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Fangs of Asterkarn was already shaping up to be Grim Dawn's biggest expansion last time I wrote about it, with designer Kamil 'Zantai' Marczewski boasting it would have "54 new bosses" and "cover approximately 3.55sq. km, which makes it roughly 110% as big as Ashes of Malmouth." That had grown to "up to 170% as big" when we got an update as part of Grim Dawn's 10th anniversary earlier this year, and it's turned out to be even bigger now that it's time for the release date to be revealed.
"The journey into the land of the Asterkarn will span over 6 square kilometers," says the announcement, "which is 190% as big as Ashes of Malmouth and 250% as large as Forgotten Gods, and features new environments that span from snowy peaks to breathtaking hot springs. These new environments are also riddled with secrets to uncover and hundreds of new treasures, such as New Epic items, unique Legendary items, and Monster Infrequents."
Oh yeah, and it'll have more than 60 new bosses instead of 54. But it's not just about making a great action RPG even bigger. Fangs of Asterkarn also adds Grim Dawn's 10th mastery, the shapeshifting berserker, as well as the Ascendant Game Mode, potion customization, affix transmutation, the ability to "awaken" epic-tier items to make them even more powerful, two roguelike dungeons, five new hero monster archetypes, and three factions to align yourself with. If you have the Crucible DLC, you get 30 more waves for that as well.
Even if you stick to basic Grim Dawn, at the same time as Fangs of Asterkarn comes out it's getting a free update to version 1.3 that includes an overhaul and expansion of the stash system for better inventory management, as well as WASD controls, a UI overhaul, detailed tooltips on items, balancing, bug fixes, and HDR lighting.
That's all coming on July 23, and will be available on Steam and GOG. Time to clear the calendar, I guess.
