The game seems too hard, what am I doing wrong?

[Bean Sídhe]

I'm playing an Emberquake engineer on veteran, level 16ish, stuff hits me for 300+ while I only have 1000 health, I have to constantly chug potions to survive fights with tougher single monsters on top of forcefield / healing bot / charge reconstitution. plus i have to use a white mace because one hand weapons literally don't drop (on the other hand i have like three unique shotgonnes)

am i doing something fundamentally wrong or emberquake is a bad first time build?

[MTB-Fritz]

no its great actually. Maybe veteran is too hard for you yet. Stick to normal. It might feel too easy at first but it does ramp up giving you the chance to learn more about the game without frustrating moments.

If you get too much damage usually get more armor.....avoid heavy hits (many big moves have a signature once you know what to look out for you can easily avoid tons of damage). Your weapon determines your overall damage output so if you have a bad weapon....your damage will stink.

Random factors tho. Check vendors often and re-run cleared maps (multiplayer, repopulate world)

[Bean Sídhe]

I've beaten Torchlight 1 before moving on to 2 and normal was too easy there (i went summoner embermage and only noticed champion enemies by the fame gain).

Originally posted by MTB-Fritz:

If you get too much damage usually get more armor.....avoid heavy hits (many big moves have a signature once you know what to look out for you can easily avoid tons of damage). Your weapon determines your overall damage output so if you have a bad weapon....your damage will stink.

I wish I could get a decent weapon and some armor because neither drops really. First time I see myself get through a first act of an ARPG with drops this bad. Whacking a champion with 30 000 health with a 120 DPS mace to get a green wand +7 poison damage. yay.

[MTB-Fritz]

sounds like you got the mother of bad luck on your shoulders :(

[Wafflesaurus Supreme]

Cannon beats everything!

[Milord]

The second half of Act 1 can be tough on certain builds.
You just need patience and a decent understanding of the overall game mechanics.

[Aherin]

Try to find items with bonus health on them from drops or the vendor in town. You could also go back and kill previous bosses to try and find better unique weapons before you continue.

[Protean1]

Originally posted by Bean Sídhe:

I'm playing an Emberquake engineer on veteran, level 16ish, stuff hits me for 300+ while I only have 1000 health, I have to constantly chug potions to survive fights with tougher single monsters on top of forcefield / healing bot / charge reconstitution. plus i have to use a white mace because one hand weapons literally don't drop (on the other hand i have like three unique shotgonnes)

am i doing something fundamentally wrong or emberquake is a bad first time build?

Uh, you can't get Emberquake until level 42. How do you have it at level 16ish? Are you playing a mod? Does the mod make the game harder?

Some mods, (like the Synergies mod), may make certain creatures harder than they are in the base version of the game.

Also, if you are in fact using Emberquake, your weapon damage actually doesn't matter as much as it does with some other skills, (like Flame Hammer). 1 point into Emberquake only deals 35% of weapon dps. Emberquake relies more on flat fire damage, so you're going to want to stack Focus to increase its damage.

[Milord]

I thought he meant his build was struggling because he doesn't have Emberquake yet.

Also, both Strength and Focus are important for Emberquake (with Focus being more important earlier on).

[NeutronStar]

Just have patience because, I mean you're asking for it since you're playing in veteran (kudos though) :P Games are supposed to be fun so if you find it furstrates you alittle too much you can always change difficulty... I hope you get the hang of it soon :D

[Bean Sídhe]

Originally posted by Protean1:

Uh, you can't get Emberquake until level 42. How do you have it at level 16ish? Are you playing a mod? Does the mod make the game harder?

I'm playing with Synergies and Essentials, one of which makes level requirements for spells earlier so you can get your top level spell close to the end of the first act.

Also emberquake barely scratches bosses with one level into it.

[ZarahNeander]

Originally posted by Bean Sídhe:

I'm playing with Synergies and Essentials, one of which makes level requirements for spells earlier so you can get your top level spell close to the end of the first act.

Also emberquake barely scratches bosses with one level into it.

Well, that explains alot. Synegries is kinda hard for melee centric builds in the beginning.

Some ideas:
-travel to tabletop (via seldrik) and look for a decent weapon/equiment. Bosses without decent gear a a no-go.
- give your pet summon spells only, that takes alot of heat away from you.
- get a decent block chance ->vit..you can always respec later on.
- if all else fails, make use of the respec potion and respec to a summoner..spider, gun bot (which is persistent!)..it's easy. Run circles aroud the boss throwing spiders.
-make yourself a 'trashers lucky belt'. It's combining some gems, though I forgot the actual receipe..well, maybe not that helpful:)

[Orion Nipp]

OP you talk as if you have played a bit so some of the stuff we all are posting you probably know. Due to that, just posting to maybe jog someting forgotten.

Here is some clues to help pinpoint some issues:

If you can stand there and hit the guy 10 times while he isn't hurting you = armor good, weapon bad

If you kill him in one or three hits, but you are almost dead = weapon good, armor bad

IF you die and barely scratch him = either both armor and weapon bad or difficulty to high

Use the enchanter all you can afford. Esp on socked items.

Health Steal is sweet (ie: 25 health on hit)

Diversify type of damage in case target has high immunity to something (cold, fire, lightning)

Kite when you need to kite. Run when you need to run.

Feed your pet a fish

Check the vendor every chance. Don't wait for your favorite weapon to drop.

[MTB-Fritz]

rely on skills as often as you can. Especially with the Engineer your lv 1 fire skill can clear a screen if you spam it and mana regenerates quickly.

Simply dont walk up to enemies and wahck em with mouseclicks, thats a subpar strategy and will not bring you that far. Also always pay attention to enemy packs and your surroundings. If too many aggro on you....run away and try to kill a few at a time. Never let yourself be pushed into a corner or against a wall. You might be unable to get away if it gets tight.

[Milord]

Originally posted by MTB-Fritz:

Simply dont walk up to enemies and wahck em with mouseclicks, thats a subpar strategy and will not bring you that far.

I don't know. I can clear Tarroch's Tomb on Elite using that strategy.

The biggest problem is waiting for the enemies to spawn.

[frdnwsm]

Engineers are pretty well off, both for survival and damage infliction. It's all about the gear. Well, ok, skill selection also, but good skills don't help if you have substandard gear.

Synergies mod makes the difficulty harder; if you want to use some mods try extra chunky and leave synergies off for now until you get accustomed to the flow of the game. And yes, you will use both mana and health potions a fair amount.

You need various types of gear for different situations. I'd get the best one handed weapon I can find and a good shield ... and then shield bash the heck out of the beggers if they crowd you. Have a nice two handed weapon though, for flamestrike. And of course, nothing beats a good cannon for keeping melee crazy mobs at bay. I did some enchanting and finally got a cannon with an 80 knockback. Wheee!

Get the best physical armor you can. Don't take a lesser armor in favor of one that gives you 30, or even 300, extra health. Given how much damage the bosses can do, it's better not to get hit at all. Armor that provides a significant damage reduction, on the other hand, is a reasonable acquisition.