Best combination of Shaman + ¿? to get the best DPS output.

[🄽🄰🄼🄴🄻🄴🅂🅂]

Hey guys I would like to ask a little help with this build that I trying to make.

With the shaman I been focus more in the skills that do DPS and bleed damage, for the second class I was thinking conjurer for the poison damage, summons and/or other DPS skills. Also I would like to go with ranged weapons (I prefer that style) and I know the shaman class is based for two hand melee weapons, so if I pick conjurer as a second class I will still be able to do a lot of DPS damage with ranged weapons?
Dual pistols will be cool but no problem if I need to use the rifles.

By the way, and this for my short experience playing the game. Is the normal difficult that easy? I'm lvl 7 with the vines skill lvl 4 and all the mobs die in 1-2 seconds, I'm worried of more forward when I have a high bleed damage the game become extremely easy. I know that the idea is kill the mobs fast but "that fast" at the begining of the game.

[KG]

To start from the last: Shaman with Devouring Swarm and Grasping Vines is maybe the best low-level build until the 30s or 40s - no surprise that normal difficulty isn't challenging if that's the sort of build you happen to be using. That said, very few people seem to have trouble with stuff on normal. They might get stuck on bosses through handling things wrong or possibly end up going off-track into optional areas that you're meant to come back to later but that's about it.

Hmm. I'm not sure what to say about a ranged weapon bleed build. There are some quite strong melee bleeders, maybe warder in particular, but ranged weapons and ranged skills... hmm. I don't think Occultist would be a bad pick at least. Curse of Frailty and the newly-buffed Bloody Pox are great in themselves and they're both amazing at proccing devotions that you'd want to attach to them like Rend or any procs you get from gear. Savagery would be your choice for single-target damage.

[Anathema]

If you want to focus on Shaman Bleed damage, I recommend paring it with Soldier or Nightblade. The Bloodrager set has bonuses for Savagery + Soldier's Blade Arc. I use The Guillotine axe for my Warder. Trickster also has ways of dealing bleed damage. You would want to dual wield for that, and there are some good one-handed bleed weapons.

[Finnvbot]

When it comes to rifles with bleeding damage, I can think of only one and it's a legendary one (level 75). However, you can go mostly caster with a few gunshots here and there and you should be fine. Conjurer is the obvious choice here. Keep in mind that you need to have one of the few items which let you dual-wield pistols if you plan on going gunslinger in the first place (gunslinger's talisman and marauder's ammo belt are the low-level options). If you don't mind throwing some lightning damage into the mix, Primal Strike with the transmuter is a great crowd melter with 2H weapons, albeit energy-consuming. Also, don't go full bleed or you will struggle against undead enemies. ;)

[LotusBlade]

Normal difficulty is easy with any skill maxed right away. Literally, any active dmg-dealing skill for any hero. I am using Summon Hound for fast normal difficulty rush, it deals like 300 dmg to monsters every 0,3 seconds + some aoe skills and can crit. Just reached act II and already unkillable and unstoppable. Works the same with most heroes.

The problems will come on second difficulty (i hope we will get rid of this dumb 3 difficulties system just like Path of Exile did). Monsters (elite) on that difficulty kill you in 2-3 shots even if you have 5k hp and all resists maxed. The only way to get away is to steal life in % fast. I didnt liked my ranger cus he used too much mana (have to drink bottles non-stop with like 500 mana and 200 reserved). Also mobs reach you too fast, so there is no point to go ranged combat. Well, unless you have some items stashed from other heroes.

[DeadByDefault]

Originally posted by LotusBlade:

Normal difficulty is easy with any skill maxed right away. Literally, any active dmg-dealing skill for any hero. I am using Summon Hound for fast normal difficulty rush, it deals like 300 dmg to monsters every 0,3 seconds + some aoe skills and can crit. Just reached act II and already unkillable and unstoppable. Works the same with most heroes.

The problems will come on second difficulty (i hope we will get rid of this dumb 3 difficulties system just like Path of Exile did). Monsters (elite) on that difficulty kill you in 2-3 shots even if you have 5k hp and all resists maxed. The only way to get away is to steal life in % fast. I didnt liked my ranger cus he used too much mana (have to drink bottles non-stop with like 500 mana and 200 reserved). Also mobs reach you too fast, so there is no point to go ranged combat. Well, unless you have some items stashed from other heroes.

What, exactly, do you consider 'dumb' about the difficulty/playthrough system?
Also, it is not true that monsters in general kill you with two to three hits on Elite. It depends upon your gear and your build, of course, but two to three hits is simply not true unless you completely screwed something up along the way.

[Finnvbot]

First and foremost, PoE is an MMO. Therefore, it focuses on the endgame. That's the nature of the beast, if you will. GD is not an MMO. I'm aware that there are really sweet items at level 75 but it's a game where journey matters as much (if not more) as destination.

No point in ranged combat?! You should try that combo, it wrecks faces. Also, I'm not sure about the energy consumption, since no Arcanist should have any problems managing it, bar a heavy Aether Ray user. Hell, even my nade-spamming Pyro has no problems.

[raubrey]

Originally posted by Finnvbot:

journey matters as much (if not more) as destination.

I feel this way about any good game. Well put.

[🄽🄰🄼🄴🄻🄴🅂🅂]

Originally posted by LotusBlade:

Normal difficulty is easy with any skill maxed right away. Literally, any active dmg-dealing skill for any hero. I am using Summon Hound for fast normal difficulty rush, it deals like 300 dmg to monsters every 0,3 seconds + some aoe skills and can crit. Just reached act II and already unkillable and unstoppable. Works the same with most heroes.

The problems will come on second difficulty (i hope we will get rid of this dumb 3 difficulties system just like Path of Exile did). Monsters (elite) on that difficulty kill you in 2-3 shots even if you have 5k hp and all resists maxed. The only way to get away is to steal life in % fast. I didnt liked my ranger cus he used too much mana (have to drink bottles non-stop with like 500 mana and 200 reserved). Also mobs reach you too fast, so there is no point to go ranged combat. Well, unless you have some items stashed from other heroes.

Well in that case I think I will stick in normal difficulty and see how it goes, until now only bosses and some champions/elite mobs remain standing for combat.

Now I'm unsure what to choose for my second class, Occultist or Demolitionist The problem was my mistake at think that the occultist had skills with bleed damage but it have acid/poison/chaos/vitality, four types and if I want increase the damage means spend more points in the tree of devotions because I need different constellations.

While the demolitionist is only fire damage. How good are the blackwater cocktail and grenado skills? Good for damage, DPS or both?

Originally posted by Anathema:

If you want to focus on Shaman Bleed damage, I recommend paring it with Soldier or Nightblade. The Bloodrager set has bonuses for Savagery + Soldier's Blade Arc. I use The Guillotine axe for my Warder. Trickster also has ways of dealing bleed damage. You would want to dual wield for that, and there are some good one-handed bleed weapons.

I don't know if Nightblade can be a good combination since I trying to make a build focus in DPS and because is the assassin/rogue class which usually means fast attack speed, low defense and do a lot of damage under specific circumstances.

[Anathema]

Don't let traditional archetypes fool you. In Grim Dawn, you can use every mastery in a wide variety of ways.

[Old Iron Johnson]

Your good old physical warder using cadence and dipping into Warder for 2h passives and Mog's pact will output a comfortable 90k DPS with decent resist reduction and a boatload of health. It also doesn't depend as much on gear as Nightblades do.