Grim Dawn Grim Misadventure #159 – Forgotten Forecast

Crate Entertainment released the Forgotten Gods expansion for Grim Dawn back in March. And if you’d like to know what’s next for the Titan Quest-inspired action-RPG, you should check out the latest “Grim Misadventure” development update. It outlines the next two patches for the game that will be focusing on balance, item set revamps, and new challenges. Have a look:

Grim Misadventures is here!

Forgotten Gods, Grim Dawn’s second massive addition has been in your hands for several weeks. The reception has been heartwarming and we are glad to see players everywhere discovering Korvan secrets and vanquishing an ancient foe.

Now that you’ve peered beyond the veil and uncovered some of the mysteries of the Eldritch Realm and the new game, I’m sure you’re eager to see what still awaits beyond the veil…of development.

Today we’re going to give you exactly that, with a sneak peek at what’s still to come with the Forgotten Gods expansion!

V1.1.2.0

Hot on the heels of the expansion’s release, we have for you its first balance update. It’s going into testing soon, so you can expect it to be in your hands posthaste.

Two highlights of the update can be broken down into two sections:

The Shattered Realm is receiving a balancing pass. First up, we are adjusting health scaling at Shards 1-60 so the difficulty starts a little lower and progresses more smoothly before reaching the hardest levels. In addition, we are shifting the loot curve in a similar fashion so that the loot rewards start considerably higher and progress smoothly before returning to their present values at Shard 60 and beyond.

The Boss distribution is getting some significant changes as well. First up, we’ve redefined some of our boss categories and added another so that the progression of boss difficulty feels smoother. For example, some tougher bosses will no longer appear at lower Shards at all. Most importantly for those tackling the hardest Shards, you will no longer encounter multiples of certain bosses at all (no more double Grava’Thul dispels). Overall, we think these changes will make the Shattered Realm feel smoother and more rewarding at all levels of play.

The second big change we are working on for this update is to take a long look at some of the game’s oldest sets. Some of them have aged well as our item design philosophy has evolved, while others have not. With that in mind, we are going to be updating the following four sets and their lower level versions.

Bloodrager’s Endless Frenzy
The Bloodrager set is in a decent place, but it could use some love. First up, we are adding Nightblade support and turning it into one of the standard three-mastery sets.

In addition, we wanted to take some of the RNG of the set bonus out from relying so heavily on monster packs and adds during boss encounters. That aspect of enraging when slaying a foe remains as a core part of the set, but is moving to the Helmet and will even heal you. Meanwhile, the set bonus will instead trigger on Crits to throw you into an even deeper bloodrage!

Iskandra’s Unification
Iskandra’s set has been in an unusual place for a long time. We’ve experimented with it in the past to make a bit of a hybrid playstyle of magic and melee, but in practice the results were found wanting and the set almost always played better as a caster with abilities that included % Weapon damage.

In v1.1.2.0, Iskandra’s Unification is getting a complete overhaul and will instead bring out the elemental mastery Iskandra was known for through the use of Trozan’s Sky Shard, nifty fx change on that skill included!

The Clairvoyant’s Focus
The Clairvoyant set’s niche never quite settled in and the set most often found its place in builds that used its generic bonuses to create (sometimes broken) results.

With v1.1.2.0, the Clairvoyant is going to be refocused from its general use to serving particular masteries well and filling a gap we feel was sorely left out of sets: Albrecht’s Aether Ray, with an emphasis on the Aether.

Now, before you rebel, you may find this upcoming balance change relevant to the new Clairvoyant set…

Ulzuin’s Infernal Avatar
Last on our list is the Ulzuin set. Long has it served as the awkward sibling to the Hellborne rifle, but no more! We thought about what it really means to represent Ulzuin…and the answer is of course fire…fire everywhere. If there isn’t fire raining from the heavens, covering the ground while you put explosions everywhere, are you Really living up to Ulzuin’s name?

With v1.1.2.0, the Ulzuin set will focus on Canister Bomb and, well, fire…everywhere. Besides, what sort of madness had us make an Ulzuin set before without a single bonus to Ulzuin’s Chosen?

V1.1.3.0 and beyond

Some of you may have been making bargains of which you do not yet know the consequences. In a future update, Riggs may just come cashing in on your deal…

While you can count on Riggs sending you to some unsavory places to recover whatever it is he seeks, we’ve heard your feedback loud and clear: the grand adventure with Riggs will culminate in our 5th Roguelike dungeon, which means powerful new bosses, awesome loot and of course another take on the Death Room formula!

For those more into fashion and new playstyles, we are working on a number of new items to expand the loot hunt. You can look forward to a number of new sets and weapons as well!

And of course MOAR. There will be MOAR! Check in on our monthly development updates as we continue improving Grim Dawn!