Torchlight 2: Verdict & Review

About a month since release, Torchlight 2 has been taking up most of my time as expected. But it was all well worth it as the game is everything I expected and more. It is money well spent as where can a gamer get a game that gives them hours of replayability for under USD20.

Here is a quick summary of my views on the game thus far:

• Gameplay is great and filled with action  as it totally satisfies ARPG fans. Blast and hack your way across hordes of monsters ready to die for their cause.

• Loot, so much freaking loot! Torchlight 2 is totally not shy on giving players loot. Unlike a certain multimillion dollar title, Torchligt2 rewards player on a acceptable basis with unique loot just enough to keep you grinding for moar. (I have 2 mule characters filled to the brim just after 10 days... Yes, I hoard uniques)

• Quest NPCs and Bosses are memorable and laughable, making it a ball to play through all the side quest in the game.

• Random terrain/ map is done beautifully making no 2 map similar (except for boss arenas) and filled with random or set side quests that makes players just want to fully uncover each map they step into.

• Reward items from quest are actually useful to players and gives a good gear upgrade. There is even a quest that rewards player with a NPC vendor after completing the quest.

• Item enchanting was quite unbalanced from Torchlight 1 where players would spam enchantment on powerful item all the way. But in Torchlight 2, items can be enchanted up to 3 times and this helps a lot when players want to wear and item that they have outleveled but still want to wear it for its particular stats or not have something better.

• All class skills have potential and it is up to the player to find which skill synergizes with another skill and how it all compliments to the players intended build. It does not mean a level 1 skill is weak later in game or that a level 42 skill is the best in higher levels.

• Skill respec has been generating quite a lot of buzz in Torchlight 2 as the game only allows players to respec up to 3 most recent skills taken. This means players can respec skills that they taken early on in the game or respec all skills and rebuild a character. There are 2 sides to this as it is from the makers of Diablo1&2 and it is in their style to keep it that way. This also causes players to replay the game more by remaking new characters to test different builds. Best thing to do now, is to plan your character build with a skill calculator and best one out there is Torchlight Armory.

• Near endless end game content with Mapworks. The game features a random dungeon generator with special attributes tied to it which players can purchase from an NPC vendor after they have completed the final quest. Pick the attributes and zone, grab a couple of friends and farm till the world ends. Unlike Path of Exile which the maps are dropped from monsters as loot and can be modified afterwards, players can only purchase what the NPC vendor offers. (tip: remaking a LAN game and ticking the reroll  map box cause all NPC vendors to refresh their items on sale but all reseeds all your explored locations.)

• New Game Plus (NG+) lets players who have finished the game once start all over again with the game adjusted to 51. (not sure if there is a New New Game Plus after completing it once as my Mage just started of NG+ while my Berserker is busy farming Maps.)

• Resistance matters and Torchlight 2 introduces 2 types of defence against menacing elemental damage. With elemental resistance armor, player reduces elemental damage propotionally from an element. (based on my observations) There is also direct elemental damage reduction by percentage (not sure armor or percentage takes effect first). At higher levels, stacking elemental armor and having a few percentage reductions are key to surviving elite or boss's 1 hit kill skills.

• Mapworks let characters that have completed the game (kill the final boss in the final act) access the final town zone and purchase Maps (randomly created zones with positive or negative effects applied to players and monsters in that particular map) with gold. This options provides near endless gameplay to players. The monsters within the zones are randomly selected from one of the themes and the boss is also randomized. Players can farm for exp, money, loot or just for fun for 3 levels per map (2 levels of mobs and 1 level with the boss).

• Patches and updates come frequent and developers address bugs and game balances very well by buffing or nerfing skills when needed.

And heres a quick look at my 2 main characters that I am currently playing:

• Berserker
• I play this badass as a dual wielding melee monster equipped mostly with passive skills and area effects skills without any single or focused skills.
• Relying on passive skills, war cry and battle standard, this playstyle makes the Berserker near indestructable while tanking bosses (with sufficient life drain).
• Currently at level 68, I kept the Berserker at non Game Plus so that I can play with my friends and level up by farming Mapworks.
• My verdict on the Berserker is that it is too reliant on Life Steal per hit (either % or X amount) to survive when going toe to toe with elites, bosses or groups of mobs. But does very well when soloing bosses as Berserker does a good consistent flow of damage while taking almost anything the boss can throw at him (as long as  enough HP is stacked)

• Embermage
• This is my second character which I started after playing Berserker and it is a totally awesome class to play.
• During beta in May2012, I felt that Embermage was a little underpower but boy was I wrong. This elemental damage dishing madman mows down mobs and bosses in a jiffy, as long as you don't get hit by boss's instant kill skills.
• My solution was to stack Hit Points so my Embermage currently has about 8000 HP at level 100 and I plan to get more.
• Not relying too much on the Charge bar, a lot of my sockets used are Mana Regen per second which is great for letting my Frost Phase (aka Blink/Teleport) around the map limitlessly and spam non-charge building spells for a long period of time.
• The main thing that made me level my Embermage to level 100 eventhough it was my second character is that it clears groups of mobs so quickly and easily. Mana is almost never a problem even without drinking mana potions.
• The most powerful spell that kills anything = Flame Pillars. Reason being, it does damage per tick and totally ignores monster armor. With 7 Pillars stacking on a target, it literally dies in miliseconds.

Now I have just moved on to an Outlander since I keep finding so much Outlander gear and guns/bows/xbows. At level 55, I still don't feel it is anywhere as efficient in clearing mobs and bosses like Embermage. 

Next on the list is either a caster/frost Berserker or Cannoneer.

All in all, this game proves to be a testament to the great ARPG games that the original makers of Diablo 1 & 2 are able to deliver. Hope they keep it up with their free DLC and expansion/sequels.

I will post my skills and built after I compile the screenshots.