Commands
The things that makes the editor go!
A commandline program usually gives you a bunch of commands that are somewhat "low-level". You can string together multiple commands and change/edit things the way you want.
So! If you somehow can't find a single command that does exact what you want, you probably want to try breaking that task down to multiple commands and executing them one at a time.
Note
If anything in the documentation starts sounding like gibberish, don't worry! The explanations are there for the sake of completeness. You can use the editor just fine without knowing all the nitty-gritty details!
Basic commands
command: show
Explore your data in your save file like a directory path.
Tip
If you're able to see the field using "show", you can change the field using "set".
Usage
show <field path>
Examples
show inventory-sacks shows content of "inventory-sacks" field
show inv shows the content of the only field that matches "inv" which
happens to be "inventory-sacks"
show inv/0 shows content of the first inventory
show inv/0/items shows all items in the first inventory
show inv/0/items/4 shows 5th item in the first inventory
Details
The character file holds quite a bit of binary data that's typically hard to explore. This command lets you look around the contents of the file almost as if you're exploring directories.
Each path component in the field path needs to be separated by a '/'.
Partial field matching
Each component is also used to partially match against potential fields.
For example, "in" will match against "level-in-bio", "shine", "skill-points", and more.
As long as the component uniquely identifies a single field and the field is a collection, the editor will allow you to continue navigating deeper into the data hierarchy by chaining additional field components.
--
command: set
Set fields in the save file
Usage
set <field path> <new value here>
set <field path to inventory items> <item name> <optional character level>
set <field path to inventory items collection> <item name> <optional character level>
Examples
set iron 1000000 gives your character 1,000,000 iron for all your shopping needs
set character-name Morty changes your character name to Morty
set inv/0/items "sacred hammer of eternal wrath" puts a new fancy item into your inventory
Details
The 'set' command is actually 2 commands rolled into 1.
Setting values
set <field path> <new value here>
In the case where the field path refers to an actual value such as: integer, floats, strings, and booleans. It will just set the value to the new value you provided. It will do its best to coerce the value you entered to the correct type.
Item creation
set <field path to inventory item> <item name> <optional character level>
set <field path to inventory items collection> <item name> <optional character level>
In the case where the field path refers to an item or an item collection, the editor will attempt to generate an item that matches the
If you gave the editor an item collection, such as 'inv/0/items', it will try to find some empty spot in the inventory to place the item into.
The editor needs access to the game database for item creation to work. If the editor throws an error during item creation, it is very likely that you need to configure the gamedir correctly.
--
command: find
Find/locate an item, equipment, skills, devotions, and factions by name.
Usage
find <partial name>
Examples
find tonic Find some item that contains the word tonic
find "Maiven's Sphere of Protection" Find a specific skill by name
Details
There can be a lot of data in your character file. Although the editor allows you to to edit any item on a field-by-field basis, it is difficult to find the item you may want to edit in the first place.
The find command solves this problem by searching through every piece of data in the
file and printing the location of things that partially matches the entered name. It is
then possible to use other commands to for targetted edits.
For example, if you're a bit low on health potions, you might do:
> find tonic
Tonic of Mending: inventory-sacks/0/inventory-items/0
> set inventory-sacks/0/inventory-items/0/stack-count 99
In this example, we first the item entry for the tonic of mending, then change the stack count so we have 99 of it in the stack.
--
command: swap-variant
Swap between variants of an item's basename, prefix, or suffix
Usage
swap-variant <item path>
swap-variant <item path> basename
swap-variant <item path> prefix
swap-variant <item path> suffix
Examples
swap-variant weapon-sets/0/items/0 Change the basename/base item of
the currently equipped weapon
Details
The editor's 'set' command can be used to generate items. It doesn't, however, allow for you to pick the exact variant you might want. For example, the legendary helm "Ravager's Dreadgaze" has 3 different variants, each with very different boosts attached. When the 'set' command goes about generating that item, it really does not know which one you want specifically.
swap-variant solves this problem by letting you customize the item after
item generation. The command can deal with swapping the base item (basename),
prefix, or suffix.
When the command runs, it looks through the game db for items/affixes of with the same name, then presents the found items in an on-screen menu. The menu works the same way as the character selection menu when the editor first starts up. You can make your selection by inputing a number and hitting enter.
The editor will try to present only "interesting" fields in the item/affix. In this case, "interesting" means fields that are unique amongst all the variants. This means that the menu will not present the full list of boosts for the item/affix. But it should present enough information to make picking the desired variant possible.
--
command: write
Writes out the character that is currently loaded
Usage
write
write <new character name>
Details
write writes out the currently loaded character. A backup is always made
first so you can try to go back to a previous save file if anything should go
wrong. If you changed your "character-name" at some point, the editor will also
move your save files to the matching directory so the game can find it.
Warning
While the editor does its best to try not clobbering your save file, it would be advisable to make periodic backups on your own, just in case.
write <new character name> writes out a new copy of the loaded character
after renaming the character.
--
command: load
Load from a save file
Syntax
load
Details
This is an odd command. This is the only command that will take you to a different menu. It will actually unload your current character, if any, then show you the character selection menu.
You probably expected the command look something like load <character name> That's not really ideal because:
- You may have several savedir configured and have character of the same name
- It's not clear which characters have been found and can be loaded without a menu
--
command: update
Update to the latest version of gd-edit
Details
The editor will check for a new version if it hasn't done so in the past 24 hours. If a new version is found, a prompt should be shown shortly after the editor is started.
Running the update command actually starts the download and relaunches the
editor, if possible.
--
command: exit
Just exits the program. Pretty straightforward!
Convenience commands
These are commands that typically require complicated operations on the character to complete. While the editor gives you a lot of tools to dig around the game db and alter your save file, sometimes, you just need a bit more oomph out of the editor.
command: level
Set the level of the loaded character to a new value
Usage
level <new level>
Details
You can level the character both up and down. This command will update the following fields:
- character level (3 separate fields)
- attribute points
- skill points
- experience points
--
command: respec
Respecs the loaded character
Usage
respec
respec attributes
respec devotions
respec skills
respec all
Details
respec, by itself, is the same respec all.
This is useful when you want to turn your character into another build completely. Alternatively, you can also respec only attributes, devotions, or skills, if you just want to tweak your build a bit and avoid having to pick everything all over again.
Note
In case it isn't clear, the editor doesn't provide any way of actually picking devotions and skills. You'll have to jump back into the game to do that.
Configuration
command: savedir
Sets the save game directory to a path
Usage
savedir
savedir <path to save directory>
Details
The editor already looks in the following directory by default:
- Steam cloud save directory (fetched from windows registry)
- Documents\My Games\Grim Dawn\save\main
If, for some reason, the save directory doesn't reside in either of these locations, you can use this command to add yet another path for the editor to look into.
Note
Please point to the save\main directory. Because... reasons?
--
command: savedir clear
Removes the previous set game directory
--
command: gamedir
Sets the game installation directory to a path
Warning
A lot of the editor commands will not work unless the gamedir is configured!
Usage
gamedir
gamedir <path to game install directory>
Details
The editor will fetch the steam install directory, then look into "\steamapps\common\Grim Dawn" sub-directory. If you're not using steam or if you've installed Grim Dawn to another directory, you'll need to use this command to help the editor find the installation directory.
The editor needs "database\database.arz" and "resources\Text_EN.arc" to resolve affixes, their readable names, among other pieces of data required by various commands. Setting this isn't strictly required if you're only using the 'show' and 'set' command of the editor. However, it's very likely you'll soon want to create items by name and respec your character, etc etc.
--
command: gamedir clear
Removes the previously set game installation directory
--
command: mod
Displays the mod currently selected
--
command: mod pick
Picks an installed mod to activate
Usage
mod pick
Details
This is another command that will not accept any parameters but take you to a selection menu. The menu will show the game mods you have installed and allows you to pick one for "activation".
When a mod is "active", the editor will bring the contents of the mod's database.arz file. From that point on, respecing, leveling, mastery/class modifications will be take into consideration the data from the mod.
--
command: mod clear
Deselect the currently selected mod
Class manipulation
command: class
Displays the classes/masteries of the loaded character
--
command: class add
Add a class/mastery by name
Usage
class add <mastery name>
The editor is able to accept any mastery name that is listed in class
list, which should include all masteries added by mods.
The editor will try to remove 1 skill point from the character if possible. This is done for the sake of keeping skill point use consistent. If the character has no skill points left to use, the editor will throw up a prompt to let you do it anyway, if you'd like.
This command is mostly included for the sake of completeness, as you'll most likely pick your mastery directly from within the game.
--
command: class list
Display classes/masteries known to the editor.
This includes masteries added by mods. Please see the 'mod' commands to configure which GD mod the editor should consider when manipulating character masteries.
--
command: class remove
Remove a class/mastery by name
Usage
class remove <mastery name>
The editor is able to accept any mastery name that is listed in class
list, which should include all masteries added by mods.
Removing a mastery will not skills associated with the mastery. Any bonuses you gain from those skills should continue to be active. However, you'll loose the ability to put points into those skills from the game's UI.
Removing a mastery will refund any skill points you've put into the mastery.
Database exploration
command: db
Explore the database interactively
Usage
db <record path>
Example
db records/items/gearfeet shows all known boots/foot-wear in the game
db records/items/gearfeet/d010 shows the database record for "Earthshatter Treads"
Details
This command is similar to the "show" command. Whereas the "show" command lets you explore the character file like a directory structure, the "db" command allows you to explore the game database like a directory structure.
Partial path matching rules also apply.
--
command: q
Query the database
Usage
q <match condition> <match condition> ...
Example
q key~offensivePhysicalMin find all records that has some field key that
partially matches "offensivePhysicalMin"
q offensivePhysicalMin>50 find all records/items/affixes that causes
minimum physical damage of 50
q offensivePhysicalMin>50 levelRequirement<20 find all
records/items/affixes that causes minimum physical damage of 50 and can be
equipment by characters lower than level 20
q recordname~axe finds all records where the name partially matches the
string "axe"
Details
Uh... Are you really reading this? Let me just say... it's very unlikely that you're going to need this command.
The game db holds a bit of data. There are some 30k records the last time I looked. This is just a little too much to manually search through. This command lets you sift through the database and narrow down the results to something that can be examined manually.
The game's database records are kept in what's known as "key/value" pairs aka hashtable/dictionaries. The command accepts a number of match condition that performs a single test on the key or the value or both. If a record passes all the listed conditions in the "query", then the record will be collected and displayed sometime in the future.
Match condition
A match condition takes the form of
<match target> <operator> <match value>
A <match target> can be the string "recordname", "key", "value", or the
partial name of a key.
<operator> needs to be one of the following:
| operator | meaning |
|---|---|
| ~ | partial string match against |
| *= | partial string match against |
| = | exact match against |
| != | not equal |
| > | greater than |
| >= | greater than or equal to |
| < | less than |
| <= | less than or equal to |
A <match value> can be a integer, a float, a quoted string, or any string
Result ordering
The editor will display the first 10 matched records, ordered by their
recordname. You can alter the ordering by adding a clause in the form of "order
The editor will always order in descending order if an order clause is provided.
--
command: qshow
Show the next page in the current query result
Details
Often a query will return many results. Each record is displayed in The editor only shows 10 records at a time. Running this command will cause the next 10 command to be displayed.
If the last result has been shown, running this command again will "wrap-around" and start showing from the first matched record again.
--
command: qn
It's short for "query next". Does the same thing as 'qshow'. This is just an alias to be able to see the "next" set of results.