Why do big dungeons have to be locked behind skeletons keys?

[McJiggy]

Its really ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ that these long ass dungeons are locked behind skeleton keys that you can't use the warp gate especially when getting killed by the boss. I can't even open the door anymore even though I made another key so now I have to do the entire dungeon all over again after quitting.

[powbam]

https://www.grimdawn.com/guide/gameplay/exploration/#q03

[Enfild]

Thats... The point. Risk-reward

[OrbPlaytime]

Crate IMO has done a great job balancing how players are punished for death or char respec.
One attempt dungeons without reset are solely limited to the skeleton key dungeons and they make a small part of the overall game.
Furthermore they have a gradual difficulty increase so hopefully you will always be able to do some and others will be a challenge until the char is more rounded in devotion proc skill levels and gear.
Difficulty is something like this:
Steps of Torment -Easiest, Bastion of Chaos, Port Valbury, Ancient Grove (Ashes of Malmouth DLC), Tomb of the Heretic (Forgotten God DLC) -Hardest.

[OrbPlaytime]

Even if you fail the timer for Shattered Realm by dying (you can re-enter but the timer is heavily reduced), you only lose 2 chests in the treasure room, which have a limited affect on rewards.
Caveat being you need to do 2 shards otherwise it is very limited, and of course context of Hardcore mode not applicable to this thread.

[Senrezu]

Those dungeons are completely optional. Since the latest updates there isn't even a good reason to run them anymore EXCEPT for some exclusive items that can only drop there.

And when you hunt dungeon-specific items you are doing it in Ultimate anyways. Just use one of your chars than can easily clear these.

[McJiggy]

The dungeon I tried to do is linked to a quest though that was given by the avatar of mogdrogen at the Ugdenbog area. This was a quest so why did I have to get locked out of the dungeon after getting killed by the boss he wanted me to kill? I even brought more skeleton keys but the door wouldn't open again, I'm pretty sure I was able to open a skeleton door again after dying when I was at another dungeon locked behind an ancient gate so I was able to go through without fighting hoards of enemies again.

[MedeaFleecestealer]

Originally posted by JamestheFreak:

The dungeon I tried to do is linked to a quest though that was given by the avatar of mogdrogen at the Ugdenbog area. This was a quest so why did I have to get locked out of the dungeon after getting killed by the boss he wanted me to kill? I even brought more skeleton keys but the door wouldn't open again, I'm pretty sure I was able to open a skeleton door again after dying when I was at another dungeon locked behind an ancient gate so I was able to go through without fighting hoards of enemies again.

Nope, all rogue dungeons work the same way. If you die in them (or win through) you can't enter them again without going back to the character selection screen and starting a new play session.

[Senrezu]

Originally posted by JamestheFreak:

The dungeon I tried to do is linked to a quest though that was given by the avatar of mogdrogen at the Ugdenbog area. This was a quest so why did I have to get locked out of the dungeon after getting killed by the boss he wanted me to kill? I even brought more skeleton keys but the door wouldn't open again, I'm pretty sure I was able to open a skeleton door again after dying when I was at another dungeon locked behind an ancient gate so I was able to go through without fighting hoards of enemies again.

Yeah just skip this quest on normal and elite.... get the devotion shrine and move on.

[DirtyMick]

Yeah. That's the point. You die, you have to start over. Makes it a little less braindeady.

[OrbPlaytime]

Originally posted by JamestheFreak:

The dungeon I tried to do is linked to a quest though that was given by the avatar of mogdrogen at the Ugdenbog area. This was a quest so why did I have to get locked out of the dungeon after getting killed by the boss he wanted me to kill? I even brought more skeleton keys but the door wouldn't open again, I'm pretty sure I was able to open a skeleton door again after dying when I was at another dungeon locked behind an ancient gate so I was able to go through without fighting hoards of enemies again.

Thats an optional quest (def worth taking once you feel ready for the dungeon), while the skeleton key/challenge dungeon Ancient Grove that you did is the 4th hardest in terms of difficulty.
Can take a bit to work out what the risks are inside this dungeon and also the Tomb of the Heretic, also these two dungeons its really important to pay attention to the mutators top right once inside that influence the difficulty of these.
The Outcast in Fort Ikon also has optional quests that take you through the main game skeleton key dungeons, but in the sequence of easiest to hardest.

[DirtyMick]

Originally posted by OrbPlaytime:

Originally posted by JamestheFreak:

The dungeon I tried to do is linked to a quest though that was given by the avatar of mogdrogen at the Ugdenbog area. This was a quest so why did I have to get locked out of the dungeon after getting killed by the boss he wanted me to kill? I even brought more skeleton keys but the door wouldn't open again, I'm pretty sure I was able to open a skeleton door again after dying when I was at another dungeon locked behind an ancient gate so I was able to go through without fighting hoards of enemies again.

Thats an optional quest (def worth taking once you feel ready for the dungeon), while the skeleton key/challenge dungeon Ancient Grove that you did is the 4th hardest in terms of difficulty.
Can take a bit to work out what the risks are inside this dungeon and also the Tomb of the Heretic, also these two dungeons its really important to pay attention to the mutators top right once inside that influence the difficulty of these.
The Outcast in Fort Ikon also has optional quests that take you through the main game skeleton key dungeons, but in the sequence of easiest to hardest.

No way, 4th hardest? Gargabol?? I've seen that guy end several runs in hardcore. I'd put only tomb of the heretic as harder than ancient Grove. Maaaybe valbury just because of how big it is and all the aether ground effects everywhere, but that's more just a pain in the ass than it is a scary fight.

[Gladiator Yeti]

hardcore, play to live

[DirtyMick]

Originally posted by Bigfoot:

hardcore, play to live

Shhhhh, don't tell him about hardcore mode, his brain might explode.

[DeMasked]

A good idea when you do these dungeons is to sell everything before you proceed and your rift gate becomes useless (Bastion of Chaos is slightly less forgiving in this respect) prep with potions to boost resistances, health regen and health.

I remember one time afking outside the dungeon for too long and it closed on me resulting in a wasted key and having to redo the entire dungeon - Steps of Torment back in ye old days.

[TheLightningYu | Mike]

For me the Roguelike Dungeons are one of the best features of the Game. I really liked the Risk & Reward without going into extremes of deleting the whole character like Hardcore Mode. And also made the Dungeons (for me atleast) more intense the first few times when you played them.