Torchlight 3 is leaving Early Access in October

(Image credit: Perfect World Entertainment)

After a brief stint in Early Access, action-RPG Torchlight 3 is gearing up for a full launch. The Early Access phase kicked off in June, and it's leaving on October 13. 

Despite its short time in Early Access, it's taken slightly meandering route to launch. After the original Torchlight studio, Runic, closed its doors, Echtra Games set about making a shared-world RPG based on the series, Torchlight Frontiers, initially due out in 2019. It was delayed until this year, and Echtra announced some big changes in January, rebranding it as Torchlight 3 and bringing it closer to the first two games. 

Back in June, Chris said he enjoyed the new classes, like the steam-powered robot, but otherwise felt that it felt like a step back, reducing how much you can develop your character by stripping out attributes and reducing the number of skills. Take a look at his Torchlight 3 Early Access impressions.

There have been a lot of changes since we last took a look, including a rework of relics, fleshing them out into proper subclasses. Chris felt the relics were too interchangeable, and it looks like this was echoed in player feedback, so Echtra overhauled the system. 

With the quartet of classes and relic subclasses, there's 20 combos you can create, as well as your choice of loyal pet, who will once again lend a hand by fighting your enemies and selling your loot. Each version of the game also comes with an exclusive fairy pet, with the Steam edition netting players a Violet Glittersprite. 

Torchlight 3 will leave Early Access on October 13 at 7 am PDT/3 pm BST. It's also getting a price hike on Steam to $40. 

Fraser Brown
Online Editor

Fraser is the UK online editor and has actually met The Internet in person. With over a decade of experience, he's been around the block a few times, serving as a freelancer, news editor and prolific reviewer. Strategy games have been a 30-year-long obsession, from tiny RTSs to sprawling political sims, and he never turns down the chance to rave about Total War or Crusader Kings. He's also been known to set up shop in the latest MMO and likes to wind down with an endlessly deep, systemic RPG. These days, when he's not editing, he can usually be found writing features that are 1,000 words too long or talking about his dog. 

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