When comparing Dungeon Defenders II vs Grim Dawn, the Slant community recommends Grim Dawn for most people. In the question“What are the best PC games that focus on loot?” Grim Dawn is ranked 2nd while Dungeon Defenders II is ranked 28th. The most important reason people chose Grim Dawn is:
Basically you choose 1 class and select skills as you level up. At level 10 you can select a second class, which already gives you 5x5=25 character type possibilities. Each character has dozens of skills, plus you have this additional passive skill tree that you unlock through cleansing shrines. Then there is item customization with crafted "modifiers", adding additional unique stats and skills that you can use, all this adds literally to thousands / millions of character possibilities. Do you want to use a double weapon shooting lightning bolts? You can do that. Do you want to summon your creatures and support them with fireballs? You can do that as well, you can push it wherever you want.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Visual appeal
Charming characters, vibrant colors, and an art style that is cohesive across all their content.
Pro Free to play
You have access to all levels and difficulties and the 4 starting heros. New heros can either be bought or unlocked by earning defender medals through mission completion and daily quests.
There are hero costumes which can't be earned in game but they are purely visual. The only advantage a paying player can buy is more bag space or extra hero card slots (you get +1 card slot when you unlock a hero with in game currency but can buy more if you want duplicates).
Pro Constantly being improved
There are updates nearly weekly and always new levels and characters being added. The more recent Incursions have also been more of a challenge compared to some of the original content.
Pro Complex leveling system with thousands of possible builds
Basically you choose 1 class and select skills as you level up. At level 10 you can select a second class, which already gives you 5x5=25 character type possibilities.
Each character has dozens of skills, plus you have this additional passive skill tree that you unlock through cleansing shrines. Then there is item customization with crafted "modifiers", adding additional unique stats and skills that you can use, all this adds literally to thousands / millions of character possibilities.
Do you want to use a double weapon shooting lightning bolts? You can do that. Do you want to summon your creatures and support them with fireballs? You can do that as well, you can push it wherever you want.
Pro Great homage to old school ARPGs
This game is very dark, and grim. It harkens back to games like Diablo 2 or Titans Quest. While other ARPGs have come out since then, none have hit all the marks of what fans of the genre have been asking for. For those that wish for an updated version of Diablo 2, Grim Dawn is the game for them.
Pro Exploration
Pro Highly modifiable
Relevant in modern gaming because the community can keep products like this fresh and varied, even if the developers eventually decide to slow down their updates (which they have not!). The possibilities are great with modding, while the experiences in Diablo 3 and Path of exile are a lot more static.
Pro Drop-in co-op (online and local)
Co-op is pretty convenient as players can drop in and out of your gaming session at any time. This way there is no wasted time jumping out of ones game in order to find players to play with.
Cons
Con Everything that was wrong with Dungeon Defenders 1, is also wrong in this version
Bad gear balancing, pay 2 win gear, 1 builder 3 dps, many hackers/cheaters.
Con Still in development (as of 8/25/16)
Each patch often brings as many bugs or balance problems as it does bits of additional content. They are usually worked out but it might turn away players looking for a finished product.
Con No challenge until the highest difficulty
There is a campaign mode but it's far too easy even for brand new players. And after you're done with the campaign, your fastest method of leveling to cap is running the same boss repeatedly on a low difficulty. Why have 8 difficulty levels if you encourage your players to skip half of them through poor balance?
Con Only some builds are fun
There is a definite meta, with superefficient vs non-viable builds.
It's easy to mess up a build, and attribute and spec-bar points are non-respeccable (you can use a cheat editor, but devs want you to reroll a new char).
Con Difficult to move when fighting, especially when you are ranged
Con Static pre-rendered levels
This may cut down on replayability a bit as all the levels in the game are pre-rendered, meaning that each playthrough will have the exact same layout, making for something that can get tiring and too familiar. Similar games have gone with randomized levels, which can keep the game fresh. While Grim Dawn is meant to be a throwback to earlier games in the genre, some newer features found in more recent released would have been welcome.
Con Lots of trips to town
The majority of loot in the game can be useless, with odd stat restrictions or repeats of vendor items. This means the user will need to make many trips into town to sell it all off in order to have room for even more loot they will not necessarily need.