So for the most part my experience with multiplayer has been a poor one. Most people I see have the same experience: Lost Connection To Host while loading into the game, massive lag spikes while both parties have 1gig internet speeds, even worse when there are 3 and 4 members in a group, and finally the inability to pick up gear off the ground for no apparent reason. For a game like Grim Dawn I think it is bringing down the player base as a whole. A lot of current ARPG games thrive on the party system. Playing solo is fun, but it limits potential build paths and strategies. A lot of “low tier” class combinations could become amazing in team cooperation due to CC/buff/debuf focus because of the lack of need for DPS due to other classes. One team off the top of my head would be conjurer/WW Lightning Archon/Purifier/Warder. You can easily turn the Warder into a buff/tank/heal machine with wendigo totem, both classes party buffs and the passive skills in soldier. The Archon is able to lock large groups down with AoE stuns, and conjurer and Purifier can beam down bosses. There are so many combinations for masteries that people just overlook because of a classes lack of damage or survivability. But for games like Diablo and Path of Exile, you see wild combos people would have never thought of because of the ability to run with a group and finding a really strange synergy that just seems to work even though the classes “suck” or are of a lower tier than most. Fixing multiplayer issues could help increase the player base exponentially, as well as indirectly increasing the amount of build options players have.
I suggest making sure that all of you have the latest firmware on all of your network devices (modems, routers etc) and no chained NAT devices (i.e. if you have a modem, do not chain a separate wifi router behind it unless you know how to bridge the port on the modem it’s connected to, or you WILL have a crapton of issues).
Second, Grim Dawn is VERY particular about drivers being up to date. Not just graphics and network card drivers, but ALL drivers, including stuff you’ve likely never heard of. I use a program called DriverEasy to keep my machine’s system level drivers up to date, because you can’t find that stuff easily anywhere. While I generally disapprove of driver updater programs for various reasons, this is the one exception. I used to have Grim Dawn crash on me reliably after 30 minutes to 2 hours until I updated everything and the kitchen sink and then the problems went away.
I have the same corrupt session issues pretty regularly with a friend of mine who does not keep her machine as up to date as I do and whose computer is behind a chained NAT. With another friend who does not have a chained NAT and keeps his machine better updated, a lot fewer such issues.
I am personally trying that now. I will pass on the good word to my friends and see if the issue is fixed. If that is the only reason that would be wild, but easy to fix.