Torchlight gameplay

Gameplay

The player controls a lone hero who explores a series of randomized dungeons, where they fight large numbers of enemies and collect equipment, gold, and other loot. The game also features a single town which serves as a hub, to which the player character can periodically return to buy and sell items toNPC vendors and obtain quests. As the protagonist delves into the dungeon, they are presented with a series of quests and battle a series of unique bosses that advance the main storyline. Optionally, players may take on side quests, random quests or visit branching dungeon areas. The graphics are 3D and viewed from an overhead perspective, similar to the isometric perspective used in the originalDiablo. The game is controlled using a point-and-click mouse interface and keyboard hotkeys.

The game generates each level of the dungeon by assembling modular "chunks" of the game environment. Each chunk is designed by hand and may be composed of multiple rooms. They can contain scripted events and interactive objects such as levers that open secret doors or cause bridges to move. This approach to level generation is intended to create dungeons with more purposeful design, instead of environments that simply look like "crossword puzzles that have been extruded upwards."

As in Fate, players have a permanent pet which fights alongside them and can carry and sell loot. The initial pet can be either a wolf dog or a lynx, and players can feed the pet fish to transform it into different creatures.

Also present in the game is a retirement system, in which players can pass on an heirloom item from an old character to a newly-created one, likened to a New Game Plus game mode.

Character classes

Torchlight features three character classes.

• The Destroyer is a wandering warrior skilled in melee combat, although he also has the ability to call upon ancestral spirits to produce magical effects.
• The Alchemist is a spellcaster drawn to magical power of Ember. He can fire blasts of magic and electricity from his specialized focus glove and can summon imps and steampunk-styled robots.
• The Vanquisher is an elite city guard, sent undercover to investigate the town of Torchlight. She specializes in ranged weapons and can also use traps against her foes.

The player develops their character by placing points into class-specific skill trees. Further, there is a separate class of spells that any character can learn from scrolls, regardless of class.