But what makes Torchlight 2 such an underrated stone-cold classic nearly ten years after it was released? Well, here’s one reason: it basically does Diablo better than even Blizzard does Diablo today. Add to that the overt endorsement of developer Runic Games to modders everywhere to do what they want in the game, and we’re left with a title that still proves to be amazingly fresh despite the numerous grind-and-looters that came out since. So in honor of Torchlight 2, which will probably remain extant in all likelihood as our brains turn to mush for decades to come, here are some of the best mods for the game that are totally free to download, install, and use as long as you’d like.
20. 8 Player MP
Check Out This Mod Now talk about old-school! For gamers who were around when playing multiplayer on PCs meant bringing along your heavy rigs and hooking them up with LAN cables to your buddy’s PC, the eight-player multiplayer mod for Torchlight 2 is a nice nod to its spiritual inspirations. After all, raiding does become more fun when we’re going kill-crazy right alongside friends! A little caveat, though: much like with “authentic” LAN gaming, you really have to make sure that your gaming rig is beefy enough to handle all that big-energy gaming. Good luck!
19. Theolentist Class
Check Out This Mod One notable thing about the modding community in Torchlight 2 that anyone barely mentions is that those modders just aren’t releasing mods for the sake of it. More than simple cosmetics, many of the mods actually add something significant to the overall replayability value of the game. Classes, for instance, is a good example on the kinds of stuff players could enjoy from mods. The Theolentist class, in particular, is something that could have come out of the world of Torchlight. The Theolentist offers a refreshing take on modern RPG systems where specialization is just as important as flexibility. And this is a great addition to your gameplay if you love the class structure.
18. Nethermancer Class
Check Out This Mod Necromancer, you say? Puh-leaze.How about something more sinister? Thankfully, the Nethermancer class was modded in about a year after Torchlight 2’s release. With abilities that allows your avatar to teleport through space at breakneck speed, this sounds particularly Lovecraftian. And we all know that Lovecraft influences are always a boon to RPGs, right? Because of the Nethermancer’s abilities, some reviews from players came in saying how just about anyone could make his/her avatar be overpowered. But come on now. How is that not the point of playing every videogame ever? Mission accomplished if you ask me!
17. Betterbloodeffects
Check Out This Mod I can imagine you asking already: “Why is this mod on the list?” Well, because as with all things, dear reader, sometimes a little grime and dirt and… well, blood makes the whole thing more “real” than it has any right to!
16. Far East Pack
Check Out This Mod The East: a land of mysticism and magic… until the internet ruined it for us. Who knew that people on the other end of the world had the same concerns as us? Of course, this is our seamless segue on why we’re listing the Far East Pack mod here: basically, every Eastern martial artist archetype is represented here, from the ol’ reliable Ninja to the Outlander, a class that seems to juggle using guns and magic just fine despite the anachronism (the Monster Hunter class, though, is just odd).
15. Fighting Arts
Check Out This Mod Oh sure, ninjas are cool and all, but for some people, they aren’t just… weaboo-ish enough, I guess? In any case, this is the mod for you: a class that’s inspired by the aesthetics and fighting style of shonen manga, anime, and all things otaku. C’mon, this mod isn’t called the “Otaku Fighter” class for nothing!
14. Extra Chunky
Check Out This Mod Play Torchlight 2 long enough, and the “randomness” of the dungeons begin to feel same-y. The Extra Chunky mod attempts to remedy that by giving more variety to your caves and catacombs. Now, if we can also spice up relationships just as easy as this…
13. Starter Pets [Extended]
Check Out This Mod Even in vanilla Torchlight 2, the breadth of pets available in the game shames any RPG that could only animate a dog alongside your hero. For the extended Starter Pets pack, those pets balloon up to 21 types, including a zombie, a crab, or a skull. Hey, no one said those pets have to be cute to begin with.
12. Clear Minimap
Check Out This Mod You know what my first thought was when I encountered this mod? Finally, a map mod that actually shows where I can go! This should’ve been in vanilla from the start but no point complaining now. By far a must-have in my book.
11. WoW-style Paladin
Check Out This Mod Are we in agreement that every RPG moving forward should have a Paladin class? Well, one modder felt so passionately about it that he not only added a Paladin class, he added one modeled from World of Warcraft itself… Including all the balances and kinks congruent with the character. It’s projects like these that make the Torchlight 2 community such a fun place to be involved with.
10. Awesome Classes
Check Out This Mod Okay, so ninjas and paladins are cool classes and all. But any hardcore computer RPG nerd already knows by now that some players just won’t play a game unless they’re using “this” class as their mainline. Fret not then! This one enterprising modder basically collated what amounts to the cooler classes from Torchlight’s modding community! You’ve got the -mancer types here. A dragon prince is included. Heck, there’s even a Dread Pirate class in case you still want to play as Jack Sparrow in RPG form. Can we call this as the “something for everyone” mod now?
9. Blanks Landmarks
Check Out This Mod This mod is basically the equivalent of Oprah giving out swag to her studio audience back then. Like, You want more chunks? Here’s more chunks for you! And you! And you! Basically this modder included 29 new chunks to all questing areas. It also won’t surprise anyone that the modder identified him/herself as a Runic Games employee and basically uploaded the mod as some sort of last hurrah for the first Torchlight before the sequel’s release. Now this is “games as a service” indeed.
8. Arkham’s & Ripper’s Armory
Check Out This Mod The Arkham and Ripper armory sets were very popular in the Torchlight modding community for years. And what should happen when two of the most notorious mods have been combined in one easy-to-use package? It’s legen-freakin’-dary! Featuring items inspired by other videogame classics like Warhammer, Elder Scrolls, and Warcraft III, this should give new life to players who have been playing Torchlight since day one.
7. SynergiesHIGHLOOT
Check Out This Mod Oh, loot. We know those virtual swag ain’t real. Yet if we don’t treat them as real, what’s the point of grinding, then? A shootoff of the Synergies mod, the HIGHLOOT mod don’t play around: every monster killed just doesn’t drop more loot than usual, players also get rare loot like socketables and boon scrolls. Now doesn’t that make hunting elite monsters less of a chore now?
6. The Endless Dungeon
Check Out This Mod So you think you’ve beaten everything there is to beat at vanilla Torchlight? Well then, if you get to beat at what amounts to the game’s ultra-hardcore mode, then you could earn some primo bragging rights for the effort. The Endless Dungeon mod contains the Eternal Realm, a gargantuan 26-floor challenge that starts at your player level and which only ramps up in difficulty the more you descend. So are you content to play through the mod piecemeal, or will you go full rogue and see how long you can survive this virtual hell like what the old-school PC gamers of yore did? Play the challenge however you want it.
5. JPCC’s HUD Pack
Check Out This Mod Real talk: nothing galls some players more than seeing a messy HUD. Think you can do better with your own improvements to the game’s UI? Well you can try hacking it out on your own… or better yet, just download this mod collection and save yourself hours of headache! JPCC’s HUD Pack collects every kind of UI improvement to vanilla Torchlight, from block indicators to the ability to turn the HUD off. In case you really want to feel like a badass adventurer.
4. Ultimate Boss Chests
Check Out This Mod In case you still need some convincing, then yes, we can never have enough “MOAR LOOT!” mods. Of course, there’s also one way mods like this can only work: if it makes players like you earn the reward with all your grinding and slaying! As what the name of this mod implies, it basically gives you the freedom to enjoy an embarrassment of riches that you could only otherwise get from a high-level boss fight. Heck even a standard boss fight with a Manticore or an Alchemist can even net you up to 30 pieces of gold. Get that CREAM, man!
3. BAGMOD
Check Out This Mod “More money, more problems” also applies to videogames like they would in real life. Don’t believe me? Well, now that you could get all the loot you want how oh how can you transport them all to your town? This mod offers one simple solution: by simply increasing your inventory pages. For one, both your avatar and pet immediately gets ten pages’ worth of equipment, and that doesn’t even include pages for consumables and spell scrolls. If you find inventory management to be the most boring task you can do in any RPG–obviously, who else doesn’t at this point? Then you should understand why we ranked BAGMOD high in this list.
2. SynergiesMOD
Check Out This Mod If we’re talking about Torchlight mods, then this is one you can’t absolutely do without. The SynergiesMOD pack is a complete overhaul of the base game. It has new towns, new difficulty modes, new classes, new crafting systems… heck, name it, this mod probably has it! There’s a reason why it won accolades from publications like PC Gamer: it contains enough stuff to make it feel like you’re playing a brand-new version of Torchlight, yet familiar enough to not completely alienate you from the whole thing.
1. Torchlight II Essentials
Check Out This Mod While the SynergiesMOD is complete enough as it is, the Essentials pack is just.. well, more complete, to put it bluntly. It’s not just because the mod creator decided to name it as “essential”. It basically contains all the mods voted on by the community as mods you simply can’t do without. So it has mods for classes, level layouts, items, pets, merchants balancing… the works. Oh and before I forget, the mod pack also feature tweaks for texture and UI. You know, because graphics and frame rate be damned, but bad UI is just unforgivable. So out of this list, have you found out which mod fits your play style? No matter which mods you pick up, use them as long as they keep you happily grinding and looting away.
