Should I switch to Solael's over Magi? (Rifle Sorc)

Grim Dawn Classes, Skills and Builds
1

Hi guys

My current devotional setup looks like this:

http://grimcalc.com/build/1009-8xrZ23

Fissure bound Fire Strike, Elemental Storm to Flashbang.

My Sorcerer is currently halfway through Ultimate at Homstead, it’s been straight forward so far, however I stopped because I want to complete the rest of the game/ultimate challenges with a new GFX card (this build, with Fissure and Ele storm, gets LAGGY).

However after encountering some Nemesis enemies I was wondering if I need more -resistance to increase kill speed.

So I was testing out Solael’s (respeced out of Magi), seems fine against trash mobs. I was running Cronley to farm his ring for some other chars whilst leveling up the skill.

Then I ran into Fabius.

Took about 10 whole mins to kill the bastard, having died once, but that was with lvl 4 Solael’s Eldritch Fire on FS.

I went back to Magi and can get the kill down to about 5 mins. So that’s double the speed. Much more noticable damage returns getting him to stand in Fissure and Storm. Probably be a faster kill if he was actually face-tankable.

My DPS is 36k with Magi but closer to 34k with Solael’s.

Anyways, would a maxed Solael’s make much of a difference on the basis of -resist, then?

I wasn’t sure exactly how -resistances were calculated but I’ve used this sheet:

So, to take Fabius as an example, he has 50 fire res.

Without Solael’s:

50 - 32 (Ele storm) = 18

18 x (1 - 20 (Viper) / 100 ) = 14.4 final resistance

With Solael’s:

50 - 32 - 20 (Solael’s) = -2

-2 x (1 + 20 / 100) = -2.4

Have I got that correct?

That’s quite a bit more resistance reduction. By the look of things, the 20% reduction offered by Viper is much weaker than other sources of -resist, since it reduces a percentage of the final value.

What do you guys think?

2

Take the Resist Reduction, it is king in this game !

At least, it’s more reliable than Fissure

EDIT : 5-10 minutes to kill Cronley’s is a long time, can you share your build with grimtools ? (you can upload your char directly in the tool)

3

I agree with See. Also, if you get Brimstone at any point, you end up benefiting from the Chaos RR as well. Also crops up in the second part of BWC, and the second part of Mines. It’s not a major damage source for you, clearly, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be of some use.

4

No it was 5 minutes to kill Fabius, but that’s with Magi. And a considerable risk of death.
About 10 minutes with lvl 4 Solael’s. Much slower.

I can kill Cronley in probably about 30 seconds, though his recast bubble can delay things

But if I take the resist reduction, I’m losing a big source of damage. I can only see it working if I boost my core fire damage considerably through gear. I can’t see a maxed Solael’s bringing down the kill time for Fabius from 10 to 5 minutes?

I was thinking about testing it, but thought I’d ask here first.

5

No -12% more resist reduction won’t cut your kill time in half, you can use Thermite mines to further reduce its resistances though (-40% fire/lightning reists at 16/16 and -% chaos resist with Hellfire mines)

6

Ah. Good idea. I’d totally forgotten about mines. Though you do have to get a target to stand in them.

Nowhere near enough points to max, but I can free up a few and with +skills can get maybe lvl 5 and a bit more -fire res. Will try it.

7

Btw this is my build right now guys:

My equips are as follows:

Weapon: Flame Keeper’s Repeater w/Blessed Steel & Potent Outcast’s Inferno

Head: Shadowspark Hood w/Leathery Hide and Demonbane Powder
Chest: Elite Outcast Burning Cuirass w/Silk Swatch & Mankind’s Vigil
Shoulder: Resistant Ascended Epaulets of Vitality w/Mutated Scales & Bladeward Powder
Gauntlets: Handguards of Justice w/Consecrated Wraps & Mankind’s Vigil
Leg: Empowered Mistwalker Leggings w/ Mutated Scales and Demonbane Powder
Boots: Footpads of the Grey Magi w/ Mark of Mogdrogen and Bladeward Powder
Belt: Chains of Anguish w/Dense Fur & Mankind’s Vigil

Amulet: Preserving Putrid Necklace of Alacrityw/ Wardstone & Kymon’s Will
Ring 1: Tempest Gollus Ring of Celerity w/ Mark of Illusions & Survivor’s Ingenuity
Ring 2: Gollus’s Aggressive Ring of Alacrity w/ SAME AS RING 1
Medal: Impervious Bloodsworn Sigil of Readiness w/ Corpse Dust

Talisman: Marauder’s Talisman

I don’t know if I’m getting hung up on using Fabius as a benchmark for the build, but should he be so difficult to kill? I have just under 36k DPS (1200% fire damage) which doesn’t include my Fissure and Storm, which seems respectable damage, but it takes A LOT of pounding to bring his HP down. Does it take a special setup to kill him quickly? Perhaps more OA? (I have another Gollus ring with Bleed resist prefix to max it out for the fight, but I lose offensive ability, and I could tell that makes a big difference in crit chance). I reckon when I bring my Warder up to Ultimate he will kill him faster due to higher survivability.

The other Nemesis I killed is Aetherial and he was much easier. I do switch to a Gollus ring with a lightning/cold resist prefix though for overmax, as I died once from his lightning bolt.

BTW does ADCTH work fully on bosses like Fabius?

Thanks

8

It doesn’t look bad considering you have not yet BiS gear

Some advice :

  • get rid of chains of Anguish : the proc can kill you against enemies like Fabius and the benefits are not worth it considering that

  • put a point in temper to gain some flat damage (physical converted to fire with your gear) and try to max Brimstone and fire strike (the first on in priority, as it’s a very nice source of flat damage). Until you get more +skills from gear, you can take points from IEE (if you invest a lot in it), Overload (3/12 is useless) and maybe a bit from mirror

  • you can let blast shield at 10/12, it’s usually sufficient

  • Concerning OA/DA, ideally you want more than 2,5k and 2,2k DA for being almost uncrittable (not sure the DA part is possible with a sorcerer w/o going full defense in the devotions)

Of course, a good gear with Ulzuin’s set, Hellborne, Ulzuin’s Pyroclasm or Ulzuin’s Torment should improve your damage too (and give you much wanted + skills) which will lower your fabius kill times