Today, I'm going over another Torchlight: Infinite build for Season SS8, this time focusing on Yuga 2, also known as Mind Control Yuga. This is a gameplay showcase and early league starter guide based on a Time Mark 7 run. I'll explain how the build works, what skills and gear to aim for, and some thoughts on how it'll perform next season.

Gameplay and Build Overview

This is a Time Mark 7 map using Yuga 2. The map isn't juiced, so this is just basic mapping gameplay. The playstyle is pretty simple—you apply damage over time (DoT) and then reap that damage with your abilities. The core idea is to throw out damage and then quickly collect on it, wiping out trash mobs easily. Bossing is a bit weaker, but you can improve it with a few gear options like Mind Control Concentrate, which boosts your damage when you have fewer linked skills. That skill comes from Frozen Canvas, so you won't have it early on, but it helps a lot later.

The main skill setup is:

• Mind Control with supports like Grudge, Control Spell, Pacivation, and Guard

• A couple of Soul Candles, one with Cataclysm and the other just giving bonus channel stacks

• Buffs like Star Stalker (damage boost), Mana Boil (sustainable with Magical Source), and Corruption with Terrain of Malice for area coverage

• Blink for mobility

You act like a mobile turret, running around and letting your DoTs do the work while reaping to finish off enemies. The build is safe and performs well for early mapping.

How It Handles Next Season's Changes

Some changes are coming to erosion and movement penalties for channeling skills, mainly a 30% movement speed reduction. That's going to slow things down a bit, but you can make up for it with movement speed on your gear and talents. The basic gameplay loop for Yuga 2 won't change much though.

Budget Gear Setup

I spent 100 Flame Elementium (FE) on gear from the auction house to show a more realistic setup. This is much less than the 30k FE gear people were pointing out in my last article.

Here's the core gear to look for:

• Traceless Pains x2 – gives you two separate Reap sources

• King's Boon – another source of Reap

• Twilight Vestment – gives you an instant energy shield recharge when you Reap. Very strong for survivability

For your other gear slots, prioritize:

• Energy Shield

• Erosion Damage

• Extra sources of Reap

• Any DoT or affliction bonuses

Weapons: Great starter options include Oversight wands—they provide area effect, movement speed, and spell skill levels. That movement speed helps counteract the 30% nerf to channel skills.

Talents and Hero Traits

For talents, I use the following:

God of Deception Tree:

• Lots of movement speed (helpful next season)

• Energy Shield and Affliction Effect

• DoT bonuses and Reap power

• Persistent skill level and damage to enemies affected by crowd control

Warlock/Elementalist Tree (Depending on Progression):

• Early game: go for max channel stacks and energy shield

• Later: switch to “Off the Beaten Track” for plus skill levels and sealed mana compensation

• Extra affliction effect, dot duration, erosion damage

Important Notes:

• If you're struggling to survive, you can use Blur instead of Forbidden Power

• Purification node lets you explode enemies faster by settling part of the total DoT damage when reaping

Even without using hero traits in the Time Mark 7 showcase, Yuga 2 handled the content easily. That shows how strong the base kit is early in the league. You'll unlock the hero traits as you go through the campaign.

Slate Setup

In the showcase, my slates were very basic. Just a +1 Max Channel Stack. For early progression, look for:

• Affliction Effect

• DoT Damage

• Max Channel Stacks

• Reap Cooldown Recovery Speed

As you get deeper into the endgame, you can tailor your slates more carefully, but even with just a basic setup, farming Time Mark 7 is smooth on Yuga 2.

Hero Rankings and Gear Optimization

You can check the hero rankings in-game to see which players are topping the charts with Yuga 2 builds. Just select “Yuga 2” in the rankings. The top builds give you an idea of what to aim for in terms of late-game gear, although keep in mind that end-of-season builds usually have perfect gear and aren't realistic on day one.

Still, try to look for:

• Gear with extra skill levels

• Reap Cooldown Recovery

• Affliction Effect

• Erosion Damage

Defensive Options

If you want to go more defensive:

• Use gloves that convert physical damage to cold (up to 100%)

• Use items that convert erosion damage to elemental damage

• This lets you ignore erosion resistance and makes gearing a lot easier

For example:

• Gloves with 100% corrosion-to-elemental conversion

• Items with 40% physical-to-cold conversion

• Stack cold res and you're covered against two major damage types

Advanced Skill Setup

Late game, the skill setup evolves a bit:

• Mind Control with Entice: Inflicts crowd control effects every 0.5 seconds, prioritizing ones not used recently

• Shackles of Malice: Shoots through walls—great for AoE clearing

• Secret Origin Unleash: Loads of damage and defensive auras (2 offensive + 2 defensive)

Still using Mana Boil, Blink, and Star Stalker

This build scales very well as you invest more, but the most important thing is that it works well even on a budget early on.

Damage and Final Thoughts

Early damage is decent even with basic gear. On the dummy, I was hitting slightly inflated numbers due to talents, but if you're pulling around 2 to 5 million DPS, you're in a good spot to start farming and scaling up.

Yuga 2 is very strong for league start, even with the upcoming nerfs. The playstyle is easy to manage, survivability is good with the right items, and the damage ramps up quickly with investment. Even without perfect gear or expensive setups, you'll be able to cruise through most early and midgame content.

Thanks for reading! And best cheap Torchlight Infinite Flame Elementium and Torchlight Infinite Currency at MMOexp.com, our service 24/7 online and help you so fast. Welcome! Hope this breakdown helps you decide what to play in the new season of Torchlight: Infinite. Let me know if you have questions or want a deeper dive into other builds. Catch you in the next one.

MMOexp Torchlight Infinite Team