Skelly Death Knight

[Ricardo]

“Quantity has a quality all its own”

• Stalin, Lenin, Callaghan, Napoleon or maybe Clausewitz …

It’s my first writeup so please be gentle (constructive criticism always welcomed!!) … I was going to create a forcewave Death Knight and levelled it that way for about 20 or so levels but then got lonely, bored of deaths when my archaic computer froze up and simply didn’t rate the gameplay (I’ve already got a forcewave commander) … So I thought I would at least level with skellies as they are my favourite part of the game!

The result is the strongest character I have played to date and quite frankly the most fun !!

GRIMTOOLS
https://www.grimtools.com/calc/4NOymgvV

The gameplay goes like this: You Blitz in, hit WarCry/Call of the Grave/Sovereign and the skellies/blightfiend/dirge/spiders/hounds kill everything. It’s hilarious and great fun. With 30k hit points you are reasonably safe.

So at its core the build is a pet build which is ably supported by the soldier side. War Cry and Field Command make the pets quite beastly. Mark of Torment is ready if things go south.

The full lineup is usually 14 Skellies, Blightfiend, Dirge, 2x hounds from Marrowbands and a few spiders from the Ghol’s Reach. Quite the lineup.

Items (let me just say most of the items are flexible and the build goes great with a few variations. When levelling just look for something with either a pet bonus or a bonus to necro or soldier skills):

Headgear: I went with the Lost Souls mask as I had it (I don’t have the full set). I had run most of the game with an Ascendant Cowl which allows 4 more skellies to be summoned (let’s face it, this happens a fair bit). Also an option is the Spectral Crown (from Morton’s Claim) or the Fleshwarped Casque (for WarCry and good stats).

Amulet: I love the Sovereign Ruby here, but have used the Deathward which is ace (+1 to all skills is great plus its protective thing), also Whispers of the Dead and I’m sure the Lost Souls amulet which I don’t have would be fine.

Rings: Since very early on I just used the marrow bands and they are great. I’m sure there’s something better out there but I haven’t bothered looking. Please comment below with recommendations!

Weapon: Guardian of Death’s Gate !!! I don’t have a Lost Souls Beacon so that’s not on the agenda, but some alternatives while I have been levelling have been - Warden’s Judgement (you know where to get it and it gives a spare skelly), Deathbeater (Undead Legion and Raise Skelly bonus), Veilpiercer (extra skelly and great bonuses), Korvaak’s Burning Blade (summon heaps of skellies!! Use with an Ascendant Cowl for many many iin one summon. Core of my other pet build, fire skellies and Olexra’s Flash Freeze for best crowd control ever).

Offhand: Ok so the weapon I use is a two hander but some other things I have used and loved have been - Grimoir of Og’Napesh, Dreadguard, Lichguard, Warden’s Fortress, Reaper of the Accursed.

Shoulders: Mantle of Lost Souls. It’s good, but by no means essential. I have only just got them and many green shoulders will do the job when levelling.

Chest: Necrolord Shroud, mainly as the name is cool but I guess it does add some great bonuses along with it’s aura. I used the Rovers one for ages when levelling which is pretty good.

Gloves: Ghol’s Reach is what she currently wears but I used Bonescavengers for a long time and they are great too.

Pants: Wildshorn Leggings are good, also Rifthound Leguards.

Boots: Fiendflesh Greaves are cool. I love their damage reduction!

Belt: Currently Spritseeker Cord but is usually an Ugdenbog Girdle as it gives +1 to soldier, either is great.

Medal: Must must must be a Wendigo Gaze … an extra skellie is cool This plus the weapon (and undead legion at 20 or above) gives 14 skellies.

Relic: Dirge of Arkovia. He is so tanky and great plus I simply can’t bring myself to try and forge another one so I don’t know if the Mogdrogon one is better, probably is. Mortality is cool when you are levelling.

Devotions:

Shepherds Crook (WarCry)
Nighttalon
Typhos
Lion
Hound
Panther
Eel
Staff of Rattosh
Ulo (Blitz)
Light of Empyrion (Call of the Grave)
Ishtak (Spectral Binding)

I can’t tell you how to level these as I have changed them a few times with the spirit lady. Again, any comments are welcomed with open arms, I have no idea what I’m doing.

No videos yet as I haven’t done much SR or Crucible but I think it would go ok?

[SLima]

I’m currently leveling a very similar build. I’m level 94 and already started Ultimate but i won’t finish this char until i’m done with the other two Hybrid Pet builds i’m currently playing. Our choice of equipment is very similar but i decided to stick with an Ascendant Cowl. I’m using Bysmiel-Sect for pants, an Ugdenbog Girdle to fill in my resistances, a Zantarin Mantle i had stored in my stash, a Wendigo Conjuring Seal as filler and a Gaze of Ungoliax for cold RR. Grim Tools here.

This is were our builds are different. I chose to use Bone Harvest with the transmuter and focus on cold damage in my devotion setup. The skill benefits a lot from the bonuses on Ghol’s Reach. I also opted for Tree of Life and Korvaak in the devotions. For damage reduction, i decided to use Ill Omen because i don’t want to taunt enemies with War Cry and become their main target.

I noticed that Undead Legion has 24 points in your build (according to GT). You can safely remove 2 points from it and place them somewhere else as the skill won’t go beyond level 22 in game.

Are you already in Ultimate difficulty? Or Elite? You need to balance your own resistances a little more. Your chaos resistance is too low and your primary resistances (the top row) are also on the low side. Changing your components for some of the higher level ones (the level 75 ones like Spellscorched Plating, Ugdenbog Leather, Living Armor and others) could help a lot. Have you reached revered reputation with all factions? There are better augmentation options for your armor in other factions that could help.

[Ricardo]

That’s great feedback SLima. Thanks I think I have been in Ultimate since around level 45/50 and have killed everything in the game. Last night I had to do the “pulsating shard” quest with the Outcast and killed everything in the Bastion of Chaos pretty easy, including the end boss Shar’Zul. AFTER doing that I noticed my chaos resistance was only 31 so yeh, need to plug that gap !! I do need to improve the components and augments for sure. I don’t have all the reps I need at Revered yet, I need to work on that for sure. Well spotted on undead legion, I could very easily put some points into Ill Omen and Reap Spirit which would make a big difference. I will try this and report back

[Stupid_Dragon]

If anyone interested in budget version then here it is

[Pet] Beginner's Apostle Death Knight

[Promo%20picture] Grimtools link (click me) Introduction Hi there, been a while I posted a build, and this time it’s a bit unusual. The unusual thing is it’s a pet build and I hate pets in Grim Dawn with passion. No, I haven’t made three typos in the word “hate”. There’s good reason for that – I just don’t feel my character’s impact when I play pet builds. Pet builds aren’t necessarily “lazy” in GD, some could be called pianey even, but game mechanics discourage you from active participatio…

[Ricardo]

Oh cool! Thanks SD!!! New for me doesn’t mean it’s the first!

Stupid can you please have a look at my build and add comments? If you are so inclined?? Would mean a lot!

[Stupid_Dragon]

Oh cool! Thanks SD!!! New for me doesn’t mean it’s the first!

Stupid can you please have a look at my build and add comments? If you are so inclined?? Would mean a lot!

I’m honestly not very experienced with pets, especially when it comes to builds decked in legendaries.
At glance I see no reason not to use 3pc Lost Soul since it gives more damage than Necrolord’s. Skeletons love flat damage stacking, while Soldier is lacking it, so you need to compensate with gear and devotions.

The augments you’re using are absolute trash. By far the best offensive pet augment for jewelry is Mogdrogen’s Blessing. There are plenty of good defensive ones like Mender’s Powder, Rifthound Salts, Sylvarra’s Essence. You need a very good reason to not use something out of this list. The default augment for weapons is Ravager’s Eye. Defensive ability is a stat that isn’t cared much on pets as far as I know and I would certainly not care much about it for skeletons specifically, ESPECIALLY on your build. You want your pets to barely survive before you resummon them, for that resistances and some heath should be enough.

I also don’t see vitality skeletons without Dying God, it just gives them too much. I would also experiment with Rattosh. I didn’t before in my build, but that build of mine is a bit memey.

The pants I would use either Rifthoung Legwraps or a well rolled Bysmiel-Sect. Don’t see what these purple pants even bring to the table.

The gloves I see no reason not to use Bonescavenger’s. Sure you’d lose a pet but you’ll get 50% physical to vitality, which will give you an opportunity to use different rings (Spiritbinder Glyphs look great at glance) and partially convert acid on your Blight Fiend too.

Standard chest and head component for pet builds is Eldritch Mirror.
Standard weapon component for pet builds is Seal of Might.

Maybe missed smth, but this is plenty of stuff to try already.

[Ricardo]

You are awesome. I have lots to do!

[Ricardo]

Thanks Johnny, I heavily lent on @Maya in creating this build

[gargabolo]

nice to see more newcomers post unusual pet class builds, I don’t have much to add to all that but if you use blitz only for movement i would use a rune augment instead and save up the 2 skillpoints.

[Ricardo]

I had a go running Shattered Realm and got to shard 10 with ease, but damn it is a boring grind. How do you guys grind all the way to 60/70/80 or so? Is it like blueprints, you only have to do it once? Or do you have to run the whole way each character??

[medea_fleecestealer]

You can get blueprints for Waystones which allow you to start at certain levels so don’t have to run all the wa from the start every time.

The Shattered Realm

[Ricardo]

Hey @gargabolo thanks for the tip! I haven’t actually ever used a rune before, which is your tip to use? I can really ramp up the reap spirit with these points !!

[gargabolo]

@Ricardo For level 1 runes it mainly depends on what kind of movement you want and if it needs to be connected to RMB. If I’m not mistaken emblem of focused rage is sold by dreeg and is similar to blitz, except it gives stun instead of knockdown.

For high level runes that require blueprints it can be a long search depending mostly on what kind of crowd control or debuff you want to add to the build

[Ricardo]

I can confirm adding Dying God has boosted damage a fair bit. Also Mogdrogons Ardor relic is very good. I have replace the helmet with an Acendent cowl due to ease of resummoning but the pets have suffered … all good just resummon them. Better augments, Rifthound legwraps and Bonescav gloves round up a pretty decent build, kills everything pretty quick and is strong as an ox. I have taken some points from war cry and put them to reap spirit and it has really gone through the roof. I didn’t think it would make such a difference but it has.

[Fat-square]

Good, a very good idea

[SLima]

Sorry for the very late reply, but i made a few adjustments in the build and it is looking quite strong and balanced. If anyone still has interest, i’ll leave the grim tools here.