Grim Dawn is an Action Role-Playing PC Game from Crate Entertainment.  This isn’t a new release title.  It originally came out back in 2016, but has had updates and an expansion since then (and another on the way 1st quarter of 2019).  I just recently jumped into this one, coincidentally alongside many Diablo refugees after the recent announcement of Diablo Immortal.  This review includes the Ashes of Malmouth expansion.

Overview

Grim Dawn is an action RPG, very similar to the Diablo series and Path or Exile.  If you are into this genre, you will most likely enjoy Grim Dawn as well.  It starts out with a choice of starting classes that each have their own skill tree.  Seems simple enough.  At level 10 you get to unlock a second class, and that entire skill tree.  At this point you probably only have enough points to unlock a few abilities.  Still not too bad.  Once you adventure and find a few ruins you get points for your Devotion skill tree.  Okay, we have a lot of options now.  Once you get through the main story line on normal/veteran mode (probably somewhere between level 40-45) you end up with a pretty good amount of skill points.  Luckily, doing a character re-spec is affordable.  The downside is that there is a shitload of options.  By this point you have the ability to unlock several active and passive skills, lots of devotion points, and lots of stat points.  Now you have to really theory-craft a good build that balances damage and defense (or look one up on the internet!).

Combat

In the vein of most ARPG’s, this game revolves around the combat and the loot.  My character is an Elementalist (Demolitionist and Shaman combo).  The build revolves around Storm Totems and Mortar Traps.  I literally just drop each trap on the ground and run around like a crazy person throwing Flashbangs (debuff).  I usually end up browsing through loot before all the mobs are even dead.  But holy shit there is a lot of loot.  Luckily there is a basic loot filter and third-party programs to assist (I am using GrimInternals mostly to auto-pickup components and other basic items).  At the beginning upgrades were dropping regularly, but now that I am deeper into the game they are much more rare.  You have to imagine that there are so many two-class combinations and so many unique builds that finding the items with the exact randomized stats you desire are very hard to find.  When they do drop it sure does feel good.  And that’s what keeps you coming back for more.

Summary

Steam says I have 30 hours into Grim Dawn at this point.  I feel like I’ve barely scratched the surface.  Running through the story line through level 45ish was fun, but running through the same content again on Elite mode is a bit of a drag.  I really just want to fast-forward to max level 100 and grind out some awesome gear.  I’m hoping this totem spec is viable all the way through but it is easy to re-spec and make tweaks along the way.  I really do enjoy the combat and loot systems within the game, but I wish the graphics were a bit more updated.  They aren’t bad, but they aren’t great either.  One other cool optional expansion feature available is Crucible.  This is a wave-based arena that I foresee being a lot of fun multiplayer.  I’ve done a few rounds to check it out and I enjoy it.  It also helps that my build caters well to the arena.  I can just drop totems every few seconds and never really have to chase down or aim at any mobs.

Conclusion

Grim Dawn is a must buy PC game if you are into the ARPG genre.  The combat and loot are solid, and it sounds like they have more content on the way early next year.  This game is also typically on sale for less than $10 for the base game during Steam sales, but even at full price I would consider it a good value.