In Titan Quest 2, players can combine two Masteries to make a unique class to play through
the campaign with. While nearly everything in the game can be changed, your Mastery selection is the
one thing that cannot and it is permanent. With that in mind, this leveling short guide will focus
on the Mastery combination of Storm and Earth to create the Elementalist class!
The Elementalist is a pure caster class, specializing in the three Thermic damage types; Fire, Cold, and Lightning. While the Elementalist could opt for a melee playstyle, it is much more suited for ranged spell casting. Energy reserves will never be an issue for this class, as it has access to certain passives that exceed the normal regeneration rates most other classes can take advantage of. This creates a character capable of spamming many spells to either deal a devastating amount of damage, or apply many ailments to enemies in a short time frame.
Keeping in mind that you can alter your build any way you wish for a small gold fee at any
point in your playthrough, we are using these short guides as a way to provide players with a
path of least resistance while leveling. For player’s used to more punishing ARPGs, you can rest
easy with Titan Quest 2; the only decision that is permanent is Mastery selection. You will
not be locked out of anything you wish to do later on, so there is zero downside to following
a specific build early on.
Note: All builds have been tested at +5, even while leveling. You should not have any issues progressing the campaign while following the build on this page. If you’re at a gear deficit, lowering the enemy level may be in your best interest until you gain some upgrades.
Leveling Build: Tri-Elemental Ailment Mage
To enable damage early on in the leveling process, Storm should be prioritized first. This will enable Call Lightning as our main damage skill. This will not change, even at higher levels, however we will become less dependent on it to clear mob groups as time goes on as we unlock easier access to Lightning Strikes and Cyclone as an area effect. Earth will be taken to add automation, Energy regeneration, and procs to the build. This will enable Burn, Ignite, and AoE explosions.
- Amazing AoE damage.
- Low APM, build offers automation and lingering effects.
- Ailment based, meaning you need to wait for damage to ramp.
- Maximum DPS requires close-range combat.
Video Showcase
Please check back later once Early Access starts and we have a chance to record footage!
Stat Priority and Gear Options
Upon leveling, you will be allotted two Attribute Points to spend as you see fit. All gear has specific requirements, and certain attributes increase specific types of damage that your character can deal. For this build, we’ll be focusing as many points into Knowledge as we can. The other attributes won’t be necessary at all. This will ensure the baseline for all elemental damage increases with each level.
Armor
Since all points will be thrown into Knowledge, this means we’re forced to use Magos Armor, preferably Magos Plate armor. This provides a substantial amount of Barrier to our defensives. Combined with our high Energy Regeneration, it allows us to ignore Health entirely. While this isn’t the tankiest setup, it is quite viable, but relies a bit on zoning and positioning to ensure we aren’t bombarded by enemies while Barrier is on cooldown.
Weapons
Similar to the Armor situation, this build is a bit limited on what weapons can be used. Surprisingly, some melee options are on the table. Certain Light weapons rely on Cunning, which is scaled directly by Knowledge. If you’d prefer a ranged option, Staves are reliant upon Resolve. Ultimately, the best option here is a weapon that increases Ailment Chance and Ailment Power.
It’s better to be flexible on ranged vs melee here, as you won’t be auto attacking much anyway. The build is perfectly capable of taking a few hits so don’t worry too much about maintaining distance if forced to use a melee weapon.
Skills and Passives
Below, we will be listing out the list of skills and passives you should be taking. Anything highlighted in the table should be sought after as soon as possible, as it’s important for the build to work as intended. This build wants to start off with 18 Divinity in Earth, followed by 6 Divinity in Storm. Even though Lightning will be our main damage applicator for a while, we want to gain automation as quickly as possible, and that is done through Earth.
| Skill/Passive | Number of Points | Feats and Modifiers |
|---|---|---|
| Call Lightning (Storm Skill) | 11 | Enhanced Ailment 5/5 Repetition 1/3 |
| Arcane Influx (Storm Passive) | 8 | Energy Regeneration Reservation |
| Arcane Abundance (Earth Passive) | 8 | Energy Regen |
| Earth Enchantment (Earth Skill) | 3 | Stone Skin 5/5 |
| Flame Volley (Earth Skill) | 9 | Orbit 1/5 Enhanced Ailment 5/5 |
| Earth Affliction (Earth Passive) | 8 | Ailment Amount Ailment Power |
| Ignite (Earth Skill) | 11 | Flame Volley Trigger 1/1 Resistance Reduction 5/5 |
| Combustion (Earth Passive) | 4 | Chance |
| Storm Affliction (Storm Passive) | 12 | Max Shock Power |
| Storm Nimbus (Storm Skill) | 3 | Thunderstorm 3/3 |
| Cyclone (Storm Skill) | 17 | Blizzard 3/3 Thunderstorm 1/3 Escalation 2/3 |
| Lightning Evoker (Storm Passive) | 8 | Shock Damage |
The above allotment will get you near Level 30, which is above the expected level where Early Access stops. Please check back at a later time when we get more content. If there’s a need to extend the leveling build, we will do so here!
Rotation and Build Mechanics
The main focus of this setup is to act as an ailment applicator. We’ll be applying Burn, Chill, and Shock to enemies in a few different ways to keep consistent damage on mobs, but also applying the damage in a decently large area to move through the map quickly. Ignite technically counts as an Ailment, however it’s mostly used to reduce enemy Fire Resistance rather than deal damage.
All ailments have a stack limit! It’s important to notice when you’re capping stacks, as this is a direct DPS loss. There’s a reason this build opts to use all three elemental damage type ailments, and it’s because DoTs just fail to deal enough damage if you focus on only one of them. Your damage will spike every time you gain proper access to a new element.
Lightning
Starting out, Call Lightning will be your main source of damage. This hits relatively hard even without being scaled and without taking Shock into consideration, but Repetition will reduce that damage quite a bit. Avoid this modifier until a bit later once you have more damage sources, and opt instead for Thunderstorm. Call Lightning and Lightning Strikes allow you to apply Shock, which deals DoT and provides a chance for enemies to become disrupted when performing abilities.
Fire
Flame Volley will be the next addition, but it isn’t something you need to actively maintain. As you spend Energy on Call Lightning, Amplify stacks will build up on Flame Volley and it will automate the attacks for you, homing in on the nearest enemy. This allows your character to apply stacks of Burn, which at a baseline only deals DoT. Later on once we obtain the Combustion passive, there will be a chance for enemies to explode when they die, dealing area damage as well.
Ignite further adds automation to the build, and has an interesting synergy with Flame Volley. This skill can attach itself to Flame Volley through the passive Flame Volley Trigger, providing a chance at applying when Flame Volley hits. It is not used for direct damage, but instead reduces enemy Fire Resistance while it’s active.
Cold
The final element is Cold; we’ll utilize Cyclone, convert it to Blizzard which adds base ailment chance, then allow the skill to proc Lightning Strikes based on Amplify stacks. Cyclone will apply Chill to enemies, which deal DoT as well as reduce enemy movement speed, making it perfect crowd control in a large area.
Opening on Enemies
A full rotation of your skills is quite simple. Start with laying down Cyclone and casting Call Lightning as you see fit. You will need to stay within range for Flame Volley to hit enemies, but it isn’t something you need to manage as we spend a ton of Energy in a very short amount of time, meaning we almost always have maximum stacks of Amplify for it.
Defensive Scaling
In order to survive, this build will use traditional stats as well as crowd control to slow and hinder enemies. Magos armor is pretty great in general, allowing us to completely disregard our Health stat in lieu of extra Barrier. It does come with the downside that if your Barrier runs out, you’re a bit squishy. Play around your Cyclone’s Chill stacks, abuse your Barrier ability, and keep enemies within your zoning area to keep up consistent damage and ailment stacks. Earth Enchantment is quite nice, and it will scale as you gain better equipment, but it isn’t enough to provide full face-tanking.
Leveling Tips
Check out our list of tips specifically for this build, and it may not apply to other builds.
- Zoning is going to be the way in which you best control the flow of combat with this build. Larger areas of the map are the most useful, but even using portions of the environment such as trees to kite enemies as your ailments work their magic is a huge advantage.
- It is possible to Reserve too much Energy. If this happens, there’s a few nodes that reduce the Energy Reservation rather than increase it. Sacrifice a bit of damage to ensure you’re not draining your resources too much.
- Barrier is your best friend. Get in the habit of tapping this right as you encounter enemies. It will ensure you stay healthy.
- Ailment Power is not listed on DPS estimations on tooltips! This is important, you may not immediately realize a new weapon is a damage increase. You will need to monitor application rate and the numbers ticking on enemies to decide what weapon you have is currently best to use.
Some useful notes for all players, regardless of their build or class, are listed below.
- Check Merchants for gear as often as possible. Merchants refresh stock on level up.
- Make sure you’re bumping the level range of areas when you can do so comfortably for better experience and drop rates.
- Watch your Resistances. While these don’t need to be capped (60%) while leveling, it doesn’t hurt to try and keep them balanced.