Hi all,

This is a cross post from the Torchlight 2 message boards describing some of the initial strategies for building a basic Theolentist. Feel free to post additional suggestions and tips.


There are no hard and fast "rules" for building your Theolentist, but like all classes there are some basic strategy points to keep in mind as you decide which brand you'd like to try.


How many points do you want in Heaven's Gate?
Heaven's Gate is a teleport power that also provides bursts of control. This power has been intentionally designed to operate very differently at low ranks versus high ranks.
- If you just want to a quick "escape" power and nothing more, 1 rank may be a good idea in this power
- Starting at rank 5, this power becomes a much better control power, causing Fear in enemies. Fear adds safety, but can slow you down. It might be worth it if you have a significant source of slows or immobilize powers though.
- Starting at rank 10, between knockback bursts this power will cause any enemy that you hit (with any power) that is Frozen to begin to Burn. This can be a good bonus tier to work toward if you are using a lot of Ice powers (Astronomy mainly) and in particular a Lucent Beam build, which should have few problems managing mana costs of frequent teleports.
- Heaven's Gate has synergy with Atomic Blessing. Atomic Blessing allows you to regain some hit points each time you teleport. Keeping Heaven's Gate at a low rank can let you teleport (and thus heal) more cheaply, but you forgo the extra control benefits.


Which of the Favors do you prefer?
There are three skills labeled as "Favors" that you can pick from. You can only one run one of them at a time, and each costs 5% of your max mana to maintain (meaning a "favorless" Theolentist might be an off-brand thing).

- Electron Veil grants a chance to stun enemies who come close to you. You also gain resistance for each enemy with a certain distance.

- Sequester creates a pulsing knockback aura around you that throws enemies out of range. It also increases the range of your basic missile weapon attacks, and provides resistance as long as you manage to keep away from enemies.

- Apex Apostle provides you with an indestructible ally that is useful for delivering additional damage at very low investment cost.

Note that each time you level up one of your favors, you should dismiss it with Dispell Auras and recast the new rank.


Which type of weapon should you use?
The Theolentist is open to a number of weapon options, but three general classes of weapons fit a "typical" Theolentist:

- Staff or Polearm. Combined with Voltaic Sentinel, you can net a very high amount of Physical armor. Melee weapons enable you to use a few powers in the Physics tree, and a staff or Polearm specifically is required if you want to use Inertial Relic (a skill somewhat similar to the "Whirlwind" power popular in some games).

- Bow, Crossbow, Shotgun. These three weapons are seriously underpowered in the "core" game. In the hands of a Theolentist with Exalted Ammo though, the chief point against them--high Dexterity requirements--allows you to also build your Strength score.

- Wand + Pistol. Used with the Moon and Sun skill, you gain a good source of mana regen and significantly increase the attack speed of the combo. When you use auto attack you also sometimes generate a beam of energy that can hit multiple enemies.