Welcome to Grim Misadventures, the premier source for all official Grim Dawn information. Today’s update has been a long time coming, and we are excited to finally reveal to you the biggest thing to happen to Grim Dawn since sliced bread was first sliced; the feature that everyone’s been waiting for, but nobody’s really been quite sure exactly what it is. Well the time has finally come for the big reveal. No more secrets; no more deflections; no more vague answers!
So without delay, let us dive into…Devotion!
When we first thought of the Devotion System, many moons ago, we knew that we wanted to create something that would provide players with a staggering amount of choices, something that would have you pondering the vast possibilities for hours on end. What followed is the culmination of many months of design, coding and art that came together to create the final layer of build customization in Grim Dawn.
How Devoted Are You?
You will begin your journey through the celestial map at the Burial Hills cave, where you will discover the first of many shrines scattered throughout the world of Cairn. The shrines have seen better days, especially following the Grim Dawn, and require some attention. The first shrine will be simple, just a meager offering of an Aether Crystal to appease the spirits and restore the shrine to its former glory, but not all will come so easily. Some shrines are corrupted by darkness, a darkness that must be purged before the shrine’s divine light can be revealed.
Ruined Shrine
Corrupted Shrine
Should you manage to restore a shrine, you will be granted mortal treasures and a single point of Devotion.
Restored Shrine
Devotion Points are spent within the Devotion Window, which is accessed through the Skill Window. This UI, which will fill up your entire screen regardless of resolution, is where you can devote yourself to ancient symbols and deities, forgotten marks of faith and divine power. You can earn a total of 50 Devotion points throughout your adventures, though that sort of power can only be achieved by playing through to Ultimate difficulty.
For a larger view, click the image
Constellations
There is a total of 79 Constellations, each with 3-8 stars for a total of 425. With 50 Devotion points, you can fill in about 12% of this massive celestial map. But you cannot simply pick and choose the stars you want. The Constellations serve a greater purpose. You see, each Constellation is aligned to a combination of Affinities: Ascendant, Chaos, Eldritch, Order and Primordial. This means that every Devotion point will be critical to your ultimate build.
The Constellations available early on have few or no Affinity requirements, but bestow upon you significant Affinity bonuses when completely filled. The most powerful Constellations do not grant any Affinity at all, but instead have high requirements, which you must meet through other Constellations. Affinity is not spent to unlock Constellations. Instead, your totals must meet or exceed the requirements. This makes it possible to unlock several high-end Constellations, though that may take immense dedication to specific Affinities.
Should you change your mind about the Constellations you’ve unlocked, you can visit the Spirit Guide to undo your choices; but be aware: you cannot undo a Constellation which grants you Affinity to another Constellation you have points in. If you are brave enough to face off against Nemesis spawns, you may be lucky enough to acquire a Tonic of Clarity, which will completely reset all of your Devotion choices.
Devotion Bonuses and Secondary Effects
But you may be asking yourself, why do I want to invest in this Devotion business? Why, immense power of course! Each star you put a point into gives you a passive bonus. These can be just about anything you can find on equipment, ranging from attributes to damage to resistance and more. But some Constellations provide special powers not found anywhere else.
When you unlock these bonuses, you will earn access to what we are calling Secondary Effects. Secondary Effects are unique skills which will have a chance to trigger off of the spells and abilities within your Masteries. There are a total of 43 different Secondary Effects dotting the night sky with their golden light. What mastery skills they can be assigned to varies from Effect to Effect, but they are very flexible. Take a look below for just a few examples:
But wait, there is more! You may have noticed how the Secondary Effect tooltips have experience values. Yes, these abilities will gain ranks as you use them, slowly building up in power as you do. Dedication to these Secondary Effects will take time, but the reward is well worth it.
Should you change your mind about the Secondary Effects you wish to use, do not worry. You can change them at any time within the Devotion Window. Any experience earned for a Secondary Effect is retained, but it will not earn experience while it is not assigned to one of your abilities.
So now that you know what Devotion is all about, tell us…how Devoted are you?!
Like knowing what is coming up next for Grim Dawn? Check back on 10/26/2015 for our regular development updates!
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