Torchlight: Infinite SS11 (Vorax League): Best Season Starters and Early-Level Strategies

With SS11’s Vorax League underway, players are already experimenting with early builds, campaign routes, and the new crafting opportunities brought by Vorax modifiers. As always, the early days of a season reward players who choose fast, stable, and gear-efficient starters—characters that transition smoothly from the campaign into early mapping while minimizing risk and resource strain.

This article breaks down several standout starter options I believe will perform exceptionally well in SS11. These picks emphasize early efficiency, smooth campaign progression, and strong synergy with Vorax crafting. Some characters have been nerfed, others remain surprisingly untouched, and a few benefit massively from mechanical changes this season.

Let’s jump right in.

Erica 1 – The Evasive Queen Who Somehow Dodges Every Nerf

Erica 1 continues to be one of the strongest early-game choices despite repeated balance passes. Her kit remains highly efficient, her defensive layering is strong, and her damage profile scales well into early mapping.

What’s Different This Season?

Traditionally, Erika’s best early setup leveraged Berserking Blade. However, this season the leveling route shifts to Spectral Slash, which offers smoother damage uptime and excellent clear throughout the campaign. The full leveling strategy is already written out in detail on Heroic, but the short version is simple:

• Spectral Slash gives reliable AoE early

• Scaling options come online faster

• Defensive uptime stays high without complex gearing

The One Real Issue: Erica 3

Erica 1’s biggest challenge in this league is not a nerf—it is Erica 3, who heavily competes for the same gear archetype. Both characters benefit from similar stats, attributes, and multipliers, so the economy will shift depending on how popular Erica 3 becomes.

The one thing Erica 3 cannot steal from Erica 1 is multi-strike gear, which is crucial for Erica 1’s later scaling. Even with that competition, Erica 1 remains an elite starter.

Bing 2 – Still Overpowered Despite Nerfs

Bing 2, last season’s paid hero, received several direct nerfs:

• Serpent Beam nerfed

• Chain Lightning nerfed

• Spell Burst toned down across the board

Yet even after these adjustments, Spell Burst remains overtuned, and Bing 2 still demolishes campaign content and early maps.

Leveling Strategy

Fire Burst remains the recommended leveling skill:

• Strong baseline damage

• Smooth clear

• Minimal gear reliance

The main campaign adjustment for all casters this season is the shared movement-skill cooldown, which prevents the stacking of multiple teleport or dash abilities. This slows navigation slightly, but Bing’s raw damage still compensates heavily.

Vorax Crafting Makes Bing Even Better

If you saw my Vorax crafting breakdown, you already know what’s coming: Players can craft helmets with up to four Spell Burst effects, including Beacon. For Bing 2, this is absurdly powerful and makes him a top contender for SS11 spell builds.

Rosa 2 – Nerfed, but Still Nuclear When Mana-Stacking

Rosa 2 was hit with multiple nerfs, but these do not fundamentally change her identity. Last season, going mana-stacking turned her into a missile—my damage went 25× higher in a single day simply by shifting into a mana-oriented setup.

This season, her progression will be more reasonable, but still extremely strong.

Why Rosa 2 Still Works

With Vorax crafting, Rosa can:

• Remove the crit line from Tyrant’s Gloves

• Transfer it to her chest

• Equip Arc Mage Gloves

• Gain massive mana multipliers and Mind Over Matter effects

• Benefit from cold-skill buffs and Prophet improvements

The changes to cold scaling and Prophet synergies appear especially impactful.

Early Campaign Note: Cold Conversion Problems

In the early game, if you take Extreme Coldness, you effectively lock yourself into pure cold damage. This can be awkward:

• Campaign weapons can roll lightning, erosion, or non-cold damage

• Anything not cold or physical becomes dead weight

If you find a strong weapon without cold damage, you can switch to the Frostbite Effect line instead. Frostbite now acts as a “more damage” multiplier on hit, though the final numbers for SS11 are still pending.

Either way, Rosa 2 ends up extremely strong again once she transitions into mana stacking.

Thea 3 – Smoothest Leveling in the Game, Even After Nerfs

Thea 3’s Haunting Abomination remains one of the cleanest, most forgiving leveling experiences available.

The Nerfs? Barely Noticeable

The big change this season is:

• Loss of 20% movement speed from a late hero trait

Mind Control last season was so absurd that players could reach Traveler 7 wearing mostly campaign gear. Losing some movement speed does not meaningfully diminish her power.

Alternative Builds

Some players are experimenting with Ring of Blades:

• Functions like PoE’s Blade Vortex

• Blades maintain uptime around you

• Counts as a projectile

• Benefits from Gale scaling (projectile speed → more damage)

Projectile scaling + persistent blades = top-tier clear.

Gemma 2 – A High Potential Question Mark

Cold builds are strong this season, and Gemma 2 fits that theme well. She may not be as explosive as Rosa 2, but she has the tools to compete.

Strengths

• Provides massive Frostbite Rating

• Scales well with new cold changes

• Has strong synergy with Prophet improvements

The Limitation

Gemma 2 stacks more and more Frostbite in one direction. Other classes can:

• Use Frostbite

• Multiply it by other scaling types

• Produce higher final damage multipliers

This places Gemma 2 in an uncertain category: strong, but her ceiling depends heavily on how Frostbite scaling feels after the SS11 patch tuning.

Erica 3 – My Personal Pick for SS11

Erica 3 is the build I will be playing for the Vorax campaign.

I already have:

• A full campaign plan

• A detailed video guide is coming out

• A 33-minute theorycraft breakdown covering skill interactions

Why Erica 3 Is Interesting

Erica 3 offers a flicker strike–style teleport with no meaningful cooldown. This means:

• Teleporting directly through monster packs

• Extremely fast map clearing

• Exceptional mobility even with shared movement cooldown mechanics

Pair that teleport with melee AoE tools such as:

• Berserking Blade

• Crescent Slash

…both of which have built-in AoE scaling, and Erica 3 clears maps at breakneck speed.

Cold Conversion Benefits

By converting physical damage to cold:

• You gain Frostbite Rating

• You can reach ~100 Frostbite Rating

• Enemies freeze, enhancing survivability

The Only Real Weakness: Bossing

Against bosses, the teleport mechanic becomes a liability:

• Hard to control your exact position

• Risk of teleporting into boss telegraphs

• DPS downtime becomes unavoidable in long fights

Erica 3 will reach Traveler 7 slower than most melee builds, but her mapping speed makes up for it.

Final Thoughts

SS11 Vorax League brings major mechanical changes, cold scaling improvements, and unprecedented crafting options with Vorax mods. While some builds were nerfed and others face internal competition, the season offers a robust selection of strong starters. Please accumulate enough Torchlight Infinite Flame Elementium and Currency to prepare for the new season!

Whether you want a safe campaign grinder or a build that breaks the sound barrier through map packs, SS11 has you covered.

MMOexp Torchlight Infinite Team