My tag is Saevel, and I am a mod enthusiast. I’ve seen projects go from ideas to amazingly popular independent titles in the past. I realized that most of these endeavors were centered around PvP death matches ranging from 1v1 to 5v5 brawls. These grizzly affairs have also been the center around which many very popular esports were formed. I play HC religiously in Grim Dawn, and have recently come to the conclusion that with the mod tools, and the visceral combat mechanics of the game, Grim Dawn would be the perfect foundation for a brand new PvP death brawl the likes of which no one has ever seen before. A platform packed with equal measures of strategy, reward, and most importantly glory.
So here’s the plan yall.
Simply put the battles will be staged on a series of arena maps that contain unique challenges and rewards that come with those challenges. Each player will fight through 25 arenas to shape themselves into heroes that strategically counter the playstyle of their apponent by choosing perks that demolish the build of the apponent.
Similar to the mysterious looking curator of the crucible a figure will guide the player along their journey to the final battle against their player nemesis. The dialogue with that character will go something like this.
Character: So you think you have what it takes to tangle with the best? We’ll see about that. To start your trial we’ll need to get a few things straight. Demigod, what is your playstyle?
Player choices:
- Speed
- Outlast apponent
- From afar
- Upclose and personal
Character: So you like it face to face do yah? Here, try this trial on for size. (Player teleported to first arena)
And so it will go similarly for all 25 arena battles that the player must fight through to face off against the other in the final showdown.
Each arena is timed to 1 minute, and the next strategic growth choice must be made within 20 seconds to move the game along. If a growth path is not picked within 20 seconds the system will choose one for the player.
The reward for each arena victory ranges in quality depending on how well the arena is cleared. Clearing the arena in less than 30 seconds rewards legendary gear, less than 45 seconds epic gear, and common gear for not fully clearing the arena. The loot is randomly generated from a pool of items that relate to the perk of the arena such as 2h ranged weapon for the “from afar” battlefield.
You may start to see that skill and cunning will be required to defeat other players. Getting those epic and legendary drops won’t be very easy. They are challenges after all.
After each fighting stage the player is rewarded with 4 levels to distribute among the existing vanilla classes and 2 constalation points, which by the end arena will constitute a fully built character with all character, ability, and const points available.
Strategy: speaking to the character to progress will also potentially reveal the build of the enemy player because options the other player has chosen will still be visible, but when selected a prompt will deliver a message that says that selection has already been used.
How would a player use this information? Here is an example.
If the “from afar” selection has been made by the opposite player then they have rolled the dice to either be a mage or ranged dps player, and is hoping for a mod from the system to help with that.
The counter to this selection would be a gap closing ability with pierce and elemental resistance.
That is only speculative, and selections can be made to juke the apponent into believing one thing while going a completely different way. “From afar” may grant a pierce damage enhancement which also improves armor piercing for blades for a dual wield speed build.
Awesomely strategic and fun stuff here with infinite possibilities. With that being said the permanent perks from each arena battle will have to be significant enough to seriously change the outcome of the final showdown.
What is needed to make this work.
Map designer: 50 themed small arena maps, and one final battlefield.
Game mechanic specialist: Mob progression. Specifically designed mob encounters that compliment arena perks. Balanced perks for each stage.
Game design specialist. Transition from npc dialogue to arena matches. Receiving of perk and item pool rewards.
Implementation of timers, and timing of specific mob encounters.
Those are some of the common tasks, but naturally whoever chooses to join this project will be in close communication with me as well as other artists who choose to join. I will create discord channel where project details and file handoffs can be made. Eventually towards release patreon will become involved which will be equally shared among the team.
PM me if you want to join the team, and let me know how you can help progress this project.
Saevel