I am going to be adding builds and videos and impressions here as patch goes on.
My first impression was with this build: Oppressor, Level 100 (GD 1.1.9.8) - Grim Dawn Build Calculator (off-hand has global ~50% acid to vitality conversion nod). I tested that build before in sr and it feels great there however buffed Crucible feels really really dangerous. Sundered almost every wave, sometimes nulls. Wave 169 is now Anasteria’s 50% rr PLUS Sunder. It felt extremely punishing to play with the build that otherwise feels great in SR.
So far it feels like with new mutator changes and Sundered and null Crucible has to change to. At this moment it doesn’t feel worth it to venture there. It’s still more demanding to the build and to the pilot due to always being swarmed and surrounded, but now dying is much more trivial. And given rewards/punishments it has there is no reason to pick it over SR.
EDIT: Apparently monsters’ Null cancels your blessings.
Please post your thoughts only if you actually played Crucible in the current patch.
I played a bit. with deathguard thrice - one 4:20 run buffed, one death at 170 (since got killed in clusterfuck) and 5:43 naked but it felt even more sketchy then now.
once with veilkeeper - 4:52 crucible buffed but had to kite a lot at 170 since it was Grava+IM+Benn and all applied sundered.
it also feels bad to see Null nerfed as if you want to remove sundered - you use it, and them IMMEDIATELY get sundered again. you want to wash away debuffs - they come back a millisecond after. I’ll try it with other builds too and add impressions.
Mind you it’s one of the better Crucible builds (of before) that has been buffed with the 5th man. And I also changed chest armor on it for more phys res. And I can’t say it felt safe playing. Like it felt like it doesn’t make sense to play there and risk dying and losing tributes vs. just calmly picking your fights in SR.
So what is channeling build supposed to do? Keep kiting like Trozan build? The very nature of channeling builds is to stand their ground and channel the spell. No channeling means no damage and no life leech. Plus, its not like there is a possibility to allow channeling ability in target area like in Last Epoch.
You know if you want a ranged type game. There is Call of Duty, Borderlands. Other options that offer a full ranged set up. It should be applicable that Grim Dawn can have BOTH! Ranged and Melee. In 1.2 that should be taken into consideration
On the real side. For a player who enjoys Grim Dawn. There is nothing more exhilarating than being able to face tank a boss or help me for saying this… A (wait for it…)… (wait for it) a HARD BOSS!
It is incredibly uncouth to take away a element that so many players actually love. I am sure there can be changes made that offers both types of playstyles. Without making one or the other more difficult. In the choice of difficulty it should be Players choice. Not forced.
Main takeaway (besides obviously gamebreaking nullifying heroes and any lack of new sunder mechanics balancing) is that somehow either mobs became tougher with the new mutators or blessings are now weaker, but all builds that we are running in buffed Crucible are slower than they were before. But I am not sure why.
EDIT: Visually Sunder adds a lot of clutter to already chaotic game mod.
Played some Crucible. Didn’t enjoy it tbh. I’m fine with slowing down mobs and overall danger increase but you kinda want smth in return for it in terms of gameplay. Like figuring out faster route for slowed down mobs or knowing what and how to evade to survive better. Cruci felt like the same gameplay as before but with more annoying strangler chases and more unavoidable danger.
In particular, I like this idea of Sunder playing as sort of “eat it and be faster or try to avoid it for the cost of speed” in Crucible. But with current Sunder implementation you are never evading it during the toughest waves. It’s just effectively a boring monster TDM you have to deal with.
Melee doesn’t feel good because a lot of trash mobs seem to have gotten health buffs, they no longer die from mid level aoe, and you have to run around catching them 1 by 1 like it’s Pokemon.
And Null just doesnt belong to Crucible. Even 1 second null is enough to annihilate the most tanky builds during a tough wave, because all builds rely on passive skills for tankiness. Like, Archon gets its health cut by 33% from losing Heart of the Wild and Haven. As a result, Grava balls end up putting most builds on brink of death if they connect.
Slowed boss animations with well telegraphed Sunder and bigger monster variety in waves would make Crucible much more enjoyable.
Less monsters feels better to play, especially without extra spawn. There is much less bouncing around with less monsters intersecting each others’ paths. It also has very little impact on the fasters clears because the main bottlenecks are still monster speed and nemesis combos.
Still, Crucible doesn’t feel like it’s there just yet. Some bosses became vastly more tanky and slowing you down, like Sentinel. As result, Crucible timers went way up and for farming purposes it became harder to find reason to play it over SR where there is almost no danger of losing loot to death.
Also Grava’s null just kills you during nemesis wave. It’s effectively a oneshot set-up for a lot of builds, any nemesis touching you after being nulled leads to deaths very often. You don’t even have a chance to escape. I don’t think this kind of universal oneshot mechanic is warranted in the gamemode. At least, make Grava throw his balls with 15 sec delay so you can actually control the fight and focus him down when he spawns.
Update. Played a bit more. Died 3 times more to Grava balls with a character that facerolls everything else in Crucible blindfolded. This mechanic has to go. It’s basically a gatekeep to play the gamemode for farming purposes.
Just played and not sure why Null is still in this game mod.
It absolutely has to go. And Sunder needs to be toned down as well, right now it feels like a hardcore sandbox for top20 builds, ain’t no way casual builds will play this Crucible over SR like ever.
EDIT: Played a little more. With a very tanky build that can facetank current Ravager with like 70% success rate. It has hard capped seal, decent phys res hp, leech, passive leech, cc, everything. Even if we ignore the madness of null still being present I think it’s definitely feels like a hardcore endgame challenge. Sunder just never ends on Nemesis waves. And there is nowhere to run.
So if Sunder is not toned down and Crucible remains this hardcore challenge that punishes you for death with the loss of tributes maybe loot can be something special. But really difficulty is too much right now and I don’t think anyone would want to farm it before SR.
