KickStarter Grim Dawn

[Sykar]

I'm assuming all you guys are playing on hardcore right? That rush you get when low on health. M'I'Right?

I had more than enough of D2 Hardcore over the course of 6 years. I am 34 and got a familiy, no time to waste on restarting at 1 just because of a minor distraction or tiredness for example especially in a game with so many one shot dangers.
Minimizing deaths? Sure. Keeping them at 0? No interest anymore.

 

[Hobo Elf]

Wow. Today was a very good day. Also found the Plans for the Savage relic, but I need 3 other relics to make that one and I'm missing on the Plans for 2 of them. That's pretty bullshitty imo. I should be able to make the Relic once I found the plans for it ffs.

 

[Sykar]

It was a good day so far for me as well. I installed Diablo 2+LoD and played some casually softcore scrub Sorc to 10. Will probably go to 85 until end of next week. Not decided yet which element to go.

 

[Zdzisiu]

If anyone needs some particular Epic item for their build or something, let me know, I have more of those shits than I can store.

 

[Nael]

Me too. I've got an assload of stuff that I'm dying to give away.

 

[Doctor Sbaitso]

Glad I picked this up. Trying a Nightblade/Warrior. I was unsure how I felt about it but have figured out the stick and move mechanics of this build a bit and it is good fun. Shadow Strike is very handy indeed. I have noticed that certain combinations of skills in succession lead to mass carnage. Thought it was getting slow for a bit there but am now hooked on bringing the pain. Level 15 at Burritch Village or whatever it is.

 

[Hobo Elf]

If anyone has Handguards of Redemption or Shoulderguards of Redemption to give then that'd be sweet. I only need those two items to complete the set and it seems like a pretty sweet set for an Acid Retaliation based tank character. Also need Plans for the relic Inferno and Mistborn Talisman if anyone has spare ones laying around.

Edit: nvm the plans for the Mistborn Talisman just dropped. Talk about good luck!

 

[gestalt11]

Wow. Today was a very good day. Also found the Plans for the Savage relic, but I need 3 other relics to make that one and I'm missing on the Plans for 2 of them. That's pretty bullshitty imo. I should be able to make the Relic once I found the plans for it ffs.

The relics are easy its the dread skull that sucks.

 

[Zdzisiu]

If anyone has Handguards of Redemption or Shoulderguards of Redemption to give then that'd be sweet. I only need those two items to complete the set and it seems like a pretty sweet set for an Acid Retaliation based tank character. Also need Plans for the relic Inferno and Mistborn Talisman if anyone has spare ones laying around.

I can give you the hands and shoulders of redemption. Add on steam: mayan_prophet and we can set a game up and I will drop them for you.

 

[Hobo Elf]

I can give you the hands and shoulders of redemption. Add on steam: mayan_prophet and we can set a game up and I will drop them for you.

Added you.

Edit: Thanks a million for the gear AND Dread Skull. One more step closer to my relic!

Edit Edit: Holy poop this just dropped. Does loot drop based on what masteries you have activated or what? Because since yesterday only loot that's good for my spec seems to have been dropping

In any case it's party time

 

[Lone Wolf]

Got my Arcanist to lvl 50. Skyshard/PRM build.

I like it, in terms of play style. Basically, you run around, dropping shards on packs of enemies. If you stand still, you die. He's definitely fitting that old 'glass cannon' trope.

And with my shards at 24/16, you bet your ass he kicks like a mule (+1 relic, +1 Arcanist helmet, 2x +2 Trozan epic blades (forgot the name), +1 Trozan boots, +1 Trozan belt). On a crit, he can two-shot Champions and take bosses down without taking damage (if they're melee reliant).

Thinking of trying a summoner next. Or finishing up my lvl 31 DEE Occultist.

 

[Hobo Elf]

I think I want to try an Arcanist next but I'm not sure how to stat him. I used to pump everything in Spirit or Cunning or go for a split of 1:1/1:2 in Spirit/Cunning because monsters in Act 1 didn't hit that hard, but that doesn't seem to be viable anymore in Act 2 an onward. I'll be using AAR and Devastation which aren't the most mobile spells either. How much Physique should I take so I won't die instantly? I'm also taking Maiven's and Olexra for some survi. I really hope that Olexra's Flash Freeze works against bosses.

 

[ArchAngel]

Why are you putting points into cunning? YOu get mediocre Offensive stat from it and other bonuses are worthless for you. You stack OA with items and you put points into spirit and physique with level up.

 

[Lone Wolf]

Probably 1:1 Phys/Spirit.

Maiven's will help for survivability (though the Mirror is better), but Olexa's is just bad without serious investment. Bosses might be frozen for a fraction of a second. Like, you'll barely notice they stopped moving. Arcanists are tough to build, if your aim is to stand still and channel.

 

[Hobo Elf]

Why are you putting points into cunning? YOu get mediocre Offensive stat from it and other bonuses are worthless for you. You stack OA with items and you put points into spirit and physique with level up.

Well there was a time when Cunning was the only source of an increase into your damage back when Spirit only gave you more MP and MP regen. At that time the only real threat was Salazar and other enemies didn't hit so hard that you needed to invest into Physique to survive. I made a DEE Occultist with heavy investment into Cunning and as much OA as possible so I wouldn't miss at all vs higher lvl targets. Was a very good build back then but things have changed over the years and now it's not so great anymore. The level disparity seems to be wider in the new challenge areas to the point where investment in Cunning wont have the same benefit as it did in the early days.

Probably 1:1 Phys/Spirit.

Maiven's will help for survivability (though the Mirror is better), but Olexa's is just bad without serious investment. Bosses might be frozen for a fraction of a second. Like, you'll barely notice they stopped moving. Arcanists are tough to build, if your aim is to stand still and channel.

I was going to go 12/12 into Olexa. It's an all or bust skill imo, as you said. 3.75 may not be that much but it could be enough if you hit hard enough with the Arcanist to finish everyone off within that time (that's the plan).. But if it's only a fraction of a second vs bosses, it's probably not worth the investment. In that case Mirror of Ereoctes shoul be better and more reliable.
And I don't know how else to build an Arcanist tbh other than as a stationary artillery cannon. Last time I played an Arcanist Panetti was just a very awful version of DEE and kiting around monsters and casting Trozan's Sky Shard ever few seconds was pretty tedious, especially since the meteors were very erratic and would fall wherever they wanted, often missing monsters. AAR was the only spell I had any real results with.

 

[4249]

back when Spirit only gave you more MP and MP regen.

Spirit has always affected damage outside physical and piercing. There was a bug for a short while where it wasn't being applied to all the types it was intended for, but that's about it.

 

[Hobo Elf]

Spirit has always affected damage outside physical and piercing. There was a bug for a short while where it wasn't being applied to all the types it was intended for, but that's about it.

Then I was misinformed (kinda) because I asked a long time ago if Spirit increased spell damage and I was told that it doesn't.

 

[Aeschylus]

Edit Edit: Holy poop this just dropped. Does loot drop based on what masteries you have activated or what? Because since yesterday only loot that's good for my spec seems to have been dropping

Nah, it's all random, except certain bosses have uniques that are tied to them (the Dermapartean Queen has a special shield, for example, and that Misborn Talisman blueprint drops a lot from the boss of Smuggler's Pass), and it's probably more likely to get a unique of a certain type of item from enemies who use that item type. I would give you the last piece of the Redemption set, but sadly I'm away from the computer that has my shared stash for another few weeks .

And yes, spirit increases spell damage, by quite a bit. Cunning is not useless, but its main use is for a crit-focused melee build.

If you're planning on making an arcanist, if you want an interesting challenge try a Night's Chill focused Spellbreaker.

 

[gestalt11]

I'm assuming all you guys are playing on hardcore right? That rush you get when low on health. M'I'Right?

BTW the game has a "rogue-like" dungeon in steps of torment and a second one coming in a an update. So its not entirely necessary to play hardcore to get your rush. Basically you need a key to get in and cannot portal in or out so if you die that run is done (unless you spend another key). My DW Orwell's Revoler savergy/lightning totem conjurer build can kill himself from reflection in less than a second and some things models can obscure the animation of mirror etc, so I can't really reccomend true hardcore on any kind of real damage build. Especially true for things like totem which will keep firing even after yo urealize it. I had a champion drop a shield with 32% relfection that thing was really painful I dropped a totem and ran away and guzzle potions hoping I didn't die frimn doing more damage than I could heal.

 

[Hobo Elf]

Nah, it's all random, except certain bosses have uniques that are tied to them (the Dermapartean Queen has a special shield, for example, and that Misborn Talisman blueprint drops a lot from the boss of Smuggler's Pass), and it's probably more likely to get a unique of a certain type of item from enemies who use that item type. I would give you the last piece of the Redemption set, but sadly I'm away from the computer that has my shared stash for another few weeks .

And yes, spirit increases spell damage, by quite a bit. Cunning is not useless, but its main use is for a crit-focused melee build.

If you're planning on making an arcanist, if you want an interesting challenge try a Night's Chill focused Spellbreaker.

I want to make an Aether damage focused Arcanist because I have some nice loot (like a sword that gives +90% Aether damage) for that damage type so I'm not sure if Night's Chill is what I need, but Veil of Shadows could be good. Can you toggle Veil of Shadows and Maiven's at the same time? Is there some kind of limit other than what your energy is capable of supplying? Not sure if specing into a Nightblade just for one ability is worth it in the long run though.

 

[Zdzisiu]

BTW the game has a "rogue-like" dungeon in steps of torment and a second one coming in a an update. So its not entirely necessary to play hardcore to get your rush. Basically you need a key to get in and cannot portal in or out so if you die that run is done (unless you spend another key). My DW Orwell's Revoler savergy/lightning totem conjurer build can kill himself from reflection in less than a second and some things models can obscure the animation of mirror etc, so I can't really reccomend true hardcore on any kind of real damage build. Especially true for things like totem which will keep firing even after yo urealize it. I had a champion drop a shield with 32% relfection that thing was really painful I dropped a totem and ran away and guzzle potions hoping I didn't die frimn doing more damage than I could heal.

Yeah, the reflection mechanics are bullshit. In Stepes of torment the Skeletal Knight use the Shield buff and reflect some portion of your damage towards you. It is not that much of a problem when you are fightning one of them and are clearly seeing it, but try fighting a group of mobs plus some Hero monster, and you wont see how many Skeleton Knights are there, and you will melt yourself with your own AoE ability when it hits more than one reflecting skeleton, and God help you if you crit with it. I have the same problem with my DW melee Savagery build, if I dont notice that some of the mobs Im hitting with my AoE are reflect mobs, Im dead in a second.

Reflect mechanics are retarded in general, they bring nothing to the game, punish builds that managed to get high dps for no reason, and there is nearly no way to counter them in Grim Dawn, you can either stop hitting the monster, if you see it, or hope that your life leech and pots will keep you alive. There is no gear that gives -% reflect damage or any skill like that. Thankfully in Grim Dawn there are only Heroes with the reflect mod and Skele Knights that do this shit.
Not to mention the fact that this shit is really hard to spot sometimes, in groups, behind obstacles, with a bunch of item labels obscuring everything etc.

 

[Lhynn]

Most d2 mechanics are retarded by design, including damage reflect. Overrated to fuck game.

 

[gestalt11]

Yeah, the reflection mechanics are bullshit. In Stepes of torment the Skeletal Knight use the Shield buff and reflect some portion of your damage towards you. It is not that much of a problem when you are fightning one of them and are clearly seeing it, but try fighting a group of mobs plus some Hero monster, and you wont see how many Skeleton Knights are there, and you will melt yourself with your own AoE ability when it hits more than one reflecting skeleton, and God help you if you crit with it. I have the same problem with my DW melee Savagery build, if I dont notice that some of the mobs Im hitting with my AoE are reflect mobs, Im dead in a second.

Reflect mechanics are retarded in general, they bring nothing to the game, punish builds that managed to get high dps for no reason, and there is nearly no way to counter them in Grim Dawn, you can either stop hitting the monster, if you see it, or hope that your life leech and pots will keep you alive. There is no gear that gives -% reflect damage or any skill like that. Thankfully in Grim Dawn there are only Heroes with the reflect mod and Skele Knights that do this shit.
Not to mention the fact that this shit is really hard to spot sometimes, in groups, behind obstacles, with a bunch of item labels obscuring everything etc.

Yeah my Orwell's revolver build can hit non-crit (off a proc not actuallyu sure what combo of procs) for 5k and crit for 8k and proc extra hits without patricularly great equipment (1000 OA). Shooting into a crowd sometimes = insteant death if the crit or multi-hit hits the wrong thing. Can easily do 10k back instantly. With the high OA some builds get (1500+) it would do like 20k in a volley somtimes. Add on top of that the two 10% chance for AoE lightning bolts of the revolvers themselves can crit for 4k in a 2m radius you could hit two reflective knights with a 4k crit while not even aiming at them.

Usually on the knight the totem takes care of them ok. But bosses with mirror can insta-gib me very easy.

For a damage heavy build this are often rushing you even with -50% slow from fraility they usually pull a rush move where they cannot be slowed significantly and its impossible to read the "reflective" tag. So you basically have to never shoot anything rushing you I guess. At least on hardcore, on non-hardcore you can take the occasional death outside SoT

 

[Sykar]

Most d2 mechanics are retarded by design, including damage reflect. Overrated to fuck game.

There is not really much damage reflect outside of IM which only the Oblivion Knights in CS cast. They occasionally appear in hell mode last area but that's it. It's completely harmless for ranged and elemental attackers. Pain in the ass for physical melee builds though and summons.

 

[Hobo Elf]

Wut, Mental Alacrity doesn't seem to be working as intended. It should give me +Casting Speed% and -Skill Energy Cost%, except that the energy cost for my spells go higher each time I put a point into MA.

Edit: Seems that this bug only affects AAR.