Build Intro:
Decided to go for a tankier build this time rather than my usual glass cannon builds. Idea was inspired mainly by the Watcher of Erulan shield.
Image Source: The Fantasy Art of Young-June Choi | Gpzang Digital Fantasy Artist
Pros & Cons
Pros:
+Great wave clearing
+Good and consistent single target damage
+Moderately high defensive capabilities
+Highly versatile- Can fill in an offensive, defensive or support role
+Simple playstyle that is easy to pick up
Cons
-Offenses and defenses are good, but neither are exceptional
-Functions poorly as a healer
Leveling
Levels 1 - 94 will focus mainly on Righteous Fervor & Aegis of Menhir as core skills, which also scales with our main damage type (physical damage). This is a Shield Ranged build from start to finish. Note that leveling was done on Normal & Elite difficulties only.
Attributes:
Initially, you will want to get 15 points into cunning and 30 points into physique as soon as possible. Along with the attribute bonuses from leveling masteries, this will allow us to meet our gear requirements while leveling. The rest of the stat points can be allocated as you please, but you might need to respec at level 94.
Skills:
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Prioritize these choices first in the order outlined- Righteous Fervor 16/16, Aegis of Menhir 16/16, Avenging Shield 10/12, raise Oathkeeper Mastery all the way to 50, Divine Mandate 12/12, Consecration 1/12
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Next, we will improve our survivability- Ascension 9/12, Ranged Expertise 1/10, Word of Renewal 1/12, Vigor 10/10
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Now, we improve our resistances- Inquisitor Mastery all the way to 50, Steel Resolve 6/10. If your Aether and Chaos resistances are looking good, then you may opt to spend fewer or no points at all in Steel Resolve
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This will improve our maximum health further- Presence of Virtue 1/12, Haven 10/10
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Finally, we will give ourselves some Weapon Pool skills- Smite 4/10, Bursting Round 5/10, Chilling Rounds 5/10, Storm Spread 7/10 NOTE: You may perform this step after step 1 above if you want to.
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Everything from here is up to you. Point allocation can now be done as desired. I went with the following- Presence of Virtue 12/12, Deadly Aim 9/12, Rebuke 10/10
Sample skill allocation: Paladin, Level 100 (GD 1.1.9.8) - Grim Dawn Build Calculator
GEAR
Faction Gear & Monster Infrequents
Ugdenbog Repeater pistol & Harvest’s Guard shield were what I used for leveling.
In normal difficulty, farm for a decent Ugdenbog Repeater. I was only able to get the level 50+ variant to drop on this difficulty setting. On elite, I farmed for another 70+ variant and used that till level 94. Suffixes and Prefixes don’t really matter here; As long as it didn’t convert my damage from physical to another type, then I would gladly use it. For the record, the best affixes to have are- SUPERIOR Ugdenbog Repeater OF RUIN.
For shields, I opted for the Harvest’s Guard shield due to its ease of obtainability (this is a faction item from Homestead) and damage bonuses.
Build
Paladin, Level 100 (GD 1.1.9.7) - Grim Dawn Build Calculator : Final Build
Attribute points- PHYSIQUE 30 / CUNNING 77 / SPIRIT 00
NOTE: This build was finalized during version 1.1.9.7, and played on version 1.1.9.8. It seems to work as intended, but do inform me if something seems out of place. I haven’t gone through the entirety of the patch notes yet, so I can’t really tell what caused specific changes (if any).
This build has a relatively simple playstyle to grasp- Righteous Fervor is your main attack, and Ground Smash is your melee AoE attack. Use both to aggressively clear waves. This might be a ranged character, but most enemies seem pretty determined to get into your personal space. Teach them some manners by shooting them in the face up close.
Inquisitor seal, Ascension and Word of Renewal are your survivability and tanking buffs. Use these when you need to soak damage.
Herald of Doom is a damage buff that is best used for ‘all in’ scenarios when you need to cause the most damage. Best paired with an Inquisitor Seal so you can really shrug off hits and stay longer in the thick of battle to make use of the ability.
Ideally, you can keep tanking as long as your hit points keep getting topped up consistently. If you take more than 25% of your total health worth of damage repeatedly or are having some difficulty at keeping your HP close to max, then engage from range instead. Remember that you are a walking tank, but you aren’t built like a walking fortress. Minor and moderate hits can be mitigated for the most part, but use your manual evasion to avoid powerful attacks that will dent your health.
Finally, this is indeed a build that is weighted slightly more towards defense, so you’ll notice that I had to sacrifice some attack power (eg- zero points in Arcane Empowerment, no flat Resistance Reduction in the form of Revenant constellation etc.). If you want to, you can move some skill and devotion points around according to your preferences. But I really find that the defensive options are worth it, since 50% physical resistance on average is easily achievable for this setup.
Devotion
1.Yellow Crossroads
2.Assassin’s Mark (Bind to Righteous Fervor)
3.Anvil
4.Blue Crossroads
5.Sailor’s Guide
6.Ulzaad, Herald of Korvaak (4 Nodes towards Ulzaad’s Decree, Bind to Ground Smash)
7.Scarab
8.Lion
9.Hammer
10.Azrakaa, The Eternal Sands (5 nodes towards Shifting Sands, Bind to Summon Guardian of Empyrion)
11.Scales of Ulcama (4 Nodes towards Tip the Scales, Bind to Aura of Conviction)
12.Dire Bear (5 nodes towards Maul, Bind to Storm Spread)
13.Targo the Builder (5 Nodes towards Shield Wall, Bind to Smite)
14.Finish Azrakaa, The Eternal Sands
15.Finish Dire Bear
16.Refund Blue Crossroads
17.Shieldmaiden (5 nodes)
