Grim Dawn Difficulty on Normal

Grim Dawn Gameplay Discussion
1

I hear a lot of people say around this forum that “normal is easy”, and I gotta say: it’s not easy for me. It’s probably at least partially because I’m bad (i like sitting down in front of bosses and punching them until they die), but I think I’m also missing some key knowledge here.

I know some easy leveling builds, although I feel like I’m often missing some details: Blade Arc + Laceration for Soldier (+ ?? for survival?), Primal Strike + transmuter for Shaman (+ ?? for survival), Devouring Swarm for (better) Shaman (survival built in!), and Fire Strike + Explosive Strike for Demo (+ health regen and adcth for survival). But when I branch out on my own, I always seem to end up hitting a wall where I might not be “struggling” per se, but I’m dying relatively often and feeling like I’m slogging through content.

So, people for whom “Normal is Easy”, help me out? What are your sweet tricks for trivializing that first playthrough (and if you’ve got it, the second playthrough as well)? What skills in each tree (and devotions!) are great for survival and damage early game, and what break points do you look for on Armor/OA/DA/resists as you play through it?

I see a lot of endgame builds, where the leveling guide is either not there, “it’s pretty obvious”, or “level with Blade Arc”, but I almost always end up running into a wall when I try to do it, so I’d appreciate anything you’d contribute. I’ve tried being a cheaty mccheatyface and giving myself great gear but this was a huge mistake: it really makes the game not very fun at all.

(Shoutout to Edisonian, who wrote one of the best leveling guides I’ve ever seen, and one I regularly follow for any DW build I make.)

2

As just a general guide, not knowing your builds.

Don’t put too many points in skills at first or max a single skill, get your mastery bar up as this is your only real means of + health + energy. As a very basic guide until you get used to GD is 2 points in the mastery bar and 1 to a skill per level up.

+Attack speed /cast speed is king as not only quicker hits but faster proccs of other skills

Don’t ignore skills like Menhirs will, even a single point will save your life, same as War Cry a single point gives 33% enemy health reduction.

Quick edit…don’t spread yourself too thin by grabbing too many skills either.

Good luck and hope this might help.

3

As a fellow new player myself and watching various guides, tips videos, and reading up on things I’ve discovered in my first playthrough I never really utilized the components as well as I could have been. They can make a huge difference in damage and durability. So if you aren’t utilizing them, give them a once over, check to see which ones you can craft that would help you and start using them. Another thing is that most builds I have seen you put most of your points into Physique. If you aren’t doing that, then that could cause some issues as well.

When you’re gearing also gear for resistances. You definitely want damage, but if all of your resistances are low then you’re going to be taking heaps of damage. Find a balance between the two.