Grim Dawn is the perfect middle between Diablo and PoE. Not too simple to make you think the devs take you for an ape but not too complex and intimidating so that you think "im too dumb for this"
As someone who has played many many ARPG games, Grim Dawn is among the top. As you said, the class system allows so many different builds. Plus grinding rep gives some awesome items making the grind really worth it. Even the lore is really good and could rival Diablo.
@@juhanipolvi4729 Yeah, that story was like "whoa", then looking at the world and the time reflective to our own like late 1800s to early 1900s makes perfect sense.
Totally agree with that! AAAND I got Dungeon Siege 1 + 2 - vibes incoming, when I play this. I have 1.8k hours on PoE and ~1k hours on d3, but grim dawn (I "discovered" it around a week ago) kicks some ass. Every epic Item I find, I think: "wow, this is used in another great build, for sure. I have to keep this and try a build around it". The offline-economic give me some peace, not to play "optimised for farming".
Hi there. I'm one of the playtesters of the game. 8k+ hours sank into grim dawn. It is truly my favorite. I can tell you that I, the player base, the other testers, and the devs put a lot of effort into making sure all class combos can work well in end game. There are no bad constellations, there are no bad skills, there are no bad classes in grim dawn. Obviously some combos are better than others, but I can safely say that there is itemization to support every single class combo in the end game. Perhaps only saboteurs are still a bit wonky due to the extreme lack of skill synergy. Seriously, I've seen every single constellation in a strong end game build. I've built around every single legendary tier item. They're all good if you know how best to take advantage of them. One of the nice things in diablo 2 is by the end of the game you feel extremely over powered. You earned it after grinding and farming the right stuff. Same in GD but the end game systems ensure everyone can hit a challenge wall eventually. Crucible has a different meta than shattered realm. So this is the only arpg I know with 3 end game metas. Crucible vs farming SR vs pushing SR. And the secrets in Grim Dawn are so many. Secret areas, secret quests, silly secrets, lore tied secrets. There is so much hidden within GD. There is one secret that is so difficult only 3 players have been verified to get it, including myself. I love this game and I love you for giving it a chance. (Can provide proof of being a playtester upon request)
I'm playing as Druid right now(level 45ish) and feel like game is forcing me to go lightning+cold. The skill buffs (+1 to x skill) on the items seem to favor lightning and cold builds, rather than vitality which is what I'm playing right now.
@@merttutuncu9271 there are certainly optimal paths for leveling. Gear diversifies more at higher levels. You can't expect everything to play close to equally from start to finish. Also you're being too vague. With RNG you can't guarantee +skills to your desired dmg type early on. Some builds are certainly more powerful levelers. My above comment was in regard to the fact that you can, with some know-how, make any damage type or focus feel good enough from start to finish. But it's at the end game where you see lots of creative itemization support.
"...there are no bad skills, there are no bad classes..." Dreeg's Evil Eye and Defiler say hi. However you're mostly right, and the game is moddable enough that I'm sure the last of the issues will be smoothed out by community patches later.
I stumbled on GD last Fall. It's been my go to pandemic game, and I've logged 1000 hours. As a dad and full time worker, I would not have guessed I was about to put that much time into a game. It's a gem that keeps offering me different challenges and goals - end game stuff is incredibly difficult. But not impossible. And the GD community has veteran players who also have stuck with it for years and are super helpful to other players on the forum. It's not for everyone, but for some it is near perfect.
Me and my buddies just got into this game about a week ago and we can't stop playing it. It's been a while since we all got online at the same time and played a game together in years. The exploration in this game is my absolute favorite in every arpg I've ever played
I really dig Grim Dawn's setting. I get it's not to everyone's taste, or really most people, but you *never* see full on fantasy settings based around other historical periods. Everything tends to wander back to that same medieval (with elements of early modern weapons and armor) setting. Grim Dawn runs with a 19th century pastiche, and I love it for that. Also, yeah, the game is really fun as well.
I'm coming back to GD after getting kind of tired of PoE and I do agree with you - I like that GD has gone for a sort of Van Helsing sort of feel. At first I honestly just hated it. I didn't like how there were guns and magic but still mundane melee weapons and armor, how there were all these rough, rustic items but also these industrially produced things like metal bedframes and the medical equipment you see in Krieg's lab in A1 did not feel cohesive and believable to me at all at first. On this fresh playthrough I'm looking at it as like if Warhammer 40K went back to the start of the Industrial Revolution and met the Fallout series, and that I can start to mesh with. Still not the biggest fan of the setting but I'll give Crate credit for making a bold move as any ARPG needs its own identity to stand out, and look at Last Epoch. That's still in development so hopefully they put more work into the worldbuilding. Right now, it just seems like it's a copy/paste of a high fantasy template and I cannot force myself to care about what happens in that world. Wolcen was a total flop in that regard, too. If I come across another NPC group called "The Keepers" I'm going to scream.
@@geoffreymatheson9206 I have both the other games you mentioned and I don't think they're bad, but they don't (haven't?) hold (held?) my attention like Grim Dawn does (has?). I bounced off PoE for years before finally playing it through to the end (before the Atlas) and I like it now but am wary of Tencent's involvement. I have only 3.9 hours in Last Epoch, and my time in Wolcen is only "marginally" better at 51 hours. The next closest to that is the first 2 Torchlight entries (everything since is crap). Unlike many of the commenters, I liked the setting of Grim Dawn right from the get-go. Whoever was tasked with the worldbuilding of this game really went for it hard. There are 3 different types of magic (Aether, Eldritch, and Void), and the setting seems/feels like a pulp fiction story from the 30s mixed with high fantasy, but set in the 1800s when steam was the driving technological force. So a sort of steampunk high fantasy setting with a splash of "wild west" (the guns). Even the guns are fantasy items. To me they don't shoot bullets, they shoot concentrated magic so you never run out of ammo as long as you have them. Your own abilities only increase the damage output. And sometimes the speed you can shoot.
Grim Dawn is amazing, really the best nowadays IMO. It has something that other modern RPGs lack and fail to understand for the most part: A balance in complexity, grind/rewards, exploration/kill speed and difficulty with an unparalled quality of life and builds that actually feel different in gameplay. Auto-Sort, auto-pickups, loot filters, respec, mod support... You can also eventually complete all content casually if you keep at it even if you didn't play for a few months as you'll keep your progress at all time and your build will stay viable. It actually respect your time. Great review, you nailed it. Exploration is super fun. While it's challenging especially later on, there are no other ARPG that make me feel that relaxed clearing maps.
GD is like a "Home-Game" to me I could binge play for 2 months, take a break for 6 months and when i go back, there might be some slight changes but my build is still relevant. They really respect the players, both casual and hardcore. Although my ass is still getting kicked on HC, RIP my level 89 char. You will be missed Le Destroyz.
I have 9k hours in Grim Dawn and have yet to get a character to lvl 100. I just recently moved on to elite and have yet to enter ultimate difficulty. I haven't got a hardcore character to even level 40 yet.
I've played every single relevant ARPG thats come out in the past 10 years and Grim Dawn is easily top 3 for me. Thousand of hours in PoE and Diablo 2. It has loads of depth but not way too much (PoE lol). Appreciate the video man!
One of my favourites part of GD is Monster Infrequents (Items that always drop from specific monsters), which allows targeted farming. And even better, item modifiers. You can take a fire based skill and put on an item that gives it an extra effect and makes it do acid damage. Boom, couple of new possibilities. And there are items that do this for almost every left/right click skill in the game. And these are also farmable by killing specific mobs. Also, there is a bit of "procedural generation" in a way. Since game randomly puts rocks on narrow paths, and every character gets a different "loadout", you often have to find different paths toward your objectives.
Grim Dawn is my favorite ARPG, and one of my favorite games of all times. I've started playing it back when it was on Early Access, and I loved every second of it! I just love this game! No other ARPG gives me the same amount of customization and fun!
I'm moving towards 3500 hours in Grim Dawn and i'm still having a blast. -The sheer amount of build-possibilities (You can make even the craziest of ideas work, if you grasp the mechanics) -The possible "holy trinity" and synergies you can have in co-op (Tank pulling aggro, Supporter buffing, debuffing and healing and Damage Dealer glasscannons bringing the pain, or even hybrids inbetween) -The hunt for skins for the Fashion Dawn/Transmog (implemented since the Ashes of Malmouth expac) -All the secrets to find -The grim dark, lovecraftian lore to explore -The loot hunt (All items can have even more passive proc, or active skills on them. There are items converting damage types of specific skills into another damage type, to make two masteries work together, which are otherwise lacking a common damage type, to make even the craziest of builds work all of a sudden. Tons of blueprints to find etc.) -The crafting (You find blueprints, you can even completely craft end game sets since the Forgotten Gods expansion) -The quality of life options like a very detailed lootfilter, transmutation of set items (into another item of the same set, or into a random set item of the same value), or the easy and cheap respec (you can reset everything but your choosen masteries/classes.. Bosses can drop potions to reset attribute points or all devotion points at once) -The tools/mods (Infinite stash via the "Grim Dawn Item Assistant", so you dont need hundrets of mules f.e.) Definately a game i come back to time and time again. And i agree with the title of this video. I would even go so far, to call Grim Dawn the true, spiritual successor to Diablo 2 and an enhanced Titan Quest ontop of that. Really wholesome and good video. I really felt your passion to the game coming through. I'm always happy to see people to enjoy this gem of a game as much as i do. :)
I wouldn't say "as much as you do" because at the end of the day I still only have 78 hours, but my 78 hours is another person's 300+ as far as commitment goes I think. I've really been wanting to get back to leveling my shaman that I showed in this video but too many other things demand my attention :( And oh my God I think the loot filter on its own is one of the things that really makes the game stand out for me. One of the fastest ways for me to get turned off of a game is having to do way too much annoying micromanagement of useless items, and it's really nice that as I level up I can continue filtering out more and more lower-tier rarities and just make my life way easier.
ive clocked 1500 hours in this game and it is truly wonderful, one of my all time favorites. you really don't get video games like this any more, the base game and expansions really take me back to the early aughts when you had things like LoD and Frozen Throne enhancing games. glad it is finally getting some recognition after years of improvements and iteration by the devs
this is how good the game, he didn't even bother to research when the game is came out because everything is still hold up to today's game quality, and yes, i still play it to this day, not everyday but time to time when i want to try new build, maxed it to 100
Hell yeah. Me and a friend recently started, i have over 200h so far, this game is so freaking awesome. Everything works really well, and the secret and hidden locations, the classes, items, mobs, bosses, heroes, so forth. Give it a go
This game is so so good, i feel sad for all the people who have never played it. I also feel jealous as they can experience it now and fall in love with it! Thanks for your video, im sure someone will be telling the same story about your video and how it all started here for him!
Thank you for covering this game. I hope more channels cover this game. I have almost 2K hours and will not stop playing! The loot design is something the developer got right. You can actually have a top tier build even with green / blue items instead of legendary sets.
Secondary masteries are often used for support skills. Inquisitor is a good match with demolitionist and demo+inq is a called a Purifier. Particularly fun to play with a ranged two hander or dual pistols.
I'm sitting on about 1250 hours played in grim dawn. Started in beta 23. As far as I'm concerned this is currently the best ARPG on the market. It hits that sweet spot between the braindeadness of d3 and the total insanity of PoE.
couldnt stand uber cheapöh flee-r poe. player names anöid chars too big graphics faulty etc etc. that free from skill class irminsül jungle geometrick thingey still buy was purdy to b-höLD. sadlie knöt för me. i reckon this game gd will take at least 3kilo hours maybe more than 4 fröm you... multiple övergrindce v v
I agree. I played Grim Dawn for 18 months a few years ago. I also recently went back a lost another few days of my life playing it again. I cannot wait for D2R but yes GD is a wonderful game and Blizzard is even taking some features of GD to include in D2R like shared stash, zoom and selected character screens to view your outfitted characters. It is good fun.
Thank you for posting. I played the orignal Diablo back in the day but was never into RPG's. Do you recommend this or another I found called Last EPOCH? Thank you
If you love Grim Dawn, do yourself a favor and mod it with Grimarillion. 32 sets of masteries including from Diablo 3 and Titan Quest. The combinations are crazy fun to experiment with.
I got vanilla GD, and for thr 1st time I finished storyline. Do you guys have tips on how and what to expect on playing new game+ on higher difficulties?
You made me smile and giggle like a was a kid again! I restarted playing Grim Dawn yesterday and oh boy did I ever enjoy the game even more than when I played 2 years ago! Actually I only play because of Dawn of Masteries mod. Which gives like 40+ extra character classes... lol! So a lifetime of build customization! And I thought PoE was deep into customization.. well lol
Grim Dawn got past me somehow when it was released. I discovered it about a week before Thanksgiving of 2022. And you've just said that you found it the same way I did, by someone else talking about it. I've been going back and forth between this and TITAN QUEST for a while, but now I've been primarily on GRIM DAWN for over a month. It is a great game. Great vid, thanks.
I bought it yestarday (it's 00:11 when I wrote the comment). So I chose the Demolitionist, and the second class Soldier. I kinda go to maximize the right click spell + the aura for healing and damage (I think). As for the build I just go with what is better tier and better stats in general, but for some reasons it kinda takes me some time to beat bosses, is it normal? I don't follow any strategy, do I have any chance to just go random and still win?
I'd say just have fun with it. If you keep doing quests you unlock the ability to respec, that's when you can really go crazy with min-maxing and theorycrafting
Grim Dawn is an excellent game. There are so many great skills and I love all the creative things you can do with multi-classing and the constellation system. As someone who also hasn't enjoyed many other ARPGs since Diablo 2, another one that I'd recommend is Last Epoch. For an early access title, it's really smooth and there's a ton of content.
Once you get special abilities from your skill tree, you can click on the empty slots on your hotbar to assign that slot to one of your abilities. Those will usually use your mana resource.
Great game, I haven't gotten too far but the game play and loot/crafting system is cool, I've played through Titan Quest a bunch, figured I'd give Grim dawn a try, glad I did.
I think it becomes even more fun later, there are hidden areas, quests, bosses and a great story. Hope you got a build though, some deadly areas are very hard.
@Didactic there is no doubt it can be confusing starting out, but fortunately normal mode is very easy and you can get away with almost anything whilst you learn the mechanics. There are some very good guides on RUclips: I can strongly recommend rektby-Protoss “how to level a X” series which he does for each mastery. A bit long perhaps but very enlightening.
I bought this game in 2017, played it on and off since then and just fell in love with it this year and have been dropping hours in like mad. Get the Crucible DLC, get the Ashes of Malmouth and Forgotten Gods DLC. This is a game made by people who love their community of players. This is now my Happy Place game.
Yeah its so cute. I really like to play in this game its great game and they saying its best arpg now better than poe and especially diablo. I as well bought Inquisitor martyr but got dissapointed after 8,8 hours good i bought it not for much money at least
I still haven't taken the time to get *deep* into it, so I could be kinda off here, but I like how each class skill tree, doesn't actually force you to commit to much of anything, except to get skill nodes that buff or augment one of the ones that comes before it, and it seems like you're kind of encouraged to pick some level of cohesive build, and cherrypick skills from both your class trees that work toward that, rather than something like the Torchlight games where it's, not exclusively, but mostly, "Here's three different playstyles for each class; we'll pretend you can do whatever you want but you might as well just fill out one of these tabs." It feels a lot more like, both a creative process and a problem-solving process to look at two classes, have a vague idea what you want to do, and be like, "Okay, so what stuff in here lets me do that? What stuff meshes, and what stuff conflicts? How do I make it work?" I'm sure you can make a lot of stuff work better than you might expect, but it requires you think about it, while it otherwise lets you loose to do what you want. /ramble
love this game, all the loot and experimenting with classes/abilities. If I could add one thing to it I'd love to see if channeled effects could be placed on the current active abilities. Blade arc for example could build to increased range/damage/knockback the longer you hold before releasing, or Cadence/Fire strike/Savagery/etc could let you empty your gun's ammunition in rapid fire. Might be cool, feels like there are tons of possibilities there. Phantasy Star Online did something kind of like that by turning correctly timed attacks into combos and I remember that being pretty fun
As someone that has played High Fantasy tabletop RPGs (be it Dungeons and Dragons and many others like it) and also Dungeon Crawler board games I am quite tired of the setting, yes, it is fun, but really, the market of both is oversaturated, so when I saw the grimdark look of the game it was what made me interested originally. Then I played it and I understood that not only the setting and the lore was great (for me that is), but the mechanics and gameplay were top notch.
Step 1: play for 60 hours Step 2: finally realize what skills can be assigned under default attack beyond the ones that are specifically labeled for that Step 3: play necro occultist and kill everything with one cast of bloody pox and ill omen Step 4: realize devotions can be assigned to pets Oh these aren't steps, these are useful tips I wish I knew
I've basically played every single diablo-like rpg in existance, and for me Grim Dawn is among the best. Basically almost perfect expansion of Titan Quest formula. Double class and devotion system on top of it really can create some awesome and powerful builds. Itemisation is deep and polished aswell, I especially like how smooth and intuitive all damage conversion works.
Titan Quest and Grim Dawn share devs. I love both. when i get in a mythology mood i hit titan quest (and some of it's mods are just nuts, in a good way) and when i want something more modern but still fantasy i hit Grim Dawn.
The title alone is enough said and also applies to me 😁✌️ you know of any other games like this? I found this lacked the same feel I had with diablo 2 multiplayer. Having lvl 10 duels on hardcore, winner takes all, was epic haha.
i was the same way, it took me a few tries to get into the game, once i started getting my first build together thats when i fell in love with it. i only have 1k hours, n i agree, i really dont like the Grim Dawn setting so much, but they have so many builds/systems in place for replayability and grinding, i was able to get over it.
I got just about 1000 hours in this way back in 2016! It is to me still one of the best ARPGs I've ever played. Its even the only one I have played to endgame on in Hardcore!
Grim Dawn is one of the only games makes me keep coming back after breaks,. Its replayability is mind blown, not to mention this game already feels completed without the need of enhancement mods especially with release of monster totems.
Arcanist with Albrecht's Ether Ray full build. I got like +8 to Ray from items only and +3 to Arcanist. This f*cking wrecks. Kinda squishy but runs very fast on proper devotions. Most non-boss enemies die in one or two ticks of Ether Ray dmg. Only lately started adding some Necro to increase def and offensive aura. Have a blast so far, 64lvl :D
Yo dawg I heard you like procs so we put procs in your procs so you can proc while you proc. Yes, Grim Dawn is the best Diablolike to date imho. You did fail to mention that the secret area you found is actually a lotr easter egg with a Gollum-like monster that drops a unique ring
I bought Grim Dawn in March of 2016, on a whim browsing ARPG titles on steam. I fell in love with it almost instantly. I created my first Character (Warden or Soldier/Shaman) and just started bashing my way through it. I loved the depth of skills, the polish, the feel. I made mistakes leveling, I built poorly, there are things I wish I knew at the time but there wasn't much out there about GD at the time. I still have that Warder, lvl 100, and play it. I've respecced it to be more min/maxxed but realistically, I completed the game on all difficulties with a character that was suboptimal, but played the way I liked. I think that's what keeps me going back into Grim Dawns world even with so many Max Level Characters. If I find a particularly interesting Legendary item, it will set me on a journey to build a character around it. I am leveling 5 right now that are very bizarre specs but have a goal in mind that will tie it all together. None of them feel useless, or bad. Some are squishy and you have to play a bit safer, but not every build should be able to facetank Nemesis Bosses. The only downside to this is that it comes very late into gameplay. You will find a TON of cool unique items as you level, but there will still be a lot that you won't know exist until the end game. To me it adds to the replayability. That being said, for anyone thinking about getting into Grim Dawn, there is a very very important tool you can take advantage of, that I wish had been around when I started. Grim Tools. Fantastic Database, that allows you to search for items, build characters with skills, constellations and everything to see how it fits together. Want to build around a certain damage type and abilities? You can search for any items that modify those. (Ex. Fire Strike - basic attack ability. You can search through weapons and armor to find all items that modify Fire Strike.) The cool thing about this is you might find some that fundamentally change the ability. Maybe changes the dmg type, or how it interacts. So, big shout out to the creators of Grim Tools, I've easily spent more time on GT than I have in game. Almost all my bookmarks are characters I've built in GT. This game is so refreshing and rewarding. It's criminally underrepresented. Even RUclips threw this video into the Diablo 2 category. Get Grim Dawn, have fun, you won't be disappointed. This is one of the few games that I play consistently, and have for the last 7 years. Pro Tip - Build for survivability first, and almost can't go wrong with all points into Physique (this is due from stat allocations you will get elsewhere skill trees, constellations, gearing, etc)
Got to take a moment to say; thank you for including Hellgate London on that list. The game got a lot of shade and was very mismanaged, but it was fun and there was some good potential.
Literally just picked this up on sale in 2022 and I must say I was missing out. As much as I love D2 /POE , this is my go to . Perfect Ballance between the two for me. And I love the environments the lovecraftian stye and the build combo's have me hooked. Arpg fans need to try out this hidden gem 💎
Speaking of the game, i dunno if anyone else had this problem before, but every once in a while i reboot this game, and i end up maiking a bunch of characters, getting them to killing krieg, and then just resetting and retrying a new new build. I'm kinda stuck in this weird loop where i just can't find a build i can get attached to. And it's frustrating because i know i would like the game, but i can't get past that point. In a way, this game's freedom is exactly the thing that bogs me down.
I've had this game for ages, and like you, played some couple hours, couldn't get into it. Yet somehow, I enjoyed Adventures of Van Helsing trilogy. I will give Grim Dawn another try!!
A lot of systems that weren't perfect in Titan Quest were improved in Grim Dawn. Loot drops are a lot less random feels more fair, the world has a lot of hidden areas with difficult bosses and the game in general feels a lot deeper because of the faction and devotion system.
Titan Quest was my favorite game for more than 10 years and I was hesitant to pick up Grim Dawn because of the setting and how dark it was compared to TQ. Boy I was wrong, the game is easy to pick up but offers a ton of complexity, the loot drop feels fair and fun, the factions and nemesis systems are amazing ideas implemented very well, exploring the world feels amazing and you're being rewarded for trying to find hidden areas. Safe to say that this is my favorite ARPG now, hope they make a worthy sequel.
Their next game is a town builder called “farthest frontier” there isn’t much info on it, but some screenshots on the site. Looks a bit like Banished. Fingers crossed they do a follow up to Grim Dawn after that.
@UC2L5K6aaQ2IuBhrUL%F0%9F%98%80%F0%9F%98%81MOx1Xw Yeah I saw that, not really interested to be honest but I wish them luck. I'm gonna be waiting for the GD sequel😀
GD is awesome not only for everything you mentioned, but it also has mod support and no micro-transactions to pay for or seasons to miss out on. It's always just there, waiting for you like an old friend from your school years. Plus some decisions you make can affect the world, such as NPC choice or which faction you decide to fight for or against.
In my opinion, Diablo 2 I had times when I was bored, stuck, or frustrated; and thevendor system is Hideous... On Torchlight, sometimes you had to farm like a maniac, and some other things were picky, like with Diablo. Diablo 3 is crap... But no Grim Dawn. Loved the setting. Loved the lore. Loved its easy system. Loved the difficulty steep, it's just perfect. Loved being the right amount all the time. Loved having lots of items, but not being forced to farm. Loved the class variety. Loved how skills can complement each other. Loved how mastering a class also rewards you with health, energy and so on. Loved the Skyrim-esque constellations (need moar electricity!)... Loved Grim Dawn.
Grim Dawn is nearly a perfect game. It provides exactly the expected experience for an ARPG and more. Every ARPG seems to have a problem with end-game, GD doesn't . . . Casual farm totems to find items? Multiple roguelike dungeons with their own unique enemy and challenge types. Nemesis and SUPER-Boss will make any build that isn't at its peak cry. Secret bosses? Do you just like making characters? Monster infrequents and all the dozens upon dozens of sets are specifically tailored to a specific type of build using those key skills. The emergent gameplay is pretty huge for new players because you see skill combo potential there. Finish ultimate and roll new characters with all the unlocked merchant dlc items to skip some of the grind by allowing teleportation around the map and open up all the difficulties. Rerolling is cheap, if you hate your build but like the classes just get rid of what you think isn't working or tweak what you have to perfection. Devotions alone unlock so many combinations it would be impossible to seem them all. The sheer number of CONVERSION items and synergy across the devotion tree can allow a DRAMATIC change even across the same class types, just by swapping skill and devotion paths. The crafting system itself is so common sense and agreeable that it is a shame every single game hasn't copied it. GD screams " freedom" and "player choice" by allowing you to mix up or do almost whatever you want within each equipment piece. Former useless components have value, you never feel like you get "trash" because even the endless pool of hundreds of items can be dismantled or sold so you can convert it into something useful. " Late game you even can reroll the same item to a different item within the same set, reducing the monotony." It is woefully under appreciated. The game is made with passion, love, and a careful attention to detail. You can play the game 300 . . . 500 hours and still NOT see everything within the game, even if you use the wiki either because you don't have a maxed out character to attempt the locked away end game ultimate encounters or because like me . . . you keep f'ing rerolling and trying new things. It is nearly perfect. Back when it came out I placed it 1:1 with Diablo 2. Now after playing it on and off for a few years I think it is BETTER than D2, because spiritually it does what made D2 so great. It also dumpsters D3 and D4 without much of a contest, with graphics being the ONLY benefit to playing those games . . . for a much more hallow experience. Grim Dawn is a love letter to gamers who love ARPG games, much like BG3 currently is doing with CRPG's. I can only hope they will make a GD2
Grim Dawn +DLC's are a masterpiece and anyone who hasn't played it but liked D2, should take a look. My 1600hours + played says so. FYI Hellgate london lives, it's re-engineered under the name London 2038, and it's been blessed by the original devs.
I haven't watched the video yet (will soon), but I can really recommend Last Epoch too. It's not fully out yet (early access) but is already full of promises. Especially the skill and crafting systems.
My current build is a Mage Hunter (inquisitor/arcanist) who uses a flamethrower-like ability and jacked on-attack procs and holy shit melting an entire crowd of zombies is so much fun
Grim Dawn is the perfect middle between Diablo and PoE.
Not too simple to make you think the devs take you for an ape but not too complex and intimidating so that you think "im too dumb for this"
Poe devs still take you for an ape
@@steamh4mmer264 not everyone who play PoE are black
@@steamh4mmer264
An ape with a wallet.
As someone who has played many many ARPG games, Grim Dawn is among the top. As you said, the class system allows so many different builds. Plus grinding rep gives some awesome items making the grind really worth it. Even the lore is really good and could rival Diablo.
Some of the lore is also quite creepy, such as trip south...
@@juhanipolvi4729 Yeah, that story was like "whoa", then looking at the world and the time reflective to our own like late 1800s to early 1900s makes perfect sense.
Totally agree with that! AAAND I got Dungeon Siege 1 + 2 - vibes incoming, when I play this. I have 1.8k hours on PoE and ~1k hours on d3, but grim dawn (I "discovered" it around a week ago) kicks some ass. Every epic Item I find, I think: "wow, this is used in another great build, for sure. I have to keep this and try a build around it".
The offline-economic give me some peace, not to play "optimised for farming".
Diablo doesn’t rival Grim Dawn. GD is way better
@@juhanipolvi4729 trip south is my absoultely favourite note lore
Hi there. I'm one of the playtesters of the game. 8k+ hours sank into grim dawn. It is truly my favorite.
I can tell you that I, the player base, the other testers, and the devs put a lot of effort into making sure all class combos can work well in end game. There are no bad constellations, there are no bad skills, there are no bad classes in grim dawn.
Obviously some combos are better than others, but I can safely say that there is itemization to support every single class combo in the end game. Perhaps only saboteurs are still a bit wonky due to the extreme lack of skill synergy.
Seriously, I've seen every single constellation in a strong end game build.
I've built around every single legendary tier item. They're all good if you know how best to take advantage of them.
One of the nice things in diablo 2 is by the end of the game you feel extremely over powered. You earned it after grinding and farming the right stuff.
Same in GD but the end game systems ensure everyone can hit a challenge wall eventually. Crucible has a different meta than shattered realm. So this is the only arpg I know with 3 end game metas. Crucible vs farming SR vs pushing SR. And the secrets in Grim Dawn are so many. Secret areas, secret quests, silly secrets, lore tied secrets. There is so much hidden within GD. There is one secret that is so difficult only 3 players have been verified to get it, including myself.
I love this game and I love you for giving it a chance.
(Can provide proof of being a playtester upon request)
I'm playing as Druid right now(level 45ish) and feel like game is forcing me to go lightning+cold. The skill buffs (+1 to x skill) on the items seem to favor lightning and cold builds, rather than vitality which is what I'm playing right now.
@@merttutuncu9271 there are certainly optimal paths for leveling. Gear diversifies more at higher levels. You can't expect everything to play close to equally from start to finish.
Also you're being too vague. With RNG you can't guarantee +skills to your desired dmg type early on. Some builds are certainly more powerful levelers. My above comment was in regard to the fact that you can, with some know-how, make any damage type or focus feel good enough from start to finish. But it's at the end game where you see lots of creative itemization support.
@@merttutuncu9271 heh. 45 lvl? Its only begining)
"...there are no bad skills, there are no bad classes..."
Dreeg's Evil Eye and Defiler say hi.
However you're mostly right, and the game is moddable enough that I'm sure the last of the issues will be smoothed out by community patches later.
@@datanon3059 what wrong with this skills?
I stumbled on GD last Fall. It's been my go to pandemic game, and I've logged 1000 hours. As a dad and full time worker, I would not have guessed I was about to put that much time into a game. It's a gem that keeps offering me different challenges and goals - end game stuff is incredibly difficult. But not impossible. And the GD community has veteran players who also have stuck with it for years and are super helpful to other players on the forum. It's not for everyone, but for some it is near perfect.
Me and my buddies just got into this game about a week ago and we can't stop playing it. It's been a while since we all got online at the same time and played a game together in years. The exploration in this game is my absolute favorite in every arpg I've ever played
I really dig Grim Dawn's setting. I get it's not to everyone's taste, or really most people, but you *never* see full on fantasy settings based around other historical periods. Everything tends to wander back to that same medieval (with elements of early modern weapons and armor) setting. Grim Dawn runs with a 19th century pastiche, and I love it for that. Also, yeah, the game is really fun as well.
I'm coming back to GD after getting kind of tired of PoE and I do agree with you - I like that GD has gone for a sort of Van Helsing sort of feel. At first I honestly just hated it. I didn't like how there were guns and magic but still mundane melee weapons and armor, how there were all these rough, rustic items but also these industrially produced things like metal bedframes and the medical equipment you see in Krieg's lab in A1 did not feel cohesive and believable to me at all at first. On this fresh playthrough I'm looking at it as like if Warhammer 40K went back to the start of the Industrial Revolution and met the Fallout series, and that I can start to mesh with.
Still not the biggest fan of the setting but I'll give Crate credit for making a bold move as any ARPG needs its own identity to stand out, and look at Last Epoch. That's still in development so hopefully they put more work into the worldbuilding. Right now, it just seems like it's a copy/paste of a high fantasy template and I cannot force myself to care about what happens in that world. Wolcen was a total flop in that regard, too. If I come across another NPC group called "The Keepers" I'm going to scream.
@@geoffreymatheson9206 I have both the other games you mentioned and I don't think they're bad, but they don't (haven't?) hold (held?) my attention like Grim Dawn does (has?). I bounced off PoE for years before finally playing it through to the end (before the Atlas) and I like it now but am wary of Tencent's involvement. I have only 3.9 hours in Last Epoch, and my time in Wolcen is only "marginally" better at 51 hours. The next closest to that is the first 2 Torchlight entries (everything since is crap).
Unlike many of the commenters, I liked the setting of Grim Dawn right from the get-go. Whoever was tasked with the worldbuilding of this game really went for it hard. There are 3 different types of magic (Aether, Eldritch, and Void), and the setting seems/feels like a pulp fiction story from the 30s mixed with high fantasy, but set in the 1800s when steam was the driving technological force. So a sort of steampunk high fantasy setting with a splash of "wild west" (the guns). Even the guns are fantasy items. To me they don't shoot bullets, they shoot concentrated magic so you never run out of ammo as long as you have them. Your own abilities only increase the damage output. And sometimes the speed you can shoot.
Grim dawn is a real jem. I've got 400 hours logged. I love my characters. My cabalist minion master, my auto attack demo, my spin to win shammy.
Same here there's so many builds to try that after 2k hours I'm still thinking of more
@Fancy Your profile pic is so nostalgic
Grim Dawn is amazing, really the best nowadays IMO. It has something that other modern RPGs lack and fail to understand for the most part: A balance in complexity, grind/rewards, exploration/kill speed and difficulty with an unparalled quality of life and builds that actually feel different in gameplay. Auto-Sort, auto-pickups, loot filters, respec, mod support... You can also eventually complete all content casually if you keep at it even if you didn't play for a few months as you'll keep your progress at all time and your build will stay viable. It actually respect your time.
Great review, you nailed it. Exploration is super fun. While it's challenging especially later on, there are no other ARPG that make me feel that relaxed clearing maps.
If you want to play Grimdawn AND Diablo 2 at the same time, try looking at Reign of Terror - Grimdawn mod
Dudr wtf you talkin abal? Diablo 2 is so much better
@@fodedordegatas1081 Nah, it's bad.
@@TheFeralFerret comon dud... You mast be a kid to say somthin like dat....
@@fodedordegatas1081 Your spelling tells me enough about your intelligence.
@@omegadroidzero speaking two languages Tell u i m a smart Guy?
GD is like a "Home-Game" to me
I could binge play for 2 months, take a break for 6 months and when i go back, there might be some slight changes but my build is still relevant.
They really respect the players, both casual and hardcore.
Although my ass is still getting kicked on HC, RIP my level 89 char. You will be missed Le Destroyz.
Just like diablo 2
I have 9k hours in Grim Dawn and have yet to get a character to lvl 100. I just recently moved on to elite and have yet to enter ultimate difficulty. I haven't got a hardcore character to even level 40 yet.
I've played every single relevant ARPG thats come out in the past 10 years and Grim Dawn is easily top 3 for me. Thousand of hours in PoE and Diablo 2. It has loads of depth but not way too much (PoE lol). Appreciate the video man!
Yeah definitely top 3 my list is Diablo 2, grim dawn, and torchlight 2.
One of my favourites part of GD is Monster Infrequents (Items that always drop from specific monsters), which allows targeted farming. And even better, item modifiers. You can take a fire based skill and put on an item that gives it an extra effect and makes it do acid damage. Boom, couple of new possibilities. And there are items that do this for almost every left/right click skill in the game. And these are also farmable by killing specific mobs. Also, there is a bit of "procedural generation" in a way. Since game randomly puts rocks on narrow paths, and every character gets a different "loadout", you often have to find different paths toward your objectives.
Grim Dawn is my favorite ARPG, and one of my favorite games of all times. I've started playing it back when it was on Early Access, and I loved every second of it! I just love this game! No other ARPG gives me the same amount of customization and fun!
I'm moving towards 3500 hours in Grim Dawn and i'm still having a blast.
-The sheer amount of build-possibilities (You can make even the craziest of ideas work, if you grasp the mechanics)
-The possible "holy trinity" and synergies you can have in co-op (Tank pulling aggro, Supporter buffing, debuffing and healing and Damage Dealer glasscannons bringing the pain, or even hybrids inbetween)
-The hunt for skins for the Fashion Dawn/Transmog (implemented since the Ashes of Malmouth expac)
-All the secrets to find
-The grim dark, lovecraftian lore to explore
-The loot hunt (All items can have even more passive proc, or active skills on them. There are items converting damage types of specific skills into another damage type, to make two masteries work together, which are otherwise lacking a common damage type, to make even the craziest of builds work all of a sudden. Tons of blueprints to find etc.)
-The crafting (You find blueprints, you can even completely craft end game sets since the Forgotten Gods expansion)
-The quality of life options like a very detailed lootfilter, transmutation of set items (into another item of the same set, or into a random set item of the same value), or the easy and cheap respec (you can reset everything but your choosen masteries/classes.. Bosses can drop potions to reset attribute points or all devotion points at once)
-The tools/mods (Infinite stash via the "Grim Dawn Item Assistant", so you dont need hundrets of mules f.e.)
Definately a game i come back to time and time again.
And i agree with the title of this video.
I would even go so far, to call Grim Dawn the true, spiritual successor to Diablo 2 and an enhanced Titan Quest ontop of that.
Really wholesome and good video. I really felt your passion to the game coming through. I'm always happy to see people to enjoy this gem of a game as much as i do. :)
I wouldn't say "as much as you do" because at the end of the day I still only have 78 hours, but my 78 hours is another person's 300+ as far as commitment goes I think.
I've really been wanting to get back to leveling my shaman that I showed in this video but too many other things demand my attention :(
And oh my God I think the loot filter on its own is one of the things that really makes the game stand out for me. One of the fastest ways for me to get turned off of a game is having to do way too much annoying micromanagement of useless items, and it's really nice that as I level up I can continue filtering out more and more lower-tier rarities and just make my life way easier.
ive clocked 1500 hours in this game and it is truly wonderful, one of my all time favorites. you really don't get video games like this any more, the base game and expansions really take me back to the early aughts when you had things like LoD and Frozen Throne enhancing games. glad it is finally getting some recognition after years of improvements and iteration by the devs
this is how good the game, he didn't even bother to research when the game is came out because everything is still hold up to today's game quality, and yes, i still play it to this day, not everyday but time to time when i want to try new build, maxed it to 100
Hell yeah. Me and a friend recently started, i have over 200h so far, this game is so freaking awesome.
Everything works really well, and the secret and hidden locations, the classes, items, mobs, bosses, heroes, so forth.
Give it a go
This game is so so good, i feel sad for all the people who have never played it. I also feel jealous as they can experience it now and fall in love with it! Thanks for your video, im sure someone will be telling the same story about your video and how it all started here for him!
I like the camera that can rotate and view the fights in every angle
I agree with nearly everything here.
I've spent more time with Grum Dawn than any other loot grinder ever. I've been passed my Diablo 2 play time.
Thank you for covering this game. I hope more channels cover this game. I have almost 2K hours and will not stop playing!
The loot design is something the developer got right. You can actually have a top tier build even with green / blue items instead of legendary sets.
Not knowing what I was doing with sub classes I just went full demolitionist and had a literal blast the entire time
Secondary masteries are often used for support skills. Inquisitor is a good match with demolitionist and demo+inq is a called a Purifier. Particularly fun to play with a ranged two hander or dual pistols.
I'm sitting on about 1250 hours played in grim dawn. Started in beta 23. As far as I'm concerned this is currently the best ARPG on the market. It hits that sweet spot between the braindeadness of d3 and the total insanity of PoE.
The braindeadness of d3 and the total insanity of PoE 🤣 🤣 🤣
couldnt stand uber cheapöh flee-r poe. player names anöid chars too big graphics faulty etc etc. that free from skill class irminsül jungle geometrick thingey still buy was purdy to b-höLD. sadlie knöt för me. i reckon this game gd will take at least 3kilo hours maybe more than 4 fröm you... multiple övergrindce v v
Hey man stop sitting on numbers what they do to you?
@@cv507 im from the future to tell you that whatever the fuck you said here is still completely incomprehensible.
Ah yes, the game that keeps popping up in sales that I've never heard anyone talk about
Oh, this is like Titan Quest in its multiclassing? Sold!
Made my some of the same devs. Great game.
Runs on literally the same engine as Titan quest, which is wild
Arigatou gozaymas! This was the insightful review of grim dawn that I needed to really give it a chance. I had the same first impression as you.
Former member of the team that made Titan Quest founded his own company that made Grim Dawn. They are made in same engine.
Personally I love that every class combination has a unique name, fitting its mix of abilities
After binging on G.D for the last few months I went back to Titan's Quest, definitely worth revisiting. Good Video.
Since the Steams sales atm, would you recommend the dcls ?
I agree. I played Grim Dawn for 18 months a few years ago. I also recently went back a lost another few days of my life playing it again. I cannot wait for D2R but yes GD is a wonderful game and Blizzard is even taking some features of GD to include in D2R like shared stash, zoom and selected character screens to view your outfitted characters. It is good fun.
Those aren't grim dawn created features, but they are definitely good ones.
Thank you for posting. I played the orignal Diablo back in the day but was never into RPG's. Do you recommend this or another I found called Last EPOCH? Thank you
It is not mentioned that you can entirely build your active skill set on the ones granted by items and components.
I love that I can have a pyromancer that throws fireballs and then procs a meteor storm.
If you love Grim Dawn, do yourself a favor and mod it with Grimarillion. 32 sets of masteries including from Diablo 3 and Titan Quest. The combinations are crazy fun to experiment with.
no
@@kinh0t ok
Is there couch coop mode ?
Do you have any recommandations for games like this ?
I got vanilla GD, and for thr 1st time I finished storyline. Do you guys have tips on how and what to expect on playing new game+ on higher difficulties?
When I first played this game I was quite overwhelmed especially by the devotion tree. I started a month ago and now I can't stop
Same 😀
You made me smile and giggle like a was a kid again! I restarted playing Grim Dawn yesterday and oh boy did I ever enjoy the game even more than when I played 2 years ago! Actually I only play because of Dawn of Masteries mod. Which gives like 40+ extra character classes... lol! So a lifetime of build customization! And I thought PoE was deep into customization.. well lol
loved your take on this game. def gonna boot it back up soon.
Grim Dawn got past me somehow when it was released. I discovered it about a week before Thanksgiving of 2022. And you've just said that you found it the same way I did, by someone else talking about it. I've been going back and forth between this and TITAN QUEST for a while, but now I've been primarily on GRIM DAWN for over a month. It is a great game. Great vid, thanks.
I bought it yestarday (it's 00:11 when I wrote the comment). So I chose the Demolitionist, and the second class Soldier. I kinda go to maximize the right click spell + the aura for healing and damage (I think). As for the build I just go with what is better tier and better stats in general, but for some reasons it kinda takes me some time to beat bosses, is it normal? I don't follow any strategy, do I have any chance to just go random and still win?
I'd say just have fun with it. If you keep doing quests you unlock the ability to respec, that's when you can really go crazy with min-maxing and theorycrafting
Haha dude your sense of humor is great. Nice vid!
LOL, It is 2023! I have only been playing a few weeks. I am SoOooooOoo ADDICTED! Love this game! Grim Dawn is what D2,3.and 4 should have been!
Grim Dawn is an excellent game. There are so many great skills and I love all the creative things you can do with multi-classing and the constellation system. As someone who also hasn't enjoyed many other ARPGs since Diablo 2, another one that I'd recommend is Last Epoch. For an early access title, it's really smooth and there's a ton of content.
Grim Dawn is one of those games that I needed to come back and try a few times before I really got. Its so damn good. Such an underrated game
I really need to pick this one back up! Had a crazy fun occultist/shaman pet build that did really well!
new gamer here. how do I use the 'mana' ? really cant figure out. have gotten around 2 hours in. still cant figure it out. please help. thank you
Once you get special abilities from your skill tree, you can click on the empty slots on your hotbar to assign that slot to one of your abilities. Those will usually use your mana resource.
You...use skills...
my favorite game since 2016, put in close to 3000 hours. Always good to see more grim dawn videos!
You know whats also just fun? Your high quialty videos keep it up!
Great game, I haven't gotten too far but the game play and loot/crafting system is cool, I've played through Titan Quest a bunch, figured I'd give Grim dawn a try, glad I did.
what's your favorite GD build? Mine's witchblade rah'zin chaos cadence which I call Damon, Sword of Solael.
Thanks for this vid. I'm sold.
What I've played of Grim Dawn has been amazing, although I'm not a big action rpg guy so I didn't get too far.
Fair!
I think it becomes even more fun later, there are hidden areas, quests, bosses and a great story. Hope you got a build though, some deadly areas are very hard.
@Didactic there is no doubt it can be confusing starting out, but fortunately normal mode is very easy and you can get away with almost anything whilst you learn the mechanics. There are some very good guides on RUclips: I can strongly recommend rektby-Protoss “how to level a X” series which he does for each mastery. A bit long perhaps but very enlightening.
I bought this game in 2017, played it on and off since then and just fell in love with it this year and have been dropping hours in like mad. Get the Crucible DLC, get the Ashes of Malmouth and Forgotten Gods DLC. This is a game made by people who love their community of players. This is now my Happy Place game.
Yeah its so cute. I really like to play in this game its great game and they saying its best arpg now better than poe and especially diablo. I as well bought Inquisitor martyr but got dissapointed after 8,8 hours good i bought it not for much money at least
Great video!
I still haven't taken the time to get *deep* into it, so I could be kinda off here, but I like how each class skill tree, doesn't actually force you to commit to much of anything, except to get skill nodes that buff or augment one of the ones that comes before it, and it seems like you're kind of encouraged to pick some level of cohesive build, and cherrypick skills from both your class trees that work toward that, rather than something like the Torchlight games where it's, not exclusively, but mostly, "Here's three different playstyles for each class; we'll pretend you can do whatever you want but you might as well just fill out one of these tabs." It feels a lot more like, both a creative process and a problem-solving process to look at two classes, have a vague idea what you want to do, and be like, "Okay, so what stuff in here lets me do that? What stuff meshes, and what stuff conflicts? How do I make it work?" I'm sure you can make a lot of stuff work better than you might expect, but it requires you think about it, while it otherwise lets you loose to do what you want. /ramble
Played Diablo1 - 4, Wolcen, PoE, Last Epoch, Titan Quest but still I keep itching to continue to play this gem!
love this game, all the loot and experimenting with classes/abilities. If I could add one thing to it I'd love to see if channeled effects could be placed on the current active abilities. Blade arc for example could build to increased range/damage/knockback the longer you hold before releasing, or Cadence/Fire strike/Savagery/etc could let you empty your gun's ammunition in rapid fire. Might be cool, feels like there are tons of possibilities there. Phantasy Star Online did something kind of like that by turning correctly timed attacks into combos and I remember that being pretty fun
Grim dawn is an aboslute favorite arpg of mine Its beyond addicting collecting gear and the little materials
This cant be coincidence, I am playing GD right now
Me too :).
So weird, cause I JUST went back to playing GD (yet again!) 2 days ago! :o
It isn't? RUclips recommended this video to you because you liked GD.
Have you tried The Incredible Adventures of Vanhelsing?
As someone that has played High Fantasy tabletop RPGs (be it Dungeons and Dragons and many others like it) and also Dungeon Crawler board games I am quite tired of the setting, yes, it is fun, but really, the market of both is oversaturated, so when I saw the grimdark look of the game it was what made me interested originally.
Then I played it and I understood that not only the setting and the lore was great (for me that is), but the mechanics and gameplay were top notch.
Step 1: play for 60 hours
Step 2: finally realize what skills can be assigned under default attack beyond the ones that are specifically labeled for that
Step 3: play necro occultist and kill everything with one cast of bloody pox and ill omen
Step 4: realize devotions can be assigned to pets
Oh these aren't steps, these are useful tips I wish I knew
I've basically played every single diablo-like rpg in existance, and for me Grim Dawn is among the best. Basically almost perfect expansion of Titan Quest formula. Double class and devotion system on top of it really can create some awesome and powerful builds. Itemisation is deep and polished aswell, I especially like how smooth and intuitive all damage conversion works.
I had nightmares trying to figure out builds when factoring in damage conversion
Titan Quest and Grim Dawn share devs. I love both. when i get in a mythology mood i hit titan quest (and some of it's mods are just nuts, in a good way) and when i want something more modern but still fantasy i hit Grim Dawn.
Absolutely fantastic game I still have it installed on my laptop to this day and now I’m gonna play it again thanks to this video 😂
I've been playing this and The Last Spell alternating. It's been great!
Grim Dawn is amazing especially today. The developers love to game and they make it better every year with constant updates.
Played it a lot. And i hope for a Grim Dawn 2.
The title alone is enough said and also applies to me 😁✌️ you know of any other games like this? I found this lacked the same feel I had with diablo 2 multiplayer. Having lvl 10 duels on hardcore, winner takes all, was epic haha.
i was the same way, it took me a few tries to get into the game, once i started getting my first build together thats when i fell in love with it. i only have 1k hours, n i agree, i really dont like the Grim Dawn setting so much, but they have so many builds/systems in place for replayability and grinding, i was able to get over it.
I got just about 1000 hours in this way back in 2016! It is to me still one of the best ARPGs I've ever played. Its even the only one I have played to endgame on in Hardcore!
Grim Dawn is the first arpg that truly captivated me and got me feinding for the genre.
Favorite game of all time. Glad to see it getting some love.
Have you played Last Epoch?
Grim Dawn is one of the only games makes me keep coming back after breaks,. Its replayability is mind blown, not to mention this game already feels completed without the need of enhancement mods especially with release of monster totems.
have you tried torchlight and torchlight 2
Time travelling from 2023, and Grim Dawn is still my #1 overall ARPG of all time.
3 months ago: rest in peace Hellgate London
Now: rest in peace Path of Exile
Great review! I really want to get this but don’t have an Xbox. Are there any other good arpgs on Xbox? Just need to justify buying a new system. Haha
Arcanist with Albrecht's Ether Ray full build. I got like +8 to Ray from items only and +3 to Arcanist. This f*cking wrecks. Kinda squishy but runs very fast on proper devotions. Most non-boss enemies die in one or two ticks of Ether Ray dmg. Only lately started adding some Necro to increase def and offensive aura. Have a blast so far, 64lvl :D
Yo dawg I heard you like procs so we put procs in your procs so you can proc while you proc.
Yes, Grim Dawn is the best Diablolike to date imho.
You did fail to mention that the secret area you found is actually a lotr easter egg with a Gollum-like monster that drops a unique ring
I bought Grim Dawn in March of 2016, on a whim browsing ARPG titles on steam. I fell in love with it almost instantly. I created my first Character (Warden or Soldier/Shaman) and just started bashing my way through it. I loved the depth of skills, the polish, the feel. I made mistakes leveling, I built poorly, there are things I wish I knew at the time but there wasn't much out there about GD at the time. I still have that Warder, lvl 100, and play it. I've respecced it to be more min/maxxed but realistically, I completed the game on all difficulties with a character that was suboptimal, but played the way I liked. I think that's what keeps me going back into Grim Dawns world even with so many Max Level Characters.
If I find a particularly interesting Legendary item, it will set me on a journey to build a character around it. I am leveling 5 right now that are very bizarre specs but have a goal in mind that will tie it all together. None of them feel useless, or bad. Some are squishy and you have to play a bit safer, but not every build should be able to facetank Nemesis Bosses. The only downside to this is that it comes very late into gameplay. You will find a TON of cool unique items as you level, but there will still be a lot that you won't know exist until the end game. To me it adds to the replayability.
That being said, for anyone thinking about getting into Grim Dawn, there is a very very important tool you can take advantage of, that I wish had been around when I started. Grim Tools. Fantastic Database, that allows you to search for items, build characters with skills, constellations and everything to see how it fits together. Want to build around a certain damage type and abilities? You can search for any items that modify those. (Ex. Fire Strike - basic attack ability. You can search through weapons and armor to find all items that modify Fire Strike.) The cool thing about this is you might find some that fundamentally change the ability. Maybe changes the dmg type, or how it interacts. So, big shout out to the creators of Grim Tools, I've easily spent more time on GT than I have in game. Almost all my bookmarks are characters I've built in GT.
This game is so refreshing and rewarding. It's criminally underrepresented. Even RUclips threw this video into the Diablo 2 category.
Get Grim Dawn, have fun, you won't be disappointed. This is one of the few games that I play consistently, and have for the last 7 years.
Pro Tip - Build for survivability first, and almost can't go wrong with all points into Physique (this is due from stat allocations you will get elsewhere skill trees, constellations, gearing, etc)
Got to take a moment to say; thank you for including Hellgate London on that list. The game got a lot of shade and was very mismanaged, but it was fun and there was some good potential.
Rip hellgate it only needed more time and it would've been great.
Literally just picked this up on sale in 2022 and I must say I was missing out. As much as I love D2 /POE , this is my go to . Perfect Ballance between the two for me. And I love the environments the lovecraftian stye and the build combo's have me hooked. Arpg fans need to try out this hidden gem 💎
Its the best for me. Still playing it and still starting from time to time from begining
Speaking of the game, i dunno if anyone else had this problem before, but every once in a while i reboot this game, and i end up maiking a bunch of characters, getting them to killing krieg, and then just resetting and retrying a new new build. I'm kinda stuck in this weird loop where i just can't find a build i can get attached to. And it's frustrating because i know i would like the game, but i can't get past that point. In a way, this game's freedom is exactly the thing that bogs me down.
I've had this game for ages, and like you, played some couple hours, couldn't get into it. Yet somehow, I enjoyed Adventures of Van Helsing trilogy. I will give Grim Dawn another try!!
Might have to actually look into this considering Titan Quest was basically the only isometric ARPG I really like and it sounds similar.
Grim Dawn actually uses Titan Quest's engine, and a lot of people who worked on Titan Quest worked on Grim Dawn. It's very much a spiritual successor.
A lot of systems that weren't perfect in Titan Quest were improved in Grim Dawn. Loot drops are a lot less random feels more fair, the world has a lot of hidden areas with difficult bosses and the game in general feels a lot deeper because of the faction and devotion system.
What an absolute epic games with fantastic expansions!
Titan Quest was my favorite game for more than 10 years and I was hesitant to pick up Grim Dawn because of the setting and how dark it was compared to TQ. Boy I was wrong, the game is easy to pick up but offers a ton of complexity, the loot drop feels fair and fun, the factions and nemesis systems are amazing ideas implemented very well, exploring the world feels amazing and you're being rewarded for trying to find hidden areas. Safe to say that this is my favorite ARPG now, hope they make a worthy sequel.
Their next game is a town builder called “farthest frontier” there isn’t much info on it, but some screenshots on the site. Looks a bit like Banished. Fingers crossed they do a follow up to Grim Dawn after that.
@UC2L5K6aaQ2IuBhrUL%F0%9F%98%80%F0%9F%98%81MOx1Xw Yeah I saw that, not really interested to be honest but I wish them luck. I'm gonna be waiting for the GD sequel😀
GD is awesome not only for everything you mentioned, but it also has mod support and no micro-transactions to pay for or seasons to miss out on. It's always just there, waiting for you like an old friend from your school years. Plus some decisions you make can affect the world, such as NPC choice or which faction you decide to fight for or against.
The official mod support from the devs is awesome. Look up Reign of Terror, reimagines Diablo 2 in Grim Dawn's engine and Act 6 reimagines Diablo 1.
In my opinion, Diablo 2 I had times when I was bored, stuck, or frustrated; and thevendor system is Hideous... On Torchlight, sometimes you had to farm like a maniac, and some other things were picky, like with Diablo. Diablo 3 is crap...
But no Grim Dawn. Loved the setting. Loved the lore. Loved its easy system. Loved the difficulty steep, it's just perfect. Loved being the right amount all the time. Loved having lots of items, but not being forced to farm. Loved the class variety. Loved how skills can complement each other. Loved how mastering a class also rewards you with health, energy and so on. Loved the Skyrim-esque constellations (need moar electricity!)... Loved Grim Dawn.
Grim Dawn is nearly a perfect game. It provides exactly the expected experience for an ARPG and more. Every ARPG seems to have a problem with end-game, GD doesn't . . . Casual farm totems to find items? Multiple roguelike dungeons with their own unique enemy and challenge types. Nemesis and SUPER-Boss will make any build that isn't at its peak cry. Secret bosses?
Do you just like making characters? Monster infrequents and all the dozens upon dozens of sets are specifically tailored to a specific type of build using those key skills. The emergent gameplay is pretty huge for new players because you see skill combo potential there. Finish ultimate and roll new characters with all the unlocked merchant dlc items to skip some of the grind by allowing teleportation around the map and open up all the difficulties. Rerolling is cheap, if you hate your build but like the classes just get rid of what you think isn't working or tweak what you have to perfection. Devotions alone unlock so many combinations it would be impossible to seem them all. The sheer number of CONVERSION items and synergy across the devotion tree can allow a DRAMATIC change even across the same class types, just by swapping skill and devotion paths.
The crafting system itself is so common sense and agreeable that it is a shame every single game hasn't copied it. GD screams " freedom" and "player choice" by allowing you to mix up or do almost whatever you want within each equipment piece. Former useless components have value, you never feel like you get "trash" because even the endless pool of hundreds of items can be dismantled or sold so you can convert it into something useful. " Late game you even can reroll the same item to a different item within the same set, reducing the monotony." It is woefully under appreciated.
The game is made with passion, love, and a careful attention to detail. You can play the game 300 . . . 500 hours and still NOT see everything within the game, even if you use the wiki either because you don't have a maxed out character to attempt the locked away end game ultimate encounters or because like me . . . you keep f'ing rerolling and trying new things.
It is nearly perfect. Back when it came out I placed it 1:1 with Diablo 2. Now after playing it on and off for a few years I think it is BETTER than D2, because spiritually it does what made D2 so great. It also dumpsters D3 and D4 without much of a contest, with graphics being the ONLY benefit to playing those games . . . for a much more hallow experience. Grim Dawn is a love letter to gamers who love ARPG games, much like BG3 currently is doing with CRPG's. I can only hope they will make a GD2
Ive never played any ARPG till recently but both Grim Dawn and Last Epoch have me hooked
Grim Dawn +DLC's are a masterpiece and anyone who hasn't played it but liked D2, should take a look.
My 1600hours + played says so.
FYI Hellgate london lives, it's re-engineered under the name London 2038, and it's been blessed by the original devs.
I haven't watched the video yet (will soon), but I can really recommend Last Epoch too. It's not fully out yet (early access) but is already full of promises. Especially the skill and crafting systems.
I saw The Lazy Peon's video on it, it does look really, really nice!
13:40 You did not mention, but you can also find a certain wretched creature in that cave.
My current build is a Mage Hunter (inquisitor/arcanist) who uses a flamethrower-like ability and jacked on-attack procs and holy shit melting an entire crowd of zombies is so much fun
What a coincidence, I started playing this right now and got this recommended.
I literally just bought the game and this is the first video i see when i open youtube can't wait to play lol.