Torchlight 2

[efkelley]

Didn't see a thread, so thought I'd kick one off.

http://www.torchlight2game.com/

Artwork style is similar to Samurai Jack, actually. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3juRyXJ3-Z4

I'm in the beta this weekend, and have already played up to 21 on an embermage. No NDA, so I'm happy to answer questions.

With the expanded pet functions (and the shopping list!) I have yet to return to town except to turn in a sub-quest. Not all services are available in town to start with. As you play you unlock services by rescuing people or recovering their tools. And there are things like enchanters out in the wild who will also offer services. Usually those are specific types of enchanters. For instance, I found a poison specialist. He'd add poison damage to weapons and poisons resistances/damage bonuses to armor.

All stats are useful to everyone. For instance, strength increases weapon damage and crit severity. Even a mage can make use of it. However, equipment requirements generally fall along 'class' lines. Meaning to equip this staff, you'll need a Focus (mana + elemental damage stat) of 30 or a minimum level of 12. So, even a berserker could equip it, but they'll only equip it at the lower level if they've been putting points into Focus. Which a berserker probably wouldn't do.

Remember the skills like 'Adventurer' and 'Ranged Weapon Spec'? They're passive spells now. You still have four spell slots, and your pet has four now too.

Fishing is the same, but there are 'promising' and 'remarkable' fishing pools out in the world that allow a limited number of casts. There's an unlimited basic fishing hole back in town. There are also fish to permanently change your pet into something more exotic.

That's about all I've got off the top of my head. Feel free to ask questions. There's no NDA any more.

[Adam]

I have a beta code for this, and I've registered it, but I'm not entirely sure my laptop will run it well. I played and loved the original, though, so I'll give it a try and hope for the best.

[fireluxlou]

I love this game so much. I have the first one I have a beta key I'll try and see if it runs on my laptop.

[efkelley]

Playing an Engineer now. Absolutely brutal! May have to up the difficulty just to take a bit of damage. This is from mid-teens, too, not early game where everyone seems nigh invincible.

[leahzero]

I'm in the regular beta, and loving it. Better than Diablo III, IMO.

/ducks

My main is an Outlander. Crazy damage, crazy kiting ability. It's almost criminal that nothing can touch me.

BF is playing an Engie and loves it. The robots are adorable. Also, mobile turrets FTW.

[Naz]

I'm really considering buying this. I mean, I love Torchlight and it's not expensive.

How does Torchlight 2 compare to Diablo 3? Should I buy it when it comes out?

[efkelley]

I played D3 up through Act 1 via a guest pass from a friend, and got into the T2 beta.

Functionally: They're nearly the same.

Graphically: Torchlight 2 has an edge in style (if you like Samurai Jack), D3 holds the field in particle effects and swirls of power smoke.

Skills: Torchlight 2 is more like Diablo 2 with skill selection. It's possible to nerf yourself, though you can respec for gold. I also like Diablo 3's limited selection of unlimited skills. Gives me plenty of tinker room. I'd call this category a wash.

Classes: D3 has 5 (two of which are pretty similar), T2 has 4 (all of which are dissimilar). Again a wash, but I think the distinction in playstyles gives a slight edge to Torchlight 2.

Story: They are what they are. I'm biased against Blizzard, so I'm not a good judge. For games like this I don't need a big excuse to go kill monsters. Just tell me where they are.

Loot: There's no crafting in T2, but there is enchanting, which is similar to the way D3 handles crafting in that it adds magic effects to your items. T2 has items to socket with gems for a variety of effects. I didn't get far enough in D3 to tell if that was the case there. All classes can use all loot in T2 if you meet the level requirements or stat requirements. Some very special loot is class restricted, but that's the extreme exception. Both games have the same diversity of common, uncommon, rare, and unique equipment.

Pets: You can send Torchlight pets to town to sell stuff and T2 lets you fill out a shopping list for the pet. So if you're running low on scrolls or potions, the pet can fetch them. Diablo3 pets have banter and more equipment slots to fiddle. Torchlight pets do not run off to pull the next mob with only 10% health left. In fact, they don't aggro anything unless you order them to attack. D3 pets are partially lobotomized, apparently.

Torchlight2 has no auction house. This is occasionally a plus.

Torchlight2 has no online requirement, unless you're playing multiplayer. This is decidedly a plus.

Then there's price. T2 is twenty bucks, and comes with T1 if you preorder on Steam. There's also a demo of T1 on Steam that will give you a very good idea of what T2 is like. Functionally, T1 and T2 are nearly the same with T2 having a better interface, larger inventory, and streamlined skill trees. So, if you're playing T1 and enjoying it, T2 is even better.

My bias is for Torchlight largely because of Diablo's online requirement and huge price tag. I also applaud Runic Games's business practices: http://www.pcgamer.com/2011/06/09/e3...-fine-with-us/ Pirated 5 million times, and they're good with that. Rock on, dudes. Finally a company that gets it.

If you've got other questions, I'd be happy to help.

[Naz]

@efkelley - Thanks for your response! I love Diablo 3 but must say the online requirement has been a let down so far. The servers are very unstable right now and for a game that expensive, it is kind of a disappointment.

May I ask what two classes are, in your opinion, very similar to each other?

Yes, Diablo 3 starts with blacksmithing and you get jewelcrafting in Act 2 (with gems, and gems that can be improved).

I just read that article (thanks for the link!) and wow, finally a company that gets it and doesn't try to fight it, but instead, looks at piracy as a marketing tool.

So since you got a guest pass to play Diablo 3, I do have a question for you: are you planning on buying Diablo 3 somewhere down the road? Why or why not? And what about Torchlight 2? Have you played Torchlight 1?

Thanks for answering my questions!

[efkelley]

Witch Doctor and Wizard were very similar to me.

I'll probably eventually get D3 when the price drops down. They should have their server issues sorted by then. I still really dislike the online requirement, especially since I doubt I'll ever participate in the auction house.

I've got T2 on pre-order. Picked it up the day pre-ordering was an option. Needless to say I enjoyed the hell out of T1.