So I've been playing this and I normally despise Diablo clones but I'm enjoying this more than both Diablo and Borderlands 2 which I recently tried over a friends place (BL2 didn't do enough improvements from the first one to justify the price tag for me currently).
I'm not exactly sure why I'm finding it more fun but maybe the general pace and better UI is enough for me, something is just so much more addictive for me than regular aRPGs which usually bore me (although I seem to be coming around a bit on the genre, we'll see what effect Path of Exile has on me). I got a few hours enjoyment out of the first Torchlight but never really felt the need for more play-throughs, hopefully Torchlight II won't have this problem.
I originally felt in the mood for a build based around glass cannon AOE damage and teleportation, it didn't seem TL2 had any skills with teleportation and then I remembered that TL separated a lot of spells from your skills which you had to find. I didn't exactly want to base my build around a spell that might not exist and if it did might be an extremely rare drop.
I settled for a ranged character and decided to go the normal boring bow and kite technique. The early game seemed way too dull with the ranged class so I decided to switch over.
I'm now a level 30 Berserker called "Seven Toe" and his adorable pet puppy. I had honestly no idea how to build a character but I didn't really want to go along the boring tanky build so I decided to try something else. After looking at the skills I decided to take inspiration from the "Whirlwind Barbarian" build that I used when I briefly played Diablo 2.
The basic build is focused on mainly Strength and Focus with a few points in Dexterity, and Vitality being a complete dump stat (glass cannon). the idea is to build up my frenzy extremely quickly on monsters using dual fast weapons coupled with Frenzy Mastery and Executor. Then when the frenzy is charged I then go crazy with Wolfstrike for AOE death and crowd control. I also use weapons with vampiric bonuses and the Blood Hungry skill which allows for a helluva lotta health regain when I'm crazed. I might go for Rupture for bosses or some of the buffing skills if I have some skill points to burn later in the game. He does suffer from an extreme lack of MP which is really annoying since I've really pumped a lot of points into focus. It's currently enough with the occasional potion but I would prefer it to be more self-sustaining.
It's so far working surprisely well for something I had no idea what I was doing. I've died a few times mostly because I've ran out of health potions or just incompetence. The game is on the Elite (I believe) since I remember the first Torchlight being way to easy on normal but the "build" seems to be holding together.
How can you not love this face?
Fun fact: the face model alone made me pick the Berserker class.