Vitality Phantasmal Blades caster Witch Hunter - request for evaluation of rough framework

Grim Dawn Classes, Skills and Builds
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Hello!

Long story short- I’ve played a lot of GD, but stopped just before the first expansion came out. Now returning and starting from scratch. New stash, new characters.
I’ve always preferred ranged combat, but this time along with typical 2h Cadence Commando and classic Panetti’s Replicating Missile-focused characters I’ve decided to give PB a real chance.

Always liked it but years ago I got discouraged because of the mana economy of this spell plus I’m by nature not a fan of acid element (and with Occultist it kinda comes with the package).
Casting modifier forces vitality route (it’s not cold or physical, but so far- I’m having fun) and I’ve never really invested too many thoughts into Occultist builds and this region of Devotion constellation tree (skyline?) and as a result, I’d like to ask someone with more experience to take a look and suggest if something is horribly wrong here.

Link to the build: Witch Hunter, Level 100 (GD 1.1.9.3) - Grim Dawn Build Calculator

General outlook:
Attribute points distribution: 7:3 Physique-Spirit.
Damage focus: Vitality, secondary: Chaos and a bit of Acid but not really focusing on it at all (they come with Occultist’s various skills and modifiers)
Survivability: looks like the most viable way is a conversion of attack dmg to health. So focusing on attack damage, that conversion, picking hp regen whenever possible. Besides that- adding both mobility to my character (dodging, running away from runes etc) and slowing down enemies (mainly Curse of Frailty + Veil of Shadow).

Skills:
LMB- Phantasmal Blades (left it with 8 points, but I will adjust it along the way accordingly to used gear and mana-mp regen stats, atm I have it at 4, with no gear bonuses)
RMB: Curse of Frailty (enemy slowdown and -Vit Res)
Extra mouse buttons: both support- Blood of Dreeg + Pneumatic Burst.
Auras: Veil of Shadow, Solaels’s Witchfire, Possession

ATM I’m lvl 30, planning to finish Elite difficulty, as mentioned- playing self-found frame scratch, softcore.
If I’m over/undervaluing something please let me know.

Bloody Pox line is nice, but I don’t want to spread points too much, and Vulnerability is too important because of -Vitality Resistance.
Direct Doom Bolt is awesome, but it’s mostly focused on Chaos damage and I’m not investing in buffing it. Plus added dmg is not solving any dire problems.
Sigil of Consumption is very appealing (focus on Vitality dmg and AttackDmg->HP conversion) but considering my mobility and mobility of many bosses, static sigil on the ground doesn’t feel like a smart choice (plus Destruction goes into Fire and Chaos area).

Devotions are a tough nut. Abomination is forcing my hand a bit and I literally can’t drop Raven or Scholar’s Light. But besides that- I’m happy with it, especially Behemoth, Wendigo, Ghoul.
Rattosh is half aether-focused so nope.
Dying God is interesting, but Hungering Void feels like a big gamble and I don’t feel like going into glass cannon area more than it’s needed. Plus I’m not having any pets.

Thanks in advance for any tips :slight_smile:

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Here’s some beginner Vitality PB guide, maybe it can suggests you something [1.1.9.1] Beginner's Vitality Reaper

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Thanks for the link but that’s a different class build, not a lot of tips that can help optimize Witch Hunter. Especially an unorthodox one - 2h crossbow setup for a caster is not something I’m planning to switch to.

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Honestly that build @tqFan share is good enough for levelling, especially the devotion since there’s not much levelling support item for PB.

This here something I come up with utilizing faction gear and “easy” to get items, should be enough to finish ultimate MC and Elite SR.

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Oh I am sure it’s good but I’m not looking for a different class for a new build, validation for choosing PB, or anything like that - just asked for tips from experienced people running Vitality Witch Hunter, as described - mostly around a few mentioned skills, devotions and survivability question in practice in (roughly) current build of the game, much more different from vanilla Grim Dawn where I left off.
There’s a bunch of much more viable and/or ‘easy’ builds, but at this point, we can all download lvl 100 summoner blanks and go straight into farming with some stock zoo :smiley:

PB always felt great and I’m looking forward to making the best of it. Mana issues are a big pain in the butt but also challenging in an interesting way. Well at least for me, where for the vast majority of builds that wasn’t a big issue, and the concept of limiting points distributed for main skill was non-existent.

Well, I guess I’ll have to experiment myself.

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For Energy take Tip of the Scales devotion proc. You can fit it easily in your devo.
Not only it will provide you with a ton of Energy, but also heal you and reduced enemies resistances
(you need Reduced Target’s Resistances from somewhere, especially as single Vit Mastery class)

You should also grab Rattosh for additional Vit res debuff and Life Leech Res debuff whic is huge in endgame where bosses have it at 85% - 90%, for example: Devotion 1

Although you’d need to use more skills to proc all that:

  • PB
  • CoF
  • 1p Blade Spirit after getting more all skills (in Nightblade) / or some other proc skill
  • and some other skill to proc Abominable Might, i.e. 1p Sigil, Pox, Doom Bolt, 1p DEE with Focused Gaze or some item skill from your gear

Here’s another sample setup with Ghoul proc instead of Wendigo proc if you prefer that (and 1 less devo to proc) Devotion 2

Btw you can drop Phantasmal Armor and Elemental Awekening to 1p, they are not worth the skill points, especially when you have a few sources with +X to Nightblade

For details how to distribute skill points / attributes I think you need more gear which is the base of the build and hard to plan without it.

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You could try Blade Trap while leveling as it keeps you safe, deals vitality damage and greatly increases your crit chance. I think it fits nicely the PB playstyle. There’s a MI medal that adds more vitality damage and increases the duration of Blade Trap so you could go for that if you decide to give it a chance.

When it comes to Devotions, popular options for vitality builds are Bat, Wendigo, Rattosh and Scales. I suggest taking Rattosh as Witch Hunter is single RR mastery for vitality and Scales since you are experiencing energy issues and also you need flat RR. You definiteIy want RR asap otherwise in elite/ultimate your killing time will be considerably slower.

If I were you I’d replace Behemoth for Bat (helps with dmg and constant healing) or simply go for Scales right away.

Finally, take a look at MIs for your preferred skills as some of them might convert the damage that you do not want to vitality.