Grim Dawn Grim Misadventures #60 and Build 23 Released

Not only did a 60th “Grim Misadventures” feature hit the official Grim Dawn forums this month, but the team at Crate Entertainment also announced the availability of Build 23 earlier today, which opens up the first chapter of Act 3 to prospective players. The full notes are also available on the official forums:

[Major New Features]

• The first chapter of Act 3 is now available! You can cross beyond Voldrak’s lair in Smuggler’s Pass and venture beyond into the lands leading up to Homestead.
• With this release, the level cap has been increased to 40

[Art]

• Updated art on Sparkbolt Arbalest & Maw of The Beast

[Tech]

• Fixed lost casts at fast cast speeds while holding down mouse button
• Added Off-hand DPS comparisons when dual-wielding weapons
• Fixed instances where DPS comparisons were not accurate when calculating item skill auras
• Pet attack command now works for all players in multiplayer.
• Dropping a stack of items onto the secondary inventory sack buttons now correctly transfers stacks.
• Selecting a blueprint in the Crafting UI will now highlight the relevant reagents in your inventory.
• Linking items from the Crafting UI to chat is now possible. (Shift click item with chat window open)

[Game]

• Rift Scourge are now easier to hit with ranged skills
• New lore has been added to Act 2

[Itemization]

• A new item type has been introduced: Augments. Augments come in the form of powders, meticulously crafted enchantments, tinctures and poisons used to empower your weapons, rings and necklaces with additional stats. You can earn an Augment during an Act 3 quest, but otherwise they are acquired from Faction Vendors (coming soon).
• Elementium has been redesigned into two epic quality shields. The design of Elementium and its visual appearance told conflicting stories and we felt they were better served as separate items.
• Elementium has been renamed to Spiriteater Bulwark. The Vitality resistance was reduced as it was very high for normal difficulty, but the shield now features additional appealing stats.
• A new epic shield named Elementium, appropriate for hybrid elemental fighters, has been added
• Reduced the bonus physical damage on Golemfist Gavel
• Increased the 3-piece set bonus on Maiven’s Sanctuary to 22% elemental damage, up from 15%
• Caster weapons can no longer generate affixes (Magic and Rare) that provide bonuses for Physical, Pierce, Trauma and Bleed damage types
• 4 new Rare Prefixes and 4 new Rare Suffixes have been added for Shields to support hybrid caster playstyles
• Slighty increased the drop rate of blueprints from bosses and heroes. The boss chests in Alkamos’ treasure room now have an additional chance to drop blueprints. In addition, some side-bosses now have a bonus chance to drop blueprints for equipment.
• Increased the drop rate of blueprints for set items
• The following relics now require a Manticore Eye instead of an Ancient Heart or Tainted Brain Matter: Deathchill, Savagery and Slaughter
• Increased the energy regeneration on the component Ectoplasm to 1.0. This component can now also be applied to helms.
• The Ranger’s Badge blueprint now requires a Bristly Fur in addition to a Frozen Heart
• Consumables which grant resistances (ex. Flamedrinker Ointment) now gives 20% resistance + 5% to maximum resist, instead of 10% resistance + 20% increased resistance
• Reduced the scaling cost of Dismantling (down to 650 from 825 for a level 35 item)
• Increased the drop rate of Blood of Ch’thon from Ch’thonic Hero monsters

[Class & Skills]

• Transmuters no longer benefit from + Skill items, allowing you to carefully control what level you want to invest in for the Transmuters that have multiple levels

Demolitionist

• Stun Jacks: Reduced the projectile spread on the bonus projectiles added by the modifier Full Spread

Nightblade

• Fixed an issue with the Blade Spirit not scaling with Pet bonuses

Arcanist

• Increased damage scaling on Sky Shard and its modifier Frozen Core