Grim Dawn Grim Misadventures #113

We learn of the team's plans to ratchet up itemization even further in the upcoming Grim Dawn expansion in the 113th "Grim Misadventures" feature, in particular of their plans to include bonuses (and penalties?) to skills. Here's the gist of what's to come:
Grim Dawn’s itemization is quite vast and complex. Legendary items feature a wide variety of skill procs and granted abilities, but still it felt like something was missing from the formula. With the expansion, we look to improve upon the vast array of items available to you by introducing…Item-granted Skill Modifiers!

What does that mean exactly? It means that in addition to the basic attributes such as damage bonuses, health and resistances, items will be able to also Modify your Mastery skills. This means we will be able to introduce new effects, debuffs or even completely change the damage of an ability through equipment.

Item Skill Modifiers will appear on Monster Infrequent and Legendary Weapons, Amulets, Medals, Helms and Gloves.

For some examples, we’re going to take a look at a few items making a return in the expansion. Just as we took low level Epic items and turned them into Empowered versions to make them competitive for the base game’s level cap, old favorites will be returning as Mythical Epics and Mythical Legendaries for the new level cap of 100, mixed in with entirely new items.

A keen eye might also notice that several of these items are boosting three different skills instead of the usual two. This is another change coming in the expansion for the new higher level items. Most unique items will support 2-3 masteries instead of 1-2, expanding your build options dramatically.