*shrug* i backed it in KS and im finding it fun *although* the scaling thing is an issue

Duh, same here. What are they thinking...

Ugh.

It's not a bad implementation of level scaling - try it before you hate on it.

(I was initially against it, but so far it really hasn't been an issue)

Well, getting more powerful is the point of an RPG, I don't see the point of putting time and effort into playing a game, progressing your character/s, only to have the game level-up the enemies with you, I mean who in there right mind likes that kind of banal shit, you are being punished for getting more powerful. The satisfying thing in an RPG is venturing into that one high-level area and barely being able to put a scratch on any of the goons, then coming back once you've leveled up and got better gear and kicking ass.

Enemy levels (seem to) vary only in a small range - it's barely noticeable most of the time.

If you get into an area above your level range, combat becomes quite difficult (this doesn't usually happen due to the current linear nature of the game, you basically have to be running past most enemies and not doing many quests). There's a cave in one of the early-ish areas with some bandits that were 1-2 levels higher than my character when I got there - running into one of them was dangerous, two or more would have been able to kill me easily.

If you go back to an area where enemies are much lower level, you'll be able to take out most enemies with a single attack (groups of them at once if you're using AoE attacks/abilities). Many will just... explode... when you hit them :P

EDIT: Had a look around the GD forum for details on the level scaling - in B9 and earlier enemies scaled all the way up to your level, in more recent builds there's a cap on the level they will scale to.

I think things will work a bit differently once more areas are in the game and (if) the player level cap is increased.
The final game might feature a further reduced amount of scaling, or maybe no level scaling at all...

Playing the alpha (level 15), the starting area enemies are around level 8 ish, pushing to 11-12 around Wight area and 14ish around caves near Burrrwitch area (the Ancient <forgot its name - some purple titled baddie in one of the caves was level 17). And yes the early area zombies die with 1-2 shots of a blunderbass :D. having said that, the demolition mastery feels a bit overpowered especially the molotov cocktails

Fourth Mastery Nightblade --- dual wielding :). Tried a new char. After 5 hours (on Normal), level 14 (hardcore mode) got to Burrwitch Village area. Ths map to play on Alpha is HUGE. If demolitionist mastery is a bit overpowered im not quite sure about nightblade. The bosses are the hardest - hit and run usual deals with them (Sudden Strike skill is awesome). Graphics are ok. Music bit repetitive. Sounds have more Oooooompppphh now. The only problem i can find with this alpha is....needs more variety in enemies(imho).Versions of 'hedgehograts', zombies, things that look like orcs, slithin (snakey things), floating eyeballs & 'greyhound' things & spiders. Lootwise best stuff are in chests. Recent version of the alpha seem to have nerfed the drops of partial components a bit (before they might have dropped too many). Overall im happy with the game as is (although it crashed out after 5-6 hours). Have only tried the demolitist and nightblade masteries so far (Soldier is apparently the easiest)
On second thought. Two other things. This map is HUGE. However there *is* a decided lack of quests (and variety). Honestly been more into running around killing stuff and checking loot, after all this is the type of game is what thats all about isnt it? :). It is very Titan Quest like without the greek theme.

Just got released on Steam Early Access. Looks like its in Beta now

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/crateentertainment/grim-dawn/posts/708662

Bringing in the New Year B16 Style
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We've just pushed out B16, which includes a ton of cool improvements and additions, including 2 new side quests, a little more environmental variation in the early areas, a couple small undergrounds, a new art set for the Warden's lab and more!

The release of B16 also means that we're about to begin internal testing of Act2, which is very close to being completed. We're hoping to have it out by the end of Jan or early Feb.



Happy New Year everyone!

http://www.grimdawn.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11644

medierra
Crate Employee - Designer Join Date: Nov 2009
Posts: 3,049

Bringing in the New Year with B16 v0.2.1.4!
Happy New Year to all and to all a new build... or something like that?

With B16 out, we should be starting internal testing for Act2 very soon and then, barring no major problems, it should hopefully be out by the end of Jan or early Feb.

Art:
Updated rock textures to improve detail.
Updated several terrain textures.
Added new laboratory dungeon set for Warden's lab.


Tech:
Fixed an issue with multiple instances of the same attribute being listed on an item tooltip instead of those instances adding up.
Fixed an issue with the Warden's one-shot chest respawning under certain circumstances.
Quest items that are no longer needed after the quest is complete will no longer drop (ex. Milton Hart's Amulet)
Added community localization support.

Game:
All Weapon components now also grant a skill.
Level requirement on low-level weapon components has been increased.
Mastery has been capped at 50. You can no longer increase mastery beyond its final tier. Warning: Any points invested this way will be lost on existing characters.
All one-shot chests now have a 100% chance to drop 1 epic (up from 70-80% with 20-30% of rare component). With the chance already so high, it seemed stupid to have the vast majority of people getting epics most of the time while some minority with bad luck could still end up getting nothing from multiple one-shots.
Physique now gives 2.5 life per point instead of 2.
Partially in response to the physique / life change, mastery life values have been adjusted slightly.
Attribute based damage bonuses have been shifted completely to percent-based bonuses. Absolute scaling was creating balancing issues at low levels, as well as causing the stacking small amounts of several different elements to be too effective.
Spirit based bonuses are now a little more even with the cunning based bonus for physical damage.
Enemy armor levels have been raised. They were woefully low and have been long out of date with more recent damage increases.
Enemy base physical and total damage has been increased.
Proc effects on items (Activates on attack/hit/low health/etc) now display the chance of the effect triggering
Skills granted by items now also display their stats on the item's tooltips (you no longer have to equip the item and add the skill to your quick bar to see what it does)
Skills granted by items now have proper icons
Increased the base energy regeneration provided by caster helms, caster torsos, and flat regeneration focus items
Slightly decreased the % energy regeneration provided by focus items
Class Skill prefixes on focus items should no longer generate nonsensical skill bonuses (ex. bonuses to dual wielding). This does not affect existing items.
Unholy Inscription's stats have been adjusted so it's not such a clear best-in-slot component for Hands
In preparation for the release of Crafting, component drop rates have been overhauled. Monsters now have more specific component drop tables (ex. no more Fur from slith), so you can more reliably hunt for specific components. If you notice that components you used to get in B15 are dropping extremely rarely, or way too often, please report it.
Occultist: Fixed a problem with Dreeg's Eye modifier Vile Eruption where the fragments weren't launching properly. Damage was scaled back to account for the increased AoE provided by the working fragments. Acid damage was also reduced to make the skill a little more reliant on item bonuses.
Soldier: Reduced dmg scaling on Fighting Spirit. Was originally intended to be +%physical but was instead +%total dmg, which makes it considerably more powerful. Left it as total dmg since that synergizes more with other masteries but reduced the scaling to compensate.
Some quest objects now display a star on the mini-map once you get close enough and if you already have the quest (ex. the trap door to Devil's Aquifer once you get the clearing the well quest). Objecties that you're supposed to find through exploration won't appear or will only display once you're very close (to the point where it is visible on-screen). Other things that are supposed to be obvious or where an NPC has given you explicit instructions, will appear from further away as though they were marked on your map (the new treasure quest, where the dying man tells you how to find his stash).
There are three new small undergrounds.
Various environments have been changed up to add more visual variety.
The teleport map now contains names for major and minor locations (some riftgate names are concealed until discovered). Eventually this will become a world map that can be opened from the aerial map.
There are two new small sidequests to be discovered out in the world.
Other stuff...?

This build includes community localization support. Instructions on setting up a community localized language for use will be posted in this thread.

b16 localization set is attached for community localizers.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/crateentertainment/grim-dawn/posts/756860

Grim Dawn Soundtrack Available for Download!
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Greetings from developmentland!

The Grim Dawn original soundtrack is now ready to download from Humble Store for everyone with the $35 or higher reward tier (excluding the $48 co-op expansion bundle, which doesn't include it).

For more details and how to resend your Humble Store link, check out the forum post: http://www.grimdawn.com/forums/showthread.php?p=145999#post145999

News about Act 2 release coming later this week.

We hope you enjoy!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/crateentertainment/grim-dawn/posts/759881

"Update #37 ℹ

Feb 27 2014
Act II is Upon Us
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Hello Grim Dawn Backers,

As promised in the last update, we have information for you this week about the status of Act II and the status is that it is released. ; )

Some of you may have no doubt noticed Steam updating in the early morning hours and seen the forum posts. We wanted to be low-key with the initial roll out to ensure there were no major problems, but things are looking good so far.

Not only does B17 include Act II, which roughly doubles the game content, but also a number of other improvements, including the updated HUD and UI, a move key-binding, a force-move key-binding, the lore codex, ability to view / compare items on ground, new world map, larger mini-map and much more.

Check out the forum announcement for further details and change log.

Like Act I, we'll still be continuing to add a little bit of additional quest and lore content, such as additional floors to the challenge dungeon "Steps of Torment" and making other refinements. In the coming months you can look forward to dual wield pistols, recipe based crafting, and a new quest reward screen, just to name a few things. Multiplayer is coming together more quickly now that we have a dedicated network programmer and we expect it to debut early this summer.

We really hope you all enjoy the second part of the game and look forward to your feedback!"

The ****ers put the game on sale on Steam for 12.49 < 18 buck tier on Kickstarter.

And boy do I feel like a chump for backing the loyalist edition...