I could def try that. Lightning strike might give it the AoE I’ve been needing.
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I think AoE while leveling is kinda overrated. There is no need in killing everything on the screen. Briar also have AoE skill in “ground slam” 
No, but the usual advice given is to reach said endgame asap and then farm, or atleast wait until lvl 94 and just rush through everything to get there.
One can “twink” a char at any level if they really want to.
Birb’s best bet would just be to get as many +skills on its line asap from affixes and stuff.
That actually is one skill that makes me rage whenever it is called an “AoE”.
Imo it does a rather poor job in that department although it is rather strong in all other respects.
Or perhaps I am too used to Blightfiend’s AoE 
I noticed quite substantial faster totem/shrine clears even with just 1 hard point invested. But true, it is no a “real” AoE spell in the sense that it distributes damage more or less equal across the screen, but more of a shotgun spel ala Ravenous earth / Rune of Haggarad.
Thus ground slam will shine where mobs are more tight together, e.g. monster totems and shrines.
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Yeah, but I would still prefer something like Lightning Strike or Blight Burst whenever the option is there. Like, you never look at Ground Slam and go “this will cover all my AoE needs”. It has always been more of an Aggro generating tool which over the course of patches also became rather good at applying bleed dot and extra burst damage.
Like, you need mobs to completely surround your Briarthorn to get max value out of it… If it is say just running upto a mob, you get like 2 or 3 spikes max.
From my experience leveling builds (heck I even did retaliation leveling and cadence leveling) AoE is only needed in certain circumstances. By skipping trash mobs that gives almost 0 experience, you basically boil down AoE needs to tightly packed areas where mobs are blocking your way, desecrated shrines and monster totems (which are optional).
Perhaps, perhaps not.
But I still wouldn’t feel comfortable without atleast having a devotion proc as extra if Ground Slam is all I have as AoE.
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If we are just talking about leveling shaman to 94 asap, then maelstrom and storm totem is your friend Get a sky effigy from https://www.grimtools.com/monsterdb/196/items and BAM build done 
Perhaps not easy in terms of playing, if HC, though since you need to play very good not to die unless you go with some healing devotions or a secondary class that has heal on demand. Primal strike with https://www.grimtools.com/db/items/12667 or https://www.grimtools.com/db/items/8719 is also very fast, and then you can make use of attack damage converted to health for sustain. Should be way faster leveling than pet solo shaman (not sure if safer though).
That won’t be a pet build though. I am talking about keeping it as a pet build and leveling asap in that context.
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Briathorn and Hound are personal bodyguards though. And birbs are free willed creatures, they don’t fall under regulations. 
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I just did a slightly modified version of Fluffy Squishy from Maya (swapped Gate to many worlds to Solael Void Tome to give me more points to invest a little in wendigo totem) and yesterday i killed callagadra, ravager and farmed crate for his amulet on HC, so i can at least say that conjurer is on a great spot for pet builds, it gives amazing defense for the character and the pets aswell. This build is not the best offensively, but you know, makes no difference at all killing calla in 8 min than in 5 min.
OMG, YES! I just did a re-spec into max Lightning Strike and around 12/16 for the familiar and the difference is just monumental.
Well, I don’t have that many +2 items for Familiar, so my Briar is still 1+12/16, but I’ll start bleeding points into it slowly but certainly after I max the Familiar back out. Thanks a TON, this helps so much.
I read your carnival guide and where you said
is where I think I went wrong. I just invested into it way too early. Thanks again
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Glad to hear it worked out 
Hello, I have made an amazing mod for Grim Dawn called “Pet Patch”. If you are interested in a pet-focused play-style then it might be something for you.
https://www.nexusmods.com/grimdawn/mods/120
woot welcome back Aval tx for upgrading your mod.