General question about melee characters in games like this

[Robil]

So I'm trying to do a run through the beta with all 4 classes in turn, and I've run into a problem I always have in Diablo-like games - I have no idea how to play melee characters.

To me, it feels like when you play a ranged or magic-based character, you use your skill to avoid taking damage - you can kite enemies, avoid their projectiles, get out of the way of their special attacks, etc, all the while sniping at them with your spells or arrows.

With melee characters, I feel like I can't do any of that - I have to line up toe-to-toe with each guy in turn, and we take turns hitting each other until he dies or I do. It feels to me like it's just numbers vs numbers, like an MMO. It'd be different if there was a mechanic for actively blocking or dodging or something, like you get in games like Dungeon Siege III (commence booing and hissing)

So basically when I play characters like the Berserker, I just die constantly because I don't know where the skill comes in. It's ok if it's a character who can self-heal, crowd-control, do short range AOE, etc, like the Engineer, but with the Berserker I have no idea how to stay alive.

This is especially true for 'rogue' characters, like melee Vanquisher in Torchlight 1 for example - I don't get how squishy melee characters can work in these games, because surely you're going to be taking the hits regardless?

So am I missing something obvious here? Or are you just supposed to buy way more health potions than anyone else and suck it up? How do you guys go about playing melee characters?

[bon3sko]

That's why I am playing always ranged character.

In my humble opinion you have to build it like a tank and let friends do damage. Never played melee character in arpg.

[Nerfed]

Melee has been improved a lot, with splash damage.

Fight smart. Try to circle around enemies until they're grouped up, and start attacking then.

[Robil]

Originally Posted by Nerfed

Melee has been improved a lot, with splash damage.

Fight smart. Try to circle around enemies until they're grouped up, and start attacking then.

Surely you're still going to take a lot more damage, and do a lot less splash damage, then a mage with an AOE spell using the same technique?

And what if your melee attacks don't do splash damage? e.g. if you're using fist weapons in Torchlight 2

[SpookerSale]

Splash damage is automatic with most weapons and helps out a lot when dyou're randomly clicking on a bunch of enemies. When you level up a bit you should take some skills that allow you to spam AOE attacks.

[Kurrus]

I'm getting a Berserker through Veteran mode right now. My build relies on four skills: the starting AoE slash skill, the passive that gives you health for each crit you deal, the uppermost skill in the shadow wolf tree, and the passive that extends Frenzy by one second per skill level.

Basically, I lure small groups of weak monsters away and claw at them to build fury up. Once I have enough, I run up to the big group and use the AoE slash skill to enter Frenzy and just kill everything. It's very likely that I'll take significant damage somewhere during the process, in which case I use the shadowburst skill to dash through all the enemies - with guaranteed crits from Frenzy and some good aim, you're looking at approximately 30% of your total HP healed per dash. The skill has a low mana cost, too, so you can use it three or four times for a full heal, and still have enough time to get a few more slashes before Frenzy runs out.

Using this method I've only died once, to a pair of skeleton general champions that I paid too little attention to.

You can also use skills that impede enemy movement (or turn your pet into a spider) and use a weak bow to safely build Fury, but that's too boring.

[OmegaRed60]

Run once you start losing hp, use a pot, run back in, repeat. Most melee characters who aren't tanks also depend on hit and run as much as ranged. Also, try to let your pet take some aggro then attack those guys.

I usually give my pet a bunch of summoning spells and a heal. It's also good to play melee online so you have some support. I hope that helps.

[gatwizard]

I'm going to play through as a Berserker, hopefully on Veteran or higher. I'm curious to see this myself.

Outlander is pretty beast, considering I just tanked it through the final boss of the beta. I even used a Vanquisher for TL1. I love range.

Can't wait to try Berserker, honestly.

[Minaxter]

You guys are playing beserker all wrong. Level up the skill that you rush around as a shadowy wolf thing as long as you hold the mouse down(constantly drains mana) it does bleed damage and lowers armor etc. when you get to a boss, most of them you can just run circles around them til they die they just swivel around and around getting confused as hell. It actually looks ridiculous, but I barely use any hp potions, I just spam mana potions, my mana never drops to 0 it just stays static while the mana potions going.

[gatwizard]

Okay.

The Berserker class is very self-sufficient even on Veteran difficulty. His most practical melee strategy involves a 'get-in, get-out' type of mindset.

Both Eviscerate and Savage Rush do some pretty impressive bleed damage.

Blood Hunger, Battle Recovery, Wolf Shade, and Shadow Burst ALL heal the user.

Not to mention the Berserker has an insane variety of crowd-control skills, including fairly HIGH chances to daze or freeze multiple enemies. 100% shield destruction is quite nice, too.

The build I'm using now is STR+DEX heavy, with a focus on exploiting a high crit% and using skills that self-heal plus chip away at enemy health. I'll post a vid when I take on the beta boss.

[Mcface88]

not sure why you are dying so much.
I found Berserker wayyyy too easy.

and even on my Engineer I found myself switching to Melee because it was really effective to just run through a zone, gather everyone up, then smash them all with a single AOE attack