8 Best Grim Dawn Clear Builds to Annihilate Enemy Hordes

Grim Dawn clear builds

Featured Image: [Image of Grim Dawn gameplay]

Embark on an odyssey through the ravaged realm of Cairn in Grim Dawn, an action role-playing game that immerses you in a world teetering on the precipice of extinction. As a harbinger of hope amidst despair, you must forge your path through hordes of malevolent creatures, unravel the secrets of a forgotten past, and confront the darkness that threatens to consume all. With a vast arsenal of skills, abilities, and loot at your disposal, you can customize your character to suit your unique playstyle and conquer the formidable challenges that lie ahead.

Among the myriad of builds available in Grim Dawn, one stands out as a beacon of efficiency and lethality—the best clear build. This formidable build combines the relentless speed of a blademaster with the devastating elemental fury of a shaman. Imagine whirling through hordes of enemies with lightning-fast attacks, leaving a trail of shattered bodies in your wake. As you progress through the game, you can further enhance your build with powerful skills and legendary items that amplify your damage output and grant you unparalleled crowd control. With this best clear build, you will become an unstoppable force, cleaving through the darkness and restoring hope to the decimated world of Cairn.

However, the path to mastery is not without its perils. The best clear build requires meticulous planning and thoughtful execution. You must carefully consider your skill choices, attribute allocation, and gear selection. Each decision you make will shape your character’s capabilities, so it is essential to approach the game with strategy and foresight. As you delve deeper into the world of Grim Dawn, you will encounter increasingly formidable challenges that will test your skills to the limit. But with unwavering determination and a commitment to excellence, you can transcend the limits of mortality and become a legend amidst the ruins of Cairn.

Dominating with the Vitality Conjurer

The Vitality Conjurer is a powerful build that combines the vitality damage of the Conjurer class with the summoning abilities of the Shaman class. This build is extremely effective at clearing large groups of enemies due to its ability to summon multiple totems and familiars, as well as its high vitality damage output.

Key Statistics

Attribute	Value
Physique	1,000
Cunning	0
Spirit	400
Health	10,000

Skill Distribution

The Vitality Conjurer should focus on maxing out the following skills:

Conjuration
Vitality
Stormcaller

Unstoppable Force: The Two-Handed Cold Savagery Build

Core Gameplay

This build revolves around the Savagery skill, which grants you a flurry of swift strikes with each button press. By focusing on cold damage and two-handed weapons, you’ll become a relentless force on the battlefield, cleaving through enemies with ease. Your primary damage source is the Savagery skill, supported by a variety of skills that enhance its damage and survivability, such as Wendigo Totem, Raging Tempest, and Bloodthirster.

Skill and Gear Overview

To maximize the potential of this build, invest heavily in the Savagery skill line and its supporting skills. Consider the following skills:

Savagery: The core damage skill of the build
Feral Hunger: Increases Savagery’s attack speed
Wendigo Totem: Grants you a powerful aura that boosts damage and health
Raging Tempest: Increases Savagery’s range and damage
Bloodthirster: Heals you for a percentage of your weapon damage

Regarding gear, equip yourself with the best two-handed cold-damage weapon you can find. Look for items that enhance Savagery’s damage, such as the legendary weapon “Claw of the Beast”. Additionally, consider gear that boosts your health, physical resistance, and damage absorption to increase your survivability.

Skill	Attribute	Value
Savagery	Damage	High
Feral Hunger	Attack Speed	Increase
Wendigo Totem	Health	Boost

Shadow’s Embrace: The Nightblade’s Piercing Darkness

The Nightblade, a master of stealth and deadly finesse, epitomizes the art of piercing darkness. Their dual-wielding prowess and mastery of shadow magic make them formidable foes in the grim world of Cairn.

Blademaster: Precision and Unstoppable Momentum

The Blademaster specialization combines the Nightblade’s swift attacks with the precision of a warrior. Their mastery of Dual Blades grants them unparalleled damage output and critical strike capabilities. Furthermore, their Arsenal Tree provides them with powerful defensive abilities, ensuring their survival in the face of danger.

Assassin: Stealth and Deadly Onslaughts

The Assassin specialization embodies the Nightblade’s shadowy nature. They possess an arsenal of skills that allow them to vanish from sight, leaving their enemies vulnerable to deadly sneak attacks. Their Savagery Tree unlocks powerful poison effects and bleeding damage, making them a nightmare for those who underestimate their lethality.

Spellbreaker: Magic Mastery and Piercing Strikes

The Spellbreaker specialization fuses the Nightblade’s agility with the power of occultism. Their Shadow Strike ability deals devastating damage to enemies, while their Occultist Tree grants them access to a range of crowd control and support spells. This versatile build excels at both melee combat and spellcasting, making them a formidable force on the battlefield.

Skill	Effect
Blade Spirit	Summons a spectral blade that seeks out and attacks enemies.
Shadow Strike	A powerful melee attack that grants the Nightblade temporary invulnerability.
Night’s Chill	Lowers the target’s resistances and deals cold damage over time.

Blight’s Bane: The Occultist’s Poisonous Plague

The Occultist commands formidable poison damage capabilities, and Blight’s Bane is the pinnacle of their venomous arsenal. This skill unleashes a pestilent swarm of locusts that infests a targeted enemy, dealing swift and relentless poison damage over time. The decaying insects are relentless in their assault, relentlessly devouring their victim until the very end.

Mechanics and Damage Types

Blight’s Bane’s poison damage is influenced by the Occultist’s Intelligence and Chaos Damage attributes, making it particularly potent against enemies vulnerable to these damage types. The skill’s damage over time duration can be extended through a variety of Occultist skills and passives, prolonging the torment inflicted upon the enemy.

Synergies and Enhancing Effects

The Occultist’s mastery of poison synergizes seamlessly with Blight’s Bane. The mastery’s bonuses to poison damage and reduced enemy poison resistance greatly amplify the skill’s effectiveness. Furthermore, the skill benefits from the Occultist’s ability to curse targets, which further weakens their poison resistance.

Itemization and Devotions

Enhancing Blight’s Bane requires careful itemization and devotion selection. Weapons and armor with poison damage bonuses are invaluable, as are components that grant increased chaos damage. Devotions such as Rattosh, Mogdrogen, and Uroboruuk offer further boosts to poison damage, duration, or reduction of enemy resistances.

Example Build: The Putrid Paragon

Class: Occultist
Mastery: Necromancer
Skills: Blight’s Bane, Soul Harvest, Blood of Dreeg, Mark of Torment
Attribute Focus: Intelligence
Gear: Components with poison damage bonuses, weapons with chaos damage
Devotions: Rattosh, Mogdrogen, Uroboruuk

This build specializes in inflicting persistent poison damage through Blight’s Bane while enhancing its potency with the Necromancer mastery and supporting skills. The combination of poison damage amplification and reduced enemy resist creates a devastating assault that few can withstand.

Ranged Destruction: The Demolitionist’s Firestrike Arsenal

The Demolitionist class in Grim Dawn excels in ranged combat, particularly with its Firestrike ability. This skill unleashes a devastating blast of fire that incinerates enemies, making it an ideal choice for clearing large groups of foes.

Master’s Will

This passive ability enhances the Demolitionist’s Firestrike by increasing its damage and reducing its cooldown. Each point invested in Master’s Will grants a significant boost to the skill’s effectiveness.

Canister Bomb

The Canister Bomb skill throws a bomb that explodes on impact, dealing damage and applying a burning effect. This ability is valuable for dealing additional damage to groups of enemies, especially those with high health.

Flashbang

Flashbang is a crowd control ability that stuns enemies for a short duration. This skill is useful for interrupting enemy attacks, breaking their formations, and providing cover for allies.

Grenado

Grenado is a mortar-like skill that launches an explosive projectile at long range. This ability is effective against stationary targets, such as bosses and rare monsters, providing sustained damage from a safe distance.

Thermite Mine

Thermite Mine places a mine on the ground that explodes when enemies step on it. This skill is excellent for creating traps, controlling enemy movement, and dealing significant damage to unsuspecting foes.

Cluster Grenade

Cluster Grenade is a potent upgrade to the Firestrike ability. When activated, it fires a cluster of fiery projectiles that explode on contact, dealing immense damage and afflicting enemies with a burning effect. This skill is the ultimate AoE (area of effect) clearing tool for the Demolitionist, allowing them to incinerate hordes of enemies with devastating efficiency.

Skill	Effect
Master’s Will	Increases Firestrike damage and reduces cooldown
Canister Bomb	Throws a bomb that explodes, damaging and burning enemies
Flashbang	Stuns enemies for a short duration
Grenado	Launches an explosive projectile at long range
Thermite Mine	Places a mine that explodes when enemies step on it
Cluster Grenade	Fires a cluster of fiery projectiles that explode, damaging and burning enemies

Eldritch Horrors: The Arcanist’s Aether Ray

Aether Ray is an Arcanist skill that launches a beam of pure Aether energy at enemies, dealing substantial damage. With proper planning and execution, it can become one of the most potent single-target skills in Grim Dawn. Several factors contribute to its strength, including its innate high damage and the variety of modifiers that can enhance its effectiveness.

Mastery Bonus

The Arcanist’s Aether Ray mastery bonus provides three key benefits:

Increased Damage: The bonus directly increases Aether Ray’s damage, making it more effective against enemies.
Reduced Cooldown: As the mastery increases, Aether Ray’s cooldown is reduced, allowing for more frequent use.
Pierce Chance: A percentage chance to ignore enemies’ defenses, making Aether Ray more consistent against tougher foes.

Devotion Support

Several devotions can significantly enhance Aether Ray’s power:

Spear of Heaven: Increases Aether Ray’s range, allowing for safer engagements and more control over enemy positioning.
Rumor: Grants a chance for Aether Ray to deal critical damage, significantly boosting its damage output potential.
Arcane Empower: A passive devotion that increases Aether Ray’s damage and reduces its energy cost.

Equipment Bonuses

Various equipment bonuses can further amplify Aether Ray’s potency:

Aether Damage: Skills that increase Aether damage will directly affect Aether Ray, making it more lethal.
Cooldown Reduction: Equipment that reduces skill cooldowns can enhance Aether Ray’s availability.
Pierce Chance: Items that provide pierce chance can further improve Aether Ray’s effectiveness against enemies with high defenses.

Warlord’s Might: The Soldier’s Whirlwind Domination

1. Introduction

The Warlord class in Grim Dawn is a formidable force on the battlefield, capable of devastating enemies with its whirlwinds of steel.

2. Skill Setup

The core of the Warlord’s whirlwind build lies in the skills: Whirlwind, Blitz, and Decorated Soldier.

3. Attribute Allocation

Prioritize Strength and Dexterity to maximize damage output and durability.

4. Gear Selection

Seek gear that enhances Physical and Piercing Damage, such as the Blades of Wrath, Thunderstruck, and Markovian’s Advantage.

5. Devotions

Consider devotions that complement Whirlwind damage, such as Dryad’s Blessing, Wolverine, and Hellhound.

6. Components and Augments

Utilize components like the Mark of Mogdrogen and augments like the Purifier Onslaught to further enhance Whirlwind’s potential.

7. Playstyle

Engage in close-quarters combat, activating Whirlwind and Blitz to clear through hordes of enemies.

8. Leveling and Progression

Early Game (Levels 1-30)

Level Whirlwind first, then invest points in Blitz and Decorated Soldier. Prioritize Physical and Piercing Damage gear.

Mid Game (Levels 31-50)

Continue investing in Whirlwind and Blitz. Focus on acquiring gear with increased Physical and Piercing Damage.

End Game (Levels 51+)

Fully master Whirlwind and invest heavily in support skills. Optimize gear and augmentations for maximum damage output and survivability.

Shadow Strike’s Shadow Strike: A Nightblade Stealth Assassin

Shadow Strike: The Silent Harbinger

Shadow Strike is the Nightblade’s deadly ability, allowing them to vanish into the shadows and unleash a devastating sneak attack upon their unsuspecting foes. This skill deals massive damage, with the potential to eliminate weaker enemies in a single strike.

Veil of Shadows: Stealth and Evasion

Veil of Shadows complements Shadow Strike perfectly, enhancing the Nightblade’s ability to remain concealed. This skill reduces the user’s threat level, making it easier for them to approach and surprise their targets. Additionally, Veil of Shadows grants a chance to evade attacks, increasing the Nightblade’s survivability.

Mark of Death: Target Amplification

Mark of Death amplifies the damage of Shadow Strike by applying a debuff to targeted enemies. This potent effect enhances the Nightblade’s ability to dispatch foes quickly and effectively.

Anatomy of Murder: Critical Strike Mastery

Anatomy of Murder increases the Nightblade’s critical strike chance and damage, maximizing their potential to deliver devastating blows with Shadow Strike. This ability synergizes exceptionally well with the Nightblade’s innate stealth bonus, enabling them to exploit vulnerabilities and exploit their critical hits.

Blade Trap: Area Control and Harassment

Blade Trap provides the Nightblade with area control capabilities and enables them to harass enemies at a distance. When activated, the user places a trap that deals damage over time upon activation, making it an excellent tool for controlling enemy movement and disrupting their attacks.

Nightfall: Empowered Shadows

Nightfall boosts the potency of Shadow Strike by granting bonus damage based on the Nightblade’s Nightfall Essence, a resource gained through the use of certain abilities. With Nightfall active, the Nightblade’s Shadow Strike becomes even more formidable, ensuring that their targets will fall swiftly and silently.

Shadow Dance: Ethereal Movement and Protection

Shadow Dance grants the Nightblade unrivaled mobility and resilience in the heat of battle. This ability allows the user to move rapidly between targets and reduces damage taken, making them a formidable opponent in close-quarters combat.

Throwing Knives: Ranged Dominance

Throwing Knives provide the Nightblade with ranged offensive capabilities, allowing them to engage from a distance and eliminate isolated threats. These agile projectiles inflict substantial damage, giving the Nightblade a versatile toolset for dealing with a variety of situations.

Hybrid Mastery: Dual-Wielding Prowess

Hybrid Mastery allows the Nightblade to master both one-handed and two-handed weapons, ensuring that they can adapt to any combat situation. With this ability, the Nightblade gains additional offensive capabilities and can tailor their weapon loadout to suit their preferred playstyle.

Skill	Level	Damage
Shadow Strike	16	200%
Veil of Shadows	10	-15% Threat
Mark of Death	12	+10% Damage

Grim Dawn Best Clear Build: A Comprehensive Guide

In the unforgiving world of Grim Dawn, finding the perfect build to maximize clear speed is paramount. Among the many options, the following build stands out as one of the most efficient and effective for clearing large hordes of enemies.

This build focuses on the Demolitionist and Nightblade classes, combining their explosive damage and mobility to devastating effect. The Demolitionist provides heavy-hitting abilities like Grenado and Canister Bomb, while the Nightblade adds speed and damage buffs through skills like Shadow Strike and Phantasmal Blades.

The key to this build lies in maximizing the use of Grenado. With its large area of effect and high base damage, Grenado can quickly clear large groups of enemies. By investing in the Demolitionist skill tree, players can increase the damage and radius of Grenado, making it even more effective.

Shadow Strike and Phantasmal Blades from the Nightblade class provide excellent mobility and additional damage. Shadow Strike allows players to quickly reposition themselves while dealing damage, while Phantasmal Blades create piercing blades that deal area damage and can be used to clear out stragglers.

By combining the explosive power of the Demolitionist with the mobility and damage of the Nightblade, this build creates a formidable force that can clear even the toughest hordes with ease.