Combat in Titan Quest 2 includes information about the mechanics of handling encounters with hostile enemies. The combat in Titan Quest 2 seems to focus on the action role-playing design where general combat encounters are instantaneous and in real-time. As of this writing, there's not much info yet regarding how combat works, but we can assume it'll be similar to its previous title. According to the developers at Grimlore Games, the combat in the game is supposed to feel more tactical and less "like a clickfest", but we'll have to wait and see how it turns out once they release gameplay footage.
NOTE: All the information provided is based on speculations from the first game, since most information regarding Titan Quest 2 remains undisclosed. This page will be updated once more information has been released.
Titan Quest 2 Combat Overview
We can expect Titan Quest 2 to retain the combat system from the previous game and like many ARPGs, this sequel will feature two crucial resources: Health and Energy. Health directly influences your character's vitality, serving as a lifeline; once depleted, your character dies. Energy, on the other hand, is essential for executing specific skills. The availability of skills is determined by the chosen Masteries, each comprising Active and Passive Skills. Active skills require energy to perform, with higher tier and more powerful skills requiring more energy, while passive skills are available at all times after investing in them.
Rather than choosing a predefined class from the get-go, players can choose up to two Masteries and combine them to customize their playstyle. Masteries essentially function as skill trees, specializing in distinct damage types, associated attributes, and skill varieties. For instance, some Masteries may grant players the power to control storms or enable them to cast cold and lightning spells. Others may offer an array of buffs and debuffs, increasing the player and allies' potential. In the previous game, Masteries could not be interchanged or respecced, players could only reset and reallocate skill points. However, there is a possibility of a new mechanic being introduced in Titan Quest 2, allowing for greater customization and opening up new possibilities for different playstyles.
Titan Quest 2 Combat
Difficulty Levels in Titan Quest 2
In the original Titan Quest, they featured three difficulty levels: Normal, Epic, and Legendary. A higher difficulty would result in higher base level enemies, but reward you with greater chances to gain high rarity gear. To unlock the next difficulty level, you would have had to complete the campaign on the previous difficulty. Titan Quest 2 may allow players to freely change between each difficulty, albeit at a high cost.
What are Masteries in Titan Quest 2?
Masteries are skill trees that shape the player's playstyle and dictate the type of damage they inflict. Players can customize their characters forming their own unique Classes by combining two masteries. The previous installment initially featured eight Masteries, with three additional ones introduced through DLCs. Several, if not all, may make a comeback to Titan Quest 2. Mastery Points can additionally be used to upgrade the Mastery itself through a tier meter. Allocating points to this meter not only unlocks higher-tier skills but also boosts Dexterity, Intelligence, and Strength stats, amplifying damage output based on your chosen damage type. The eleven Masteries you can find in the original Titan Quest are listed below:
- Storm Mastery
- Defense Mastery
- Earth Mastery
- Nature Mastery
- Warfare Mastery
- Hunting Mastery
- Spirit Mastery
- Rogue Mastery
- Dream Mastery
- Rune Mastery
- Neidan Mastery
To learn more about each individual Masteries, click Here.
Choosing the right skills in Titan Quest 2
It is important to note that when building a character, you want a balance of having both offensive and defensive skills in various categories. The common mistake new players make is maxing out a single skill early in the game and miss the chance to invest in other skills that could help them in the long run. When players do this, they tend to have one really strong skill, and lack in other aspects in terms of their overall character capabilities. For example, a player chooses to max out a skill that focuses on AoE damage, it is very useful when you're dealing with a large group of enemies, but there will come a time that they'll think about investing in other skills like defensive abilities or survivability, as enemies in the game would get stronger and deal more damage to the player as they progress through the story.
You should always consider distributing skill points efficiently, prioritize mastery points for overall character strength, and consider the benefits of other skills and equipment at your disposal to maximize your character's overall effectiveness in combat. It is recommended to have a strategic approach when allocating points to your skills. Find out what skills offer the most value to your build to have a well-rounded character with both offensive and defensive capabilities.
Dealing with Bosses in Titan Quest 2
In the previous installment, there were different Bosses in the game and they were usually found at the far side of decorative doors, often locking them upon the player's entry. Most of those bosses are from Quests, but they can be used for farming some items. They often drop Green, Blue, or Purple items, but these drops can vary. Low-level bosses don't drop more than Yellow items. Some bosses also guard chests, these chests contain a random rare or powerful item.
When dealing with bosses, it is important to note that most, if not all, have audio cues in their attacks. It is recommended to play with headphones on to recognize audio cues and determine the right time to dodge and perform a counterattack. If you find it hard to rely on audio cues, you could always run around and observe the attack pattern of the boss, this would take longer to get used to and can get you killed several times before you get down the timing of their attacks, but it is just as effective than recklessly attacking directly.
Bosses have 85%-95% resistance to Health reduction and 70%-90% resistance to Energy damage. They also have 80% resistance to Energy Leech and Life Leech, which are all dependent on the difficulty the player's playing in. We can speculate that most of these bosses will come back, or more bosses can be added in Titan Quest 2. It is also possible that Bosses will retain the same resistance to some Status Effects.
Game Speed in Titan Quest 2
In the previous game, they also featured three options for the game speed: Normal, Fast, and Very Fast. The first act of the game had a slow pacing so some players would set the game speed on Very Fast to get through the first act quickly. It could also help players farm item drops from enemies, for example, players would often kite enemies in an area to take them out by groups, for the Normal game speed, that would take a lot of time, but when set to Very Fast, the walking and attack animations will significantly increase and make the combat and gameplay experience improve overall.
Players can always change the game speed at any time by going through the general options from the settings. We can definitely expect this feature to make a return in Titan Quest 2.
Choosing your Masteries in Titan Quest 2
As mentioned above, the original Titan Quest allowed players to pick and choose two Masteries and combine them to customize their playstyle, essentially creating a Class. In the previous game, players get to choose their first mastery at level 2, then choose their second mastery at level 8. Players could always stick to one mastery if they wish to do so, but it is recommended that players choose a different second mastery to expand their abilities and maximize their character's potential. Combining two Masteries is confirmed to make a return in Titan Quest 2, but it's still unknown whether it will retain the same feature where players would get their first mastery at level 2 and second at level 8. We can speculate that choosing Masteries would be incorporated into character creation and players would get to choose their two masteries from the get-go, then they can level up certain skills and abilities as they progress through the game.
Titan Quest 2 Best Builds
Obviously, we don't have any Builds created for Titan Quest 2 yet, so we'll gather some build ideas from the previous installment. Drawing inspiration from the established builds in the preceding game can provide valuable guidance for players seeking effective builds. Listed below are some of the best builds we found from the previous game:
- Conquerer: This is a pure melee build, which requires you to have Warfare and Defense Masteries. This build will have a one-handed weapon and shield equipped. The Defense Mastery provides shield buffs, other defensive abilities, and shield attacks. The Warfare Mastery provides primary offensive abilities as well as some additional damage avoidance. These two Masteries combined work well together, having some points invested in Strength, Dexterity, and Health. It has a good overall balance between offense and defense, and decent AoE attacks.
- Templar: This is a hybrid melee build, which requires you to have Defense and Dream Masteries. This build has High survivability, 0 death, and reflection. Templars get excellent damage mitigation and reflection abilities from both masteries. Reflection has a chance to reflect massive amounts of damage while also being almost unkillable with this build. This build has exceptional damage mitigation from skills, has good crowd control capabilities, and you'll barely need to use any type of potion.
- Haruspex: This is a ranged build, which requires you to have Hunting and Dream Masteries. This build typically focuses on Physical and Pierce damage as an Archer, but can be swapped to throwing weapons and a shield. This build provides a good mix of passives, debuffs, and DPS. It has a lot of defensive abilities and projectile avoidance and an excellent debuff with Study Prey.
- Magician: This is a pure caster build, which requires you to have Rogue and Earth Masteries. The playstyle for this build to work is to spam the Rogue's knife-throwing ability, and then Earth enchantment and Envenom weapon are used to boost damage and crowd control. This build can be energy extensive, and without energy reduction, you will find yourself constantly using potions. This build also offers a wide variety of damage types, from fire, poison, bleeding, and piercing damage.
- Illusionist: This is a summoner build, which requires you to have Rogue and Nature Masteries. This build is a Trapper, Summoner, and Poison caster, but can be tweaked to be more of a melee or ranged focus instead of a poison caster. Summoner with 4 permanent pets, which includes 3 wolves and a nymph, and also lays down 3 traps while moving. You can then stay back and crowd control from Flash Powder, Earthbind, and Briar Ward skills to avoid damage while simultaneously attacking with Poison Gas Bomb (or bow/throwing weapons if you don't want to be a poison caster).
These builds can help players create their character and offer significant advantages in overall combat scenarios. For a more comprehensive guide on Builds, click Here.
