Torchlight II Preview

Runic Games’ sequel to Torchlight is the subject of yet another preview courtesy of IGN, that bases its preview presumably on what has been showcased at GamesCom. Here’s a sampling:

Loot stealing in multiplayer games won’t be an issue because drops appear differently for each player. In other words, the loot dropped on your screen isn’t the same loot that drops for another player, which elegantly trims out the potential for unchecked ninja looting. There isn’t a trading interface in the game right now, so to trade you’ll need to drop an item after initially picking it up to share with the group.

Three of the four total character classes in Torchlight II have so far been revealed, and as you level you can modify their skills and stats with earned points. If you wind up with a character build you don’t like or just want to experiment, it’ll likely be possible to snag a potion to undo all your skill point choices so you can reallocate. Rampant player respeccing isn’t what Runic wants, as the studio feels it strips some of the meaning from the decisions you need to make.

Taking on all the side quests and tacking the main content will likely take quite a while. Once you’re done, it’s possible to loop back through the content from the beginning with a heightened degree of difficulty and more powerful item rewards. As strong as your characters may become during this process, Runic is confident Torchlight II will remain much more balanced than the original thanks to much more extensive testing this time around. No public beta is scheduled before the release date of sometime this fall.