When a ranged build is born...a proper constellations should be "worn"

Grim Dawn Classes, Skills and Builds
21

When a build has more than one devotion/constellation proc skill, bond to attacking skill (not aura), do you level that devotion skill through your main attacking skill and when it is levelled, you put it to the final skill (destination) and you switch to another picked devotion/constellation skill and again, you max it with your main attacking skill? Or do you assign the devotion/constellation skills to their final skills immediately?

22

devo skills don’t gain more or less XP regardless which player skill it’s attached to, they gain XP equally from obtained XP sources
So there is no need to attach it to a specific skill for specific XP considerations, only trigger considerations, and depending on when you level how many skills you have available or how important the devo proc is you can just assign it to a crap fitting skill just so the devo gains xp even if the proc wont be used much yet.

23

Progressing the devo skill is a matter of XP? I thought is it connected to the fact, how OFTEN the skill is used. And the highest usage is, logically, provided to attach it to the main attacking skill :slight_smile:

That’s lovely, I can assign the devo skills to the player skills as intended and I don’t need to worry if they are progressing “quick enough”.

24

yes, it earns XP at a 1:1 ratio from any XP source player obtains (still applies after player is lvl 100), Lore notes, quests, enemy kills etc
devo just need to be attached to a skill to start earning XP, nothing more

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25

Alright. I think the time has come to discuss the builds of mine. Let’s start with the pair of Physical Tacticians. DW Ranged one and 2H ranged one.
DW ranged one - Tactician, Level 100 (GD 1.2.0.5) - Grim Dawn Build Calculator

2H ranged one - Tactician, Level 100 (GD 1.2.0.5) - Grim Dawn Build Calculator

Used (and not used) skills:
Markovian’s Advantage - WPS 21%, Ulzaad’s Decree
Zolhan’s Technique - WPS 24%, Blind Fury
Fighting Spirit - 48% (when hit), no constellation skill
Cadence (+ Fighting Form + Deadly Momentum), Assassin’s Mark
Field Command (+ Squad Tactics), no constellation skill
Military Conditioning
Decorated Soldier
Scars of Battle
Ranged Expertise (DW enabler)
Bursting Round - WPS 17%, no constellation
Chilling Rounds - WPS 17%, Shield Wall
Storm Spread - WPS 17%, no constellation
Word of Renewal (+ Vigor + Steel Resolve), no constellation skill
Deadly Aim

War Cry (+ Terrify + Break Morale) IS NOT USED. The skill doesn’t fit my playstyle and it bursts out of the player. That’s the problem for me. If it could be applied as a debuff or curse, like e.g. Curse of Frailty, when the center of the debuff is where cursor is pointed. That particular thing would make me re-consider to pick it.
Inquisitor Seal (+ Arcane Empowerment) IS NOT USED. The skill doesn’t fit my playstyle, it requires the player to stay in and the monster to stay in in order to work in the favour of the player and in the disfavour of the enemy.

First and second hit before Cadence is used has 96% WPS chance.
OA, DA are at least 3K without taking PROC BUFFS into consideration.
AR is at least 3K with taking PROC BUFFS into consideration.
All resists are 80%+40% overcap at least, Stun res is 80% at least.
Tertiary resistances are not negative.
General lifesteal = 19% (DW) / 5% (2H).

26

this is imo a poor decision, you’re missing RR and DR in your build, this single skill solves both (tho at a skill point cost ofc)

i don’t think that should be an issue for you like with inquis seal; War Cry covers the entire screen, so you will basically pretty much always debuff your intended fighting target(s) as long as you didn’t outrun them off screen

i think the DW version has “too much” DA, in the sense this will pretty much only be useful on celestials (if you’re even fighting them), meanwhile the perma OA could easily use a little bump
Conversely the 2h version has a bit low HP for my liking these days, specially when you don’t have DR or inquis seal on top for additional defence
and speed seems way way too low for 2h AA, specially Cadence - i’d question using Korvan Wyrm; when you then don’t even use seal for RR, since weapon doesn’t even have base attack speed

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27

DR = means Defense Reduction, right?
OK, maybe I should practice with the War Cry thingy…
Korvan Wyrm was used because of two things:

  1. all Soldier + all Inqui
  2. highest DMG output.

Alternatives are: Malmouth Rifle (faction eq) or Valdun’s Rifle (set weapon)…

28

Damage reduct, reduce enemy dmg (before it’s then also reduced by resist etc)

malmouth and valduun does pierce, can’t use it for phys cadence

solael or sangvinar have base phys without AP, with +speed
alternative is you keep using Wyrm but go a bit more speed oriented on items and devos

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29

OK, quick question: Why many builds RELY on attack speed so much? Particularly, if more attack speed could mean damage lost, counted in thousands?

30

in this case it’s about cadence benefitting more from speed from faster charging, so not just cadence dps but just cadence dmg is relying on shooting faster to even trigger it
slower cadence triggers doesn’t just mean less dmg but also less lifesteal healing, and you want to lifesteal fast, specially with cadence when your 2 shots inbetween are way way less healing
faster cadence also means faster clear which means less danger

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32

Alright. I think the time has come to discuss another builds of mine. This time it is a pair of Cold Tricksters. DW Ranged one and 2H ranged one.
DW ranged one - Trickster, Level 100 (GD 1.2.0.3) - Grim Dawn Build Calculator

2H ranged one - Trickster, Level 100 (GD 1.2.0.5) - Grim Dawn Build Calculator

Used (and not used) skills:
Amarasta’s Blade Burst (+ Lethal Assault), Rumor
Pneumatic Burst (+ Shadow Dance + Elemental Awakening), no constellation
Veil of Shadow (+ Night’s Chill), no constellation
Phantasmal Armor
Anatomy of Murder
Merciless Repertoire
Stormcaller’s Pact, no constellation
Mogdrogen’s Pact (+ Heart of the Wild + Oak Skin), no constellation
DW: Volley (Plunderer’s Talisman), 25% WPS, Shield Wall

2H: Ice Wyrm’s Breath (Mythical Northern Wyrm), Shield Wall

Wind Devil (+ Raging Tempest + Maelstrom) IS NOT USED. Wind Devil is temporary stubborn (noncontrollable) pseudo pet. It could provide some ELE RR of the 1st type (-X%). But the points I needed much more elsewhere.

I was doubting or deliberating about the second mastery to Nightblade. Other option was Arcanist, because it has a lot of useful skills and “slightly better” exclusive aura, but I would run out of skill points, because there would had to be much more point investment in Arcanist (Iskandra’s Elemental Exchange, Mirror of Ereoctes (1pt), Maiven’s Sphere of Protection, Inner Focus, Arcane Will and Star Pact). Shaman skill point investment is only Mogdrogen’s Pact and Stormcaller’s Pact.

Overall WPS chance is 25% (DW), 0% (2H).
OA, DA are at least 3K without taking PROC BUFFS into consideration.
AR is at least 3K with taking PROC BUFFS into consideration (Shield Wall).
All resists are 80%+40% overcap at least, Stun res is 80% at least.
Tertiary resistances are not negative.
General lifesteal = 5%.
Cold RR = -52%.

33

this is a bad take imo/poor decision
one being, it doesn’t really matter it’s a temp pet, at most it’s an annoyance you have to resummon once every 18?seconds, and you can control it; pet command button exists (tho in general shouldn’t be necessary)
pointes being needed elsewhere is not a good argument, even if the points were spent well; because RR is such a huge dmg boost it’s not often you’re gonna find better investment elsewhere, and in this case i don’t see where those points are spent better either
you’re maxing skills you don’t need to, and to such a degree i’d question why, Phantasmal Armour, shadow dance, mogdrogen’s pact, tier50 NB mastery bar but not even 1pointing blade spirit either(not that your build needs it since no devos - just that usually you only go tier50 if you need a skill)
I’d personally probably take Beronath shard over Void seal, because you have no cooldown reduct on your ABB so having an auto attack replacer would probably be better, and Bero shard would give a tiny buff to ABB shots too
you have no flat RR either, so lacking additional dmg boost from that,
devos doesnt’ really make sense to me because you’re not really taking much of anything meaningful while then getting a huge affinity surplus you have 0 use for (9 red, 11 blues/green and 17 purple) you have 5 useful devos; Hydra, Murmur, Solemn Watcher, Scythe and Targo(and imo as you know i don’t think targo is that awesome there)
that’s a lot of “wasted” devos you could use on better dmg boost or better defence boost
*2h version is a bit better sorted affinity wise but still wasting a lot of points on generic passive and over abundance of affinity that goes unused

stats look fine, attack speed could be better, lifesteal/regen mebe a bit low, and ofc missing bunch of dmg via lack of RR
I’d reconsider devos and reinvest some skill points instead of overcapping so many of the skills
*a note when you’re going semi regen focus, since you have plenty devos just used on passive/affinity surplus you can easily get Behemoth, dw version can swap eel to lizard,
getting crown or even revenant should be easy for flat RR too

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34

This is kind of hard to swallow for me… I am not being offensive, just explaining how do I feel. I am trying logically compose a build for main campaign SC (endgame content - meaning Crucible and Celestials, in less form Shattered Realm - they are “pervertedly difficult”). I play only SR to some level… for gear, obviously.

I pick only “key devotions” as guaranteed one - those with particular RR, and other devotions are (in my eyes) smartest way to the devotions I really want.

I thought having 3K OA, 3K DA and 3K AR means at least rather sturdy build.

Less skills = less buttons to press…

I would thought that -52% Cold Resist reduct should make the char the fighting “significantly better” and I would say better enough.
Shadow Dance - Defense boost!
Phantasmal Armor - Armor + Pierce res
Seal of the Night (not Void) - giving the best damage boost and a bit of OA

There are only a few exceptions among skills, which I use as “one point wonder” - one of them is Mirror of Ereoctes, and Fire Sorcerer was critical on points, so I had to reduce the point investment within that build.

The worst build is yet to come - Lightning druid with very poor Lightning Resist Reduction.

35

you don’t need that many points in it - and scaling stops being good many points ago

you have more pierce res overcap than you need and the armour benefit is debatable for that high investment

this is true, but doesn’t always means it’s as optimal

usually a good baseline
but it’s not everything in a build

ye that’s my bad, looked like seal of the void for some reason :sweat_smile: - point still stands about Bero shard tho

Flat RR is all RR (unless it’s crown then it only applies to ele ofc); in essence you’d be making an argument of “why put points into veil of shadows/night’s chill, if getting flat RR suddenly isnt’ worth either” - either RR is worth or it’s not worth, (spoiler, it’s worth)

no, it would make sense if it didn’t grant you an affinity surplus
easiest example is; you have nothing that requires 17 purple, or 11 red etc, thus those devos are not needed “for anything”, and are just wasted on generic passives at best, but you can then shift those passives into either better passives or devos granting skills, like Behemoth, RR, defensive procs (chariot/turtle etc).

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36

If your goal is only to finish the campaign, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise, keep making your builds meme.

37

I have an idea. I will post pair of builds per day (so tomorrow, the lightning ones are on row), and when all builds are discussed, I think you will be able perfectly describe what I have understood badly about Grim Dawn or what I haven’t understood at all…

Because believe me, all of my builds have at least ten versions and you are seeing the best ones, about which I thought I did the best I am able to do.

38

Wait what?!

If the build is not created for Cruci / Celestials and SR, they are MEME? Sounds like the builds are more than crappy.

39

i don’t think that’s the mindset you should have/worry about
unsure if it was you/us in a another thread where i mentioned this
just because something is “optimal” or better meta wise, doesn’t mean it’s all there is; are your builds working or failing?
Because unless they are not working then all there is potential improvements “from a certain standpoint”
but as you also mentioned in another thread; you often have a more specific build/play criteria, where those “meta rules” might not fit in aswell if that specific char style is the main priority
Easiest example here would be as you mentioned “more skills = more buttons”, and if someone really doesn’t like/want more buttons to press; then it technically doesn’t matter if it’s more optimal to take Wind Devils, if it annoys the player more

so i think the way to look at it is if whether or not your aim is to build more meta approach style oriented, or build your own criteria style, just with additional awareness of certain scaling/potential gains in value here and there - one shouldn’t necessarily rule out the other i think.
Like savage (jokingly?) said; you can keep making your builds your style if that’s what you want/it works, because the game does allow that

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40

Alright. I think the time has come to discuss another builds of mine. This time it is a pair of Lightning Druids. DW Ranged one and 2H ranged one.
DW ranged one - Druid, Level 100 (GD 1.2.0.5) - Grim Dawn Build Calculator

2H ranged one - Druid, Level 100 (GD 1.2.0.5) - Grim Dawn Build Calculator

Used (and not used) skills:
Iskandra’s Elemental Exchange (+ Manifestation + Overload + Elemental Balance), no constellation
Mirror of Ereoctes (1pt, bum saving skill), no constellation
Maiven’s Sphere of Protection (- Conversion), no constellation
Inner Focus
Arcane Will
Stormcaller’s Pact, no constellation
Savagery (+ Tenacity of the Boar + Storm Touched), Arcane Bomb
Mogdrogen’s Pact (+ Heart of the Wild + Oak Skin), no constellation
DW: Crossfire (Mythical Barrelsmith’s set), 20% WPS, Shield Wall
DW: Salvo (Mythical Barrelsmith’s set), 20% WPS, Reckless Tempest
2H: Ultos’ Arrival (Rune), Shield Wall

Wind Devil (+ Raging Tempest + Maelstrom) IS NOT USED, but I am afraid, it literally must be. This pair of builds has weak Lightning RR (only -35%), and Wind Devil can be the source of Ele RR. Don’t know, where to additionally raise the lightning RR, because gear or skills don’t provide it. There is also a very lovely pistol, called Stormlauncher of Ultos, supporting both chosen masteries, but it lacks “attack speed”. So Mythical Barrelsmith’s set was used instead. The attack speed is poor still… At least no need to use Plunderer’s Talisman for DW, but Eye of the Storm can be used instead. This build is extra “weak” in the terms of RR and Attack Speed, I know that, but I can’t do anything about that, I mean - if there is a solution, a lot of dealt damage will be lost, I suppose.

Overall WPS chance is 60% (DW), 0% (2H).
OA is least 3K without taking PROC BUFFS into consideration.
DA and AR is at least 3K with taking PROC BUFFS into consideration (Arcane Will and Shield Wall).
All resists are 80%+40% overcap at least, Stun res is 80% at least.
Tertiary resistances are not negative (physical resist is 0% though).
General lifesteal = 5%.
Lightning RR = -35%.

41

regular/previously mentioned stuff about RR and devos aside

here is some starting build questions i’d have

  • why not (at minimum) 1pt Conversion? (2nd node Maiven) - your CC res is not capped
  • Why on 2h version are you not at minimum taking Brute Force passive, straight up health+lightning dmg bonus? - which then also means Feral Hunger WPS might come in to play
  • Not maxing Tenacity of the Boar? despite slow res being low?, and OA is always handy - and as you’re also stacking regen on these builds you get a 3rd bonus
  • and like with the trickster i’d wonder why we’re going tier50 Arcanist mastery when not taking any skills at all in the later rows.

itemization related stuff:

same comment as earlier that lifesteal/regen/attack speed seems overall a bit on the lower end for me personally, but otherwise core stats seems fine

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