Everything New Players Need to Know in Grim Dawn 2025

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Timestamps:
00:17 - Choosing starting difficulty
00:28 - Camera panning and lore notes
00:50 - Masteries
01:18 - Mastery Bar and Skills
01:55 - Attributes
02:14 - Adding skills to your action bar
02:27 - Types of skills to use for leveling
02:55 - Selecting damage types
03:10 - Devotion Shrines/Points
04:28 - Gear/Resistances/Components
06:08 - Reputation/Factions
07:05 - Game Difficulties
07:50 - Totems
08:12 - Dash Mechanic
08:25 - Crafting Intro
11:24 - Respeccing
12:28 - Community and Resources
New to Grim Dawn? This guide for 2025 covers everything you need to know to get started! Learn about class selection and mastery combinations, leveling strategies with the Mastery Bar and skill points, and how to allocate attributes like Physique, Cunning, and Spirit. We’ll dive into the Devotion system, gear rarity, and resistances to help you survive the harsh world. Understand factions and reputation, progress through difficulty levels, and make the most of crafting and blueprints. Plus, get tips on respeccing, exploring hidden paths, and using community tools like GrimTools and build guides. Start your Grim Dawn journey with confidence!

[@Arcadelife1]

Nice one. My only tip/suggestion would be include timestamps in the description so the wealth of information can be easily cherry-picked by anyone wishing to do so. Learned this from experience in my own channel and countless comment cries of "Timestamps???" which I now always (mostly) add from the start.

[@Goomba_YT]

Yeah I was thinking the same thing. I was looking for a way to add chapters but it seems like it just does it automatically if it can detect them. I’ll update the description. Thanks for the advice.

[@Arcadelife1]

@@Goomba_YT Happy to help, always great to see new/current GD content creators on here.

[@Infamous_SSJR]

Can't wait for the damn expansion... by the time it releases tq 2 might be out and POE2 is out right now... I'm a still play it but it'll be hard to keep going if those 2 other games are out...

[@Arcadelife1]

@ The struggle is real 👊🙂

[@Infamous_SSJR]

@Arcadelife1 it sure is.. hope u guys have a happy new years and may next year bring more success

[@synthessence]

Recently bought Grim Dawn on a whim cause of the steam 2025 winter sale, and this guide is SUPER helpful. Granted, I already knew most of this stuff through trial and error, but it would have been a godsend if I had found it first. Subbed to help you out my guy. Gotta say, the camera in this game threw me OFF, cause I'm so used to a fixed camera in most other AARGP's I've played. Took some getting used to, but totally worth the effort. And MAN are there a ton of secrets in this game. Breakable walls and optional areas out the wazoo.

[@Goomba_YT]

About the camera…I actually wasn’t planning on mentioning it…wasn’t on my mind. I jumped in the game and tried to move with WASD because I’ve been playing a lot of POE2 lately rofl. My camera started moving and I was like…oh yeah I should probably mention this. Thanks for the sub.

[@endgame_real]

Your uploads are way higher quality and effort than your views/subs should indicate, keep it up man

[@Goomba_YT]

Thanks, I appreciate it! 🙏

[@MakrusWühl]

3 more things - Lootfilter left button on the bar - Minimap size right button on the bar - Blacksmiths add 1 of 3 modifiers. Every smith has 3 different mods from which 1 will randomly get added to your crafted item. You can hover over the two crossed swords symbol left to the crafting button on your smith to see the 3 modifiers. To see them for all smiths use google/grimtools. For most builds Angrim is better than Duncan if you dont know which smith to pick at the start. Btw you can pick a different smith in every difficulty, so you still can change later in Elite/Ultimate when you know where you are going!

[@Goomba_YT]

Great additions. I wish I had mentioned the loot filter 😔

[@nitro112345]

Thanks for the awesome video! I just got the game today and loving it.

[@Goomba_YT]

Welcome!

[@temjiu9915]

Nice Video man! Good to see that people are still playing and enjoying Grim Dawn. I was part of the Beta ages ago, and still play it off and on. It has a great dev team that still to this day are adding content and upgrading the game. It's the only ARPG that I know of that is still getting content after a decade or more, outside of PoE of course. In relation to the crafters: your right on which gives the small bonuses. They are largely irrelevant in the end game, but at the time you pick them up, they are an OK bonus to the crafting. nowadays when I level a character I pick at random.

[@Goomba_YT]

🙏

[@antagonisstic]

Subscribed bro, thanks i did not know of the search for damage.

[@Goomba_YT]

Appreciate it, glad it helped!

[@toddb2581]

I just started playing Grim Dawn last week with bleed,regeneration and drain health build. It easily kills the mobs super fast and lets solo bosses and heroes with ease with how much health regeneration per second I have. Cool video. It is a vampire build that I make without looking at any pre-made characters online.

[@Goomba_YT]

I hate looking at build guides. It’s more fun to wing it imo. I may look at a guide sometimes just to see if my idea is valid.

[@toddb2581]

I have been playing video games that came with a book with lore and passcodes to let you travel to the next level. I like Grim Dawn a lot. I am all about the lore of games and game stories. I just read everything it said and built my character around my favorite play style. Is the first and second arc bosses supposed to be easy? I am playing on the hardest mode I have unlocked right now. Everything just melts before my character.

[@Goomba_YT]

@@toddb2581 normal and veteran are both very easy imo. Doesn’t really get challenging until ultimate.

[@toddb2581]

@@Goomba_YT good to know. Thanks 👍

[@rex99052]

ur the goat just picked this game up for less than 3 bucks

[@Goomba_YT]

Money well spent. 💪🏻

[@a.hunter]

thanks for the video . really helpful . not : if you want your video to have chapters you should add timestamp for 00:00 . You add all the times but if you dont have 00:00 start. it is not gonna add chapters to video .

[@Goomba_YT]

Thanks for the tip!

[@viltrumite3790]

vay Ademim 😂

[@Zympt]

Grim Dawn on steam: ahhhhhhhhh shit CJ, here we go again xD

[@Goomba_YT]

It’s cheap AF right now lol

[@threedog27]

Nice pushing that grim dawn Content. Give the game and crate the love they deserve. Expansion coming in 2025.

[@Goomba_YT]

Yessir

[@kevincaruthers5412]

New player. Wondered how much the mastery bar affected the character. Tried a soldier that only placed points in the bar, not any skill. Got the mastery bar to 50 without any trouble. Then maxed out Oleron's Rage. Not the most efficient way to play, but was a lot of fun. :D PS Very useful content for a noob. Sub'd!

[@Goomba_YT]

Thank you 🙏

[@temjiu9915]

It just means that your base stats will be much higher, but your skills won't do as much damage, and they wont' have their special aspects unlocked. like many skills are AoE and can clear groups much faster, stuff like that. But it shows you how flexible the progression system in the game is! Glad you are having fun.

[@0uther3]

Going to give this game a shot. Bought it on sale today. This video will be helpful, cheers!

[@Goomba_YT]

Enjoy!

[@prisciher]

you will not regret it.

[@ParkerKent-r7z]

You did not go over augments from faction vendors, and IDK if your aware but each blacksmith has one of three possible types of bonuses they will add to equipment they craft, you can look it up online, or you can hover over the icon next to the combine button to see them in game.

[@Goomba_YT]

You’re right, I forgot to mention that. Good catch!

[@aidenpearce3287]

I hope you can help me with this question, I have been wandering around the internet but don't know how to ask it exactly. How does damage types bonus work exactly? Let say i have +10 Vitality dmg in my off-hand, that means my ability that do Vitality will also have 10 more damage? Thanks

[@Goomba_YT]

If something just adds +10 vitality, the way I understand is that whatever ability you use will deal 10 additional damage as vitality. So if you press fireball and it normally does 100 fire damage, it would do 110 damage, with 10 of that damage being vitality instead of fire. I believe that’s how it works. Someone else may correct me.

[@soulzyx]

I did not expect you to make a Grim Daw nvideo :D

[@Goomba_YT]

Trying to hit 1k subs. I’m getting close. Grim Dawn vids are good to me lol.

[@theindiegamealchemist]

really cool video, thank you!

[@Goomba_YT]

Thank you too!

[@vin-lf9ph]

New player here, never seen those totems. Are they part of the DLCs?

[@Goomba_YT]

Forgotten Gods DLC.

[@SigFrid1985]

Awesome video! Thumbs up

[@Goomba_YT]

Thank you 😎

[@finfan83]

5:31 - oh so you need to fuse those with your gear. I thought those are ingredients exclusively to craft completely new ones and you need to gather blueprints to use them. Think game didn't communicate that clearly enough or I missed it.

[@Goomba_YT]

Yep. You use them as is. You can also use them as crafting components to make better versions of them, among other things.

[@torkalatorkala1807]

with crafting, can you just leave all resources in the stash? Looks like you had 99+ of most mats and you didn't really have anything in your inventory

[@Goomba_YT]

Yep. Stuff can stay in the stash. I wanted to go over the stash but the video was already getting kinda long.

[@psixi7230]

Yes, crafting at blacksmith pulls from Stash, so you can quick deposit dump into it if you aren't using it on your items for enchanting

[@americanprimate189]

Literally just bought the game on Xbox and already likong it better than PoE2.

[@Goomba_YT]

That’s fair, I mean, GD is a complete game after all.

[@hoddtoward8779]

Yo about that respec does the cost increse infinitly? if you want to do it over and over, or does it have a sealing like 1 million iron bits per point?

[@Goomba_YT]

Not 100% sure. Seems to cap at 15/20k per point. I've respecced my main character a lot and the current cost is 400 per point.

[@Okievloggs]

Is there a addon quest? i have hard time finding the quest

[@Goomba_YT]

I’m not aware of an addon for quest tracking. Best bet is just to google it if you get stuck. The devs seem to want to encourage exploration.

[@rhadiel]

Amazing video for a minion andy poe2 refugee.

[@Goomba_YT]

Grim Dawn has minions for sure lol

[@GCDragonfli]

Question .. If you go to choice your 2nd class at level 15 ... But change your mind and go back into game ... *DOES* the game reset your player to level 10🤔 ........ Why I'm Asking is the game just did that to me🥲. ..... Thank you and have a Good New Year 🎉🎇🎊

[@Goomba_YT]

Never heard of the game setting your level back. That's weird. Maybe someone else has experienced it.

[@GCDragonfli]

@@Goomba_YT Come to find out, it was a Steam and game Cloud issue, But I think it has been fixed .. Well Hoping anyway🤞 and Thank you for the response, Enjoy the New Year

[@moosecat00]

Can we expect a new guide in 3 months covering Ascension, The Dread, and The Altar?

[@Goomba_YT]

I don't know about the 3 month timeline, but yeah. Once I've had time to learn the systems properly.

[@KillerSLM]

when is this game on sale?

[@Goomba_YT]

Not sure. It goes on sale lot. I think it’s usually on sale during the major steam seasonal sales. Next likely one is the spring sale, someone may correct me though.

[@Zykl01982]

I can't get into this game, i tried many times but the graphic itch my eyes.

[@highpockets5909]

My dude! This and POE 2. Just amazing work. 😊

[@Goomba_YT]

🙏 Thank you!

[@nevadathestruggler]

Best arpg, keep doing this content for GD!

[@Goomba_YT]

Thanks. I intend to.

[@nevadathestruggler]

@ yesss!!!

[@Tronaldump]

Caming from Diablo 3, I just got this game today and watched all the videos you made and seeing that you make POE2 content you'll be my friend when I feel ready to make that jump, hopefully some more vids about Grim dawn :D

[@Goomba_YT]

Yep. More to come. Thanks for watching.

[@TokiDesha]

Bought the base game on steam sale - best spent 1 $

[@Goomba_YT]

Fa sho!

[@mul25]

where do we find a stash ?

[@Goomba_YT]

The first stash is upstairs to the left in the prison.

[@kitoymoto6004]

Some spawn area doesn't have stash, always look for the chest icon on map that's the stash

[@jeacks100]

Best.

[@tombstoned8873]

I miss this game, shouldnt have sold my pc lol

[@Goomba_YT]

Oof

[@tombstoned8873]

@Goomba_YT Yeah.. Not one of my best decisions and I doubt this game will ever be coming to ps5

[@arkenfalgurd5860]

is this better than poe 2?

[@dantealighieri1265]

yeah, because it has been out for years^^ With many dlc's that add content and another dlc coming out soon (I hope)

[@torkalatorkala1807]

I certainly think so

[@benjiskitts]

Poe2 is going to be absolutely fire 🔥 one day . But it's still in early access i just started cruel difficulty yesterday. I got this game on my deck only cost £2 in the sale . Looking forward to trying it out

[@Goomba_YT]

Hard to say in the long run. They are different enough games that they scratch different itches for me.

[@PotatoGunCamper]

It is too subjective to say. Grim Dawn is definitely one of my fav ARPGs. I find it extremely charming and cozy. It is very niche.

[@PotatoGunCamper]

Kinda need a Grim Dawn 2....

[@Goomba_YT]

Yeah a more modern engine would be nice. Maybe one day. In the meantime we’ll have to settle for the next DLC.

[@PotatoGunCamper]

@@Goomba_YT I might play around with mods just to get a little more out of it visually. I actually love the art style, but I would like to reshade and have it pop a bit more. I'm perfectly okay with endless DLCs with made an HD DLC remaster as well. Kind of how Dusk added one for free just to improve the visuals.

[@peterclay]

Grim dawn was my titan quest 2... titan quest 2 will be my grim dawn 2... grim dawn 2 will be my titan quest 3...

[@DoctorStrange01]

@@Goomba_YT They are making a new engine, i think it's been pretty much confirmed as far as i remember. But making a new engine is a decade away from having a complete game made on that engine, so i'd say no sooner than a 2030 beta, lol. Hopefully they will feel motivated and passionate about making a next gen Grim Dawn, they know damn well how much people love this game, and i feel like an upgraded and refined version of Grim Dawn, with shiny visuals that go with it, would be a total banger and a great alternative for PoE 2, which will probably remain the ARPG for the next few years as there's no real competition if we're talking newer games.

[@kentang33]

Hello! Quick question. I'm been thinking to buy grim dawn because of the steam winter sale. but i never quite try ARPG or i heard is kinda similar with titan quest. Witch i already have and played before in android version. But stopped because it's too slow and not really kinda my cup of tea. Is it really good sir, for casual or hardcore or both? I love RPG, but usually i played more to action one, not the strategy one like dragon age because its usually stressed me out. Thank you! (Sorry for the bad english. English is not my first languange).

[@Goomba_YT]

I think Grim Dawn is a great introduction to the ARPG genre. It’s built on a modified version of titan quests engine, but some of the people who made titan quest. I haven’t played titan quest but I’ve heard the grim Dawn plays smoother and is more polished. GD is simple enough for casuals (I consider myself pretty casual) and complex enough for try hards lol. GD has pretty standard fast’ish paced hack and slash game play. My new video went live a few hours ago talking about some reasons it’s great.

[@kentang33]

thank you for the information, from your perspective it's seem grim dawn a really good introduction to AARPG since it can be played casual and hardcore. I'm gonna give it a shot. Anyway thank you again and keep it up ^^

[@theMADTXgamer]

Game is to good. Picked up on steam sale for winter sale and have easily put in 50 hours already. Can’t play anything else.

[@Goomba_YT]

It can be addictive.

[@SynnJynn]

I guess I won't be able to play with hubby?

[@Goomba_YT]

You can absolutely play with hubby. You can do online multiplayer and I think local. It’s just not a massively multiplayer online game. One of you just has to create a multiple game, name it, set a password, and the other can join. The game just isn’t really designed around multiplayer, but you can still play together.

[@MimiMimi-yj4kl]

They need to update the game engine. So pixelated

[@Goomba_YT]

They’re building a new engine. It won’t be for GD 1 though.