[shield melee] Beginner's pre-Krieg Death Knight

[Barf_Mog]

When do you stop using forcewave for cadence?

[Athremon]

When do you stop using forcewave for cadence?

Depends on you. Earliest point is probably around lvl 60. I loosely followed this build when leveling my DK - and finally played to 100 with Forcewave… It also depends on the weapons you got. If you got a good twohander with some ADctH for example, you don’t want to switch at all cost…

[Dlightfull]

When I began doing beginner builds it was an uncharted territory, and every my build was a hit. Now there are plenty of of such builds already, to the extent that people are confused about what exactly they should play.

I wouldn’t say that. I find it very difficult to find good updated guides for beginners. IMHO there should be at least one guide for each class combo and there definitely aren’t.

[Stupid_Dragon]

When I began doing beginner builds it was an uncharted territory, and every my build was a hit. Now there are plenty of of such builds already, to the extent that people are confused about what exactly they should play.

I wouldn’t say that. I find it very difficult to find good updated guides for beginners. IMHO there should be at least one guide for each class combo and there definitely aren’t.

Not sure it is worth it to make builds for every single class. I can in theory make a solid beginner build for some of the least popular classes, but I’d be lucky if at least one player is going to follow it. It’s very much a hit or miss thing.

[Dlightfull]

Not sure it is worth it to make builds for every single class.

I understand very well. But at least if you manage to keep the ones you already have more or less updated, that would help a lot.

[Soltria]

don’t know if you have any control over this, but this build is linked to in the page that is supposed to be builds without FG dlc. Ulzaad devotion doesn’t exist without FG.

[Stupid_Dragon]

don’t know if you have any control over this, but this build is linked to in the page that is supposed to be builds without FG dlc. Ulzaad devotion doesn’t exist without FG.

I do.

Fixed.

[Silvast]

Level 18 – 2 points into Rending Force, 1 point into Rending Force

Rending Force appears twice — did you mean some other skill?

[Stupid_Dragon]

Level 18 – 2 points into Rending Force, 1 point into Rending Force

Rending Force appears twice — did you mean some other skill?

Nope, 3 into Rending Force was supposed to be here.

[code1]

@Stupid_Dragon Thanks for the guide!!! I am only level 25 - but can i later farm the “Krieg Set” with this build?

[Stupid_Dragon]

@Stupid_Dragon Thanks for the guide!!! I am only level 25 - but can i later farm the “Krieg Set” with this build?

Definitely, the guide was specifically made as something you can follow before you get krieg set.

[quang_du]

@Stupid_Dragon Hi, im newbie here and i followed your build here and currently level 50 with this, so what is the perfect time for me to switch from Forceway to Candance build.

[Stupid_Dragon]

@Stupid_Dragon Hi, im newbie here and i followed your build here and currently level 50 with this, so what is the perfect time for me to switch from Forceway to Candance build.

Either switch at 65 or 90 for maximum effect, that’s the breakpoints where faction gear pieces become available.

To be honest, these days I’d simply keep forcewave until I got Krieg set and a decent Celestial Halberd and switch to 2H Blade Arc, skipping Cadence altogether. The build is old, the game have evolved.

[quang_du]

Tks man and BTW do you have twitch or any youtube channels, i would love to follow to get more knowledge of the game since im bored of reading stuffs, just want to watch someone play.

[Stupid_Dragon]

Nah, I’m not a streamer. But I wholeheartly recommend RektByProtoss streams.

[BB-9]

@Stupid_Dragon: thank you so much for these brilliant guides. I’m a returning player, haven’t played since 2016. I’m about to play co-op hardcore, likely on hard. We have no starting items oor other characters.

I wanted to ask:

(1) is this build viable with the recent expansions?
(2) do you have any supplementary build to recommend for my co-op friend?
(3) are there any other builds that you think are noob(-ish) friendly and hardcore viable?

Thank you!

[Stupid_Dragon]

1. I recommend Warlord (soldier + Oathkeeper) instead if you want sword and board. The guide was written when Oathkeeper wasn’t released yet. If it has to be Deathknight I’d level with 2H Forcewave and then switch to 2H Blade Arc.

2. Some AoE caster (Demolitionist or Arcanist based), Fire Strike Purifier or Primal Strike Vindicator, or something pet related, perhaps Conjurer.

3. Most of my builds was levelled on hardcore with additional artifical limitations to emulate a fresh start. But I avoid actually calling them HC viable, except this one, which was initially a joke. The reason is HC viability being an experience thing. I can level to 100 with some glassy builds while beginners will die even with something that appears to be excessively durable to me.

Anyway, if you want some beginners builds you can find them there, in the first post under “Beginners Build” tab.

Build Compendium X (Forgotten Gods)

Grim Dawn Build Compendium X (Forgotten Gods) Credits Thanks to Mirenheart, Missing String, ibugsy, Cryodacry, Dikkiedik, Chthon, sir spanksalot and veretragna for their work on Build Compendium I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII and IX&X respectively. Honorable mentions (in no particular order): Superfluff, x1x1x1x2, mad_lee, malawiglenn. I would also like to sincerely thank our wonderful moderators - the unsung heroes of the forum - for everything that they do. The forum would be …

But if you want something that would guarantee you level 100 on HC with zero experience then you’re out of luck I’m afraid.

[BB-9]

But if you want something that would guarantee you level 100 on HC with zero experience then you’re out of luck I’m afraid.

Hah, definitely not my expectation. Thanks for all of the tips! Can’t seem to find a good Warlord beginner build that has a breakdown of stats / skills etc and is up to date with the recent builds. But I’ll figure something out…

[Stupid_Dragon]

Basically same as my build on the soldier side but you want Safeguard, Presence of Virtue and Celestial Presence on Oathkeeper side. A bit more difficult to min max but it’s going to be better.

[micael_martel]

I’m not sure I understand the order of leveling skills. When do you start investing in military conditining, menhir, etc I compared to my other build with soldier and got those earlier than blitz and rending force and it’s way more effective than this.What am I missing here?