Hello and welcome to Grim Misadventures 2016! It is an exciting year, the year Grim Dawn will leave Early Access behind and mature to full-release. That time is almost upon us as February is fast approaching. We are busily chipping away at polish and bug fixing tasks that will help Grim Dawn shine at release.
2015 was a very good year from Grim Dawn. The game saw many critical additions and improvements that had a dramatic impact on the product as a whole. Many of these changes occurred thanks to the feedback we have received on the forum. In many ways, you, the players, have helped shape the direction of the game.
Let’s take a look at just how much was introduced into Grim Dawn back in 2015, across 7 Builds and 17 Hotfixes.
From the Past…
- Act 3 Chapters 2 and 3 - With the game continuing to grow beyond our own expectations, we released the completed Act 3, the largest section of the game world thus far with as many quests as the first two Acts combined. You faced off against the abominations crafted by the Aetherials, a ravenous swarm of Dermapterans and then engaged the Cult of Ch’thon as they gathered blood for a ritual intended to bring about the end times.
- The Faction System was implemented, allowing you to gain favor with the survivors of Cairn, and to become a hated foe of your enemies. Friendly factions offered you several quests that delved deeper into the history of Cairn as well as unique equipment and Augments. Hostile factions began spawning the ruthless Nemesis Bosses. The Bounty System offered you over 130 short tasks to earn reputation and rewards.
- Nemesis Bosses were added to the spawn pool, creating chaotic and unpredictable situations fraught with danger, but also exceptional rewards. In total, 6 Nemesis Bosses were added.
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- Shaman Mastery - Grim Dawn’s sixth mastery, the lightning-infused wild Shaman, brought the possible mastery combinations total to 15. The Shaman filled an interesting niche, combining two-handed weapon combat, pets, powerful lightning techniques and savage vitality and bleed damage. The Shaman was originally planned as an Expansion feature, but we managed to fit it into the original release.
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- Damage Per Second display was overhauled so that you could accurately determine your damage output with any skill, not just basic auto attacks. A new Damage Per Hit section was added so that you could quickly compare how your gear was affecting your abilities. Finally, the skill tooltips themselves were redone so that they update with your equipment and buff bonuses.
- Treasure Troves were added as a means to hunt for fun and reliable sources of Iron Bits. Who knew that blowing up chests was a smart thing to do?
- Updated Loot System dramatically cut down the number of duplicate unique items you would get from chests.
- The Devotion System added another complex layer to character creation in Grim Dawn. Devotion Shrines were scattered across the world so that you could unlock powerful Celestial Powers that are attached to your Mastery and Equipment skills.
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- Act 4 was released. The already larger than promised world became even larger with the release of Act 4. You fought your way to the Black Legion stronghold at Fort Ikon, then faced off against the Cult of Ch’thon at the Necropolis as they sought to bring forth the Loghorrean, the Voice of Ch’thon.
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- Performance Optimization - many improvements were made to the game’s code in order to squeeze out smoother framerates for everyone, particularly for those with older CPUs. Many players saw huge jumps in performance where previously they struggled to get even a steady 30 frames per second.
- Empowered Epics - Old favorites were brought back as we took all of the low level Epic items and remade them as new high level versions for you to hunt down, with updated stat values, new stats and even new skills.
- Legendary Items - Over 240 Legendary items were introduced into the loot pool to be hunted down. Legendaries represented the pinnacle of loot, with nearly every Legendary in the game offering a special power.
- The Second Rogue-like Dungeon, Bastion of Chaos was added with the release of Act 4, allowing you to delve into the deepest reaches of the Chthonic Void and face off against its most cruel denizens.
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- Item Stacking was updated with new controls so that you could split and combine stacks with ease. With this change, crafting materials could also stack to 1000.
- Components were overhauled. With the removal of Completion Bonuses, we were able to make Components stack and many Components were buffed. In addition, this allowed us to make Crafting work automatically from your Inventory, Personal Stash and Transfer Stash.
- Completed Quest Log was added by popular demand, allowing you to track what quest you have or have not done on a character.
- Many Environments were updated with new assets to bring the world of Cairn to life. The caves became overgrown with vines and mushrooms. Villages gave you a haunting view into the past as you explored run-down businesses and shops. The swamp of Wightmire became overgrown with new trees and plants.
What’s next?
We may be reaching the end of the line, but that does not mean we are going to stop improving the game. We still have a few surprises in store for the release itself, but you can look forward to something even sooner than that. We have been busily chipping away at various balance issues and bugs in order to prepare Build 29 Hotfix 4. However this update’s changelog has now grown so big that it has earned the status of a Build.
The update will bring many changes to the existing balance of Masteries, including the complete overhaul of certain skills. We took a look at the balance on Elite and Ultimate and made some adjustments to the overall damage and Offensive and Defensive ability values. You can also look forward to tweaks to Devotion and Legendary items, including the addition of two new Legendary sets and one new weapon. Finally, the Loghorrean encounter has received a tuning pass that should put him more in line with the difficulty you would expect on Normal and Veteran. There's more, but it's really best to save it for the Changelog, which is coming sooner than you think.
You can look forward to Build 30 later this week, with the full release still expected in February.
Like knowing what is coming up next for Grim Dawn? Check back on 01/25/2016 for our regular development updates!
One thing I noticed recently after starting a new play-through was how much more detailed the underground environments were; they're far more lush and overgrown with vegetation now. Even the god rays you see at night are truly stunning! 
