Why these specific "common" monsters do so much damage?

Grim Dawn Gameplay Discussion
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Hello all, Im back playing GD after a long break, mainly because I think this game lack variety of monsters and scenerios unlike Titan Quest, but I still think GD is the best game of this genre today.

Anyways this thread isnt about that.

Im playing crucible, challenger difficulty with a LVL75 very well equipped saboteur, crushed Elite and is crushing Ultimate no problem.

Howhever, I encountered a few monsters that have a damage output quite unique for their “rank” and my defenses.

-Burning Dead, yes, burning dead, one of the first monsters you will find when starting the game, pretty common during act 1, with my 92% fire resistence I thought that I would be almost invencible… a group of 8 or so makes me pot twice or use my max level pneumatic burts a few times.

-Earth Shambler, the “rock golems” of act 2, very few during the campaing but sometimes you find a wave of 4~6 during crucible, their “molten rock” attack that stun is a dead sentence, 8k HP are not enough to survive 3 of those, and if you are hit by the first one, you are dead.

-Ancient Shambler, the boss that you find midway thought act 1 in the cavern he sometimes causes bleed and even with 80% bleed resistence I have to pot.

-Balegor, the Swamp King from the East Marsh, opcional area from act 1, he does poison instead of bleed but the case is the same as the Ancient Shambler, even worst for me that have “only” 68% poison resist easily maxed with potions and still the poison tick takes hundreds of HP per second.

-The elemental/demon dogs from the Hidden Path quest, sorry I didnt catch their names but for some reason even with a flashbang to the face they hit like a nemesis, being able to tank 3~4 of those is quite a achievement for me.

I would expect some huge spike damage from nemesis, or resistances that I havent a good amount of, but common enemies with almost maxed resistances, seems off to me.

Just a quick overview of my character:
1500 OA
1800 DA
7800 HP
25000 DPS
92% fire, 58% cold, 80% lightning, 68% poison, 62% pierce, 80% bleed, 32% aether, 80% chaos, 72% vitality.
Over 1100 armor

Sorry if I misspell something, and have a good friday night!

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I completely disagree about Titan Quest enemy variety, i think it’s far worse than Grim Dawn. But that’s besides the point of the thread.

I think Burning Dead also deal physical damage when they blow up. It’s what i assume because even with over 80% fire resist, that blast can hurt.

Earth Shambler molten rocks deal life reduction damage. Meaning they also deal a set aumont of damage regardless of health and resists. I honestly find this very cheap, specially when several them spawn at once.

Balegor can deal very high aumonts of poison damage. A 80% poison resist is very advisable.

Dunno what to say about Ancient Shambler and the elemental dogs from the Hidden Path quest, never had much trouble with them.

Kind low health for a level 75 Saboteur. I usually expect at least 9k health, 10k being the norm.

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Yeah that was a minor error with my build, I was going 1:1 phys:cunning until I realise I was lacking 80 or so points to equip a piece of chest armor equal to my level so I started going full phys from level 65 up

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I’d say the level of variety is similar, it’s just that the “theme” of GD makes it seem a lot more bland than TQ/IT. In TQ you go through 3 incredibly differently themed acts, and IT adds a 4th. GD is mostly teal, brown, yellow, black. It’s pretty grim, as the title suggests (yes I know this is more for lore but still).

If you’re talking about their melee weapon attack, I’m certain that the vast majority of monsters do mostly physical with this attack. Think about the gear that you pick up, some of which the monsters actually equip; you don’t often see more than 10-15% physical converted to another element.

Plus, the slower the monster/attack, the more damage it usually deals. Even most melee attacks can be kited just by running back a bit. The best defence in GD is not being hit, but if you want to take physical damage you need about 20*your level in armour and at least 15% armour absorption.

They’re meant to be a death sentence. With ARPGs, and again with GD especially, understanding your enemies is key, and not being hit means 100% damage reduction. Look for the throw; it’s slow, and you should have plenty of time to dodge it. If you are quick, you can stun/freeze them or use something with skill disruption.

Yeah these DoTs can be painful, but there are a few things to take into account here. Firstly, he’s a mini boss, not a “common” enemy, so he should be difficult to tank. Secondly, all his attacks are so slow. The AoE slam (I think?) is the one that applies bleed, and you should be able to dodge it. Alternatively, you need bleed length reduction.

Also not a “common” enemy. Plus, going from 68% resistance to 80% is about a 37.5% damage reduction due to the way maths works. That means you’ll effectively have 1.6x your Health against those attacks. Might be worth investing in a little more poison res or accepting that you will be weaker against poison with that build.

I haven’t done this quest yet.

Any damage type that you don’t have 80% resistance to will hit hard. And every 1% higher than 80% is even more effective than the last.

Being under about 1700 armour and 85% absorption at level 85 will make physical hits hurt, especially the big ones as they don’t get reduced by as much % as the smaller ones (again, due to maths).

Remember that some attacks deal mixed damage types or % Health. The Burning Dead dead explosions may deal physical or % Health damage, and they’re sort of “supposed” to hurt. Most builds can’t tank Ultimate very well unless they’re specifically designed to. And from what I see, 7800 Health isn’t high enough to feel “tanky”.

Ultimate is meant to be hard :wink:

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Your oa is quite low. I have a saboteur as well and you should easy get past 2000 at this level

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