[r3n4ud]

It's a little bit of a wait, but a small blog I write for has a scant 15 keys to give away in a contest located here: http://justpressstart.net/?p=9075 Yes, this is self promotion, I was told that entering the official thread and doing a post is acceptable, but doing a thread about it is not. So, if you'd like to enter, all you have to do is comment. Winners will be picked at random on after the deadline Wednesday May 16th.

Thanks for the heads up. Been trying to get into the beta, but no luck :/

[Davedough]

Thanks for the heads up. Been trying to get into the beta, but no luck :/

No problem. Thanks for entering and good luck to you.

[Raide]

Just finished the Beta. Not bad. Feels much like Torchlight, where ranged is pretty much the easier way to level. Not really feeling the Berserker and found it odd that I could make an Engineer and be a better melee character than the Berserker. Healing bot, Turret bot and making things explode. Got a nice gold weapon, which helps out.

Will probably pick it up at a later date, since I just don't see myself having time for it now.

[Lissar]

It's a little bit of a wait, but a small blog I write for has a scant 15 keys to give away in a contest located here: http://justpressstart.net/?p=9075 Yes, this is self promotion, I was told that entering the official thread and doing a post is acceptable, but doing a thread about it is not. So, if you'd like to enter, all you have to do is comment. Winners will be picked at random on after the deadline Wednesday May 16th.

Daaaaaave!

*grabby hands*

[Davedough]

Daaaaaave! *grabby hands*

Careful. I'm married.

[dLMN8R]

I think I'm about done with the beta for right now. I've played about 3 hours. It's pretty good, but has a ton of balance issues right now that are pretty fundamental. The difference between Normal and Veteran difficulty is absurd, and Berserkers with claws or axes is practically unplayable. I went from encountering difficult but manageable situations to getting killed by mobs instantly in the span of about 5 minutes of gameplay. I was trying to carefully build my character and keep the right gear - it was working well, but was challenging since I was on veteran difficult. Then I got to the Mordok boss and it was all downhill from there.


Many of those issues will probably be addressed before Torchlight 2 releases, but the skill tree is also just boring - I can't imagine they'll be able to do much about. There is so much of a "numbers" game going on with the skill tree instead of giving me differentiated skills that are interesting to use.

It does the annoying thing where every skill can individually be leveled up 15 times. Yet the difference between those levels is often literally "61% critical chance" instead of "60% critical chance". Countless cases where I'm using a full skill point for purposes of increasing something by just 1-2 percentage points.

Even with character attributes it's the same thing. The attribute that afftects HP or MP will increase my total HP or MP by just 1-2 points. It's so marginal it may as well just not be there at all.


I know this is all negative, but all of Torchlight II is still hugely improved over the original. The UX, graphics, world, quests, and more are much much better. But things like the skills and character progression just makes me appreciate the design decisions in Diablo 3 even more. Overall, it'll be nice to have two overall-well-crafted games of each type to enjoy though.

[reggieandTFE]

I think I'm about done with the beta for right now. I've played about 3 hours. It's pretty good, but has a ton of balance issues right now that are pretty fundamental. The difference between Normal and Veteran difficulty is absurd, and Berserkers with claws or axes is practically unplayable. I went from encountering difficult but manageable situations to getting killed by mobs instantly in the span of about 5 minutes of gameplay. I was trying to carefully build my character and keep the right gear - it was working well, but was challenging since I was on veteran difficult. Then I got to the Mordok boss and it was all downhill from there. Many of those issues will probably be addressed before Torchlight 2 releases, but the skill tree is also just boring - I can't imagine they'll be able to do much about. There is so much of a "numbers" game going on with the skill tree instead of giving me differentiated skills that are interesting to use. It does the annoying thing where every skill can individually be leveled up 15 times. Yet the difference between those levels is often literally "61% critical chance" instead of "60% critical chance". Countless cases where I'm using a full skill point for purposes of increasing something by just 1-2 percentage points. Even with character attributes it's the same thing. The attribute that afftects HP or MP will increase my total HP or MP by just 1-2 points. It's so marginal it may as well just not be there at all. I know this is all negative, but all of Torchlight II is still hugely improved over the original. The UX, graphics, world, quests, and more are much much better. But things like the skills and character progression just makes me appreciate the design decisions in Diablo 3 even more. Overall, it'll be nice to have two overall-well-crafted games of each type to enjoy though.

This happened to me in the first one on veteran as well. I as rolling through the game until I hit floor 30 and then any magic or projectile immediately took my vanquisher out; I installed a respec mod to bump up my defense in exchange for strength.

[RS4-]

It's a little bit of a wait, but a small blog I write for has a scant 15 keys to give away in a contest located here: http://justpressstart.net/?p=9075 Yes, this is self promotion, I was told that entering the official thread and doing a post is acceptable, but doing a thread about it is not. So, if you'd like to enter, all you have to do is comment. Winners will be picked at random on after the deadline Wednesday May 16th.

What sorcery is this, made a comment and it had one of my old avatars.

Hmm.

[Davedough]

What sorcery is this, made a comment and it had one of my old avatars. Hmm.

We're in your WordPress. Stealing your pictures.

[RS4-]

We're in your WordPress. Stealing your pictures.

Bububut I don't have an account!

(yeah first thing I did after making that post was to see if I had some old wordpress account under my comment email lol)

Nonetheless, cheers!

[Zefah]

I think I'm about done with the beta for right now. I've played about 3 hours. It's pretty good, but has a ton of balance issues right now that are pretty fundamental. The difference between Normal and Veteran difficulty is absurd, and Berserkers with claws or axes is practically unplayable. I went from encountering difficult but manageable situations to getting killed by mobs instantly in the span of about 5 minutes of gameplay. I was trying to carefully build my character and keep the right gear - it was working well, but was challenging since I was on veteran difficult. Then I got to the Mordok boss and it was all downhill from there. Many of those issues will probably be addressed before Torchlight 2 releases, but the skill tree is also just boring - I can't imagine they'll be able to do much about. There is so much of a "numbers" game going on with the skill tree instead of giving me differentiated skills that are interesting to use. It does the annoying thing where every skill can individually be leveled up 15 times. Yet the difference between those levels is often literally "61% critical chance" instead of "60% critical chance". Countless cases where I'm using a full skill point for purposes of increasing something by just 1-2 percentage points. Even with character attributes it's the same thing. The attribute that afftects HP or MP will increase my total HP or MP by just 1-2 points. It's so marginal it may as well just not be there at all. I know this is all negative, but all of Torchlight II is still hugely improved over the original. The UX, graphics, world, quests, and more are much much better. But things like the skills and character progression just makes me appreciate the design decisions in Diablo 3 even more. Overall, it'll be nice to have two overall-well-crafted games of each type to enjoy though.

I fully agree with your point about the skill tree.

I'd much rather have fewer, more meaningful choices than a bunch of 1% increases that you don't notice at all unless you save up your points and invest 15 at once.

[Raide]

I fully agree with your point about the skill tree. I'd much rather have fewer, more meaningful choices than a bunch of 1% increases that you don't notice at all unless you save up your points and invest 15 at once.

Agreed. Gets harder and harder to pick stuff that you give a damn about. Seems to be once you find something that works, its really hard to pull away and try the other stuff.

The other annoying thing is having to re-summon stuff when I zone into areas? Come on! Really annoying if its on a CD.

Also, Alt-Tab and changing resolutions forcing me to log back in and re-make a game again? Really?

[VandalD]

Regardless of anything I could say about it, I have been enjoying the beta. As people have said, there are obviously balance issues. Passives and one-point-wonder active skills are just too good. The better active skills, like the glaive throw, automatically get better as you level up even without putting points into the skill too. It's hard to justify putting just one extra point into a skill when the pro is negligible and the con is a higher mana cost when you can get more of a passive benefit for free.

I've been playing on Elite, and it has been challenging, but it has also been a bit tedious. The most recent boss fight I had (against Grell) took me 12 minutes of kiting. Even the constant normal enemies that he calls hit like a truck, so you can never stand still for more than a second or two. This feels like one of those things where I could think, well, if I can't handle it, maybe I shouldn't be playing on Elite. This is why it's called Elite, right? But I just feel like they could have done more with it than just buffing enemy HP and strength. This seems like the perfect type of game for varying enemy skills depending on difficulty. D2 sort of did this with immunities in nightmare and hell modes, but this could really be taken further IMO. Maybe they're saving that kind of thing for New Game+.

[Xane]

Preordered, created an account, opted-in, but still have no access to the Beta.
I guess I just have to be patient.

[Kuro Madoushi]

Preordered, created an account, opted-in, but still have no access to the Beta. I guess I just have to be patient.

There is hope! I have TL 1 and pre ordered 2. Signed up for beta right away. Didn't get in til this morning.

Fuck yeah...a day after D3 came out.

Why only 24 hrs in a day and why I have to work for a lot of that? :(

[Joseph Merrick]

got the beta this morning as well. super nice so far. agree with dlmn8r on the boring skills, but my main attack skill is pretty good. just adding persistant skills to that so far. not hit the super unbalanced point yet. also on veteran difficulty.

Preordered, created an account, opted-in, but still have no access to the Beta. I guess I just have to be patient.

hehe. I haven't preordered. didn't even know I had a runic account. I looked at the beta stuff when it first went up, thought I had an account on there and tried the 'forgot password' stuff, and it didn't recognise any of my emails so I thought oh well I don't have a runic account. and didn't bother registering for a new one either. so getting the beta was a nice surprise today. hehe.

but anyway very positive impression of it so far for me. especially compared to the dull garbage the diablo3 beta thing was. really like the outdoor levels, they feel so open and nice. is the outdoor stuff randomised? I guess it is, but I can't really tell so far.

[Miletius]

I've had a few days to play this, especially with DIII being down so I'd thought I'd sling up some impressions.

1) Melee feels really under powered, especially on elite difficulty. This is par the course from TL1, but it's even more exacerbated by the overall higher difficulty of TL2. The main problem is that practically everything can hit you and hurt (which is fine) but melee is much more vulnerable because they need to get in there to hit back.

As a result, most of the game becomes slow kite fests on elite difficulty -- which sucks when you have no range on your skills. I think they need to tune the Beserker and Engi's defensive skills a little better at earlier levels. Of course, they need to watch so they don't make them invincible at lower difficulties but they are nigh worthless right now on elite.

2) The charge system, for lack of a better word, isn't implemented well. I understand it's goals and like them, but I'm hoping that they, at the very least, up the rate somewhat. It's hard building up charge when you have to dance in and out of melee range, and as a result it becomes close to impossible to get your charge up to a decent level.

3) X Phys damage over time is really OP right now. It does quite a bit more damage than your average dot, and it's stack-able (although most dots are stackable). My game plan is to run in, attack monster until barrier breaks and then run out and kite.

Overall the game is fun, they just need to fix a few issues and they'll be good. I kind of feel Elite difficulty breaks the game in a bad way right now -- hoping they can resolve that before launch.

[Arol]

Kinda agree with the overall sentiment of the internet. Melee on Elite is really sucky.

But melee is really overpowered in normal difficulties, or at least it's a bit of a cake walk. I blasted through with both a Beserker and Engineer. I hope they don't ruin the lower difficulties to balance out Elite difficulty.

[Kuro Madoushi]

Hmm...I have to say there are some really good points and really bad points

+
love the graphical style
love the music
still love the pet
cannon!
no shitty drm

-
dislike a lot of the skills
where's my goddamn crazy summoner?!
I can't tell when I hit something!
I hate enemies with shields

I just wish it combined elements of D3 with it...

[24FrameDaVinci]

I just wish it combined elements of D3 with it...

This will be the biggest issue. There's something about Blizzard games that when other developers try to mimic, no matter how hard they try, just cannot get right.

[markot]

This will be the biggest issue. There's something about Blizzard games that when other developers try to mimic, no matter how hard they try, just cannot get right.

>.>? All Blizz does is mimic.

They are the Marcel Marceau of game devs.

[Deadbeat]

So what does higher difficulty provide besides tougher enemies?

[Dragonzord]

This will be the biggest issue. There's something about Blizzard games that when other developers try to mimic, no matter how hard they try, just cannot get right.

It's because Blizzard has tons of money and spend years fine tuning everything. Torchlight 2 is made by 32 people and is, what, two years after the original? I'd say they're performing over expectations just based on that.

[Kuro Madoushi]

This will be the biggest issue. There's something about Blizzard games that when other developers try to mimic, no matter how hard they try, just cannot get right.

Yeah, I didn't think it would matter, but i liked getting new actual skills instead of % increases...

I don't like the melee in this, and Runic has to improve i. I didn't have an issue with the melee before, though I usually summoned a crap ton of guys and just kited anyways :P

edit: I do want to clarify, I'm not hating on the game. I really enjoy it and I can see how multi would make it better. I just see with all the fine tuning they've done, they still need to do a bit more...and I hope it releases this time on schedule

[markot]

I dont have a probem with melee, but I always prefer casters/ranged >.>

Although I think engineer will be my first in retail.

[The M.O.B]

This will be the biggest issue. There's something about Blizzard games that when other developers try to mimic, no matter how hard they try, just cannot get right.

Yes, they don't have 6 year dev time & 100 million dollars to blow.

Then again I don't think Runic cares what Blizzard does, nor do they seek to "mimic", because otherwise they would have put all the stuff from D3 into TL2.

[Miletius]

I dont have a probem with melee, but I always prefer casters/ranged >.> Although I think engineer will be my first in retail.

Engineeer/Beserker is fine on any difficulty other than Elite. On Elite ithe mobs hit to hard, you can't say in Melee range. I was playing on Veteran a bit on a fresh Engi and it was easy. I did 2 hander up until about level 10, then I got a kick ass cannon so I went cannon spec. I took 1 point in the heal bot, and was keeping points in electric shield.

The engi char is a cool concept so I'll be playing one on release. I love 2 handers in games like these -- but I'd be willing to play one sword and board if it were viable. It's not though, def not elite, and def not hardcore.

So what does higher difficulty provide besides tougher enemies?

Just tougher enemies. You may get some sort of achievement on Steam for beating the game on a higher difficulty, too.

[Taffer]

I did 2 hander up until about level 10, then I got a kick ass cannon so I went cannon spec.

I thought the massive hammer was fun to hit things with until I found a massive cannon, now I'm some kind of extremely close-ranged/melee hybrid just because the cannon is too much fun to drop. That's on Normal difficulty though, I may regret spreading points about on harder difficulties.
Still, FUN.

[r4z4]

Just got a beta key for the final beta weekend :)

[Ceebs]

Just got a beta key for the final beta weekend :)

Same here. My weekend just went goodbye.

[Gez]

So what does higher difficulty provide besides tougher enemies?

If its anything like Torchlight 1 then better loot.

[derFeef]

This will be the biggest issue. There's something about Blizzard games that when other developers try to mimic, no matter how hard they try, just cannot get right.

TL2 has the original Diablo composer though and it is NOTICABLE, so much better music in TL2. Oh, and the gameplay is fun.

[ArchAngel]

No key here :(
ok Runic, then I need to play D3 until I get a key or the game!




:(

[Teknoman]

I cant believe I keep missing out on beta keys x_x

Would have been nice if everyone who bought Torchlight day 1 got a beta key or something :P

[throwawayname]

Got my weekend key. This will make the wait for the everywhere sold out Diablo 3 easier.

[sykoex]

Got my weekend key, played a bit. Backed out to try a game with other people and now it's saying "invalid password". Anyway I've liked the little I've played so far. I wish the enemies stood out from the environment more, at least in that one opening area.

Edit: Awesome, the log in is working again.

[alazz]

Completely unable to log in.

This is annoying. Really, very annoying. I understand it's a beta, but come on. On the contrary, the menu music is really good.

[Brettison]

Yeah still keyless here as well. I'll keep trying to snag one though!

[Oni Link 666]

Isn't beta open to everyone this weekend? Check your account on Torchlight2game.com.

I just played a little bit. This game really needs to support more mice. I can't keybind anything to the side or middle mouse buttons on my Ligitech MX518 and I know a ton of people use this mouse. Also, having to log out and restart the whole game any time you make a graphics setting change is pretty bad too.

[Nabs]

Isn't beta open to everyone this weekend? Check your account on Torchlight2game.com. I just played a little bit. This game really needs to support more mice. I can't keybind anything to the side or middle mouse buttons on my Ligitech MX518 and I know a ton of people use this mouse. Also, having to log out and restart the whole game any time you make a graphics setting change is pretty bad too.

Has anyone else reported an issue with the 518? I'm using the G400 and can rebind the side/middle buttons just fine.

[Oni Link 666]

Has anyone else reported an issue with the 518? I'm using the G400 and can rebind the side/middle buttons just fine.

I don't know about everyone else, but my side and middle buttons are set to "generic button" in SetPoint and they don't do anything in the game. My +, -, and document flip buttons are set to , . and / and they do work, so it seems to be a problem recognizing the "Generic Button" setting. I could change those 3 buttons to something on the KB, but then I'd have to change them back when playing something else, like WoW and Diablo 3, and that would be a PITA.

[Nabs]

That sucks. I uninstalled all the Logitech software and the game recognizes the side buttons as xb1/xb2.

[Oni Link 666]

That sucks. I uninstalled all the Logitech software and the game recognizes the side buttons as xb1/xb2.

How do you control what -, +, and document flip do with no SetPoint?

[spk]

Isn't beta open to everyone this weekend? Check your account on Torchlight2game.com.

No, it's not

[Nabs]

I use + and - to control DPI. I've never bothered with document flip, so the button goes unused.

[Oni Link 666]

I use + and - to control DPI. I've never bothered with document flip, so the button goes unused.

But does it do anything if you press it? Document flip I mean.

I meant what do you do to control what the mouse does, not what you like your buttons to do.

[Nabs]

But does it do anything if you press it? Document flip I mean. I meant what do you do to control what the mouse does, not what you like your buttons to do.

The button doesn't do anything as far as I can tell. I don't know how to change what those buttons do. Honestly, I'm not sure if Setpoint properly supports my mouse yet. It was doing some weird things when I had it installed.

[EdibleExplosives]

Just noticed I got a beta email a couple of days ago and I won't have time to play it.
The first person to quote me can have it.

[Median]

Just noticed I got a beta email a couple of days ago and I won't have time to play it. The first person to quote me can have it.

Hi

[EdibleExplosives]

Hi

Check your PMs :)