The latest update to Grim Dawn brings the fifth and new Arcanist class to the aRPG. This spellcasting mastery mostly uses Aether and Chaos damage alongside other elements such as frost and lighting. Crate has also been busy hammering away at bug fixes and balance changes for Build 21.
Lots of new Epic items have been added, 22 of which are for the new Arcanist mastery. The new update comes with new magical daggers and scepters that were originally aimed for Build 22, but managed to squeeze their way into Build 21.
These new weapons have less physical damage, but make up the difference through their magical properties and ability to roll for more chance for % damage suffixes. That’s useful for players looking to use the newly added item elemental affixes, which include frostburn.
Always quite powerful in Titan Quest, I wonder how percent based % damage affixes will fare balance wise. My Soldier mastery class makes good use of bleed and trauma on his skills, so the new affixes should help even more.
One big update fans appear pleased with, is the ‘move only’ button that ranged players will love, as it allows them to focus more of their clicks on killing stuff than kiting chaff or bosses. An ‘Exit to Desktop option’ has also been added to the Game Menu which replaces the paranoia creating ‘Save Game’ button I loved to hit (you never know!)
The Occultist’s Pox modifier and Fevered Rage have been hit with a nerf-hammer, but multiplayer fixes and UI improvements have also been added. Despite a reliance on Titan Quest design and flavouring with the new mastery combination names, and pathing issues with things like the Soldiers Blitz skill, Grim Dawn has progressed quickly this year and it should only get better with each build.
I can imagine new glass cannon Arcanist builds coming out soon, so have fun with the new Arcanist mastery class and let us know how you get on. Make some builds on the GrimCalc. You can find out more about the full patch notes over on Grim Dawn’s forum.
