Damage Procs or Skill Modifiers? Which do you prefer?

Grim Dawn Gameplay Discussion
1

Got back in the game with the new DLC after 7 yrs. Back in the day up to the release of Morgoneth, skill modifiers were quite rare. The common way to gain dps in the OG game and early on in AM and FG was to stack as many damage procs from items and devotions in your build.

Fast forward to now and reading the newer builds from 1.2 and up. From my understanding, the meta now is to stack as many skill modifiers as possible that can fit your build. Most MIs got skill modifiers when they previously had none. This makes it easier to target farm build items especially with the affix rerolling in FoA.

On the flipside, this also devalued sets as a whole since they usually target 3 masteries while MIs can focus on skills you actually use. I am somewhat nostalgic for the old days of procs galore and proc-based dps are my personal preference. But even I recognize the power of skill modifier-powered builds. Just a bit sad that procs have fallen out favor. This is exacerbated with ascension mode’s 2.5x health modifier over ultimate. In the end, pure dps procs just serve to tickle the mobs of Cairn unless they serve as debuffs as well.

I was running my old Stronghold-Justicar purifier in FoA ascended and was disappointed at how little dps all my procs from the Justicar-Kilrian Soul-Phoenix-Aura of Censure combo were doing. During the FG days, this AoE aura combo could melt common and magic mobs by itself while I focus on the heroes and up. In the end, its Fire Strike, Stun Blast and Inquisitor WPS that is carrying the bulk of my dps in FoA.

So to all the longtime players from the very beginning here, are you nostalgic for the old proc-based dps or does the sheer variety of builds opened by mix-and-matching skill modifiers outweigh procs? Is there even room in the game for damage procs in ascended difficulty? (ps. The secret to procs is RatA but we will ignore that as that requires very focused builds to work while I’m working on a generalized framework here. Would adding weapon damage to procs break them?)

2

Welcome back!

Emotionally I love skill modifiers. They make me feel like my characters ability gets a cool thing added to it or a big power up. A damage proc on the other hand feels “separate” somehow. Like it’s the item doing the work and I’m along for the ride.

I don’t think that’s super logical, but it is the way I feel about them. I’d pick a skill modifier over a damage proc even if the math wasn’t optimal.

3

I like both :slight_smile:

4

Procs.

Skill Modifiers had good potential but too many equated to “+Damage”.

5

Modifiers for sure! They even change the look of the skill!

6

Proc based damage can lead to homogeneous builds. Looking through my list of old chars and 3 of them were decked out in the Justice set. If no set, legendaries or MIs matches your fire build back then, the default option was to slap on the Justice set. However, proc based gameplay can be unique in its own way such as the carpet bomber build here in the forums years ago.

Maybe theres a way both can coexist? I was looking for skill modifiers to update my characters in FoA and came across this. Rimethorn Defender - Rare Shield - Grim Dawn Item Database

Its an MI with a skill modifier and a chunky damage proc all in one. Damage procs don’t have to be left behind in the new meta. Adding weapon damage to procs can ensure they still remain viable in ascended content. The question in build making becomes do you focus on procs or do you focus on skill modifiers? How about a mix of both?