Torchlight II

Torchlight II

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Next build? (Vanilla only!)
I ONLY play Vanilla. I have no plans or interest in trying mods at this time.

I've been playing TL2 on and off since it released, but in the last year I got really into it again and my playtime more than doubled. In that time I have made several 'complete', fully enchanted level 100 builds. So far I have one build I'm completely satisfied for each of the four classes except Embermage, for which I'm currently making my 4th build (Strength-based). I'm hoping that this build will finally be satisfactory after my somewhat disappointing Focus builds. With that out of the way, I'm posting to ask what kind of build should I do next?

Finished/Satisfactory Builds:
:berserker: Berserker - Auto-Attack (Left Click, 25K HP Heal Tank)
:tl2engineer: Engineer - Emberquake (with Fusillade Alt Set)
:outlander: Outlander - Shooty Outlander (Rapid Fire Shotgun/Single Pistol and Shield)

Finished/Unsatisfactory Builds:
:embermage: Embermage - Focus (Frost Wave/Prismatic Bolt, All 3 Brands)

In Progress Builds:
:embermage: Embermage - Strength/DPS (Shocking Orb and Icy Blast)

These are the builds I'm curious about since I've never done them:
:berserker: Wolfpack Berserker
:tl2engineer: Pure Cannon/Minion Engineer
:outlander: Glaivelander
:embermage: Fire Embermage
:fishing: Any Pet- or Minion-Oriented Builds
:luck: Any others (unmodded) I might consider?
Originally posted by steffire3:
Originally posted by Cannonaire:
Originally posted by steffire3:
Glaive Sweep, Vortex Hex, Bane Breath, Burning Leap, Rune Vault, Flaming Glaive, Blade Pact, Stone Pact with Melee Weapons
After what you said in the other thread, I'm thinking about this one now. I can probably make a new Outlander build fairly easily using the equipment I already have enchanted for my Shooty Outlander, but with different skills and weapons. I'm having trouble visualizing how it would play though. Any thoughts or skill point allocation suggestions?
Yes, a player could also add Bramble Wall (skill) to destroy it for the item activations from weapons (Acid Rain, Glacial Strike, whatever is available to spawn on the Bramble's destruction near enemies).

Outlander has no native 25% Damage Reduction (compared to Berserker) so it really needs all the Armor Sockets it can get to raise that and Riechliu skulls for the extra health.

Cursed Daggers provides some decent bonuses for any Build if used before striking directly with another skill or weapon.

Shattering Glaive can also provide a Move Speed reduction on enemies for support.

Shadowmantle can be useful as a lesser version of Berserker's Ice Shield for Outlander missile-reflection.

Dodge Mastery, Poison Burst, Share_the_Wealth, and Master_of_the_Elements are all decent support options for this as Passives.

Attacking with a weapon usually favors high Strength and 100+ Dexterity although Focus is also decent to invest for an Outlander that can take advantage of the elemental nature of it's builds. Until Boris can be used to boost and patch any gaps for Stats later.

Would help to carry a Shield for Melee survival (use the Blocking Tome from Fishing or late-Vendors to boost chances - less Vitality needed if chosen) although if the survival numbers are decent - then going with no shield is also viable.

= = = =

In practice - Burning Leap gets snagged by obstacles however Rune Vault can be used backwards or forwards (mouse click in front or behind the Outlander) for mobility towards and away from enemies too.

Debuffs or supportive damage like Vortex Hex, Flaming Glaives, Shattering Glaive, Bramble Wall (to be destroyed for activations), Cursed Daggers, Blade Pact, and Stone Pact can be used or placed before the Melee begins.

While in Melee:

Bane Breath is awkward however it can be used in Melee effectively if built correctly with Focus and Death Ritual's shadowling boosts (no need for ranged weapons).

Glaive Sweep is the main Melee skill-attack option for Outlanders.
This skill actually has everything from Knockback to a tier-01 investment of Damage_over_Time (bypass Armor) hence a "Strength-Focus Dps mix" to crowd control with Stun and Interrupt, it even includes Charge-Gain.
The Knockback is awkward however it also means the ability to corner and pin targets in tight-space combat scenarios.

Flaming Glaive can still be spammed for the extra damage and the tier investments make Fire and Poison even stronger damage options on affected targets.

= = = =

The Melee Outlander is not recommended for beginners for a reason - however with good pre-farmed items - this power-house has strange and unusually good potential with the correct use of it's skills and traits.

Very different from a Melee - Berserker, Embermage, and Engineer with certainty.
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Showing 1-15 of 16 comments
Melee Embermage (with Magma Mace + Wand Chaos) build is unconventional but fun, especially when combined with 2 different dervish spells so you spend most of your time under a Dervish spell.
Cannonaire 23 May @ 10:47am 
Originally posted by potterman28wxcv:
Melee Embermage (with Magma Mace + Wand Chaos)...
That does sound fun! My Strength build has 15/15 Magma Mace already, but she's using either "The Final Embrace" (Primary) or "Bonepry Wedge" with a shield (secondary) because of the very large amount of elemental damage these weapons have, which would benefit from both Strength and the Focus points needed to equip mage gear.

I can't say I've really thought about using Wand Chaos. Is it really that much fun? I tend to go out of my way to avoid gear with Chaotic Rift effect (Netherrealm Wand, Magus Scream, Dragoncoil, Tri-force Catalyst) because I'm not a fan of enemies teleporting out of range and/or behind me. I was planning on enchanting a wand just because though, and leveling is pretty easy compared to farming and enchanting, so maybe I'll make another character to try out Wand Chaos with Magma Mace using the same gear! I'll save the next Dervish V and VI spells I find.

On another topic, just to clarify my stance on mods VS Vanilla—I'm specifically trying to push the limits of builds on unmodded TL2, and I already have a huge amount of resources available from an absurd amount of farming. :loot:
steffire3 23 May @ 12:16pm 
Engineer building around Storm Burst provides Mobility and Damage into and out of battles. Can easily support it with the less popular skills like Onslaught and Ember Reach for the crowd control.

Engineer makes good use of the weapon-swap function to flip between Cannon and Melee hence Fusilade to Emberquake for the best of melee and range.

All Shield related skills Engineer, with Tremor and Heal / Copter Bots

Embermage Wand Chaos activates Meteor, Glacial Strike, Thunder and such - makes up for the random teleport against enemies. Can be used with Wand-auto-attack builds and the 4 attack skills that activate it.

Berserker and Outlander can exclusively build their Passives for effective auto-attack builds.

Outlander building around several of or specifically:
Shotgonne Mastery
Venom Hail
Chaos Burst
Bramble Wall for the Item Activation Effect

Shadowling activations and empowerment

the difficult and un-optimized Dual Wield Pistols

Glaive Sweep, Vortex Hex, Bane Breath, Burning Leap, Rune Vault, Flaming Glaive, Blade Pact, Stone Pact with Melee Weapons

An ice with Focus Berserker that is surprisingly powerful
Hunter skill tree Berserker
Shadow skill tree Berseker
A mix of Hunter and Shadow Berserker
Last edited by steffire3; 24 May @ 9:11pm
Originally posted by steffire3:
Glavie Sweep, Vortex Hex, Bane Breath, Burning Leap, Rune Vault, Flaming Glaive, Blade Pact, Stone Pact with Melee Weapons
After what you said in the other thread, I'm thinking about this one now. I can probably make a new Outlander build fairly easily using the equipment I already have enchanted for my Shooty Outlander, but with different skills and weapons. I'm having trouble visualizing how it would play though. Any thoughts or skill point allocation suggestions?
I have weapon choices narrowed down to one 2-handed weapon (The Final Embrace) and five 1-handed weapons: Shards of Cobalt, Arcgap's Vice, Bonepry Wedge, Clockmaster's Tooth, Hammer of Retribution.

Any others I might consider? This would be for the hypothetical Outlander melee build. I already have armor with a good mix of Strength and Focus enchants, and I don't want to enchant a full set right now. I would socket in "The Eye of Winter Widow" along with the usual skulls for improving damage. :died:
Originally posted by Cannonaire:
I have weapon choices narrowed down to one 2-handed weapon (The Final Embrace) and five 1-handed weapons: Shards of Cobalt, Arcgap's Vice, Bonepry Wedge, Clockmaster's Tooth, Hammer of Retribution.

Any others I might consider? This would be for the hypothetical Outlander melee build. I already have armor with a good mix of Strength and Focus enchants, and I don't want to enchant a full set right now. I would socket in "The Eye of Winter Widow" along with the usual skulls for improving damage.
A good plan.
I can extend that end-game list to include these:
https://torchlight.fandom.com/wiki/Eight-Armed_Axe
https://torchlight.fandom.com/wiki/The_Beast_with_a_Million_Eyes
https://torchlight.fandom.com/wiki/Masque_of_the_Red_Death
https://torchlight.fandom.com/wiki/Deathsport
and
https://torchlight.fandom.com/wiki/The_Axe_of_Throwing
I admit the Dps is low on this mid-game Rare hence best to enchant it with direct damage and add as much direct damage into it's sockets as well.
If only for the the fact that it's the only Vanilla Weapon that can be thrown as it activates this as an item event. Useful if in need to swap weapons for the fake-range yet Melee damage.
Last edited by steffire3; 24 May @ 9:08pm
The author of this thread has indicated that this post answers the original topic.
Originally posted by Cannonaire:
Originally posted by steffire3:
Glaive Sweep, Vortex Hex, Bane Breath, Burning Leap, Rune Vault, Flaming Glaive, Blade Pact, Stone Pact with Melee Weapons
After what you said in the other thread, I'm thinking about this one now. I can probably make a new Outlander build fairly easily using the equipment I already have enchanted for my Shooty Outlander, but with different skills and weapons. I'm having trouble visualizing how it would play though. Any thoughts or skill point allocation suggestions?
Yes, a player could also add Bramble Wall (skill) to destroy it for the item activations from weapons (Acid Rain, Glacial Strike, whatever is available to spawn on the Bramble's destruction near enemies).

Outlander has no native 25% Damage Reduction (compared to Berserker) so it really needs all the Armor Sockets it can get to raise that and Riechliu skulls for the extra health.

Cursed Daggers provides some decent bonuses for any Build if used before striking directly with another skill or weapon.

Shattering Glaive can also provide a Move Speed reduction on enemies for support.

Shadowmantle can be useful as a lesser version of Berserker's Ice Shield for Outlander missile-reflection.

Dodge Mastery, Poison Burst, Share_the_Wealth, and Master_of_the_Elements are all decent support options for this as Passives.

Attacking with a weapon usually favors high Strength and 100+ Dexterity although Focus is also decent to invest for an Outlander that can take advantage of the elemental nature of it's builds. Until Boris can be used to boost and patch any gaps for Stats later.

Would help to carry a Shield for Melee survival (use the Blocking Tome from Fishing or late-Vendors to boost chances - less Vitality needed if chosen) although if the survival numbers are decent - then going with no shield is also viable.

= = = =

In practice - Burning Leap gets snagged by obstacles however Rune Vault can be used backwards or forwards (mouse click in front or behind the Outlander) for mobility towards and away from enemies too.

Debuffs or supportive damage like Vortex Hex, Flaming Glaives, Shattering Glaive, Bramble Wall (to be destroyed for activations), Cursed Daggers, Blade Pact, and Stone Pact can be used or placed before the Melee begins.

While in Melee:

Bane Breath is awkward however it can be used in Melee effectively if built correctly with Focus and Death Ritual's shadowling boosts (no need for ranged weapons).

Glaive Sweep is the main Melee skill-attack option for Outlanders.
This skill actually has everything from Knockback to a tier-01 investment of Damage_over_Time (bypass Armor) hence a "Strength-Focus Dps mix" to crowd control with Stun and Interrupt, it even includes Charge-Gain.
The Knockback is awkward however it also means the ability to corner and pin targets in tight-space combat scenarios.

Flaming Glaive can still be spammed for the extra damage and the tier investments make Fire and Poison even stronger damage options on affected targets.

= = = =

The Melee Outlander is not recommended for beginners for a reason - however with good pre-farmed items - this power-house has strange and unusually good potential with the correct use of it's skills and traits.

Very different from a Melee - Berserker, Embermage, and Engineer with certainty.
Last edited by steffire3; 24 May @ 9:28pm
It's settled then. My next build after my Strength Embermage will be a Melee Outlander. It's probably going to be quite some time before I get around to it though. I'm probably going to disappear for a few weeks.

(Just assume I'm learning the ways of being an Outlander.) :outlander:
Originally posted by Cannonaire:
It's settled then. My next build after my Strength Embermage will be a Melee Outlander. It's probably going to be quite some time before I get around to it though. I'm probably going to disappear for a few weeks.

(Just assume I'm learning the ways of being an Outlander.)
Lol, all good. My best wishes on your success and glad to be of help when I can. :loot:
I started the new Outlander, but I honestly have no idea what to do with these abilities. I'm gonna have to do more research with your post as a guide. :outlander:

Good news! I finished the main gear set for my Strength Embermage. She has 75% damage reduction (Limoany Skulls) and about 19,500 Health, but even with all of that she's a bit too squishy to cast Shocking Orb during solo boss fights using a two-handed weapon. I need to build her alternate (defensive) gear set, which requires 4 more items with Borris and at least 1 item with Panosh (Ice Damage). :embermage:
Originally posted by Cannonaire:
I started the new Outlander, but I honestly have no idea what to do with these abilities. I'm gonna have to do more research with your post as a guide.

Good news! I finished the main gear set for my Strength Embermage. She has 75% damage reduction (Limoany Skulls) and about 19,500 Health, but even with all of that she's a bit too squishy to cast Shocking Orb during solo boss fights using a two-handed weapon. I need to build her alternate (defensive) gear set, which requires 4 more items with Borris and at least 1 item with Panosh (Ice Damage).
That's great info and findings. Keep us posted on what you find is necessary to make these builds comfortable for survival and functionality as that would be a good benchmark for other players who seek to try these as well.
I've completely finished my Strength Embermage and it is utterly devastating. Running through NG+4 like it's nothing... all except the War Titan in Tarroch's Tomb. I was able to beat it, but for some reason it took a really long time to kill, much longer than my other builds which do a lot less damage than this one normally. I'm wondering if there are stats available to see why this enemy takes so long with Shocking Orb.

Anyway! Onto the melee Outlander build, and I gotta admit, I have no idea what I'm doing. I can't make heads or tails of what gameplay is supposed to look like with this build. Assuming a finished build at level 100, what will my attack patterns look like? Mostly left-click attacks? Glaive Sweep? I'm not too thrilled about knockback with melee weapons, especially since most enemies are probably going to take 2-4 hits with that skill. :outlander:

I'll see if I can find a YouTube video maybe.
I'm going to enchant a couple weapons. Does anyone know if there would be any benefit from having more than one Skull of Zardon on a single weapon (Conveys 3970 Physical Damage over 5 seconds)? Would it double the DoT? I have Four of them available. :died:
Originally posted by Cannonaire:
... ... ... I'm wondering if there are stats available to see why this enemy takes so long with Shocking Orb.

Anyway! Onto the melee Outlander build, and I gotta admit, I have no idea what I'm doing. I can't make heads or tails of what gameplay is supposed to look like with this build. Assuming a finished build at level 100, what will my attack patterns look like? Mostly left-click attacks? Glaive Sweep? I'm not too thrilled about knockback with melee weapons, especially since most enemies are probably going to take 2-4 hits with that skill.

I'll see if I can find a YouTube video maybe.
I suspect the War Titan has high Electric Armor.

Found a good end-game showcase video of a "Clawlander" Outlander and is as close as I could find and is related to my suggested build:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIlfnjg-jbw
A clear use of Glaive Sweep, Flaming Glaive, Rune Vault, Shadow Mantle, (passive) Poison Burst, Bane Breath, Cursed Daggers (for the DeBuff). Probably has supportive passives outside of those skills seen in the UI hot-bar in-video.
Last edited by steffire3; 14 Jun @ 8:42pm
Dasyatis 14 Jun @ 8:25pm 
Originally posted by Cannonaire:
I'm going to enchant a couple weapons. Does anyone know if there would be any benefit from having more than one Skull of Zardon on a single weapon (Conveys 3970 Physical Damage over 5 seconds)? Would it double the DoT? I have Four of them available. :died:

Yes the DoT stacks. But I think there is always a better strategy than to rely on DoT. That said I have not yet tried any build based on this. I just know that DoT cannot crit but are subject to fumbling.
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