The Crucible is a Downloadable Content (DLC) that introduces a challenging new arena gameplay mode to Grim Dawn.
The Crucible was conceived as a stretch goal during Crate's successful Kickstarter campaign. Originally called Survival Mode, it was described as follows: “In survival mode players will fight to stay alive against increasingly difficult waves of monsters.” The DLC was made available for free to those who purchased the game prior to or during the Kickstarter campaign.
Difficulties
The Crucible features three difficulty modes for the player to test their characters: Aspirant, Challenger and Gladiator. Each contains 150 waves of enemies for the player to face (170 with the Ashes of Malmouth Expansion). Defeating the first 100 waves of enemies of a difficulty will unlock the next. Each difficulty presents tougher challenges, but also greater rewards.
Arenas
The Crucible features six randomized battlegrounds, each with different layouts and defensive positions.
Crucible of the Dead
Crucible of the Deeps
Crucible of the Grove
Crucible of the Legion
Crucible of the Sands
Crucible of the Void
NPCs
- Lokarr, Master of the Crucible
- Kandral - Immortal Peddler
- Ignotius - Immortal Smuggler
- Kracius - Spirit Guide
- Yvalla - Ancient Inventor
- Torralia, the Immortal Archmage
- Garrius - Cursed Smith
Crucible Mechanics
Treasure Chamber
In the Crucible, death marks the end (particularly for Hardcore players). Every 10 waves of enemies, the player has the choice of continuing on for the next 10 encounters for a chance of greater reward, or cash out what you’ve earned and not risk your own demise.
Should the player die, he or she cannot continue further in the Crucible. However, in (softcore) Multiplayer, it is possible to revive if another party member finishes the wave.
The quality of the treasure contained within the Treasure Chamber, the experience earned and the Tributes earned depend on the difficulty of the Crucible, how many waves are defeated and whether the player died or chose to cash out, with an additional treasure chest earned for successfully completing the Crucible.
Tributes
Tributes are the currency of the Crucible, granted after every 10 waves. Tributes can be spent to Restart the Crucible at various Checkpoints (wave 50 or 100), or to increase the odds of survival with the aid of Celestial Blessings and Arcane Defenses.
Defenses
Tribute points can be spent to create defenses around the arenas, giving the player an advantage against the increasingly difficult waves of enemies. All Defenses can be upgraded twice; the first adds a new ability, the second empowers their abilities.
| Defense | Abilities | Upgrade 1 | Upgrade 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deathchill Beacon | launch icy orbs at distant enemies, slowing their advance, with a chance to freeze, but their damage is relatively low | periodically Freeze all nearby enemies | damage is increased by 25%, Freeze is cast more often and on a larger area |
| Inferno Beacon | release intense bursts of flame at nearby enemies, but their range is limited. | periodically unleash a Fire Storm on a target area. | damage is increased by 25%, Burst of Flame area is increased and the Fire Storm is cast more often. |
| Stormcaller Beacon | occasionally release a bolt of chain lightning at distant enemies, with a chance to reduce resistances, but they hit a limited number of targets and attack slowly | periodically Shock a nearby enemy for heavy damage with a chance to stun. | damage increased by 25%, the Shock is cast more often and affects two nearby enemies. |
| Stonewall Banner | grant nearby players bonus Health, Defensive Ability and Health Regeneration. | periodically cast an area Heal | the range and effectiveness of the Aura and Heal are increased. |
| Vanguard Banner | grant nearby players bonus Damage, Offensive Ability and Crit Damage. | periodically cast an area Frenzy Buff | the range and effectiveness of the Aura and Frenzy are increased. |
Celestial Blessings
Tributes can also be spent to purchase Celestial Blessings, from the NPC Torralia, the Immortal Archmage.
Each Blessing costs 12 Tributes and provides a buff to players for a duration of 25 minutes.
| Blessing | Effect | ||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Blessing of Ulo | 33% Resistance to all Crowd Control Effects (except Slow)
25% Resistance to all kinds of damage, 8% physical resistance 50% Reduction in duration of Damage-Over-Time effects |
|
|
Empyrion's Guidance | +80% Health, +50% health for pet-scaled pets | |
|
Might of Amatok | All Damage Modified by 33%, All damage modified by 12% for pet-scaled pets | |
|
Ulzuin's Pact | +100% Energy Regeneration
-25% Skill Energy Cost 5%+30 Offensive Ability 5%+30 Defensive Ability |
Mutators
As progress is made through the Crucible, various Mutators will be introduced into the gameplay. Mutators are global effects applied to all monsters or players, each one strengthening monsters/players in one way, but weakening them in another.
The Crucible begins without any Mutators, but up to 5 can become active at once. Every 10 waves of enemies, the Mutators are randomized.
Monster Mutators
| Mutator | Description | Effect | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Aetherwarped | Monsters are resistant to the Aether, but more Susceptible to Chaos. | 8/12/15% Aether Resistance -8% Chaos Resistance |
|
Armored | Monsters are nearly impervious to Physical harm and armor Piercing, but are more Susceptible to the Elements. | 8/12/15% Physical Resistance 20/25/30% Pierce Resistance -8% Elemental Resistance |
|
Berserking | Monsters are berserking, Attacking faster but also becoming more Susceptible to Attacks. | -5% Defensive Ability +8/10/12% Attack Speed |
|
Brutal | Monsters land Critical Strikes more often, but deal Reduced Damage. | Total Damage Modified by -8% +25/35/50 Offensive Ability +5/6/8% Offensive Ability |
|
Corrupted | Monsters resistant to Chaos, but more Susceptible to the Aether. | -8% Aether Resistance 8/12/15% Chaos Resistance |
|
Crippling | Monster attacks Slow opponents, but attack Slower. | 15/20/35% Chance to cause -12/18/25% Attack Speed for 3 Seconds -8% Attack Speed |
|
Cruel | Monster Critical Strikes are extra lethal, but attacks are more likely to Miss. | -5% Offensive Ability +30/50/75% Crit Damage |
|
Ignited | Monsters are infused with Fire, dealing additional Fire damage and Retaliating Fire damage, but are more Susceptible to the Cold. | x Burn Damage over 3 Seconds +20/25/30% Fire Damage +20/25/30% Burn Damage -8% Cold Resistance x Burn Retaliation over 2 Seconds |
|
Leeching | Monsters leech health back with every attack, but have Reduced Health. | 200/300/500% Attack damage Converted to Health -10% Health |
|
Poisonous | Monsters are tainted with poison, dealing additional Poison damage and Retaliating Poison damage, but are more Susceptible to Vitality draining attacks. | x Poison Damage over 5 Seconds +20/25/30% Poison Damage 8% Poison & Acid Resistance -8% Vitality Resistance |
|
Regenerating | Monsters have highly enhanced health and energy regeneration, but are more Susceptible to Acid, Poison and Bleeding. | +x Health Regenerated per Second +30/50/75% Health Regenerated per Second +30/50/75% Energy Regenerated per Second -8%Poison & Acid Resistance -8% Bleeding Resistance |
|
Resistant | Monsters are nearly impervious to Magical attacks, but are more Susceptible to Physical harm. | 8/12/15% Elemental Resistance -8% Physical resistance |
|
Swift | Monsters have greatly increased Movement Speed, but are more susceptible to Crowd Control. | +8/12/15% Movement Speed -15% CC Resistance 1 |
|
Time-Warped | Monsters have greatly reduced Spell Cooldowns and increased Casting Speed, but deal Reduced Physical Damage. | -15% Physical Damage +15/20/25% Skill Cooldown Reduction +8/10/15% Cast Speed |
|
Toughened | Monsters have greatly increased Health, but have reduced Health Regeneration. | +15/25/40% Health Health Regeneration increased by -50% |
|
Unstoppable | Monsters are highly resistant to Crowd Control, but Move Slowly. | 15/20/30% Resistance to CC effects -8% Movement Speed |
|
Vengeful | Monsters have greatly enhanced Retaliation effects, but have Reduced Armor. | x Pierce Retaliation -10% Armor |
Player Mutators
|
Aethermarked | Players experience slowed Attacks, but are more Resistant to the Aether. | -8/10/15% Attack Speed 6% Aether resistance +6% Maximum Aether resistance |
|
Afflicted | Players have reduced Health, but are more Resistant to Vitality drains. | -15/20/25% Health 6% Vitality Resistance +6% Maximum Vitality Resistance |
|
Drained | Players have reduced Health Regeneration, but are more Resistant to Poison and Bleeding. | -30/50/75% Health Regenerated per Second 6% Poison % Acid Resistance +6% Maximum Poison % Acid Resistance 6% Bleeding Resistance +6% Maximum Bleeding Resistance |
|
Exposed | Players have reduced Armor, but Cooldowns are Reduced. | Increases Armor by -10/15/20% +10% Skill Cooldown Reduction |
|
Marked | Players have reduced Defensive Ability, but Damage is Magnified. | -30/70/100 Defensive Ability +8% Total Damage +100% Elemental Damage |
|
Shattered | Players have reduced Damage and Retaliation effects, but Armor is Increased. | -5/8/10% Total Damage +8% Armor |
|
Slowed | Player Movement Speed is greatly reduced, but Crowd Control doesn't last as long. | -5/8/10% Movement Speed 15% Reduced CC effect Duration |
|
Tainted | Players are Slowed, but Critical Damage is Increased | -5/6/8% Total Speed +20% Crit Damage |
|
Voidmarked | Players experience slowed Casting but are more Resistant to Chaos. | -15/20/25% Casting Speed 6% Chaos Resistance +6% Maximum Chaos Resistance |
|
Weakened | Player Critical Attacks are weakened, but attacks are more likely to hit. | -15/25/33% Crit Damage +70 Offensive Ability |
Leaderboard
As a way to measure your performances in the Crucibles, and to compare them with other players, the Crucible scores each game.
Each time a monster is slain, the score increments based on the monster slain, the wave the player is on and the game difficulty. The score can be further magnified by beating the Bonus Timer.
Note: the score is only saved if claiming the reward, or dying.
Bonus Timer
At the start of each wave, a bonus timer will count down to 0. If all enemies are slain before it expires, the Score Multiplier will increment by 1. This in turn magnifies all the points earned for each subsequent enemy slain. At the end of the Crucible, an extra chest is awarded based on your final score, so maintaining a high multiplier - the maximum is 10 - is beneficial to maximizing loot. However, each time the Multiplier is increased, the Bonus Timer for the next round is reduced, but defeating a Hero, Boss or Nemesis monster will increase the current Bonus Timer by several seconds.