challenge dungeons and finding challenge

Grim Dawn General Discussion
1

So how many are there?

I like the idea of them, but where are they (other than Steps of Torment)?

I’ve just only started playing and am only like lvl 18, I just want to get some sort of an idea of what to expect. Honestly, I’m not usually a fan of this sort of games (other than the original Diablo), but the character progression system and its freedom, and the challenge dungeons make me want to keep playing.

Is there any other way to find challenge in this game, like are the later areas much higher level than you if you somehow manage to get there fast enough (like you could in Diablo)? Or is it just the challenge dungeons?

2

There is another in act 4.

Monsters scale to your level, but each area has a minimum and maximum level for the monsters.

So yes, if you progress through quickly, you will find monsters above your level.

3

Just so you know, it’s entirely possible to skip most of the first act. All you need to do is gather the materials for the bridge repair; like in most games if you fight the higher level enemies you find in act 2 (without finshing act 1) you will find more challenge.

4

Yeah I was wondering what would happen if I fixed that bridge early, just didn’t have the materials cuz I was completing all the quests normally.

Is there something in particular I have to do to complete act 1? I was trying to find ways to progress without killing / talking to Cronley, but in the end I figured I’d just have to kill him, which I did, but haven’t yet played further than that.

5

I just pick a playstyle that isn’t optimal, to me anyway. A friend only uses armor that looks good for the same reason, it’s the RP part of ARPG. Or don’t equip a hat, play as a barechested barbarian, play as a monk who doesn’t wear shoes or gloves. There’s a lot you can do. In D2 people used to see how far they could go naked and other wacky stuff.

6

I guess I just want something that doesn’t seem so fourth wall breaking.

Now that I’ve played more, there do appear to be some optional fights that are pretty hard - in addition to the challenge dungeons - just wandering about in seemingly random places (I don’t mean normal hero monsters, I mean there were some sort of giant elementals that seemed exceptionally hard, to the point I just escaped).

I guess the ideal for a game like this would be: (1) all bosses optional but harder, so they’re like optional super challenges; (2) trash mobs would be fewer but harder and would require good strategy (character progression) and tactics (use of gear etc) to defeat. Making bosses optional would allow the base difficulty to be shifted to mobs, which would no longer feel like such pointless filler; and would allow bosses to become harder.

Essentially this was how things were in Diablo, but its character progression system was so simplistic that it’s still a flawed game in its own way (how good you got was basically a question of how lucky you got with the drops, especially since monsters didn’t respawn as I recall). Now if someone could combine the strengths of that game with the character and skill system and other strengths of Grim Dawn beta (with its more open game world), we’d have a perfect game.