Torchlight Infinite SS12 Lunaria has arrived! Today, we'd like to share a build tier list for this season, highlighting top builds that will provide an exceptional gaming experience in SS12, and which builds you should avoid!

This list is primarily based on the time each character takes to achieve a first kill on Supreme Showdown 21 difficulty. Frankly, most characters on this list can be used to create very good and usable builds, so if you already have a similar set, choose your favorite build and aim for a higher leaderboard score this Lunaria season!

S-Tier

Scent Weaver Sage

Let's start with Scent Weaver Sage. New characters often arrive with a powerful aura, and their strength is usually placed in a very powerful tier. They've truly excelled at ensuring new characters have excellent feel and formidable power. For example, in the last season, the new character Erika 3 demonstrated exceptional damage output.

While many complained about struggling against enemy defenses before Sage's gear was fully developed, requiring some skill to avoid instant death upon entering the battlefield, once equipped, her explosive damage output allows her to sweep through the game like a whirlwind.

Sage was designed to adapt to a wide variety of builds, thanks to the flexible mechanics of the new Elixir Skill system and the rich buff options available for each Elixir. This allows you to customize the character to your liking, creating any unique playstyle you desire.

Rosa 2

Next, Rosa 2 also performed exceptionally well. While this update to Lunaria slightly nerfed some of Rosa's mana items and her own mana stat, frankly, if you examine Rosa's overall stats closely, you'll find she hasn't actually lost much strength. Her mana cap was slightly reduced, but that's probably the only adjustment she received.

Therefore, Rosa 2 will remain very powerful, still one of the top characters in the game, and a build focused on stacking mana will remain very effective.

Furthermore, from a practical standpoint, Rosa 2's innate skill set, especially those mechanisms that temporarily exceed life and mana caps, and additional damage bonuses, will provide a significant amount of extra benefits and advantages. This allows you to focus entirely on increasing damage output without investing too many resources in defense, as her skill set already provides ample defensive capabilities.

I believe this design gives players a very high degree of build freedom, allowing for highly aggressive equipment strategies to ultimately create an extremely powerful character. This is the main reason I ranked her at the top.

Gemma 2

In fact, new characters consistently rank high on the season's initial recommendation list because the game developers often intentionally position them at this level of strength during balancing.

For example, Gemma 2 performed exceptionally well last season. This was thanks to her extremely fast campaign completion speed, powerful full-screen clearing ability, and high cost-effectiveness in the late game transition, especially when paired with ice spells like Ice Lance. She was incredibly reliable, providing a smooth early-game experience and requiring minimal gear to easily reach T7 maps. While some of her skills received minor nerfs this season, there haven't been any fundamental changes, and she remains a worthwhile pick.

Carino 2

As for Carino 2, she underwent a complete rework. She's no longer limited to a playstyle solely reliant on Shotgunning mechanic for damage output. With this change, all her projectiles will now have Return Projectiles. This not only gives him extremely high versatility but also makes him a popular choice for fast-farming builds.

Youga 2

Youga 2 also received some good adjustments in SS12 Lunaria. In fact, even in the previous season, thanks to buffs and reworks specifically designed for him, Youga 2 was already at a very good level. Now, he has received some additional tweaks and enhancements, especially to better synergize with the new mechanics brought by Memory system. Therefore, in reality, his current strength is on par with, or even slightly better than, his previous status.

Rehan 2

Next is Rehan 2, another character who performs exceptionally well with life-stacking builds. Although he has been nerfed to some extent, you can still stack an amazing life cap for him, and the overall strength of this build should not be underestimated.

This is thanks to his extremely fast build progression, his unique auto-detonation gameplay, and his ability to achieve extremely high damage growth without requiring expensive early-game gear. With the ability to maintain Berserk status throughout and automatically detonate Seething Spirits, he can quickly clear the screen and eliminate monsters, making him an ideal choice for players to quickly enter Netherrealm and efficiently complete the endgame content.

The core gameplay of these characters usually doesn't change much, they simply need to play to their strengths, traversing the map at lightning speed, always providing players with an exhilarating gaming experience. If you're truly passionate about melee combat and high-speed battlefield movement, then whichever of the above suits your taste, they are the best choices for narrowly winning Torchlight Infinite SS12!

A-Tier 

Next, for A tier characters, these are all very strong choices.

Iris 1 & 2 

First, Iris 1 received a significant buff in SS12, gaining almost all the damage output you need for free, especially with the latest changes. However, she still can't shake off one inherent characteristic.

Previously, you needed to stack 40 Nourishment buffs to unlock and cast your own ultimate ability or trigger the ultimate abilities of your summoned creatures. Therefore, you were often forced to use talents like Windrider or Windbreath Dispersion to quickly provide the minimum stacks and ensure you could channel your spells rapidly.

This forced binding had a side effect: once these abilities reached level 3, the damage your character took increased by 20% to 30%. This made Iris 1 extremely vulnerable.

However, in Torchlight Infinite Lunaria season, characters no longer need 40 stacks to enter Full Bloom and cast abilities; 10 stacks are sufficient. This means you are no longer forced to use these talents. You can completely abandon them and instead utilize the new mechanics for a dramatic leap in overall damage output.

Furthermore, since Windrider is no longer required, she has also received a significant buff on the defensive side. However, to be fair, at the endgame, her overall strength is still slightly inferior to Iris 2.

Therefore, if you ultimately decide to choose Iris as your main character, remember: the best strategy is to use Iris 1 first, quickly reach T8 to farm gear, and thus quickly enter Profound. Once you have all the gear you need to easily handle Profound, you should switch to Iris 2. Because in Iris 2's Stone Golem form, your map clearing efficiency will be higher, your defensive capabilities will be stronger, and you'll still maintain enough damage output to tackle high-difficulty content like Deep Space.

Thea 3 & Gemma 3

Furthermore, the Ignite builds in Thea 3 and Gemma 3 are also exceptionally good, even bordering on insane.

Thea 3's signature Mind Control mechanic remains strong, fulfilling its intended function and allowing for effortless mastery of various challenges. Among all characters, she boasts one of the highest completion rates, easily conquering both Supreme Showdown 21 and 20 difficulties. It's safe to say Thea 3's current strength remains solid.

As for Gemma 3, her Ignite build is currently underrated, rarely discussed, mainly because the character hasn't been changed in some time. However, Gemma 3's Ignite build is actually extremely powerful and shouldn't be underestimated.

B-Tier 

Next up are the B-tier characters, categorized as those with lower play rates. Of course, this doesn't mean they're necessarily weak; in fact, most of them are likely still very strong. It's just that they're less familiar to players, and their strength is in a stable, balanced state, somewhere in the middle.

Rehan 1 & Rosa 1 

For example, Rehan 1 paired with Burst build has consistently performed very well and solidly. Rosa 1 is another example; her Groundshaker-centric build has consistently performed excellently. This playstyle has remained unchanged and requires no adjustments. While not the absolute best build in the game, it's certainly not inferior. Its controls are incredibly smooth, and its performance is extremely consistent. The only drawback might be that its completion rate isn't the fastest in the game, but it reliably fulfills its role.

Selena 1 is similar, especially if you've already collected all her exclusive pets. You can freely stack all Channeled stacks and race through the game; she'll efficiently perform her damage output duties.

Thea 1 & Thea 2

Thea 1 and Thea 2 are similar. These characters maintain a solid strength baseline. This is thanks to their easily achievable gear combinations, strong early-game damage scaling, and the ability to efficiently accumulate and utilize blessings, allowing them to maintain extremely high damage output with relatively low investment. They are often considered safe and stable choices, easily handling the early to mid-game content and smoothly transitioning to the late-game endgame loot farming phase.

C-Tier

Finally, we also briefly examined some reworked builds. These characters may not be very popular initially, as most players are reluctant to blindly try these new builds without guidance or validation from others. Generally, players swap builds mid-season, so you can wait until later to try these new builds.

Moto 1

First is Moto 1. This build is slow-paced, its damage growth heavily relies on expensive equipment, and its map clearing efficiency is significantly lower than other builds like Moto 2 or Iris 2. Although Moto 1 is a traditional summoner build and can indeed clear various endgame content, its performance is often sluggish in the early to mid-season, requiring a significant resource investment for a smooth gameplay experience.

Bing 2

And then there's Bing 2. While this build is often considered a powerful late-game playstyle in Torchlight Infinite, its high investment cost, extreme reliance on certain expensive gear, and intense competition for gear prices at the start of the season generally make it unsuitable for beginners as a first choice for early game progression, it's even seen as a trap.

Gemma 1 

Finally, we must mention Gemma 1. Compared to Gemma 2 and 3, it's often considered less suitable as a top choice for efficient early game progression; this is mainly because of its extremely high gear dependence, weak survivability in higher-tier content, and strong requirement for certain hero traits. It often only starts to shine in the mid-to-late game!

These are our summaries of the best early-game playstyles in Torchlight Infinite SS12 Lunaria. Our current recommendations focus on options that ensure a smooth start, mostly powerful, popular, and consistently performing builds. By choosing these builds, you can guarantee a smooth start to the season; you won't encounter any difficult situations or setbacks!

The arrival of Diablo 4: Lord of Hatred also marks the beginning of Season 13. However, in order to keep new content under wraps, the developers did not open a PTR for Season 13. Fortunately, the wait for fresh information won't be much longer.

The team has confirmed that a comprehensive developer update livestream will take place on April 23, offering a detailed look at Lord of Hatred expansion and the overhauled skill system. Here's what viewers can expect from the broadcast.

Date

The developer livestream begins at 11:00 a.m. PT on April 23. During the show, the development team will share final details about the expansion's launch and dive deep into the skill trees of the new class.

Players can tune in via official channels on Twitch, YouTube, X, and TikTok. While watching any stream under Diablo 4 category during the developer update, viewers who log at least 30 minutes will earn Twitch Drop rewards: Decaying Corona Staff Cosmetic and Double Trouble Sword Cosmetic. The redemption window remains open until the end of the day following the livestream.

Global Launch Timing

Regarding the most anticipated question - Lord of Hatred expansion's release time - while the official announcement only confirms the release date, the specific time has not yet been released. It's highly likely that a detailed global launch time map will be shared either during or immediately after the stream. Due to time zone differences, the local clock times will vary, but the moment itself will be simultaneous worldwide.

Skill Tree Overhaul

One of the update's biggest highlights is a fundamental rework of skill trees across all classes.

So far, we've only seen the full skill tree for the new Warlock class. But preview snippets of Necromancer skill tree from a press kit suggest that every class will receive a rework of equal scope. Compared to the previous version, the new skill trees promise greater depth and complexity, with nearly every skill featuring transformative keystone nodes.

It has also become clear that passive skills have not been removed; rather, they have been relocated out of the skill tree. These passives will now appear on gear affixes, Paragon Board, or Legendary Aspects. The skill tree itself will focus more tightly on customizing active skills rather than stacking passive attributes.

Perhaps most excitingly, players will now be able to invest up to 15 skill points into a single skill. This opens the door to a wider variety of builds and could thoroughly shuffle Season 12 meta - some Tier D builds might vault all the way to Tier S.

It remains uncertain whether the livestream will reveal every class's full skill tree at once, but viewers can at least expect a comprehensive preview. The community can then use this information to plot out fresh leveling strategies. Developers have also reassured players that beloved existing playstyles are not going away; they will simply be assembled in new ways.

Talisman System

Another major focus of the stream will be the brand-new Talisman System. Although there has been chatter about the return of Sets, this iteration moves away from traditional set items. Instead, a central Talisman triggers set-like bonuses based on the charms placed around it.

The system revolves around two components: Talisman itself and an arrangement of Set Charms encircling it. Footage and materials shown previously indicate that Set Charms come in various rarities, and the central Talisman serves as the key to activating their combined effects.

Through Talisman System, players can gain conventional set bonuses as well as unique supplementary effects that depend on the specific charm combination equipped - for instance, damage reduction or increased damage while moving. Additionally, Talisman features different socket types, allowing players to further tailor attributes by slotting gems.

This system can deliver bonuses to core skill ranks, improved chances for obtaining crafting materials, and even wild affixes that grant extra experience. It promises a substantial power boost for every class and will be a tremendous asset for anyone pushing toward Paragon Level 300.

Horadric Cube

The stream will also delve into Horadric Cube. Several recipes have already been glimpsed in preview footage, and players have largely deduced their intended functions. Nevertheless, many questions remain about material rarity and specific outcomes.

For example, Sanctification mechanic will be folded into Horadric Cube. The goal is to make this potent customization tool more controllable and logical, moving away from the extreme randomness and highstakes gambles associated with chasing doubledamage Mythic Uniques.

Alongside changes to the gear system, new materials like Enhanced Primordial Dust and Raw Primordial Dust are being introduced. Developers have made clear that these crucial crafting components will be readily available through standard endgame loops, so there's no need to break down rare Unique items on purpose just to obtain them.

Endgame Systems and War Plans

Regarding endgame expansion, the livestream will spotlight two key features:

Echoing Hatreds

This is an extreme challenge dungeon that appears only in specific seasonal modes and requires a rare key to enter. While the exact rewards remain a mystery, this is likely the most difficult boss encounter currently in the game.

War Plans

War Plans represents an endgame framework previously introduced by the team. Comparable to Path of Exile's Atlas system, it lets players use War Plans resources to unlock and upgrade talent trees for endgame activities such as Infernal Hordes and The Pit. These trees grant powerful bonuses.

This system gives players the ability to tailor specific activities, influencing the types of Diablo 4 items dropped or the enemies encountered. Each activity features seven tiers to unlock, which should make Diablo 4's endgame considerably more engaging.

Lord of Hatred is set to reshape the game. Whether it ends up resembling Path of Exile or carves out a distinct identity all its own, we'll just have to wait and see.