The Eye of the Dark Alchemist

[Ctrekoz]

+1.4 Mana recovery per second - is this a joke? 48 level unique socketable with around 15% drop rate that you get from the main story villain yeah yeah nobody cares about you Netherlord except your drops, stopping The Dark Alchemist was the main story focus almost the whole game, and it has the same stats as the 22 level Void Ember Chip which drops anywhere? Don't really care about weapon enhancement effect (could've been better\more unique as well).

I mean yeah whatever, i've just sold it and can find better socketables, but it just so ridiculous, like, have they did it on purpose of trolling or what, why devs couldn't gave legit amount of mana regen corresponding to 48 level and unique status or, heck, useless, but unique effect like % chance of casting some otherwise unobtainable spell after being hit (like some other socketables do)?

I'm not trying to seriously rant, but, welp, isn't this one of the biggest overshights\pranks of the game?

[potterman28wxcv]

Back in 2012, when TL2 came out, people weren't riding their warhorse into battle against devs everytime they spotted a tiny balancing detail.

The concept of ranting like you do for such a tiny thing of the game is something new, that i've started to see a couple years ago and is growing stronger over the years unfortunately.

Yes, void embers are both more powerful and more common than Eye of the Dark Alchemist.

Yes, it is most probably a balancing oversight.

Does it break the game, making it unplayable and unenjoyable?

What's next? Comparing the health of each individual enemy and point out how certain enemies are much harder to beat than others? Doing a DPS comparison of each class to rant that Prismatic Bolt Embermage is easy mode and needs to be nerfed?

Have you ever encountered Boris yet? I can't wait until you do.

The list of unbalances in TL2 is as long as my arm. And yet, is it a bad thing? A lot of people enjoyed playing TL2, and a lot of them still play it, so surely it's because they can find joy even despite the unbalances?

TL2 is not the only game to feature such oddities, and it will not be the last. Not every boss drop has to be a straight upgrade to your current setup. It's ok to have ♥♥♥♥♥♥ drops. Next time you'll get better luck.

I don't want to be that guy but if you want a game that constantly showers you with great loot to boost your dopamine, there is a well known game out there that does it very well.

Sorry, I'm ranting. But I'm really sick of this over-balancing attitude I see in each and every modern game forum. It's ok for games to be unbalanced (within a reasonable limit, of course). Doesn't make them necessarily boring.

[Ctrekoz]

Wow, talk about overreacting.

I've already said that it was not really about ranting but yeah, I've felt that used wording didn't conveyed it well enough. Situation with this Eye is just extremely blatant oversight to me, which is amuzing, surprising, but also sad - it's The Dark Alchemist after all, not a totally random Skull from a totally random drop. It's a game about loot first, otherwise I could've talked about how there is no dialogue with such important character (and in one quest you can learn that he had good intentions) and you just kill him, but I won't.

I mean damn, how to say it exactly... Guess I just wanted to hear opinions of other people, as well as like "lol yeah, I always wondered why devs did such a stupid thing" words of agreement. It's more about lore\creativness\proper tribute to the character. I really don't care about effect being useless or outweighted in the short therm by better drops, I've just sold it and moved on, but I'm surprised that this never got adressed.

I've met Boris several times, but I'm gambling all my gold away so whatever. Yeah I know that he's the best enchanter, but i'm currently more interested in getting new gear, not upgrading the one I have.

I'm extremely enjoying Torchlight II and will continue to enjoy it, almost vanilla with few non-balance related mods. Of course I've seen lots of unbalances, but I don't really care much about them, it's just the situation precisely with the The Eye of the Dark Alchemist that got such a "really?" reaction from me.

[potterman28wxcv]

Vocabulary such as "is this a joke?" is such a common thing on the internet to mean something pessimist, that I did not expect someone to use it literally (like, the devs wanted to make a joke) ;

Combined with this: "why devs couldn't gave legit amount of mana regen corresponding to 48 level and unique status or, heck, useless, but unique effect like % chance of casting some otherwise unobtainable spell after being hit (like some other socketables do)?"
The phrasing suggests that the devs should (as in, being obligated since they are the devs) have done like you said. Especially the "couldn't": it is obvious that they could do it (they are devs, they could put any effect), so the resulting phrase comes in a bit of a strange manner.

And same for the word "oversight/prank" - i kinda mixed them, thinking you meant prank in a negative way like "Is this a prank or something??"

Yeah I did take your post as someone actually ranting in a passive manner, but apparently it wasn't the case, so you have my apologies.

I tend to be very triggered of any post that feels like people complaining - i have seen the impact that complaint posts does on some developers, so i'm kind of fighting for people to stop complaining non-stop, and i wrongly thought you were one of those people. Sorry

[steffire3]

Originally posted by Ctrekoz:

I'm not trying to seriously rant, but, welp, isn't this one of the biggest overshights\pranks of the game?

I feel similar towards some of the Unique and Legend Drops in this game as most of the game Affixes aren't very helpful which is the motive for most TL2 Players to Farm useful Bonuses from other sources.

[HiFive]

The bosses don't always drop the same things. Sometimes they drop something good, other times you will be disappointed. Sometimes, the one item that is programmed to Always drop is not as good as you'd think it should be. I used to always toss Grell's helmet, for that very reason. However, I eventually found some of the attributes helpful for additional new characters, so now I will sometimes keep it.

There is another drop in a high-level dungeon that an NPC hypes up, but it has the same attributes as a low-level item. That's the one that I personally get annoyed with :). The dungeon is worth doing, anyway.

One gets the impression that the developers really ARE giving us a prank drop from some bosses.

If you are used to playing MMO's, where the purpose of grinding almost every dungeon over and over is to get your full set of gear, or get other special items from the last boss, then I can see your frustration. Solo games work differently, even when they have the co-op option. Most people playing them do not want to grind the same dungeon 10 times to get their gear, or whatever. So, you can often get good, or better, gear in other places.

[dynatierchen]

i played torchlight 2 when it was new and really thought its a good game, but i recently started replaying it and actually its a really bad game in general.

there are so many bad design decisions in this game i dont even know where to start and Ctrekozs point is a good example.

i was thinking about buying Torchlight 3 and i was already put off by all the negative reviews and now that ive replayed TL2 and realized how flat that game is i wont buy any torchlight game again at all.

as i said , i dont even know where to start but just to mention a few examples :

- arrow animation : its just a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ line , not an actual arrow which is animated - like wtf how lazy can you be as a designer/programmer ???

- the dungeons / areas are so ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ generic/linear i actually have to force myself to play them at all

- same goes for the mobs. in every single act you have the same types of minions and i actually think they just took the same model and changed it a bit for every single mob type
another thing that also underlines that assumption is that summon u can get with the outlander. it looks and moves exactly like one of the mobs ; idk the names
spawn time for that summon is shorter than the cooldown time , lol . retarded as ♥♥♥♥

- no voice acting for quest NPCS

-unique items have fix stats , like LOOOOOOL , actually one of the main reasons to play games like torchlight simply thrown into the bin

-something is terribly wrong with the unique drops, i made a whole playthrough with the outlander and didnt get a single unique pistol and in general only uniques for other classes. like a 95/5 ratio. 100% rigged. already farmed the netherlord several times and i still barely have any uniques for my class but loads of uniques for all other classes

i could go on like that for quite some time; the game is just bad in every aspect and prob only sold because of its name

[potterman28wxcv]

@Ctrekoz : that's precisely against the kind of fellows above me that I'm fighting.

@guiltyaSsin :

- who cares about arrow animations? Aside of you, that is. If you want actual arrow animations there's a mod for it in the workshop.

The designers/programmers were so lazy that they only released a full featured ARPG with 4 acts, 4 classes, multiplayer, and modding support that kept the game alive for years. Which took them years of working full-time, on a team of 10-20 people maybe more. OMG I can't stand this kind of laziness it's disgusting. It's so lazy to only work for 3 years on a product. I so agree with you. (sarcasm)

- If you feel like you are forced to play them, then probably you should stop playing the game altogether. Nobody is forcing you to play it if you don't enjoy it. Maybe there are other games out there that suit your need better.

- Monsters in TL2 are defined by their stats (elemental armor, HP, crit chance..), their skills, and their AI. There is about 10 or 12 different AIs iirc. So yes, some monsters re-use the AI of other monsters. But it is a very common thing to do in this genre. I cannot think of a single game that doesn't do it. Same for sprite re-usage and monster subtypes. Diablo does it, Diablo 2 does it, Titan Quest does it too (these were the most well known ARPGs when Torchlight 2 came out : you have to compare TL2 to games released on the same year or before). I'm quite sure that Path of Exile also does it. And Diablo 3 too

- Right. It's a complete deal breaker for sure. Number one reason why people don't play Torchlight 2.

- Diablo 2 also has Unique items with fixed stats as far as i know, and yet it's considered to be one of the best ARPGs out there. If for you the Unique stats are the only reason to play games like TL2, meaning that you only care about looting and that's it, then it's really really sad. Probably you should go back to play the glorified spreadsheet simulators games you love.

- Oh so I guess you have a degree in statistics now?

You could indeed go on. The game is from 2012 and it's not going to change. If you don't like it you can just play something else. TL2 does not hold to the standard that recent games have set, but it's a game from 2012. Back then, some of the things you are complaining about were ok, because nobody had invented yet the concept of having random stats on unique and being able to reroll stuff. You have to take some perspective.

Your suggestion that TL2 only sold because of its name could not be more wrong, because Torchlight wasn't exactly a success. TL2 is the title that brought the Torchlight series fame. Before that, it was just an indie serie that people were vaguely keeping a look at. When TL2 came out, and especially after the D3 fiasco, people treated TL2 like the spiritual Diablo 2 successor - or at least, the title that would have the most chance of dethroning Diablo 3.

But you don't have to like Torchlight. It's ok. We all have different tastes. Just don't come ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ into it just because you happen to dislike it.

[HiFive]

The rare sets on this game are the best gear until you reach the very highest levels. They have random stats added to their fixed set bonuses. A collection of non-set uniques will usually not be as good as a good set. Only the highest level sets (level 100 - 105) are Unique, and they have fixed stats that are class-specific. On Torchlight 1, the opposite is true. The set pieces don't drop often enough to even complete a set, so the uniques are the best items.

The modding community on this game is still active, which is amazing. There are so many mods that the game becomes something new all over again with each new grouping. This is one of the many reasons why Torchlight 2 is still my favorite game since the day it was first available for purchase, and I've logged many thousands of hours playing it.