I’m still on my first char currently going through AoM. I played the base game on Normal Veteran but am having a tough time of it here. I don’t feel I’m too awful and my death count is currently 12 (with death frequency increasing recently). Have since read Veteran has been given a shot in the arm via the latest patch. All good and I actually enjoy the Veteran challenge - mostly. So I’m currently stuck in Desolate Wastes and Void’s Edge. I’ve actually been through Desolate Wastes a few times as I’ve had to quit my session due to real life which means having to traverse it again. I would dearly love some more Riftgates or a checkpoint system but I suspect that topic has been done to death. Last night though I resolved to sit and get it done. My level 56 Witch Hunter has around 8.2k of health and 50% resistances. My work and parenting commitments leave me with casual gaming hours at best. Therefore I’ve not looked at farming better gear. The one time I did hit up some bounties I found progress too slow anyway. I’ve yet to come across gear that exceeds weapons and armour I’ve been running around in since level 35. No worries, I’ll just enjoy the campaign then.
So last night I carefully and meticulously cleared the Desolate Wastes and had fun doing so. I enjoyed a nice sense of accomplishment as I saw the exit before me. I entered Void’s Edge, took a few steps and was completely swamped by mobs emerging from the floor. I couldn’t see my character, could not move and was dead in literally a couple of seconds. So before I file that as the cheapest moment I’ve had in videogames, is there anything I could’ve done in that moment to win that situation? I tried moving out of the group but couldn’t. I fired off a couple of heals which I estimate kept me alive for and extra half second. FWIW the end was so comically harsh I saw the funny side of it. Less funny is the prospect of going through Desolate Wastes again.
The point – I enjoy playing Veteran but is my char (or its operator) just not up to it given I die in seconds when suddenly surrounded or don’t have room to kite? Must I drop back to Normal where the majority of the game will be less engaging in order to stand a chance when rushed?
Or is a busy parent just kidding himself that GD is a game that can accommodate him?
Finally can I please confirm these areas further to Into The Jaws Of Madness are required to progress the main AoM campaign?
I love the game, love the art and atmosphere but do not love the lack of checkpoints and unforeseeable, cheap hits.
Any advice, encouragement or criticism (given I’m one of what must be a long list of casual players posting angst over cheap deaths) welcome.
Welcome back to GD! I personally hate playing in Veteran mode, despite being veteran myself. Definitely more enjoyable and relax expierence is to play in normal. With additional content is possible to push your char to levels like 60-65 by just playing that. So better play in normal.
About time, you can play GD at casual, without setting to high of a goal. This way you can enjoy the sight scenes and fights, skills’s visuals, without hating the constant dying threat.
I played my first char in veteran which I created recently during FG (I deleted my previous chars from B21 onwards). It was fine and challenging. You need to make your resistances high to avoid being surprised (1 hit KO). And dont try to facetank everything. Most of my deaths were due to facetanking and being confident. You can do it but if you want to breeze through from zero to hero do it on normal. This is what I did with my 2nd char. Just doing quests and ignoring mobs even heroes sometimes.
So its just up to you. If you want the challenge, continue in veteran but you need to max or increase your resistances and accept the fact that you can die anytime. If you want to reach level 100 ASAP go with normal. But if you reach elite and ultimate , you still need to make your resistances up.
Honestly, for being your first time and you’re all the way into AoM content and playing on the newly revamped Make Veteran Great Again difficulty - with only 12 deaths to your name, be proud. You’re actually holding your own and doing it blind, so to speak. Means you’re a good learner with a head on your shoulders and it’s good to see you speaking positive of the experience and not whining.
That’s refreshing.
And there is no shame in kicking it down to Normal if you do feel some areas are too much. Veteran is a toggle for Normal. Toggle away. You can always slap it back on after making it past a brutal area.
Chances are good actually, being new, that you’ve likely passed up upgrades not recognizing that they were. Learning what to look for and when to get rid of old gear even if it still looks good takes time and knowledge.
50% resists are better than none but at level 56 you could easily have most of those capped out. Time to visit the blacksmith and look closely at the components they offer, especially ones that are packing resistances. Don’t be shy to port around to various areas with Faction Vendors to buy up the blueprints they have for sale to snag even more components. AND to purchase some Augments. https://grimdawn.gamepedia.com/Augments
By now you should have access to some augments at least. They’re like components except you can slot them on gear that already has components. It’s a good way to get more resistances.
Don’t be afraid to stockpile on consumables and use them until you farm the rep needed for resist augments.
Before you continue any further with this character, I would HIGHLY RECOMMEND using a starting character which is compatible with either the krieg’s set, or dark one’s. This will be of tremendous benefit to you as you transition towards the late game.
Thanks for the replies, all. Swallowed my pride and dropped to normal. Void’s Edge still a decent challenge at this difficulty level so I feel no shame. Void’s Edge is a gorgeous level. Glad to see the back of it for now though. Made it to Malmouth Outskirts finally.
It’s been a while since I’ve checked in on a blacksmith so will do so and look into augments, thanks powbam.
your doing pretty good. considering that veteran difficulty has been buffed recently, and AoM is wholly designed to be the most challenging campaign compared to original and FG (FG is easier in its earlier levels) in all difficulties.
i remember the sudden huge damage spike that killed me when i 1st encounter that unique aetherial hero that ambush you when you destroy the big aetherial crystal obstacle in burrwitch.
that hero’s spammable swirling aetherial flames on the ground hits me multiple times with huge aetherial damage. my low aether resist doesn’t help either.
but i persists over time and now have completed AoM and FG on ultimate with near complete lvl 100 ultos warder.
i believe you can get better at gd, just learn from your mistakes, read a lot about gameplay mechanics and build designs, and don’t hesitate to ask help in this forum.
Hey I just got back into GD too. Family and a job leaves me about an hour or two for games. I cleared HC Veteran (all expansions) at level 58 with just an Oathkeeper. Just got to 70 in Elite and picked Demo as my second mastery (Despite Nery’s good advice).
I think experience and build goes a long way in GD. Reading a guide or two helps with the frustrations as does trying a few different builds to put skills and play styles into perspective. Good luck.
any bosses that has shotgun projectiles special moves can jumpscare players to sudden char deaths in the 1st encounters. these enemies should be treated as top priority to focus your attention at. some enemies also have unfair tricks to 1 shot you from out of nowhere, like aleksander’s giga meteor with sniper-level-cast-range, or loxmere spawning in plains of strife then tele-assassinates you out of nowhere while he’s dressed like a generic aetherial arcanists. if these attacks crits…
