If you have always wanted to play Grim Dawn as a guy who throws bombs at everything, the Pyromancer (Demolitionist + Occultist) fire grenadier is probably one of the most straightforward ways to do it. You lob a Grenado, follow it up with a Canister Bomb, drop a Thermite Mine under the pack and walk away while everything burns.
This guide follows a real, tested leveling build: Cripptid’s Beginner-Friendly Fire Grenadier Pyromancer from the official Crate forums. All the credit for the build goes to him. What I did is go through his GrimTools snapshots (one every 10 levels, made on patch 1.2.1.3) and explain what each skill does, where your points go, and in which order to pick up devotions and gear.
Here is the GrimTools link for the finished level 100 build. Keep it open as a reference, but read the sections below before copying it, because the leveling order matters quite a bit with this class.
One more thing that makes this build a good first character: Cripptid played it on hardcore, solo self-found (SSF), and deliberately avoided random-drop Mythical items. Everything he wears can be farmed from a specific boss, bought or crafted, so you never hit a wall waiting for a lucky drop.
A quick note from me: I wanted at least one ranged build in this beginner series, and this Pyromancer was an easy pick. You stay out of melee, you blow up whole packs at once, and since it was designed without trading or rare endgame drops, everything you need is something you will find while playing. It is also just a lot of fun to watch a screen full of enemies go up in flames.
Build Overview
- Classes: Demolitionist (main) + Occultist (added late, see below)
- Damage: Fire and Burn
- Main attacks: Grenado and Canister Bomb, with Thermite Mine for resistance reduction
- Playstyle: ranged, hit and run. Throw, reposition, throw again.
- Gear: farmable items only, no rare Mythicals required
The main weakness is worth knowing up front. Demolitionist is very hungry for skill points, and the build does not have a huge amount of +% damage because Occultist was picked for survivability. Late game you will also farm green items (Monster Infrequents) with good fire or elemental affixes. The trade-off is a ranged character that is fairly tough and regenerates a lot of health.
When Do You Pick Occultist?
The game lets you choose a second mastery at level 10, but Cripptid’s snapshots for levels 10, 20, 30 and 40 are pure Demolitionist. There is no Occultist in them at all.
The level 50 snapshot is the first one titled “Pyromancer”, and Occultist is selected there, but no Occultist skills have points yet. The first real Occultist skills (Curse of Frailty and its Vulnerability modifier) appear in the level 60 snapshot. Blood of Dreeg follows at 70.
So to follow the build as written: stay pure Demolitionist until around level 50, pick Occultist there, and start spending in it on the way to 60. Grenado, Canister Bomb and their modifiers eat every point you have, so splitting early slows your damage. If you feel squishy, you can pick Occultist a bit earlier, your bombs just get stronger more slowly.
The Skills and Why
Mind that Grenado and Canister Bomb deal no weapon damage. Their damage comes from the skill itself, so flat damage on your gun barely matters and any ranged weapon is fine while leveling.
Grenado (with High Impact and Shattering Blast)
Grenado is your main nuke. You throw a grenade, it explodes in an area, and it has a short recharge, so you use it every time it comes back up. It is also the first skill to get serious points (12 by level 20). Its two modifiers, High Impact and Shattering Blast, add to the explosion, and the build eventually puts heavy investment into both.
Canister Bomb (with Improved Casing)
Canister Bomb is the pack clearer. The first explosion scatters a set of smaller bombs around it, which is great against groups. It is the very first damage skill you take (5 points at level 10) and it is maxed by level 20. In the final build only 10 of those points are your own, with gear adding 12. Improved Casing is its modifier and comes in around level 30.
Cripptid mentions you could skip Canister Bomb and go Grenado-only if you are short on points. He kept it for the full grenadier fantasy, and this guide follows him.
Thermite Mine
Thermite Mine is not really about its own damage. It lowers enemy elemental resistance, which makes everything else hit hard. Enemies get more resistant in the later difficulties, and without resistance reduction your damage slowly falls off.
Cripptid recommends 12 to 13 points, which he says gives around -25% to -27% elemental resistance. The final build sits at exactly that: 8 points of your own plus 4 from gear, 12 in total. It shows up at level 40 (7 points) and reaches 14 at level 50, before settling at 12 later on. Always drop a mine before you start throwing bombs.
Vindictive Flame (with Ulzuin’s Wrath)
Vindictive Flame gives you health regeneration, and as the author points out, health regeneration is fairly rare in Grim Dawn. That is a big part of why this character survives. It sits at 1 point through the early game, gets pushed hard between levels 50 and 60, and ends up maxed. Ulzuin’s Wrath is its modifier. It shows a handful of points from level 70, but in the final build only 1 of them is yours, the rest comes from gear.
Flame Touched, Temper and Ulzuin’s Chosen
Flame Touched is an aura for damage and offensive ability (OA), and Temper is its modifier. Both stay low the whole game. Cripptid says as much: the class is so point hungry that you probably will not have points to spare for it. In the final build each has just 1 point of your own, and the 5 you see in GrimTools come from gear. Ulzuin’s Chosen is a passive that the build maxes by level 50, since it supports your fire damage.
Flashbang (with Searing Light)
Flashbang only comes in with the level 100 snapshot. Its main job is the Fumble debuff, which according to the author makes enemies miss 50% of their attacks. That is a huge defensive tool against bosses. Searing Light is its modifier. You only spend 2 points in Flashbang and 1 in Searing Light, gear adds the rest.
Blast Shield
Blast Shield is your safety net when your health drops. It raises your maximum resistances by 4% and gives a short damage absorption buff (300 damage at level 5, per the author). Cripptid only spent a single point of his own on it because his character was tough enough already, and the level 100 planner confirms it: 1 own point, the other 4 come from gear. If you die a lot, you can take it to 8, 10 or 12.
Occultist: Curse of Frailty and Vulnerability
Your second source of resistance reduction. The build puts 1 point in Curse of Frailty and maxes the Vulnerability modifier right away at level 60. In the final build that settles at 3 own points in Curse of Frailty and 9 in Vulnerability, with gear adding 1 to each. Throw it on packs and bosses together with Thermite Mine.
Occultist: Blood of Dreeg and Aspect of the Guardian
Blood of Dreeg is a heal plus a health regeneration buff, and it is the main reason Cripptid went Occultist over the alternatives. It gets 13 points at level 70 and is maxed by 80. Aspect of the Guardian is its modifier and adds physical resistance, which a fire character usually has very little of. It only gets real points at the end: 3 at level 90, then 11 of your own at 100 (12 with gear).
Occultist: Solael’s Witchfire, Second Rite and Possession
Solael’s Witchfire and its modifier Second Rite show a couple of points each from level 80, but the final build only spends 1 own point on each. Possession arrives with the final build and gets the full 12. These are late additions. You will not miss them while leveling.
Why Occultist at all? Cripptid says the class made him much more durable (he mentions taking “19% less total damage”) plus more regeneration and physical resistance. The price is that Occultist gives no +% fire damage. He also mentions Oathkeeper and Inquisitor as workable alternatives, but this guide sticks with the Pyromancer since that is what the snapshots show.
Skill Point Plan
The table below shows the targets at four checkpoints, taken from the GrimTools snapshots. Mind that GrimTools counts +skill bonuses from gear. The level 20 to 60 columns (and every snapshot from 10 to 90) include those gear bonuses, so do not worry if you are a point or two behind. Where a snapshot goes over a skill’s maximum, the table shows the maximum marked “(max+)”: you stop at the max and gear adds the rest.
For level 100 there are two columns. “GrimTools total” is what the calculator shows with all gear on. “Your points” is what you actually spend yourself, read from the skill tooltips of the final planner. That second column is the one to copy.
| Skill (max) | Level 20 | Level 40 | Level 60 | Level 100 (GrimTools total) | Level 100 (your points) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grenado (16) | 12 | 16 (max+) | 16 (max+) | 26 | 16 |
| High Impact (12) | 7 | 12 (max+) | 12 (max+) | 19 | 12 |
| Shattering Blast (12) | – | 4 | 12 (max+) | 6 | 2 |
| Canister Bomb (12) | 12 (max) | 12 (max+) | 12 (max+) | 22 | 10 |
| Improved Casing (10) | – | 10 (max+) | 10 (max+) | 18 | 10 |
| Thermite Mine (16) | – | 7 | 14 | 12 | 8 |
| Ulzuin’s Chosen (10) | – | 9 | 10 (max+) | 14 | 10 |
| Vindictive Flame (16) | 1 | 3 | 16 (max+) | 23 | 16 |
| Ulzuin’s Wrath (12) | – | – | – | 5 | 1 |
| Flame Touched / Temper (12 / 12) | 3 / – | 3 / 3 | 4 / 4 | 5 / 5 | 1 / 1 |
| Blast Shield (12) | – | 3 | 4 | 5 | 1 |
| Flashbang / Searing Light (12 / 10) | – | – | – | 6 / 5 | 2 / 1 |
| Curse of Frailty / Vulnerability (10 / 10) | – | – | 1 / 10 | 4 / 10 | 3 / 9 |
| Blood of Dreeg (16) | – | – | – | 17 | 16 |
| Aspect of the Guardian (12) | – | – | – | 12 | 11 |
| Solael’s Witchfire / Second Rite (12 / 12) | – | – | – | 2 / 2 | 1 / 1 |
| Possession (12) | – | – | – | 13 | 12 |
Here is what that means for the priority order.
Levels 1 to 20: bombs first
At level 10 the build is simply Canister Bomb (5 points), one point in Vindictive Flame and one in Flame Touched. By level 20 Canister Bomb is maxed at 12, Grenado has 12 and High Impact has 7. Everything else waits. Push the Demolitionist mastery bar as far as you need to reach these skills, then spend.
Levels 20 to 40: finish the bombs, add the mine
At level 30 Grenado is maxed at 16 and High Impact at 12, and Improved Casing gets its first 6 points. By level 40 Improved Casing is maxed too, Ulzuin’s Chosen is almost full at 9, and Thermite Mine comes in with 7 points. Shattering Blast gets a start (4), and Blast Shield and Temper show up with a few points each.
Levels 40 to 60: mine, Shattering Blast and Vindictive Flame, then Occultist
Up to level 50 you keep feeding Demolitionist: Thermite Mine to 14, Shattering Blast to its maximum, Ulzuin’s Chosen to the max and Vindictive Flame up to 13. Between 50 and 60 you finish Vindictive Flame and then spend in Occultist for the first time: 1 point in Curse of Frailty and 10 in Vulnerability.
Levels 60 to 90: Blood of Dreeg
At level 70, Blood of Dreeg has 13 points and Curse of Frailty goes up to 5. Thermite Mine drops slightly to 11 here, then goes back to 12 at 80. Ulzuin’s Wrath appears with 4 points. By level 80 Blood of Dreeg is maxed and Solael’s Witchfire and Second Rite get 2 points each. Level 90 adds the first 3 points of Aspect of the Guardian.
Level 100: the final shuffle
The final build moves some points around. Shattering Blast goes down to 6 in GrimTools (only 2 of them yours) and Vindictive Flame loses a few gear-inflated levels, while Flashbang (2 own points), Searing Light (1), Possession (12) and Aspect of the Guardian (11) come in. Chances are these points were freed up to pay for the new defensive skills. That being said, there is no rush to copy this part until you actually reach the endgame.
If you want to check a specific level, here are all of Cripptid’s snapshots:
Devotions by Phase
Devotion points come from restoring shrines around the world, up to 55 in total with the expansions. The Crossroads stars at the center of the map give one affinity point each and are usually refunded later. Whenever the GrimTools devotion path says “REMOVE”, that means refunding those points at the Spirit Guide (devotions cost an Aether Crystal per point to refund).
Mind that the devotion path gets rebuilt several times on the way to 100, so do not panic when a constellation disappears between two snapshots.
Levels 10 to 30
Start with Crossroads (Primordial) and put your next point into Sailor’s Guide. By level 20 you want Sailor’s Guide complete, then Crossroads (Eldritch) and the first two stars of Spider. By level 30 the path is Primordial and Eldritch Crossroads, all of Spider, all of Sailor’s Guide, all of Kraken, and Crossroads (Order).
Levels 30 to 50
At level 40 the path looks different. Sailor’s Guide is gone, and you work through Lion, Eel, Hammer and Harvestman’s Scythe to open up the map, before refunding the crossroads and Hammer. The end state at level 40 is Lion, Harvestman’s Scythe, Spider, Rhowan’s Crown, Kraken and Hawk.
Level 50 brings in the key constellation of the build, Solael’s Witchblade. To get there, the path picks up Crossroads (Chaos), Viper and Wraith as stepping stones, plus Scholar’s Light on the way to Magi, then removes them again. At 50 you end up with Spider, Lion, Kraken, Crossroads (Chaos), Solael’s Witchblade, Harvestman’s Scythe, Magi, Hawk, Rhowan’s Crown and Hydra.
Level 60 and beyond: the final map
From the level 60 snapshot on, the devotion path is identical all the way to 100. Treat it as the target and fill it out as you find shrines. It adds Behemoth and Ulzuin’s Torch and uses Imp as a stepping stone to reach Magi.
So to make it quick:
- Crossroads (Chaos) -> Crossroads (Eldritch) -> Crossroads (Primordial) -> Eel -> Scholar’s Light -> Kraken
- Remove Crossroads (Primordial) -> Behemoth
- Crossroads (Order) -> Imp -> Lion -> remove Crossroads (Order)
- Hawk -> Magi -> remove Imp and Scholar’s Light
- Solael’s Witchblade -> Wraith -> Crossroads (Ascendant) -> Rhowan’s Crown -> remove Crossroads (Ascendant) and Eel
- Harvestman’s Scythe -> remove Wraith -> Hydra -> Ulzuin’s Torch
You end up with 12 constellations and all 55 points spent. According to Cripptid, the core pieces are Ulzuin’s Torch, Solael’s Witchblade (he calls it mandatory), Kraken, Magi and Behemoth. Harvestman’s Scythe, Hydra and Rhowan’s Crown are optional. He took Hydra for movement speed and the Scythe for regeneration.
Make sure to bind every Celestial Power you complete to a skill. An unbound power does nothing. These are the binds in Cripptid’s level 100 planner:
- Ulzuin’s Torch (Meteor Shower) -> Grenado
- Solael’s Witchblade (Eldritch Fire) -> Canister Bomb
- Magi (Fissure) -> Thermite Mine
- Behemoth (Giant’s Blood) -> Flame Touched
- Rhowan’s Crown (Elemental Storm) -> Curse of Frailty
Bind each one as soon as you complete the constellation.
Gear Checklist
While leveling, look for +% fire or elemental damage, resistances and “+ to skill” bonuses. Items with “+1 to all skills” or “+1 to Demolitionist” are extra valuable, since the class is so short on points.
For the endgame, this is what Cripptid wears or recommends. Everything here is farmable, buyable or craftable:
- Weapon: Fleshwarped Incinerator, one of the few weapons that supports Canister Bomb. Buy it from the vendor inside the Port Valbury dungeon, ideally at level 100 so it rolls as a level 94 item, and look for +% fire or elemental damage.
- Helmet: Fettan Mask for most of the game (only the level 75 version has +1 to all skills). Swap to Ravager’s Dreadgaze once you can kill the Ravager.
- Amulet: Vilgazor’s Heart (boosts Grenado), farmed from its boss in the Ashes of Malmouth area.
- Gloves: Emberguard Gauntlets (crafted) with fire or elemental affixes.
- Chest: Korvan Armor, which supports Canister Bomb and converts pierce to fire.
- Legs: Dreeg-Sect Legguards for health regeneration, or Kubacabra’s Legguards (+3 to High Impact) for more damage.
- Rings: Gollus’ Ring (health regeneration) and Gargabol’s Ring (+3 to Grenado).
- Belt: Chains of Ordas (+1 to Demolitionist).
- Medal: Kymon’s Badge, bought from a vendor in the Blood Grove.
- Relic: Conflagration (+1 to Demolitionist), crafted from a vendor blueprint.
A useful trick from the post: vendor stock refreshes. If the Fleshwarped Incinerator on offer is bad, leave the area for around 15 seconds and come back. The same works for Kymon’s Badge.
For components, the main goal is 100% armor absorption. Either use 1 Scaled Hide (pants) plus 2 Living Armor or Sacred Plating, or 3 Living Armor or Sacred Plating plus Ancient Armor Plate in the pants if you are short on resistances. Fill the rest with resistance components. For augments, pick fire or elemental ones and ignore flat damage. Cripptid also suggests aiming for more than 3000 OA and at least 2900 DA for a comfortable game.
Attributes
This part is easy. In Cripptid’s level 100 planner, the attribute points are spent like this:
- Physique: 90
- Cunning: 16
- Spirit: 0
(There are 3 unspent points left in the calculator.) The Cunning points are there to meet gear requirements, everything else goes into Physique for health and defense. While leveling, do the same: Physique, plus Cunning only when an item asks for it.
Where new Pyromancers usually go wrong
- Spending 24 points into a 16-point skill. The big numbers in GrimTools include gear. Stop at the maximum.
- Picking Occultist at level 10 and spreading points. The snapshots stay pure Demolitionist until 50 for a reason.
- Leaving Thermite Mine at a single point. It is your resistance reduction, and bosses will feel unkillable without it.
- Forgetting to bind Celestial Powers. Check the Celestial Powers tab every time you complete a constellation.
Questions that come up a lot
Is this build good for hardcore?
The author played it on hardcore SSF, so it can be done. On your first character, play softcore and learn the bosses first.
Why does GrimTools show Grenado at 26 when the max is 16?
The extra levels come from items (for example Gargabol’s Ring gives +3 to Grenado). In the final planner it is 16 of your own points plus 10 from gear.
Which patch are the snapshots from?
The snapshots were made on patch 1.2.1.3. Small balance numbers can shift between patches, so double-check a skill’s tooltip in-game if something looks off.
Conclusion
The fire grenadier Pyromancer is a fun and fairly forgiving way to learn Grim Dawn. Stay pure Demolitionist until around level 50, keep Thermite Mine on every pack, and add Occultist once your bombs are maxed. Big thanks to Cripptid for putting the build and its snapshots together.
