I wanted to continue a discussion started in http://www.grimdawn.com/forums/showthread.php?p=672617#post672617 with the question what is the most powerful dualwielding build in the game.
The consensus is that the leading 3 builds are
Korba-Malkadarr trickster
Belgothian infiltrator
Belgothian blademaster
I will follow up with my own opinion soon and in the meantime please feel free to contribute.
powerful, you mean the most damage? what about defense power?
Kind of vague, yes, but I guess we are talking about the best/fastest bosskillers with enough defense to at least be able to handle the main campaign (excluding superbosses?) with relative ease.
I have both a korba trickster and a belgo infiltrator, and both are a joy to play in the main campaign. Don’t have much experience with other dualwielders though, but i am leveling a spellbinder with the Theodin MI in mind, though i doubt that one is as powerful as the above mentioned classses.
The reason why I decided to start this thread is because, in my experience, Belgothian gear is number one on the list of most desired items in the GD trading world. This proves the popularity of DW melee builds.
Korba-Malkadarr trickster, even though technically most powerful, isn’t popular for obvious reasons (5 greens and 2 ultra rare purple MI’s). Not only does it boast the highest single target DPS in the game but also gets some AoE from devotion procs that Belgothian builds lack. It’s defensively inferior, though, and plays a little bit like pet cabalist: steamroll or die. This is a GDStashed build I tested (based on http://www.grimdawn.com/forums/showthread.php?t=64311):
https://www.grimtools.com/calc/wV1JOoBZ
It might have room for improvement though…
I tested this build http://www.grimdawn.com/forums/showthread.php?p=672617#post672617 exactly as is. IMHO it’s stronger than a classic Belgothian blademaster based on WPS. Soldier mastery simply doesn’t provide that flat damage outside Deadly Momentum. However, I’m not a big fan of the seal as it doesn’t fit my preferred DW playstyle which emphasizes mobility.
My all time favorite is the blademaster even though I feel I have to rate it number 3 here… I used my own legit build based on http://www.grimdawn.com/forums/showthread.php?t=56883 but more defensive (this is it https://www.grimtools.com/calc/YNndePAV). What it lacks in paper DPS it makes up with the highest OA of the three with amazing DA shred from Markovian Advantage and the highest mobility thanks to using both Blitz and Shadow Strike.
I meant SUBJECTIVELY “best” 
I just felt like this is a topic worthy of a discussion.
So I’ll just paste my reply from the other thread:
@ya yeah of all the builds I posted the only one closest to melee are the bleed wb and bleed warder, both of which are hybrid casters whose damage come from dots.
I haven’t leveled a Korba Trickster or the Blademaster as of yet, but I just finished the Belgo infiltrator, and it is incredibly powerful. I straight facetanked MQ at level 97 with him, and never felt like I was about to die.
Im a bit biased, but this build is very solid melee http://www.grimdawn.com/forums/showthread.php?t=70221
Edit: i need to find time to update some old posts lol
That’s a sick GDstashed Korba you got there :). I am a bit confused by the glove choice though, aren’t those boring Grip of Habaragaralad a better choice due to more pierce to cold conversion?
About belgo bm and seal, you can really just skip seal in Main Campaign most of the times, without the seal it has survivability of a blademaster and damage is still more than enough to melt anything in miliseconds. Also, mobility in Crucible for builds like Belgo is overrated. You have to be able to sidestep from debuff puddles, but strength of autoattackers comes from being able to stand your ground and dish out DPS while at full charge and not kite, so seal helps that a lot.
One of the first if not the first DW melee that was able to clear 150-170 pre-nerf, legendary break through build. It’s when everyone realised how really op Inquisitor is.
I heard amazing things and just wanted to check it out and there’s no way for me to ever have this without GDStash. You’re right about Hagarrad gloves, though, can’t hardcap Lethal Assault but it’s worth it. Also, thanks to this I learned that having ‘of Kings’ on more than two items is redundant. 100% Battlecry uptime with just two.
https://www.grimtools.com/calc/gZwPorzN
Anything else that can be done better?
Besides, I put this Korba-Malkadar build at the first place because I just tried it and its power was overwhelming. But honestly this build isn’t realistic. If to turn it down a notch to gear that is attainable in legit game and think twice about its lacking defense then I guess the infiltrator would be best after all.
The seal is great. I know. I just don’t like it. It’s addictive lol. After playing lots of inquisitor its kinda hard to play anything else. But my opinion is that it’s not the seal itself that makes this infiltrator, it’s more the flat dmg that comes with Arcane Empowerment and that WoR modifier. Also, Deadly Aim is superior to Fighting Spirit even with the gear mod from Rylok Crest, imo. The thing in favor of blademasters is that DA shred Markovian Advantage and more attack speed from Squad Tactics but you hardly need the former with crucible buffs and the latter with good rolls on your gear.
I thought 200% attack speed or as close to it as possible was mandatory for dw wps builds?
I can see 168% plus 10% from battle cry buff
, and maybe 13% from storm touched (if that’s not already included in tenacity of the boar) = 178 or 191.
Since playing mostly dw chars, I can safely say that dw Belgo BM and Infi do the best job for me.
Personally, I still love my full Cunning Pierce BM most of them all.
Hopefully, dw Chaos WH will become similar threats with AoM. 
You’re totally right. Using dread skull in place of arcane spark which with Ulzuin buff isn’t so necessary. Making it 198 with the rolls. Anything else?
lso, thanks to this I learned that having ‘of Kings’ on more than two items is redundant. 100% Battlecry uptime with just two.
I thought they are considered different proc sources. Is this not the case?
Anything else that can be done better?
I suppose it could depend on play style.
…well, although I like your path for variety…but here again imho the Dead God path is better for single target dps.
Going something like Panther, Watcher, Dead God, few more nodes in Amatok, 2-3 nodes in Jackal – in place of Ulzin’s, Scolars, Leviathan, Toad, Wolverine etc . It sees a ~10% reduction in wpn base cold damage but a speed increase and Hungering Void sees some serious crit damage and a speed increase.
Maybe swap a few points from storm touched to something as you may have too much speed for your tastes.
Although Battle cry is great, it isn’t guaranteed at all times. In constant battle, it’s down some of the time.
I don’t know how much value you really get out of a stationary 3s CD pool.
I’d also bind Rumor to savagery (your autoattack) and Elemental Storm to something ~2cd, maybe Bladeburst as you do have 50% frostburn extension.
Apparently not. It was my first GDStash adventure ever so I mashed Kings on everything there was but it doesn’t work that way.
This devotion setup is copied directly from jajaja’s. I don’t think there’s anything to improve here. There’s no way to fit in Dying God. Left hand nodes of Amatok look nice with that extra 100% cold but oa and crit from Ulzuin win. You can’t get rid of greens and purples as they lead to Leviathan which is essential for all cold autoattack builds with its flat dmg and the proc.
Nope. AS is essential and it’s still not hardcapped even as is.
I had of Kings on everything but switched one to Featherstep for trap res. Still, with 2 Kings it’s just about guaranteed at all times. It’s still the best affix in the game on armor.
I don’t understand.
This isn’t a bad idea. However, with Nightfall Shadow Strike affects all enemies in 5 meter radius. That Rumor will proc on someone. Putting it Savagery will make you kill enemies faster than it procs and spreads. This is exactly the reason why, contrary to the prevailing opinion, I prefer Screams of the Aether to Eternal Haunt ring on aether caster builds. Spreading procs aren’t reliable unless you can activate them immediately before you start dealing damage. Elemental Storm on the other hand stays there regardless of how fast you kill.
It’s a little different when fighting single strong enemies. But then, the binding doesn’t really matter, both proc alright.
Fixed for Ya https://www.grimtools.com/calc/lNkW7dQN 
A definition of glass cannon 
Fair enough.
Quote:
Originally Posted by hammyhamster1 View Post
I don’t know how much value you really get out of a stationary 3s CD pool.
I don’t understand.
I meant that whirlpool does a fair bit of damage and it’s good if you facetank, but any slight move means the enemy is out of its @3.5 m radius.
Like I said, it depends on playstyle and how set you are on whirlpool. If you need to kite the big stuff, then whirlpool may not be particularly useful.
^I was suggesting something like this.
Base:
6% more speed
~5% less cold base wpn
-5% less crit
-60 more OA
so about the same base dps
Hungering Void proc adds 35% crit and 10% speed.
For my style, this would offset whirlpool dps and give me more fluid play.
Reread the thread and found this bit
The combination of Pierce, DW, and Blademaster is a guaranteed popular concept in any game. It’s like the archetypal Assassin package. Pierce SS is dead now so Belgo is the next thing you want on an Assassin. Even if it sucks it will still be popular (member 1.0.0.9? and the DA meta? Fluff’s Belgo was still really popular even when it was shit). Before Paladin was even revealed, Blademaster is your “I WANT THAT FROM JUST THE NAME” Class. I bet if Witch Hunter had a different name that sounds better to casual players (something like Assassin maybe. I’m bad at names) it would also be really popular.