Every Class In Torchlight 2 Ranked From Worst To Best

Key Takeaways

  • Berserker Class is a melee bruiser with low health; best suited for rapid melee fighting and critical hits.
  • Embermage Class excels in ranged combat with high damage spells; easy to play but mana-dependent.
  • Outlander Class is a ranged and melee expert with crowd control abilities; best builds focus on pistols or bows.

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Torchlight 2 is a fantastic Diablo-style clone that shoots for simplicity and straightforward brawling while not being afraid to get a bit light-hearted at times. In this fantasy world, the player is charged with hunting down a former hero, the Alchemist, who has developed an unhealthy obsession with a mysterious substance called Ember.

There are four classes to be found in Torchlight 2, Outlander, Embermage, Berserker, and Engineer. Each has its own unique playstyle and key advantages to dominate in combat. While there are pros and cons to be considered for each class, there is one considered to be the most powerful and one that players will largely struggle with.

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Updated on October 30, 2024, by Rhenn Taguiam: While Torchlight 3 provided fans with a new threat to face to once again save Novastraia, players of the recent release may not have been so satisfied with their experience with the recent title — especially with its shallow story and so-so gameplay. In turn, fans who want to maximize their Torchlight experience might go back to Torchlight 2 and its faster-paced gameplay. Fans who want to enjoy their Torchlight 2 experience even further might want to understand exactly how each Class fares in terms of overall exploration and combat. Thankfully, certain builds within the CRPG can help these Classes stand out in their own unique ways, elevating the experience with unique abilities and item synergies to help players dominate even the most disadvantaged fights.

4 The Berserker Class

Every Class In Torchlight 2 Ranked From Worst To Best

  • Playstyle: Melee bruiser that likes to get into no-holds-barred brawls
  • Group Role: Damage
  • Difficulty: Difficult, thanks to the low health pool

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The Berserker class in Torchlight 2 is comparable to barbarians, fighters, and other melee classes in the classic RPG archetypes. They have little lore surrounding them, compared to other classes, and are described simply as wandering warriors who seek treasure, combat, and glory across the world.

They aren’t just limited to melee attacks, though, and have the ability to summon animal spirits alongside them to help mitigate the weaknesses of the class – mainly, their ability to take on very few enemies at one time.

Strengths of the Berserker Class

Arguably the Berseker is the weakest class in the game, which is unfortunate considering how fun it is to be a Berserker. These mad barbarians dish out a ton of damage and thrive on crazy acrobatic strikes meant to pummel their enemies into submission. It’s not an uncommon sight to see Barbarians diving into the fray with wild attacks.

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They also possess a number of helpful skills and passives to siphon health from opponents, twirl into a group of enemies, and tap into their inner beast to wreak havoc on their opponents.

Downsides of the Berserker Class

The downside to the Berserker is that they’re one-track-minded fighters. They have very few skills to deal area of attack damage and rely on single target attacks. This means that while your Berserker packs a punch, they’ll largely only deal it to one opponent at a time. The downside to this method of fighting is that they lack the Vitality to take the punches.

Their health siphoning can help, but largely their strategy in battle is to out damage their opponent. This can get complicated in large groups or against bosses, which is pretty much what you’ll be doing almost all of the time. It’s a fun class, but you’ll find yourself dying a lot if you get too distracted by cutting through your foes and not paying attention to your rapidly dropping health bar.

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Best Berserker Build: Dual Wield

Similar to the Barbarian of Diablo, the Berserker looks rather vicious with the Dual Wield build. With this setup, the Berserker needs Gear that boosts Critical Hit Chance and Damage, as well as Attack Speed and Life Steal to take advantage of opportunities granted by being able to attack faster.

These mesh well with buffs such as Blood Hunger that heals whenever players score a crit, Executioner (Passive) that gives Damage bonus while dual-wielding and getting more Charges quickly during executions, Shred Armor (Passive) that practically grants Armor steal, and Cold Steel Mastery (Passive) that boosts Melee and Frost Damage. For attacks, the Dual Wield Berserker relies on fast-hitting attacks to build damage, particularly after using Howl that decreases enemy defense.

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  • Build Playstyle: Rapid melee fighter that takes advantage of critical hits to increase otherwise relatively low damage output
  • Important Skills: Howl, Blood Hunger, Executioner, Shred Armor, Cold Steel Mastery
  • Gear Stat Priorities: Focus on Critical Hit Chance and Damage, Attack Speed, and Life Steal to make the most out of fast-paced melee attacks

Best Berserker Build: Frost Damage

Just because the Berserker is designed for melee combat doesn’t mean it can’t try to dish out the pain from a distance. With the Tundra skill tree, the Frost Damage build allows the Berserker to deal damage from mid-range. The key here is to acquire Gear that builds up Casting Speed as well as Critical Hit Chance to maximize buffs such as Shatter Storm (Passive) that releases a Frost AOE blast when killing Frozen enemies and Rage Retaliation (Passive) that can reflect up to 120% Weapon DPS as Damage.

For attacks, the Frost Damage Berserker can Permafrost that grants damage-over-time, Glacial Shatter for the Blind and Frost Damage, and Wolf Shade for the nifty per-minute companion. The rest of the kit can be experimented with to ensure the Barbarian gets ample opportunities to proc the Frost buffs.

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  • Build Playstyle: Uses a combination of Permafrost and other abilities to turn the Berserker into a mid-range caster
  • Important Skills: Permafrost, Glacial Shatter, Shatter Storm, Wolf Shade, Rage Retaliation
  • Gear Stat Priorities: Focus on bonuses to Damage, Critical Hit Chance, and Casting Speed to maximize Frost Damage windows

3 The Embermage Class

Every Class In Torchlight 2 Ranked From Worst To Best

  • Playstyle: Stay at a range to deal massive damage with a reliance on mana
  • Group Role: DPS and Crowd Control
  • Difficulty: Beginner-Friendly

The Embermage class in Torchlight 2 is the game’s version of a classic sorcerer with a bit of that Torchlight 2 flair that makes the game so unique. With access to fire, frost, and lightning abilities, they command the battlefield with their spells in both an AoE and single-target capacity.

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In-game, Embermages are a rare breed, as it were, with few people able to utilize the wrath of such a deadly skillset effectively. They start with relatively low health (and don’t do much melee damage) and rely on mana, but they make up for it by being one of the hardest-hitting classes in the game.

Strengths of the Embermage Class

Embermages are heavy hitters from afar, casting large elemental attacks to incinerate, freeze, and shock their enemies. They have good DPS and, unlike the Berserker, don’t have to be in the thick of things to get their attacks out. Embermages have a few powerful spells that do incredible damage to groups, bosses, or even both.

They’re considered the easiest class to play as the player needs to focus solely on damage output and avoiding the enemy. Their weapon is largely irrelevant and only serves to augment their spells even further by having a high attack. One of the best guilty pleasures in this game is to wade into battle with Shocking Burst maxed out and watch opponents literally fly apart as the electrical bolts strike their bodies.

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Downsides of the Embermage Class

The reason the Embermage is easy to play is because it’s simple. Learn a powerful spell and spam it until your mana pool runs out, there’s not much to it and as a result, this style of play can get fairly boring very quickly. Sure, Shocking Burst is fun on the first level of enemies or so, but a couple of layers in and it’ll lose its charm.

The reason the Embermage doesn’t rank higher is because the magic user is a beast so long as they have mana; once the blue orb is drained they’re little more than a well-trained peasant. After your mana runs out you’ll be dodging attacks and doing the best you can with whatever useless weapon you’re wielding until the mana regenerates and you’re back to spamming spells.

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Best Embermage Build: Inferno Focus

The epitome of any spellcaster is casting the “big stuff” — which in the case of the Inferno Embermage is anything that inflicts massive damage. Its core focus is dealing damage over time via Burn to weaken enemies, priming them for easy pickings. In that regard, Charge Mastery (Passive) for longer-lasting and faster-gained Charges is a must-have. Gear-wise, the Inferno Embermage should get bonuses to all Damage sources and Casting Speed.

Thanks to the Inferno skill tree, a lot of the Embermage’s skills turn destruction to an artform. They can use Magma Spear to channel fire to attack enemies, Blazing Pillar to create four (4) pillars of fire to burn clusters of foes simultaneously and build Charge, and Firestorm to burn through an area and decrease Fire Damage Resistance. Elemental Boon can grant the spellcaster and their allies increased Elemental Damage and Resistances.

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  • Build Playstyle: Uses damage-over-time caused by Burn damage to wear down targets, while hurling other Fire-type spells at engulfed enemies
  • Important Skills: Blazing Pillar, Firestorm, Elemental Boon, Magma Spear, Charge Mastery
  • Gear Stat Priorities: Focus on bonuses to elemental damage (in this case, Fire) as well as faster casting speed and bonuses to All Damage

Best Embermage Build: Storm Focus

Similar to how the Diablo Sorceress can rely on the Shock skill cluster for crowd control, the Storm build of the Embermage counts on the skill tree of the same name to provide the spellcaster with enough juice to control the battlefield with AOE damage. In this regard, Charge Mastery (Passive) is a must to gain Charge faster and retain use for longer, Lightning Brand (Passive) to give extra Lightning Damage to Shocked enemies, while Gear should focus on boosting Casting Speed and Electric Damage.

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For skills, the Storm Embermage should focus on Thunder Locus to set a constantly damaging thunderstorm in a location, Shocking Orb to release a moving damaging attack to enemy clusters, and Elemental Boon to grant the spellcaster and nearby allies with Elemental Damage and Resistances. This AOE-focused setup makes the Embermage much slower, which means it’s important for players to know how to move them around to dodge attacks or risk early deaths.

  • Build Playstyle: While the Fire build focuses on burning small groups down, the Electricity Embermage is better at AoE thanks to its Shock damage
  • Important Skills: Thunder Locus, Shocking Orb, Lightning Brand, Elemental Boon, Charge Mastery
  • Gear Stat Priorities: Like the Fire build, focus on gaining bonuses to Lightning Damage, All Damage, and casting speed

2 The Outlander Class

Every Class In Torchlight 2 Ranked From Worst To Best

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  • Playstyle: Ranged and Melee prowess with a little magic thrown in there too
  • Group Role: Damage and Crowd Control
  • Difficulty: Intermediate

The Outlander class in Torchlight 2 is comparable to the rogue or thief archetype of most RPGs, though it goes a lot deeper than simple stealth and hidden blades. Outlanders have the unique Glaive weapon tied into many of their abilities in the Warfare, Lore, and Sigil trees, and are described as outlaws in search of ancient lore and forgotten artifacts.

If they are to be compared to anything accurately, Outlanders could be compared to Corvo, the assassin from the Dishonored series who uses dark magic alongside martial weaponry to take down opponents through both subterfuge and in-your-face combat. The major downside of this class is that it has the lowest health of any class in Torchlight 2.

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Strengths of the Outlander Class

The Outlander is the gun/bow wielder of the group. Unlike the Embermage, they remain dangerous at all times whether they have mana or not. Outlanders are skilled manipulators possessing numerous crowd control abilities to keep enemies locked down, slowed, or outright stunned.

The name of the game is status effects and Outlanders are masters at it. Your opponents will have a hard time chasing you down to get a hit when you can slow their movement speed, freeze them in place, and drop spells that effectively act as traps if they follow in your footsteps. Just be glad you never go up against an Outlander in this game and enjoy dishing out the pain.

Downsides Of the Outlander Class

Unfortunately, the reason Outlanders are master manipulators is that they have to be. They’re glass cannons in every sense of the phrase, and their health pool and defenses are worse than Berserkers. Their survival requires being constantly on the move, controlling the movements of the enemy, and skirting boss attacks.

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As a result, they’re one of the hardest classes to play because they require almost constant micromanagement. Lose attention for a few seconds and your Outlander is dead, no question. If you enjoy the kind of gameplay that would be appealing to a Starcraft world champion then go for it, but if you don’t enjoy the constant attention and potion guzzling that these characters require, you’re better off looking elsewhere.

Best Outlander Build: Dual-Wield Pistols

Considering the steampunk aesthetic of Torchlight, it’s unsurprising for the Outlander to have access to Dual-Wield Pistols — fast-firing guns that, when used in a build, may excel in dealing single-target damage but loses out on AOE and overall distance. In turn, players need to rely on Long Range Mastery (Passive) to gain more distance and extra damage, Akimbo (Passive) for extra damage when dual-wielding, and Master of the Elements (Passive) to get twice the damage using Poisons.

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For actual attacks, players are better off with Venomous Hail for the straight-up rain of Poisonous death toward the location. However, while this emphasizes Poisons as part of the player’s Gear focus, this build prioritizes building Critical Hit Chance, Damage, and Life Steal for more consistent combat performance.

  • Build Playstyle: Great single-target damage using two pistols at midrange, but relatively lacking in AoE output
  • Important Skills: Venomous Hail, Long Range Mastery, Akimbo, Master of the Elements
  • Gear Stat Priorities: Focus on Critical Hit Chance & Damage, as well as Life Steal. Gear that grants Poison damage can also be useful for this build.

Best Outlander Build: Bow or Crossbow

Being a long-ranged class, the Outlander shouldn’t get anywhere close to enemies or risk being gutted into pieces. This is where the Bow or Crossbow build comes in, where either of the aforementioned weapons are used to capitalize on raw ranged damage advantage with a tradeoff of having lower attack speed.

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To make this work, this Outlander build counts on Long Range Master (Passive) to shoot further and deal more damage. With the right Gear that grants Crit Chance, Life Steal, and Poison, the Outlander can be a behemoth at long-range, especially with Rapid Fire that builds Charge with knockback, Venomous Hail that can grant Poison to targets hit within its area, and Shadowling Brute that summons a terrifying creature to fight enemies.

  • Build Playstyle: Very long range damage dealer that sacrifices attack speed for raw damage output. Works equally well with both bows and crossbows.
  • Important Skills: Rapid Fire, Long Range Mastery, Shadowling Brute, Venomous Hail
  • Gear Stat Priorities: Just like the Dual Wield pistols build, pick up gear that grants Crit Chance and Damage, Life Steal, and Poison-type damage.

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1 The Engineer Class

Every Class In Torchlight 2 Ranked From Worst To Best

  • Playstyle: Varies — can be Ranged, Melee, or Summon-oriented
  • Group Role: Tank and Damage
  • Difficulty: Intermediate

The Engineer class is widely considered to be the best Torchlight 2 class, though they aren’t without their downsides. Engineers have the most developed and concrete lore surrounding them, being described as technological masters serving the Empire, sent to the world of Torchlight 2 to open up the new frontier.

They play as a combination of an artificer and a templar, with many tech-oriented skills in the Blitz and Construction skill trees as well as shields and defensive skills in the Aegis tree. Because of its survivability, it’s not only considered the best class, but also the best solo class Torchlight 2 beginners can try out.

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Strengths of the Engineer Class

The Engineers are considered the most powerful class in the game by far and for good reason. These brutes are heavy hitters who can take a beating. They represent the tank class in every sense of the word with thick armor, a deep health pool, and a large weapon they can bludgeon their enemies with.

They also provide a lot of versatility in terms of how to fight and deploy spells. You can play a more melee role with the magic augmenting attacks, ranged with more AOE skills, or the necromancer type with robotic minions and exploding spiders to become a one-person army. This is an easy and adaptable class to pick up.

Downsides of the Engineer Class

The major downside to the Engineer is it’s a sluggish class. That armor weighs them down so their movement speed is slow, their attacks are slow, pretty much everything they do is done slowly. If you’ve been playing a class like Outlander before switching to these behemoths you’re going to rage for a while before you get used to how slow they are.

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It’s a good thing they’re so tanky because they’ll take quite a beating before they leisurely lift their wrench up to deliver a solid whomp on their enemies. They’re great for bosses, but groups will be really annoying if you don’t have a good AOE maxed out.

Best Engineer Build: Summon

Although a melee fighter at heart, the Engineer’s capability of calling forth additional reinforcements to supplement their battle prowess allows them to to become effective sub-DPS units in combat. This is emphasized by the Summon build, taking advantage of the Construction tree to have up to three (3) summoned bots working for them at a time.

Having a fully-kitted Healing Bot for sustains, Gun Bot for additional firepower, and Sledgebot for extra tanking essentially boosts their survivability. They can get slight crowd control with enemy-seeking Spider Mines, while enjoying overall damage boosts with Fire and Spark (Passive).

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  • Summon-Focused Engineer Build
  • Build Playstyle: Relies on the Construction tree to have three (3) summoned bots available at all times, while lightly empowering the player
  • Important Skills: Healing Bot, Gun Bot, Sledge Bot, Spider Mine, Fire and Spark
  • Gear Stat Priorities: Look for gear that increases the damage and armor of pets and minions, as well as Mana Recovery improvements

Best Engineer Build: Defense

Considering how the Construction tree is more or less the Engineer’s support-oriented toolkit, the Defense build capitalizes on the Aegis skill tree for hardcore defense. Parties should anticipate more consistent survival with a slight damage tradeoff. For defense, this build specializes in a fully-kitted Aegis of Fate (Passive) to reflect up to 200% Engineer’s Armor Value of damage + 100, with 50% Knockback Resistance.

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To compensate for lack of offense, the Engineer relies on their slate of traditional melee attacks: Seismic Slam for the stun, Onslaught for the gap-closing slow, Sword and Board (Passive) to add Defense directly into Melee Physical Damage and Supercharge (Passive) to ensure all attacks at least have a slight damage boost against other opponents with extra Charge.

  • Build Playstyle: Plays like a tank, taking little damage, but dealing less damage than many DPS-oriented builds out there – survivability over offensive potential
  • Important Skills: Supercharge, Seismic Slam, Onslaught, Sword and Board, Aegis of Fate
  • Gear Stat Priorities: Focus on acquiring gear that grants chance to reflect Missiles, improves resistances, or otherwise increases the Engineer’s Health and defensives

Platform(s) PC , PS4 , Switch , Xbox One Released September 20, 2012 Developer(s) Runic Games ESRB T For Teen due to Blood and Gore, Violence

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