Grim Misadventure #129: Ashen Forecast

Grim Misadventures is back!

Ashes of Malmouth, our massive expansion to Grim Dawn, has been out in public for nearly a month now. The reviews are in, and you all sure seem to be enjoying yourselves! AoM is currently sitting at 90% on Steam and 5/5 stars on GoG.

Now that you’ve had some time to explore all the new places and fight all the new bosses, I imagine you’re starting to feel that itch for what’s coming up next, and we don’t intend to disappoint.

Here is a look at some of what’s in store for you as we continue to support Ashes of Malmouth post-release:

V1.0.3.0
The next large update is actually nearly here. It’s already in testing and is expected to go live in the next two weeks. This patch will address many reported issues, whether that’s concerning loot, questing, items or otherwise. It will also bring with it some overall balance adjustments and improvements to the new Components introduced in Ashes of Malmouth.

But that’s not all. We can’t just have a big patch and call it a day at some bug fixes and balance changes. That is simply not how we roll. V1.0.3.0 is highlighted by two major features: improved casting behavior and enhanced controller support.

What this means to you is that the casting behavior of all skills will be updated to be much more responsive. Casting a skill will make the character cast it immediately in the targeted direction rather than forcing the character to run up to the skill’s casting distance.

As an example, let’s say you try to cast the Arcanist’s Callidor’s Tempest. Currently, if you point the cursor far away from your character, your character would run up to the minimum distance that ability can be cast and then actually cast the skill. With the V1.0.3.0 improvements, it won’t matter where your cursor is on the screen. Callidor’s Tempest will cast immediately without any additional movement. A major improvement!

The other feature, which actually made the above possible, is to dramatically improve Grim Dawn’s functionality with a controller. This means much better controller configuration and custom UI elements catered specifically to the controller (note: active only while you have a controller enabled on your PC).

This is another major step towards getting Grim Dawn onto the Xbox, and the PC version benefits in the process!

V1.0.4.0
Coming up fairly quickly after V1.0.3.0 is in your hands, this patch will be focused on upgrading the Crucible.

First up, we are introducing not one, but two new arenas for your combat pleasure. These will be available to all players who own the Crucible DLC, whether you have Ashes of Malmouth or not. A little peek at one of the upcoming arenas:

The other change, a much bigger endeavor, is not only going to incorporate Ashes of Malmouth enemies into the Crucible, but also extend the difficulty with the introduction of additional waves. We have not yet finalized how many new waves we will be adding, but you will have ever greater challenges to crush, and more loot to gather. The addition of Ashes of Malmouth enemies will be focused primarily on these additional waves, though we will sprinkle in a few encounters in waves 1-150 as well.

And don’t worry about certain Arcane heroes and Nemesis encounters. As with Loxmere before them, they will be adjusted accordingly for the Crucible.

As the new waves will include expansion-only enemies, this feature will be exclusive for owners of Ashes of Malmouth and the Crucible DLC.

Beyond…
There are many things in store for you after V1.0.3.0 and V1.0.4.0, and sharp eyes will notice that I haven’t even mentioned the new Roguelike Dungeon yet.

The upcoming dungeon will introduce you to Mogdrogen’s personal haven within the world of Cairn; or it was the beast god’s haven until the corrupting presence of the Aetherials and the Chthonians took root within the Ancient Grove.

When its gates are opened to you in early 2018, you will face off against once majestic beasts of the wild, forever tainted beyond redemption by the invaders of Cairn. With a heavy heart, Mogdrogen will implore you to enter his domain and bring an end to the corruption. You will be tasked with ending the existence of a guardian as old as the bog itself, the Heart of the Wild, the grove’s Keeper. The ceaseless vigil of Mogdrogen’s mightiest creation will finally come to an end.

Like knowing what is coming up next for Grim Dawn? Grim Misadventures are posted less frequently as we focus on supporting the expansion and its upcoming content updates. Check back on 12/04/2017 for the next Grim Misadventure.

Omg just when we thought we only get the roguelike dungeon!

oh yes and now the hype loop starts again. I want my life back!

The hilarity of the expansion enemies in the Crucible, specially the Nemeses. It’s gonna be a laugh.

Wee! Lots to look forward to Zantai. :smiley: Great artwork again, it looks fantastic.

Also that dungeon entrance looks absolutely gorgeous. :stuck_out_tongue:

Jesus I’ve just overcome the AoM hype and now this. Crate you’re ruining my life.
JK.
Not really.

my exact reaction when i looked at this misadventure :D:D:D:D

salivates on keyboard

An example of consolization done right. :smiley:

Yay, patch incomming :hype:

Looks great - can’t wait!

I love the design of that gate. :smiley:

Looking forward to explore this new rogue-like dungeon and hopefully, get more lore as well!

You mean, GD had controller support? Since when?
:expressionless:

CRATE, you are the best. I don’t think I’ve seen such dedicated support and love for the community before. And I’m like, 37. Gaming since early 80’s. Congratulations!

That boss in the upcoming rogue dungeon looks oddly familiar.

Wow, so many stuff on this misadventure… u guys are really unstoppable! :rolleyes:

The Crucible news are very interesting and improved controller support is nice as well.
I’m not sure if improved casting behavior was really needed for mouse and keyboard users, it seemed fine to me.

sometimes is a bit clunky especially for skills like bone harvest or callidor tempest

wow it looks really interesting, im really hyped now :).

I hope V1.0.3.0 brings back the old performance from 1.0.2.0. My fps are really bad since 1.0.2.1 :frowning:

I’ll be honest, the skill change sounds terrible for CT and similarly short ranged (almost meele, but not actually meele) skills. I’ll still wait and see how it feels before complaining.

But am I right to assume the massive issues with skill queueing where skills are ignored and never cast have not been addressed?

you could even say place holder familiar :stuck_out_tongue: