Welcome back to Grim Misadventures! Today, we would like to give you an early look at Grim Dawn’s 5th mastery: the Arcanist. With this reveal, we have updated the Grim Dawn wallpaper collection to include both the Nightblade and the Arcanist. You can download it here.
Arcanist is currently in testing and we expect it will be ready for release by October or earlier. What, you do not believe us?! Okay, it is true, B20 has taken a lot longer than anticipated but mastery development is much easier to predict. I suppose we should talk about B20 a bit before launching into the Arcanist.
Last update it looked like we were getting close to a releasable state on multiplayer but had some balancing and code issues with the new skill transmuters that we expected to take longer. Now the skill transmuters are essentially done, all problems resolved and some reasonable level of first-pass balancing. However, additional significant multiplayer bugs were revealed as testing continued and some of the original problems proved difficult to fix.
We have made significant progress since the last update though and only have a couple more issues that we feel need to be resolved before we can debut it to the public. We are not trying to make it perfect prior to release and it will be rolled out with the caveat that it is “play at your own risk”. It is quite fun though and people have occasionally been able to play for an hour or so without a crash. There are still a number of crash bugs though and one of the big show-stoppers is that quest NPCs can stop responding to players and another where destructible objects, like the outlaw barricade in Act 2, can be destroyed for the host but remain for the clients.
We are actually getting ready to test fixes for both of those issues as I write this and we are hoping to knock off a couple more crash bugs in the next day or two. The plan then is a few days of testing to ensure no other major problems have been introduced with the fixes and then release. So currently I think we are looking at a release in 1-2 weeks.
Why have we run weeks past our original estimate? Well, multiplayer is about as complex as it gets. It is almost like releasing alpha again. There are just so many different things involved that can potentially not work right together and it is also much harder to test than singleplayer issues. We thought there would be less work since we were building off the network code for TQ but we have made so many changes to the game (new path engine, new physics, destructible objects, new quest system, quest choices, etc.) that a lot had to be rewritten and it took significant effort to get all those things behaving in a multiplayer environment. We are nearing a releasable state though and everyone who is brave enough to venture into multiplayer testing can help us take it the rest of the way.
The up-side of the delays is that Build 20 is going to be chock-full of improvements to class skills and itemization, new unique items and more. Waiting is never easy, but it will be worth it when Build 20 is released to you soon.
Arcanist though, that is not new tech and we are confident we can deliver the goods in the next six weeks and to get you prepped for it, here is a peek at how it is shaping up.
Expert Arcanist Build:
“To Arcanists, the manifestation of magic is not some unexplainable mystery or the will of the gods, but a science meant to be unraveled. This pursuit of knowledge drives all Arcanists, always eager to discover a new technique to make their namesake. Arcanists warp Aetherial and elemental energy to their will, creating devastating demonstrations of power that rival small armies. However, such raw force leaves little in terms of defense.”
Arcanists are masters of the elements as well as the raw force of magic that forms the mysterious Aether. They manifest this power through anything ranging from trivial weapon enchantments to rays of pure destructive energy. Though Arcanists may have a few tricks up their sleeves to ensure their survival, the primary focus of their spell-work is in obliterating their enemies before they even need to resort to such tactics.
Below are some of the skills you can look forward to as a fledgling Arcanist:
Panetti’s Replicating Missile
“The greatest of the Cortosian Arcanists, Panetti devoted himself to advancing the classic arcane missile. His triumph was the devastating alteration that seemingly defies the laws of conservation of energy, causing the missile to be replicated on impact, spawning multiple copies of itself.”
Replicating Missile is a core Left-Mouse attack which hurls an elemental projectile at your target. Upon impact, the projectile will split into three more copies which can then strike additional targets. This replication only occurs on the initial target however. Modifiers for this skill cause the projectiles to pierce through enemies as well as add additional harm in the form of the Aether and electrocution.
Olexra’s Flash Freeze
“A victim of political intrigue, Olexra was condemned to the Black Legion where her former life of arcane academia turned into a bitter struggle to survive on the frontlines of a brutal war. Olexra quickly put her studies to practical use, developing a technique to flash freeze enemies who made it within striking distance.”
Flash Freeze is a powerful blast of cold that freezes solid all nearby enemies and makes them more susceptible to your fire spells. Though it has obvious defensive implications, the precious seconds you gain from freezing your foes can also be well spent simply incinerating them. The modifier for this skill causes foes to suffer from the debilitating cold even after the initial freeze wears off.
Trozan’s Sky Shard
“The mythical Trozan was said to be a natural; wild and unwilling to conform to the doctrines of the Imperial Arcanists. When the Imperials finally surrounded his mountaintop refuge, Trozan humbled them using an unknown technique to bring down the very sky upon them.”
Sky Shard manifests your power over the arcane by causing several small comets to fall from the sky in the target area. These comets are infused with static energy and the cold chill of the air through which they plummet. Modifiers for this skill cause the Sky Shard to occasionally freeze and to blast your enemies with a concentrated surge of electricity.
Arcane Will
“Adrenaline is a powerful force in dire situations that can turn the tide of combat. Battle Arcanists learn to use this to their advantage.”
Arcane Will is a passive skill which triggers when you fall below 50% health and lasts as long as you are below this threshold. As long as Arcane Will is active, all of your skills are cheaper to cast and do significantly more damage. This skill embodies the ideals of living on the razor’s edge, but the pay-off is equally big for those that can survive long enough to benefit.
Building your Arcanist:
Players focusing on the Arcanist mastery will find a wide selection of powerful elemental and Aether spells that excel both at a distance and in melee range. The Arcanist is a powerful ally in a group, with both a weapon enchantment and debilitating debuff effects. Their mastery over magic is unparalleled.
Players focused on other masteries would benefit from picking the Arcanist for their second mastery if they are looking for ways to augment their elemental damage as well as to excel at wiping out entire groups of enemies at once. Hybrids builds can also look forward to class names such as: Battlemage, Deathdealer, Warlock and Nightstalker.
Like what you are seeing? We will conclude the Arcanist reveal with the next development update on 09/01/14.
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