of your classes. BWC seems to be best at gaining aggro. Theres a video on here some where of a duo killing Ultimate Mogdrogen using a support class in like 2 minutes.

Keep in mind that it is easier to build a pure support class if you already know what classes your teammates will have. If I had to choose without knowing, I think a sword and shield warder would be best. Emboldening roar, war cry, field command, heart of the wild, and wendigo totem would be great support.

This one
/10 chars

EDIT:

I guess he’s going to play with random people. Silly if you ask me.

How is it silly to play the game the way I enjoy it?. On poe I play my support build with randoms all the time, in d3 I played the support/healer monk with randoms all the time.

Everyone loves grouping with a support because it makes the game safer in hardcore and it’s also a great way to meet people in a new game. People support random others in games like dota 2 and LoL all the time, myself included.

The issue is that GD’s multiplayer meta barely exist, and mostly among people who are already friends. Mainly due to greifers who abuse certain… bugs in item creation. They use this, and create a piece of armor that gives a -1000% hp aura, or something like that. effectively, it acts as an insta-kill for any poor fool they jump into the game of.

Combo that with the fact that enemies scale to your team size, and sometimes adding a support doesn’t always boost kill speed/safety, because it may just push an enemy over the thresh-hold to get potential 1 shots out that didn’t before.

i made a thread about a support sorcerer few months ago, you might be interested.
And yes, support are definitly decent in this game ;>

http://www.grimdawn.com/forums/showthread.php?t=42544

This is good
;0

Nothing is wrong with playing the game the way you like it.

Dota2 and LoL are team games to begin with, I’m playing supports in MOBA too. But even there playing support with randoms is rarely appreciated. Unlike Overwatch, where random people will often commend you just because you’ve played support and did okay.

Haven’t played PoE since spring 2012, so dunno how’s stuff going there.

In D3 there are GRifts and competitive aspect, therefore people group up to take higher GRs.

As for GD, if anyone joins my game and monster’s HP/defense rose I expect the other player to carry their own weight at least, meaning they have to do enough damage to compensate. I don’t find use for a zDPS fellow. It’s ok if you’re durable tank, but if you can’t play on your own because your damage is too low then you’ll drag me down.

This too. Especially the latter and especially for HC. Going multiplayer is going away from safety for no reward.

Hello all,

I’m actually working on a very similar build.

With the Markovian’s Fortress set and the Soothsayer’s set. You can have both of them complete in this build.
this two set give you a good defense ability and two heal for you or your partner.

Actually, in term of theorycrafting, it’s look like that : http://grimcalc.com/build/yzvFjfx (with gear bonus)

I’m waiting for the next patch, hoping a good buff of the Soothsayer set.
The skill point in warrior are too scattered in too many skills.
The points on menhir’s Bulwark are weird, because it need a gun/shield buid, who have a very low DPS.
I think the actual Soothsayer set was build with the old Warrior design.
Finally the full set bonus is good (even if a +1 on occultist or warrior skill could be nice) but the bonus for 2/3 pieces are very weak.
It’s not a bad blue set, but it’s weird design set.

Finaly I think this type of build can be great as support build. But it’s a pure theorcraft, need some test.