Torchlight: loot

There are generally two schools of thought when it comes to your classic tabletop RPGs. There is the more serious RPGer who demands every pizza and Coke-fueled session be a production worthy of the Royal Shakespeare Company, full of emotional handwringing by characters with phonebook-length histories in a game world fully fleshed out by a frustrated novelist of a GM. When it came time to translate this experience to the PC, this became the Ultimas, the Baldur’s Gates.

The other type of RPGer just wants to kill anything that moves and be rewarded with totally sweet gear. On the PC, this would be represented by your Might and Magics and, in more streamlined form, your Diablos. Here the emphasis is less on “who” or “why” and more on the “what” as in “what do I get for slaughtering indigenous life forms having the temerity to appear in my general vicinity?”

Loot is a major part of the appeal of action RPGs like Torchlight (a slick refinement of the Diablo formula), but those who play the game in VHHC mode will have ambivalent feelings about items.

Thunder Dragonne, Tesla’s Rail Cannon, Double Damage Axe!, Wonder’s Singing Brush, Sword of Adam (the most eccentric blade since Baldur’s Gate II’s Lilarcor) … golden-hued weapons like these are undeniably useful while dungeon-crawling since the bonuses they confer can often mean the difference between living another hour or creating another VHHC character.

On the other hand, equipped items are irretrievably lost upon death (which is, of course, permanent). As VHHC characters lead very short lives, the player quickly learns to never grow too attached to an item. That gem-encrusted rifle glimmering with cunning enchantments may indeed be worthy of a Trill-Bot 4000 opus but it will never be seen again when its wielder dies.

Use it or lose it is the order of the day.

Goren and bear it

Though Kolos the blacksmith and Triya the gem seller occasionally stock some fantastic items, the primary source of gear will be random drops obtained after slaying foes. By and large, these are mediocre — greys and greens are mere stop-gaps when starting out and merchant fodder at higher levels — but skills and bonuses like “Treasure Hunter” and “Increased Magic Find” improve the chances of finding a precious purple or gold treasure.

The longevity and utility of items can be improved through enchanting. To do this, the adventurer should visit Goren the enchanter in town and pay him for his services. Unfortunately, ol’ Goren is not especially brilliant at his job — the fact he conducts business by the side of the road like a cheap hooker should be telling — and there’s a possibility he may accidentally remove each and every enchantment. There’s nothing quite like seeing a cherished weapon’s efficacy halved and being solemnly told, “You are unlucky.” Yeah, no kidding, Merlin.

The Shrines of Enchantment located in Torchlight’s depths are another method of item enchantment. Unfortunately, these are uncommon, randomly placed and can be used only once to improve a single item. On the upside, using these is slightly less chancy than Goren’s attempts.

The third method of item improvement is through the use of gems which provide bonuses when placed in item sockets. There are a variety of gems in different qualities available from the gem seller and from drops. The most useful of these are the eyeballs (which, when attached to weapons, steal mana to fuel spells and skills), skulls and pure-ember gems (which improve defence when attached to jewellery and armour).

Money is relatively easy to gain in the game — a short jaunt with a cheap Map Scroll will yield a few thousand gp in cash and items — but powerful items aren’t easy to come by so any equipment a character has outgrown is best stored in the shared stash.

These hand-me-downs are the only legacies the VHHC character leaves behind — precious gifts for those to come, poignant reminders of those who were here before.