KickStarter Grim Dawn

[RoBoBOBR]

Turns out there was a side-quest that unlocks that ability for all inventors, which i didn't complete during my elite difficulty playthrough, and just started on ultimate. Should've been more completionist =)

 

[Mastermind]

I prefer replaying D1 than D2 because it is as you say, focused. Furthermore the lack of grind needed to beat the game is nice. In D2 you rely on RNG drops to do the higher difficulty levels unless you happen to play a Druid. In Diablo 1 all the good items are given to you via quests. I'd like more loot determinism in this genre and less brainless loot grind, but I'm the minority here and the genre has been hijacked by people who suffer from crippling gambling addiction.

What Druid build got you through hell without relying on drops?

 

[Sykar]

The new patch is insane, a crap ton of changes.
https://grimdawn.com/forums/showthread.php?t=83649

Spoiler

V1.1.2.0

[Major New Features]

• The Shattered Realm continues to destabilize with the introduction of 5 new levels!
• Several older skill spell FX have been updated to meet our modern standards. See the Art Section for details!
• Many Item Skills Modifiers with 100% Damage Conversion have been updated with new spell FX.
• Some older item sets have fallen behind their more modern brethren. We took this patch as an opportunity to redesign them and bring a new life to their gameplay. We hope you enjoy the following revised sets:
• Bloodrager's Frenzy
• Bloodrager's Endless Frenzy
• Iskandra's Unity
• Iskandra's Unification
• The Clairvoyant
• The Clairvoyant's Focus
• Ulzuin's Avatar
• Ulzuin's Infernal Avatar

[Shattered Realm]

• Boss spawn pools have been updated to smooth out progression and reduce nasty combinations, particularly at higher Shards. Certain bosses can no longer appear in multiples.
• Adjusted Loot Distribution curve such that loot quality starts out considerably higher before arriving at its previous values at Shard 60+.
• Reduced Monster health scaling with Shard at lower Shards, arriving at its original values by Shard 60.
• Adjusted Monster Physical damage scaling with Shards so that it scales slower than other damage types.
• Chunk exit portals are now always visible on the minimap regardless of distance from the player.
• The background bitmap of the Shattered Realm UI no longer prevents mouse input.
• The Splendors of the Shattered Realm now has a vendor to buy potions and sell items. In addition, this vendor sells the Shattered Realm Legendary set when you reach sufficiently high shards.
• The Shattered Realm Legendary set no longer drops from loot chests as it is available from the new vendor. Instead, additional crafting materials drop.
• Fixed a number of locations where players/monsters can get stuck beneath terrain. If you run into other such locations, please report them as a bug with a screenshot of the area.
• Fixed an issue where bosses would not properly reset after restarting a Shattered Realm run, resulting in excess spawns on the boss level.
• Fixed the information on Mutator Icons sometimes being incorrect.

[Art]

• Updated the Devotion skill FX for Rhowan Crown's Elemental Storm to be less obtrusive and reduce blow-out.
• Updated visual FX on various shield skills (ex. Maiven's Sphere of Protection) so that they are much more subtle and less prone to blow-out when overlapped with other fx.
• Updated FX for Blade Arc.
• Updated FX for Bloody Pox.
• Updated FX for Counter Strike.
• Updated FX for Forcewave.
• Updated FX for Grasping Vines.
• Updated FX for Grenado.
• Updated FX for Phantasmal Blades.
• Updated FX for Stun Jacks.
• Updated FX for War Cry.
• Updated FX for Vindictive Flame.
• Updated FX for various Lightning-based Skills to be a bit flashier (Doombolt, Aetherbolt and other misc Lightning strikes).
• Updated textures and cast FX for beam skills (ex. Albrecht's Aether Ray).
• Changed shaders on Drain Essence to reduce blowout in bright areas.
• Changed shaders on chaos & vitality weapon trails to reduce blow-out in bright areas.

[Tech]

• Fixed a crash caused by objects and levels loading and unloading for clients in Multiplayer sessions.
• Fixed a rare crash related to beam-type skills (ex. Drain Essence)
• Fixed a rare crash related to channeled skills.
• Fixed an issue where bosses regaining health from player deaths in Multiplayer would not correctly update for all players (resulting in some players seemingly dealing no damage to a monster because the health bar is not updated)
• Fixed an issue where whirlwind-type skills (ex. Eye of Reckoning) would sometimes not respond when clicking in an unreachable position.
• Fixed an issue where Devotion shrines would not grant Experience if the player was at maximum Devotion points.
• Fixed an issue where certain hotkeys would work inside the Devotion Skill Window (ex. toggling Loot).
• Fixed an issue where GOG achievements were not being cached when playing offline.
• Added Footstep decals for Player Characters.
• Walking away from an Inventor while executing one of their features now closes any prompts.

[Game]

• Increased area level ranges on Normal/Veteran difficulty so that players entering Arkovian Foothills and beyond after completing the Forgotten Gods campaign have a more suitable challenge.
• The Chthonian alternative to the Inashkor encounter now drops a unique Legendary item in contrast to the one dropped by Inashkor.
• Moltenclaw Monster Infrequents now drop from some of the hero variants. Champion Moltenclaws also have a slightly higher chance to drop their MI.
• Additional Target Dummy configurations have been added to Fort Ikon for Cleave/AoE testing
• Fixed an issue where the shortcut back to the Void's Edge would disappear.
• Fixed an issue that caused some breakable walls to be untargetable.

[Itemization]

• Crafting - Kaylon's Reduced Stun Duration and Reduced Freeze Duration crafting bonuses are now more potent
• Crafting - Egellon's Slow Resist crafting bonus is now more potent
• Relic - Absolution: reduced % Shield Recovery Time to -35%
• Relic - Conflagration: granted skill now pierces through enemies, values adjusted accordingly
• Relic - Honor: reduced % Retaliation Damage Added to Attack damage on the skill to 25%
• Relic - Yugol's Hunger: reduced Movement Speed by an additional 4% while spinning to win with the granted skill
• Faction - Bysmiel's Grasp: increased Cold damage modifier for Summon Briarthorn to 40 and replaced % Total Speed for pets with 15% Attack Speed
• Faction - Mark of the Shadow Queen: reduced Elemental damage modifier for Aura of Censure to 70
• Faction - Occulant: increased Acid Retaliation on the skill proc
• Faction - Rancor: item has been redesigned to focus on Phantasmal Blades and Devouring Swarm
• Epic - Aetherstorm Amulet: removed Aether dealt as Lightning conversion
• Epic - Aetherstorm Seal: added % Aether damage
• Epic - Mythical Aetherstorm Amulet: removed Aether dealt as Lightning conversion
• Epic - Mythical Aetherstorm Seal: added % Aether damage
• Epic - Mythical Cindervein Mantle: added +2 to Fire Strike
• Epic - The Arcane Tempest Set: increased damage on the granted skill
• Monster Infrequent - Compelled Wraith: added 30% Burn/Vitality Decay Duration, removed Fire dealt as Vitality
• Monster Infrequent - Fleshwarped Defender: reduced Burn damage modifier for Aegis of Menhir to 50
• Monster Infrequent - Korvan Burning Halberd: added 10% Damage Modifier modifier for Righteous Fervor
• Monster Infrequent - Scorpius Pummeler: has been reclassified as a Scepter for the purpose of affixes it can roll with, values updated accordingly.
• Monster Infrequent - Ugdenbog Repeater: reduced % Weapon damage modifier for Aegis of Menhir to 20%
• Components - Seal of ___: adjusted damage on granted skills

Legendary Non-Set Items

• Added % Retaliation Damage Added to Attack to Wave of Fire and Dawnshard procs
• Alladrah's Spellblade: reduced % Slow Resist to 20% and removed Health, removed % Crit damage bonus on the skill proc
• Avatar of Order: reduced Fire Retaliation to 260
• Callagadra's Visage: removed % Physical Retaliation damage
• Cindertouch: reduced Lightning damage modifier for Eye of Reckoning to 4-32
• Conduit of ___ Whispers: improved or revised many of the modifiers granted by this series of Amulets
• Dawnshard Hauberk: added 33% All Retaliation damage, replaced bonus to Full Spread with +3 to Temper
• Dread Armor of Azragor: reduced Physical Retaliation on the granted skill
• Dreadfire: added 16% Attack Speed
• Dreegal'Anore: added 10% Physical Resist, removed % Vitality/Vitality Decay damage
• Gildor's Guard: reduced Physical Retaliation and % All Retaliation on the skill proc
• Gildor's Pulverizer: increased % Cooldown Reduction to 16%, removed % Physical/Trauma damage and bonus to Cadence. Added 60% of Elemental dealt as Pierce and +2 to Nightblade Skills.
• Hellborne: added 45% of Physical dealt as Fire
• Infernal Brimstone: reduced Cooldown on skill proc to 3.5s
• Korvan Wyrm: added 10% Cooldown Reduction
• Markovian's Stratagem: reduced Physical damage to 6-10 and % Shield Damage Blocked to 33%
• Mythical Adversary: increased Offensive Ability to 132 and increased Physical dealt as Fire modifier for Grenado to 100%
• Mythical Alladrah's Spellblade: reduced % Slow Resist to 20% and removed Health, removed % Crit damage bonus on the skill proc. Replaced Fire damage modifier for Fire Strike with a 66 Burn / 3s modifier. Reduced Fire damage modifier for Eye of Reckoning to 12.
• Mythical Arcanum Frigus: added 30% of Chaos dealt as Cold and -0.3s Cooldown modifiers for Phantasmal Blades
• Mythical Avatar of Order: reduced Fire Retaliation to 410, Reduced % Retaliation Damage Added to Attack modifier for Drain Essence to 8% and increased is Number of Targets modifier to 6.
• Mythical Avenger of Cairn: reduced % All Retaliation damage to 66%
• Mythical Bane of the Winter King: increased % Cold Resist Reduction modifier for Veil of Shadows to -18%
• Mythical Bramblevine: reduced % Retaliation Damage Added to Attack modifier for Righteous Fervor to 6%
• Mythical Codex of Lies: increased % Cast Speed to 14% and increased % Crit damage modifier for Albrecht's Aether Ray to 12%. Replaced Aether damage modifier for Curse of Frailty with a -8% Aether Resist Reduction modifier
• Mythical Dawnshard Gaze: added 60% All Retaliation damage, added 5% Retaliation Damage Added to Attack modifier for Aegis of Menhir
• Mythical Dawnshard Hauberk: added 62% All Retaliation damage, replaced bonus to Full Spread with +3 to Temper
• Mythical Decree of the Circle of Five: added 10% Attack Speed
• Mythical Dread Armor of Azragor: reduced Physical Retaliation on the granted skill
• Mythical Dread-Mask of Gurgoth: reduced % Crit damage modifier for Storm Totem to 16%
• Mythical Dreadfire: added 16% Attack Speed
• Mythical Dreegal'anore: added 12% Physical Resist, increased % All Retaliation damage to 215%, removed % Vitality/Vitality Decay damage. Replaced modifiers for Blood of Dreeg with 100% Health Regeneration and 400 Acid Retaliation modifiers. Increased % Retaliation Damage Added to Attack modifier for Judgment to 22%
• Mythical Exeuctioner's Judgement: increased % Physical dealt as Cold modifier for Cadence to 100%
• Mythical Fateweaver's Mantle: added +2 to Static Strike
• Mythical Final Stop: reduced % Retaliation Damage Added to Attack modifier for Smite to 15% and reduced % Retaliation Damage Added to Attack on the granted skill
• Mythical Girdle of Stolen Dreams: added +2 to Decomposition
• Mythical Glyph of the Storm Witch: added +2 to Canister Bomb
• Mythical Hellborne: added 45% of Physical dealt as Fire and 175% All Retaliation damage
• Mythical Infernal Brimstone: reduced Cooldown on skill proc to 3.5s
• Mythical Korvan Wyrm: increased Offensive Ability to 90, added 12% Cooldown Reduction and increased Physical damage modifier for Primal Strike to 180
• Mythical Leviathan: added 5% Attack Damage Converted to Health modifier for Amarasta's Blade Burst
• Mythical Markovian's Stratagem: reduced Physical damage to 11-16 and % Shield Damage Blocked to 40%
• Mythical Nadaan's Reach: added +4 to Circle of Slaughter and increased Offensive Ability to 90, increased bonus to Soldier/Inquisitor skills to +2
• Mythical Nidalla's Legwraps: added 62% All Retaliation damage
• Mythical Nightshade's Reach: increased % Attack Speed to 22% and % Cooldown Reduction to 15%
• Mythical Night's Embrace: reduced % Cold/Pierce Resist Reduction on the granted skill to -18%
• Mythical Northern Wyrm: increased % Weapon damage on the granted skill
• Mythical Obsidian Juggernaut: increased % Cast Speed to 18%
• Mythical Quillthrower of Dreeg: increased Summon Limit on the skill proc to 4 and increased their attack rate
• Mythical Raka'Jax: added 100% Electrocute Duration and increased Electrocute damage modifier for Primal Strike to 200 / 3s
• Mythical Reforged Chains of Oleron: reduced Physical damage to 15-21, added +2 to Divine Mandate. Removed +1 to Oathkeeper Skills.
• Mythical Riftwarped Grasp: removed Chaos dealt as Vitality conversion, added +2 to Decomposition
• Mythical Rune Armor of Ignaffar: added +2 to Fire Strike
• Mythical Runeplates of Ignaffar: added 85% All Retaliation damage and 300 Fire Retaliation
• Mythical Sash of the Immortal Sage: added 380 Fire Retaliation
• Mythical Scion of Bitter Winds: added skill proc with a debuff that reduces % Cold and Acid Resistances. Reduced Cold damage modifier for Drain Essence to 25-50
• Mythical Scion of Burning Vengeance: reduced % Retaliation Damage Added to Attack modifier for Aegis of Menhir to 12%
• Mythical Scion of Noxious Wounds: reduced % Retaliation Damage Added to Attack modifier for Aegis of Menhir to 9%
• Mythical Screams of the Aether: added +2 to Hungering Reach
• Mythical Signet of the Fallen: added +2 to Decomposition
• Mythical Silverbolt: increased % Attack Speed to 28%. % Pierce Ratio increased to 100%, damage adjusted accordingly.
• Mythical Soullance: increased damage on the skill proc
• Mythical Spark of Ultos: reduced Lightning Retaliation to 34-880
• Mythical Stormcage Legguards: added 75% All Retaliation damage and +2 to Raging Tempest
• Mythical Temporal Arcblade: added 50 Defensive Ability, increased % Health to 8%, increased the frequency with which the skill proc deals damage
• Mythical Thornhide Legguards: reduced Physical Retaliation to 250-500 and reduced % All Retaliation on the skill proc
• Mythical Time-Flux Band: added +2 to Canister Bomb and 40% Elemental Dot damage
• Mythical Timewarped Walkers: added 24% Poison Resist
• Mythical Tinker's Ingenuity: added 30 Health Regeneration, increased % Health Regeneration on the skill proc
• Mythical Tome of the Arcane Wastes: adjusted values on the granted skill to match changes to Albrecht's Aether Ray
• Mythical Turrion's Reprisal: reduced % Retaliation Damage Added to Attack modifier for Blackwater Cocktail to 8%
• Mythical Voidwhisper Band: increased Chaos damage for pets on the skill proc to 21
• Mythical White Lotus: reduced Cooldown on the skill proc to 2.5s
• Mythical Witching Hour: increased Chaos damage for pets on the granted skill to 35-60
• Mythical Wraithborne Legwraps: added % Vitality/Vitality Decay damage
• Mythical Wraithwalkers: added +2 to Hungering Reach
• Mythical Zolhan's Revenge: reduced % Retaliation Damage Added to Attack modifier for Zolhan's Technique to 15% and reduced % Retaliation Damage Added to Attack on the skill proc
• Nadaan's Reach: increased Offensive Ability to 60 and increased bonus to Soldier/Inquisitor skills to +2
• Okaloth's Visage: reduced % Retaliation Damage Added to Attack modifier for Righteous Fervor to 6%
• Quillthrower of Dreeg: increased the attack rate on the pets summoned by the skill proc
• Raka'Jax: added 50% Electrocute Duration
• Reforged Chains of Oleron: reduced Physical damage to 10-15
• Riftwarped Grasp: removed Chaos dealt as Vitality conversion
• Runeplates of Ignaffar: added 190 Fire Retaliation
• Sash of the Immortal Sage: added 200 Fire Retaliation
• Scion of Bitter Winds: replaced skill proc with a debuff that reduces % Cold and Acid Resistances
• Silverbolt: % Pierce Ratio increased to 100%, damage adjusted accordingly.
• Soullance: increased damage on the skill proc and reduced its Cooldown
• Temporal Arcblade: increased the frequency with which the skill proc deals damage
• The Grey Knight: increased Internal Trauma damage to 44 and added 80% Internal Trauma Duration
• The Pummeler: reduced Internal Trauma damage modifier for Aegis of Menhir to 40 and its % Retaliation Damage Added to Attack modifier to 8%
• Thornhide Legguards: reduced Physical Retaliation to 144-350 and reduced % All Retaliation on the skill proc
• Tinker's Ingenuity: added 20 Health Regeneration
• Tome of the Arcane Wastes: adjusted values on the granted skill to match changes to Albrecht's Aether Ray
• Totally Normal Shield: reduced totally normal % Internal Trauma duration by 20% and removed totally normal % Shield Damage Blocked
• Venomlance: reduced Cooldown on the skill proc to 1s

Legendary Set Items

• Ardor of Octavius Set: removed Cooldown modifier for Aegis of Menhir, reduced Internal Trauma damage bonus to 30 / 5s
• Chillwhisper Set: reduced Cold damage modifier for Drain Essence to 55
• Closed Fist of Vengeance: reduced Physical Retaliation to 100
• Dawnseeker's Light Set: reduced % Retaliation Damage Added to Attack modifier for Righteous Fervor to 15%
• Deathguard Set: increased % Physical Resist to 15% and increased Acid damage modifier for Bone Harvest to 140
• Deception of Dreeg Set: increased Acid damage modifier for Eye of Dreeg to 70
• Mythical Mantle of Dreeg: added 25% of Vitality dealt as Acid, replaced % Poison Resist with 20% Pierce Resist
• Mythical Vestments of Dreeg: added 25% of Vitality dealt as Acid
• Harra's Artifice Set: removed Chaos dealt as Cold modifier for Phantasmal Blades. Added 25 Cold damage modifier for Stun Jacks and increased the Cold damage modifier for Callidor's Tempest to 85.
• Harra's Hood: increased Cold damage modifier for Callidor's Tempest to 44 and reduced its % Attack Speed Reduction to 15%. Added 8% Crit damage modifier for Stun Jacks.
• Harra's Ward: reduced Cold damage modifier for Phantasmal Blades to 12 and its % Attack Speed Reduction to 15%
• Mantle of Dreeg: added 25% of Vitality dealt as Acid, replaced % Poison Resist with 18% Pierce Resist
• Markovian's Platemail: replaced % Fire Resist with 28% poison resist
• Markovian's Visor: replaced % Cold Resist with 22% Elemental Resist
• Mythical Beastcaller's Cowl: added +2 to Ground Slam
• Mythical Closed Fist of Vengeance: reduced Physical Retaliation to 180 and % All Retaliation to 40%
• Mythical Dawnbreaker's Sledge: reduced % Retaliation Damage Added to Attack modifier for Righteous Fervor to 6%
• Mythical Light's Defender Helm: reduced Lightning damage modifier for Storm Totem to 16
• Mythical Markovian's Platemail: replaced % Fire Resist with 33% poison resist
• Mythical Markovian's Visor: replaced % Cold Resist with 24% Elemental Resist
• Mythical Shoulderguards of Justice: replaced % Lightning Resist with 18% Aether Resist
• Rage of Agrivix Set: replaced Fire damage modifier for Vindictive Flame with Aether damage and increased its % Cast Speed modifier to 10%. Added a -15% Fire Resist modifier for Siphon Souls.
• Rah'Zin's Torment Set: increased % Weapon damage modifier for Zolhan's Technique to 45% and added an 8% Attack damage Converted to Health modifier for it, removed its bonus target modifier. Added a 6% Attack damage Converted to Health modifier for Whirling Death. Added -10% Chaos Resist modifier for Curse of Frailty. Granted skill now reduces All damage by 20% instead of just Physical damage.
• Rah'Zin's Armor: added 15% bonus damage to Chthonians and 18% Pierce Resist
• Rah'Zin's Waistguard: added 10% bonus damage to Chthonians
• Mythical Codex of Agrivix: added 90 Burn damage / 3s and -0.3s Cooldown modifiers for Vindictive Flame
• Mythical Mantle of Agrivix: added 25% of Lightning dealt as Fire
• Sentinel of the Three Set: added 12% Physical Resist and an 8% Retaliation Damage Added to Attack modifier for Counter Strike. The Eldritch Shard now also grants Acid Retaliation damage when standing near it.
• Armor of the Three: added % Retaliation Damage Added to Attack on the skill proc
• Defender of the Three: added 8% Cooldown Reduction
• Shattered Guardian Set: increased bonus to All Skills to 2. Increased Damage Modifier on the granted skill to 24%
• Shattered Realm Ward: removed bonus to All Skills
• Shepherd of Lost Souls Set: increased Vitality damage for pets to 40, increased % Attack/Cast Speed modifier for Raise Skeletons to 24%. Added a +3 Summon Limit modifier for Raise Skeletons.
• Mask of Lost Souls: added 380 Health
• Shoulderguards of Justice: replaced % Lightning Resist with 18% Aether Resist
• Stoneguard Set: reduced Physical Retaliation on the skill proc to 1600
• Stoneguard Ward: reduced % Retaliation Damage Added to Attack modifier for Righteous Fervor to 9%
• The Blightlord Set: replaced % Attack Speed Reduction modifier for Ravenous Earth with 20% Reduced Resist / 1s modifier and increased its Fire damage modifier to 76. Granted skill is now a proc. Increased % Offensive/Defensive Ability bonuses to 6%.
• Blightlord's Carver: added -12% Fire Resist modifier for Siphon Souls
• The Cyclone Set: reduced % Weapon damage modifier for Eye of Reckoning to 8% and its Lightning damage modifier to 1-120. Increased Fire damage modifier for Thermite Mine to 180.
• Cyclone Effigy: added +3 Summon Limit and +10s Duration modifiers for Thermite Mine
• Cyclone Mark: increased Lightning damage modifier for Thermite Mine to 1-250
• Cyclone Mask: reduced Fire damage modifier for Eye of Reckoning to 18 and its Lightning damage modifier to 1-36. Increased Fire damage modifier for Wind Devil to 60 and its Lightning damage modifier to 1-120.
• The Mageslayer Set: increased % Freeze Resist Reduction modifier for Olexra's Flash Freeze to -55%, added -8% Elemental Resist modifier for Veil of Shadow
• Mageslayer's Protector: reduced % Elemental Resist Reduction modifier for Veil of Shadow to -8%
• The Spellscourge Set: increased % Weapon damage modifier for Blade Arc to 75%, added +1s Duration modifier for Devastation
• Spellscourge Bulwark: increased bonus to Devastation to +4, added 900 Health
• The Vileblade Pact Set: reduced Acid damage modifier for Righteous Fervor to 12 and its Poison damage modifier to 35 (this is largely to compensate for some devotion/Nightblade changes)
• Ultos' Hood: replaced % Cold Resist with 22% Elemental Resist
• Ultos' Tempest Set: added 70 Electrocute / 3s modifier for Primal Strike
• Mythical Ultos' Hood: replaced % Cold Resist with 24% Elemental Resist
• Uroboruuk's Effigy: reduced % Attack damage Converted to Health modifier for Drain Essence to 6%
• Valdun's Betrayal Set: added All Resist Reduction to the granted skill
• Mythical Valdun's Rifle: increased Offensive Ability to 110
• Vestments of Dreeg: added 25% of Vitality dealt as Acid
• Virtue's Light Set: reduced % Cooldown Reduction to 8%, reduced Fire damage modifier for Aegis of Menhir to 40
• Virtue's Defender: reduced % Crit damage modifier for Aegis of Menhir to 10%
• Virtue's Ward: removed Cooldown modifier for Aegis of Menhir
• Warborn Bastion Set: reduced % Weapon damage modifier for Eye of Reckoning to 10%
• Mythical Warborn Gavel: reduced Physical damage modifier for Eye of Reckoning to 24
• Wildheart Vanguard Set: added +2s Duration modifier for Grasping Vines

[Class & Skills]
Devotion

• Affliction: replaced Vitality Decay Retaliation with Acid Retaliation and 50% All Retaliation damage
• Alladrah's Phoenix: increased Fire Retaliation to 200 and % Crit damage to 10%. Added 80% All Retaliation damage.
• Blind Sage: increased % Crit damage to 12%
• Chariot of the Dead added Reduced 15% Stun Duration
• Gallows: increased Health to 160 and Vitality damage to 8
• Hound: removed Physical Retaliation and Retaliation for Pets, increased % All Retaliation to 70%. Increased % Health for pets to 12%.
• Huntress: increased Bleed damage to 11 / 3s
• Hyrian: added 100% All Retaliation damage
• Magi: added 15% Reduced Trap Duration and increased Fire damage to 7-11
• Messenger of War: replaced Physical Retaliation with Fire Retaliation
• Oleron: replaced % Pierce Resist with 80 Armor
• Rat: added 50 Acid Retaliation
• Scarab: increased Acid Retaliation to 40
• Shieldmaiden: increased % Block Chance to 6% and % Shield Recovery Time to 18%
• Stag: increased % All Retaliation damage to 30%
• Targo: added 60% All Retaliation damage and 100 Physical Retaliation
• Tempest: added 15% Reduced Stun Duration
• Typhos: increased % Crit damage for players to 10% (12% for pets)
• Ulo: added 10% Reduced Freeze/Petrify/Stun Duration
• Unknown Soldier: increased % Crit damage to 12%
• Wolverine: removed Physical Retaliation and Retaliation for Pets, increased % All Retaliation to 80%. Added 8% Vitality and Poison Resist for pets.
• Wraith: added 20% All Retaliation damage and 1-70 Lightning Retaliation
• Wretch: replaced Chaos Retaliation with 30 Acid Retaliation
• Blind Fury: increased damage scaling with rank
• Bysmiel's Command: summoned pet now also reduces All Resistances with its attacks
• Dryad's Blessing: reduced Cooldown at max rank to 3.2s
• Fetid Pool: added % Retaliation Damage Added to Attack
• Hungering Void: duration is now static at all ranks at 20s, reduced baseline chance of activation to 33% (scaling with skill cooldown/duration). Reduced % Crit damage to 30% by max rank and increased % Chaos/Vitality damgage bonuses to 370% by max rank and added matching % Vitality Decay damage. Increased % Crit damage for pets by 2%.
• Maul: increased damage scaling with rank
• Messenger of War (Proc): replaced Physical Retaliation with Fire Retaliation
• Phoenix Fire: added % All Retaliation damage
• Raise the Dead: summoned skeletons now also reduce All Resistances with their attacks
• Rumor: increased % Acid Resist Reduction scaling with rank to -30% at max rank
• Tip the Scales: added All Resist Reduction
• Ulzaad's Decree: reduced Armor scaling with rank to 150 at max rank

Soldier

• Counter Strike: reduced % Retaliation Damage Added to Attack scaling with rank to 15% by rank 16, 20% by max ultimate rank
• Field Command: reduced % Armor scaling at ranks 9+ to 25% by rank 12, 30% by max ultimate rank
• Overguard: increased Cooldown to 24s. Reduced % Shield Recovery Time scaling with rank to 35% by rank 12, 45% by max ultimate rank. % Reduced Stun Duration now scales with rank to 50% by rank 12, 60% by max ultimate rank. Increased % Health Regeneration scaling with rank to 135% by rank 12, 220% by max ultimate rank.
• Markovian's Defense: increased Cooldown Reduction to -9.5s. Added -10% Shield Recovery Time and a -18% Total Retaliation damage modifier.
• Shield Training: reduced % Shield Recovery Time and % Block Chance scaling with rank to 12% by rank 10, 24% by max ultimate rank

Demolitionist

• Blast Shield: replaced bonus to % Fire/Lightning Resist with % Elemental Resist
• Fire Strike: increased % Weapon damage scaling at ultimate ranks to 138% by max ultimate rank
• Explosive Strike: increased Radius scaling with rank to 3.8 by ranks 12, 4.3 by max ultimate rank and increased % Weapon damage scaling at ultimate ranks to 40% by max ultimate rank
• Blackwater Cocktail: FX now visually matches the affected area better
• Temper: increased Defensive Ability scaling with rank to 108 by rank 12, 198 by max ultimate rank and increased % All Retaliation damage scaling with rank to 100% by rank 12, 210% by max ultimate rank
• Vindictive Flame: added Fire Retaliation damage

Occultist

• Blood of Dreeg: increased Health Regeneration scaling at ultimate ranks to 240 by max ultimate rank
• Aspect of the Guardian: added % All Retaliation damage bonus
• Blood Burst: increased Radius by 0.3 and increased % Weapon damage scaling at ultimate ranks to 30% by max ultimate rank
• Terrifying Gaze: replaced Chance of Terrify with Chance of Confuse
• Ember Claw: increased % Pet Attack damage scaling to 120% by rank 12, 130% by max ultimate rank
• Infernal Breath: increased % Pet Attack damage scaling to 80% by rank 12, 100% by max ultimate rank and increased Fire damage scaling with rank
• Mend Flesh: now heals all allies in a small radius around the initial target
• Second Rite: increased % Vitality Resist scaling at ultimate ranks to 35%

Nightblade

• Amarasta's Quick Cut: increased animation speed by 20% for an even quicker quick cut
• Anatomy of Murder: added % Bleed Duration
• Blade Barrier: added Crowd Control Reduction scaling with rank
• Shadow Dance: increased Defensive Ability scaling with rank to 120 by rank 12, 220 by max ultimate rank. Added % Reduced Trap Duration.

Arcanist

• Albrecht's Aether Ray: now pierces through enemies, values adjusted accordingly on the skill, its Modifier and its Item Skill Modifiers where necessary
• Arcane Will: increased Defensive Ability scaling with rank to 150 by rank 10, 280 by max ultimate rank
• Conversion: added % Reduced Trap Duration
• Maiven's Sphere of Protection: damage penalty is now a static -5% at all ranks. Increased % Damage Absorption scaling at ultimate ranks to 30% by max ultimate rank.
• Overload: added % Aether Resist, increased % Elemental damage scaling with rank to 100% by rank 12, 210% by max ultimate rank

Shaman

• Ground Slam: spines now pierce through enemies. Replaced Internal Trauma with Bleed damage
• Mogdrogen's Pact: added % Physical damage bonus for pets
• Heart of the Wild: added % Health Regeneration
• Oak Skin: replaced % Health Regeneration with % Aether Resist
• Raging Tempest: increased % Elemental Resist Reduction scaling at ultimate ranks to -45% by max ultimate rank
• Savagery: fixed an issue where % Weapon damage scaling at ultimate ranks did not actually increase damage. As the skill was balanced around this bug and it is now fixed, we've adjusted % Weapon damage scaling at ultimate ranks. This is a net buff.

Inquisitor

• Aura of Censure: reduced % Elemental Resist Reduction scaling with rank to -30% at rank 12, -40% by max ultimate rank
• Word of Arms: increased Cooldown Reduction to -6s
• Steel Resolve: reduced Damage Bonus against Eldritch/Chthonians scaling with rank to 12% by rank 12, 18% by max ultimate rank

Necromancer

• Dread: replaced Chance of Terrify with Chance of Confuse
• Ill Omen: replaced Terrify with Confuse
• Necrotic Edge: replaced Chance of Terrify with Chance of Confuse
• Reap Spirit: significantly increased % Weapon damage and increased Vitality Decay damage scaling with rank. Increased Wraith duration to 18s.

Oathkeeper

• Aegis of Menhir: reduced % Weapon damage scaling with rank to 345% by rank 16, 405% by max ultimate rank. Reduced Physical/Fire damage scaling at ranks 22+.
• Avenging Shield: reduced % Crit damage scaling with rank to 30% by rank 12, 45% by max ultimate rank
• Reprisal: reduced Burn damage scaling with rank
• Ascension: Increased Cooldown to 24s. Reduced % All Retaliation damage scaling with rank to 160% by rank 12, 330% by max ultimate rank.
• Eye of Reckoning: reduced Movement Speed by an additional 4% while spinning to win
• Heart of Wrath: increased base Fire damage and increased Burn damage scaling with rank
• Rebuke: reduced % All Retaliation damage scaling at ultimate ranks to 185% by max ultimate rank
• Resilience: reduced % Physical Resist scaling with rank to 12% by rank 12, 18% by max ultimate rank
• Righteous Fervor: fixed an issue where % Weapon damage scaling at ultimate ranks did not actually increase damage. As the skill was balanced around this bug and it is now fixed, we've adjusted % Weapon damage scaling at ultimate ranks. This is a net buff.
• Safeguard: reduced Armor scaling with rank
• Summon Guardian of Empyrion: increased damage scaling with rank

Best change for me: AAR pierces now.
My reaction:

 

[Cyberarmy]

Eye of Reckoning: reduced Movement Speed by an additional 4% while spinning to win

 

[Lacrymas]

RE: AAR piercing. This is an insane change for AAR builds, you don't have to rely on any other kind of AoE anymore, making it an extremely lucrative build for both SR and the Crucible. It stills lacks damage to health, but since they added that off-hand, it isn't that much of a problem I think. Well, it depends on how much they nerfed the damage on it. I'm also biased since it's one of my favorite skills.

 

[Sykar]

I doubt there was a big damage nerf. My lightning AAR Mage Hunter deals about the same damage. My Spellbinder deals less damage because Iskandra set was changed completely and is now useless for aether builds so I run around with a mish mash of epics and legendary around but I have no mythical set items for it at the moment. Still dealing 95k according to sheet DPS but it feels like I deal more damage. Sheet dps is deceptive anyway. The biggest plus is that I do not feel compelled to hard cap Devastation anymore since AoE is sufficient without it even, though I still try to get it to soft cap at least.

 

[Lacrymas]

There is a damage nerf, by about 15-30%. Having played like 30 minutes with my as-of-yet 47th lvl AAR Arcanist, the piercing is beyond broken for trash mobs on Veteran, I doubt it's different on Ultimate. The problem is the damage nerf and I see people are complaining on the forum about that. The issue was always killing bosses with AAR, not trash, even though the gameplay is a lot smoother with it piercing. Someone has an interesting idea of reworking Disintegration to add a cone to AAR, instead of just pure damage, which has lower DPS than the main beam, and I think that's the best thing they could do. The new FX is pretty cool too, on AAR and Maiven's Sphere.

 

[Sykar]

There is a damage nerf, by about 15-30%. Having played like 30 minutes with my as-of-yet 47th lvl AAR Arcanist, the piercing is beyond broken for trash mobs on Veteran, I doubt it's different on Ultimate. The problem is the damage nerf and I see people are complaining on the forum about that. The issue was always killing bosses with AAR, not trash, even though the gameplay is a lot smoother with it piercing. Someone has an interesting idea of reworking Disintegration to add a cone to AAR, instead of just pure damage, which has lower DPS than the main beam, and I think that's the best thing they could do. The new FX is pretty cool too, on AAR and Maiven's Sphere.

No, the problem was AoE without stuff like Devastation in conjuction with energy drain, wind up time and being stationary. AAR sucked hard at all of that, now you can opt not to use other AoE spells and just AAR since its AoE is deveptively broad. The life leech helps further and there is hardly any build up time now. Veteran is worthless to judge how something will perform in Ultimate, almost any build can be successful in Veteran.

No way is the damage down by 30%. 15% I consider a stretch considering how my Mage Hunter has about the same sheet DPS now with the same gear. My Spellbinder is approaching 100k again and that is Pulsing Shard instead of AAR tome which adds a ton of flat Aether damage to AAR. With that I would probably sit around 115k-125k which would only be a little lower than what I had prior to the patch and again due to the Iskandra set change I had to completely change my gear and wear a mish mash of items and no set sans 2 part Clairvoyant, head and shoulders atm. I just checked one thread where someone says he has 150k sheet DPS, which is about on par with what most had prior to patch.

Edit: Just browsing the Gameplay and Classes forum. Where exactly are "they" complaining about AAR damage?

 

[Lacrymas]

In the suggestions and feedback section.

 

[Sykar]

In the suggestions and feedback section.

Some complain there, without having much to back them up. Others think it is fine. WolfOverclocked who plays AAR since release like me for the most part says that it was a welcome buff.
Sheet DPS for AAR is borked as hell anyway since it flatly adds the once every second ticking dots to its DPS, when the spell itself ticks every 0.2 seconds iirc, inflating the number massively.

 

[Zakhad]

Re: the boredom of going through veteran/elite...

The merits you can buy in FG mean you can treat these difficulties as a training run/devotion point harvesting run. The main thing is not unlocking ultimate, it's unlocking ALL portals on lower difficulties plus all the bonus points and bag expansions. So you can play elite with immediate access to a blacksmith, and can go grab an inventor within ten minutes, plus you can skip to homestead really fast (with a quick stop in deadman's gulch to grab your dudes there).

You can also increase your faction rep gain if you plan to play on ultimate/elite by first contacting them at a lower difficulty so that kills will count to increase rep. Can do this for Coven without even advancing the quest, just free the witch in the blood grove, transit to coven immediately, and boom, you are now gaining coven rep from beast kills. Only faction you have to wait ages for is MR, sigh (and Outcasts need their quest but that one's easy).

A few things need specific things to unlock: you have to blow up the barrier for the rover before you can use dynamite to blow up blues with the inventor, and transmute gets unlocked by a quest that only opens up after 1 or 2 quests for the cults.

I've also found more devotion shrines on elite/ultimate even without using a merit, guess they must have added this and I missed it. This also makes life easier.

Re: AAR changes... I love it. clearing out trash has never felt so good. And with clairvoyant's set plus shard you stay pretty full up on health and mana. Although Kravall killed me for some reason... what damage is he causing? All my basic resists are capped, is it life leach or is it just stupidly high damage?

 

[Cyberarmy]

stupidly high damage?

+ crit probably. That fucker nearly annihilated my so called invincible tank in 2 secs...

 

[Lacrymas]

Zakhad if you own Crucible, you have immediate access to all kinds of NPCs, including transmute.

 

[Zakhad]

Zakhad if you own Crucible, you have immediate access to all kinds of NPCs, including transmute.

True, but quitting and then switching is a pain in the arse.

 

[Zakhad]

stupidly high damage?

+ crit probably. That fucker nearly annihilated my so called invincible tank in 2 secs...

I would have thought my DA was high enough to avoid most crits, but there you go. Would explain why sometimes I fight him and it's fine. It's weird how little damage he takes, should only have 58% aether res but seems to take take way lower damage than that, especially after resist lowering procs... https://www.grimtools.com/monsterdb/216/skills

Does seem to have a passive health reduction ability, so that probably contributes. And five million health of his own, according to GT

The other boss who keeps killing me is Ramzul, the final one is Temple of Osyr. Only on elite and above, on veteran he's a walkover. I think it's the freeze attacks, I should have enough stun resist that the towers don't do much. Can't see anything in his build that is causing the problem, though... https://www.grimtools.com/monsterdb/1875/skills

 

[Lacrymas]

I don't know if they've done something to the loot chances, but a lot of legendaries for my AAR Arcanist dropped. I got Screams of the Aether, Fateweaver's Mantle, Aetherreach, Mindwarp and Cord of Violent Decay in quick succession. I also had a few items from my previous characters, like Clairvoyant's Robe and Wraithborne Leggings. I'm basically kitted with almost BiS gear for my level (they aren't their mythical versions) and mobs and bosses melt.

 

[Sore Loser]

.

 

[Sykar]

Awesomne! Long awaited QoL changes to crafting and other nice good stuff.

 

[Lacrymas]

They have to add searching in the stash! Yeah, it's convenient to search the blacksmiths, but since everything in there is in categories and in alphabetical order, it doesn't matter that much.

 

[RoBoBOBR]

Yeah, it's convenient to search the blacksmiths

Note that you can also search by attributes items provide, not only their name. Like filter all components, that give you pierce resistance.

 

[udm]

Nice to hear about the QoL additions! Grim Internals is nice, but it's a bummer (though understandable) having to wait for the dev to update it every time GD gets a new patch.

 

[Reinhardt]

Any good mods?

 

[Sykar]

They have to add searching in the stash! Yeah, it's convenient to search the blacksmiths, but since everything in there is in categories and in alphabetical order, it doesn't matter that much.

You can search the stash now!

 

[RoBoBOBR]

I gotta say i like new difficulty. Did a test run on hardcore normal veteran with a friend, my occultist and his nightblade, and in 1 hour of gameplay we both had a couple of near-death moments, and then my friend's chara bit the dust. Before the patch normal act 1 was a snooze fest, so definite incline there.

 

[Reinhardt]

I really don't like how epic armor sets look. Hit lvl 50 and suddenly my character went from cool WWI soldier to some World of Warcraft thing...