A little background to this: early on in AoM, an Agrivix Spellbinder was posted in the forums under the name of “Manly, Beefy caster.” Having been a huge Tim Follin fan before I had Grim Dawn, there was no way I was going to put the game down before making a beefy caster of my own. To make things more interesting, I decided not to include either Arcanist or Necromancer, but instead use the Demolitionist, as the bonuses to Vindictive Flame make the character truly beefy and Ulzuin’s Wrath has the effect of punching bad guys in the face without even making a move to hit them. Thus, this build was born.
Sources of RR:
Agrivix pets - 24 flat RR
Spectral Miasma - 30 Aether RR
Thermite Mines - 35 Aether RR, 32 Lightning RR
Widow - 35 Aether + Lightning RR
Divine Sword of Damocles - 20 Aether RR, 15 Lightning RR
Crosier of Osirus - 15 Aether RR
Total RR - 159 Aether RR, 106 Lightning RR
Ignore the DPS line in the first picture, I use the keyboard to take snapshots and sometimes it doesn’t properly show the main skill.
Equipment
Weapon: Divine Sword of Damocles + Mythical Codex of Agrivix
Components: Seal of Blades + Purified Salt
Head: Satyr Craft with +1 to Spirit Skills with suffix “of the Flesh Hulk”
Component: Living Armor
Shoulders: Mythical Mantle of Agrivix
Component: Living Armor
Hands: Mythical Gabriel’s Vambraces
Component: Restless Remains
Feet: Mythical Stormtitan Threads
Component: Ugdenbog Leather
Belt: Divine Sash of Erebus
Component: Ugdenbog Leather
Pants: Mythical Arcane Harmony Leggings
Component: Spellscorched Plating
Chest Armor: Mythical Vestments of Agrivix
Component: Titan Plating
Amulet: Mythical Arcane Shard of Agrivix
Component: Bloodied Crystal
Rings: Mythical Seal of the Blazing Inferno + Divine Thoth’s Mark
Components: 2X Bloodied Crystal
Medal: Divine Anubis’ Wrath
Component: Arcane Spark
Relic: Crosier of Osiris
Agrivix Set comes with a huge amount of Cast Speed when you select Demo, as the 4-pc set bonus provides 10% Casting Speed to Vindictive Flame in addition to its normal speed bonus. Naturally, I looked for sklils that focused on Casting Speed and settled on a Channeling build, as I have attempted others in the past without great results. The kicker to choosing the Divine Sword of Damocles is that 100% of the Vitality damage in Drain Life is converted to Lightning; granted Lightning is only about 25% of the skill’s damage, but it gives the Demo class an advantage Arcanists and Necromancers don’t have: free Lightning damage boosts and RR. Spirit also has a Casting Speed buff, and both Dark Covenant and Circle of Power provide the OA you need to Crit consistently to activate the weapon’s RR. With 200% Casting Speed, Drain Life hits around 4+ times per second; while the damage needs some time to ramp up due to applying Widow, you have enough buffers that you can focus on your channeling without having to constantly kite.
The kicker to Ulzuin’s Wrath is that it can knock enemies over who are susceptible to it, allowing you to continue draining them without having to re-position yourself. Outside of Vindictive Flame, Thermite Mines, and Flame Touched, the only remaining skill I take is Blast Shield; taking Giant’s Blood bound to Blast Shield is perfect for a full heal just as you hit the circuit breaker. Combined with Spirit’s circuit breaker and Tree of Life, and you have multiple ways to heal yourself when Drain Life and Ulzuin’s Wrath are not enough.
The weakness of combining Drain Life with Agrivix’s Set is that you need to take several equipment slots away from Aether damage, so you have only 1900% Aether damage before Spirit bonuses. That will make this build weaker than more Aether focused builds like Spirit + Necromancer. You will have to keep an eye on your Blast Shield and Spirit circuit breaker cooldowns and make sure to distinguish between enemies you can tank and enemies that you have to disengage. This build is able to beat SR65-66, including beating Aether Resistant enemies like Reaper; but it is a harder challenge to clear the challenge with this build than other builds. Still, though, between two circuit breakers, Behemoth, Tree of Life with large natural Health Regeneration, and 26/16 Drain Life, this build satisfies the search for the Beefy Agrivix caster.