Grim Dawn Tips & Tricks
A beginner guide covering the mastery system, devotion tree priorities, resistance management, and the crafting component and faction augment systems. Designed to get new players to level 100 without common pitfalls.
11 Tips · 5 categories
6 tipsProgression
Consider Veteran Difficulty for Better Drops
When creating a character you can choose between Normal and Veteran difficulty. Veteran is slightly more challenging but rewards a minor experience boost and slightly better item drops. It's completely optional and not required to reach endgame, so pick whichever you're comfortable with.
Grab Powerful Green Items in Lower Crossing First
In the Lower Crossing starting area, the houses near the starting town contain powerful green items that make the first five to ten levels significantly easier. Check these houses as soon as you start a new character before heading out to fight.
Pick Masteries Based on the Class Fantasy You Enjoy
At level 2 you choose your first mastery, and at level 10 you pick a second to form a combined class. Every mastery combination in Grim Dawn is capable of reaching endgame, so prioritize enjoying what you play over trying to optimize. Dual combinations each have a unique identity. Nightblade with Soldier becomes a Blademaster, while Nightblade with Necromancer becomes a Reaper, for example.
Start Devotions With Health Regen and Speed Bonuses
In the early game, health regeneration and movement speed bonuses from the devotion tree scale exceptionally well and provide reliable survivability. Look for these stats when planning your first devotion path before committing points toward more specialized outer constellations.
Stick to Two Damage Types or Fewer
Scaling damage effectively requires gear and skills that share the same damage type. Spreading across three or more types makes it very hard to fully invest in any of them, leading to weaker output overall. Use the devotion tree search bar to find constellations that match your chosen damage types and build around them consistently.
Work Toward Outer Devotion Constellations
The outer constellations in the devotion tree provide significant stat boosts and powerful on-hit skills that define strong builds. To unlock them you need to meet their affinity requirements, which are built up by completing inner constellations of matching colors. Plan a path through the inner constellations that works toward the affinity totals your target outer constellation requires.
1 tipExploration
Explore Every Cave for Devotion Shrine Points
Caves are marked on the minimap by a small golden eye symbol and sometimes contain a Devotion Shrine that grants one devotion skill point. Devotions function as a passive skill tree with on-hit abilities and significant stat bonuses, so collecting every shrine you find is worth the detour.
2 tipsCombat
Cap Resistances Before Each Difficulty Jump
Resistances in Grim Dawn are penalized when you advance to a harder difficulty. Moving from Normal to Elite reduces all resistances by 25%, and Elite to Ultimate reduces them by another 25%. Aim to have your resistances fully capped or close to it before each transition, or incoming damage will escalate quickly.
Stack High Armor to Avoid Getting One-Shot
Armor rating reduces physical damage taken and functions like a physical resistance alongside your elemental resistances. Boss melee attacks can one-shot characters with low armor, so prioritize high-armor gear and invest in health pool increases to absorb hits that slip through.
1 tipCrafting
Apply Crafting Components to Every Piece of Gear
Components drop from chests and monsters and socket into gear to provide targeted stat bonuses. One component per gear slot, and every slot should always have one. Don't hold back from using them on temporary pieces, because later in the game you unlock an NPC who can remove a component or break the gear down to return it, so nothing is permanently lost. Good early options include Mutated Scales for health, Corpse Dust for rings, and Silk Swatch for pierce and bleed resistance.
1 tipEconomy
Use Faction Augments to Patch Missing Stats
Each faction's Quartermaster sells augments, which stack on top of socketed components on the same piece of gear for a second layer of stat bonuses. Augments unlock at Honored standing and improve at Revered. Build reputation by completing quests in faction territory, killing enemies the faction despises, or finishing bounty table missions. Quartermasters are identifiable by their bright gold bag icon, unlike normal vendors which have a dull brown one.
Verified: 2026-05-24 · All content is original with full credit to original creators.