Overwhelmed by item stats

[MusicMoto]

I've jumped into Grim Dawn here and there, and have never been the best at creating builds.

But the amount of stats on items makes things incredibly confusing, it's difficult to look at 2 items and see which of the two is more beneficial. How do you decide what items are worth keeping, using, and which to merch?

[FlamingX21]

if your damage gets bigger by equipping specific item, keep that item on. That's how I went when I first started playing, simple as that.

Oh and which looks cooler too, can't forget about style when you are killing stuff.

[...and a voice was screaming...]

Well, it's a matter of balancing all of the stats on your character. At first you don't necessarily need to learn every single stat. You get a tooltip on most of your stats if you hover over it with your mouse. Damage is nice to boost, but you have other important factors to consider like Offensive and Defensive ability, but the priority should be resistance. If you choose to invest in a skill. Try to find and use gear that supports the skill (i.e. if the skill does fire damage, try to use equipment that enhances fire damage). There may be items that have +1 to "some skill". You aim to find the best armor for your level. The attribute stats are mainly used as support for gear but also to enhance other things like health, energy, OA and DA. It can get tricky. Think of it as a puzzle. You want to optimize and try to raise your stats across the board as efficiently as possible. It might not always work 100%, but that's where you play carefully against certain enemies or just avoid certain areas. You can also keep alternate sets of gear if you can't fit all of the resistances together. You kind of have to get to know the various components and items to get a feel for what you'll need. It takes some time and patience. Try organizing the equipment.

[Damnion]

Originally posted by FlamingX21:

if your damage gets bigger by equipping specific item, keep that item on. That's how I went when I first started playing, simple as that.

Oh and which looks cooler too, can't forget about style when you are killing stuff.

Yeah that's how i started off. Just switch your character sheet to the second tab and it tells you how much damage your current right and left click abilities are doing. Pop in the new item you think might be better and see if the number increases. Once you are past the first play through on normal though you will want to pay more attention to resistances as they start to become very important on higher difficulties.

[McCloud]

https://forums.crateentertainment.com/t/tool-rainbow-filter-item-highlighting/42765

[MusicMoto]

Originally posted by McCloud:

https://forums.crateentertainment.com/t/tool-rainbow-filter-item-highlighting/42765

This looks helpful, I'll have to look into this when I have more time.

[Enfild]

Decide what you want. And look for it.
And what you want is mainly resistances and + to your damage type/types. Start with that and you will learn what else is important as you go.

Probably another good advice would be is to try and focus on 1 damage type, so you have less stats to worry about.
Its not so bad, really, at first i ignored everything aside from armor Value, and over time learned game enough to clear hardcore ultimate.

[madrigal]

For leveling, I'm mostly a defensive player, so never try to max damage until late game. If I'm not at risk of dying, I don't even try to min-max. It's way too confusing. I just don't swap gear until I absolutely have to, usually when I obviously need more armor or find a way better weapon. Re-shuffling stats is a royal pain. I get my resists balanced out and then leave it alone as long as possible.

For leveling: Armor is for defense and resists. Weapons and gloves are for offense and damage. Everything else is for resistances or health regen. Always have something that does health regen. OA and DA are bonus. Boots always have +run speed (rare exceptions). Gloves almost always have +attack or +cast speed. Put components on everything. Aether and chaos resists are harder to find, so I tend to keep items with those.

Buffing damage early game is optional (within reason). I usually go for resists or health regen first. Until mid game (somewhere between level 50 and 65), I almost never equip an item that doesn't buff resistances. Wearing sets is an exception. Using skill-specific items is an exception.

Mid and late game, use faction augments to boost your weak stats so you can focus more on damage.

If you are playing a pet build, you need to equip gear that buffs the pets.

Picking devotions is a mess until you've done it a few times. Unfortunately, the process requires some study. Or you can follow someone else's build.

[gNuff!~©~gNom3™]

resists+armor rating on armor slot items
on weapons/offhand slots; +dmg for your dmg type/skills (flat dmg only applies to weapon attacks and skills using %weapon Dmg, +%dmg applies to anything using that dmg type)
speed for your skill type if utilizing it (attack speed for weapon attacks, cast speed for channeled spell attacks)
OA/DA bonuses
any +skills for your build is gravy
^ignore "everything" else

[Slainpessimist]

if you use skills that have weapon damage then focus on flat damage (eg 1-5 cold damage) for your chosen type. If you use skills that don't use weapon damage then focus on percentage damage of your chosen type (eg 20% to cold damage).
Choose armour by resistances and armour rating, if there are extras then all good, but their primary function is to protect you.

[Cryptic]

I agree. This is a turnoff for me on the game and genre in general, but you don't have to learn each one. Just find stuff you like and then you get bonuses or at least that's how I look at it.

[cylentstorm]

I wouldn't sweat it too much unless you're into min-maxing--but your post suggests that you're not, so just go with your gut. If it bothers you, just keep an eye on the most relevant stats for your character class and playstyle as you swap gear. Sell/scrap the rest or save the best for your other characters.

Some of these number-fetish cats will go on for days about the minutiae of the game, but in the end, it's all about adventure and killing baddies for the proverbial "phat lewt." Don't let the details drag you down. Experiment. Have fun.