If you’re looking for a breather from Diablo 4 and Path of Exile 2, there’s no shortage of great options to choose from – but right now, Grim Dawn is the most timely pick. The iconic dark fantasy action RPG recently launched its third and last expansion, Fangs of Asterkarn, and developer Crate Entertainment is celebrating the strong response from the audience. In its first major post-release update, the studio has introduced an alternative way to control evade direction, nerfed some bursty bosses, and provided an optional toggle to save yourself from one of the most divisive new enemies.
“The team is thrilled to see the warm reception that Fangs of Asterkarn has gotten so far,” Grim Dawn Lead Gameplay Designer and Community Manager Kamil ‘Zantai’ Marczewski writes. He notes that the ARPG reached a new all-time concurrent player record (ignoring one notable peak from a free trial weekend), “which shows just how many of you were eager to jump back into Cairn.” Crate Entertainment has already been rolling out hotfixes, but its latest update is a bigger overhaul that introduces some more significant adjustments.
“The theme of our latest expansion is letting you play the game the way you want,” Zantai explains. To this end, it’s offered an olive branch to players who are finding its most notorious troublemaker to be more frustrating than fun. The Dread is an extremely powerful Chthonic agent of chaos that can spawn randomly when playing in Ascendant mode, the new endgame variant introduced with Fangs of Asterkarn. It’s serious business, and if your build isn’t quite up to scratch you could be in for a long, difficult fight – if you can even defeat it at all.
“The Dread has proven to be a contentious addition,” Zantai admits. “While we are pleased with the challenge it offers and do not plan to nerf it, we understand that its regular and unexpected interruptions can be frustrating to some of you.” With the new update, you can visit the Remnant in either Devil’s Crossing or Kurnhold to disable it from appearing. This process is reversible, and there’s still the option to instead boost its spawn rate via the Ascension Altar if you’re enjoying its appearances.
Crate Entertainment has also rebalanced all early game bosses “to bring them close to their pre-v1.3.0 tuning, particularly at lower levels.” It notes that “bosses with high burst potential in particular should be much more manageable.” Similar adjustments have been made to Fangs of Asterkarn foes, along with the addition of normal and elite variants of certain bosses (including the final encounter of the expansion) that are tuned independently of ultimate or ascendant versions.
The patch also adds the ability to have your evade move towards your current cursor position, rather than in the direction your character is currently facing. This new option will be on by default, but you can toggle it off in the controls menu. There’s also a new ‘big cursor’ setting if you’re playing on a larger screen and are having trouble keeping track of your mouse.
Grim Dawn patch 1.3.0.4 is live now. “We expect this should address the most pressing pain points the community is currently experiencing,” Zantai concludes, “but of course this is only the beginning of our post-release support. In the meantime, enjoy Asterkarn.”
