I recently started a new character and I was a little surprised when I got to Zaria (Spawn locations - Zaria, the Carver - Grim Dawn Monster Database) and noticed that she is not mandatory to be defeated in order to enter Darkvale gate. And I was wondering why this is the case.
There are a few bosses positioned right before such gates which have to be defeated in order to progress like:
Ancient Shamber*
Harrath the Slaughterer
Voldrak, the Destroyer
Commander Lucius
Bloodlord Thalonis
…
*technically not mandatory as it can be skipped by rebuilding the bridge, but I think almost everyone goes that path as the cave is marked with a star at that point due to a quest and there is a devotion shrine right before
I think Zaria is the first actual boss to teach the player how to deal with spawned Crystals/Shards and how important it is to either avoid and/or destroy them. Additionally, her resistance reduction is the first notable RR in the game from an enemy you are ensured to encounter (in my opinion). These abilities are already used by “trash” mobs before but they are much less noticeable due to their low damage & health.
And she is already a very good skill check for the upcoming Act Boss Karroz, Sigil of Ch’thon as he uses these abilities as well. Therefor I think it would make sense to actually make her mandatory in order to be able to enter Darkvale Gate just like the other “gate-keeping” bosses.
was she always skippable? legit assumed she wasn’t but never bothered to check, wonder if we’ve been bamboozled all this time, or she was changed after some “zaria OP” complaints perhaps
I recall a time in which Darkvale Gate was locked and that Zaria was required. If she isn’t now, I do not know when that would have changed, or whether it’s intentional. But it seems to have been the case for long enough for Rekt and the Seasonal team to have made a note of changing it in their mod.
I definitely would not have bothered to disconnect a scripted door because somebody whined about a boss.
I also don’t feel the need to change this 8 years later. Most people don’t even realize she’s skippable and likely won’t attempt to skip her, so who cares?
I cared enough to write this post and the league team seemingly cared enough to implement a lock themselves. I am just suprised as this is (design-wise) not in line with other “gate-keepers”. But if it is the game designer’s choice to not change it, because nobody notices nor cares and it has always been this way - ok, your game and your decision ofc.
Never skipped her once in any playthrough, i always fight her. In fact i pretty much fight every optional boss in the side areas of the main campaign, at least on Ultimate.
I wonder if people are confusing her with Bourbon being there in EA since that was one of the points where we had to stop because there was no more content available.
Zaria was never a stopping point. B26 added the northern exit from Homestead and ended after killing Karroz in Darkvale Gate, unable to proceed further, which is why that room is featured in the Edge of Reality.
B27 was a Balance update, and only added East Marsh as map content.
B28 introduced Act 4: Part 1, letting us finally proceed beyond Darkvale Gate into Asterkarn.
No, but Bourbon was at that point far as I recall… We could only get to the gate and not beyond it for a while. So people might have transferred that “stop” on to Zaria.
