Well, with synergies the game just got better. Still maybe its not a bad idea to play a Vanilla run just to notice how the game changes with synergies.

About classes, I think Necromancer is mostly finished and polished, and Warlock take som tweaks often, but its also mostly finished, maybe not fully polished. Paladin and Ranger are Work in progress so better avoid them unless u wanna "beta test" them.

Synergies is meant to be played on elite, wich btw makes the end-game kinda hard.

My suggestion, play Vanilla at Elite or Veteran, and once finished, restart with another (or the same) class in synergies. The mod adds so many elements that re-playing is interesting, also notce that vanilla torchlight itself has an awesome random level generator, so any time u play the game the whole world is different.

So in ressume, try Vanilla on Veteran (wich may be easy) or Elite (wich may be "normal") then replay with synergies, since replay won´t be annoying at all, instead, u may enjoy noticing how much the game changes -Even if u play the same class!!

-Also, notice that in Torchlight, u can play the same character few times and be TOTALLY different since the build character system allows great divearsity. For example, a Enginer can be ranged or melee, can be a tank, can have a supportive role, can be a summoner, or a DPS... or a mix of those things.

Thanks so much for the detailed reply! Much appreciated! I'll do a Vanilla run and then see how the game changes with Synergies.

Howdy. Neb some people will tell you to play vanilla then synergies, some will say play synergies then vanilla.

my one recommendation is that when you decide to use mods, at the start or at the end, that you invest the time to know what you are adding to your game. A lot of mods change the balance of the over all game completely. Synergies does this on purpose but strives to be hit a balance with its changes, and has won 'best overhaul' awards for it.

Torchlight is meant to be played with mods, any you personally want. Just be aware that if you are new to it all the KISS principle is a good way to start out.

agree 1st vanilla then synergies, makes you apreciate al the hard work and effort they put into it