Embark on your journey through Cairn with our comprehensive Purifier leveling guide! This guide will help you optimize your Purifier build, combining the powers of Inquisitor and Demolitionist for maximum effectiveness. Whether you prefer fire or lightning, guns or spells, we’ve got you covered from level 1 to 100.

The Purifier is a potent class in Grim Dawn, born from the combination of the Inquisitor and Demolitionist masteries. This combination allows for a diverse range of builds, typically centered around fire and lightning damage. Purifiers can excel as ranged damage dealers, utilizing dual pistols or rifles, or as casters, weaving destructive spells to obliterate their foes.

The Inquisitor mastery provides essential support through its Word of Renewal skill, which grants vital healing and buffs, as well as powerful elemental damage abilities. Meanwhile, the Demolitionist mastery brings explosive firepower, with skills like Fire Strike and Blackwater Cocktail offering excellent area-of-effect damage and crowd control. This synergy makes the Purifier a formidable force in Grim Dawn.

Whether you are drawn to the rapid-fire devastation of dual guns or the strategic casting of spells, the Purifier offers a flexible and engaging playstyle. This guide will provide the knowledge to create an effective Purifier build, optimized for leveling and end-game content. Prepare to unleash elemental fury and cleanse Cairn of its monstrous inhabitants!

Purifier Build Archetypes (Fire, Lightning, Caster, Gunner)

The Purifier class in Grim Dawn offers a rich variety of build archetypes, catering to different playstyles and preferences. Primarily, builds tend to focus on either Fire or Lightning damage, leveraging the strengths of both the Inquisitor and Demolitionist masteries. Within these elemental focuses, further specialization is possible, leading to distinct playstyles such as Caster and Gunner builds.

Fire-based Purifiers utilize skills like Fire Strike, Thermite Mines, and Word of Pain to deal devastating damage over time and burst damage. Lightning-based Purifiers excel with skills like Rune of Kalastor, Storm Spread, and utilizes lightning WPS skills, focusing on electrocution and area-of-effect damage.

Furthermore, Caster Purifiers emphasize spellcasting, using abilities from both masteries to control the battlefield and deliver potent elemental damage. Gunner Purifiers, on the other hand, focus on ranged weaponry, utilizing dual pistols or rifles to unleash a barrage of bullets infused with elemental power. These builds often incorporate weapon-based skills and passive abilities to maximize their damage output. The choice is yours!

Starting Class: Inquisitor vs. Demolitionist

When creating a Purifier in Grim Dawn, one of the initial decisions you’ll face is which class to start with: Inquisitor or Demolitionist. Both offer unique advantages that can shape your leveling experience. Generally, starting as an Inquisitor is recommended due to the immediate access to Ranged Expertise, a skill that significantly boosts your ranged attack speed and damage. This allows for a smoother and more efficient early game, especially for gun-focused builds.

The Inquisitor also provides early access to Word of Pain, a powerful skill that can clear mobs quickly. Furthermore, Inquisitor offers great WPS skills. However, starting as Demolitionist can be viable, particularly if you plan to focus on fire damage early on. Demolitionist grants access to skills like Fire Strike and Grenado, which can provide strong area-of-effect damage.

Ultimately, the choice depends on your preferred playstyle. For ranged weapon builds, Inquisitor is generally favored, while Demolitionist can be a solid choice for fire-based builds. Consider the skills you want to utilize early on and how they align with each class’s initial offerings to make the best decision for your leveling journey.

Early Leveling (Levels 1-20)

The early levels of Grim Dawn are crucial for establishing a solid foundation for your Purifier build. Focus on completing the main questline to unlock devotion shrines and gain access to new areas. Prioritize skills that provide efficient damage output and clear speed. For Inquisitor starts, maxing out Ranged Expertise should be your first priority, as it significantly boosts your attack speed and damage with ranged weapons.

Consider investing in Word of Pain for its excellent crowd control and damage over time. If you start as Demolitionist, Fire Strike is a strong choice, especially when paired with Explosive Strike. As you progress, allocate skill points to your mastery bar to unlock new skills and increase your attributes. Don’t neglect defensive skills; one point in Blast Shield can provide valuable survivability early on.

Focus on acquiring gear with resistances to common damage types like fire, lightning, and poison. Scavenge for weapons that enhance your chosen damage type, such as fire or lightning damage bonuses. By level 20, you should have a clear idea of your intended build path and have a few key skills well-developed to carry you through the mid-game.

Skill Point Allocation: Prioritizing Ranged Expertise

For a Purifier build focusing on ranged combat, efficient skill point allocation is paramount, especially early in the game. Ranged Expertise, an Inquisitor skill, should be your initial priority. Maxing out Ranged Expertise early significantly boosts your offensive capabilities, increasing your attack speed, cunning, and pierce damage, which greatly enhances your damage output with ranged weapons. This skill provides a substantial advantage in clearing early content and leveling efficiently.

Investing heavily in Ranged Expertise allows you to quickly dispatch enemies, making the leveling process smoother and faster. The increased attack speed translates to more frequent procs of weapon-based skills and devotions, further amplifying your damage. As you level, continue to invest in skills that complement your chosen damage type, such as fire or lightning, but maintain a focus on maximizing Ranged Expertise as soon as possible.

Remember to balance offensive and defensive skills, but prioritize Ranged Expertise initially to establish a strong foundation for your Purifier’s ranged damage potential. This early investment will pay off significantly as you progress through the game, allowing you to tackle tougher challenges with ease and confidence.

Key Skills for Early Game Damage

In the early game of Grim Dawn, selecting the right skills for your Purifier is crucial for efficient leveling and survivability. For a fire-based Purifier, consider investing in skills like Fire Strike from the Demolitionist mastery. Fire Strike provides a solid base for your attacks, and its modifiers, such as Explosive Strike, add area-of-effect damage, which is excellent for clearing groups of enemies. Additionally, consider taking Blackwater Cocktail for crowd control and damage over time.

For a lightning-based Purifier, focus on skills like Storm Spread from the Inquisitor mastery. Storm Spread adds extra projectiles to your attacks, increasing your damage potential against multiple targets. Rune of Hagarrad is another excellent choice, providing crowd control and frost damage. Combining these skills with Ranged Expertise ensures you have a strong foundation for dealing consistent damage.

Remember to balance your skill point allocation between damage-dealing abilities and survivability tools. While maximizing damage is important, having skills that provide crowd control or defensive buffs will help you stay alive and progress through the early game more smoothly. Experiment with different skill combinations to find what works best for your playstyle and chosen damage type.

Equipment Choices for Early Levels

Selecting the right equipment in the early levels of Grim Dawn can significantly impact your Purifier’s damage output and survivability. Focus on acquiring gear that boosts your primary damage type, whether it’s fire or lightning. Look for items with bonuses to fire damage, lightning damage, elemental damage, or increased offensive ability.

For weapons, prioritize ranged options that complement your chosen build. If you’re going for a fire-based build, look for guns or crossbows that add fire damage or have a chance to ignite enemies. For a lightning-based build, seek out weapons that grant lightning damage or have a chance to shock targets. Don’t underestimate the importance of attack speed, as it directly affects your damage per second.

Armor pieces should focus on providing resistances and health. Prioritize resistances to common damage types like fire, lightning, poison, and pierce. A healthy pool of health will help you survive incoming attacks and reduce the risk of being one-shot by stronger enemies. As you progress, keep an eye out for items that grant skill bonuses to your core abilities, further enhancing your damage and utility. Don’t forget to utilize components to add extra stats and resistances to your gear.

Mid-Game Leveling (Levels 20-50)

The mid-game (levels 20-50) in Grim Dawn presents new challenges and opportunities for your Purifier build. As you progress, focus on refining your skill allocation and gear choices to maximize your damage output and survivability. During this phase, you’ll encounter tougher enemies and begin to delve into more challenging areas.

Continue to prioritize skills that enhance your primary damage type, whether it’s fire or lightning. Look for skills that provide area-of-effect damage to clear groups of enemies efficiently. Consider investing in defensive skills to mitigate incoming damage and improve your overall survivability. Skills that provide crowd control, such as stuns or knockdowns, can also be invaluable in tougher encounters.

As you level up, keep an eye out for gear with higher stats and more powerful affixes. Focus on acquiring items that boost your damage, resistances, and health. Blueprints become increasingly important during this phase, allowing you to craft powerful items at the blacksmith. Explore different areas and complete quests to acquire blueprints and materials. Don’t be afraid to experiment with different gear combinations to find what works best for your build.

Developing a Fire-Based Purifier Build

Focusing on fire damage as a Purifier offers a potent and engaging playstyle. The Demolitionist mastery contributes heavily to this build, providing access to powerful fire-based skills. Blackwater Cocktail is a staple skill, offering excellent area-of-effect damage and debuffing capabilities. Maximize this skill early on and consider investing in its transmuter for added effectiveness.

Fire Strike, another Demolitionist skill, serves as a strong single-target damage option. It synergizes well with Inquisitor’s Word of Pain for increased damage output. As you progress, prioritize skills that enhance fire damage, such as Flame Touched and Vindictive Flame. These skills provide significant buffs to your damage and survivability.

Gear choices for a fire-based Purifier should focus on increasing fire damage, burn damage, and cast speed. Look for items with affixes that boost these stats, as well as resistances to fire, chaos, and aether damage. Certain sets, such as the Ulzuin’s Infernal Avatar set, can greatly enhance your fire damage potential.

Remember to utilize devotions that complement your fire damage focus. Solael’s Witchblade and Fiend are excellent choices for increasing fire damage and providing additional offensive capabilities.

Developing a Lightning-Based Purifier Build

A lightning-based Purifier build harnesses the electrifying powers of both the Inquisitor and Demolitionist masteries. This build focuses on dealing high amounts of lightning and electrocution damage, often utilizing dual-wielded pistols to maximize attack speed and damage output. A key skill to prioritize is Storm Spread from the Inquisitor mastery, which allows for devastating area-of-effect damage.

To complement Storm Spread, consider investing in skills like Thermite Mines from the Demolitionist mastery. These mines not only deal lightning damage but also reduce enemy resistances, making them more vulnerable to your attacks. Additionally, utilize the Inquisitor’s Seal to provide a defensive buff and further enhance your lightning damage.

When selecting gear, prioritize items that boost lightning damage, electrocution damage, and attack speed. Look for affixes that increase your offensive ability and cunning, as these stats will improve your accuracy and damage output. Resistors are crucial, especially against lightning, aether, and chaos damage.

Devotions play a vital role in optimizing your lightning-based Purifier. Consider investing in devotions such as Widow and Tempest to further enhance your lightning damage and provide additional crowd control effects.

End-Game Build Considerations (Levels 50-100)

Reaching the end-game in Grim Dawn (levels 50-100) requires a shift in focus from simple leveling to optimizing your Purifier build for maximum survivability and damage output. At this stage, gear choices and devotion setups become paramount.

Consider your chosen damage type (fire or lightning) and tailor your build accordingly. For fire builds, look for gear that supports skills like Fire Strike and Blackwater Cocktail. For lightning builds, focus on items that enhance Storm Spread and Thermite Mines. Resistance reduction is crucial at end-game, so prioritize items and devotions that lower enemy resistances to your chosen damage type.

Survivability is equally important. Aim for high armor absorption, good health regeneration, and capped resistances. Skills like Inquisitor’s Seal and Blast Shield can provide valuable defensive buffs. Devotions such as Behemoth and Tree of Life can significantly improve your sustain.

Experiment with different gear combinations and devotion setups to find what works best for your playstyle. Grimtools is an invaluable resource for planning your end-game build. Don’t be afraid to respec your skills and devotions as needed to optimize your character.

Gear Sets and Itemization for End-Game Purifiers

End-game gear for Purifiers in Grim Dawn revolves around maximizing damage output and survivability, with a strong emphasis on synergy between skills and item procs. Specific gear sets can significantly boost the effectiveness of your chosen build, whether it’s fire, lightning, or a hybrid approach. For fire-based Purifiers, consider sets like the Ulzuin’s Infernal Avatar, which enhances Fire Strike and provides significant fire damage bonuses. The Justicar Guard set offers a balance of offensive and defensive stats, making it suitable for a more tanky playstyle.

For lightning-based Purifiers, the Iskandra’s Unification set can be a powerful choice, boosting elemental damage and providing skill bonuses to Inquisitor skills. Consider individual items with bonuses to skills like Storm Spread and Thermite Mines to further enhance your lightning damage.

Beyond sets, individual items with resistance reduction are crucial. Look for gear that provides -% to enemy fire or lightning resistance, depending on your damage type. Crafting augments and components are also essential for capping resistances and adding additional damage or utility; Remember to balance your gear to ensure you have adequate health, armor, and resistances to survive challenging content.

Dual-Wielding Fire & Lightning Purifier Guide

The Dual-Wielding Fire & Lightning Purifier is a potent build in Grim Dawn, capitalizing on the strengths of both fire and lightning damage types. This build focuses on utilizing dual pistols to deliver a barrage of elemental attacks, making it effective against a wide range of enemies. Key skills include Fire Strike from the Demolitionist and various Inquisitor skills like Storm Spread and Word of Pain to apply debuffs and amplify damage. Ranged Expertise is a must to maximize attack speed and damage output.

Itemization for this build should prioritize gear that boosts both fire and lightning damage, as well as attack speed and critical hit chance. Look for pistols with built-in elemental damage and affixes that increase your overall damage output. Resistance reduction is crucial, so aim to acquire items that lower enemy fire and lightning resistance. Gear sets like the Infernal Knight and Iskandra’s Unification can provide significant benefits, but a well-crafted mix of individual items can also be highly effective. Remember to balance your offensive capabilities with adequate defenses to ensure survivability in challenging content.

Blackwater Cocktail and Rune of Kalastor Purifier Guide

The Blackwater Cocktail and Rune of Kalastor Purifier build offers a unique and devastating approach to combat in Grim Dawn. This build centers around utilizing Demolitionist’s Blackwater Cocktail for crowd control and consistent damage over time, combined with the Inquisitor’s Rune of Kalastor for burst damage and area-of-effect capabilities. This combination allows for both sustained damage output and the ability to quickly eliminate groups of enemies. The playstyle involves applying Blackwater Cocktail to large groups, then detonating Rune of Kalastor for massive damage.

Skill point allocation focuses on maxing out Blackwater Cocktail and its modifiers, such as Agonizing Flames, to increase its damage and area of effect. Rune of Kalastor and its modifiers are also prioritized to maximize its damage and reduce its cooldown. Inquisitor skills like Word of Pain can be used to further debuff enemies and increase damage output. Gear should focus on boosting fire damage, elemental damage, and cast speed. Items that provide resistance reduction to fire and chaos are also highly valuable, as they will significantly increase your damage output against tougher enemies.

Grimtools Build Examples and Resources

To further assist your Purifier journey, we’ve compiled a list of Grimtools build examples and valuable resources. Grimtools is an invaluable online tool for Grim Dawn, allowing you to create, share, and analyze character builds; It provides a detailed breakdown of skills, devotions, and equipment, making it easy to understand and optimize your character.

Below, you’ll find links to various Purifier builds on Grimtools, showcasing different playstyles and gear setups. These examples can serve as a starting point for your own build or provide inspiration for tweaking your existing character. Remember to analyze the skill point allocation, devotion path, and item choices to understand the strengths and weaknesses of each build. Furthermore, explore the Grim Dawn forums and community guides for additional resources and insights from experienced players. These communities often share their own builds, leveling strategies, and gear recommendations, offering a wealth of knowledge to help you master the Purifier class.