Raging the Game Flow — The Berserker frenzy mechanic in Torchlight 2

Torchlight 2 is an award-winning action RPG developed by Runic Games. Its release was a breath of fresh air in the Diablo-like genre. Its characters are memorable and unique but still attain the iconic elements present in the style and in its predecessor (i.e., gems, sockets, and endless dungeon crawling).

Torchlight 2 introduces a new and exciting mechanic called Charge. All four playable classes have a specific charge mechanics triggered by fighting: The Engineer has perks that influence its skills. The Outlander has increasing stats. The Embermage activates a “total concentration state” in which it can cast spells at no mana cost and causing extra damage. The Berserker, however, is a more interesting one. Its charge bar activates a “frenzy” state, granting a 100% critical chance and increased speed.

Hitting enemies during combat fill the charge bar, but it slowly shrinks back to the initial position as soon as you stop. This pushes you, especially as a Berserker, to continue fighting — both to fill it and then to use as much of the “frenzy” state as possible. It leads you (and your party) into rushing into enemy champions by mistake or leaving your loot behind for a while.

However, the Berserker is not a tank class designed to take damage. It is a glass cannon: high constant damage output, but hardly able to take a hit (especially if you look at the Berserker initial stats with only 5 Vitality points).

Moreover, the game reinforces the glass cannon archetype with the Berserker’s skill tree and overall idea: you are a Berserker, you want to hit, and hit hard. There is nothing to defend from if the enemies are already dead!

Most players and guides suggest you to maximize Strength (increase damage output) and Dexterity (increase critical hit chance and critical damage) attributes. Vitality hardly gets any attention.

This causes a duality between the lack of survivability and the constant urge to fight, making the Berserker gameplay permeated by continuous tension. It is challenging to keep up being alive, while it is thrilling to keep yourself on edge by dueling. That enables the player in a Flow state. And that is awesome!

Flow is a term from positive psychology that refers to “an optimal experience, in which we are fully involved, immersed, enjoyed, and focused on one activity.” It changes our perception of time, making us think as if it did not exist at all [1]. It was first described, although not invented, by the research of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, which also outlined some conditions of Flow:

1. Challenge-Skill Balance: the challenge matches the player skill;
2. Action-Awareness Merging: players action feel spontaneous according to its awareness of its surroundings;
3. Clear Goal: the player knows what must be done and achieved;
4. Unambiguous feedback: all actions lead to clear messages regarding their result — you take damage = bad; you defeat an enemy = good;
5. Concentration on the Task at Hand: distractions are removed/reduced;
6. A Sense of Control: the player feels at the control of the situation, not stressing nor relaxing too much;
7. Loss of Self-Consciousness: all focus shifts to the task at hand;
8. Transformation of Time: the player forgets that time is passing by.

Thanks to the excellent game design of Torchlight 2, the Berserker gameplay fosters almost all of these conditions, if not all. Let’s dissect them by the raging and blood-stained lens of the “frenzy” state:

As said before, the Challenge-Skill balance is achieved through the tension between survival and continuous fighting, driven by the frenzy mechanic. The balance is also granted due to the game’s difficulties and levels that were designed to maintain its goals achievable (even on harder difficulties).

In the “frenzy” state, critical hits pop on the screen while other mechanics –such as the Blood Hunger skill, which heals 5% of maximum health per critical hit — balance out the challenge (Challenge-Skill balance). As you get more proficient with your skill-rotation, this makes you perform it almost by instinct during the gameplay (Action-Awareness Merging).

Your goals are marked on the map (Clear Goal), and all feedback is provided directly. The character speaks when it is low on health, the enemies explode when you execute them, and the “frenzy” state shines when it is activated (Unambiguous Feedback). Ultimately, staying alive is the proof you are succeeding, removing outside worries from the player’s mind, and propelling enjoyment and fun (Concentration on the Task at Hand).

Successfully cycling through filling the charge bar and the “frenzy” state, as well as the constant action, creates the illusion of control (A Sense of Control). The longer the progress, the more focused and engaged you are (Loss of Self-Consciousness). Times flies by while the Berserker ravishes through all 4 acts of Torchlight 2 (Transformation of Time).

The other playable classes can also be discussed with similar arguments regarding their ability to enable the player’s Flow state. However, they are slightly different (but not in a bad way) and not so direct:

• The Engineer, a tank oriented class, has more tools to stay alive and a variety of robots to assist in battle. Its charge bar mechanic is more complex, involving marks that influence each skill differently and do not need to be fully charged to be activated.
• The Outlander is a ranged class that, although as fragile as the Berserker, is meant to be consistently far away from threats, kiting the enemies and performing stunts to keep the distance. Its charge mechanic is the slowest one and increases various stats as it fills (not only when it is filled).
• Finally, the Embermage, a spell-casting class, has a variety of tools to protect and move. As the Outlander, it is continuously far from the battlefield, fighting enemies with ranged frost, sparks, and flames.

The main takeaway of the Berserker and its Flow inducing mechanics is the tension it creates and its rewards. Critical hits are one of the most fulfilling moments of gaming, and the “frenzy” state, on its base level, is 6 seconds of unlimited critical hits — it is pure awesomeness.

In sum, the points in which the “frenzy” state and the Berserker gameplay enforces the Flow are: it requires the full charge bar, motivating you to continue fighting; its reward is fulfilling and strengthens the sense of control; and it forces the increasing tension between survivability and constant fighting, especially exposing your character to dangerous situations.

On a final note, every game, to a certain degree, tries to get you in the Flow state. Achieving it is a challenge, and it is dependent on the player type and game genre. There is no perfect strategy, but studying and analyzing how some games achieve it and hook us can help us to design our games better.

On the other hand, it can also help us to prevent it and break the mold of addicting gameplay to achieve different goals, such as teaching concepts in Serious Games or relaxing the player from a stressful day. Just as World of Warcraft introduced the rest mechanic to encourage players into spending time outside the game, there is a necessary discussion on what we want to achieve with our products, especially in the entertainment industry.

Thanks for reading :)

[1] Csikszentmihalyi, M., & Csikzentmihaly, M. (1990). Flow: The psychology of optimal experience (Vol. 1990). New York: Harper & Row.