Torchlight 2

I heard about that. I also know you can repopulate dungeons to grind levels against weaker monsters. But I don't really like doing that, partly because it sounds incredibly boring and partly because it seems to defeat the point of actually playing on a higher difficulty. I try to play hardcore the same way as a normal game, complete every area only once. But eventually I always get overwhelmed by a group of nasty monsters.

It wouldn't bother me so much if Elite wasn't so unpredictable in parts. Most of the time you're perfectly safe and then suddenly you go from full health to nothing. I just lost another promising character in Act 2. He entered a dungeon and was immediately ambushed by a Champion Basilisk. Since he couldn't retreat anywhere he got stunlocked to death. Before that point he was steamrolling through everything.

Ah well, no sense in complaining. I'll probably stick to Veteran softcore for a while so I get a chance to try out a few gimmicky builds.

I started gaming on PC in 2001 and one of my absolute favourite games of that time was the original Dungeon Siege. Is Torchlight anything like DS? I just found it so addictive.

There's a demo. Take a risk and try it.

Personally I'd say TL2 is nothing like DS, but that's because I thought DS was tedious - it virtually played itself once you set the party up correctly.

I found The Thing reference in game, that alone makes it worth to buy the game ^^

Good thing about TL2 is it has the cooperative multiplayer mode now. That makes the game interesting. But still in a deep thinking if I'm going to purchase it. :D

OK, I'm prepared to respec by hook or crook now. What's the most multiplayer friendly, non-cheat flagging way to do that at this point?

http://forums.runicgames.com/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=43248

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Originally Posted by Spider Jerusalem

http://forums.runicgames.com/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=43248

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Thanks, I'll give that a try. It's nice that it has "legitimacy" restrictions you can implement, I'm really only looking to move the first 10 or so skill points I spent, back when I had no real idea how the game worked.

Edit: That worked beautifully, and when all was said and done I only had to move 6.

yeah it's a pretty slick tool overall.

glad it worked for you.

Cool graphics. maybe i should try this one. is it multiplayer?

Single player mostly, but you can host a game for others, up to 6 players to co-op. Or find one in the lobby if ya don't wanna host it.

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Originally Posted by vinraith

OK, I'm prepared to respec by hook or crook now. What's the most multiplayer friendly, non-cheat flagging way to do that at this point?

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You'd wonder why it wasn't in game. The rest of their design decisions are so player-friendly.

I haven't actually played much TL2 yet, and only on normal. It would be helpful if you could tell me how you felt you'd borked your build.

Actually that's another thing. Is this going to become like D3, where there are certain optimal builds for each class?

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Originally Posted by frightlever

Actually that's another thing. Is this going to become like D3, where there are certain optimal builds for each class?

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For every class there are one or two builds that are clearly superior to the rest, either because of their high damage potential or because of their survivability. Glaive Throw for Outlanders, Prismatic Bolt for Embermages, anything involving Forcefield for Engineers, etc. It's not really a problem on Normal, since the game is easy enough that you can complete it with just about any build, but it is very noticeable on Elite. Going through the highest difficulty with a physical based Outlander is a huge pain and really not worth the effort.

I hope Runic will do some additional balancing to make some of the weaker skills more powerful. I'm not too worried though, because even if they won't, the community will create a rebalance mod themselves somewhere down the line.

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Originally Posted by fiddlesticks

For every class there are one or two builds that are clearly superior to the rest, either because of their high damage potential or because of their survivability. Glaive Throw for Outlanders, Prismatic Bolt for Embermages, anything involving Forcefield for Engineers, etc. It's not really a problem on Normal, since the game is easy enough that you can complete it with just about any build, but it is very noticeable on Elite. Going through the highest difficulty with a physical based Outlander is a huge pain and really not worth the effort.

I hope Runic will do some additional balancing to make some of the weaker skills more powerful. I'm not too worried though, because even if they won't, the community will create a rebalance mod themselves somewhere down the line.

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Hmm. Maybe I'll stick with Normal - I was going to restart and put it up a notch, but fun trumps challenge for me. If there's an optimal build that I have to stick to then I'd rather dial down the difficulty and play in a way I enjoy.

So I'm in the mid 60's, playing NG+ on veteran with my Embermage, and suddenly survivability has dropped to nil. I die in one hit to every boss and, worse, some trash mobs. The death count is getting really obnoxious, and this problem has come on very suddenly. Clearly there's something wrong with my build, my equipment, or some combination thereof. Stats posted below, advice very welcome.

http://imageshack.us/a/img41/6736/2012110600001.th.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img818/8107/2012110600002.th.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img195/9317/2...600003x.th.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img717/1517/2012110600004.th.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img577/9502/2012110600005.th.jpg

sorry if this has been asked already but has there been any word on when TL2 will be on Steam Workshop?

After looking at your build, I'd say your biggest problem is that you have neither a lot of health nor a lot of damage resistance. The problem with armour in this game is that it doesn't scale very well with your level. In NG+ on Veteran even weaker enemies can do more than a thousand damage per hit, especially when you factor in criticals. And larger mobs will most likely just kill you outright. An extra 100 or so armour just doesn't make a difference at this point. So when choosing your equipment and gems, focus on whatever gives +health or +resistance.

Also I really recommend going with wand and shield instead of a staff. The extra block chance makes a huge difference because it works against every attack, so 75% block would be almost as good as 75% damage resistance. And since you already raised Vitality quite high you might as well make use of the additional block chance it provides.

As far as skills are concerned, what is your primary attack skill? You haven't raised any of them past level 5, which means your damage output isn't that great at this stage of the game. You really should have one bread-and-butter skill that you use in most situations and that you put a point in whenever possible. You might also consider investing into Ice Prison. Even with only one point it's a very good support skill that allows you to control the battlefield a lot more effectively.

And if you haven't already, download the draw distance fix from the official Runic forums. With it enemies will be visible as soon as they are at the edge of your screen, giving you more time to react. I couldn't imagine playing without it.

That's what I would recommend at a cursory glance. If you need any more advice, feel free to ask.

Try getting Death's Bounty. It takes a bit of time for you to realise how good and useful (necessary?) it is. Whilst it doesn't do anything about stopping damage, when applied to an enemy/area, when spec'd high enough it can slow enemies down and whenever you kill them, it'll sound out energy bolts that heal you and recover mana at a decent amount. The mana alone is enough to, generally speaking, keep you topped up until Charge fills up (and while that's going on, enough passive mana recovery should have brought you fairly close to the top). It works per bolt too and as every enemy who has it sends out multiple bolts, taking on bigger packs is easier and it's extremely useful for co-op.

Again, this doesn't help prevent damage, but you may find it in handy.

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Originally Posted by fiddlesticks

lots of useful stuff

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First off, thanks for the detailed reply!

As to skills, prismatic bolt is at 13, and is my bread-and-butter attack skill. I've been working on blazing pillar and thunder locus as secondaries, having determined that ice bolt and shocking burst are no longer useful. Atop that I've been keeping elemental boon up, to compliment prismatic bolt, and been keeping up astral ally as a distraction/second damage source. I don't want for damage output, and can usually flatten even bosses pretty easily, so long as I'm fast enough with frost phase to avoid getting hit. When I screw up, though, I die in one shot.

I had been using a wand and shield up until recently, and come to think of it the switch corresponds pretty well to the beginning of my problems. I'll try to find a good wand/shield combo to switch back to, as you're undoubtedly right that damage prevention is a real problem.

Your notes about armor explain a lot, I've been fairly baffled by its seeming irrelevance in resolving the issues I've been having. I've been looking for a good plus health item, but I'll also watch for resistance stuff. I expect a good shield will help enormously, in general. Oh, while I'm at it, how valuable is damage reflection? How does that actually work, anyway? Also, is dexterity any help, here?

Thanks again.


@JG

Thanks, I'll give that one a look!