Grim Dawn Vs Diablo 2
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- Grim Dawn is the child of Titan Quest and Diablo 2, taking the most appealing aspect in an Action Rpg, the builds, as much as it was in TQ and D2 and make something huge, with a really nice story and a type of challenge that even for being old, it works. So you are right, the comparison has no reason to exist.
- Feb 02, 2010 Diablo 3 vs Torchlight 2 vs Grim Dawn This topic is locked from further discussion. Torchlight 2 mainly for music, I love Matt Uelmen (who did the music for Diablo 1 and 2) Grim Dawn.
Arcanist is your typical mage like mastery that wields different forms of magic skills. They are basically masters of aether and elemental damage, but can also wield chaos and vitality damage as well. As masters of devastating the area with powerful magic, Arcanist also excels in energy regeneration and conservation.
Grim Dawn: Arcanist Build Guides for Beginners. Updated on May 26, 2018. Arc Sosangyo. Note: It’s up to you where to assign the 2 remaining devotion points. Equipment Priorities. Same as Aether Elemental Warlock. Start the fight by always casting Devastation. Your main damage dealer here is Albrecht’s Aether Ray while.
Note: Recommended Devotions are not in order. Meaning, it is up to you what constellation you should learn first. Just in case you don’t know, devotion points can also be re-assign in order to meet certain requirements.
When it comes to gear components, resistance to different damage types should be the priority for your character to survive on higher difficulty.
Cold Caster Spellbreaker
This build can cast variety of cold and frostburn skills that often freezes enemies, preventing them from attacking. Speaking of survivability, freezing enemies is not the only defense mechanism of this build. It also has different skills to keep itself from harm.
Attributes
Your first priority is pumping up your spirit until you can wear the best caster off-hand, then put the rest on physique after.
When it comes to cunning, your mastery bar can provide enough numbers. So it’s alright not to put points on it.
Arcanist Skills
Mastery bar (50 points)
Olexra’s Flash Freeze (12 points) – Absolute Zero (12 points)
Trozan’s Sky Shard (16 points) – Frozen Core (12 points)
Start Pact (12 points)
Arcane Will (10 points)
Maiven’s Sphere of Protection (12 points)
Mirror of Ereoctes (1 point)
Nightblade Skills
Mastery bar (50 points)
Pneumatic Burst (12 points) – Elemental Awakening (12 points)
Blade Spirit (16 points)
Blade Barrier (5 points)
Merciless Repertoire (12 points)
Devotion
Chaos Crossroads
Tsunami
Lizard
Vulture
Spider
Quill
Hawk
Owl
Harpy
Amatok the Spirit of Winter
Leviathan
Note: You still have 7 remaining devotion points at this rate. My recommendation is to distribute it on both Empty Throne and Ultos Shepherd of Storms.
Equipment Priorities
Wear equipment that can increase your cold and frostburn damage. It’s also recommended to wear caster off-hand with high cooldown reduction. This will let you have as many Blade Spirit as possible in the battlefield.
How to play?
At the start of your game, max out Olexra’s Flash Freeze first. This will let you level up quickly since the skill can nuke down enemies in a really wide area. Then the next skill to max out is Trozan’s Sky Shard for enemies that is immune to Olexra’s Flash Freeze.
As a reminder, don’t rush learning Absolute Zero and Frozen Core until you have Blade Spirit first.
Storm Caster Druid
Lightning, cold, frostburn, and electrocute is what I personally mean about storm. This build can unleash those mentioned damage types at the same time that can both shock and chill your enemies.
Attributes
Prioritize cunning here since Blizzard, Reckless Tempest, and Hand of Ultos can only trigger when you land critical attack. Don’t forget spirit too until you can wear the best caster off-hand.
All of the remaining points should be put on physique.
Arcanist Skills
Mastery bar (50 points)
Olexra’s Flash Freeze (12 points) – Absolute Zero (12 points)
Trozan’s Sky Shard (16 points) – Frozen Core (12 points) – Shattered Star (12 points)
Star Pact (12 points)
Maiven’s Sphere of Protection (12 points)
Mirror of Ereoctes (3 points)
Inner Focus (12 points)
Arcane Will (10 points)
Shaman Skills
Mastery bar (40 points)
Wind Devil (1 point) – Raging Tempest (12 points) – Maelstorm (12 points)
Storm Totem (16 points)
Devotion
Tsunami
Tortoise
Jackal
Owl
Tempest
Amatok the Spirit of Winter
Oklaine’s Lantern
Chariot of the Dead
Behemoth
Ultos, Shepherd of Storms
Equipment Priorities
Aside from equipment that can increase lightning, cold, frostburn, and electrocute damage. Wear gear that can increase your offensive ability too. It’s also good idea to grab equipment that can unleash lightning or cold skills when you land critical hit.
Since you have Oklaine’s Lantern in your devotion, caster off-hand is a must.
How to play?
The first thing to do when you encounter an enemy is to plant Storm Totem and cast Wind Devil whenever it is available. Prioritize dropping Trozan’s Sky Shard on enemies that doesn’t go down easily.
Whenever you are surrounded by mobs, immediately use Olexra’s Flash Freeze to prevent them from coming to you.
Aether Elemental Warlock
Warlock that focuses on dealing both elemental and aether damage while being boosted up by familiar and hellhound summons.
Attributes
As usual, go for spirit first until you have enough to wear the best caster off-hand. The rest should be put on physique.
Don’t bother putting points on cunning unless you want to pump your offensive ability.
Arcanist Skills
Mastery bar (50 points)
Panetti’s Replicating Missile (16 points) – Distortion (12 points) – Supercharged (12 points) – Proliferation (12 points)
Olexra’s Flash Freeze (12 points)
Devastation (16 points)
Reckless Power (12 points)
Maiven’s Sphere of Protection (12 points)
Mirror of Ereoctes (1 point)
Arcane Will (10 points)
Mental Alacrity (9 points)
Fabric of Reality (12 points)
Occultist Skills
Master bar (32 points)
Summon Familiar (1 point) – Storm Spirit (12 points)
Summon Hellhound (1 point) – Hellfire (12 points)
Devotion
Imp
Raven
Wraith
Quill
Scholar’s Light
Empty Throne
Owl
Widow
Oklaine’s Lantern
Blind Sage
Attak Seru, the Mirage
Rhowan’s Crown – you can only learn until Elemental Storm.
Equipment Priorities
Equip items that can boost both your elemental and aether damage. Due to Oklaine’s Lantern in your list of devotions, it is recommended to wear caster off-hand.
How to play?
About early game play, which is from level 1 to 50. Max out Olexra’s Flash Freeze and Panetti’s Replicating Missile as early as possible. Doing this lets you level up as fast as possible.
Your pet’s primary role here is just to support your character. Set their behavior to defense so that they won’t aggressively attack enemies.
Aethermancer Spellbinder
From the name itself, this caster build specializes in unleashing variety of aether damage.
Attributes
Same as Aether Elemental Warlock
Arcanist Skills
Mastery bar (50 points)
Albrecht’s Aether Ray (16 points) – Disintegration (12 points)
Devastation (16 points)
Reckless Power (12 points)
Maiven’s Sphere of Protection (12 points) – Conversion (10 points)
Mirror of Ereoctes (12 points)
Inner Focus (12 points)
Arcane Will (10 points)
Nullification (3 points)
Mental Alacrity (10 points)
Fabric of Reality (12 points)
Necromancer Skills
Mastery bar (32 points)
Spectral Binding (12 points)
Siphon Souls (12 points) – Sear Souls (1 point)
Devotion
Primordial Crossroads
Chaos Crossroads
Order Crossroads
Lion
Vulture
Imp
Raven
Hawk
Empty Throne
Toad
Owl
Typhos, the Jailor of Souls
Rattosh, the Veilwarden
Attak Seru, the Mirage
Note: It’s up to you where to assign the 2 remaining devotion points.
Equipment Priorities
Same as Aether Elemental Warlock
How to play?
Start the fight by always casting Devastation. Your main damage dealer here is Albrecht’s Aether Ray while Siphon Souls is used when surrounded.
Aethermancer Mage Hunter
A variant of Aethermancer Spellbinder. This one is more glass cannon compared to its counterpart. It can deliver tremendous damage per second through higher chance of landing critical hit with better output.
Attributes
For the sake of not wasting your Deadly Aim skill, invest 20 or 30 points on cunning first. Go for spirit after until you can wear the best caster off-hand. The last priority will be physique.
Arcanist Skills
Mastery bar (50 points)
Albrecht’s Aether Ray (16 points) – Disintegration (12 points)
Devastation (16 points)
Reckless Power (12 points)
Maiven’s Sphere of Protection (12 points) – Conversion (10 points)
Mirror of Ereoctes (1 point)
Inner Focus (12 points)
Arcane Will (10 points)
Mental Alacrity (10 points)
Fabric of Reality (12 points)
Inquisitor Skills
Mastery bar (20 points)
Storm Box of Elgoloth (16 points) – Allagast’s Arcane Net (1 point)
Deadly Aim (12 points)
Word of Renewal (12 points) – Vigor (10 points)
Devotion
Same as Aethermancer Spellbinder
Equipment Priorities
Same as Aether Elemental Warlock, then put Seal of Corruption in your weapon or off-hand to get extra skills for your devotion.
How to play?
Practice how to position yourself carefully to maximize the potential of Storm Box of Elgoloth. The said skill can take out trash mobs easily, by casting it on a tougher enemy while moving around. Then don’t forget that you can nuke an area using Devastaion and focus target a single enemy with Albrecht’s Aether Ray.
As I mentioned earlier, this build is literally a glass cannon one. So you should execute double effort in always moving away from danger and keeping your distance from enemies.
Fire and Blast Sorcerer
Utilizes fire spells as primary damage dealer and bombs mainly for crowd control.
Attributes
Same as Aether Elemental Warlock.
Arcanist Skills
Mastery bar (50 points)
Albrecht’s Aether Ray (16 points) – Disintegration (12 points)
Devastation (16 points)
Reckless Power (12 points)
Maiven’s Sphere of Protection
Mirror of Ereoctes (1 point)
Arcane Will (10 points)
Mental Alacrity (10 points)
Demolitionist Skills
Mastery bar (32 points)
Canister Bomb (12 points) – Concussive Bomb (3 points)
Flashbang (12 points) – Searing Light (9 points)
Flame Touched (12 points)
Blast Shield (12 points)
Vindicative Flame (1 point) – Ulzuin’s Wrath (12 points)
Devotion
Chaos Crossroads
Fiend
Vulture
Tortoise
Owl
Empty Throne
Scholar’s Light
Raven
Magi
Oklaine’s Lantern
Ulzuin’s Torch
Blind Sage – Only put points on prerequisites to Elemental Seeker.
Equipment Priorities
Wear equipment that pumps your fire and burn damage. It is also required to equip caster off-hand to get the bonuses from Oklaine’s Lantern.
How to play?
Disable approaching mobs first with either Flashbang or Canister Bomb. Cast Devastation whenever it is available and use Albrecht’s Aether Ray to focus fire on desired enemies.
Aside from its bombs, this build also has other ways to survive such as Blast Shield and Ulzuin’s Wrath. It also has Mirror of Ereoctes that can negate damages.
Melee Aethermancer Battlemage
This is a two-handed weapon weilder that uses Callidor’s Tempest as basic attack in melee combat. The build also takes advantage of its melee situation to always trigger both Fighting Spirit and Arcane Will.
Attributes
Physique is your major priority to put attribute points since melee build is prone to take damage. Invest 20 or 30 points on cunning for increase in offensive ability. This will let you land more critical hit which triggers Aether Conduit from Temporal Arcblade and Phoenix Fire from Alladrah’s Phoenix often.
I’m not recommending to put points in spirit since your mastery bar can provide enough.
Arcanist Skills
Mastery bar (50 points)
Callidor’s Tempest (16 points) – Inferno (12 points)
Grim Dawn Vs D3
Reckless Power (12 points)
Devastation (16 points)
Maiven’s Sphere of Protection (12 points) – Conversion (10 points)
Mirror of Ereoctes (1 point)
Arcane Will (10 points)
Mental Alacrity (10 points)
Fabric of Reality (12 points)
Soldier Skills
Mastery bar (32 points)
Blitz (1 point)
Field Command (12 points) – Squad Tactics (12 points)
Military Conditioning (10 points)
Fighting Spirit (12 points)
Devotion
Chaos Crossroads
Eldritch Crossroads
Order Crossroads
Imp
Tortoise
Viper
Jackal
Eel
Empty Throne
Alladrah’s Phoenix
Widow
Kraken
Spear of the Heavens
Aeon’s Hourglass
Equipment Priorities
Wear equipment that increases your aether damage.
For equipping two-handed weapon, I recommend Temporal Arcblade. The builds high chance to land critical hit lets it trigger the weapon’s Aether Conduit often. Then attach Seal of Corruption to it to gain the ability Aether Corruption.
How to play?
This is played like your typical melee character. Initiate the fight using Blitz, then continuously use Callidor’s Tempest that serves as your normal attack.
Don’t forget to always cast Devastation whenever it is available or soften enemies with Aether Corruption.
Melee Aethermancer Spellbinder
An alternative version of Melee Aethermancer Battlemage.
Attributes
Same as Melee Aethermancer Battle Mage.
Arcanist Skills
Mastery Bar (50 points)
Callidor’s Tempest (16 points) – Inferno (12 points)
Devastation (16 points)
Reckless Power (12 points)
Maiven’s Sphere of Protection (12 points) – Conversion (10 points)
Mirror of Ereoctes (12 points)
Arcane Will (10 points)
Mental Alacrity (10 points)
Fabric of Reality (12 points)
Necromancer Skills
Mastery Bar (32 points)
Siphon Souls (12 points) – Sear Souls (1 point)
Spectral Binding (12 points) – Spectral Wrath (10 points)
Mark of Torment (5 points)
Devotion
Same as Melee Aethermancer Battle Mage.
Equipment Priorities
Same as Melee Aethermancer Battle Mage.
How to play?
Like its counterpart build, Callidor’s Tempest serves as your bread and butter skill. So use it like your basic attack. Then use Siphon Souls and Devastation whenever it is available.
When in great danger, either use Mirror of Ereoctes or Mark of Torment.
Melee Elemental Battlemage
Another melee build that converts its basic physical attack to elemental damage.
Attributes
You can put all your attribute points in physique without a problem.
Arcanist Skills
Mastery Bar (50 points)
Iskandra’s Elemental Exchange (12 points) – Overload (12 points) – Elemental Balance (12 points)
Olexra’s Flash Freeze (12 points)
Star Pact (12 points)
Maiven’s Sphere of Protection (12 points)
Mirror of Ereoctes (1 point)
Arcane Will (10 points)
Soldier Skills
Mastery Bar (32 points)
Cadence (16 points) – Discord (3 points)
Blitz (1 point)
Fighting Spirit (12 points)
Field Command (12 points) – Squad Tactics (12 points)
Military Conditioning (10 points)
Menhir’s Will (13 points)
Devotion
Primordial Crossroads
Chaos Crossroads
Eldritch Crossroads
Ascendant Crossroads
Tortoise
Spider
Scholar’s Light
Hawk
Owl
Bard’s Harp
Crab
Rhowan’s Crown
Behemoth
Blind Sage – assign Elemental Seeker on Cadence.
Empty Throne – Put the 2 remaining points here.
Equipment Priorities
Wear equipment that can boost elemental as well as burn, frostburn, and electrocute damage.
How to play?
This build is really easy to play. Charge with Blitz, then attack continuously with Cadence. Olexra’s Flash Freeze main role is more of defensive side on later game since it has the ability to freeze large area of mobs.
© 2018 Arc Sosangyo
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Hey folks- I am not out to start a holy war here. I've played all 3 of these, and feel that they're all good games- with differing strengths and weaknesses. I'm interested in having a discussion of what other folks like and dislike about them- but I'm really NOT interested in 'X is trash' type opinions.
Here's what I feel are pro's and con's to the games-
Grim Dawn
The class system - I'll get this out of the way- I loved it in TQ, and I love it in GD. Picking two classes and finding the synergies is awesome.
The combat - pretty good, though it can get repetitive. Some classes need different tactics for different bosses, other builds can (eventually) simply facetank nearly everything.
The endgame - honestly, this is probably GD's greatest weakness. There's no substantively randomized content to go after. The bosses don't change, so it becomes mostly a game of figuring out what and where to grind for the best gear.
The gear - middle-of-the-road. There isn't a lot of 'game-changer' gear that fundamentally reworks how your build functions.
Path of Exile
The 'tree' system - interesting approach, certainly novel. Really unfortunate that you can't really respec effectively.
The combat - when I played, it was the worst of all 3. The notion of building 8-slot chains on weapons led to having one viable skill with which to kill things. Combined with their always-online and 'interruptable skill' mechanics, rubber-banding was (at the time) stamped in stone as a fact of life. This is what killed PoE for me.
The gear - PoE was the first to introduce truly build-changing mechanics in their legendaries. The vast differences in their legendaries was a highlight.
The endgame - Randomized maps were good, but the mechanic of needing map drops to have engame content in order to continue progressing was ugly. You could easily end up running out of maps, and having to go back to under-level content in order to progress.
The trading system - this was a well thought-out aspect. Being able to trade, and the 'currency' being consumable was pretty slick. I liked that it was a high-interaction system, rather than a formal auction-house, which helped prevent mudflation.
Diablo 3
Class system - Weakest of the 3. There's just not much complexity to be found.
Combat - Strongest of the 3. They did an excellent job of making multiple skills important, using cooldowns to prevent 'only one skill to kill', and so-on. Unfortunately, it is at least partly and possibly largely the weak character-building aspect that enables this.
Endgame - I like it; rifts and grifts give you ever-more-difficult content to conquer, set dungeons, seasons, and bounties for materials- there's a lot to do in the Diablo end game.
Gear - Nicely done. Various sets enable really cool build-changing effects. Figuring out how to mix-n-match sets to tune builds to be more effective is fun, and drop-rates became rewarding once they killed the auction-house.
At the end of it, I find both Grim Dawn and Diablo 3 to be entertaining, and PoE had some very good novel approaches, they had some fatal flaws that left me uninterested in returning to it.