Source
r/Grimdawn•
MonarchForLife

Made a Valdun's Tactician, but it feels like i'm missing something...

FIX MY SHIT

grimtools: https://www.grimtools.com/calc/0V0mj8aZ

I feel like I put together a pretty good pierce damage build, but it feels like my attack speed is too low and groups of enemies take a lot longer to kill than anything else I have played. Is there some item I don't know that gives this better aoe damage or am I investing too much into some skill points? The build has good sustain and resistances feel good, but I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong.

EDIT: Got all the help I needed guys, thanks. Feels a little better now.

new grimtools: https://www.grimtools.com/calc/4NOydxXV

Posted Jun 6, 2021, 7:07 PM UTC · edited

620
Crab_Turtle_2112•

From a quick look: you'd benefit a lot more from maxing Death Sentence/Aura of Conviction/Inquisitor Seal instead of Deadly Aim.

Regarding attack speed, you could use Consecrated Wrappings in hands and maybe Quickdraw Gloves. Augments should be flat pierce damage (like Hammerfall Powder) since Cadence scales really hard with weapon damage. Fix resistances with green pants instead. Try to Cunning dump if you can.

You're also at 108% wps chance, you can take out a few points from Markovian's I think.

But the real reason your build feels weak is that you forgot Kraken in your devotion path (easy 20% attack speed there).

3
MonarchForLifeOP•

I'm not really sure what to drop for devotions to get Kraken. It's a little too rigid since I need Jailor for a couple of resists and Unknown Soldier provides some nice sustain.

2
Crab_Turtle_2112•

You don't need the resists from Jailor. All you need is something like a Stonehide prefix on pants to make up for it.

Quick sketch: https://www.grimtools.com/calc/YNneQKgZ I haven't tested a character like that so it can probably be improved but you got 4k more weapon damage and nearly 40% attack speed. Azrakaa route would probably be better. Resists are still fine though as you can see.

2
MonarchForLifeOP•

This one's good but I went with another commenter because it didn't change much on gear and there are a lot of offensive devotions.

1
velvia695•

Try goredrinker set and messenger pierce rifle

2
MonarchForLifeOP•

Word of Pain really do go brrrr, huh? Think I'll try this.

1
velvia695•

Not sure why I'm being downvoted, but here is my build: https://www.grimtools.com/calc/M2gPMpBV

1
MonarchForLifeOP•

Is this build just for using Word of Pain? Does it really do enough damage to justify not at least having Markovian's Advantage for additional OA?

1
LEOprog•

twitched it a little https://www.grimtools.com/calc/O2GgRrJ2

basically changed the medal, a few skills and mostly devotions

1
MonarchForLifeOP•

Really like this one, bleed res was easy to fix with an ugdenbog leather.

2
7RAFAEL7•

Put 1 point into Menhir's Will.

1
ChendoLoL•

Unfortunately requires a shield or 2H melee weapon, OP using rifle

3
MonarchForLifeOP•

Defense on the character isn't the issue but good thought.

1
anonie1212123•

Moved some devotions, components and augments : https://www.grimtools.com/calc/w26OdkbV

Gives you better dmg, ~175+ unbuffed attack speed, more phys res, crit and better dmg. The key is Kraken, its a no brainer for 2h builds.

I kept unknown soldier because that was the proc you were using but I would highly recommend skipping it and going with azrakaa the proc is nice aoe so will make groups easier. Can optimise resist augments on body a bit better, If you feel like OA is not an issue, you can swap the chains in chest for kilirian's flame too.

Edit : Also you have no % reduced target's damage that I could see so I moved a few points into horn of Gandarr (or you can do war cry but i think dat will need more points). This is a very nice defensive layer and good to atleast use it on bosses.

Edit2: the inquis wps are very good esp since you have 80%+ ele - pierce. Storm spread even shotguns(keep it at 7 for 4 proj), You have 50% wps from valdun so I would recommend skip any one of markovio or bursting or chilling (my feeling is markovio is the worst of three esp if you have azrakaa but will need testing i guess)

1
vick1000•

I only ever use 1 point in attack procs, better to put them into buffs that are always active. From the skill boosts on gear, they end up being the most efficient at 3-5 18%, since most max out at 20% chance. And if you are never running out of energy, or you have no cool down on you main attack (cadence) then you should not put any points into them at all.

And you might as well pump 3 into the cadence modifier for the extra damage.

How about...

https://www.grimtools.com/calc/vNQM70vN

Still should play pretty much the same, just use Cadence all the time instead of default, and War Cry when needed. The Shifting Sands on Cadence are going to be demolishing everything and crippling them. You'll need to swap a few components to get a bit more poison, cold, and bleed resist.

1
ChendoLoL•

I levelled a Valdun's Tactician to 100 in HC pretty recently. Haven't taken to particularly high SR so far, but has been doing ok on the Ultimate Skeletal Key Dungeons and Nemesis etc.

https://www.grimtools.com/calc/d2jn7AE2

Base numbers felt ok, around 3k OA / DA with permanent buffs up and 2.8k Armor.

I also took a different approach in a few areas on the Devotion Tree / Skills:

​

  • Kraken is a must have constellation (I believe you've amended this now)
  • I opted for the Solemn Watcher (particularly for hardcore) and Assassin over Unknown Soldier, but that's a personal preference
  • Overcapped Word of Renewal (flat DA and % Damage reduction against Aetherials / Cthonics)
  • Overcapped Inquisitor Seal, since flat DR becomes significantly better the more you have
  • WPS - Just went for minimal (1 point in 2 skills) investments here, which actually slightly overcapped with the set WPS and + skills. For Cadence I tend not to invest super heavily here since they won't proc on the Cadence hit itself, but still useful to have
  • I'm pretty big on softcapping Warcry - it's very good defensive utility and a very clean way of proccing Ulzaad's Degree I've attached to it. You could alternatively use Horn of Gandarr.

Otherwise definitely some gear / tree optimisations I could probably do (such as Mythical Shadow's Grasp which I currently don't have), but am happy enough with the defensive utility from the current gloves

1
MonarchForLifeOP•

Unknown Soldier has been really good. My DA is a little low and the aoe on Assassin isn't totally necessary. The sustain that Unknown Soldier has keeps me topped off and very rarely at SR 65-66 does my hp dip low enough to proc any circuit breaker that I could use. What I'm using now has been quite durable, ignoring any time you suck down Alexander's meteors or Grava'Thuls' "fuck your buffs" orbs.

I highly recommend putting 1 point into Ranged Expertise and putting it into relevant WPS. Bursting Round has a little aoe on it and can be handy for proccing devotions with %chance on attack since it hits multiple targets, along with (assuming I understand how it works) the damage conversion to Cadence from the set.

Another quick glance at your build and you can maybe drop your Bloodied Crystals for Topazes to cap out Stun Resist and get a little more DA, unless the armor it gives is that valuable.

1
ChendoLoL•

A few follow up points here:

I have Ranged Expertise hardcapped at 20/10 with + skill bonuses (not sure if what you're seeing a visual bug)

WPS Proc are currently overcapped at 104% (50% from Valdun Procs, 12% from Lucky Bullet, 42% From Markovian's and Zolhan's).

So little benefit to adding more on top since they would be scaled down to 100%. There's definitely a case to be made for trying different WPS instead (and I will be experimenting at some point), but these would be minimally invested for the same reason, (as well as them not proccing on the Cadence hit)

As for Devotion Procs - for low Cooldown procs I'm using (such as Shifting Sands and Blades of Wrath), these are attached to Word of Pain and Inquisitor Seal respectively (these tick every second). These are much more consistent at proccing low cooldown Devotions than Bursting Round - this can only proc on the 1st and 2nd hit of a 3 hit Cadence Chain. That proc chance at best might only 20-25% on 66.7% of your attacks

In terms of everything else offensively, Ulzaad's Decree is attached to Warcry and Assassin's Blade is attached to Cadence.

Flat Armor on non-armor slots (such as Amulet, Belt, Rings) is globally applied to all armor slots, so is pretty valuable. I do put a pretty high premium on physical mitigation since this is the most common damage type in Grim Dawn - ideally I would like more % Physical Resist as well.

I do agree that stun resist is very important too (particularly with your primary recovery coming from ADCTH but as a ranged build figured I could compromise here. I probably will end up putting a Topaz in down the line.

EDIT: And yes can see the appeal in Unknown Soldier - but feel sustain isn't an issue and points better spent elsewhere.

1
EducationalThought4•

feels like I'm missing something

The funny part about Valdun Tactician is that it's nothing like what you'd expect from a 2-handed gunslinger. He's tanky and he's really slow in SR, and some other guys in the main Discord had similar experience. If you want squishy flashy pew pew gunslinger, you should build around Demolitionist.

I have a Valdun Tactician myself: https://www.grimtools.com/calc/Q2zj1pR2

I think I did SR82 with it and it's my deepest SR char, but it's painfully slow. Haven't tested Crucible seriously.

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