Grim Dawn - Now Content Complete!!

[Denithor]

So I got to what I think is the last fight in the game. And it's a really long time since the last riftgate, seriously unnecessarily long (like an hour or more playtime). And I died. Over and over. Until finally had to acknowledge that I was not ready for that fight, not geared well enough or improperly skilled or something. Now I'll have to slog all the way back through that crap before can try again next time. Really off-putting. Guess I'll just have to level and collect some more gear for a while.

On a happy note, I did hit 50 finally this weekend. And found my first purple (legendary) drop. Had not even realized purples were in the game, lol. Or maybe that's a build 29 addition? Seems kinda odd to run all the way through on Veteran difficulty without a single one until the very end otherwise. Unless it's a level thing, I suppose.

Anyway, anybody waiting on the sidelines should come give this a try, overall very positive impression here.

 

[Elcs]

So I got to what I think is the last fight in the game. And it's a really long time since the last riftgate, seriously unnecessarily long (like an hour or more playtime). And I died. Over and over. Until finally had to acknowledge that I was not ready for that fight, not geared well enough or improperly skilled or something. Now I'll have to slog all the way back through that crap before can try again next time. Really off-putting. Guess I'll just have to level and collect some more gear for a while.

On a happy note, I did hit 50 finally this weekend. And found my first purple (legendary) drop. Had not even realized purples were in the game, lol. Or maybe that's a build 29 addition? Seems kinda odd to run all the way through on Veteran difficulty without a single one until the very end otherwise. Unless it's a level thing, I suppose.

Anyway, anybody waiting on the sidelines should come give this a try, overall very positive impression here.

Took out the boss on Normal at 42 with some sort of awful Shaman/Soldier 2h build which is the antithesis of my sword and board B27 build that dismantled all available Normal Veteran content at L50.

Ending left me feeling very awkward.

Spoiler

It felt very Diablo where it should have felt a lot more Dawn of War 2 vanilla. Also Creed and the Inquisitor, he says there's something to do and come back later but there's nothing so far.

Oh and Deadman's Gulch was the biggest disappointment ever.

Might try to finish off all of the quests, reach all of the shrines in Normal with this character then move to the next difficulty with a brand new build.

 

[bystander36]

Both of you were pretty low level for completing the game. I'm guessing you didn't complete all the zones as you went.

Spoiler

One thing that the final boss made me realize, you need to have high damage output, or at least very good AE.

I also had used a new belt a couple levels prior to finishing the last fight (which I died twice on, always remember to drop riftgates before you enter what appears to be a big fight). It turns out this belt has a random chance to drop your resists by 50%, ouch! I didn't realize this until I started elite mode, and noticed this debuff that showed up in my buff list. I no longer use that belt. I think it had a major effect on the final fight difficulty as I seemed to be doing great, then all of a sudden I'd be taking damage like crazy.

 

[Denithor]

I did not clear the two skeleton key zones (Decent into Torment and Bastion of Chaos) but I cleared every single other zone, completely. Zero fog-of-war left anywhere other than these two spots. I have not, however, done any serious grinding for levels or gear, so just have what has dropped in one Veteran play-through. As far as DPS goes, until level 45 I was using two Duelist's Sabers. At 45 I was able to equip a Thirsting Maw I had found on my other toon which gave good lifedrain and better DPS. I switched the second saber to a Doomsaw of Gluttony for the higher lifedrain, albeit with a loss of ~600 paper DPS. With Thirsting and Duelist's I was at 3.9k dps, with Thirsting and Doomsaw I am at 3.3k dps. I also run a Void Shard with 12% lifesteal. I went into final boss with second setup, got it handed to me repeatedly.

Spoiler

But I also only have managed to find like 18% chaos resist, I'm guessing that's the primary damage type, along with that poison wave?

EDIT: So, I'm now wondering if I would be better off with the two Duelist's Sabers and the higher piercing damage they provide? Versus the axes with high lifedrain or even the axe/saber with higher paper DPS but lower piercing damage. I have focused my build in the Nightblade tree along the top shelf, around the standard attack triggered procs. Soldier has mostly just been Markovian's (1 point) and leveling the general bar for the increased physique/health.

 

[bystander36]

50 seemed on the low side, but if you didn't do the skeleton dungeons, that would set you back a couple levels at least. I was more surprised by the other guy at level 42 finishing the game.

I'd definitely consider the attack damage to health axes as an option. That is what I did.

Spoiler

And you do want to avoid that roaming chaos void that chases you (this was like the final boss in TQ).

 

[bystander36]

So after going about half way through Elite, I got the itch to try a new char. My first Aether Ray character in quite some time. I went Battlemage for high HP and blitz. I'm quite surprised at how well Aether Ray works. At level 40 I already have 10k DPS and most things just melt. Even hero's and many bosses die in less than 3-5 seconds. The downside is the 530 energy a second it costs. I have -48% skill cost in gear to help.

 

[Denithor]

Bystander can you link to a grim calculator for the builds you are using? And/or if you have written up on the Grim forums, just a link over there (or keywords to search for).

Thanks!

 

[bystander36]

I don't have a calc write up for anything I have, but I'll show a pick of my current char.

 

[Denithor]

Holy crap, man, 11k dps at level 42!?! On my Blademaster I don't even hit 4k dps at level 50!

Edit: Blademaster. No idea how I came up with Battlemage from Blademaster. LOL

 

[bystander36]

Holy crap, man, 11k dps at level 42!?! On my Battlemage I don't even hit 4k dps at level 50!

My level 66 Spellbreaker doesn't either (nightshade and arcanist). But with Aether Ray, there are no procs, or added damage from any other source, and no AE. Except for that Devotion ability that is. I think my Spellbreaker was at ~6-7K DPS at level 50.

But like I said, I'm impressed with Aether Ray. It is definitely better than expected. If you can lead things to a corner or choke point, they all just die in line coming to you.

 

[bystander36]

I finished it with the Battlemage. By the end, I was at 13.5K DPS, but 12.5K when using Maivins shield of protection (absorbs 30% damage and has ranged avoidance). However, I found a few mobs which had unusually high Aether resistance, and switched it to chaos damage, which knocked my finally playable DPS to 11.5K (12.5K without the shield).

As far as the battle goes:

Spoiler

I died once due to getting overwhelmed. I wasn't sure how to go about this fight at first, but it appears the best strat I found was to attack him until you start to get overwhelmed then move to the back of the room. Fight what you can there until the chaos voids move to you, then go back to fight the boss. Repeat as many times as needed until he dies.

 

[Denithor]

Did you level as Arcanist or Soldier first? If Arcanist, what spells were main use until you got to Ray?

 

[bystander36]

Did you level as Arcanist or Soldier first? If Arcanist, what spells were main use until you got to Ray?

I leveled as Arcanist. I was level 26 or 27 before I got Aether Ray. I leveled using the AE spell Callidor's Tempest, but Penetti's Replicating Missiles are probably easier to level up with. I went with the AE attack, because I intended to use both that and Aether Ray, and wanted to stay in character. As it turned out, once I got Aether Ray, I never bothered to AE anymore. I added soldier sometime around 30-35 for added health and Blitz, which I really don't need now that I use Aether Ray exclusively, although I still use it some.

I just finished the 2nd roguelike dungeon in the Bastion of Chaos. The drop rate in there is extremely low. I had 2 blue items drop the whole run, compared to an average between 5-10 in the other one at the Steps of Torment.

 

[Denithor]

I'm going to have to try a Battlemage. I already have an Arcanist started, in multiplayer with my buddy on Veteran very, very squishy. Like to the degree I get 1-shot constantly if anything gets close enough to hit me. Using the Replicating Missiles ATM but still fairly low level (around 10-12 iirc) so maybe just need more levels for higher DPS.

Game is much tougher in multiplayer with a friend or two. Been playing last couple nights with my buddy and my nephew and a build (primal strike druid) that should be cruising just dies constantly. Could be my really sucky RNG loot rolls I suppose, played like 4 hours last night, only found two blues whole time (and those were from the Warden + chest, both guaranteed blue drops, sigh). Almost nothing even worth equipping in that whole time.

 

[bystander36]

Veteran mode may be too much without good gear. I've noticed that it can be tough in single player mode before I got a good stock of gear.

Btw, were you struggling on veteran or normal mode on the final boss? You might try normal if veteran was what was getting you. I just found out how much easier normal is last night in the new roguelike dungeon. My 2nd time through I died, so I decided to try it on normal, and wow was it a lot easier. The good news is I got a lot more drops this time.

 

[Denithor]

LOL. Yes, been playing everything on Veteran difficulty. Normal mode in most games like this is laughably easy. And in single player, I can usually survive most encounters if I'm careful about it, keeps it challenging.

After the B29 patch my game difficulty reset itself to Normal and I didn't notice on my Blademaster for like an hour, was just flying through clearing without even coming close to dying (in the stretch up to Ft Ikon). I was first thinking they had either seriously boosted Blademaster skill lethality or else made the game ridiculously easy. Then noticed that the Veteran word wasn't in the upper left corner. Had a good chuckle. Switched back to Veteran at the next riftgate, game was back to challenging then.

So yeah I was nuked on boss fight on Veteran difficulty. I also lost a skeleton key to the Bastion of Chaos when the first hero monster one-shot me. Sigh. I'm thinking will have to switch back to Normal to clear those areas before heading to last boss again.

One question - if I complete the game in Normal mode, does Elite still unlock? Or do I have to finish in Veteran to unlock Elite?

 

[bystander36]

LOL. Yes, been playing everything on Veteran difficulty. Normal mode in most games like this is laughably easy. And in single player, I can usually survive most encounters if I'm careful about it, keeps it challenging.

After the B29 patch my game difficulty reset itself to Normal and I didn't notice on my Blademaster for like an hour, was just flying through clearing without even coming close to dying (in the stretch up to Ft Ikon). I was first thinking they had either seriously boosted Blademaster skill lethality or else made the game ridiculously easy. Then noticed that the Veteran word wasn't in the upper left corner. Had a good chuckle. Switched back to Veteran at the next riftgate, game was back to challenging then.

So yeah I was nuked on boss fight on Veteran difficulty. I also lost a skeleton key to the Bastion of Chaos when the first hero monster one-shot me. Sigh. I'm thinking will have to switch back to Normal to clear those areas before heading to last boss again.

One question - if I complete the game in Normal mode, does Elite still unlock? Or do I have to finish in Veteran to unlock Elite?

Veteran vs normal is the same as far as quests go, so it should unlock it (I finished on Veteran both times, so I can't say for certain). Veteran is just supposed to add more challenge. Once you go to Elite, its a whole new game play through starting at the beginning on quests.

After one of the patches, they upped the difficulty of heroes, and veteran felt a little too harsh up to about level 10-15. Either I got better gear, used to it, or they eased up the difficulty, but I haven't had that issue since. I haven't really played in Multiplayer, so it may just be harder to factor in coop play.

 

[Denithor]

Well, they seriously up the hp/dps of mobs in multiplayer, you even get a nice message across screen stating that monsters have been adjusted for the new person joining. So, if you party close together and focus fire stuff down, it's good. But, 1-on-1, a puny caster just gets eaten by most of the boosted critters. Especially last night, running with three of us in one session. On Veteran. All around level 21-22. LOL

I seriously don't think my Blademaster has enough DPS to clear the last boss yet, especially on Veteran difficulty. Going to do some more leveling and hope for better drops and see how things go. I think will try the Rogue dungeons on Normal also, see if more blues drop for me than in standard play.

 

[bystander36]

I decided to rework my devotion points. It cost me quite a bit of HP, but the results are interesting. I got tons of resists out of it, allowing me to drop resist gear for damage gear. Here is the result without any procs, but buffed which lowers DPS. The scariest part is the energy per second cost, which oddly is quite manageable. Edited with fixed enchanting and runes as well as a couple new devotion points to fix HP.

 

[Hippiekiller]

This game is really damn good. Only ARPG I have played since D2 where I'm not pining for D2 while playing.

Highly reccomended

 

[bystander36]

I finished Elite without dying on the final boss, although I had many close calls. Ultimate, at first test, looks to be a big challenge. At 27.5K DPS and 8K HP, the heroes are very sketchy to fight.

 

[flopper]

L75 druid atm.
having a blast

 

[bystander36]

I've decided I just need to completely rework my devotion points, and finish black legion rep for the revered gear. If everything goes well, I'll have full resists for Ultimate level. But grinding Black legion may not be fun.

 

[bystander36]

Is anyone else on Ultimate difficulty? I'm wondering if it is supposed to be this slow going. It's a lot slower killing stuff than before and while normal mobs are well over 100% chance to hit, a hero drops to 70% with a 60% chance to crit you. Is this normal, or is it my build?

 

[Denithor]

Unfortunately I haven't even moved up to Elite, haven't gotten to play my Blademaster except two runs through the chaos rift up to the skeleton key for Bastion entrance. In five run throughs on Normal I've had three Legendary (purple) items drop. Very cool.

But even though haven't played my BM, was able to play four-way game last night with friends and my nephew. Two pet builds, me as a primal strike warder and my buddy as an arcanist (hasn't chosen second class yet). We played for like 6-7 hours with four brand new toons, made it all the way through the Warden fight before we quit for the night. I haven't died once yet! Now, granted, it's Normal mode, but with 4 players it's still quite difficult on many mobs especially in swarms.