Summary
This guide provides a complete roadmap for conquering a new Torchlight: Infinite season, covering everything from choosing your starting hero to maximizing your endgame currency gains. Drawing from community strategies and the latest season updates, it outlines the most efficient progression path: rushing through the campaign with a strong starter build, transitioning into the T7 "Boss Rush" for quick profits, and then scaling into high-tier maps using optimized passive trees and pet setups. Whether you're a new player looking for a smooth start or a veteran aiming for maximum Torchlight Infinite Flame Elementium per hour, this guide will help you navigate the season's content and achieve your goals.
League Start: Building Your Foundation
Choosing a Starter Hero
Selecting the right hero is the most critical decision for a smooth league start. For SS13 Afterlight, the Tide Whisper Selena with her new Dance of the Deep Hero Trait is a standout choice. This trait fundamentally changes her playstyle: her core Terra skills now move with her across the battlefield, and her various "Dance Steps" provide powerful buffs to movement speed, life restoration, and battlefield control. This makes her exceptionally mobile and effective for clearing content quickly.
For players who prefer other playstyles, established options like the Rehan remain strong, offering straightforward and durable melee combat.
Early Progression: The T1–T6 Grind
The early game (Tiers 1–6) is about building momentum. Here's the strategy:
1. Craft, Don't Just Rely on Drops: In these tiers, expecting to find perfect items is a trap. Instead, use the crafting system to upgrade your gear. Focus on acquiring Tier 2 or Tier 3 mods from the crafting NPC to significantly boost your character's power and speed up map progression.
2. Start Farming Currency: Flame Elementium (FE), the game's primary currency, begins dropping from Tier 5 maps. Start collecting it early to build your wealth.
The goal is to reach Tier 7 as quickly as possible, where the real farming begins.
Mid-Game: The T7 "Boss Rush" Strategy
Why T7 Boss Rush is King
Upon reaching Tier 7, the most efficient farming strategy for beginners and veterans alike is the "Boss Rush". This strategy focuses on killing map bosses as quickly as possible because they drop specific, high-value materials. The most lucrative of these are Timemark 8 Beacons, which can be sold on the market for 4–5 FE each.
Executing the Strategy
1. Select the Right Map: Choose maps with the shortest possible routes to the boss. Maps like Prayer Shrine are excellent for this purpose.
2. Optimize Your Tree: Invest passive points into nodes that increase your boss access speed, such as those that grant additional Star Shards.
3. Use Rerolls: Don't be afraid to use rerolls to get favorable map layouts, which will improve your efficiency and speed.
This fast-paced method is a reliable way to generate your first significant pile of FE.
Endgame Farming: Tiers 8, 8.2, and Beyond
Transitioning to T8 Farming
Once you've accumulated some wealth and gear from the T7 Boss Rush, it's time to move to Tier 8 maps for better rewards. The drop quantity bonus increases as you progress, making higher-tier maps far more lucrative.
Your strategy here depends on your passive tree (PT). If you have a passive tree invested in a specific league mechanic, you should farm maps that feature that mechanic. For a more general, consistent strategy, you can follow a tree optimized for beacons and currency.
The 882 FE/Hour Beacon Farm Strategy
One community-tested strategy for SS13 Afterlife involves a consistent 882 FE/hour farm by focusing on beacons and raw currency. The core principles are :
1. Map Setup: Run maps with 100% resonance. Do not use compasses, as their cost often outweighs the returns.
2. Passive Tree: Invest 31 points in the God of War tree for foundational quantity bonuses. Put 21 points into the Commodities tree, prioritizing Glacial Beacons (the most expensive beacon type). Use remaining points for extra magic mob spawns and replication chance. Take quantity nodes in the Profound talent tree.
3. Pet Setup: Use three flame fuel (drop) pets. Lead with the highest-level legendary you have for the league mechanic, followed by your two best FE pets (e.g., Chalk Spirit and a level 6 Surgeon Gold). Stacking drop multipliers provides consistent, predictable returns.
4. Farming Loop: Run efficiently, aiming for 1 to 1.5 minutes per map. Complete every league mechanic you encounter but skip all distractions like Black Sails or strongboxes. Focus your pickups on raw FE, Glacial Beacons, and Deep Space Beacons.
Pets: Your Most Important Investment
The pet (Pactspirit) system is key to maximizing your farming efficiency, especially from Tier 8 onwards. Here are the key principles:
1. Focus, Don't Spread: It is more efficient to level one pet to its maximum level (Rank 6) than to invest in multiple low-level pets.
2. Choose the Right Pet: For general FE farming, focus on "drop" pets that increase currency and item drops. For SS13, following the Dream removal, community recommendations for currency-focused players include Arcana's Jestress and Vorax's Intern Shelley. Many players also find success stacking Flame Elementium pets like Surgeon Gold and Happy Chunky, which are often available for free.
3. Leverage Free Resources: There are many ways to obtain pets without spending money, including daily bonuses, battle passes, and seasonal rewards. Even free pets can be extremely effective when leveled up. Some players have successfully built strong rosters without spending a dime.
Understanding the SS13 Afterlight League Mechanics
The Core Loop: Night Watchers
The SS13 Afterlight season revolves around the "Night Watchers" mechanic. You will find unnamed coffins in the Netherrealm and light a lantern to guide them in a funeral procession. You must protect the coffin by defeating the enemies drawn to the light.
The lantern's color is key to your performance:
Green: Optimal speed and loot.
Yellow: Your clear speed is slowing down.
Red: You've stalled, and the lantern stops pulling enemies.
Strategy: Clear packs as fast as possible to stay in the "green" zone for maximum rewards.
The Divine Ascent Endgame Challenge
City Defense has been replaced by a new endgame mode called Divine Ascent. Here, you tackle maps under a strict 3-minute time limit, clearing enemies and events to fill a Challenge Progress bar. Once full, you face a floor boss, which you must defeat before time runs out to advance. Rewards scale with the floor you reach, making this a true test for your build.
Nether King's Divinity: The Build-Defining System
This season introduces a new progression system: the Nether King's Divinity. It's a new Divinity Slate powered by Divine Remnants. You feed it remnants to unlock powerful talents from the ancient king. The system has three main "Authorities":
Judgment: Allows connected divinities to receive powerful buffs.
Contamination: Projects the Nether King's talents onto adjacent slates.
Banishment: A puzzle-like system that allows you to unlock forbidden affixes by arranging slates correctly.
This is a key system to invest in to push your build to its limits.
Conclusion: From Beginner to Farming Pro
Success in a Torchlight: Infinite season comes down to a clear, step-by-step plan:
1. Start Strong: Pick a powerful, fast hero like the new Selena to breeze through the early game.
2. Rush T7: Your immediate goal is to reach Tier 7 and start the Boss Rush strategy for quick currency and Timemark 8 Beacons.
3. Transition to T8+: Once you have a gear and currency base, move to higher-tier maps. Optimize your passive tree and prioritize your pet setup for consistent, high-yield farming.
4. Engage with the Season: Embrace the new mechanics like Night Watchers, Divine Ascent, and Nether King's Divinity to maximize your rewards and build power.
5. Avoid Common Pitfalls: Don't waste currency on compasses that don't pay off, and don't spread your resources too thin on pets. Focus on consistent strategies that guarantee returns. To secure reliable upgrades, Buy Torchlight Infinite Flame Elementium and skip the luck-based grind.
