Titan Quest II News

One of the most common points of feedback we've been getting from the community is that you want to see gameplay. You won’t have to wait much longer! Tune into the THQ Nordic Showcase on August 2nd to see the first Titan Quest II gameplay trailer!
But there’s more! You will also be able to play Titan Quest II at Gamescom from August 21-25.
Combat pillars
Before getting to the meat of our article today, we wanted to offer more clarity on what kind of aRPG gameplay Titan Quest II offers and that is deeply rooted in what the original Titan Quest offered.

• Titan Quest II is a classic-style top-down aRPG game, with a modern, yet traditional, take on combat.
  
• The original Titan Quest’s enemies were always characterful, and we're doubling down on this by offering a wide variety of enemy types. Stronger foes stand out with their hard-hitting abilities that you must answer in some form (for example, by dodging or preparing a strong defensive build), while weaker enemies are dangerous in numbers, but you can quickly eliminate them with well-placed abilities.
  
• Epic boss fights are also part of the Titan Quest DNA. (Remember Typhon?) Expect a large variety of abilities from our bosses with a clear sequence that you are rewarded for learning.
  
• Your active abilities come from your choice of two masteries. You can equip a large number of abilities at the same time and customize them using modifiers to personalize your build. Masteries also offer separate passive abilities that will drive much of your power scaling. You can choose feats for your passive skills, which add further bonuses.
  
• Level-ups award active skill, passive skill, and attribute points. Attributes and their connected secondary attributes determine what gear you can wear, and they scale your damage and other stats. At certain thresholds, they also unlock skill modifiers that are always active in the background.
  
• On death, the enemies that killed you (and those nearby) respawn at full power. You respawn in the nearest hub, but teleporters are placed across the world for convenience. Expect them near boss locations in particular. An on-death portal helps you get back into action quickly. Co-op parties need to initiate activities like boss fights together and are blocked from leaving until the fight is won… or lost.
  

Looting, items & character styles
Moving on to the main part of this update, let’s go into a bit more detail on how the item system works and show off some examples!
Since Titan Quest II is a classic-style aRPG, looting and character scaling via items are at the heart of the game. Different locations have an assigned level. This level scales enemy stats as well as those of the items looted. Therefore, progressing further in the game or raising the difficulty level are both directly rewarded with better loot.


To start with, we’re offering the following equipment types:

• 1-Handed Weapons:
  o Swords
  o Spears
  o Daggers
  
• 2-Handed Weapons:
  o Axes
  o Bows
  o Staves
  
• Off-Hand Items:
  o Shields
  
• Armors:
  o Helmets
  o Shoulder Guards/Capes
  o Bracers
  o Leg Guards
  o Torso Armors
  
• Jewellery:
  o 2x Rings
  o Amulet
  
• Potions:
  o Health Potion
  o Energy Potion
  

These weapons and armor come in six broad categories which can be combined with masteries to create a wide variety of styles. These styles are determined by attributes. There are three offensive character attributes, a supporting defensive attribute, and three secondary attributes:

• Might - Good for powerful aggressive styles, using heavy armor and weapons. Unlocks damage-related skill modifiers.
  
• Knowledge - A more tactical-minded perfectionist or scholarly style. Unlocks scale or utility related skill modifiers.
  
• Agility - Suited for characters with quick eyes and reflexes, who like to outplay their opponents. Unlocks speed-related skill modifiers.
  
• Vigor - Governs health and tenacity as well as overall capability. Sometimes it's enough to be tough.
  
• Resolve - A secondary attribute fueled by your might, knowledge, and vigor. People with extraordinary determination show greater ability to bend the arcane powers of fire and ice to their will, as done by elemental warriors and magi.
  
• Cunning - Pulling from knowledge, agility, and vigor, this is a secondary attribute that gives success to both assassins with poison daggers and druids controlling the weather.
  
• Fitness - A combination of agility, might, and vigor, with obvious advantages for anyone who wants to deliver physical pain.
  

Attributes and their secondaries together create a highly flexible system that allows you to, for example, split your attribute points across two offensive attributes, thus focusing on the damage types they both contribute to, and enabling gear and unlocks for both attributes. Of course, you can also choose to focus on just one attribute for high values in its related damage traits and rush for the modifiers unlocked there. But your choice of items may be narrower as a consequence.
Pairing all this with the ability to re-spec both attritubes and skills, we make a strong commitment to respecting your time as a player and allowing you to shape your character the way you want to--though this will require some work and experimentation on your part.
In addition, potions don’t get emptied and discarded, as they are equipped items with charges that refill based on damage you do. They also have affixes, lending the further ability to customize your play. The affixes' effects will be active for a short duration as you consume charges. This means that you’ll never have to worry about sacrificing inventory space for stacks of potions, nor about whether you are able to reach the next checkpoint with your potion limit. Simply fight and deal enough damage to get more chugs.


Rarities and affixes
Items in Titan Quest II are heavily defined by their rarity. A weapon’s style determines its base stats and properties, but the number of affixes differs based on rarity.

• Common: only basic properties
  
• Magic: 1-2 affixes
  
• Rare: 3-4 affixes
  
• Infrequent: 2-4 affixes and a special inherent property
  
• Unique: completely custom properties
  

Basic properties are going to be consistently the same across what we call “item families”--a loose grouping of similar item styles, which we spread across the world so that you get a different look based on where you looted your items from. When it comes to weapons, our system can stitch together different weapon parts in order to create more visual variety for your loot.
But Grimlore, you say, what good is having lots of cool-looking weapons if they are all iron beat sticks for warriors? Glad you asked! In the mystical world of Titan Quest II, you will at times also find more exotic weapons like an icy axe, or a lightsaber. Or was it lightning saber? In any case, these will have more varied damage profiles at a base level (without wasting an affix) for all you battle-magi out there to really take your weapon builds off the beaten path. Your masteries' abilities may help with this as well. These shiny items aren’t considered “unique” in our game’s framework, however. Unique items look fancier than that. We should probably show you.

Where it all goes
Ok, that’s a lot of items, and you want to have your cake and eat it too. We get it--cake is great. So is the caravan system. Ours works quite similarly to the original Titan Quest, but we heard you need a lot more space. Buying chests will act as a bit of an in-game gold sink (no real-world money required; we don’t do that here.) There is no limit to how many chests you can have. They will all work on a cross-character level, although we plan to provide a self-found mode as well, to allow you to isolate your character if you wish. Organize your chests with icons, colors, and names, and you’ll have a pretty solid setup, we think!
That’s all we have for now. We are very much looking forward to hearing your thoughts on your first glimpse of Titan Quest II’s gameplay, and hope that several of you reading will be at Gamescom to experience the game first-hand!

Whatever we said, whatever we did - we didn't mean it, we just will be back for good! We are thrilled to announce that after a year of absence, THQ Nordic is making a grand return to Cologne for gamescom 2024.

Get ready to immerse yourself in Germany's most iconic gaming franchise as the Gothic Remake will be playable at our booth. We eagerly await fans' feedback on this highly anticipated release!

But that's not all! Attendees will also have the opportunity to play Disney Epic Mickey: Rebrushed. This remake of the 2010 beloved classic, originally envisioned by legendary game designer Warren Spector, takes Mickey Mouse on an epic journey through the Wasteland, a realm of forgotten Disney characters.

The excitement continues with Titan Quest II, an ARPG where you can be among the first in the world to embark on an odyssey for fame, loot, and XP.

We have two more titles playable in Cologne, but we’re keeping those under wraps for now. Stay tuned for their announcement just before gamescom opens on August 21st. Be sure to watch the THQ Nordic Digital Showcase on August 2nd, 2024, for all the details:

Check out the THQ Nordic Digital Showcase 2024 website: https://showcase.thqnordic.com/


THQ Nordic's playable games at gamescom 2024, Hall 7.1, Booth A11/B10
- Disney Epic Mickey: Rebrushed
- Gothic Remake
- Titan Quest II
- "unannounced game #1"
- "unannounced game #2"

THQ Nordic's gamescom lineup will be streamed
Can't make it to Cologne? We've got you covered! THQ Nordic is teaming up with well-known content creators and international press outlets to stream live from our booth directly to your screens. Expect in-depth interviews with our developers and your favorite content creators streaming our games. As gamescom approaches, we’ll share more information about the participating channels and outlets.

Join us at gamescom 2024 for an unforgettable gaming experience!

Long ago, in the year AD 2006, we first embarked on an epic journey that began in ancient Greece. Thrust into the heartland of legend and myth itself, we discovered fetid lairs, explored Mycenaean ruins, and conquered the great Labyrinth of King Minos.

The core element that connects all of these memorable moments is of course the unique and cherished setting of Titan Quest. In order to create an experience worthy of the original, the world of Titan Quest II is being handcrafted from the ground up, and today we want to take a deeper look into what this means.


A Setting of Mythic Proportions
When exploring the world of Titan Quest II you will discover many points of interest--from stately temples to lairs of mythological beasts and the realms of divine beings. Some are along the beaten path, while others are secluded, offering greater mystery and greater rewards, but also deadlier encounters to overcome.

We’ve designed our locations with the history and mythology of ancient Greece in mind. The player might stumble upon ancient ruins that reflect the the style of Bronze Age Mycenaean civilization, while locations more contemporary to the setting of Titan Quest II draw inspiration from the Archaic era. Doric temples and architecture showcase classical Greek style with simplistic columns and detailed upper trims.

In the example above, we have a ruined Doric shrine, surrounded by cascading waterfalls overlooking the turquoise coasts of the Peloponnese. Perhaps it was once used as a pilgrimage site for sailors or fisherman to seek good fortune before their voyage, but now it is overrun and defiled by ichthians. Environmental storytelling like this is an essential part of our level design process and helps reinforce the theme and function of each location. This is just one of many side areas you can come across.



Open World Potential
Titan Quest II’s world is a blend of open roaming spaces and structured points of interest. Our roaming areas are tailored toward freedom of exploration, environmental interaction, verticality, and uncovering secrets. Ladders can be climbed, ledges jumped, and if you look closely, you might even notice that it’s possible to interact with a part of the environment to create a new way forward. Epic vista points reveal glorious panoramic views of the picturesque, handcrafted world.

Meanwhile, smaller side locations and structured points of interest break up the open world, offering opportunities for grand adventures, like a harrowing mountain climb leading to a gryphon’s nest. The world itself provides player guidance, and we're sure you'll be pleased to see the classic 'zone torches' return!


Handcrafting each area means we can use navigation features and really reward those who want to explore every nook and cranny. Keep your eye out for hidden paths and ledges to jump from--you never know what’s waiting on the other side!

These new ways of traversing the world also compliment the verticality of our environments with deep canyons, coastal cliffs along pristine beaches, and backdrops of beautiful Grecian farmlands hinting at where your next adventure or challenge awaits.


Mythological Legacy
Finally, what would Titan Quest be without mythology? This is quite literally where the magic of Titan Quest II comes from, and we’ve designed the moment to moment experience to emphasize a feeling of wonder and myth as you step into the world.

You never know what might be waiting for you just ahead. From towering colossi of the Olympian pantheon, to ancient Trireme shipwrecks yet to be plundered, or even a sunken temple where the remains of ornate statues and sacred chambers, once dedicated to the great sea gods, now lie encrusted with barnacles as the ocean claims them back. A ruined shrine with a mysterious riddle could be an opportunity to win the favor of a god, while a relic of the Titans might be hidden underground, waiting to turn the unsuspecting into monsters. Attention to detail is key to ensuring that all these locations contribute to the end goal of crafting a world worthy of myth and legend.


With these pillars, we hope to create a world that captures all the magic of the original Titan Quest while delivering a rich, modern ARPG experience. What sorts of environments are you most excited to explore in Titan Quest II? Let us know in the comments!

In our March update, we detailed the ichthian faction, but alluded to how not all types of enemies in Titan Quest II form factions. The boss enemies that you encounter are perfect examples of this. Usually fighting alone, these enemies will generally be some of the most lethal encounters you will come across. In today’s update, we give you a glimpse of two of our minibosses: the gryphon and the hippokampos.

Gryphon
Mythologically, gryphons hail from Skythia, a region in eastern Europe and central Asia, where a tribe of them is said to sit atop a hoard of treasure. Like many monsters in Greek mythology, they are a hybrid creature, with a lion’s body and an eagle’s head and wings. When a gryphon moves into the neighborhood, there’s bound to be trouble, as they are known for picking off sheep, goats, pigs, and even wild boars for their supper. A fight with a gryphon is the perfect opportunity for a fledgling Greek hero to prove their mettle. But be warned--gryphons can be crafty creatures.


In combat, the gryphon’s most powerful ability has it take off into the air and utilize a powerful swooping attack. As an agile creature, it will also be capable of pouncing around the player, lashing out several times in a row where least expected. This then gets rounded out by several variants of regular melee attacks. While this is the first and easiest miniboss you will come across, we still intend for it to pose a threat and test your combat fundamentals.



Hippokampos
Hippokampi are what the ancient Greeks believed the adult form of the sea-horse looked like, and you can see that reflected in their colorful, almost feather-light appearance. In the world of Titan Quest II, they were coveted by the ancient Mycenaeans for their menageries. As mounts to the Nereids and chariot-horses for Poseidon, they can be quite dangerous when provoked.


The hippokampos is somewhat more advanced in combat than the gryphon. Utilizing a mixture of cold and lightning damage, it will hit the player with a barrage of powerful attacks, such as a telegraphed, but sudden geyser eruption, as well as a powerful water jet followed up by a stunning lightning strike. It will also be able to hurl ice shards at the player, and make use of several melee attacks, as well as a defensive barrier. What’s more, we are experimenting with making this creature completely immune to crowd control effects (e.g. stun, freezing) outside of telegraphed windows of vulnerability. These aspects together will require that the player makes use of all they have learned so far. A good sense of attack timings, movement during combat, and evasion will be rewarded.



As far as our vision for these boss encounters goes, studious players that learn the moves of these creatures will be best equipped to respond to them--it’s all about building a rhythm and achieving a clean execution. To aid this learning process, these creatures perform clear sequences of attacks, making it so that clean play can result in victory on a first attempt, provided you survive as you are learning the enemy’s moves! Mind you, death carries a heavy price in Titan Quest II. The entire encounter that killed you (whether it’s a boss or not) gets fully reset, and you will respawn in the previous hub (convenient teleport options will be provided, though). These creatures will certainly have the tools to put players down when they’re making several mistakes. Even defeats can teach useful lessons, however.
You can also always choose to work on getting a little stronger before returning for your next attempt. You can level up beyond the current area’s level, or simply farm for items that help against the specific boss in question, such as via resistances. On the other hand, if you are looking for even more of a challenge, you can raise the difficulty by invoking rituals.


Lastly, these fights are not one-off experiences, as you will be able to re-summon these beasts in order to reap the rewards again and again. We will talk about these rewards in more detail soon.