Torchlight Destroyer Guide Stats and Gear

Nothing Withstands a Destroyer – Stats & Gear

This is the second part of our two part guide to the Destroyer in Torchlight. We focus on the stats of the Destroyer: what they mean, what you should focus on, and how you should allocate your stat points; additionally, we give our impressions of the gear you’ll find while scouring the depths of Torchlight’s dungeons. If you have questions about skills, or the skill tree, please refer back to part 1 of our guide.

Stats

Character stats in Torchlight define how your character’s strengths and weaknesses will appear while playing the game. Every character gets five stat points to use when they level up, and can allocate them into four different categories: Strength, Dexterity, Magic, and Defense. A lot of people suggest pooling points, because a good piece of gear may drop and you want to make sure you meet the stat requirements; however, we suggest that you shy away from this strategy, and instead come up with a plan of point allocation. A stat point plan will give your character better attributes all around, and you’ll ultimately have a stronger character throughout the game.

Stat Point Allocation

The simple rule of thumb is the “3/2 method.” When you level, put three points into the stat you want to be the strongest, and two points into your second strongest stat. As a Destroyer, you’ll be putting points into Strength as your primary stat, and Defense as your secondary stat. The reason for this point allocation is to have strong attacks, high DPS weapons, and heavy gear. Destroyers are melee fighters, so they need to be able to soak up the damage, which is why Defense is still important.

Important note: If you plan on rolling as a Titan, you’ll want to use a different point allocation than the “3/2 method.” Titan destroyers use abilities that have a lot of elemental damage tied to them, so spending points into magic is well worth it; additionally, having defense as a primary stat is somewhat favorable as a Titan. We recommend a “2/2/1 method” for Titans: Strength 2, Defense 2, and Magic 1.

Gear – What to Wear

Monsters in Torchlight drop a massive amount of loot, and you’ll be sure to find a plethora of options that your character can equip. Runic designed the game to be unrestrictive in equipment usage, so we won’t go into specific pieces of gear to wear; instead, we’ll focus on what gear works well for which type of Destroyer.

gear

Weapons

Which weapon you use as a Destroyer depends greatly on the weapons DPS. As a Destroyer, you should always be looking to upgrade your weapon for higher DPS; however, a Berserk will prefer one type of weapon, while a Spectral will prefer another. Here’s a quick rundown of your thoughts on what weapons to use with which spec.

Specialization	Weapon	Reason
Berserker	Two-handed Weapons	A Berserker rushes in, blindly slashing away at his enemies. We prefer that our enemies fall quickly, so that our frail bodies don’t take a beating; thus, a strong Two-handed weapon will deal the most amount of damage with the abilities of a Berserker.
Berserker	Dual One-handed Weapons	One-handed Weapons are just as good as Two-handed Weapons when it comes to Berserkers. Their main abilities allow you to use all the weapons currently equipped, meaning you attack with both weapons while using abilities. The main difference here is that your standard attack will be somewhat weaker when compared to a strong Two-hander. *Note: Use dual One-handed weapons when their combined DPS is greater than your current Two-hander.
Titan	Sword & Shield	Titans are almost required to use a sword and shield. The whole purpose of a Titan is to walk into harm’s way, soak up the damage, and then unleash furry in a massive AoE explosion. A sword and shield will aid you the most in this style of fighting. *Note: Look for powerful elemental bonuses on shields and One-handed weapons, because the elemental stats will increase your AoE’s damage.
Titan	Two-handed Weapons	We did find some Two-handers in the game that had quite a bit of defense on them. While these weapons won’t ever compare to shields, we found ourselves using a Two-hander every now and then.
Spectral	Two-Handed Weapons	Bar none, Spectrals are the best when wielding a Two-hander. Not only are your own attacks strong with a Two-hander, but your minions will benefit more from the higher DPS. We used One-handed weapons from time to time, but found that strong Two-handers always trumped dual wielding.

General Equipment

Because of the large amount of gear, and how quickly you’ll be upgrading your gear, we won’t tell you what piece of gear is important; instead, we’ll give you some quick tips on what to look for in gear, and when to hold out for a gear set.

My Tips for Gear

· Find gear that boosts your abilities. This tip seems obvious, but many people just focus on one stat and go for that alone. You want to make sure your gear is improving your character’s attacks, because that’s how you’ll survive in Torchlight. Keep upgrading your main attributes, but don’t neglect your secondary ones either.

· Don’t forget about Armor. This tip is even in the game, but it’s worth mentioning here. All classes benefit from having a high amount of Armor. Alchemists use it to survive the random attacks they’ll receive, Destroyers use to beat their enemies face-to-face, and Vanquishers use it when they can’t dodge that one attack.

· Hold on to +experience gear. Being a lower level in a dungeon really makes the experience much more difficult. If you find gear with “+2 % experience,” or something similar, equip it and hold on to it for awhile. Having enough of these makes a huge difference, and swapping them all on at the start of a level – when you’re a lower level – makes you reach that dungeons monster level quickly.

· Don’t worry about meeting every gear’s stat requirement. Torchlight is all about tailoring your character to your play style, which means not every piece of gear will work for you.

· Don’t go too crazy over a gear set. Often times, people will rerun a particular dungeon level, because they found a piece of a gear set, and they want the rest of the set. You have to remember that you’re going to level quickly, and that your gear is also going to change quickly with you. Gear set bonuses can be powerful, and having a good one is great, but don’t stress out over it too much. Use what’s beneficial and move on.

That’s All, Folks!

We hope you’ve enjoyed reading our guide on Torchlight’s Destroyer. The Destroyer is a beast in combat, and quite the change of pace compared to the other classes. Torchlight is an interesting game, because every character is possible of so many different play styles that you can’t cover them all; instead, we tried to give you our honest opinion of the Destroyer, and hope it helps guide you along your journeys in the bowels of Torchlight.

We appreciate any constructive feedback and your thoughts on Torchlight as well. Be sure to leave a comment here to share your thoughts, and to provide other players with tips too. Until next time, good luck and good huntn’.