| 1 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/grimdawn.png]] |
| 2 | [[caption-width-right:350:[[DarkIsNotEvil This is one of the good guys.]]]] |
| 3 | |
| 4 | ->''"Enter an apocalyptic fantasy world, where humanity is on the brink of extinction, iron is valued above gold and trust is hard earned."'' |
| 5 | |
| 6 | ''Grim Dawn'' is an ActionRPG developed by Crate Entertainment, a company that includes veterans of Iron Lore Entertainment, the makers of ''[[VideoGame/TitanQuest Titan Quest]]''. |
| 7 | |
| 8 | ''Grim Dawn'' takes place in the world of Cairn, where humanity is caught in between an eternal war between two otherworldly forces: the Aetherials, who seek to use human bodies as a resource to take over the world; and the Chthonians, creatures from the void who seek to wipe out humanity before the Aetherials can use them. Their war has brought the world of Cairn to the brink of destruction. For humankind, it is the dawn of a grim new age where iron has replaced gold as currency and the great civilizations of old are nothing but a memory. |
| 9 | |
| 10 | Small enclaves of human survivors exist scattered throughout the world, holed up in refuges. These humans have quietly watched the warring invaders destroy one another and have become wise to the strengths and vulnerabilities of their otherworldly foes. A few survivors have begun to exhibit strange new abilities after surviving possession or exposure to the Aetherials. The unnatural powers of these survivors, occasionally called "Taken", are feared by some, but also give a new hope of launching a resistance to fight the "outsiders" and reclaim what is left of their world. |
| 11 | |
| 12 | You start the main ''Grim Dawn'' campaign off as an Aetherial-possessed human who was captured by a group of humans seeking refuge at Devil's Crossing, a prison with road access to many parts of Cairn that have since been destroyed or overrun by the Aetherials and their possessed human slaves. The leader of the refugees, Captain John Bourbon, gives the orders for you to be hung, but as you hang by the noose, the Aetherial possessing you escapes. Bourbon then cuts you from the noose despite some protests from the other refugees. When you awaken, you are given some basic equipment by the refugees at Devil's Crossing and are free to explore the world with your newfound abilities as a Taken, although you can choose to complete quests that will hopefully aid the remaining human survivors in ultimately stopping the Aetherial and Cthonian war which threatens to destroy Cairn entirely. |
| 13 | |
| 14 | Similar to ''Titan Quest'', the player can initially choose one out of several different classes, known as "Masteries", each focusing on different gameplay styles. At a slightly higher level, the player is given the choice to select a second Mastery to specialize in, allowing them to hybridize their character based on their own play style. |
| 15 | |
| 16 | These 6 Masteries are included in the original game: |
| 17 | * '''Soldier''': Focuses on [[StoneWall tanking hits]] and/or [[ShieldBash using a shield as a secondary weapon]] |
| 18 | * '''Demolitionist''': Focuses on [[StuffBlowingUp blowing things up]] with [[PlayingWithFire fire-based]] attacks and traps |
| 19 | * '''Occultist''': Focuses on [[DamageIncreasingDebuff status debuffs]] and SummonMagic |
| 20 | * '''Nightblade''': Focuses on DualWielding, as well as swift and hard-hitting sword-based attacks [[FragileSpeedster to make up for their lack of defense]] |
| 21 | * '''Arcanist''': Focuses on hitting at range using [[ElementalPowers elemental]] and Aetherial powers |
| 22 | * '''Shaman''': Focuses on using [[GreenThumb the forces of nature]] and two-handed weapons to smash things |
| 23 | |
| 24 | Following a successful Kickstarter campaign, ''Grim Dawn'' was first released on February 25, 2016 via UsefulNotes/{{Steam}} and Creator/HumbleBundle, while a DRM-free version of the game was first released on March 19, 2016, via Website/GOGDotCom. It is available for purchase on any of these channels, as well as on the official Grim Dawn website [[http://www.grimdawn.com/contribute_buynow01.php here]]. |
| 25 | |
| 26 | {{DLC}}s available for the game are ''The Crucible'', which adds a survival mode that pits your character against 170 waves of enemies, with greater rewards for more waves your character defeats, and two ''Loyalist Item Packs'' that add a variety of (mostly) cosmetic equipment. |
| 27 | |
| 28 | [[ExpansionPack An expansion]], titled ''Ashes of Malmouth'', was released on October 12, 2017, and included two new Masteries: the '''Inquisitor''', who specializes in combining GunsAkimbo with magic bullets and elemental traps, and the '''Necromancer''', who focuses on [[DemBones raising skeletal minions]] as well as using arcane attacks and spells. The plot in ''Ashes of Malmouth'' centers around the Taken working alongside the Black Legion to assault the city of Malmouth, which has been converted into the Aetherials' main base where their leader, the Shaper of Flesh, is on the cusp of creating a new weapon that could shatter the human resistance and complete the Aetherial takeover of Cairn. |
| 29 | |
| 30 | A second ExpansionPack, titled ''Forgotten Gods'', was released on March 27, 2019 and features the divinely-empowered '''Oathkeeper''' mastery as well as the Shattered Realm, a BonusDungeon themed as a distorted MirrorUniverse with unfathomable wealth and horrors. In ''Forgotten Gods'', the Taken is approached by the cults of the Witch Gods to confront a great evil in the Korvan Basin, an abandoned, sandy region to the far east of Cairn, whose resurgence would signal the destruction of not just Cairn, but possibly the Eldritch realm itself. |
| 31 | |
| 32 | A surprise third ExpansionPack, titled ''Fangs of Asterkarn'', will be released in 2024. It introduces the Berserker mastery who shapeshifts into beasts. The adventure continues to the snowy northern lands of Asterkarn. |
| 33 | |
| 34 | [[SimilarlyNamedWorks No relation]] to the 2018 PsychologicalHorror game ''VideoGame/GrayDawn''. |
| 35 | |
| 36 | ---- |
| 37 | !!Come see what's left of my tropes. |
| 38 | |
| 39 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 40 | |
| 41 | [[folder:A-C]] |
| 42 | * AIBreaker: Using a combination of camera rotation and zoom can confuse the AI. Prior to its patch, this was a heavily-used exploit in the Shattered Realms, where the player faces multiple bosses at once; properly done, the exploit causes the bosses to rush the player one at a time, instead of en masse, thus making the dungeon easier. |
| 43 | * TwentyBearAsses: You'll receive this sort of quest pretty often, such as returning with royal jellies or lost Black Legion insignias. |
| 44 | * AbsurdlySpaciousSewer: The sewers of Malmouth are large enough to shelter [[TheResistance a resistance movement]] and let large Aetherials pass through. |
| 45 | * ActionBomb: Chthonian Harbingers and Bloodletters will explode violently upon death, dealing heavy chaos damage. This can be prevented by draining all of their energy away before they die. |
| 46 | * ActionGirl: |
| 47 | ** Elsa. She gets an OffscreenMomentOfAwesome by escaping from Darius Cronley, and eventually becomes a member of the Black Legion. |
| 48 | ** If Daila's Diary, the 3 notes to open the secret level in Ultimate, and the FlavorText from Stormheart are taken into account, Daila is probably the closest [=NPC=] the game has to a RetiredBadass. |
| 49 | * AdamSmithHatesYourGuts: Bourbon asks you to save Devil's Crossing? No hero discount for you! Even reselling magical items nets you lousy returns. Bounties are actually more profitable however. |
| 50 | * AerithAndBob: John Bourbon, Edwin, Elsa are normal sounding names. Then you get the odd balls like Darlet, Mornay and Ulgrim. |
| 51 | * AffablyEvil: For a deranged cannibal cult that worships an EldritchAbomination, [[spoiler:the people of Barrowholm]] are surprisingly amiable. |
| 52 | * AfterTheEnd: The Aetherial invasion, referred to by survivors as the [[TitleDrop Grim Dawn]], has caused a [[ApocalypseHow/Class3A Class 3a]] ApocalypseHow in the world of Cairn, with considerable amounts of Physical Annihilation added into the mix. If given the chance, the Cult of Ch'thon would see this escalate to a Class X. [[spoiler:Korvaak's resurgence]] would likely cause a Class X-5. |
| 53 | * AllianceMeter: You have an entire window to keep track of your commitment to various factions. Invest more in one faction and you'll unlock their exclusive gear, sidequests, and rewards. This will also lower your standing against opposing factions. That said, Allied factions never go below "Tolerated" with the sole exception of either the Kymon's Chosen and the Order of Death's Vigil, depending on which faction you choose to side with. Hostile factions, meanwhile, will start throwing more and more of their forces at you the lower your reputation with them is, culminating in spawns of their strongest kind, known as "Nemesis" monsters. |
| 54 | * AllYourBaseAreBelongToUs: In ''Ashes of Malmouth'', the Aetherial Vanguard show they mean business right off the bat by [[spoiler:assaulting Devil's Crossing while you were busy dealing with the Loghorrean]], killing two {{Mauve Shirt}}s as well as a considerable number of {{Red Shirt}}s from the original campaign. |
| 55 | * AmbiguouslyHuman: Creed writes in his journal that he is not entirely convinced that [[spoiler:Ulgrim is completely human,]] given his near-superhuman strength and his surprisingly vast knowledge of ancient history, and may in fact be an ascendant demigod. [[spoiler:He also wonders whether the Taken is on the path to ascendancy as well.]] |
| 56 | * AndIMustScream: The Attendant is the herald of [[spoiler:the Witch Gods]]. Their idea of how he could best serve them involved his body being trapped in a stone wall. He mentions having been killed and revived multiple times throughout the centuries. |
| 57 | ** Ch'thon, The Dying God. He was the father of the gods whom they betrayed. They ripped him apart and used his blood to make mortals then threw what was left of him into the void outside creation. Unfortunately he can't die so he's trapped alone in this maimed state forever. Worse his blood is still connected to him meaning he can feel all the pain and suffering of every living thing in exsistence with no way to stop it. The Chthonics want to kill everything specifically because it's the only way to end his suffering. |
| 58 | * AntiFrustrationFeatures: The game refines the ActionRPG formula to a perfect science: |
| 59 | ** Auto-pick up for cash, food, components and potions when touching them. |
| 60 | ** Item comparison without the need to put the second item in your inventory. |
| 61 | ** When blueprints are learned, they are moved to the blacksmith's window and are available for ''all'' your characters. Therefore, you no longer waste farming them and storing them in your stash. |
| 62 | ** The blacksmith will list all of available recipes and all the required materials, including the ones you have and those which are missing. In addition, you no longer need to carry components in your inventory to use them for crafting, you can just leave them in your stash and visit the blacksmith. |
| 63 | ** When trying to do fetch quests, the mini-map will display items you need to find once you're near them with a star, making finding them and completing the quest so much easier. |
| 64 | ** Quest items can be picked up before you get the quest itself, allowing you to complete an objective early. If you encounter and kill a boss who is the target of a quest before getting the objective from a quest-giver, you can just tell them you've already dealt with the target. |
| 65 | ** A little red X is displayed on any items that you can't use because you don't meet the minimum requirements. This makes navigating much easier as compared to having to have your cursor hover over every item in turn. |
| 66 | ** v1.0.0.8 adds in a few more. One example is showing how much you've over-capped a resistance when you mouse over specific resistances. |
| 67 | ** Items colors are dimmed if you don't have enough cash to buy them. |
| 68 | ** Attack speed on weapons no longer displays as vaguely defined slow/normal/fast, but now displays how many attacks you can execute per second. |
| 69 | ** Mousing over movement, cast and attack speed lists the cap as opposed to it being AllThereInTheManual. |
| 70 | ** v1.0.1.0 added in a slew of new icons for the various debuff effects in the game so you now know what is affecting your character as well as what the exact values are. |
| 71 | ** The expansions add more store spaces for your excess loot. |
| 72 | ** v1.2.0.0 replaces the [[HealingPotion Tonic of Mending]] and [[ManaPotion Elixir of Spirit]] consumables with an equivalent innate skill for both, each with their own dedicated hotkey, thus freeing up even more space for loot, and freeing up slots in your skill bar in the process. It also tweaked drops, upping their quality and lowering their quantity and throwing in greater iron bit drops to compensate, reducing the amount of trips to the store you need in any given outing. |
| 73 | * AntiPoopSocking: Bounties can be taken only five times per gameplay session to prevent endless reputation and material farming. This is actually a rather lenient example, as not only is this cap not shared between factions (meaning you can undertake five Bounties for Devil's Crossing and five for the Rovers in the same game), but resetting the cap is as simple as quitting to the main menu and loading your character again, though this has the side effect of causing every enemy you've slain to respawn. |
| 74 | * AnyoneCanDie: The expansions show that no one is safe from death. No matter what, you can't be everywhere at the same time to save everyone. |
| 75 | * ApocalypseCult: The Cult of Ch'thon is this [[spoiler:if their summoning of the Loghorrean succeeds, which would wipe out every living thing in Cairn.]] |
| 76 | * ApocalypseHow: Grim Dawn manages to one up every other RPG in this trope by having not one, not two, but three completely different apocalypse events happening at the same time! |
| 77 | ** The titular Grim Dawn was the first, the extradimensional AlienInvasion brought on by the Aetherials. This one also has dabs of HostileTerraforming and ZombieApocalypse as side flavors. |
| 78 | ** Another AlienInvasion from the Chthonics. This one comes in the flavor of a CosmicHorrorStory with tons of BodyHorror and an ApocalypseCult. |
| 79 | ** The last is yet another ApocalypseCult being led by a GodOfEvil whose only real goal is TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt. Probably by using lots of [[ApocalypseWow fire.]] |
| 80 | * ApocalypticLog: You can find some [=NPCs=] and notes scattered about in-game, detailing events before the game proper. |
| 81 | * ArchEnemy: |
| 82 | ** The Aetherials and the Chthonians were sworn enemies long before the start of the game. Since the Chthonians' end goal is the sacrifice of all blood of living things to their god, and the Aetherials ''need'' living beings to possess, they're naturally enemies. |
| 83 | ** The Kymon's Chosen and Order of Death's Vigil hate each other's guts to no end. Ironically, their respective headquarters are in the same area, separated by a small river. |
| 84 | ** Downplayed with the Coven of Ugdenbog and Barrowholm. They are definitely enemies, but are keeping off each others' back with an unofficial truce. |
| 85 | * ArmyOfThievesAndWhores: The Black Legion consists of former convicts. They are highly trained and are regarded as the Empire's finest army. With the Grim Dawn, they are frequently referred to as humanity's best chance against the Aetherials and Chthonians. |
| 86 | * ArtificialStupidity: |
| 87 | ** Not all ranged-attack monsters are bright enough to run away when you hit them repeatedly with your melee weapon. |
| 88 | ** Sometimes monsters go after you instead of your pet who's blocking their path. This make them easy to kill as they're stuck in walking animation while you pummel them with range attacks. |
| 89 | * TheAtoner: A note that can be found in the Tomb of the Watchers is written by a member of the Bloodsworn who [[HeelRealization recognized the horrors he has inflicted]] and set out to do as much damage as he could to the cult. You find his thoroughly-burnt corpse next to a destroyed blood altar, implying he shattered it to delay the [[spoiler: summoning of the Loghorrean.]] |
| 90 | * AttackReflector: Several rare affixes carry the Damage Reflected modifier, and a handful of skills both completely negate and reflect all damage back to your attackers, notably the Nightblade's Blade Barrier and Arcanist's Mirror of Ereoctes. Monsters also carry this attribute either passively, such as in the case of the Briarthorn Horror monster type, or they have access to skills that grant it, as is the case with Skeletal Knights or hero monsters with Reflective in their title. In the case of the latter, much like Diablo II's Iron Maiden, it is very easy for unaware players to kill themselves attacking these monsters. |
| 91 | * BadassLongcoat: Many armors make you look like you're wearing a trenchcoat. They come in all flavors for warriors, spellcasters and gunslingers. |
| 92 | * BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: The Arkovian Oligarchs sought to steal Uroboruuk's secret to immortality. After being tortured by them, he ended up giving them a taste of his power...except that while the Arkovians were now immortal, their ''bodies'' were not. |
| 93 | * BeefGate: Besides the judicious use of BrokenBridge, sections of the overworld are populated with enemies of a set level range to discourage lower-level players from trying to explore these areas too early. For instance, the Arkovian Foothills, directly west of Devil's Crossing, are filled with enemies that are typically nearly impossible to kill with a character that has not already gained experience from killing the considerably weaker enemies from Devil's Crossing to the Burrwitch Estates. |
| 94 | * {{BFS}}: There are many different two-handed swords, most of them powerful, but all of them slow to attack. |
| 95 | * BigBadEnsemble: The Aetherials appear to have a few leaders, but are mainly led by the Shaper of Flesh, while the Cult of Ch'thon is trying to summon the Loghorrean into Cairn, who would lead them to victory. [[spoiler:While the Loghorrean is fought at the end of the original campaign, the Shaper of Flesh is only mentioned a few times, although it ultimately appears as a boss in ''Ashes of Malmouth''.]] |
| 96 | * BigCreepyCrawlies: In addition to the bog-standard giant spiders, we have Diptermians, which resemble giant earwig/mantis hybrids, and Bloodwings, which are huge wasps. The swamps around Burrwitch also have huge mosquitoes. |
| 97 | * BigGood: |
| 98 | ** The game introduces Captain John Bourbon as this, as he was the one who rallied and led most of the survivors around Burrwitch to Devil's Crossing, where they converted the prison into a fortified refuge. It is he who gives overarching quests to the player for Acts 1 and 2. |
| 99 | ** From Act 3 onwards, once the player reaches Homestead and their focus shifts from supplying Devil's Crossing with food to supporting the Black Legion's counteroffensive, Inquisitor Creed replaces Bourbon as the Big Good. As the only surviving member of the Luminari Order—essentially the SecretPolice of the old Erulan Empire—Creed is the man most invested in uniting the remnants of humanity to fight back against the Aetherials and Chthonians. |
| 100 | * BittersweetEnding: At the end of the main campaign quests, any Aetherial plans to take over the remaining human refuges are averted and the Chthonian offensive is effectively halted. However, much of the world remains a mess, with previously major population centers still in ruins and teeming with Aetherials, undead and surviving members of the Cult of Ch'thon. Black Legion leadership is also crippled with [[spoiler:the loss of Ulgrim to the Chthonian void during the battle with the Loghorrean]]. The expanded main campaign in ''Ashes of Malmouth'' then {{deconstruct|edTrope}}s this, as it revealed that [[spoiler:the Aetherials had used this period to rebuild their own forces, allowing them to launch a shock attack on Devil's Crossing from an area far north of the Burrwitch Estates shortly after the Loghorrean's defeat, killing several {{Mauve Shirt}}s before they were repulsed.]] |
| 101 | * BlackAndGreyMorality: |
| 102 | ** The conflict between the Kymon's Chosen and the Order of Death's Vigil. On the one hand, the Chosen present themselves as a KnightInShiningArmor faction and are dedicated to ridding Cairn of the corruption brought by the Aetherials and the Chthonians, but they are also fanatical {{Knight Templar}}s who firmly believe that ''anything'' even ''resembling'' corruption must be purged in fire, [[spoiler:and their faith is ultimately revealed to stem from a gigantic lie]]. The Order, on the other hand, is a decidedly amoral cabal of necromancers, but they are just as dedicated to stopping the Aetherials and Chthonians, and several characters in-game note that their research and advancement in their craft could very well turn the tide in humanity's favor. ''Forgotten Gods'' complicates this further by having [[spoiler:the majority of Kymon's Chosen [[FaceHeelTurn become Korvaak's near-mindless followers]], though a small pocket of them managed to escape this fate and desperately seek to redeem their order of Kymon's betrayal.]] |
| 103 | ** According to Korinia, the Aetherials' invasion of Cairn is the work of a small rebellious faction. She believes that the invasion will cease if the other Aetherials learn of the Grim Dawn. While Korinia defends humanity against her own kind, she's unwilling to cast the Aetherials as absolute evil. She thinks they still deserve bodies of their own and view their exile in the Aether as an unjust punishment by the Old Gods. |
| 104 | ** The conflict between the Witch Gods [[spoiler:and Korvaak]] in ''Forgotten Gods''. [[spoiler:While Korvaak is undeniably the BigBad of the expansion and has apocalyptic intentions for Cairn,]] the Witch Gods are by no means saints themselves. HumanSacrifice, torture, backstabbings, and delving into dark arts even the Order of Death's Vigil would find suspect are all expected of those who seek the Witch Gods' favor, and yet they ''still'' manage to come off better [[spoiler:than Korvaak. Even after it is revealed that the reason Korvaak is Old Testament levels of furious is because the Witch Gods usurped him way back then,]] it is also shown he was generally unpleasant, tyrannical and worst of all ''[[EvilIsPetty fickle]]'', which is why the Witch Gods took over. |
| 105 | * TheBlacksmith: There are many blacksmiths in the game and throughout the game's difficulty, although only one will work at Devil's Crossing depending on who you choose. There is also Horrus, The Cursed Smith found in the Necropolis, and he is capable of converting some rare ingredients in other rare ingredients. Then there is also [[UltimateBlacksmith Etram Fald, The Celestial Smith]], capable of combining rare crafting materials into a random legendary, but only on Elite difficulty and up with a character greater than Level 58. |
| 106 | * BladeBelowTheShoulder: Groble Behemoths have two blades, each one strapped to their arms. |
| 107 | * BlatantItemPlacement: Magic items can be found anywhere, even if it defy any sense or logic. Probably the most puzzling of all are firearms found in ancient tombs that haven't opened for thousands of years and before they were invented in the first place. |
| 108 | * BodyHorror: Anyone possessed by an Aetherial for an extended period of time begins to exhibit this. The most commonly seen symptoms are green crystals jutting out of the possessed. |
| 109 | * BodyOfBodies: The Aetherial Amalgamation boss, which is a heap of corpses fused together and so heavily corrupted by the aetherial inhabiting it that it's got their {{Power Crystal}}s growing out of it. |
| 110 | * BonusLevel: Plenty as well. |
| 111 | * BossInMookClothing: The worst offenders are Aetherial Abominations and Flesh Hulks. Aetherial Abominations are non-boss versions of the Amalgamation, but the HP they have by no means reflects this. Flesh Hulks are the largest Aetherial Corruptions and it shows--these behemoths have some of the highest HP and resists of any enemy in the game and can take more punishment than most heroes and some bosses. The same can be said about Aetherial Titans from the expansion. |
| 112 | * BossRush: The Crucible in its later waves throws multiple heroes and bosses at you; some waves are only bosses. Wave 150 in particular is brutal, spawning ''two'' Nemesis bosses. |
| 113 | * BottomlessMagazines: Your crossbows, pistols and rifles never run out of projectiles. The same goes for the Demolitionist's explosives. |
| 114 | * BoyishShortHair: All female [=PCs=] have short hair and are all [[ActionGirl action girls]]. |
| 115 | * BreathWeapon: |
| 116 | ** Hellhounds are capable of breathing fire. They also cause Chaos damage. |
| 117 | ** The Rotting Emberguard is an Aetherial Corruption that can breathe fire. |
| 118 | ** The Mask of Infernal Truth has Infernal Breath as a granted skill. |
| 119 | * BrokenBridge: |
| 120 | ** Many of these are literal broken bridges that require scrap and iron to repair and, especially in Act 1, sometimes complemented with {{Beef Gate}}s in the areas beyond. From Act 2 onwards, the trope also appears increasingly often in the form of obstructions that require dynamite to clear. |
| 121 | ** {{Exaggerated|Trope}} with the bridge leading to East Marsh, located to the east of Burrwitch Village. Beyond the bridge being broken, the waterway it crosses is also clogged with debris and requires 1 dynamite to clear before the bridge can be repaired with scrap and iron. |
| 122 | ** {{Parodied|Trope}} with the bridge at Twin Falls. The repair site is on the ''other'' side of the bridge, at the Arkovian Docks, requiring you to take a ''very'' long detour that has no direct relevance with the progression of the story. Both Twin Falls and Arkovian Docks also have their own riftgates, allowing you to teleport between both locations instantly, so there is not much point in repairing the bridge beyond VideoGameCaringPotential. |
| 123 | * BrutalBonusLevel: The roguelike challenge dungeons—the Steps of Torment, the Bastion of Chaos, Port Valbury, the Ancient Grove, and [[spoiler:the secret quests on Ultimate difficulty]]. These areas are typically blocked off by a DoorOfDoom that requires a skeletal key to open. Once you pass through the door, you can no longer escape with your personal rift, and must either fight your way through hordes of enemies higher than your character level and defeat a boss monster guarding the exit at the end of the dungeon or die in the process. The strength of the monsters in these areas will always scale with your character level, and under the right conditions, the game may also spawn [[EliteMook hero monsters]] en masse, so you can't just breeze through the dungeons through sheer level grinding alone. |
| 124 | * BurnTheWitch: |
| 125 | ** In the opening cinematic, Devil's Crossing people hanged you because you're a Taken. However, the Aetherial possessing you fled your body just as you died. Captain Bourbon saved you from the noose because he now sees you as a human being. The local executioner Jarvis still wants you hanged, even after all the heroic deeds you've accomplished during playing. After you beat the game, he'll grudgingly thank you for saving the world. |
| 126 | ** Rallia is accused of being a Taken by a [[TorchesAndPitchforks crazed mob]] who want to burn her on a stake. You can save her or let her burn. If you save her, she reveals she's not a Taken, but a Warlock. She also reveals some interesting things regarding your former Taken status. [[spoiler:Get far enough into the expanded main campaign added in ''Ashes of Malmouth'' and it is revealed that she had found her way to Ugdenbog and joined the Coven; speaking to her there gives you [[MercyRewarded a free reputation boost with them]].]] |
| 127 | ** The Black Legion wants you to kill Anasteria because she's an Aetherial witch, but are prevented because of Creed's strict orders, [[LoopholeAbuse so Captain Reave asks you to do it for them.]] |
| 128 | ** The flavour text for the Occultists "Bloody Pox" spell notes that it usually sees them burnt at the stake for casting it willy-nilly. |
| 129 | * CastFromHitPoints: Some powers drain life points in exchange for damage, such as the Sacrifice relic and the Hungering Void celestial power. |
| 130 | * CharacterClassSystem: Classes are known as Masteries. You can eventually adopt an extra Mastery in addition to what you started off with to make your character dual-class. |
| 131 | * CharacterCustomization: The game lets you customize your name and gender at the creation screen. During the game, you develop your attributes, masteries, skills and [[StarPower devotion]]. Respec is possible for your attributes, skills and devotion, but not for your name, gender and masteries. |
| 132 | * ChefOfIron: Ulgrim, a man you find out in Mud Row between the aforementioned area, the Moldering Fields and Burrwitch Village proper. When speaking to the player character, they note that it had been months since the fall of Burrwitch, yet wonder how he had survived so long where he was at. Ulgrim simply answers that he had fortified himself on the island you find him on, and killed anything that came too close. You can choose to invite him to join you at Devil's Crossing, where he will then serve as a cook and allow you to have a bowl of soup once per game to restore your constitution. Later on in the game, it is revealed that he is actually [[spoiler:the First Blade and one the most powerful humans in Cairn.]] |
| 133 | * CheckpointStarvation: Riftgates, which serve as this, are quite sparse on the overworld, especially in areas up north and west of Homestead, and resuming the game respawns most monsters entirely. If you make it just short of the next riftgate before quitting, have fun tearing your way through that section of the overworld again next time! |
| 134 | * ChekhovsGun: Doing the sidequest Daila's Diary and reading the attached lore note, you will see a mention of a sword called Stormheart that she uses to duel with her brother in her story. This sword is an assured drop in Ultimate and is one of the items needed to access the secret level, although Daila denies owning the blade if you bring it back to her. [[spoiler: Presumably since the secret level and the lore notes surrounding it prove that Dravis was a real person, he too, must have a similar weapon. And indeed the weapon makes an appearance in the Ashes of Malmouth expansion as an Ultimate Difficulty quest reward. The sword's name is Blazeheart.]] |
| 135 | * ChromaticArrangement: The posters for the game's relases use various colors: |
| 136 | ** The original release: red with the Chthonians being the main and final threat. |
| 137 | ** Ashes of Malmouth: green with the focus on the Aetherials. |
| 138 | ** Forgotten Gods: yellow, set in the Korvan desert sands. The FinalBoss is the self-proclaimed Eldritch Sun. |
| 139 | ** Fangs of Asterkarn: blue, set in the snowy lands of Asterkarn. |
| 140 | * LesCollaborateurs: Cronley's Gang was turning into this. Some notes scattered throughout their hideout hint that [[spoiler:when Darius Cronley saw just how strong the Aetherials were and felt that Cairn was lost forever, he decided to join forces with the invading Aetherials, rather than become another eventual victim.]] |
| 141 | * TheColoredCross: Averted. There's are red crosses visible on ''the Apothecary'' item set, specifically on the gauntlets. |
| 142 | * ColourCodedForYourConvenience: The color of a monster's name tells you what kind of threat you face: |
| 143 | ** White: Basic {{Mook}}. Unremarkable and found in superior numbers. |
| 144 | ** Yellow: EliteMook. Will be stronger and has additional skills. |
| 145 | ** Orange: Hero monster. Spawn randomly, has additional abilities, a unique name and has a star over its head. |
| 146 | ** Purple: Hero monster, Boss or Act Boss. Will always show up in any game session. |
| 147 | ** Red: Nemesis boss, [[OptionalBoss Secret Boss]]. [[SuperPersistentPredator No matter where you run, he will hunt you down relentlessly 'till you're dead.]] Secret Bosses are as equally difficult and can easily kill you with just a few hits. |
| 148 | * ColorCodedItemTiers |
| 149 | ** White: Normal, basic item tier. Monster infrequents of this type have very minimal stats on them. |
| 150 | ** Yellow: Magical, usually a prefix and a suffix, these can have 1 or 2 properties per affix. Monster Infrequents have slightly improved statistics. |
| 151 | ** Green: Rare items. Much like magic items, Rares can also have a prefix and a suffix. Also rare items can roll a yellow affix as well if both affixes are not of rare tier. Monster Infrequents at this tier are the most powerful for their level requirement; a perfectly rolled Monster Infrequent can even outdo a legendary tier item. |
| 152 | ** Blue: Epic items, these items always carry the same properties with the only variation being what values the stats roll, unless crafted by a blacksmith, which then adds the smith bonus on to the item. There are also epic sets which provide boosts when multiple pieces are worn together. |
| 153 | *** Empowered and Mythical Epics are higher level, stronger versions of the base epic item. Aside from having higher stat values on the properties it had before, they also include new properties. |
| 154 | ** Purple: Legendary items, the highest equippable tier of item in the game, much like epics their stats are predetermined by the item itself and usually possess the highest stat values in the game outside of perfectly rolled Double Rare Monster Infrequents. These items often carry unique properties or skills that can alter your characters skills or how they play. |
| 155 | *** Mythical Legendary items are even stronger versions of legendaries that have the capability to alter player skills when they are equipped. These changes can range from altering the damage types of specific skills, adding on new damage to skills, and increasing summon counts for pets. |
| 156 | * ComicallySmallBribe: Played with. One of Cronley's lackeys is bullying villagers into gathering scrap for him. When you confront him, he'll ask 2500 iron bits to leave them alone. Considering that scraps are found everywhere and are worth less than nothing, most players will rather not pay the bribe and bring him junk instead. And should a player pay the bribe, 2500 iron bits isn't too hard to find either. |
| 157 | * CompanionCube: Quite a literal example: in the first area of the game, if you talk to a character named Lancel he'll give you a companion that's a three-dimensional version of the company icon, which is [[CaptainObvious a crate]]. It doesn't seem to do much more than bounce around beside you, but it's definitely cute. |
| 158 | * ConstructedWorld: The world of Cairn is set in a fictional Victorian era with DarkFantasy elements. It also has some [[CosmicHorrorStory Lovecraftian elements]], {{Horror}} and [[WeirdWest Western]] mixed into it. |
| 159 | * ContractualBossImmunity: Bosses are highly resistant to life reduction attacks. [[AllThereInTheManual Even the official website's manual says so]]. |
| 160 | ** Bosses are also immune to hard crowd control effects like freezing, knockdown and so on. A side effect of this is that since spells Olexra's Flash Freeze and Blade Trap, which freeze and entangle respectively, deal damage only after applying the status effect, Arcanists and Nightblades that chose either of those as their main combat spell are in for a nasty surprise when they get to the first act's final boss. |
| 161 | * ConvectionSchmonvection: Walking close to lava has no lethal effects on you. Walking on lava surfaces on the other hand... |
| 162 | * {{Cooldown}}: Potion use and most skills have them, although skill upgrades and some magic items can lessen the duration. |
| 163 | * CoolMask: Aside from helms, hats, crowns and hoods, masks are also available. Some of them are really cool looking and grant special abilities. One in particular makes you look like [[VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic Darth Revan.]] |
| 164 | * CounterAttack: There are many skills and items that grant the retaliation mechanic. The counter can be physical or magical. |
| 165 | * CrapsackWorld: The world of Cairn is a very good place to avoid at all costs. Between invading eldritch abominations, [[ApocalypseCult apocalyptic cults]], [[RapePillageAndBurn raiders]], undead monstrosities, cannibals, [[BigCreepyCrawlies giants vermins]], mutated wild beasts and [[JerkassGods angry uncaring gods]], there are very little places where you can be safe [[EverythingTryingToKillYou from harm]]. And what of the defenders of this world? They are [[GoodIsNotNice fanatical armies]], [[FantasticRacism zealot orders]], amoral necromancers and coven of witches. With the help of you and your allies, you can drag some parts of Cairn into AWorldHalfFull territory. |
| 166 | * CrateExpectations: |
| 167 | ** The world of Cairn is absolutely littered with crates and barrels. The smaller ones can be smashed or kicked open for a chance to find iron or scrap. |
| 168 | ** The Crate Entertainment logo is [[ShapedLikeItself a crate]], and it is used as a marker on Ultimate difficulty [[spoiler:to indicate the entrance to the final, extremely difficult maps related to Crate's Secret Quest,]] which culminates in a BossFight [[spoiler:with Crate of Entertainment, a humanoid with a crate for a head, who can summon smaller, very dangerous crates to attack you.]] |
| 169 | * CriticalAnnoyance: When you're low on hit points, you'll hear your heart pounding faster. |
| 170 | * CriticalHit: Your critical attack starts doing 1.1x damage. As you increase your offensive skill, you can go up farther. |
| 171 | * CurseEscapeClause: Killing the Arcovian Oligarchs as part of a quest will, eventually, break the curse over the old empire. |
| 172 | * CutAndPasteEnvironments: True for the Early Access period where areas had very little to make them unique. This has all but vanished with the finished game, with each "Act" having its own unique feel. |
| 173 | [[/folder]] |
| 174 | |
| 175 | [[folder:D-L]] |
| 176 | * DamageIncreasingDebuff: Several. From Masteries, Devotions, and items. |
| 177 | ** The Occultist has Curse of Frailty and its modifier Vulnerability, which reduces physical and bleed, while Vulnerability reduces elemental, acid and vitality resistances. |
| 178 | ** The Nightblade has Night's Chill, the modifier to Veil of Shadow. It reduces cold, acid and pierce resistances. |
| 179 | ** The Shaman has Devouring Swarm which reduces bleed and vitality resistances. |
| 180 | ** The Soldier has Break Morale, the modifier to War Cry. Unlike the the above debuffs, the physical resistance reduction on Break Morale is a flat point based reduction as opposed to the percentage based reductions of the other skills. |
| 181 | ** The Demolitionist has Agonizing Flames, a modifier to Blackwater Cocktail, much like Break Morale it is a flat point based reduction to all resistances as opposed to just one element. There is also Thermite Mine and the Modifier Hellfire Mine, the former reducing fire and lightning resistances, and the latter chaos resistance. |
| 182 | ** The Arcanist has Olexra's Flash Freeze and its modifier Absolute Zero, reducing Fire and Physical resistances respectively while enemies are frozen. The Calidor's Tempest modifier Inferno reduces physical resistance in the same vein as Break Morale as well. |
| 183 | ** The Eldritch Fire celestial power reduce resistances to Fire and Chaos. |
| 184 | ** Another celestial power is the Arcane Bomb which reduce resistance to Lightning and Aether. |
| 185 | * DamageOverTime: Nearly all types of damage have a DOT version: |
| 186 | ** Physical (excluding piercing): Internal trauma. |
| 187 | ** [[KillItWithFire Fire]]: Burn. |
| 188 | ** [[KillItWithIce Cold]]: Frostburn. |
| 189 | ** [[ShockAndAwe Lightning]]: Electrocute. |
| 190 | ** [[HollywoodAcid Acid]]: [[PoisonIsCorrosive Poison]]. |
| 191 | ** Vitality: Vitality decay. |
| 192 | ** [[HighPressureBlood Bleeding]]: It's damage over time itself. |
| 193 | * DangerousForbiddenTechnique: Activating the Hungering Void Celestial Power can fall into this as at max rank it can drain a staggering 248 hit points per second, for one of the most potent buffs in the game. Best to have some health regenerating skills and/or life leach to counteract the drain. |
| 194 | * DarkerAndEdgier: Compared to Crate's previous creation, ''Titan Quest'', ''Grim Dawn'' is '''far''' bleaker. |
| 195 | * DarkFantasy: With some GothicHorror. |
| 196 | * DarkIsNotEvil: The Order of Death's Vigil, if you decide to ally with them, or if you're playing as a Necromancer or Occultist. |
| 197 | ** Inquisitor Creed dabbled in occultism as well. |
| 198 | * DeathIsASlapOnTheWrist: When you die, you are revived back in town, unless you play [[FinalDeathMode a hardcore character]]. You get an XP penalty loss which can be recovered if you pick up your grave marker. |
| 199 | * DeathOfAChild: Children are most definitely not immune to the various horrors unleashed by the Grim Dawn, and if you fail to convince a man not to burn his wife and daughter alive to "end their suffering" ([[GuideDangIt and you probably will fail the first time]]), they will burn onscreen, complete with burnt corpses. |
| 200 | * DeathWorld: Between Aetherial zombies and mutants, all manner of hostile wildlife, ghosts and skeletons, a vicious gang of bandits, abominations from the void, and a group of necromancers or KnightTemplar whose Modus Operandi is primarily KillItWithFire, and in some areas the ground itself, there's many a thing that would see you dead. |
| 201 | * DeconstructedTrope: The "Savior" and "Survivors" sidequests late in ''Ashes of Malmouth'' show grimly realistic aspects of what an apocalypse like the Grim Dawn would entail, the former hammering home that some people have become [[CrazySurvivalist so paranoid and aggressive]] that they see everyone as a threat and cannot be reasoned with ([[spoiler:No matter what you say to him, Nicoh Erin will ultimately attack you, forcing you to kill him in self defense in front of the horrified children he had taken in/kidnapped]]), the latter by emphasizing that you can't save everyone ([[spoiler:even with your Rift powers, you can't save Vivienne's husband due to his wounds.]]). |
| 202 | ** When you ask the Coven if they'll do their part to save the world. They say they'll do nothing and simply try to survive, as they are either too young or too old to fight against EldritchAbomination by themselves. |
| 203 | * DeityOfHumanOrigin: Most gods the player character can commune with, such as Oleron, Ulzuin, and the three witch gods, and a few others such as Uroboruuk, are known to have been human once before ascending to godhood. Others, such as Ch'thon, might just be too old to know for sure. |
| 204 | * DefeatEqualsExplosion: Some enemies will explode when killed, such as the Burning Dead and the Harbingers. |
| 205 | ** One legendary weapon you can get, Gutsmasher, causes everyone to explode when killed! |
| 206 | * DegradedBoss: Nearly all bosses will come back as regular enemies, except for Act bosses. |
| 207 | * DemBones: Various skeleton enemies ranging from warriors, archers, knights, priests, revenants to warlocks. They are some of the most dangerous monsters in the game because of their abilities and [[ZergRush huge numbers]]. |
| 208 | * DemonicPossession: Aetherials can possess the dead as well as humans with a sufficiently weak will. The latter ''usually'' means "malicious soul", as with Krieg, Aldritch, and Marcell, but that is not always the case, as seen with [[spoiler:your player character (Allostria remarks that possessing you was pretty uncomfortable) and Korinia (the Aetherial who targeted her was specifically after a kindred spirit, [[GoodFeelsGood which worked out better for it than anticipated]]).]] This seems to apply to trolls, briarthorns and manticores as well. |
| 209 | * DestructibleProjectiles: The Occultist skill "Dreeg's Evil Eye" fires an exploding magical eye that is both able to shoot down other projectiles and [[MutualDisadvantage vulnerable to being shot down itself]]. |
| 210 | * DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: Done time and again by the player character through the course of the game. |
| 211 | * DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Aether takes a lot of its cues from [[ArtisticLicensePhysics the Hollywood version of]] nuclear power: characterized by a SicklyGreenGlow and can be found in pools of green sludge, it's a potential source of incredible amounts of energy that's only vaguely understood. It's proven to be [[RadiationInducedSuperpowers a source of superpowers]] for one particularly lucky individual, but mostly it just [[NuclearMutant mutates]] and/or kills the hell out of people, and TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt was caused by people messing around with it in ways they really shouldn't have. |
| 212 | * DoNotTauntCthulhu: [[spoiler: You can pick a fight with the Avatar of Mogdrogen by choosing the right dialogue options, but even the game will tell you how much of a stupid idea that is. The Avatar isn't bluffing at all when he warns you he can crush you like an insect, and even a full level character will struggle against the normal difficult version of him. And even if you manage to defeat him, [[FightingAShadow you have killed just the physical manifestation of Mogdrogen, not the actual god (that is immensely more powerful)]]]]. |
| 213 | * DoomedHometown: Subverted. [[spoiler:Devil's Crossing is intact when you start the game. At the start of the ''Ashes of Malmouth'' campaign,]] it comes under attack, some [=NPCs=] die and damage is visible. |
| 214 | * DownerBeginning: When you start the game, the world is in great turmoil. Civilization no longer exists in [[TheEmpire Erulan]]. Arkovia, one of the largest cities west of Cairn, has collapsed due to infighting and fell magic; every other major town or settlement has been destroyed by creatures from beyond. The Aetherials and the Chthonians are the dominant forces and are hunting down any survivors for [[AssimilationPlot assimilation]] or [[HumanSacrifice blood]]. Bandits and beasts are taking advantage of the chaos to pick on what's left. Your starting town has little defense, food is low and everyone hates your guts. No pressure. |
| 215 | * DrivenToSuicide: A desperate man wants to kill his family and himself because the Grim Dawn has destroyed their home and he feels that the situation is hopeless. You can talk him out of it and invite them all to Devil's Crossing. |
| 216 | * DualWielding: The Nightblade Mastery gets this as a passive skill. |
| 217 | * DugTooDeep: The description of the Aetherials faction strongly implies that the Grim Dawn came about only because arcanists started exploring the use of aether, which drew the aetherials to Cairn. |
| 218 | * DungeonShop: You'll find a shopkeeper in each of the rogue dungeons. While you can buy from them, they will not accept any goods you sell them. |
| 219 | * EarlyBirdCameo: Archivist Thelon is such a case. Making an appearance in The Crucible well before being put in the main game. |
| 220 | * EldritchAbomination Pretty much anything that comes out of the Void qualifies. On the player's end however, the Occultist class can summon them, and there is an item that grants a skill that lets you summon a creature of the void as well. There is also The Herald of the Flame, an amalgamation of Aether crystal, stones, flesh, skulls, bones, and scythe tipped tendrils. The final boss of the game qualifies in spades, being a near indescribable horror of eyes, mouths and tentacles. |
| 221 | * EldritchLocation: The Cthonians' realm is completely sunless with building ruins and lots of obsidian formations. Going deeper into their portals lead you to hellish landscapes with seas of blood, piles of corpses, bone structures, reddish crystals and chaotic energies. |
| 222 | ** The Ugdenbog from the expansion is this as well, though to a much lesser extent. It was a horrendously dangerous [[SwampsAreEvil swamp of evil]] even before the apocalypse, where even the plants wanted to eat you, and even the local Coven has trouble surviving, only staying because no one else will come close. |
| 223 | ** ''Forgotten Gods'' has a literal Eldritch realm in the Astral Fields, which is where the Witch Gods reside. It appears to consist, to your eyes, of floating islands joined by massive root systems, populated with Eldritch horrors of the sort that Korvaak favors (since his return is messing everything up). It's noted as not quite ''that'' dangerous if you know what you're doing and when there's no angry forgotten gods seeking to ruin it. |
| 224 | * ElementalPowers: The Arcanist's specialty, though most of the other classes also dabble with this to varying extents. |
| 225 | * EliteMooks: The Aetherial Vanguard in ''Ashes of Malmouth'' are an entire faction of these; the mightiest and strongest of the Aetherials, handcrafted by the Shaper of Flesh. |
| 226 | * TheEmpire: The Erulan Empire, or rather what's left of it, where the game takes place. |
| 227 | * EnemyCivilWar: The one saving grace about the Aetherials and the Cthonians is that they hate each other ''almost'' as much as they hate you. |
| 228 | * EmptyRoomUntilTheTrap: The game is very fond of this. It is not uncommon to come across [[SchmuckBait a single chest in an empty room]] that will trigger the release of monsters once opened. The challenge dungeons take this trope further by having small empty rooms that lock you in once you enter and spawn multiple waves of higher-level monsters, including the occasional ''group'' of [[EliteMook hero monsters]]. |
| 229 | * EnemyMine: [[spoiler:Act 4 reveals that the Black Legion has an alliance with an Aetherial Witch who has turned against her own kind for her own reasons. Notably, most of the Legion are ''not'' happy about this alliance, and actively try to get rid of her without drawing the ire of the BigGood, whose sworn to protect her.]] |
| 230 | * EverythingBreaks: To a limited extent. Some objects such as walls, furniture and barrels can be destroyed. |
| 231 | * EvilVersusEvil: |
| 232 | ** The Aetherials ruined humanity's world and the Cthonians are demonic void creatures who want to stack another apocalypse on top of what the Aetherials have already done. The two factions have been arch-enemies for a long, long time. |
| 233 | ** As you progress through areas, you will sometimes encounter mooks from two AlwaysChaoticEvil factions fighting each other (Aetherials, Bloodsworn cultists, Cronley's gang, trolls, etc). Even if you wipe out only one side in the brawl, the other will [[UngratefulBastard proceed to attack you anyway]]. |
| 234 | * EyelessFace: The Chthonian Devourers. No visible faces and [[MoreTeethThanTheOsmondFamily nothing but sharp teeth]]. |
| 235 | * FantasyGunControl: Averted entirely, since anyone can use pistols and rifles with the most primitive missile weapon available being the various crossbows. |
| 236 | * FantasyPantheon: The game mention different gods in Cairn. Empyrion, Ulzuin, Menhir, Mogdrogen, Dreeg, Bysmiel and Solael are the most frequent entries. There's also mention of the Primordial gods and that's not even counting the Arkovian gods that will be introduced in the expansion. |
| 237 | * FictionalConstellations: The world of Cairn has its own constellation of stars. To the PC, restoring devotion shrines grant you [[StarPower the power of the stars]] in the form of passive bonuses. Some power stars can be bound to your active skills and proc under certain conditions. |
| 238 | * FighterMageThief: The Soldier, the Arcanist and the Nightblade. Somewhere in between you have the Demolitionist, the Shaman, the Occultist, the Inquisitor, Necromancer and the Oathkeeper. With the dualclassing nature of the game, this can blur all the classes completely. |
| 239 | * FightingYourFriend: [[spoiler:When you finally find Ulgrim in ''Ashes of Malmouth'', his time in the Void has driven him half-mad, and you have to literally beat the sense back into him. However, it is possible to avoid the fight with the right dialogue choices.]] |
| 240 | * FinalDeathMode: Playing with a hardcore character. If you die, your character is deleted. |
| 241 | * FireIceLightning and [[UniversalPoison poison]]. |
| 242 | * FlashStep: |
| 243 | ** Shadow Strike does this causing your character to disappear and quickly rush to your target dealing heavy damage and stunning them. There are also monster versions of this, primarily Alkamos' Spectral Strike, and Haunted Nobles also use shadow strike. |
| 244 | ** The 1.2 update added an Evade move (with a cooldown) for all characters, as that feature has become standard in modern action-[=RPGs=]. Just as many players use the Evade button to charge ''towards'' enemies as away from them. |
| 245 | * FlavorText: Many weapons and armor pieces have a few words of lore included in their description, which usually explain its origins or point towards the previous owner. Skills also have their own flavor text, often explaining how different combat techniques were invented and who developed them. |
| 246 | * FlippingTheBird: There is an Epic quality scepter, really a skeletal arm, that is shown doing this called the Finger of Gar'Dalvur, complete with FlavorText "The fallen Gar'Dalvur had only one thing to say to his executioners" |
| 247 | * FlunkyBoss: It's very rare that you face a boss alone. Nearly all of them will fight with mooks at their side. |
| 248 | * FoeTossingCharge: Blitz, which speeds you to your chosen target (and up to 2 other adjacent foes) and knocks them to the ground for a decent amount of damage. |
| 249 | * {{Foreshadowing}}: |
| 250 | ** Speaking to Ulgrim at Devil's Crossing yields many stories from him, one of which is about the potential origins of one of the types of enemies you come across, the Slith. As it turns out the Erulan Empire wanted a force capable of fighting in the swamps of the region and charged some Arcanists with the task of creating such a thing, and eventually some escaped and became the problem they are now. |
| 251 | ** Molten skin is [[ItemCrafting a common component]] you can find or craft. The description refers to a creature's skin. By Act 7, you'll encounter large numbers of the creatures: Molten Claws, [[RaptorAttack angry raptor-like dinosaurs who are not too fond of seeing you]]. |
| 252 | ** You can find a secret area named the Shrine of the Forgotten God. [[spoiler:The FinalBoss of the last expansion is Korvaak, the Forgotten God.]] |
| 253 | * FreeRotatingCamera: Unlike [[VideoGame/TitanQuest its predecessor]], this game has a "Rotation And Zoom" feature. |
| 254 | * FunctionalMagic: Theurgy, for the most part. Demolitionists channel the power of Ulzuin, God of Fire and Thunder when they're not using completely mundane toys. Occultists channel the powers of the Witch Gods, a coven of Arcanists who ascended to godhood. Shamans channel the powers of a myriad of nature spirits. Speaking of Arcanists, they follow Rule Magic, and one of their skills mentions Conservation of Energy by name, implying that secular magic is not only possible but follows the laws of physics somehow. Inquisitors use Device Magic, utilizing several MagiTek weapons in place of spells they've learned themselves. |
| 255 | * FromBadToWorse: As if the [[TitleDrop Grim Dawn]] wasn't bad enough with the Aetherials possessing everyone, the Cthonians make their entry and started to [[KillAllHumans slaughter all humans]]. |
| 256 | ** According to [[spoiler:the Avatar of Mogdrogen and Anasteria, the Grim Dawn is only the beginning of mankind's suffering. The worse is yet to come.]] |
| 257 | * FungusHumongous: Some underground areas are populated with large blue-glowing mushrooms. |
| 258 | * GadgeteerGenius: The Demolitionist is an all-in-one MadScientist, [[TheTurretMaster Turret Master]] and [[TheEngineer Combat Engineer.]] With a touch of [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot fire magic and divine miracles.]] |
| 259 | * GambitPileup: Many factions have their own plans for the world of Cairn: |
| 260 | ** The Aetherials invaded Cairn, terraformed it to suit their needs and possessed the weak-willed and the dead, although their claim is that they are merely retaking possession of their world from the humans. They call their invasion the "Glorious Dawn". |
| 261 | ** The Chthonians want [[spoiler:[[ApocalypseCult to kill all the humans in their blood rituals to revive the dead god Ch'thon.]]]] |
| 262 | ** Kymon's Chosen wants to free humanity from the Aetherials, the Chthonians and the Order of Death's Vigil with [[LightIsNotGood no compromise]]. [[spoiler:However, Kymon ultimately reveals to you that he actually deceived his followers; his blessings do not come from the light god Empyrion, but from the primordial god Korvaak who has his own agenda.]] Kymon believes this was necessary [[IDidWhatIHadToDo Kymon to save Cairn]] but [[DealWithTheDevil admitted it may be for the worse in the long run.]] |
| 263 | ** Anasteria, the Aetherial Witch, is helping the Black Legion defeat the Aetherials and the Chthonians at great risk to herself. No one knows why and she is silent regarding her motives. She only reveals her reasons to you after [[spoiler:completing the "The Outcast's Revenge" sidequest: She truly is an Aetherial, but defected because she has grown fond of humans and thinks they don't deserve suffering.]] Whether she's telling the truth or this a ruse remains to be seen. |
| 264 | ** [[spoiler:The Witch Gods Dreeg, Bysmiel and Solael recruit you to stop Korvaak before he can get revenge on them and destroy the world.]] |
| 265 | ** Dravis wants to ascend to godhood [[spoiler:with his necromantic powers.]] |
| 266 | ** The people in Devil's Crossing, Homestead, the Black Legion, the Ugdenbog Coven, the Malmouth Resistance and the PlayerCharacter want to save what's left of the world from the horrors of the invaders. |
| 267 | ** [[spoiler:Korvaak seeks to regain his lost power]] and take revenge on the Witch Gods for his past defeat at their hands. |
| 268 | ** [[spoiler:The god Mogdrogen fully expect Korvaak to destroy Cairn and chose not to intervene. When he learns that the Witch Gods has enlisted your aid to defeat him, Mogdrogen is shocked and say you've been manipulated and "this change everything and he'll have to alter his plans".]] |
| 269 | * GameMod: Like ''VideoGame/TitanQuest'', the developers have built it to be moddable. |
| 270 | * GameplayAndStoryIntegration: |
| 271 | ** You cannot join Kymon's Chosen if you picked Necromancer as one of your masteries. [[LoopholeAbuse This does not stop you from choosing the Necromancer mastery ''after'' you join them]], [[DevelopersForesight but it does affect their dialogue towards you.]] |
| 272 | ** Equipping the Oathbreaker set as an Oathkeeper will actually incur a damage pentalty on two of the Oathkeepers skills, specifically -10% damage modified to Presence of Virtue on the Oathbreaker and another -10% on Divine Mandate on Oathbreaker's Guard. |
| 273 | ** Enemies of the appropriate type will often wield the same abilities as the player. Enemy warlocks will use Sigil of Consumption, and members of Cronley's Gang will use Demolitionist grenades or Nightblade abilities. Aetherial-possessed Arcanists will use Arcanist spells, and some enemies will even use the same Celestial powers that you can unlock through the Devotion shrines. |
| 274 | * GhostButler: Some bosses will lock the gates/portcullis behind you when you enter their lair. |
| 275 | * GladHesOnOurSide: In Act 3, if you finish Deathmark Vallar's questline to hunt down three (increasingly dangerous) bosses, he's impressed enough to remark that he'd hate to run into someone like you on a battlefield, and that he's glad you're on ''his'' side. |
| 276 | * GlassCannon: The Arcanist class very much qualifies as one except in certain builds. They specialize in lots of powerful attack spells and possess few defensive/protective spells. The same can be said about the Inquisitor mastery. |
| 277 | * {{Golem}}: The Skeleton Golem from the Undead faction. It has nasty abilities such as Bone Prison (traps you in place) and various summon spells to call forth skeletons/undead, finally it has an obscene amount of HP and ridiculous damage output. Enjoy! |
| 278 | * GodSaveUsFromTheQueen: Rashalga the Mad Queen, who is a SecretBoss and has the nasty habit of leeching her lost health back from you, making it a chore to fight her. |
| 279 | * GodOfLight: Two in this universe that showcase the aspects of light, fittingly they're brothers. Empyrion, who represents light's [[LightIsGood protective and life giving]] aspects, and Korvaak whose represents light's [[LightIsNotGood unforgiving harshness and destructive]] qualities. |
| 280 | * GoneHorriblyRight: |
| 281 | ** The sidequest entitled "The Origin of the Slith" where you must uncover the mysterious formula that lead to the creation of the Slith. [[spoiler:The scientist in charge wanted to create new life. His journal spoke of aether energy used to mutate living beings. As you gather more notes, the scientist became more desperate for results. In the end, he resorted to experimenting on humans and [[IDidWhatIHadToDo presumably killed his wife to silence her]]. [[ForScience Still without progress, he finally experimented on his own young daughter, creating the very first Slith]]. The creatures spread out and plagued the region for a century to this day, attacking anyone they encounter.]] |
| 282 | ** The Arkovian Oligarchs wish to achieve immortality, so they tortured Uroboruuk relentlessly for information. The necromancer granted them their wish by turning them and the populace into TheUndead. They are now safe from the ravages of time, [[AndImustScream with no flesh, no skin or any pleasures associated with the living]]. |
| 283 | * GoshdangItToHeck: "Son of a Slith" is a rather popular curse in Cairn. |
| 284 | * GradualRegeneration: The constitution mechanic and various skills and equipment. |
| 285 | * GreaterScopeVillain: The Shaper of Flesh, a mysterious figure heavily implied to be the leader of the Aetherial forces in Cairn. While several Aetherial documents found in game allude to him, he is only encountered by the player as [[spoiler:the FinalBoss in the ''Ashes of Malmouth'' campaign, ultimately subverting this trope.]] |
| 286 | * GridInventory: Your inventory space is limited in grid-like fashion, although you gain extra bags on your journey. |
| 287 | * GrimUpNorth: |
| 288 | ** The last section of the base game takes place in the Necropolis, a city-sized graveyard where the final boss fight takes place. It is accessible only through the Asterkarn Mountains, a region with snow capped peaks. |
| 289 | ** The city of Malmouth, the final section of the ''Ashes of Malmouth'' campaign, is also located up north...separated by a dense forest, a village occupied by aetherial witches, a swamp filled with horrors, a town filled with cannibals, and a region of farmland devastated so badly by voidfire that it is impossible for any human to pass through safely. |
| 290 | * GrievousHarmWithABody: Fleshwarped Butchers have a small chance of dropping one of their arms upon being killed, which can then be used as a weapon. Dermapteran Reavers/Sentinels/Viziers can also drop their slicers on death. |
| 291 | * GuideDangIt: If you want to access the Ultimate difficulty SecretLevel, you'll need to find some scattered notes and [[RareRandomDrop a lot of luck]]. |
| 292 | * GuiltBasedGaming: The aftermaths of the "Savior" and "Survivors" sidequests in ''Ashes of Malmouth'' relentlessly guilt you for how things ended up, but considering how [[ButThouMust you literally had no other options then what happened in them]], it rings more than a little hollow. |
| 293 | * GunpowderFantasy: Firearms play a notable role in the ongoing conflicts taking place in ''Grim Dawn'' alongside more arcane methods of combat, such as SummonMagic. They are more heavily used by human factions. |
| 294 | * GunsAkimbo: The Inquisitor mastery has this as a passive skill. Certain items and relics can also grant this. |
| 295 | * HalfHumanHybrid: The Slith are half-human, half-snake creatures. |
| 296 | * HarderThanHard: The Ultimate difficulty. Your resistances are reduced and mobs are brutally resilient and destructive. Play it [[FinalDeathMode Hardcore]] for extra challenge. |
| 297 | * HealingFactor: |
| 298 | ** Constitution, represented as a translucent gold layer covering your health bar. Regardless of the amount of damage you take, your constitution grants you incredible HP recovery during periods of inactivity although it also drains itself quite quickly in the process. True to this trope being applied to a fully organic creature, constitution can be replenished by eating food, be it from a village cook, food rations or untouched meals. |
| 299 | ** Many items and skills grant flat HP regeneration, and many epic items and a few rare Affixes grant a percentage boost to any flat HP regen you have. With proper gearing, you can reach a point where you can simply ignore all but the strongest of blows against your character. |
| 300 | * HeelFaceTurn: |
| 301 | ** Anasteria infiltrated Cairn ages ago with the intent of assisting her fellow aetherials with carrying out the "glorious dawn". She claims, however, that she grew fond of humans in the time she spent in Cairn, which led to her [[spoiler:ultimately trying to reduce as much damage as the grim dawn would cause and supplying the Black Legion with intel that, at the outset of the grim dawn, proved to be unerringly accurate.]] Time will tell if she can truly be trusted. |
| 302 | ** "Clarity of Valor", a lore note found in the Tomb of the Watchers near [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill an overly-charred human corpse located at the dead center of a magic circle in a little crater]], tells the story of a Chthonian cultist who had a HeelRealization after seeing the tombs and monuments of all the heroes of the past who gave their life fighting the monstrosities he ended up serving. Filled with shame for the atrocities he committed in the name of the Cult of Ch'thon, [[HowWeGotHere he turned against them and gave his life causing them as much damage as possible.]] |
| 303 | * HellHound: The Occultist mastery has a skill that lets you summon one. |
| 304 | * HellOnEarth: While not exactly demons, the Aetherials invade Cairn, terraformed it and turning it into a toxic wasteland. |
| 305 | * HerdHittingAttack: The star power Rumor is a contagious attack that cause cold and acid damage to everyone close to the afflicted. |
| 306 | * HeroicSecondWind: The skill Menhir's Will in the Soldier mastery tree restores a large portion of your health and grants health regeneration for a short period of time when you are reduced below 30% of your maximum HP. A similar skill exists on the Epic Set Item Guardsman's Spaulders. Both can potentially stack, bringing you from death's door to near full health in an instant. |
| 307 | * HopelessWar: Humanity lost the war the moment the Aetherials entered Cairn, with the damage inflicted by the Cult of Ch'thon being icing on the cake. Captain Bourbon outright says that the human survivors can only hope to be a [[LaResistance resistance]] against the invaders. [[spoiler:The ends of the vanilla game and ''Ashes of Malmouth'' see the Taken give humanity a fighting chance by taking out the main strongholds of the invaders in Necropolis and Malmouth]]. |
| 308 | * HostileTerraforming: The terraforming activities of the Aetherial Terraformers, Obelisks, Herald of the Flame and Herald of Destruction are responsible for much of the lands around Homestead and Port Valbury being turned into vast fields of aetherfire that heavily damage any non-Aetherial being passing through them. |
| 309 | * HumanoidAbomination: The Sentinel, guardian of the Sanctum of the Three. While human in form he is classified as an eldritch being. |
| 310 | * HumansAreSpecial: In the Aetherials' eyes, we humans are special. [[spoiler:The Aetherials do not have physical bodies and are forever exiled in the Aether. While weak, humans make [[DemonicPossession perfect hosts]] which motivate them to invade Cairn. Anasteria reveals that she has taken a human host for so very long, that she now understands and enjoys humans more than her own kind. [[HeelFaceTurn This is what motivates her to switch sides]].]] |
| 311 | * HumansAreSurvivors: While humans are weak and quarrelsome among themselves, they can hold their own against beasts, monsters, [[BigCreepyCrawlies giant bugs]], TheUndead, [[EldritchAbomination the Aethrials and the Chthonians.]] |
| 312 | * AnIcePerson: The Nightblade mastery has cold damage attached to several of their skills. |
| 313 | * IdiosyncraticDifficultyLevels: |
| 314 | ** Normal. Available from the start. |
| 315 | ** Veteran Available from the start. |
| 316 | ** Elite. Unlocked after completing the base game with either Normal or Veteran. |
| 317 | ** Ultimate. Unlocked after completing the base game on either Normal or Veteran, thanks to lastest patch. |
| 318 | * IDontLikeTheSoundOfThatPlace: Many places have unsettling names like Blood Grove, Deadman's Gulch, Infernal Wastes, Rotting Croplands, which is understandable since it's roaming with monsters. But why would people actually name their hometown Darkvale before the Grim Dawn hit the world? |
| 319 | * ImAHumanitarian: |
| 320 | ** [[ApocalypticLog The notes left behind by a mother.]] She and her husband and a young girl are trapped in the mountains with no food. As they become desperate, they begin to kill other survivors for their flesh. The situation is so bad that they don't even bother to cook the meat anymore. As time passes, her husband died and [[IDidWhatIHadToDo they ate him]]. As more time passes, they become more feral and [[UsedToBeASweetKid she trains her daughter to hunt other humans as well.]] [[DrivenToMadness The writings of her journal becomes less coherent to point where it's no longer readable.]] |
| 321 | ** Ugdenbog is plagued with Cannibals out to get you and anyone foolish enough to stumble in their territory. |
| 322 | ** [[spoiler:Barrowholm is inhabited with [[DealWithTheDevil cannibals who devoted themselves to the Ravager]], an evil Wendigo god.]] |
| 323 | * ImpossibleHourglassFigure: Byscilla, leader of the Cult of Bysmiel, as depicted in one of the loading screens. It befits the seductive nature of her and her cult. |
| 324 | * ImpossibleItemDrop: Since the game was inspired by ''VideoGame/DiabloII'', this was to be expected. |
| 325 | ** And slightly averted as well, at least in regards to humanoid foes. If you see a foe with a special looking item on his/her/its person, when they die you are assured that item as a drop. However, they also gain the stats of said item, which makes foes holding Epic and Legendary items particularly dangerous. |
| 326 | * ImprovisedWeapon: The basic scrapmetal weapons are definitely this, looking cobbled together with whatever someone could find. Also as noted above in Grievous Harm With a Body, you can also pick up the limbs of certain enemies and use them as weapons |
| 327 | * InexplicableTreasureChests: Played straight as they are found just about anywhere. |
| 328 | * InsurmountableWaistHighFence: While wild areas tend to have their area boundaries marked by cliffs, high ledges, or piles of rock, towns and civilized areas get crumbling three-foot-high stone walls or broken wooden fences that anybody could just climb over. All the more frustrating when these tiny walls form an elaborate area-wide maze the player is forced to navigate, something Act 3 is repeatedly guilty of. You can even damage most of the wooden fences, putting holes big enough to crawl through into them, but you still can't go past them. The boss gates also auto-lock after you enter and can't be forced back open, which makes sense if it's iron bars or a solid stone door, but less sense when it's a dilapidated wooden livestock gate that doesn't even have a lock. |
| 329 | * InTheHood: Hoods can be worn as headgear. They are usually favored by Nightblades, but anyone can wear them. |
| 330 | * ItemCrafting: Once you get the service of a blacksmith, they'll craft items for you, including unique items. You also have an inventor who can break down existing gear into components. The game offers an insane number of components to craft and ways to improve your equipment. Relics can only be crafted with a blacksmith, assuming you can find [[ImpossibleItemDrop the blueprints]]. |
| 331 | * JerkassGods: Averted with Lokarr, Master of the Crucible. Though you are in his domain at his behest, he does not keep you there if you wish to leave. He also rewards you well for surviving the waves of the Crucible. |
| 332 | * KidsAreCruel: Two children from the noble class are picking on a little girl from the slums by taunting her. They say her mother is dead and got reshaped into a monster by the Aetherials. Thad can be explained by just venting his anger, but Ginny is definitely a classist and sadist, as she enjoyed watching commoners fall to their deaths from Malmouth's walls. |
| 333 | * KillAllHumans: The ultimate goal of the Ch'thonians. |
| 334 | * KilledOffForReal: [[spoiler:Sahdina, the spirit guide from Devil's Crossing, is killed early in the expansion during [[AllYourBaseAreBelongToUs the Aetherials' attack]]. The same goes for Rook, the gatekeeper, Kerrick, the salvage dealer and Harmond, the brooding quest giver. Their graves appear not far from the training dummies.]] |
| 335 | * KillItWithFire: The Demonlitionist mastery has several skills that allow you to do fire damage to a target. |
| 336 | ** In Particular a Demolitionist with the Infernal Knight set and Herald of Blazing Ends, Herald of the Apocalypse, and the Annihilation relic will become the very embodiment of this and DeathFromAbove and with the proper investment into Thermite Mines and Agonizing Flames and activating the Soleal's Witchblade and Viper Constellations you can achieve a 90% resist reduction to fire and 30 or so flat resist reduction(which affects all forms of resistance) from Agonizing Flames even enemies that are normally fire immune will burn to death. |
| 337 | ** The Inquisitor, if specialised in the usage of [[FireBreathingWeapon Flames of Ignaffar]], can incinerate hordes of foes. |
| 338 | ** The final star in the Imp constellation adds a chance for aetherfire to erupt at the feet of an enemy you've hit. |
| 339 | * KillTheHostBody: Subverted; Captain Bourbon has you hanged during the opening cutscene in an attempt to kill the Aetherial possessing you, but then the Aetherial escapes from your body and Bourbon promptly cuts you loose, sparing your life. |
| 340 | * KillItWithIce: [[SnakePeople The Slith]] have many cold related attacks. |
| 341 | * TheKingslayer: [[spoiler:In one of the notes you've collected, you find that Ulgrim has assassinated the Emperor of Erulan. This was done under the Emperor's order as he was possessed by an Aetherial, and he knew there was no way to save himself.]] |
| 342 | * KnightTemplar: Kymon's Chosen not only wish to save Cairn from the horrors of [[EldritchAbomination the invaders]], but also wants to rebuild it into a perfect orderly world [[GoodIsNotNice where anything that doesn't belong is eradicated]]. |
| 343 | * LevelGrinding: Grinding through the later levels can be extremely brutal and time consuming, especially since you get only 2 skill points as a reward after level 50. |
| 344 | * LevelLockedLoot: Like all [=ARPGs=] out there, you can't use items if you don't fulfill the proper requirements in attributes and level. |
| 345 | * LifeDrain: Many skills, items properties, celestial powers have this ability. It's not fun when enemies are using it against you, however. |
| 346 | * TheLostWoods: The Blood Grove, the largest maze-like forest you'll ever encounter in the game. It's also home to monsters, cultists, demons, giant spiders, necromancers, overzealous templars and lots of dense foliage. |
| 347 | * LuckBasedMission: In ''Ashes of Malmouth'', [[spoiler:whether or not Nicoh Erin agrees to go to the resistance base or turns on you during the "Savior" sidequest is completely random.]] |
| 348 | * LudicrousGibs: Expect a shower of blood from just about anything you kill from a critical hit, can also happen with high damage regular hits as well. |
| 349 | * LuckilyMyShieldWillProtectMe: Shields can block a portion of damage, even from magical attacks and regardless of its form (yes, even from a meteor), making them very useful. There's a {{Cooldown}} between uses however. The solider has many skills requiring a shield. |
| 350 | ** ShieldBash: You can add item components to shields that allow you to bash in the heads of your enemies with your shield. |
| 351 | [[/folder]] |
| 352 | |
| 353 | [[folder:M-Z]] |
| 354 | * MageMarksman: It's perfectly possible to create a spellcaster armed with firearms and there are guns that enhance their magical abilities. |
| 355 | * MagicKnight: Notably, this is the norm of most masteries, rather than the exception. Even when used on their own, masteries are fully capable of wielding both magic and arms, one way or another. The only 'pure' classes in this sense are the purely-combatant Soldiers, and the purely-magic Occultists and Arcanists. |
| 356 | * ManaBurn: The Energy Burn Stat deals damage to energy by however much percent is listed. |
| 357 | * MarsNeedsWomen: Troll tribes of Cairn are said to have "a perverse predilection to abduct and keep humans as mates". [[spoiler:Elsa]] mentions avoiding this fate as one of the reasons why she doesn't want to venture into Smuggler's Pass. |
| 358 | * MascotMook: The Aetherial Gazer and the Ch'thonian Devourer are the game's mascots. ''Crate Entertainment'' sold plushies of those two little critters. |
| 359 | * MassMonsterSlaughterSidequest: Almost all of the sidequests require you to slay tons of monsters. In the bounties' case, the killings raise your reputation score so it's difficult to skip them entirely. In roguelike dungeons, the door locks behind you so the mass slaughter is necessary to reach the exit alive. |
| 360 | * MeaningfulName: Cairn is both the name of Grim Dawn's world and a word for a type of grave site. |
| 361 | * MeleeATrois: Depending on the area, it's possible to see multiple factions at war on the battlefield. The vicinity of Fort Haron is a good place with either the Aetherials, the Chthonians, Beasts, the Order of Death's Vigil and Kymon's Chosen attacking one and another. |
| 362 | * MilesGloriosus: Garrund brags about being the best soldier around. Then, you found out he was just a tavern brawler and not a very good one. |
| 363 | * MilitaryMage: |
| 364 | ** Demolitionists employ [[{{Magitek}} a combination of engineering and pyromancy]] in their craft, with their function in the Imperial army having been to break up enemy formations and assault fortifications. |
| 365 | ** It's mentioned in various parts of background lore that a number of unsanctioned mages, [[TheDarkArts occultists]], and {{Necromancer}}s were [[TradingBarsForStripes sent to the Black Legion]] rather than [[BurnTheWitch the pyre]]. |
| 366 | * TheMinionMaster: With Epics, Celestial Powers, a Monster Infrequent, the Savagery relic and an item obtainable from the ''Loyalist Upgrade'', you can summon a Ch'thonian Harbinger, a Rift Scourge, a spectral warrior, sentient energy spheres, a mini army of skeletons, a Storm Hound, a Revenant and a Will O' Wisp, to name a few. Combine these with any of the sub-examples below for lots of fun: |
| 367 | ** The Occultist can summon [[HellHound Hellhounds]] and a raven familiar (up to two of each with the right equipment). |
| 368 | ** The Shaman can call upon a Briarthorn (permanent), Wind Devils (temporary) and a Primal Spirit (temporary as well). |
| 369 | ** Available in the ''Ashes of Malmouth'' expansion, the Necromancer can summon a Blight Fiend, a temporary Wraith and up to ''three'' Skeletons (per cast; total amount can be ''at least'' double of that). |
| 370 | * MolotovCocktail: One of the Demolitionist's skill is the "Blackwater Cocktail" which act exactly like the real-world counterpart despite the different name. Also used by Cronley's goons against you. |
| 371 | * MonsterProgenitor: Sliths have been causing havoc for decades. The authorities have exterminated many, but they kept breeding and coming. For good reasons, because [[spoiler:Ellena the First Slith remained hidden inside a secret and abandoned lab where she was first mutated. She kept breeding and spreading her children during all those years.]] |
| 372 | * MookMaker: The Aetherials are masters of this, spawning waves of zombies at you. Many Hero monsters also have the ability to summon lesser monsters after you. |
| 373 | * MoreTeethThanTheOsmondFamily: Several monsters. Special mention goes to the Chthonian Devourers. The beast has a large maw full of long sharp teeth and [[EyelessFace no visible face]]. |
| 374 | * MultiArmedAndDangerous: The Chthonian Obsidian Defilers have four spike-like arms. While they hit hard, they walk very slow. They also have a ranged attack, Chaos Overload which they use while closing in on you. |
| 375 | * TheMultiverse: [[spoiler:Anasteria reveals that there are countless other worlds besides Cairn. After a great conflict with the gods, some may have been destroyed while others still remain. So far we've seen the Void where the Chthonians dwell, the Aether where the Aetherials came from and the Eldritch realm where the three Witch gods reside.]] |
| 376 | * MyRulesAreNotYourRules: Monsters and bosses can go over level 100, while the player character is capped at level 100. |
| 377 | * NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: Several, Bolvar the Bloodbinder, Zaria the Carver, Salazar, The Blade of Ch'thon, Fabius "The Unseen" Gonzar, The Iron Maiden. But the one who probably tops all of them is Alkamos, The Lord Executioner, who most certainly lives up to his title. |
| 378 | * NatureSpirit: Two gods fill this role in game. Mogdrogen, god of the wilds is nature in balance; harsh and uncaring, but not cruel or purposely destructive. Ravager meanwhile is an aceint spirit that represents nature at it's worst; senselessly violent and driven by an eternal unquenchable hunger. |
| 379 | * NoHeroDiscount: The fact that you are trying to save humanity from extinction doesn't prevent the surviving merchants from charging you full price to buy their weapons and armor. Even more infuriating are the faction vendors, who have the best gear, but will not sell it to you unless you raise your faction reputation high enough first. The mere fact that you are fighting to save the faction while they sit around the base doing nothing apparently isn't a problem to them. |
| 380 | * NonIndicativeName: A Nightblade/Occultist is called a Witch Hunter. Not someone who hunts witches, but a witch who hunts people. |
| 381 | * NoOSHACompliance: As you travel, you'll notice that many places are in ruins and yet, people still use them despite the danger of collapses, structure integrity or [[BottomlessPits open-wide pits]]. Dynamites are sometimes found carelessly laying around near heat sources such fire pits or furnaces. This happens because civilization has collapsed and security experts are no longer around. Of course, that be Victorian era of Cairn, it's also possible that safety regulations never existed in the first place. However, it is justified with the Aetherials and the Grobles as they have absolutely no knowledge of how to operate these facilities. |
| 382 | * NoPartyLikeADonnerParty: The journal notes for a "A trip south" tell the player a tale remarkably similar to the actual case of the Donner party, in which a caravan of migrants are stuck in an area as a result of a brutally cold winter and are forced to resort to cannibalism. |
| 383 | * NotQuiteTheRightThing: [[spoiler:Choosing to help out Barrowholm in return for the Coven's stolen fetish instead of slaughtering them ''seems'' like a good idea at the time... but then you discover that they're a bunch of insane cannibals. ''Slightly'' downplayed in that they are ''much'' more cordial than their savage brethren who roam Ugdenbog (which their leader actually points out to you), and you can mitigate their more heinous plans by warning the renegade witch that they're onto her instead of killing her.]] |
| 384 | * OddlyShapedSword: Some of the more powerful swords are bizarrely shaped. The tip of the ''Beronath, Reforged'' looks like a pincer and the ''Deathmarked Claw'' look like a glorified can-opener. |
| 385 | * OneSizeFitsAll: The PC can wear any piece of equipment, those belonged to various sized-humans to different monsters. Troll-sized shoulders armor? No problem, fit like a glove! |
| 386 | * OneWingedAngel: Warden Krieg and the Dermapteran Queen are this, turning into a more powerful and monstrous form when you first defeat them. |
| 387 | ** The Shaper of Flesh has three phases - the first one is him being immobile and spawning new monsters, during the second phase he turns into a four-legged monstrosity, and after losing his legs, he becomes capable of flight in the third phase. |
| 388 | * OnlySixFaces: Everyone looks like each other as many face models are reused. |
| 389 | * OptionalBoss: Plenty, given that there are many side areas not required to progress the main story in Grim Dawn, as well as all of the Faction Nemesis bosses. Notable examples are Ravager, who is usually impossible to beat by the time you first encounter him, and Lokarr, an end boss of a secret quest chain, who's even more difficult to defeat. |
| 390 | * OurGhoulsAreCreepier: Ghouls are undead who love two things: ZergRush and bleeding damage. |
| 391 | * OurZombiesAreDifferent: Comes in two flavors. |
| 392 | ** Zombies are corpses that have been risen by the Aetherials and infused with Aether. While not as strong as living Taken, they're great for overwhelming the Aetherials' enemies with sheer numbers. |
| 393 | ** Skeletons and Ghosts are the remnants of the ancient Arkovian Empire, cursed by the legendary necromancer Urubooruk so that they can never die of old age, even as their living bodies rot, wither and turn to dust. |
| 394 | * PermanentlyMissableContent: The game has factions. Joining one will make you enemy of others. Some decisions you make on quests will have different outcomes and yield different results, making the rewards and outcomes on the paths you didn't choose permanently missable. |
| 395 | * PhysicalGod: Completing the Rhowari Legacy quest nets you a meeting with [[spoiler: the Avatar of Mogdrogen]] who happens to be quite the DeadpanSnarker. |
| 396 | * PoisonIsCorrosive: Some of the skills from the Occultist. |
| 397 | * PostModernMagick: you are equally likely to find a magical gun with a legendary backstory (for example, ''Oathbreaker,'' a [[CursedWithAwesome cursed]] flintlock pistol that occasionally fires a magic missile when paired with the ''Oathbreaker's Shield'') as you are an equivalent magic sword. It also has the Demolitionist class, whose skills involve enchanted {{Molotov Cocktail}}s and hand grenades. |
| 398 | * PosthumousCharacter: The various documents you find around the game contain details of quite a few people who ultimately met a tragic fate. Most notable is the journals containing the horrific journey of a migrant family in the "The trip south" pages. |
| 399 | * PowerGlows: Skills and special abilities will brightly glow to show that they are in effect when used. Augments attached to your equipment will make them glow permanently. |
| 400 | * ThePowerOfHate: Having a bad reputation with Anasteria (for you know, killing her) will make her a dangerous opponent. The more you kill her, the more she hates you and and the more powerful she'll become next time you meet her. |
| 401 | * PowerOfTheVoid: Chaos element damage serves as this being tied in with the Void itself. |
| 402 | * PremiumCurrency: Tributes are only found in the Crucible DLC. They are used for defense upgrades and temporary buffs. |
| 403 | * RagdollPhysics: Anything killed that doesn't just [[LudicrousGibs explode into tiny bits]] will ragdoll to varying degrees, from simple slumping after CherryTapping to some spectacular ragdolling after getting PunchedAcrossTheRoom. |
| 404 | * RainbowPimpGear: Played straight with the vanilla version of the game, but averted with the upcoming expansion. Illusionists will be able to alter your gear's appearance to anything you desire, while still retaining the items' attributes and special powers. |
| 405 | * RandomlyDrops: Obligatory in any action RPG. |
| 406 | ** RareRandomDrop: A Subset of items referred to as Monster Infrequents, items with their own set of magical properties before magical or rare Prefixes or Suffixes, and have a rather low chance to drop. |
| 407 | * ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Captain Bourbon, the leader of Devil's Crossing, has you hanged for being a Taken, [[DemonicPossession a human possessed by an Aetherial. ]] When the Aetherial leaves your body before you die, Captain Bourbon saves you since he now sees you as a human being. He then makes a deal with you: help them defend and rebuild their place in exchange for a new home and eventually, acceptance from the other survivors. |
| 408 | * RedemptionRejection: [[spoiler:If you spare Direni in the "A Cultist in our Midst" sidequest, he makes good on his promise to leave the Cthonians...and goes off to join Cronley's Gang, becoming one of the bosses in Cronley's lair.]] |
| 409 | * ReducedToRatburgers: With civilisation gone, the only source of meat is rat and some eligible monsters (maybe). |
| 410 | * RedShirtArmy: During your travels, you'll encounter various soldiers from different factions fighting alongside you. Despite scaling to your level, they'll die quickly without [[OneManArmy your aid]]. |
| 411 | * ReligionIsMagic: The only magic-based Masteries that don't get power from a god are the Arcanists, who study natural magic, and Inquisitors, who harness relics and tools created by others. |
| 412 | * ReplacementGoldfish: Elsa claims that Mornay cares for her because she reminds him of his dead wife. |
| 413 | * LaResistance: Given that the Aetherials have won the war, what's left of humanity has become this. ''Ashes of Malmouth'' introduces a faction explicitly called the Malmouth Resistance, who are holed up in the sewers of the city fighting a doomed battle to retake the city. Until the Taken shows up, that is. |
| 414 | * SarcasticConfession: After receiving a letter from a concerned citizen in Malmouth's Candle District, the possessed Councilor Cole responds with a blisteringly patronizing letter that spells out the ''entire Aetherial invasion plan'' for that district in innocent-sounding language. You can find it in Crown Hill, implying he never actually sent it. |
| 415 | * ScavengerWorld: With the Grim Dawn, the world has fallen into ruin. Everyone is gathering whatever scrap they can find to fabricate items. The Rovers aren't too bothered, since they've been doing this for centuries. |
| 416 | * SceneryDissonance: The Astral Fields has some of the most beautiful landscape in the entire game. Lust exotic forests filled with bright colors and a cosmic field in the background. Too bad it's also home to eldritch horrors that mercilessly attack you. |
| 417 | * ScreenShake: Whenever an explosion occur, the screen will shake violently. The most notable example of this would be when a demolitionists mortar trap looses "The Big One", which explodes with the force of a small nuke with the screen shake to match. |
| 418 | * SecretLevel: There are plenty in this game. [[RareRandomDrop One requires a late-game Legendary sword that can only be dropped from a specific urn inside the Tomb of Korvaak when clicked.]] [[GuideDangIt And that's not all, you need three particular notes that drop only in the highest difficulty, not to mention the amulet you started the game with.]] |
| 419 | * SequenceBreaking: |
| 420 | ** The prison is cut off from the Arkovian Hills by a broken bridge. The Arkovian Hills are for Act 2 but get enough Scrap and Iron Bits and bridge can be repaired. Go past and instead of fighting mindless weak zombies, you'll be up against a [[BeefGate horde of bandits with guns and magic]]. But survive them and go further and you can get much better equipment before you even go against the Reanimator(the first major quest of the game). |
| 421 | ** Since the game is mostly open world, it is possible to collect quest items or kill story bosses long before getting any quests to do so. For example, the player can potentially kill Warden Krieg and Darius Cronley before even speaking to Captain Bourbon in Devil's Crossing, but this will take a very long time. |
| 422 | * SetAMookToKillAMook: Different races of monsters will attack one another if they come in each others combat range. This can be useful to, say, slay a Hero monster that is giving you a hard time. |
| 423 | * SetBonus: Epic (blue) and Legendary items (purple). |
| 424 | * ShiftingSandLand: The expanded campaign of ''Forgotten Gods'' takes place in the Korvan Basin, a region far south of Cairn that is approximately two-thirds desert, with the other third being a mixture of GhibliHills and {{Hell}}. |
| 425 | * ShockAndAwe: The demoltionist skills Stun Jacks and Skyfire Grenado. This also a part of the Shaman's repertoire. |
| 426 | * ShoutOut: |
| 427 | ** One relic is called the "[[TheJuggernaut Juggernaut]]" and grants the "Unstoppable" skill, an obvious reference to the ''ComicBook/XMen''. |
| 428 | ** Upon death, a Reanimator monster can say "Death is only the beginning." This is a quote from the 1985 horror movie, ''Film/ReAnimator''. |
| 429 | ** One Hero monster is named "Gollus, the Deepdweller" who lives in a cave, a direct ShoutOut to Gollum from ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings''. [[RareRandomDrop He can also drop a unique ring when he's killed.]] |
| 430 | *** The LOTR references continue in Forgotten Gods with the Magi in the ''Tomb of the Heretic'' dungeon. Their leader, Morgoneth, resembles Morgoth or Melkor in name, and the movie depiction of Sauron in appearance. He and his Magi also carry Rings forged by Morgoneth himself, which, alongside the story told through the lore notes that can be found in the Tomb, further reinforce the allusions to Sauron. |
| 431 | ** The Dermapteran Queen is very much like [[Film/AlienS the Alien Queen]]. She's first attached to a wall with a huge egg sac. When she's defeated, she frees herself from the egg sac and you have to fight her again. |
| 432 | ** The Flesh Hulks are green, large and powerful Aetherial Corruptions. Can you say ''Comicbook/TheIncredibleHulk''? |
| 433 | ** [[spoiler:Dravis' father obtaining immortality by trapping thousands of souls sound very much like another [[Manga/FullmetalAlchemist Father who did the same]].]] |
| 434 | ** In the intro cutscene, Jarvis says that [[Film/{{Predator}} if it bleeds, he can kill it]]. |
| 435 | ** The Fleshworks level has an uncanny similarity with [[Franchise/DeadSpace the necromorph infestation]] and [[TabletopGame/Warhammer40000 the horrific Daemonculaba]]. |
| 436 | ** Wear a Gilded Visage and it will suspiciously make you look like [[VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic Darth Revan]], complete with the hood. |
| 437 | *** Similarly, wearing an Assault Helm or using an illusion to make your headgear look like one will make you somewhat resemble a [[Franchise/BattlestarGalactica Cylon]]. |
| 438 | ** Earn a Crucible score of at least 900,000 and you'll get the "[[Franchise/DragonBall It's Over 900000!]]" achievement. |
| 439 | ** The Maw of Enaht looks very much [[Film/ReturnOfTheJedi the Pit of Sarlacc from Star Wars]]. There's even a unique mask nearby that looks like Boba Fett's helm. |
| 440 | ** Arkovia was an ancient civilization that attempted to use the powers of necromancy to live forever, but they didn't get it quite right and now exist primarily as partially-sentient skeletons haunting the ruins of their former empire, making them very similar to the pre-Settra [[TabletopGame/WarhammerFantasy Tomb Kings]]. |
| 441 | *** Another potential Warhammer Fantasy reference are the enemies known as Korvaak's Ascended (and their variants the Champions and Rageflames), who seem to resemble the Ogre character Skrag the Slaughterer minus his giant cauldron. |
| 442 | ** One Legendary item (including its Mythical variant) is called Soulare's Helm, an obvious nod to a certain iconic VideoGame/DarkSouls character in both appearance and name. Its flavour text even says: "The sun is just so grossly incandescent." |
| 443 | ** [[MadScientist Hargate's]] notes during the "Origin of the Slith" quest reveal that he created the first Slith using [[spoiler:his own daughter, Ellena]] - a story that the developers [[https://old.reddit.com/r/Grimdawn/comments/hkgvzy/an_episode_in_an_anime_that_has_the_same_plot_as/ outright admit]] was inspired by ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist''[='s=] Shou Tucker. |
| 444 | ** One of the random Pit Champions that can be fought in Four Hills is named [[Videogame/{{Starcraft}} Rekt Byprotoss]]. |
| 445 | ** The whole premise of Devil's Crossing is lifted from ''VideoGame/{{Wasteland}}'': it's the end of the world and survivors free the prisoners of a prison to use it as their sanctuary. |
| 446 | ** One secret area is filled with anthropomorphic Dromedaries hostile to you, just like the Secret Cow level in ''VideoGame/DiabloII''. |
| 447 | ** There are unique amulets named the Avatar of Mercy, the Avatar of Order and the Avatar of Chaos, all which allude to ''VideoGame/{{Ultima}}''. |
| 448 | ** The [[HeavyMithril music]] from the secret passage of ''VideoGame/TitanQuest'' plays when you reach the Edge of Reality of the base game. |
| 449 | * SicklyGreenGlow: Aether in high concentration produces this. there are areas so choked with Aether that it turns your whole screen green and will heavily damage your character every second you stand within an area of concentrated Aether. |
| 450 | * SignatureSoundEffect: The sound of the Slith's dying is the same one as the [[FishPeople Ichthian]] from ''VideoGame/TitanQuest''. Considering some people from ''Crate Entertainment'' were from ''Iron Lore'', that's not surprising. |
| 451 | * SinisterScythe: Alkamos' Scythe(a Spectral Type Monster Infrequent unique to Alkamos) and the Scythe of Tenebris play this straight. |
| 452 | ** Patch 1.0.0.8 added in a legendary version of Alkamos' Scythe, called Soulrend. |
| 453 | * SkillPointReset: The spirit guide can reset your skills and devotion points for a price. There's also potions in the expansion pack that can fulfill the same role. |
| 454 | * SpiderSwarm: Not only do [[GiantSpider giant spiders]] attack in [[ZergRush large groups]], they also have specialized melee and ranged units. |
| 455 | * SoundtrackDissonance: |
| 456 | ** The Temple of the Eldritch Sun has a beautiful piano piece that is very serene and peaceful. This contrast with the place which is in utter ruins and bloody combat take place between you and horrible monsters. |
| 457 | ** {{Exaggerated|Trope}} with the music in an Easter egg location connected to the Cairan Docks, as well as Shattered Realm maps based on the same location: [[spoiler:Bonebleach Basin]] features an excessively cheerful tune reminiscent of fairground music, which plays over a large area that is filled with hordes of enemies a few levels higher than your character and has [[spoiler:an unending DeadlyDustStorm]] that can batter your character to death in short order. |
| 458 | * SpannerInTheWorks: |
| 459 | ** The aetherial that possessed Warden Krieg deviated from his original mission of facilitating the transfer of human bodies to the aetherial laboratories in northern Cairn, and began storing the bodies away in Krieg's underground cellar for other purposes instead; in doing so, the inhabitants of Burrwitch Village noticed a sudden influx of transports bringing lots of "prisoners" to Krieg's manor in the Burrwitch Estates—a building that, despite its size, [[ClownCarBase looked way too small to fit all of them]]. This, along with a number of other strange incidents reported in the vicinity of Burrwitch, resulted in [[BigGood Inquisitor Creed]] being deployed to investigate, which most likely saved him from a worse fate when the Grim Dawn happened at the capital of the Erulan Empire. |
| 460 | ** {{Invoked|Trope}} with the Black Legion. Following the Grim Dawn and Inquisitor Creed's encounter with the First Blade, the two men agreed that the Black Legion was the best hope for the remnants of humanity to rally around. This was because it was considered unlikely that the aetherials would be interested in possessing any of them since the Black Legion is an ArmyOfThievesAndWhores. |
| 461 | ** {{Downplayed|Trope}} with Anasteria. The initial intelligence she provided to the Black Legion regarding the movements of the aetherials was unerringly accurate and saved many lives, while also giving the Black Legion openings where they could strike. Over time, however, the intel she provided became less and less accurate, implying that the aetherials had adjusted their tactics to take her into account. |
| 462 | * SpreadShot: The ''Falcon Swoop'' celestial power. It fires two divine falcons that pierce anything in its path and deal bleeding damage. Fully upgraded, the falcons go from two to six and its damage greatly increases. The ''Twin Fangs'' celestial power somewhat works like this as well, and so does the Demolitionist's Stun Jacks skill and one attack used by the Nemesis of the Death's Vigil faction. |
| 463 | * SquishyWizard: The Arcanist offers little health per point invested into the mastery bar and relies on powerful destructive spells to survive. If you dare to play it single-class through the Ultimate Difficulty, you'll be frail as a flickered candle flame inside a hurricane. |
| 464 | * StarterEquipment: Starting the game with a fresh new character will give a plank shield and a puny blade. You also get a bag of salt that serve as your amulet. [[ChekhovsGun You might want to hang on to this one for later use.]] |
| 465 | * StationaryBoss: |
| 466 | ** The Herald of Flame is a huge tower of flesh and crystal that sprouts tentacles and blasts of aetherfire. It doesn't move when you fight it. [[spoiler:Until you bring it down to half health and it rips itself free of the ground, at least.]] |
| 467 | ** [[spoiler:The FinalBoss, the Voice of Ch'Thon, is an immobile mass of flesh with ExtraEyes, many tentacles and a huge maw filled with sharp teeth.]] |
| 468 | * StatusBuffDispel: The Arcanist's Nullification skill and the celestial power Cleansing Waters can dispel enemies' buffs. The former can also remove negative buffs cast on you. |
| 469 | * StatusEffects: The game has many that can be resisted through skills or items: stun, sleep, skill disruption, frozen, slow, petrified, fumble, taunted and trapped. In addition to the effects listed, monsters are subjected to others that the player is immune to: knockdown, converted, fear and confused. |
| 470 | * StuffBlowingUp The demoltionist skills Canister Bomb, Grenado, and Mortar Trap. Actually this is the Demolitionist in a nutshell, nearly all of this mastery's skills involve exploding. |
| 471 | ** The same can be said about Arcanist's Devastation and several other skills. |
| 472 | * SufficientlyAnalyzedMagic: The Arcanist mastery utilizes scientific understanding of magical forces. |
| 473 | * SummonMagic: The wheelhouse of the Necromancer and to a lesser degree the Occultist and Shaman. If you really want a large army of summons, then you'll want to multi-class two of these classes. |
| 474 | * {{Superboss}}: [[spoiler:The Avatar of Mogdrogen (the god of beasts), who is a brutally hard-hitting enemy who summons swarms of wild creaturs to overwhelm you. His ''lowest'' possible level is higher than anything else in the game (on Normal difficulty it's 81, and you will typically finish the base game story around level 50), and it only scales up from there.]] |
| 475 | * SuperPersistentPredator: A faction Nemesis will pursue your character for as far as the map it appears in allows; you need to leave the map entirely[[note]]enter an map that needs to load in[[/note]] for it to stop chasing you. |
| 476 | * SwampsAreEvil: The swamps of East Marsh near Burrwitch and Gloomwald/Ugdenbog to its north are filled with evil monsters out to get you. |
| 477 | * SwordLines: Your sword and all melee weapons for that matter, leaves a colored trail when you swing it. The color depends on its enchantment. |
| 478 | * TalkingTheMonsterToDeath: Certain sidequests can be completed without fighting by selecting the right dialogue choices. |
| 479 | ** One quest in Act 2 involves a small village being extorted by Cronley's gang. Your seemingly only choices are either delivering the village's extortion payment, which does nothing but ensure the extortion continues, or kill the Gang representative, [[NotQuiteTheRightThing which will have negative consequences later on]]. There is a hidden third option where you can bribe the extortionist into convincing the Gang to leave the town alone, and a fourth one where you ignore the quest altogether until after you kill Cronley, which causes the extortionist to flee and never bother the village again. |
| 480 | ** Another Act 2 quest involves having to save a woman and her child from being murdered by her insane husband. If you pick the right dialogue options, you can convince the husband to stand down, restoring his sanity and allowing him and his family to start over in Devil's Crossing. |
| 481 | * TakeYourTime: There's no rush to finish the quests. As such, you can take all the time you want. |
| 482 | * TechnicallyLivingZombie: the Bloody Pox skills upgrades Fevered Rage and Black Death cause the enemy to [[MakeThemRot decay]] and blindly attack anything nearby. |
| 483 | * ThatCameOutWrong: The PC can ask [[spoiler:Elsa if she has experience with Trolls. Of course the PC meant experience in fighting them, but Elsa couldn't help raising an eyebrow.]] |
| 484 | * ThereWasADoor: Sometimes, the PC can break down a wall rather than passing through a door. |
| 485 | * ThreeStatSystem: There are three of them: |
| 486 | ** Physique: Allows you to wear heavier gear, mostly for physical combat, gives you more health and increases your health regeneration. It also contributes a little to your defense rating. |
| 487 | ** Cunning: Allows you to use weapons, mostly for physical combat, do more damage with them and increases your offensive ability. It also improves your piercing, bleeding, internal trauma damage and gives a little bit of health. |
| 488 | ** Spirit: Allows you to use mage's gear, gives you more energy and increases your energy regeneration. It also improves your damage from non-physical damage such as spells and gives a little bit of health. |
| 489 | * ThisCannotBe: Allostria will utter this when you kill her. |
| 490 | * TitleDrop Grim Dawn is also used in story by many characters to refer to the event that made the world of Cairn what it is today. This is a matter of perspective, as the aetherials instead refer to it as the "Glorious Dawn" in several lore notes. |
| 491 | * TooDumbToLive: |
| 492 | ** The people of New Harbour. They stubbornly refuse to leave their dilapidated houses on the ground that this is their ancestral home. Even the Grim Dawn, monsters roaming the countryside, fish supply depleting and falling victim of racketing will not dissuade them. |
| 493 | ** In Act 7, one follower of Bysmiel enthusiastically researches the Maw of Enaht you found in the desert. He decides to descend into the maw to further his studies. Unsurprisingly, we never hear from him ever again. |
| 494 | ** The aetherial possessing Warden Krieg legitimately thought nobody was going to question him moving all the prisoners from Devil's Crossing into his cellar. It's not what directly kills him, but it does start a chain of events that screw over the Aetherials badly. Even one of his fellow aetherials feels the need to call Krieg out on his StupidEvil. The records of his transfers do eventually lead to Captain Bourbon figuring out what Krieg is doing, and then sending you to go deal with him. |
| 495 | ** After clearing Port Valbury, you can free a captive named Katrine. You can offer to portal her to safety, but she'll refuse repeatedly and insist on going to Malmouth alone to find her baby Alice. Malmouth is overrun with Aetherial monstrosities and she doesn't have any fighting skills. On your journey to Malmouth, you can come across her remains. It never occurred to her to delegate the task to the [[OneManArmy PC who would have all to happy to look for her baby.]] Made aggravating in the Act 7 where someone has found her baby and kept her safe. The man was looking for Katrine to reunite her with Alice. |
| 496 | * TownWithADarkSecret: Barrowholm is a fairly nice place in this post-apocalyptic world, all things considered. [[spoiler:The altar on which they sacrifice strangers to their dark god is hidden a bit further north.]] |
| 497 | * TragicMonster: [[spoiler:Ellena, the First Slith. She was once a normal [[CheerfulChild little girl]] and was turned into [[SnakePeople a snake monster]] by [[MadScientist her own father]]. It's hard not feel sorry for her when she attacks and you have to slay her.]] |
| 498 | * TrainingDummy: Most of the main settlements have two of these. As a monster, the Training Dummy has extreme amounts of HP—only a handful of Ultimate difficulty Super Bosses have more—and when its health drops to 15%, it activates a passive skill that instantly restores its health and nullifies all damage for 5 seconds. The skill then goes into a 5-second cooldown, however, so it is possible to destroy the Training Dummy by doing enough damage within the 5-second cooldown period, although doing so only gives the player the CosmeticAward of having "Training Dummy" appear as their "Greatest Monster Killed". |
| 499 | * TheTurretMaster: The Shaman's totems act like turrets. They can shoot lightning or cause vitality damage to monsters who come too close to them. |
| 500 | * TheUndead: In this game, [[DemBones skeletons]] and [[OurGhostsAreDifferent ghosts]] are undead, while [[OurZombiesAreDifferent zombies]] are Aetherials, possessed humans whether they were alive or not. The Order of Death's Vigil makes it clear that what the Aethereals do is considered a mockery of their "sacred art." |
| 501 | * UnusableEnemyEquipment: Averted for the most part with What You See Is What You Get. Anything equipped on enemies will drop on their death. Played straight with the human Nemesis bosses who have their own sets of gear that cannot drop or be used by players. |
| 502 | * UnusuallyUninterestingSight: Town folk are highly suspicious of the PC because he is a "Taken", but they don't seem to worry about his/her traveling companions either they be a hellhound, a storm raven, a briarthorn, undead or [[OurMonstersAreDifferent worse]]. |
| 503 | * VoidBetweenTheWorlds: Ironically not called the Void, which is instead the plane Cthonics come from. The place beyond worlds is instead called the Great Darkness or Yugol and it is the eternally hungering antithesis to literally all things. It primarily manifests in the Tomb of the Heritic and is color coded as PurpleIsPowerful and black. Yugol is the primordial enemy of exsisence itself and even the gods fear it. |
| 504 | -->"We may fight it, resist it, but in the end, we will all be consumed by it. The gods learned this truth long ago and even they must ultimately submit. Their stars will not defy their fate forever." |
| 505 | * WalkingOssuary: The Skeletal Monstrosity and Skeletal Gargantuan are EliteMooks among the Arkovian undead, being towering monsters composed of the bones of dozens of skeletons. Three separate [[KingMook boss variants]] (Karnath Chillblood, Moosilauke the Chillwind, and Ilgorr the Eternal) can reconstruct themselves after being killed to enter a second phase. |
| 506 | * WanderingCulture: The Rhowari, colloquially known as Rovers, are a nomadic culture who travel throughout the entire world in what is essentially a neverending, lifelong pilgrimage. Their prophet, the First Traveler, was once King Rhowan of Arkovia, who was warned by a god that his lands would be struck with unavoidable doom due to their obsession with lands, titles and showy belongings; Rhowan abdicated, renounced his lands, and walked away only with what he could carry, with the Rovers' predecessors doing the same and following him, leaving Arkovia and its remaining, skeptical denizens to their doom. Nowadays they're one of the more abundant post-Dawn factions, as their nomadic lifestyle has thoroughly prepared them for such an apocalyptic event. |
| 507 | * WardensAreEvil: Warden Krieg, going by the backstory. People tell you he was a nasty piece of work even before he knew of the aetherials, and while in the midst of possession another aetherial has to ''[[EvenEvilHasStandards call him out]]'' for letting his host's wants start corroding his motives. All the prisoner torture and most of the gruesome experimentation you see weren't the aetherial spirit's idea; that was all Krieg. |
| 508 | * WaterSourceTampering: Similar to ''VideoGame/{{Diablo}}'', you receive a sidequest where you must clear a lair of monsters that have tainted the town's water supply. |
| 509 | * WakeUpCallBoss: |
| 510 | ** Salazar, Blade of Ct'thon. One of the first instances of a boss set to five levels above the player's own level. In particular he's one of the first enemies to regularly throw around spells that leave a lingering damaging effect on the ground, which deals high damage and has a LifeDrain effect. Melee-focused players will quickly learn not to simply stand around and trade blows, unlike THE potential first boss with LevelScaling, which more reliant characters can best through simple attrition. |
| 511 | ** Krieg is also this and sets the tone for all future major boss fights. He possesses a number of [[HerdHittingAttack AoE attacks]], [[DashAttack a gap closer]] to prevent easy kitting, a powerful ChargedAttack you need to dodge, and a [[OneWingedAngel powered up second phase.]] After him all this becomes pretty standard, but up until this point you've never faced anything like him. |
| 512 | * WeAREStrugglingTogether: |
| 513 | ** Kymon's Chosen and the Order of Death's Vigil are archenemies and will attack one another, even if their common goal is to rid Cairn of the Aetherials and the Chthonians. |
| 514 | ** Many among the Black Legion disagree with their leader Creed to allow the Outcast to aid them. Despite her valuable knowledge, resources and their common goal to free Cairn, they would rather see her dead. To prove a point, the only reliable way to receive reputation points from the Black Legion is to kill her and you lost some reputation whenever you aid her. |
| 515 | ** Another who notes this is [[spoiler: Anasteria, who realizes that the humans of Cairn would make for better allies against the forces of the void, rather than using them as vessels, since Aetherials have fought against the Chthonian forces for eons and humans would rather keep their blood inside them, she notes that they share a common enemy and should unite against the powers of the void. Sadly she's the only one so far who feels this way.]] |
| 516 | * WellIntentionedExtremist: [[spoiler:While Kymon's Chosen is a group of fanatical [[KnightTemplar knight templars]], its leader, Father Kymon is a different beast. [[DealWithTheDevil He made a pact with the Primordial god Korvaak and lied to everyone by saying they're receiving blessing from the god of light, Empyron (who may be dead).]] [[IDidWhatIHadToDo To protect his secrets, he burned down an entire village and forced its inhabitants into the wild]] (you find the remains of the village in your travels). [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone Kymon may have realized he was way over his head, because he entrusted his little secret to you once you've gained enough reputation with his organization]].]] |
| 517 | * {{Wendigo}}: Wendigos are widely present in the game. [[spoiler:The village of Barrowholm is led by one who pass up as a human and is serving a powerful wendigo called the Ravager.]] |
| 518 | * WhateverMancy: The Pyromancer, which is a combo between Demolitionist and Occultist masteries. Geomancers are also seen among tribes of Grobles. Voidmancer and Plaguemancer can also be seen on some gear. |
| 519 | * WombLevel: In the expansion, an underground area and adjoining areas more than qualify as this. [[spoiler:One portion of this dungeon is literally a womb that can be destroyed.]] |
| 520 | %%** Another shows up as a secret level[[spoiler:, the Maw of Enaht,]] which is a giant... thing you have to fight your way through.%%ZCE. How is it an example? |
| 521 | * WorldOfBadass: In a departure from how other games treat NPC allies your allied faction members that spawn in areas are NOT useless. Under the right conditions and with some aid from the player buffing them they can and will kill a ''Nemesis'' boss without any direct damage from the player. |
| 522 | * WorthlessYellowRocks: Gold has no value, iron bits do. This is because the world is torn apart and iron is more important for humanity's survival. A note found on a half-sunk wagon details the thoughts of an opportunistic thief which robbed an ignored jewelry shop and ended up trying to buy help from what's implied to be grobles or trolls. |
| 523 | * WreathedInFlames The Demolitionist skill Vindictive Flame does this, increasing your health regeneration and defensive ability, and when you are struck by an enemy attack a ring of fire explodes outward from you damaging and potentially stunning anything foolish enough to be up close and personal. |
| 524 | * WrongGenreSavvy: You can find the notes of a man named Harod who gets shoved in a maze by a companion who betrays him. He states that the way you find the exit of a cave is by following the way the torch blows. [[spoiler: Normally this would work except he's inside a living thing, the Maw of Enaht, and he's more likely just following it's respiration deeper inside.]] |
| 525 | * YearOutsideHourInside: A revelation made in the expansion is that time flows much slower in the Aether than in Cairn. |
| 526 | * YouALLLookFamiliar: Many NPC and monsters share the same 3D models. Some monsters are even reskinned models from ''VideoGame/TitanQuest''. |
| 527 | * ZergRush: Let's face it, ''everything'' in this game will swarm you from all sides. |
| 528 | [[/folder]] |
| 529 | ---- |
| 530 | ->''Time well spent.'' |
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