News Torchlight III announced as a rework of Frontiers ( back to roots, ditches F2P model)

[prudis]

Torchlight III

It’s been centuries since the events of Torchlight II, and the Ember Empire is in decline. In Torchlight III, Novastraia is again under threat of invasion and it’s up to you to defend against the Netherim and its allies. Gather your wits and brave the frontier to find fame, glory, and a new adventure!

Travel the Frontier
Explore the wilderness, party with friends, gather materials to craft loot, use magical maps to enter unknown dungeons, or show off your spoils in town! There’s always something to do in the new frontier.

Build & Upgrade Your Fort
It’s time to rebuild – and that includes you! Enjoy your very own fort, where you can upgrade gear, and renovate your fort to show off to your friends and the world. Build monuments of power, pet stables, and more!

Collect Epic Gear
Whether it's armor, weapons, dyes, recipes, ember cores, or even new pets...there's always more to find as you battle through dungeons and take on dangerous foes. Every randomly-generated area can be replayed over and over again since each instance brings different items. Want even more epic gear? Take on a contract to earn Fame and unlock elite items.

Pets are Back
Fight your way to fame and glory with your loyal companion! Each species comes in a myriad of colors and styles so don't settle for the first one you find. Make them stronger by adding skills, equip them with gear to make them hardier, and together battle your way through enemies as a team.

Build Your Hero
With four classes to choose from, utilize class-specific mechanics to maximize your damage and your odds of survival. Gather epic gear and customize your outfit to work with your hero’s unique make-up.

---

Announcing - Torchlight III

That’s right, Torchlight Frontiers is now Torchlight III!

www.torchlight3.com

If you’ve been following the development of Torchlight Frontiers, you know that we have been talking about the next steps for this title for some time now. We’re proud to announce a major change coming to Torchlight, making it the true successor to Torchlight I & II. That’s right, Torchlight Frontiers is now Torchlight III!



Along with this name change comes a major shift in our design approach to Torchlight III. Torchlight III will be released as a premium title. For one box-price, you will own the game and be able to play the way that you want, online or off. Over the past year, we have gathered massive amounts of feedback from our Alpha testers. After reviewing this feedback, discussing with our internal teams, and receiving guidance from our publisher, we determined that this was the best course for the game. This shift helps bring Torchlight back to its roots and makes it the true sequel to Torchlight I & II that it was always meant to be.



Accompanying this transition to a more traditional release, we will also be moving over to Steam as the platform for PC distribution. Everyone who had played our previous Alphas on Arc can expect to receive a Steam key in their email granting them access to further pre-release testing on Steam.



Alongside these changes to business model and distribution method, naturally there are many other exciting changes coming to Torchlight III.

• The game now follows the classic Act structure from previous titles. Players start at the Imperial Outpost besieged by goblin hordes. They then follow the trail of nether corruption into lands overtaken by Hyvid and finally reach the [redacted] Peaks and their cavernous underplaces ruled by the electrifying [redacted]
• Horizontal progression has been removed, so all Frontier-specific levels, gear stats, and scaling has been removed as well. We are returning our progression systems to better work in tandem with this.
• Most zones are now private by default to give a better play experience. Players can still meet each other in public town levels and form parties to play together in instanced combat zones.
• When creating your character, you can now select Online or Offline Mode. Characters made in Offline Mode do not require an internet connection to play, but will also not be able to participate in multiplayer games.
• We have removed the in-game real-money store.

While this is a huge sea change for Torchlight III, most of what our current players know about the game is still true:

• We will continue developing the game with constant feedback from our community through Closed Alpha (and soon Beta!) testing.
• We will continue releasing updates over the course of testing. Update 10 is coming Wednesday, January 29 at 10am PT. and brings the complete refactor into linear Acts, a third Frontier area, a fourth playable class, and a whole bunch of other new features and content.
• We plan to release the game on PC in 2020 with a console release following shortly after.
• We will continue to support the game with ongoing content updates post-launch.
• The classes, game content, features and collectibles that have been shown in Closed Alpha will all stay in the game.

 

[prudis]

The Sharpshooter joins Torchlight III!

This unique class is all about precision shooting and summoning spirits. Combining distinct abilities with trinkets allows you to create custom builds that speak directly to your unique ranged playstyle.

 

[texhnolyze]

Ooh, a pet class!

Since there's no traditional knight class in this game, I'll settle with that instead then.

 

[zonk]

Oh, finally some footage! Nice As an avid PoE player, I'm excited to see where this game is going! With the large PoE upgrade, TL3 and D4 on the horizon, it's looking good for hack'n'slay fans.

 

[zonk]

There is a small update (which doesn't warrant its own thread, so I'll put it in here): Steam :: Torchlight III (Beta) :: The Torchlight 3 Closed Beta is ending.

Important tidbit:

And while we have no specific details to give out yet, we strongly recommend Torchlight fans tune into our [UWSL]Twitch Friday Funday stream this Friday at 11:00 AM[/UWSL] (Pacific Time) to learn more about when Torchlight 3 will be available to the public. Additionally, we’ll be making more announcements relating to the future of Torchlight 3 soon, so please stay tuned for upcoming news.