Grim Dawn - Pets For Beginners - Guide For New Players - v1.1.9.4

[@perki3341]

Nice to see someone take their time to explain stuff, very beginner-friendly!

[@klesk0s]

Really great content, man! Nicely done. I started the Ritualist on my own, even before I saw this video. Combination of Necro and Shaman works great and is a lot of fun. Glad I picked two good classes. I think Grim Dawn is massively underrated in terms of ARPGs these days^^. Looking forward to viewing more of your fresh content in 2022! :)

[@Arcadelife1]

Thanks very much, always great hearing positive feedback for this stuff. Nice to hear from new players enjoying the game too!

[@Arcadelife1]

I added timestamps to the description. Here they are: 0:01 Intro 1:11 Pet masteries ranked (my opinion) 3:37 Necromancer pet skills demonstrated and explained 11:00 Devotions for pet build (Necro) 14:06 Occultist pet skills demonstrated and explained 19:41 Devotions for pet build (Occultist) 21:41 Shaman pet skills demonstrated and explained 26:56 Cabalist (Necro/Occultist) demonstated and explained as a pet build 31:37 Finding pet gear at vendors 33:09 Skill point management 34:39 Level 100 pure Necro pet build demonstration 39:22 Pets as granted skills from gear items - demonstrated and explained Other videos about pets Pure Necro pet build: kzbin.info/www/bejne/eX7HZZqVa6-jf7M Death Knight pet build with 14 skeletons: kzbin.info/www/bejne/mqWTiqiLh6prhck

[@cyruspark6472]

Amazing video, you cover a lot things no one does and it helps big time.

[@Arcadelife1]

Thanks for the view and comment - glad to hear you’re finding my stuff useful.

[@travissullivan6575]

Of the three, the Shaman is one of the best supports for the pet builds because of the heal/life on attack damage for bosses and the max hp/defensive ability/aether+pierce resistance for pets. Elemental pets getting wind devil + curse of frailty can be pretty nasty, too.

[@Arcadelife1]

Nice one, yeah for support definitely. I had to rank them (I made myself do it) and for a beginner pet build I felt (my opinion as I said) shaman was 3rd on that rough ranking scale.

[@travissullivan6575]

@@Arcadelife1 True, though for endgame pets, Necro is the weakest in most cases, though the most iconic.

[@airiakizuki5592]

really? i tried summoning a pet once as a shaman it is incredibly weak and pathetic.

[@firstname4337]

wind devil scales with player bonuses not pet bonuses -- so they don't count as "pets"

[@Grandmastergav86]

Completed my first run of the main game with a pet-based Warlock (gotta love the Hellhound and Raven support) and it worked very well. I've always enjoyed a good pet-based setup in ARPGs.

[@Arcadelife1]

Nice one 👊🙂 Here’s an elemental pets build where Hellhound plays a significant part - kzbin.info/www/bejne/eJfIpGWka7mCadk

[@casey4063]

I am liking the content and do appreciate the time spent on this. It would be great to have time stamps on these videos since they avrg an hour or close to it.

[@Arcadelife1]

Thanks for the comment. Not sure what I was doing with no timestamps on this one, I usually include them in the description. As soon as my PC room is at an acceptable temperature, I’ll sort out some timestamps and add them to the description.

[@seansmith4993]

@@Arcadelife1 How's your PC temperature? ;)

[@Arcadelife1]

@@seansmith4993 Uh-oh, I forgot to add the timestamps…! Thanks for the reminder 👊🙂

[@Arcadelife1]

@@seansmith4993 And it's done. Also pasted here for reference: 0:01 Intro 1:11 Pet masteries ranked (my opinion) 3:37 Necromancer pet skills demonstrated and explained 11:00 Devotions for pet build (Necro) 14:06 Occultist pet skills demonstrated and explained 19:41 Devotions for pet build (Occultist) 21:41 Shaman pet skills demonstrated and explained 26:56 Cabalist (Necro/Occultist) demonstated and explained as a pet build 31:37 Finding pet gear at vendors 33:09 Skill point management 34:39 Level 100 pure Necro pet build demonstration 39:22 Pets as granted skills from gear items - demonstrated and explained

[@CyberBeep_kenshi]

i love this game. pet builds can get utterly insane:-) all i can advice in general, focus on 1 thing with a character. mixing a 100 skills doesn't work. but maxing on something is fantastic.

[@andrei1637]

Best guide I've seen. Thanks

[@Arcadelife1]

Thanks for the view and the comment - good to hear you like the vid 👊🙂

[@Joshwana]

Been playing this game on and off since launch and had no idea you could search keywords in devotions until this video 😵

[@Arcadelife1]

Glad this was useful 👊🙂

[@reozen8727]

really love your vid! when i played diablo 2, i enjoyed playing necromancer a lot(with 10+ revives and corpse explosion). and when i play grim dawn, i also enjoyed cabalist, ritualist and conjurer a lot. really surpirsed to see that Skeleton Servant and Yeti pet, what powerful items are still hidden in this game! nice vid!

[@Arcadelife1]

Thanks for the view and the comment - good to hear you’re a pets fan 👍

[@CyberBeep_kenshi]

quick tip, sorry for all the spam, but i like the guide;) you might want to top off skills to 12 With the equipment bonusses, until you got some points to spare. Most skills don't get that much better above the max. Good example are the special attacks that trigger with notmal attacks, the 20% chance is already reached at 6. So you could have 2 different attacks at 6, with all the perks, instead of juat 1. You can get a Lot of efficiency that way

[@Mattias-Forslin]

Amazing video for beginners!!

[@Arcadelife1]

Cheers, glad it's still useful 🙂

[@Mattias-Forslin]

@@Arcadelife1 Im abit late to Grim dawn I see.. haha!

[@LTDANMAN44]

im trying to build my pets up. i'm failing miserably. i will try some of your tricks

[@Arcadelife1]

Thanks for the comment, good luck with the pets. - wear any gear that buffs pets - use skills that buffs pets or ‘allies’ - use the search function in the devotion screen to find ‘pets’ mentioned in constellations - beware of anything gear item that specifically converts the damage type of pets, it might not be beneficial for you

[@Arikarinful]

THanks so much for this!

[@SWILLEntertainment]

Awesome video, it really helped me out. New sub here.

[@Arcadelife1]

Hi mate - nice one, thanks for viewing, commenting and subbing :-)

[@visgraatje859]

Great video!

[@Arcadelife1]

Great comment 👊🙂

[@samgoodday5930]

Very nice video thank you so much

[@Draksyl]

Some of the item granted pets are very useful as well. Just got the Empowered Black Grimoire of Og'Napesh, which allows you to summon an uber tank skeleton lich, whose aura massively ups your others pets defensive rating👍

[@Arcadelife1]

@@Draksyl 39:22 - timestamps in description 👊😜

[@Draksyl]

@@Arcadelife1Sorry was at 26:52 when i commented:) Its also amazing what pets can do to nemesis bosses even at relatively low level. My 78 Vampire build melee death knight cuts through massed mobs no issue, but cant get through the regen and HP pool of L88 nemesis spawns on Ultimate. Meanwhile my Nec/Occ build at level 72 is busy killing 3 simultaneous nemesis spawns + shrine bosses before i noticed they were even there..... Running 26/16 'Raise skeletons' plus Blight tank plus Raven, Rifthound and 3 item pets..... Is there a max soft cap beyond which extra pet skill points dont contribute, or does it just continue to scale linearly?

[@Arcadelife1]

@@Draksyl Ha ha no probs mate, I always try to put the useful timestamps in the description particularly on longer videos. Something worth knowing is the resistance penalties you suffer in elite and ultimate do not apply to pets. Nice, right 👊🙂

[@Arcadelife1]

@@Draksyl Pet skill points on the mastery screens are the same as all the others - only +10 points can be added over the soft cap. Recent patch turns the skill numbers red if you exceed the hard cap and have wasted points in a skill.

[@Draksyl]

​@@Arcadelife1- thanks for that. Im over the cap for Raise Skeles so time to swap out some gear!

[@Dissius]

Using this information, you can look at build guides such as Maya's Pet Walker and make some pretty crazy stuff.

[@nfapeng187]

Glad you dont spam the MAP button. I watched some other guy's video and literally had to exit it. THe entire time he just kept hitting the map button. I was like holy jesus

[@Arcadelife1]

@@nfapeng187 Ha ha nice, I’ll have to start doing that 👊😜

[@rogue1591]

Happy New Year to you @Arcadelife🤘 New sub, just joined recently, awesome vids, they’ve helped me so much as a new player to this game, I especially like the purifier series, just hit 57 on that. I know in your purifier build you were putting all your Attribute points into Physique, does this same strategy apply to a pet build as well or is there a mix on the pet builds? Ty again for these helpful vids and look forward to more🤘

[@Arcadelife1]

Hi @ROGUE - thanks loads for viewing, commenting and subbing - it is much appreciated. Regarding Physique, it's not very exciting but for pretty much every build you're going to want to put as many attribute points as possible into physique - save maybe 10 points (unused) after level 50/60 so if you find a great ring or other item needing additional Spirit you can add the points without needing to use a rare potion to reset attributes. If you're using weapons that need high Cunning (ranged weapons, swords, etc.), look for the devotion constellation(s) that reduce the appropriate cunning requirement and hang onto any gear items that do the same.

[@rogue1591]

@@Arcadelife1 right on brother, much appreciated, have yourself an awesome day🤘

[@lol-ye5lg]

Og'Napesh is underrated, their aoe skill gives 30% armor and some reflect dmg buff can really buff up your army

[@Arcadelife1]

Yes! He has skills/abilities not mentioned in the game tooltip (the stuff you're talking about) and he just looks great. Fire pet build would have him as essential I reckon.

[@Afura33]

Thanks for the video. 23:27 so as a ritualist it is impossible to have primal bond (shaman) and master of death (necromancer) active at the same time? I can only use one of them for my build? 39:30 pets that I only get from an item like from black grimoire or heart of the mountain can I increase the damage of these pets with my other items or skills that gives damage to pets? Or is their damage fixed and can't be increased?

[@Arcadelife1]

1 - Exclusive skills... yes, only one can be active. The game won't stop you wasting points in both of them, so be careful! The skill tooltip does tell you only one exclusive skill can be active. 2 - The tooltips for those pets (from items) will say "scales with pet bonuses" if that is the case. Make sure to read the tooltip on items that grant pets and you will know. So yes, if it says "scales with pet bonuses" the pet (from the item) will be buffed by any of your skills, gear or devotions that buff pets.

[@Afura33]

@@Arcadelife1 Thank you again for your answer and time :) 1. I always thought this was for each mastery the case, but good to know because I was about to max. both of my masteries to get both ^^ , I will have some points to spare now :) 2. Oh ok I see so the item that grants the pet will tell me if it scales with other pet bonuses or not. I never paid attention to this :| , my bad.

[@zlorfik2428]

Great guide. Not like "here's my end-game level build" that you see everywhere. My question is: How to not get bored with a pet build? I ran an Occultist + Shaman build (no DLC) and by level 50 all i have is pet skills and frailty + vulnerability. Throwing an occasional curse and then do nothing is boring in terms of gameplay (at least to me). Because that was boring to me, I went with a shaman build of recastable non-pet summons like the vortex and the totems, but by the time they ramp up in damage output, my wife would have killed all enemies already with vines alone.

[@Arcadelife1]

Thanks for the view and the comment. Yeah, pets can be boring or pointless if you’re a ‘hands on’ player who wants to get stuck in with the fighting rather than watch the pets have all the fun! And some people love pet builds. I’ve had fun with and without pets, it’s really down to personal choice and what you find fun - luckily Grim Dawn can provide all these options!

[@davidburke4101]

A bit late but if pet builds aren't very fun for you, then the opposite end of the spectrum is a caster. A doombolt caster with the harbinger set on occultist might be an option for you. Doombolt literally does double damage if you directly hit an enemy with the bolt and it manually goes to your cursor. If pets are boring then the opposite end of the spectrum might be very entertaining.

[@ApoklipsA1]

Dont bring a pet build into a fire fight ^^. Suxs that you play a build u dont enjoy. Find your call young padawan.

[@RogueBones3]

I don't have any dlcs but I've been doing a conjurer build where I've put everything into my pets, it's working pretty well so far on elite.

[@Arcadelife1]

Great to hear -thanks for the view and the comment. Although I’d 100% recommend getting the two expansions, there’s a ton of content in the base game and a pet build will definitely work there 👊🙂

[@RogueBones3]

@@Arcadelife1 I will soon

[@traviscrawford6491]

Can you please do a video on how to get the items that summon the pets?

[@Arcadelife1]

Great suggestion! Some are easy to get (faction shop item such as the Hysteria relic), others are guaranteed 100% chance boss drops (Salazar's weapon) and others are totally random drops that can't be target farmed ... so a video about them all would definitely be useful. Thanks!

[@henryduong4728]

Thank you.

[@reallybigjohnson]

Only pets that are actually good are the permanent whirly twirly or hammer guys, temp pets like cyclones and totems. All the other pets just end up dying alot in ultimate mode unless you invest heavily in very specific gear and waste lots of time. The big benefit of the hammer guys and the whirly twirly things is that they scale with the player AND they never die...ever so no babysitting or having to recast them. My go to build is the Warlord. I just tank everything with retribution, put Bullrush on my hammer guys and use warcry to debuff and lower resistances. You can get additional debuffs on your hammer guys once you get enough skill points.

[@Arcadelife1]

Although I objectively disagree with the point regarding actual pets, gear and Ultimate difficulty, I respect your choice to play the game in whichever way gives you the most fun. My ‘easy gear elemental pets’ build (several videos on the channel) demonstrates how a strong pet build doesn’t necessarily need random-drop legendary gear that can take hundreds/thousands of hours to get. But if you basically don’t like playing using actual pets, it won’t change your mind.

[@scottcoz]

I'm curious - have seen a few of your build guide vids now, and wondering how you are creating characters at level 95?

[@Arcadelife1]

Good question. I’m fairly sure this is the only video where I use an edited save file (a cheat, really) to create a ‘new’ character at level 95 to make it easier to demonstrate the different pet masteries and skill-point allocation without going through the whole levelling process. It was just to save time and allow me to create the video a lot quicker. The vast majority of my (recent) guide videos are done in fresh starts and the videos show ‘proper’ levelling and gear acquisition etc.

[@Heir03]

What mods are you using? I happened to see a point where you were fighting a boss/elite and a big skull showed up over them for a bit.

[@Arcadelife1]

The only mod I’ve ever used is Rainbow Item Filter, which changes the text on tooltips for gear, skills, etc so the text colour matches the damage type (acid=green, etc). Anything else you’re seeing is part of the base game, or part of the official DLCs.

[@thegreendank1]

Can't wait for the new dlc next year

[@DavidFletcher566]

Great video. But I'm in the group of people that finds pet builds boring. I'd rather do the killing myself, with a caster build 😄

[@miciso666]

honestly occultist storm raven is so damn broken early game. it literally one shot anything i met. the skeletons seem to be puny beat sticks for the enemy. maybe if get a lot of raise skeleton and buffs for them they become viable. but so far my fav build is pump ravens to 16. then get doggo and in necro get blightfiend. u will get 3 summons to worry about that can curbstomp anyone. and set fiend to close. so he can block bullets.

[@Arcadelife1]

I did an ‘elemental pets’ build based heavily on raven and hellhound buffs, you’d probably like it - kzbin.info/www/bejne/eJfIpGWka7mCadk

[@陆贝特]

Hello, I'm new to this game. One quick question: how I get that life bar for pets at the left-up corner as you show in the vedio?

[@Arcadelife1]

Check the game options, it’s one of the choices on there.

[@zergtoss1]

Why take the bird instead of using the extra points for bonds of bysmiel on the occultist?

[@Arcadelife1]

I don’t know which part of the vid you’re referring to, but I’m assuming I picked the bird to demonstrate it as a pet. Probably.

[@UltraCasualPenguin]

Raven kills tougher enemies almost instantly if you max it out by the point you reach level 10. Have you looked at Maya's Petwalker conjurer?

[@aleksandarbradaric4925]

Can you please answer this. I started playing a PET build. I wanted to activate Mogdrogen's pact for resistances from oak skin and health boost from heart of the wild. I placed all 10/10 points in heart of the wild (26% health boost) but it didn't boost the health of pets only mine. Is this a bug or it really only boosts my health, not the pets. Thanks.

[@Arcadelife1]

The pets should get all the buffs from Mogdrogen’s Pact but they need to be within range of you to be affected by it.

[@namvuthanh3810]

Thanks for the information. Its help me alpot in my lazy playstyle, i just stand there and those pets do all the thing. however, i went for occulist + shaman. i will try necromancer + ? i still dont know (i dont want to paly occulist or shaman again). And how can i let skill description appears in different color like you.

[@sp10sn]

the colors are from the rainbow filter mod. it's basically essential.

[@CyberBeep_kenshi]

I prefer combining with shaman, for the excellent defences. so with necro or occult, i prefer necro

[@DamianSzajnowski]

Ayooo, I came in like, hey, I'll listen in but pet gameplay is pretty lame. Then I've connected the dots and instantly knew it's gonna be a badass raven for the occultist. Then you mention the doggo or wolf ot whatever that is - duo like from an edgy shaman/viking pagan culture enjoyer's wet dream. Don't mind if I do! My first choice is an inquisitor, maybe something meele later to get to know the basics further down the difficulty. Makes me want to try this out now. Thanks, clearly explained. Also, can you... pet the pets? Like the skelly bois?

[@ApoklipsA1]

Do you use a mod for different text colors on item drops or skill mastery? I'm pretty sure i can't find that in options.

[@Arcadelife1]

Yes, it’s the only mod I use - actually just a few text files - all explained in this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gqKZpH96rtl5rKc

[@ApoklipsA1]

Tried to put the files in the folder. Didnt worked. Still appreciate the tip ^^

[@Arcadelife1]

@@ApoklipsA1 If they don't work in the main Grim Dawn folder, try removing them from there and putting them in the other 'settings' folder which will be something like C:\Users\username\Documents\My Games\Grim Dawn\Settings

[@septemberavenue8344]

Hi, may I ask how can I also do a test build like you did there? Thank you and I will be grateful if you can help me. I just knew about the game and I'm interested and amazed and I want to make sure my first char will be good... Pls help

[@Arcadelife1]

I cheated for the purposes of being able to demonstrate the skill allocation quickly. I used a third-party application to edit a saved file, wouldn’t recommend this to a new player but it depends what you want from the game. In my defence, I’ve levelled several pet builds and I have a vague idea what I’m talking about, and I only ‘cheated’ to streamline the video.

[@septemberavenue8344]

@@Arcadelife1 I understand that sir. I also want to do it so I can get grasp how classes works by being able to see it myself. I want to learn fast and make my first char that is good.

[@Arcadelife1]

@@septemberavenue8344 This will do what I was talking about, but I'm not going to actually recommend it as there's all sorts of risks to enjoyment and corrupting a saved character: forums.crateentertainment.com/t/tool-gd-stash/29036

[@septemberavenue8344]

@@Arcadelife1 I don't have any saved character yet. except my main level 1 character which I will touch until I know what to do.

[@kongkim]

The Blight Fiend's threat nodes, do the threat become better for each point in the two nodes, or will if have same threat level with 1 point in the nodes?

[@Arcadelife1]

I’ve always thought the threat level generated increases with each point spent, and that the two different nodes stack with each other. There’s probably mathematical proof of this somewhere, but all I know for sure is I’ve had a Blight Fiend pulling most enemies straight away in late game with a bunch of points spent on him.

[@kongkim]

@@Arcadelife1 Thx for the answer :) But would really like to see the mathematical proof behind it, and i have not been able to find anything on it with my google skills..

[@Arcadelife1]

@@kongkim The proof that the generated threat increases is where it says 'generates additional threat' on each level-up of the skill. If there was only one level of additional threat, it would say it for the first allocated point of the node and not on any subsequent points. Of course, that's only true if the tooltip is 100% factual but I have some faith in it. I'll have a dig around for maths evidence but I'm confident enough to say the generated threat does increase with each point in those nodes, I just can't provide any actual numbers for it.

[@kongkim]

@@Arcadelife1 Yah it not that i don't belive you :D its just as you say if the tooltip is right :) So that was way i was trying to find something with numbers on it or maybe a dev, said something. But its not easy to find.

[@cookingwithelia1]

which pet build works good for 1.9.8?

[@Arcadelife1]

There’s no significant difference (no nerfs) for pets in that patch, so any good pet build will still be good. This one will work fine and the gear is easy to get - kzbin.info/www/bejne/eJfIpGWka7mCadksi=SUIo2y7I9m5p6z2J

[@DrGreenthumbISO]

Hi ! im playing the occultist build but i dont know where i need to put my attribut points, if someone can help me :)

[@Arcadelife1]

Physique attribute increases will increase your defensive ability stat, also allowing you to wear gear that has high strength requirements (although you may not need that). Pet damage scales with your Spirit attribute but I’ve never actively increased Spirit for that reason. Some pet gear has high Spirit requirements to equip. Cunning is not needed for pet builds where you (player character) generally isn’t directly dealing damage.

[@DrGreenthumbISO]

@@Arcadelife1 Thank you for your answer, I started watching your other videos, you do a good job! I still have a little question xD When I put all the skill points in the ocullist that you show in the video, can I combine with that of the shaman? I don't have the dlcs :( (maybe you have a link for a full build )

[@Arcadelife1]

@@DrGreenthumbISO Occultist and Shaman are both in the base game, but the level cap is 85 (it rises to 100 with Ashes of Malmouth DLC) so there are fewer skill points available in the base game. I’ll grab some links to my Elemental Pets videos (Occultist/Shaman build) and reply again, but some of the build’s gear is only available with the DLCs…

[@Kornilios21]

What's the easiest way to get the "18 pet achievement"? (I got a lvl62 Cabalist atm.)

[@Arcadelife1]

From memory, I had 14 skeletons (needs some +1 summon gear such as warden weapon and Wendigo Gaze medal), blight fiend, the two Occultist pets and the 18th from a relic or offhand. Hysteria relic is easy because you buy the blueprint from Homestead or Coven. That’s not the only way but it’s fairly straightforward.

[@Kornilios21]

@@Arcadelife1 Thanks! I got the the 2 occultist pets, 8 skellies, blight fiend and the relic. So I gotta look for the summon gears.

[@Arcadelife1]

@@Kornilios21 I had this weapon, with +3 summon limit on it for skeletons - www.grimtools.com/db/items/8801

[@Arcadelife1]

@@Kornilios21 Also look for any gear that adds skill points into “Undead Legion” the node on the Raise Skeletons skill that increases the summon limit beyond the soft-cap.

[@Kornilios21]

@@Arcadelife1 This isn't just a youtube channel, it's basically helpdesk lol. Awesome mate, really appreciate it

[@S0U1MANDRAY22]

🙌🏽🙌🏽

[@fabricioantonello8023]

Can I reset the masteries I selected if I am level 28?

[@Arcadelife1]

No, sorry - you can claim back all the points apart from the first point in the mastery bar. If you want to try new masteries, you will need to create a new character.

[@EAlphanUcak]

im a new player should play with veteran diff ?

[@Arcadelife1]

It’s something you can toggle on and off so try it and see what you think - you can switch it off if you find it too hard or too slow, back on again if the game starts to feel too easy.

[@pathofthewarlord6192]

pure pet builds are borring. I like hybrid builds when i attack as well

[@Arcadelife1]

Good luck with that. Post a video and link it here to show us all how non-boring the hybrid-damage build is.

[@Afura33]

It's all subjetive, I personally don't like hybrid builds.

[@soulflame5635]

From what I saw / 540 h in on steam and many more when I supported GD dev / Hybrid pet builds don't work well. Hybrid builds 2 classes do / hybrid pets are weak. You are weak and pets too / You focus on You or Pets then it works. Check ulti diff go after Nemesis and hero monsters in dangerous places and tell me how it went.

[@markcooperartcomofficial]

Too bad you can't pick a third class with a level 200 cap and a much bigger world, lol..

[@Arcadelife1]

I’d compromise on a mod that allows Pokemon style pet-taming of enemy animals out in the game world 👊🙂