First, let me thank the modders for this great additional content to Grim Dawn. I am only an average player and was intimidated with the idea of League play, but I dove in, without expectations. First, I started on Softcore and died and died and died to those ambushes. Wanting to make my game play better, I decided to try Hardcore, which I had never previously attempted in GD. That went, adequately? It is clear I am NOT a good player. As of this writing, with three days left in Season 5, I stand at 91 HC. My goal was to be in the top 500. It seems the League challenges have made me a better character designer and pilot.
It was not a very pretty trip. In fact, I probably killed more level 100 characters than the majority of GD players ever start. Yep, I think I killed about 30 toons who reach level 100 HC. I do not think any of those died because of bad builds. They died because of horrid piloting on my part - bad gamer! All of my builds are my own creations, so they might have issues, but they still died because of me being stupid, greedy, negligent, etc. (Side note, I still need to give credit to Arcadelife and Rektybyprotos because I learned a bit of the game mechanics and theory by watching a couple of their beginner guides - if not for those, I would have left GD a few weeks after starting, because I was so clueless to GD and ARPG’s in general. A few other players, such as Bananow9393, gave suggestions to some of my first builds, pointing out what I should be doing to improve my concepts.) I killed Warders, Dervishes, Arcanists, Shieldbreakers, Templars, Warlords… wait, I think I attempted every class.
Yes, just about all of them. How many hours? (A good addict does not admit such things until in a rehab program, so just guess over 1200.) The two that lasted best, are still going strong, have cleared all the game and mod acts, and killed several major bosses and nemesis bosses are a Cold Damage Spellbreaker and a Lightning Archon. Neither actually reached level 100 as designed, but were modified as able from the gear I acquired along the way as well as learning the Skills and Masteries better as I leveled up. Both, however, were actually created because of gear I already had acquired, usually a great double rare or a few pieces of a Legendary set. Because of my inexperience and because I was usually building around a piece of gear, it was a bit of a give and take. I learned that adapting as the toon grows is a good thing. Trying to stick to a plan or farm for that plan usually got the toon killed.
Season 5 also taught me to just play without fear. Caution, well, obviously there must be a bit, but some of the challenges required killing bosses on Ultimate prior to level 35. What? Not possible for a very casual gamer! Okay, turns out it is possible and it makes the game far more enjoyable - at least for me. Once I kept trying for those challenges, killing off at least 30 characters, I started to get better. (Yes, I am a slow learner). An important revelation for me was to not try to over-think the builds. I just took a Demolitionist and ran with it, using Blackwater Cocktail and a sprinkling of Vindictive Flame and Flashbang. What would you know, easy! Okay, maybe not “easy”, but it worked. Hardcore kills of Vanilla bosses before reaching level 35. It took me some serious work. I had to break bad habits of touching every stone, chest, bookshelf, box, corpse, etc. Avoid those. Avoid the quests. Run… run… run… No, run-kill, kill-run-kill, run-kill-run. Yep, that is a better explanation.
After the Demolitionist was able to do it, I decided to try with a bloody Shaman. Easier. Then a Reckless Oathkeeper. Done. Okay, plagued Occultist - yes. I was onto something, an epiphany of sorts, which I am sure all of the real gamers already knew - “Do not over-complicate the builds and keep the skills to a minimum.” Obvious? It probably is to most but, again, I am a slow learner.
Once I did manage to accept this epiphany, I decided to just start skipping as much of Normal and Elite as I possibly could. Or rather, only do enough in Normal and Elite (with the last six or eight builds I did not even go into Elite) to get about 20 Devotion points. Twenty-five or thirty is safer, but I get impatient. Once I have those Devotion points, which I run to as fast as possible and even avoid non-essential quests, I run the rest of the game in Ultimate. This has my toons starting Ultimate at about level 30 every time now. Prior to Season 5, I thought this was ‘impossible’ for me or even most casual gamers. That was a naive idea based on my ignorance of the arpg gaming. Of course, this style works well with League play because you can choose any level you desire right from the start, not needing to beat Vanilla Normal to reach Elite and Vanilla Elite to reach Ultimate. Of course, there are the merits to do this but starting fresh it is not really an option outside of the League. Despite this, I intend to continue playing this style.
Today I had intended to quit playing the Season 5 mod but while hunting for a couple of Nemesis bosses to further test the Spellbreaker, I noticed I had a couple of Cyrrah’s Ingenuity items. Interesting. Pierce, bleeding, Necromancer, Demolitionist, Nightblade… hhhmmm… I have not built a Reaper (not that I remember). Three days left of League play…
Doing some research, I found the Cyrrah’s Ingenuity set is a Season 3 set. Now it seems to drop from the Season 5 ambush bosses. Do I have any more pieces? I exited the Spellbreaker, check my stash. Nothing. Okay, I have at least 15 level 100 characters still alive. Maybe they have a piece or two? YES! I was able to scrounge up three chest pieces, one amulet, one helm and one launcer. Do these transmute? YES! A LOT of materials later, I have a complete set. Sigh… they are not usable outside of the Season 5 mod. The Season is just about over.
Did I start this discussion admitting I am an addict? I guess it is true. Three days left, five pieces of a set. A class I have not tried. I have only built two ranged toons, both early, so a challenge! A real challenge because I am abysmally horrid with ranged play. That is no reason not to try to improve!
Yes, I am an addict. Yes, Season 5 League play has furthered corrupted this Taken while teaching a much better appreciation of Grim Dawn. Today, I start anew… as a REAPER.
[I had to edit this post. I failed to proof read before the original post and found many errors - sorry to those who already read it. Additionally, I decided to post the two best builds I have for others to see.]
This is the Spellbreaker. I would recreate this in the non-mod game but I doubt I would ever get that great medal to drop again. I built this toon because of that medal and because I had blueprint for the helm as well as the chest piece and Decapitator. Those were more than enough to inspire the build. Leveling this was very fast and easy as there are a lot of cold/elemental/Nightblade/Arcanist drops. The resistances could be better but this was the best I could come up with on-the-fly. It has not failed me. I will test it on Mogdrogen today.
The Archon started because of the great belt and having the Stormseeker as well as the blueprint for the Ultos’ Hood. The double-rare pants I stole from another toon. I do not think she needs them any more since she retired after completing the Forgotten Gods (she was a bit ashamed of her actions with the Solael Sect). This is another toon I doubt I could recreate in the non-mod version of the game, but I will try since I think I can easily complete all of the Achievements with this toon. The resistances are so high on this Archon that I believe I do not need those beautiful Rares. It might be a 1.2 build?
I am not sure, I think the Spellbreaker leveled much faster and is much more fun to play. The Archon is far tankier and it felt a lot safer and is easier to play, but either build is excellent (for me) and I will try to redo them both in the normal game. I am sure a lot of people will probably comment on my choices of skills and devotions, or the skills I used with devotions, but that is fine. If these can be made better, have at it, or tell me your thoughts and I might try them in the regular game. Neither arrived at 100 as they were designed. Both still have skill points to allocate because I am still not sure of how to complete them, despite both having killed several Nemesis bosses, Lokarr and the John Bourbon Clones. I used to hate the Clones but now I enjoy proving my builds killing those resistance testers. If I rebuild these, it will be to complete the Achievements, which for me, are only the Crucible stuff.
So, thanks again modders…