In Grim Dawn, the Occultist class is one of the most versatile options for players who enjoy summoning and controlling pets to dominate the battlefield. An Occultist pet build focuses on creating a strong army of minions, ranging from summoned hellhounds to spectral spirits, that deal continuous damage while the player stays protected. This type of build allows for strategic combat where positioning, buffs, and debuffs become essential for survival and damage output. Understanding the skills, devotion paths, gear, and attribute distribution for a Grim Dawn Occultist pet build is crucial for crafting a setup that can tackle both hardcore campaigns and challenging endgame content efficiently.
Understanding the Occultist Class
The Occultist in Grim Dawn excels in summoning pets, casting DoTs (damage over time), and debuffing enemies. Its versatility makes it ideal for hybrid builds that combine pet-based damage with personal survivability. By investing in pet skills, players can rely on a combination of summoned minions to tank damage and deal consistent damage over time, creating a persistent threat against mobs and bosses. The Occultist’s mastery over occult powers also allows it to enhance pet effectiveness with buffs and resist reduction on enemies, which is essential for pet-centric builds.
Key Skills for an Occultist Pet Build
Focusing on pet skills ensures that your minions are effective and survive longer in combat. Some essential skills for a Grim Dawn Occultist pet build include
- Summon FamiliarSummons a fire-based pet that provides additional damage over time and can target multiple enemies.
- Summon HellhoundA primary tank pet that draws enemy attention while dealing fire damage.
- Curse of FrailtyReduces enemy resistances, increasing the damage output of your pets.
- Dreeg’s Evil EyeProvides acid and poison DoTs that complement pet attacks and debuff enemies.
- Solael’s WitchfireEnhances pet damage by reducing target resistances and adding vitality/chaos damage.
Mastery Combinations for Pet Builds
While the Occultist class provides strong pet skills on its own, combining it with a secondary mastery enhances the overall build. Some popular combinations for pet-focused builds include
Occultist + Shaman (Conjurer)
Combining the Occultist with Shaman maximizes pet damage and survivability. Shaman offers strong physical and elemental damage bonuses, defensive buffs, and additional pets like wolves. This hybrid allows for a diverse army with strong tanking and damage capabilities. Key skills from Shaman include Summon Briarthorn and Mogdrogen’s Pact for pet health and attack bonuses.
Occultist + Necromancer (Occultist/Necromancer Pet Build)
Pairing Occultist with Necromancer creates a masterful army of both summoning classes. Necromancer provides skeletons and death knights, adding vitality and cold damage to the build. This combination allows for sustained pet damage with high survivability and crowd control, making it one of the most popular choices for pet builds in Grim Dawn.
Devotion Paths for Pet Builds
Selecting the right devotion constellations further enhances pet performance. Devotions provide resistances, damage bonuses, and special procs that can affect pets. For a Grim Dawn Occultist pet build, the focus should be on constellations that benefit minions directly or enhance their survivability.
Recommended Devotions
- Sailor’s GuideProvides pet resistances and damage reduction.
- Shepherd’s CrookBoosts pet health and damage, especially for elemental pets.
- Rhowan’s CrownIncreases lightning damage for pets and adds slow effects to enemies.
- BehemothGrants high health and vitality bonuses to pets.
- WidowIncreases poison and acid damage, complementing the Occultist’s DoTs.
Gear and Itemization for Pet Builds
Proper gear selection is essential for making a pet build effective in both solo and multiplayer gameplay. Focus should be on items that boost pet damage, increase pet health, and reduce their cooldowns. Many sets and legendary items in Grim Dawn provide bonuses specifically for minions, making them ideal for this build.
Important Gear Considerations
- +Skills to Occultist pets (Summon Familiar, Hellhound)
- +Pet damage and health bonuses
- Resistance reductions applied to enemies to enhance pet damage
- Energy and vitality regeneration for sustained casting
- Armor that enhances survivability without sacrificing offensive pet stats
Popular Sets and Legendary Items
Some of the most effective sets for an Occultist pet build include
- Ulzuin’s Headgear SetBoosts fire pet damage and overall summon effectiveness.
- Invoker of Elgoloth SetEnhances acid and poison pets, ideal for Curse and Dreeg skill synergies.
- Dagallon’s Destroyers SetIncreases pet attack speed and survivability.
Attribute Distribution
For a Grim Dawn Occultist pet build, attribute points should focus on increasing pet survivability and enhancing your ability to control the battlefield. Key stats include
- SpiritIncreases energy pool for casting pet buffs and DoTs.
- PhysiqueImproves your own survivability so you can maintain pet support.
- Offensive Ability BonusesInvest points to maximize pet damage through skills and devotion bonuses.
Gameplay Strategies
Effectively controlling pets in Grim Dawn requires strategic positioning and careful management of abilities. Since pets act independently, your role is often supportive, focusing on applying debuffs, healing, and buffs while your minions engage enemies directly.
Positioning and Micro-Management
Keep your character at a safe distance while letting pets handle frontline combat. Use crowd control skills like Curse of Frailty and Dreeg’s Evil Eye to weaken enemies before pets engage. Summon additional minions in strategic locations to divide enemy attention and prevent your pets from taking excessive damage.
Synergy Between Skills and Pets
Ensure that your DoTs and debuffs synergize with pet attacks. Skills that reduce enemy resistances increase the damage your pets deal. Similarly, vitality or elemental damage enhancements from gear and devotion constellations amplify their effectiveness. Timing buffs and debuffs properly can turn overwhelming encounters into manageable battles.
Endgame and Multiplayer Considerations
In endgame content and multiplayer scenarios, the Occultist pet build excels at sustained damage and crowd control. Coordinating with teammates by letting your pets handle trash mobs while you focus on elites or bosses increases overall group efficiency. Legendary items and devotion procs become even more critical, allowing your minions to survive harder encounters and maintain high DPS consistently.
The Grim Dawn Occultist pet build is a powerful and versatile option for players who enjoy summoning minions to dominate combat. By carefully selecting skills, devotion paths, gear, and attribute distribution, players can create a resilient and highly damaging army that excels in both solo and multiplayer gameplay. Understanding the synergy between pets, DoTs, and debuffs is crucial for maximizing damage output while maintaining survivability. Whether engaging in regular quests, exploring challenging dungeons, or tackling endgame bosses, an Occultist pet build provides a unique and rewarding gameplay experience that emphasizes strategic planning, careful micro-management, and overwhelming battlefield presence. Investing time into optimizing pets, gear, and skill synergies ensures that your minions become an unstoppable force in the world of Grim Dawn.