The Eye of Reckoning skill in Grim Dawn is a fast-spinning, high-damage area ability that defines many powerful builds centered around the Oathkeeper mastery. With its visual spectacle and deadly nature, Eye of Reckoning (EoR) allows players to dive headfirst into enemies while dealing constant, swirling damage. To make this build effective, players must understand not only the skill itself, but also how to scale it properly with devotion paths, gear, and supporting skills. Whether you’re aiming to farm high-level content, defeat bosses efficiently, or just enjoy a whirling melee playstyle, a well-planned Eye of Reckoning build can deliver excellent performance.
Understanding Eye of Reckoning
Eye of Reckoning is an exclusive skill within the Oathkeeper mastery that lets your character spin with a summoned ethereal weapon, dealing rapid hits to nearby enemies. It’s often likened to classic spin-to-win skills from other ARPGs but has its own unique mechanics that require specific planning to maximize its potential.
Key Features of Eye of Reckoning
- Channeling ability drains energy while active
- Hits all enemies in a wide radius around the player
- Scales with weapon damage and attack speed
- Can be converted to various damage types based on gear
This skill is most effective when supported with high energy regeneration, strong resistances, and damage-converting items or devotion bonuses. While it may seem straightforward, building around it requires careful stat balancing.
Recommended Mastery Combinations
The best Eye of Reckoning builds involve pairing Oathkeeper with another mastery that supports survivability, energy management, or additional damage scaling. Below are some of the most effective mastery pairings:
Oathkeeper + Shaman (Archon)
This combo emphasizes physical or lightning damage. Shaman adds valuable passives like Mogdrogen’s Pact for health regeneration and energy sustain, making this a durable choice for farming and long fights.
Oathkeeper + Inquisitor (Sentinel)
Inquisitor provides strong elemental support and resistance reduction via Word of Pain and Aura of Censure. Ideal for fire or elemental Eye of Reckoning builds focused on melting enemies fast.
Oathkeeper + Nightblade (Dervish)
Nightblade offers incredible synergy with acid/poison builds, including resistance shredding through Acid Spray and strong offensive capabilities through Shadow Strike or Nidalla’s Hidden Hand.
Oathkeeper + Necromancer (Death Knight)
Although less common, this pairing can scale physical or vitality damage well, using skills like Spectral Binding and Ill Omen to support Eye of Reckoning’s relentless assault.
Damage Conversion and Scaling
One of the most important factors in building around Eye of Reckoning is converting the base physical damage to a desired type. With the right gear, the skill can become fire, lightning, acid, or even vitality focused.
Popular Damage Types
- Fire: Great synergy with gear like Judgment of Empyrion and devotion paths like Ulzuin’s Torch.
- Lightning: Often built with gear like Stormserpent set and Spear of the Heavens devotion.
- Acid: Powerful when combined with the Dervish class and gear such as the Venomblade set.
- Physical: Vanilla version of the skill, relying on armor reduction and internal trauma support.
Choosing your damage type early helps determine your devotion path, gear focus, and component selection, so plan accordingly based on availability and playstyle preferences.
Devotion Path Planning
Devotions play a major role in increasing Eye of Reckoning’s power and survivability. Depending on your chosen damage type, different constellations offer key bonuses.
Fire EoR Devotions
- Ulzuin’s Torch for Meteor Shower and fire damage boost
- Solael’s Witchblade for resistance reduction
- Viper for elemental RR and increased damage
Lightning EoR Devotions
- Spear of the Heavens solid lightning damage and active skill
- Rhowan’s Crown for Elemental Storm
- Widow for Lightning resistance reduction
Acid EoR Devotions
- Manticore for Acid Spray (resist shred)
- Abomination massive acid and poison boost
- Scorpion early game acid damage and flat poison
Try to balance offensive and defensive constellations. Turtle Shell, Behemoth, and Dryad offer valuable sustain, while Ghoul provides life leech during emergencies.
Gear Recommendations
To fully enable Eye of Reckoning, you need gear that increases spin duration, energy regeneration, and damage. Several legendary items and sets are designed specifically for EoR builds.
Notable Items for Eye of Reckoning Builds
- Judgment of Empyrion (Helmet): Boosts Eye of Reckoning and fire damage
- Blightlord’s Set: Excellent for acid-based spinning builds
- Diviner’s Raiment: Helps with vitality conversions (less common)
- Stormreaver: A powerful weapon for lightning Eye of Reckoning builds
Try to prioritize items that offer skill bonuses to Eye of Reckoning, attack speed, energy sustain, and resistances. Components like Ectoplasm and Arcane Spark can also solve energy issues during early and mid-game.
Gameplay Strategy and Rotation
Eye of Reckoning builds play best with an aggressive hit-and-run style. The skill requires channeling, so positioning and awareness are key to staying alive during spinning assaults.
Tips for Using Eye of Reckoning Effectively
- Always enter combat with buffs and auras activated
- Use movement skills like Vire’s Might to position yourself quickly
- Keep spinning during boss fights to benefit from lifesteal or regen effects
- Don’t stand in dangerous AoEs for too long move out and re-engage
The key is maintaining uptime while spinning without draining your energy completely. Stutter-stepping or toggling off EoR momentarily between packs can help manage resources.
Survivability and Defense
While Eye of Reckoning offers solid offense, defense is equally important for endgame viability. High armor, health regeneration, and resistance capping are mandatory for surviving high-tier content like Shattered Realm or Crucible.
Ways to Improve Durability
- Use devotion procs like Giant’s Blood or Wayward Soul
- Equip items that grant flat damage absorption or life leech
- Invest in gear with health bonuses and high resistances
- Cap critical resistances: Aether, Chaos, Pierce, and Vitality
Don’t hesitate to use defensive augments and components even if they offer less damage. A balanced build performs better in long runs and challenging arenas.
The Eye of Reckoning build in Grim Dawn delivers a fast-paced, high-damage experience ideal for players who enjoy whirling through mobs and melting bosses. With proper planning, the skill becomes a devastating core of a build that can be molded into different damage types like fire, lightning, or acid. Mastery combinations, devotion paths, and gear selection all contribute to the build’s power and survivability. Whether you’re grinding for gear or diving into endgame challenges, a well-optimized Eye of Reckoning build offers both fun and performance in equal measure.