If you make that Saboteur, let me know how it goes.
I, indirectly, tested out Saboteur as an option last night. I had a pure Demolitionist at L23 laying around. And, like nearly all of my characters, I wasn’t very smart in building him, maxing out just a few early skills rather than increasing his mastery levels considerably and investing very little in a bunch of skills. This generally seems to be a better way to go, if only to gain early access to some of the better skills that lie further down the mastery pathways.
So, for fun and to check them out, I respec’d completely, upped mastery substantially and put points in Fire and Explosive Strike, Blackwater Cocktail, Stun Jacks, Flashbang w/Searing Light, Vindictive Flame w/Ulzuin’s Wrath, Grenado and Cannister Bomb w/Concussive Bomb. I also had a few points in Flame Touched.
Here’s what I have to say about the above. Vindictive Flame is really potent, and the speed buff makes a clear difference. This opens up tactical options in terms of kiting and wading in and out of battle that can change how you play (a good thing). Further, Flashbang is a great CC, with it’s confuse debuff. Grenado is a one-shot mini-nuke, though the radius is rather limited (at least at low levels). Cannister Bomb w/stun is another very solid CC that makes Stun Jacks seem redundant (again, at low levels). Blackwater clearly has potential, but it’s very weak unless you invest in it. It doesn’t match Fireblast at first, so I barely used it. Of course, it appears to be quite a different animal if more fully invested.
So, I got to experience many of the Demo’s active skills, and a few of the powerful passives. My findings: the Demo is fun, but pairing it with Nightblade won’t result in the playstyle I’m looking for. I think I would really enjoy a Demo spec’d for guns. I also think that defense/survivability may be one of the weaker aspects of the class (there were a few very close calls where health dropped precipitously during my test - maybe I needed some Blast Shield or just more physique), so it would pair very nicely with, say, Soldier in the Commando hybrid. The Demo would expand the Soldier’s offensive repertoire significantly, and give a “sword n’ board” character additional hitting power. I expect that’d be potent.
The Demo also suffers from over-concentration on fire damage. On the upside, there seem to be so many ways to boost fire to spectacular damage levels (so many supporting items). On the downside, killing fire-based, fire-resistant foes is challenging. But this could be addressed easily enough by adding in a bit of diversity through one’s second class or another weapon set, etc.
So I may just build that Commando.
But my Nightblade will have to seek a “classmate” elsewhere. Right now, that means choosing between Occultist (Witch Hunter) and Arcanist (Spellbreaker). And maybe I shouldn’t reject Shaman (Trickster) so quickly. The Nightblade has an awful lot in the bleed department, and Shaman may better complement this than Occultist, which seems far more acid/poison compatible. My issue with the Shaman is Devouring Swarm, which is at once too good for a “bleeder” not to take and too boring for me to take.
I’ll finish by addressing Omniscient’s comments on gameplay. As for ignoring the “trash,” as it’s affectionately called, I couldn’t agree more. At the same time, I understand it. If it’s not challenging or rewarding (in terms of fun or loot), it’s could reasonably be seen as just a waste of time.
And this brings me to the bigger issue with Grim Dawn and similar games. It’s fun, just as Diablo was fun when it first came out. The simple formula of a constant loot-stream allowing you to experiment with a build you devised, coupled together with the fairly satisfying feeling of being a wrecking ball of death, is entertaining. But for all the diversity of skills and damage types and gear, etc., etc., I am surprised that this genre hasn’t evolved to be more tactical. And, since I’m no expert, please feel free to correct me if I’m wrong here (this is just my impression).
And I’d be remiss to not acknowledge that what made Diablo and its peers and descendants so popular was, perhaps primarily, its simplicity. Just some mouse clicks and little thinking. Many have a need for that kind of action (and sometimes I do too, though rarely).
Challenge often equates to addiction in gameplay. It might be exciting and an intriguing exercise to build the toughest, hardest hitting character possible, and then go test it and wreck face. But after you’ve proved that you can wreck said face, it gets old, doesn’t it? The screen lights up and everything is dead. Rinse and repeat. Why not make enemies smarter and more specialized? Why not take a page from some of the better turn-based strategy games and force the player to adapt to the enemy and, for example, first focus on taking out ranged foes or neutralizing certain tougher adversaries and so on. Of course, skills should be spec’d to enhance this tactical action. Perhaps longer cooldowns to make things more tense and each use more precious. Perhaps more situational options, so you have to choose. Or combos. Setting those up and executing is always fun.
Anyway, you get my point. Perhaps this game delivers the above later, or I’m playing the wrong game. If so, let me know.
As always, thanks so much for your feedback and guidance.
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