Playing Titan Quest

[Alferd Packer]

I actually like the hunter class and feel it is one of the best for vanilla TQ. With a high Art of the Hunt, you go through beastmen like they mean fuck all. And since beastmen comprise a huge number of the enemies you face in TQ, there's little that can stop you.

I combined hunting and defense for my first character (I wanted to and did make a hoplite-type character). From about level 20-30 it got real hard, but then I started to get some good drops, including a purple spear (Hector's Spear). Now, at level 45 and with DPS up around 1900, I'm ripping through just about everything the game can throw at me. Plus, it's said I'm a lot of fun to watch in multiplayer. Betwen Take Down, Batter, and Shield Charge, I can clear enough of a room that my party members have an easy time mopping up the rest, and do it in a rather spastic fashion. If you get the right gear, it's insanely fun and pretty easy, all things considered.

[Dark Hellion]

Dman you people, now I am going to reinstall and play the game. Damn you's all to hell!

[Tasoth]

I combined hunting and defense for my first character (I wanted to and did make a hoplite-type character). From about level 20-30 it got real hard, but then I started to get some good drops, including a purple spear (Hector's Spear). Now, at level 45 and with DPS up around 1900, I'm ripping through just about everything the game can throw at me. Plus, it's said I'm a lot of fun to watch in multiplayer. Betwen Take Down, Batter, and Shield Charge, I can clear enough of a room that my party members have an easy time mopping up the rest, and do it in a rather spastic fashion. If you get the right gear, it's insanely fun and pretty easy, all things considered.

Pretty much my class, only I have alot of points into my passive abilities. A shield bash with an Adamant Aspis is devastating and I got to wear the heavier armors earlier. Coincidentally, I blew through babylon like it was nothing.

[Vympel]

If I go back to Greece by portal (say I want to complete some relics/ shards) will the enemies be scaled or will I be hacking through pitifully easy enemies?

[Anarchist Bunny]

If I go back to Greece by portal (say I want to complete some relics/ shards) will the enemies be scaled or will I be hacking through pitifully easy enemies?

Pitiful. Pack some AoE if you can.

[RazorOutlaw]

I don't mean to break the thread off into some crazy tangent, but I've got to ask how Titan Quest stacks up to games like Sacred or Dungeon Siege 2 that have a similar hack and slash with special abilities gameplay.

I've played demos for all three, but I figured a couple here would have played the full games given that such games are easy to slip in to. Now out of the three Titan Quest is the most recent, and possibly the most fun, but I'm still a little uncertain. I like the classical era bent if only because it hasn't been used much, whereas the previous two games are the typical fantasy medieval setting.

Any ideas?

[Stark]

I thought Dungeon Siege 2 was utter shit, so I'm biased.

I enjoyed Sacred's story/campaign/setting much more than the hopelessly hackneyed pseudo-mythology of TQ. Sacred also isn't cripplingly linear, and for my money the world seems more 'alive'. It also has horses and reasonably customisable 'classes'.

However, TQ has an excellent skill system with excellent synergies, whereas Sacred's skill system is drop-based, has few synergies, and doesn't allow a huge amount of variation in usable feats. Some are also totally broken, like the Dark Elf smoke grenades which allows them to kill dragons at level 7. TQ also has an MMO-style hotbar, which is better than Sacred's 5 weapons/5 spells thing. Sacred also tends to 'adjust' better to high level characters, whereas normal on TQ is ridiculously easy and going back to Greece is a waste of time.

TQ has better feats, Sacred has better class variation. TQ has way better pets. TQ has better feat/skill synergy. TQ has a better UI and isn't a 2D map. Sacred is larger. TQ has the cool relic system. Sacred has far better undead, though.

I'd also say Sacred has better multi options and is more of a challenge. It's old and ugly though, and a comment I saw years ago is very apt - the best zoom is too far, the next step in is too close, and the closest is utterly worthless.

[Dark Hellion]

Man, every time I play, I just want to make a Nature/defense dude and be as unkillable as possible. But man is that boring as fuck. Unfortunately I think making a killer dude is even more boring.

[Stark]

So use interesting combos - I'm having great fun with a warfare-spirit combo: slow everyone down then stab them.

[RazorOutlaw]

So what I'm getting from your reply Stark is that when I run down to the mall someday I'm going to have to flip a coin and choose. Thanks for taking the time to point out the various features, though.

And I'd have to agree on Dungeon Siege 2, at least as far as comparisons go. The game didn't seem nearly as smooth playing as Titan Quest, and from what I remember of Sacred, not much in the way of setting. And in terms of bias I actually really dislike jungle levels of any kind. Right after the marginally interesting opening sequence in DS2 I was dumped straight into a jungle. Bah.

[Darth Wong]

My current character is Earth/Dream, with almost all of the points going to the Earth enchantment. You don't get great defense with this combo, but you do get tremendous damage-dealing potential and two defense bonuses: the Stone Form power and the fact that enemies tend to attack your rock monster rather than you.

Once you max out the Earth enchantment, every weapon (including a bow or staff if you have one) is imbued with massive flame damage. You also get the giant rock monster, the Ring of Flame to damage anyone who gets too close, and the Stone Form in case you need time to heal up during an intense battle while your rock monster bashes people.

[Vympel]

Has anyone played Epic with a melee character (ie Warfare Mastery)? I've been reading some guides about character builds, and I read an assertion that the entire Battle Rage tree of Warfare mastery was "lame", and only useful on Normal.

Does that sound right? Obviously I'm considering playing Epic after I finish Normal (should I do that before or after playing Immortal Throne?) and want to know what I'm in for (though with 3,500,000+ gold and counting, it's not like it'll be cost prohibitive to reassign my battle rage points).

I like Battle Rage, myself ... it's the Battle Standard tree I haven't bothered with.

[Stark]

So what I'm getting from your reply Stark is that when I run down to the mall someday I'm going to have to flip a coin and choose. Thanks for taking the time to point out the various features, though.

Just trying to be objective. Titan Quest's biggest advantaqe is that it's learnt something from MMOs, UI and feat wise. Sacred Gold is like $10 in Australia, so just get both.

[Darth Wong]

Has anyone played Epic with a melee character (ie Warfare Mastery)? I've been reading some guides about character builds, and I read an assertion that the entire Battle Rage tree of Warfare mastery was "lame", and only useful on Normal.

Does that sound right? Obviously I'm considering playing Epic after I finish Normal (should I do that before or after playing Immortal Throne?) and want to know what I'm in for (though with 3,500,000+ gold and counting, it's not like it'll be cost prohibitive to reassign my battle rage points).

I like Battle Rage, myself ... it's the Battle Standard tree I haven't bothered with.

The problem with Battle Rage is that its damage bonus is expressed in absolute values (hitpoints) rather than percentages, like Onslaught. Level 8 Onslaught gives +50% damage, but level 12 Battle Rage only gives 38 damage. Obviously, as you level up, that 50% damage boost is worth far more than 38 absolute points. Battle Rage also gives you more offensive ability, but that only increases the likelihood of a critical hit (which tops out at 30%), and you're much better off having huge damage output than wasting your skill points looking for a measly 38 points of damage (after twelve freaking levels of this skill!) and a percentage boost in offensive ability.

Meanwhile, a Level 12 Distortion Wave in the Dream Mastery deals out 165 damage, slows opponents 50%, and goes clean through opponents and even walls to strike anything in its range. That's also absolute hitpoints, but it's a lot more of them, and you don't have to let anyone hit you in order to activate it.

[Vympel]

The problem with Battle Rage is that its damage bonus is expressed in absolute values (hitpoints) rather than percentages, like Onslaught. Level 8 Onslaught gives +50% damage, but level 12 Battle Rage only gives 38 damage.

Weird- my Battle Rage is on Level 9 and it gives me 45 damage. Level 10 is 50 damage. The point about percentages is something to consider though.

The game must've been patched since you last played Warfare?

Obviously, as you level up, that 50% damage boost is worth far more than 38 absolute points. Battle Rage also gives you more offensive ability, but that only increases the likelihood of a critical hit (which tops out at 30%), and you're much better off having huge damage output than wasting your skill points looking for a measly 38 points of damage (after twelve freaking levels of this skill!) and a percentage boost in offensive ability.

Yeah, I've got full onslaught, that was a no brainer for me - I'm going to go to a mystic and play around and see what happens on maxed out Battle Rage, damage wise.

Meanwhile, a Level 12 Distortion Wave in the Dream Mastery deals out 165 damage, slows opponents 50%, and goes clean through opponents and even walls to strike anything in its range. That's also absolute hitpoints, but it's a lot more of them, and you don't have to let anyone hit you in order to activate it.

Woah. I might give that a go next time.

[Vympel]

Just checked - Level 12 Battle Rage on my game provides 62 damage. Quite an improvement over 38, I can see why it was called lame.

But is it worth 12 skill points? What else should I put it in, in either Warfare or Hunting?

EDIT: son of a fucking bitch, what's the point of having a Save option if when you deliberately don't save, quit out, and then go back to where you were, the choices and money you spent at the mystic remain fucking made and spent? What a waste of several thousand gold coin to put the three points I took to put into Battle Rage back where they belonged.

Fuck.

[Darth Wong]

Just checked - Level 12 Battle Rage on my game provides 62 damage. Quite an improvement over 38, I can see why it was called lame.

That would make sense; I know they rejigged some of the stats when they patched the game coincident with the Immortal Throne expansion pack release.

But is it worth 12 skill points? What else should I put it in, in either Warfare or Hunting?

I'm personally a fan of any power that is always on, as opposed to the ones you need to activate (especially the ones where you generally have to take significant damage from the enemy before they activate, like Battle Rage). Having said that, I can't recommend any particular hunting skills because I never tried that mastery, but I know that the bow-related skills are very handy because even a very good melee warrior needs to be able to kill at a distance now and then.

EDIT: son of a fucking bitch, what's the point of having a Save option if when you deliberately don't save, quit out, and then go back to where you were, the choices and money you spent at the mystic remain fucking made and spent? What a waste of several thousand gold coin to put the three points I took to put into Battle Rage back where they belonged.

Fuck.

Yes, that's very frustrating.

Here's a tip: copy the actual character subdirectory in your savedata directory. Then, if you make a change you don't like, you can restore the character from backup. For that matter, it's a good idea to periodically back up the whole "My Documents" folder. You never know when you might need it.

[Tasoth]

easiest way to make money in TQ is to hit X after you get done with a wave of enemies. That'll highlight anything with gold, green, orange, brown, blue or purple text. You scoop those up and cash them in. Considering you get some shit green drops compared to what you can buy, you make a lot of money.

[Stark]

EDIT: son of a fucking bitch, what's the point of having a Save option if when you deliberately don't save, quit out, and then go back to where you were, the choices and money you spent at the mystic remain fucking made and spent? What a waste of several thousand gold coin to put the three points I took to put into Battle Rage back where they belonged.

Fuck.

I don't know why the 'save' option is in the menu either, since it autosaves. However, respeccing is really cheap, so that doesn't concern me: I've tried several setups for my two primaries. I mean, let's face it: you make 600,000 bucks in two hours and there's NOTHING ELSE TO SPEND IT ON. I respecced my nature mastery from wolf/vines to elf/plague, and it cost me 450,000 bucks, which is peanuts.

Does anyone else find it ironic that to expand the caravan storage to full costs 500,000 gold, but the transfer area is full-size from the get go? I just used THAT as my characters storage at the start.

[Sriad]

My experience with hunting will be different than yours since I'm a Brigand (rogue/hunter) but no matter what your second class is, Study Prey and Wood Lore are both brilliant abilities, and Monster Lure is a pretty good OhShit button when potion cooldowns might get you killed.

A few points in Trail Blazing helps deal with some of the ridiculously speedy demons you'll face in act 5 if you have the extra energy for the fairly beefy reserve.

[Vympel]

Typhon is too fucking hard.

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

easiest way to make money in TQ is to hit X after you get done with a wave of enemies. That'll highlight anything with gold, green, orange, brown, blue or purple text. You scoop those up and cash them in. Considering you get some shit green drops compared to what you can buy, you make a lot of money.

I played through the second highest difficulty level somewhere towards Typhon's prison, and now I have 51million gold I think....

This game gets darn profitable, so much so I don't bother to pick up a lot of stuff except green and above now.

[Vympel]

Actually Typhon's easy. Just had to work out the pattern.

The loot was fucking lame though. A blue torso armor rated at 60? I got better in fucking Egypt.

I re-specd my character out of the 9 points I had in Battle Rage - put them into additional mastery, doom horn, etc.

[Vympel]

I've farmed normal Typhon about three times so far- the loot has been pretty damn useless, except for this Mantis Helm thing I picked up, which has high stun resistance.

In the last run, he didn't drop any blues at all - just some relics, a useless (to me) green shield, some yellows - and even two bloody whites.

I found Jade Bracers when I killed the boss in Babylon - I want to complete a set of some kind of armor before I start Epic, as well as pick up some better weapons.

EDIT: and in my fourth farm, the same fucking shit, but no relics either, just yellows and whites. My big reward for beating Typhon.

Can the game tell I'm farming and it's just making the loot fucked?

EDIT 2: Bah - it's random. Just had a good run. What bothers me is that the drops aren't context sensitive to your class. I'm sick to death of shields dropping, and no damn weapons.

[Darth Wong]

I've farmed normal Typhon about three times so far- the loot has been pretty damn useless, except for this Mantis Helm thing I picked up, which has high stun resistance.

In the last run, he didn't drop any blues at all - just some relics, a useless (to me) green shield, some yellows - and even two bloody whites.

I found Jade Bracers when I killed the boss in Babylon - I want to complete a set of some kind of armor before I start Epic, as well as pick up some better weapons.

EDIT: and in my fourth farm, the same fucking shit, but no relics either, just yellows and whites. My big reward for beating Typhon.

Can the game tell I'm farming and it's just making the loot fucked?

EDIT 2: Bah - it's random. Just had a good run. What bothers me is that the drops aren't context sensitive to your class. I'm sick to death of shields dropping, and no damn weapons.

Just so you know, I did mess around with trying to copy characters from one computer to another, and it doesn't seem to work. However, you can transfer items from an imported character to one of yours by using TQVault, even if that imported character won't show up in the game. And I've got more weapons than you can shake a stick at.