So are shields the way through?

Grim Dawn Classes, Skills and Builds
1

So a couple of months ago I finally did a decent run with a Tactician in the Crucible and have now stumbled with several other classes. I finally have a new computer set up and will be going through the quest but my noodle is trying to come to grips with what makes that Tactician so viable while other class combos are harder.

I’ve tried all other Inquisitor combos bar Necromancer and while most of them are pretty decent in dealing damage, there have been more than a fair share of one or two hit wipeouts as the waves get into the 70s and 80s.

This is looped me back into considering the similarities and differences and the advantage the Tactician build seems to have over all other ones I tried is a shield and then skills that enhance or play off of the shield - +% to block, skills that utilize shield damage on attack, etc etc.

So I guess the question becomes - “How exactly do you eat or resist damage for other classes to save your butt in crunch time”

Now, I’m kind of in the weeds here, as I haven’t pressed any characters above level 60 and havent taken the Crucible above Wave 100 on the Challenger setting so a lot of the cool loot is beyond my grasp. I’m kinda curious how ya’ll deal with minimal gear farming on your up and coming characters to get over the hump without that extra oomph from gear.

2

You can beat the ultimate campaign and the 150 first waves of Gladiator crucible with any classes.

Just pay attention to your defensive ability (you need at least 2500) and your resists

Beyond that, you need one of these to survive:

-shield build with a lot of armor, defensive abilility and 100% block
-stupid amount of defensive ability (4000+ DA)
-mirror of ereoct builds (from arcanist class) with cool down reduction and the time dilation devotion that resets cooldown

3

So defensive ability is the other lever to pull on? I’ll have to look into redoing some of the characters with that in mind since I’ve mostly relied on loots to do that for me while pumping the damage outputs and devotion synergies.

4

Thats it. Just reach the 2500 OA/DA cap in ultimate and you’re fine with most class combinations.
While leveling, try to have a 100% chance to hit bosses and 0% chance to be crit.
OA and DA are the most important stats with resistances, if a character is undeperforming, chances are that its lacking one of these stats

5

DA stacking is getting nerfed in the coming patch, it won’t be an option that - on its own - carries you.

6

You need at least 2700-2900 for main campaign content or so and 2900k+ for Nemesis bosses. For 150 Cruc it’s around 3200-3400, in my opinion. For 170+ it’s 3600+ up to 3700, where you will be met with a hard cap.

You don’t need 100% block in any way.
You don’t. In fact, when the patch hits, your 4k+ DA will be gutted down, remember this if you don’t want to screw your build.
That’s an abuse, albeit viable.

7

With most of my builds, I am not fully geared when I finish the campaign and my DA is around 2400-2500. For AoM Nemesis its low, but enough to beat the campaign

8

I mean as full content, of course. Hidden Path, all Nemesises, MQ, etc.

Of course, if your build is specific and has lowish DA, you should have a matching OA for this, which should be much higher for these builds.

And remember, that not any build can survive on low DA, every has their own ways to tackle the content.