Ulzuin's Professional Left-clicker [Looking for feedback]

Grim Dawn Classes, Skills and Builds
1

Been playing the game since early-access, and decided to roll new characters for the full release. Here’s my first build, a simple left-clicking Sorcerer build, focused on buffing up Fire Strike.

Since I’m very new to theorycrafting, I would appreciate all feedback on what skills I can/should switch out, what gear I should be looking for, and if the build could be viable when I get to Ultimate.

The build is based around the eventual aquisition of the Ulzuin’s Avatar legendary set (because why not).

BUILD LINK (since I can’t post full links yet, apparently) grimcalc(dot)com/build/ynUX0s

Again, I’m very new to theorycrafting, but I thought I would post some of my reasonings for my skill choices. Again, feel free to tell me why my mindset might be in the wrong place, since I’m looking forward to making my builds better.

  • Fire strike is the main damage skill, with flame touch and temper to buff it.
  • One point in Vindictive Flame and Ulzuin’s Wrath allow them to allow from the +skills from gear.
  • One point in Blast Shield doesn’t seem bad, since it has a relatively low cooldown, and the 10% projectile dodge could be quite useful, even if it doesn’t have much uptime.
  • Maxing out Maiven’s Sphere of Protection should make the build more viable towards the endgame, and will(?) allow me to use my devotion points a bit more agressively.
  • Iskandra’s Elemental Exchange gives the build more elemental damage. Since the build mostly deals fire damage this should be pretty good, yeah? The energy leech also allows the build to not worry as much about the spirit needed to keep up Maiven’s Sphere of Protection.
  • Inner Focus just seems like a really solid choice for the build… ?

DEVOTION AND STAT POINTS

On this area I’m even more unsure. The build would definetly benefit from going all the way to Ulzuin’s Torch, but am I giving up too many of the defensive options to get there? Ulzuin’s Torch and Kraken would be a MASSIVE boost to the build’s damage.

I have absolutely no idea how I should think about spending stat points in Grim Dawn :undecided:

General tips on how to make a build viable for Ultimate would also be greatly appreciated.

2

Some thoughts:

Blast Shield will be weak at 1 point. At 12 it’s amazing.

Mirror of Ereoctes is worth a minimum of one point. So is Nullification (it dispels reflect auras/effects on enemies). The cooldown of both decreases noticeably with rank, but that may or may not be necessary depending on your play style.

Elite/Ultimate isn’t just about being tanky; CC is very valuable. With that in mind, Olexra’s Flash Freeze is extremely potent for both the CC effect and the resistance reduction, but the duration is dependant on rank. Canister Bomb with 1 point and 3 in the transmuter is exceptionally point-efficient CC. So is Searing Light (and Flashbang is moderately effective CC and a noticeable to-hit/crit damage boost). Calidor’s Tempest (1 point) with Wrath of Agrivix can work as well but is really limited due to it being melee range.

For Fire Strike builds point efficiency can be a big deal (cause you’re dropping almost 100 just in your main damage skill and the Demo Mastery bar). Try some of the afore mentioned skills and see how they work for you.

Speaking of points, you might be wondering where to get some:

Overload is rather meh. The dots are decent, but your main damage sources are on-hit. The faster you attack the better, devaluing damage-over-time. The +Elemental damage is additive with gear/spirit bonuses, making it negligible later on.

Temper is probably inefficient unless you’re pushing high amounts of conversion. Even then, there are better options for increasing your damage (Flashbang and possibly Elemental Balance for the crit bonus).

Iskandra’s Elemental Exchange and Flame-Touched fall into awkward places. They aren’t bad, but they aren’t core damage boosts either. Mileage may vary. If you focus on crit FT might edge out IEE. Hard to say.

Searing Strike is probably a waste. Fire Strike scales best with attacks-per-second, meaning that dual-wielding pistols is almost universally the best option for Sorcerers.

Vindictive Flame and Ulzuin’s Wrath probably aren’t worth one point each unless you have high amounts of +Demolitionist gear; even then their value increases greatly with base ranks in VF because of the cooldown reduction. I would drop them both.

Hope that helps!

EDIT:
For stats, the general best option is to pump Physique after you meet your best-in-slot gear requirements. Use gracefuldusk (gracefuldusk.appspot.com) to pick the gear you would want and build appropriately off your high level stats from your Masteries.

Solid all-around Devotion constellations:
Hawk (OA, crit)
Chariot of the Dead (OA, resistances, defensive proc)
Behemoth (HP, defensive proc)
Crane (resistances)
Empty Throne (resistances)
Sailor’s Guide (resistances)
Ulo the Keeper of the Waters (resistances, defensive proc)
Viper (OA, resist reduction)
Scales of Ulcama (HP, regen)

Solid Constellations for Sorcerer:
Hydra (damage, attack speed, OA)
Magi (fire damage, offensive proc)
Ulzuin’s Torch (fire damage, offensive proc)
Light of Empyrion (resistances, fire damage, offensive/defensive proc)
Scholar’s Light (damage)
Solael’s Witchblade (offensive proc)

What I would do - option 1, low resists from gear
Hawk
Scholar’ Light
Magi (use Spider for pre-req, undo after)
Viper
Crossroads (red)
Behemoth (path to proc only)
Crane
Sailor’s Guide
Ulo the Keeper of the Waters
Eel
Panther
Light of Empyrion

Option 2 - more offensive
Hawk
Scholar’s Light
Empty Throne
Chariot of the Dead
Magi
Viper
Hydra
Crossroads (Blue)
Behemoth (path to proc only)
Jackal
Ulzuin’s Torch

3

Thanks! Definetly gave me a lot to think about. I do really want to try to make the rifle thing work, but I might lay off the character until I figure out what I want to do with it / somehow manage to farm the Ulzuin set. (In retrospect, going for Soldier instead of Arcanist would probably have been a better choice :frowning: )