Grim Dawn is one of those games where the mechanics are pretty intuitive, the drops are informative, the tooltips are clear, and your options are plentiful. You can absolutely just theorycraft up some nonsense on your own and roll with it based purely on vibes and it will usually work. My partner recently got into Diablo 4, and in my brief attempts to join them in playing that game, I've discovered you need a math degree and a ton of outside reading just to even get started making builds in that game, and if you don't engage in all that, you have a really bad time. Tooltips straight up lie to you and the damage model is beyond obtuse, to say nothing of the aggressive scaling that invalidates your gear every level. GD ain't that. You can make just about anything work, and it'll probably be fun, too. I'd encourage people to just jump in and play whatever seems cool to them.
Fun fact, you can actually get obsidian war cleavers as soon as you reach the broken hills rift, to the northwest of the rift is a hidden area with a dungeon, at the end is a couple of packs of the monsters that drop the cleavers. It will take some patience due to the awful drop rate.
@@deenman23 sure, but you need the key first and on normal and elite it's not worth siding with derini and the key is a random drop from the cultists. In addition, the spawn of the totem is not 100% guaranteed after each session. So it's probably more worthwhile on Ultimate if you're doing Bounty anyway. But in the meantime, you can farm Necropolis and or Blood Groove, as these are less scary than the dungeon. On the other hand, you can also find Stonefist Rebuke quite quickly via totems. In general, the dungeon is not suitable for the farming route, as there are too many factors that speak against it, because the dungeon also has no items that the DK needs.
I agree, great vid. My anwer would be: The build that suits yr playstyle the best. I also agree on the Juggernaut, such a great relic that can easily take you to lvl100. I just started a Blitz warlord for season5 because I wanted a fast leveling build and it is so strong it's almost boring (at lvl78 I was still wearing a lvl12 helmet and facetanking everything without a problem) Speaking of season5: Arcade or Paikis, does either one of you know were I can get a list on how to score points? I can't seem to find it online.
As a newer player my DK is the first character of mne to reach level 100. It is also the main character who is running in Ultimate fairly smooth. My build is very similar to Paikis's DK build. Couple things changed up. I like my DK even more than my tanky warder. Debuffs FTW IMO 😀
A note about the all res reduction from warcry: It only works if you can actually fear the target. If they are immune to fear, like a boss, it has 0 effect.
Same deal for other skills that try to cause CC effects while also applying a debuff. For example Olexra's Flash Freeze doesn't apply the fire resist shred if the target is immune to freeze.
Hey Paikis, When i start a SSF Round in Grim Dawn, In Hardcore or in Softcore (Testing Porpose when new big Patches Pops out), i choose 6 different Builds to start up: Soldier --> Warder or Warlord as Physical (Forcewave for Leveling and later on as Forcewave or S&B Cadence) Schaman --> Druid or Warder as Lightning or Vitality and 2H or later as Duel Wield with Primal Strike or Savagery Demolitionist --> as Commando or Shildbreaker Fire S&B with RF or Fire Strike. The Reason why i choose this kinds of builds: - Good mobility (with Augments from FG Vendors and some Skills, Blitz or Vire's Might). - Very High Damage with 1-2 Damage Types . - Easy to Gear. - Farmable target MI's and Sets also Legendarys are later more a Bonus, but don't really need it as Leveling - Good Support from the Fraction Vendors - Good up to very good self sustain with damage converted to health, life steal, health regenertion and also good energy regeneration. armor/resistence shred and more little things. Conclusion: My Opinion for HC what i choose is: - first is Soldier - second Shaman - Third Demolitionist But there is no really right starter build per se, it always depends on the player what he likes. Of course you can give suggestions, but in the end the player decides for himself what is best for him when he tries to experience the game for himself.
No way! Deathknight or nothing! You're correct of course that the player will decide and you can start as whichever class you like honestly, just some are easier than others. The more I play and the more I farm the Krieg set or the Dark One's set, the longer it seems to take and the less powerful they feel. DK is still a good starting character though, for all the reasons I said here.
@@Paikis I'm not saying that the DK isn't a good starter build per se. But there is not only the DK that is good for the start, so the DK is more out of personal preference and not meant as a general and in addition you need luck and the kriegs set is only farmable from Lvl 94 on Elite/Ultimate anyway and can be very grind-heavy. Which leads, as you said, to this set not feeling good or strong enough because you have to invest too many hours to get good stats that feel good. Other builds are more rewarding. But again, it's up to personal preference whether you want to grind hard or get to success quickly, especially for people who can't play for 6-8 hours a day and don't want to farm the same route for weeks on end.
Krieg set is farmable from about level 80 on Elite or Ultimate. It can be grind heavy for sure, but so is every other set in the game. It's a preference thing for sure, and other builds are also fine but there's a reason it's one of the most often recommended beginner builds. It's really good.
My first lvl 100 hardcore wad a warlord with lvl 26 warcry, mostly dps focused with two handed axe. i didnt use retalliation or forcewave, just pure auto attacks lol
Great video! I just wish you had shown how you spent your devotion points. I'm currently following your tips and I just got to Fort Ikon in Elite and I'm impressed at how strong this build is. I just wonder if I could've spent my devotion skills better, though...
I never intended this to be a build guide! With that said, you probably could use it as one just fine. I'd probably do something like this (check skills/devotions): www.grimtools.com/calc/M2gb8xON Lots of Physical damage, an extra circuit-breaker in the Tortoise, which is a shield that you can heal up behind. Scales and Crab for even more defense. Maul and Ulzaad's Decree for damage procs. You'll have 1 point left over if you want to take the Shifting Sands proc otherwise just add it to crab. You'll need a skill to bind it to though, probably Ravenous Earth.
Vanquisher shield breaker is always my go to for a hc fresh start. Simple and fast, makes farming gear and mats a breeze. I to templar if I'm going sc or just not so bothered
The only class I have experience in so far is soldier so this guide was helpful... thanks. I like to use Blitz & Forcewave (without tremor). I dont facetank enemies especially bosses. I use a sort of commando hit & run playstyle. Focused on tactical positioning on the battlefield to line up mobs etc. A very active constantly moving build & playstyle. I use Slam (chipped or severed claw) on my weapon which is either one or two hand of Ruin. My ideal weapon would be a Vampiric xxx of Ruin. In Devotions I go for defense and circuit breakers since I am playing HC. The reason I play HC is because I find I cannot play a character after it dies. No idea why that is but once a character dies I lose interest and start over... which means I have not reached end game yet.. Lol. Anyway GD is a great game and your guides are excellent.
I just encountered my first nemesis boss today in Elite following this video as a guide and it's such an OP build that I managed to kill it on my first try!!! It was Kubacabra, and I guess each one of the lesser forms that it spawns upon death counts as a different nemesis, because I got both the Nemesis and the Unstoppable achievements! I'm currently level 84 and my DPS is at over 70K!!! Thank you so much!!! I've learned so much from this video! ❤
I'm not sure I agree with this video anymore. Krieg's FW DK is still solid, but the upcoming patch has nerfs for Krieg's set and no buffs. It'll still be solid, but Krieg's set is going from weak to middling power to just straight up weak. Depending on your luck while farming this could be OK or incredibly bad for the time needed to get it.
@@Paikis However weak it is, the idea of a skill without a cooldown sounds good . I couldn't get into grim dawn for a couple years because all the skills I tried on my "first character(s)" each run were cd based and the game felt so slow. Just recently tried your pet fire cabalist guide and the game clicked for me.
I was the same. I had several false starts and then I played along with a youtuber (Malagant) and it all just worked. He explained some things, but more importantly, he showed me a good build and showed it working. Having a goal really helped me. If you want a full play through of a Deathknight, I have one on the channel here: th-cam.com/video/BSnxZ6bys90/w-d-xo.html
Thanks bro. Would this be a good build for non-hardcore, for someone who only plays a couple hours per week? I've played GD on and off since it was released but I'm past my gaming prime, so when I want to replay a game like this I look up the most OP, most time-efficient builds. It's the way I enjoy to play nowadays. Is there a better option for non-HC? Thank you!
It'll work just fine for softcore as well. I've started a series on it that is currently on-going. You can see what it's like up to level 40ish if you like. I think I mention this in the video, but this is the best starting class because of the Krieg's set being farmable. It gives you a nice boost in power when you get to 94 that no other class really gets, but there's no reason why you have to do it and other classes can be your first just fine. Deathknight is just a bit smoother.
I think the reason everyone suggests the Krieg DK is not because it has a target set, but because you can farm the 94 gear in elite v ulti-only. Personally, I still believe the Paladin or Shield Breaker are the best first characters because of their pre-loaded damage. RoK shield and all regular bosses die as soon as the rune goes off, with trash dying to vire's might, plus zoom zoom for farming.
Grim Dawn is one of those games where the mechanics are pretty intuitive, the drops are informative, the tooltips are clear, and your options are plentiful. You can absolutely just theorycraft up some nonsense on your own and roll with it based purely on vibes and it will usually work. My partner recently got into Diablo 4, and in my brief attempts to join them in playing that game, I've discovered you need a math degree and a ton of outside reading just to even get started making builds in that game, and if you don't engage in all that, you have a really bad time. Tooltips straight up lie to you and the damage model is beyond obtuse, to say nothing of the aggressive scaling that invalidates your gear every level. GD ain't that. You can make just about anything work, and it'll probably be fun, too. I'd encourage people to just jump in and play whatever seems cool to them.
Fun fact, you can actually get obsidian war cleavers as soon as you reach the broken hills rift, to the northwest of the rift is a hidden area with a dungeon, at the end is a couple of packs of the monsters that drop the cleavers. It will take some patience due to the awful drop rate.
True. I always forget those right up until I'm farming Celestial Totems for set item flipping.
You can also get a totem to spawn in the cell with the key in act 1
@@deenman23 sure, but you need the key first and on normal and elite it's not worth siding with derini and the key is a random drop from the cultists. In addition, the spawn of the totem is not 100% guaranteed after each session. So it's probably more worthwhile on Ultimate if you're doing Bounty anyway. But in the meantime, you can farm Necropolis and or Blood Groove, as these are less scary than the dungeon. On the other hand, you can also find Stonefist Rebuke quite quickly via totems.
In general, the dungeon is not suitable for the farming route, as there are too many factors that speak against it, because the dungeon also has no items that the DK needs.
Love it, loads of great info plus the ‘best build’ stuff is backed up by coherent, useful explanations.
I agree, great vid. My anwer would be: The build that suits yr playstyle the best. I also agree on the Juggernaut, such a great relic that can easily take you to lvl100. I just started a Blitz warlord for season5 because I wanted a fast leveling build and it is so strong it's almost boring (at lvl78 I was still wearing a lvl12 helmet and facetanking everything without a problem) Speaking of season5: Arcade or Paikis, does either one of you know were I can get a list on how to score points? I can't seem to find it online.
Go to grimdawnleague.com, log in, then they're shown under Season Challenges. There's a set for HC and another for SC. Good luck!
As a newer player my DK is the first character of mne to reach level 100. It is also the main character who is running in Ultimate fairly smooth. My build is very similar to Paikis's DK build. Couple things changed up. I like my DK even more than my tanky warder. Debuffs FTW IMO 😀
@@Paikis You are AWESOME Paikis!!
A note about the all res reduction from warcry: It only works if you can actually fear the target. If they are immune to fear, like a boss, it has 0 effect.
Same deal for other skills that try to cause CC effects while also applying a debuff. For example Olexra's Flash Freeze doesn't apply the fire resist shred if the target is immune to freeze.
@@Paikis exactly
@@Paikis is this the same with blitz and blindside?:O blitz has a knockout but all guides max blindside for the DA reduce.
Hey Paikis,
When i start a SSF Round in Grim Dawn, In Hardcore or in Softcore (Testing Porpose when new big Patches Pops out), i choose 6 different Builds to start up:
Soldier --> Warder or Warlord as Physical (Forcewave for Leveling and later on as Forcewave or S&B Cadence)
Schaman --> Druid or Warder as Lightning or Vitality and 2H or later as Duel Wield with Primal Strike or Savagery
Demolitionist --> as Commando or Shildbreaker Fire S&B with RF or Fire Strike.
The Reason why i choose this kinds of builds:
- Good mobility (with Augments from FG Vendors and some Skills, Blitz or Vire's Might).
- Very High Damage with 1-2 Damage Types .
- Easy to Gear.
- Farmable target MI's and Sets also Legendarys are later more a Bonus, but don't really need it as Leveling
- Good Support from the Fraction Vendors
- Good up to very good self sustain with damage converted to health, life steal, health regenertion and also good energy regeneration. armor/resistence shred and more little things.
Conclusion: My Opinion for HC what i choose is:
- first is Soldier
- second Shaman
- Third Demolitionist
But there is no really right starter build per se, it always depends on the player what he likes. Of course you can give suggestions, but in the end the player decides for himself what is best for him when he tries to experience the game for himself.
No way! Deathknight or nothing!
You're correct of course that the player will decide and you can start as whichever class you like honestly, just some are easier than others. The more I play and the more I farm the Krieg set or the Dark One's set, the longer it seems to take and the less powerful they feel.
DK is still a good starting character though, for all the reasons I said here.
@@Paikis I'm not saying that the DK isn't a good starter build per se. But there is not only the DK that is good for the start, so the DK is more out of personal preference and not meant as a general and in addition you need luck and the kriegs set is only farmable from Lvl 94 on Elite/Ultimate anyway and can be very grind-heavy. Which leads, as you said, to this set not feeling good or strong enough because you have to invest too many hours to get good stats that feel good.
Other builds are more rewarding.
But again, it's up to personal preference whether you want to grind hard or get to success quickly, especially for people who can't play for 6-8 hours a day and don't want to farm the same route for weeks on end.
Krieg set is farmable from about level 80 on Elite or Ultimate. It can be grind heavy for sure, but so is every other set in the game.
It's a preference thing for sure, and other builds are also fine but there's a reason it's one of the most often recommended beginner builds. It's really good.
My first lvl 100 hardcore wad a warlord with lvl 26 warcry, mostly dps focused with two handed axe. i didnt use retalliation or forcewave, just pure auto attacks lol
That sounds like torture! Glad you got it done though.
Great video!
I just wish you had shown how you spent your devotion points.
I'm currently following your tips and I just got to Fort Ikon in Elite and I'm impressed at how strong this build is.
I just wonder if I could've spent my devotion skills better, though...
I never intended this to be a build guide! With that said, you probably could use it as one just fine. I'd probably do something like this (check skills/devotions):
www.grimtools.com/calc/M2gb8xON
Lots of Physical damage, an extra circuit-breaker in the Tortoise, which is a shield that you can heal up behind. Scales and Crab for even more defense. Maul and Ulzaad's Decree for damage procs. You'll have 1 point left over if you want to take the Shifting Sands proc otherwise just add it to crab. You'll need a skill to bind it to though, probably Ravenous Earth.
@@Paikis Thanks for the grimtools link!!! ❤
I'll study it carefully and reevaluate my choices!
Vanquisher shield breaker is always my go to for a hc fresh start. Simple and fast, makes farming gear and mats a breeze. I to templar if I'm going sc or just not so bothered
The only class I have experience in so far is soldier so this guide was helpful... thanks. I like to use Blitz & Forcewave (without tremor). I dont facetank enemies especially bosses. I use a sort of commando hit & run playstyle. Focused on tactical positioning on the battlefield to line up mobs etc. A very active constantly moving build & playstyle. I use Slam (chipped or severed claw) on my weapon which is either one or two hand of Ruin. My ideal weapon would be a Vampiric xxx of Ruin. In Devotions I go for defense and circuit breakers since I am playing HC. The reason I play HC is because I find I cannot play a character after it dies. No idea why that is but once a character dies I lose interest and start over... which means I have not reached end game yet.. Lol. Anyway GD is a great game and your guides are excellent.
I just encountered my first nemesis boss today in Elite following this video as a guide and it's such an OP build that I managed to kill it on my first try!!!
It was Kubacabra, and I guess each one of the lesser forms that it spawns upon death counts as a different nemesis, because I got both the Nemesis and the Unstoppable achievements!
I'm currently level 84 and my DPS is at over 70K!!!
Thank you so much!!! I've learned so much from this video! ❤
Hey mate, congratulations on your Nemesis kill and achievements! Glad you're liking the build and glad it helped you.
Wish I saw this video, my first build ever was blitz and I hated the cooldown so much I re-rolled as soon as I took down loghorrean.
I'm not sure I agree with this video anymore. Krieg's FW DK is still solid, but the upcoming patch has nerfs for Krieg's set and no buffs. It'll still be solid, but Krieg's set is going from weak to middling power to just straight up weak. Depending on your luck while farming this could be OK or incredibly bad for the time needed to get it.
@@Paikis However weak it is, the idea of a skill without a cooldown sounds good . I couldn't get into grim dawn for a couple years because all the skills I tried on my "first character(s)" each run were cd based and the game felt so slow. Just recently tried your pet fire cabalist guide and the game clicked for me.
I was the same. I had several false starts and then I played along with a youtuber (Malagant) and it all just worked. He explained some things, but more importantly, he showed me a good build and showed it working. Having a goal really helped me.
If you want a full play through of a Deathknight, I have one on the channel here: th-cam.com/video/BSnxZ6bys90/w-d-xo.html
Thanks bro. Would this be a good build for non-hardcore, for someone who only plays a couple hours per week? I've played GD on and off since it was released but I'm past my gaming prime, so when I want to replay a game like this I look up the most OP, most time-efficient builds. It's the way I enjoy to play nowadays. Is there a better option for non-HC? Thank you!
It'll work just fine for softcore as well. I've started a series on it that is currently on-going. You can see what it's like up to level 40ish if you like. I think I mention this in the video, but this is the best starting class because of the Krieg's set being farmable. It gives you a nice boost in power when you get to 94 that no other class really gets, but there's no reason why you have to do it and other classes can be your first just fine. Deathknight is just a bit smoother.
Pretty sure krieg set has been patched out of elite for a few patches
Nah, it's still there. Confirmed drop in 1.1.9.8 and also in 1.2.
@@Paikis hmm thats weird,not sure if its a bug or they reverted it
I think the reason everyone suggests the Krieg DK is not because it has a target set, but because you can farm the 94 gear in elite v ulti-only.
Personally, I still believe the Paladin or Shield Breaker are the best first characters because of their pre-loaded damage. RoK shield and all regular bosses die as soon as the rune goes off, with trash dying to vire's might, plus zoom zoom for farming.