Difficulty and AoM

Grim Dawn Gameplay Discussion
1

So, despite having the game for a long time, I’ve never actually gotten a character all the way through the campaign (kept getting so far and then deciding “actually…I’d like to try this other kind of build”)

Now I’ve just completed the base game on Veteran and reached 50 on a pet Cabalist build and I’m not sure what to do next. Should I stay on Vet and complete AoM and then do the next difficulty, or should I restart and do the the base campaign on the other two difficulties and THEN do AoM?

I’m not sure how the leveling is balanced and I don’t know if my char will be too high to make Epic appropriately challenging if I do AoM first - or if level scaling will take care of everything.

2

You can do whatever you like. Level scaling does function in the game up to a point. Getting to level 80 or something really high clearly won’t leave you with much room to split the remainder between elite and ultimate. If that happens you can always just rush Log on elite and go straight to ultimate. There is a lot of freedom to do as you like.

However, there are benefits to doing AoM in veteran, like extra devotion shrines and unlocking 2 factions so that reputation rises when you naturally kill monsters found in the base game on later difficulties. Also AoM in general has the hardest areas of the main campaign imo (lot’s of debuffs, resist reduction, %life reduction, heroes that dispel buffs etc.), so testing the waters to get a feel for it is best on normal/veteran.

The level caps and scaling system is not punishing so I wouldn’t worry about being overlevelled. In the worst case scenario you become high level and struggle but you can always go back to elite or normal as the monsters are level capped. However the game is beatable on ultimate using only self-found, vendor and/or faction gear, so if you struggle I’d suggest you ask for advice on how to improve your build.

3

What I normally do is I complete the main campaign for veteran and elite

without doing AoM. Then when I reach ultimate difficulty I do AoM since I

normally like hanging around ultimate more than any other difficulty. I’m

actually in the same boat as you with my gunslinger build. I am level 56 and

just reached Fort Ikon, “Yes, I use Potion of Clarity a lot.” But since I am

already over leveled for most areas due to the Potion of Clarity, I may just

jump straight into elite after completing everything in the base game. There

comes a point where you will be too high of a level for areas in veteran if you

hang around too much trying to farm and gear up for elite. This is the

problem with AoM in the beginning difficulties since it does just that. I would

recommend starting elite because you will have a better chance at finding

purples and better loot for resistance stacking than compared to

veteran/normal. I would also prefer to do AoM in elite since ultimate is where

things actually get difficult. Veteran is naturally harder than elite because of

the not so good loot drops when in comparison to the elite loot drops, FYI.

With that being said, you are the perfect level to start elite.

My Personal Strategy for the Playthrough Difficulties:

Normal - Noob :smiley:

Veteran - Full map clear, shrines, quests and dungeons. No AoM.

Elite - Not a full map clear. Bum rush to the shrines and quests. Do a dungeon or two if really needed. Complete AoM or not and do a resistance check.

Ultimate - This is where you will spend most of your time with your character gearing up and farming your brains out. Prepare for fun lol.

4

You realise OP is totally new and doesn’t have mandates for reputation. Faction gear in AoM is often the most easily accessible stop-gap before end game gear (unless you are a lucky sob on drops). Skipping AoM on normal/vet and elite will push back faction gear for a new player until pretty darn late :P. Everyone can do as they like but just my opinion. Also I have no clue about pet builds so feel free to ignore me

5

However you want to play it really. Myself I usually do AoM on Normal to get the maximum number of shrines possible asap - you can get 33 out of the 55 max devotion points by running Normal all the way through.

The thing is you do have a choice. You can start AoM and if you don’t like it or find it too difficult you can exit back to the main menu, change the difficulty to Elite and start again in the base game in DC.

And yes, I suffer from the same symptom as you do. Most of my characters are still in Normal because I keep starting new ones all the time.

6

I just play through everything both base + AOM. Though in elite and ultimate I just rush to finish the quests. Seems to work for me since I do get enough farm and most importantly, faction rep, while at it.

Your pet build if done right should get you through the campaign just fine. I’m playing pure lightning pets Conjurer and cruising through ultimate like hot knife through butter.

7

You should do the AoM content in my opinion. There are a few nice MI’s in the AoM content on veteran that will help through elite and you’ll build up faction rep as well. The content is large but not so huge that you should skip it altogether.

8

I always do AOM on normal so I can keep building faction rep with the Coven and Barrowholm as I go through the main campaign. I’ll usually skip it in Elite and then come back after I’ve finished Ultimate.

9

What I usually do with a new character is go deep enough into AoM to get Barrowholm and Malmouth Resistance reps turned on, then go to elite. Elite gives way better rewards and you’ll be able to pick up AoM group rep just by going through and killing things.

10

Yeah, adding another difficulty surely will definitely fix things, specially with that people that complains that three difficulties are too much :rolleyes:

11

What I do: AoM on normal up to the entrance of the last dungeon. There is basically the last shrine. You don’t need to do the fleshworks dungeon. This makes the most sense to me because - as medea already pointed out - I get most of the shrines in Normal.

Then go for Elite, take Elite basically as a rush to Log and a preparation for Ultimate. Gearing up with some empowered epics/fix resistances. Getting some extra shrines. Defeat Log and go straight for Ultimate. I want to be Revered with the Basegame-Factions before hitting Ultimate, that’s basically the most important thing for me. Otherwise I might have to compensate bad resistances with devotions and I don’t like that approach. I’d rather go as offensive as possible with my devotions.