Players will be thrust into the dark, war-torn world of Cairn where a once proud empire has been brought to ruin and the human race driven to the edge of extinction. Cairn has become ground zero of an eternal war between two otherworldly powers, one seeking to use human bodies as a resource, the other intent upon destroying the human race before that can happen. This cataclysmic war has not only decimated human civilization but is warping the very fabric of reality and, in its wake, giving life to new horrors.

For humankind it is the dawn of a grim new age where iron has replaced gold as currency and the importance of salt as a weapon makes it far too valuable to waste on food. Small enclaves of human survivors exist scattered throughout the world, holed up in hidden 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 warp. These unnatural powers are feared by some but give many new hope of launching a resistance to fight the "outsiders" and reclaim what's left of their world.

The Crucible introduces a brand new way to experience Grim Dawn's cruel menagerie of enemies while gathering sweet sweet loot through its 150 waves.

The Crucible is a cruel arena devised by its Celestial master to draw in powerful adventurers and force them to battle for their lives, all for his amusement.

Once you own The Crucible DLC, you can select it from the Main Menu (the same way you switch between the Main Campaign and Custom Games).

Arenas

• The Crucible is a cruel place where even the mightiest heroes meet their match. But we couldn’t stop with just one deadly arena. The Crucible will feature several battlegrounds, each with a different layout and defensive positions.
• Crucible of the Dead: Countless bones of failed combatants litter the floor of this Crucible. This tomb lies within an endless sea of bones and misery. Will your bones join them? Or will you triumph where countless others have failed?
• Crucible of the Deeps: Deep beneath the earth, where no natural light can reach, this deadly Crucible was formed from the surrounding stones. What little light remains only serves to illuminate the terrors that await you within every shadow.
• Crucible of the Grove: Hidden away within a treacherous forest, this Crucible gives a new meaning to survival of the fittest. The warding power within the sacred stones at the center of this arena have long ago lost their strength. The gods will not spare you from a painful end at the claws and fangs of the Crucible's fiends.
• Crucible of the Sands: The shifting sands have nearly consumed this forgotten temple, now used as a Crucible to test the hardiest fighters. With the hungering fiends of the Crucible crawling in from every corner, it is inevitable that your sunbleached bones will soon join the ruins.

Difficulties

The Crucible will test your characters like nothing has before as you battle through its three difficulty modes. You will begin as an Aspirant, untested and unscarred by the ravages of the Crucible. But once you defeat the first 100 waves of the Crucible, you will earn access to the Challenger difficulty. Likewise, defeating 100 waves as a Challenger will allow you to play on the Gladiator difficulty.

Each difficulty presents tougher challenges, but also greater rewards.

Crucible Mechanics

Treasure Chamber

In the Crucible, death marks the end (especially true for Hardcore players). Every 10 waves of enemies, you have to make a difficult choice: continue 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 you perish, you cannot continue further in the Crucible. In Multiplayer, you still have a chance if your allies survive. Should they manage to finish the wave that bested you, you will be resurrected (for Softcore characters only). Cheer your allies on and perhaps together you will triumph!

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 you defeated and whether you chose to cash out or perished, with an additional treasure chest earned for successfully ending the Crucible.

Tributes

Tributes are the currency of the Crucible, bestowed upon you by its cruel master as compensation for your bloody perseverance. Tributes can be spent to Restart the Crucible at various Checkpoints, or to increase your odds of survival with the aid of Celestial Blessings and Arcane Defenses.

Defenses

The Crucible is cruel, but you are not without options. Spend your valuable Tributes to create powerful defenses around the arenas, giving you an edge on the seemingly endless waves of enemies.

• Deathchill Beacons launch icy orbs at distant enemies, slowing their advance, with a chance to freeze, but their damage is relatively low.
• Inferno Beacons frequently release intense bursts of flame at nearby enemies, but their range is limited.
• Stormcaller Beacons 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.
• Stonewall Banners grant nearby players bonus Health, Defensive Ability and Health Regeneration.
• Vanguard Banners grant nearby players bonus Damage, Offensive Ability and Crit Damage.

All Defenses can be upgraded twice, first gaining a new ability, then empowering their abilities:

• Deathchill Beacon Upgrade: periodically Freeze all nearby enemies. When fully upgraded, damage is increased by 25% and the Freeze is cast more often and on a larger area.
• Inferno Beacon Upgrade: periodically unleash a Fire Storm on a target area. When fully upgraded, damage is increased by 25%, Burst of Flame area is increased and the Fire Storm is cast more often.
• Stormcaller Beacon Upgrade: periodically Shock a nearby enemy for heavy damage with a chance to stun. When fully upgraded, damage is increased by 25% and the Shock is cast more often and affects two nearby enemies.
• Stonewall Banner Upgrade: periodically cast an area Heal. When fully upgraded, the range and effectiveness of the Aura and Heal are increased.
• Vanguard Banner Upgrade: periodically cast an area Frenzy Buff. When fully upgraded, the range and effectiveness of the Aura and Frenzy are increased.

Celestial Blessings

Much debate remains over the involvement of the gods in the grand weave of Cairn's destiny, but for a price, a ghostly apparition will bestow upon you Celestial Blessings:

• The Blessing of Ulo will shield you and your allies from duration Effects, such as poisons and reduces the duration of Crowd Control applied by your enemies.
• Empyrion's Guidance will grant you and your allies unparalleled fortitude.
• The Might of Amatok will emboldens you and your allies, causing every blow to be mightier, every spell to be brimming with arcane energies.
• Ulzuin's Pact will fills you and your allies with fiery fury, recharging all abilities and spells at an accelerated pace.

Mutators

As you progress through the Crucible, its master will throw another twist into the formula through Mutators. Mutators are global effects applied to all monsters or players, each one a unique twist that strengthens monsters/players in one way, but weakens them in another.

The Crucible begins with 0 Mutators, but up to 5 can become active at once. Every 10 waves of enemies, the Mutators are randomized.

• Leeching: Monsters leech health back with every attack, but have Reduced Health.
• Poisonous: Monsters are tainted with poison, dealing additional Poison damage and Retaliating Poison damage, but are more Susceptible to Vitality draining attacks.
• Corrupted: Players experience slowed Casting but are more Resistant to Chaos.

Leaderboard

As a way to track your successes across the Crucibles, and to compare your prowess with your friends (and adversaries), the Crucible scores your performance.

Each time you slay a monster, the score increments based on the monster slain, the wave you are on and the game difficulty. You can further magnify your score by beating the Bonus Timer.

Note: your score is only saved if you choose to claim your reward, or perish.

Bonus Timer

At the start of each wave, a bonus timer will count down to 0. If you manage to slay all enemies before it expires, the Score Multiplier will increment by 1. This in turn magnifies all the points you earn for each subsequent enemy slain. At the end of the Crucible, you earn an extra chest based on your final score, so maintaining a high multiplier is beneficial to maximizing your loot.

Note: defeating a Hero, Boss or Nemesis monster will increase the current Bonus Timer by several seconds.

However, each time the Multiplier is increased, the Bonus Timer for the next round is reduced. Maintaining the maximum multiplier of 10 is quite a feat, but it will set the true Champions of the Crucible apart from the Aspirants.

To coincide with this release, patch 1.0.0.5 has also gone live. The latest update to Grim Dawn features a number of balance changes that should open up even more options for players to build their characters.

The Crucible is the first DLC for Grim Dawn, available now on Steam, Humble and GOG.