Long ago, in the year AD 2006, we first embarked on an epic journey that began in ancient Greece. Thrust into the heartland of legend and myth itself, we discovered fetid lairs, explored Mycenaean ruins, and conquered the great Labyrinth of King Minos.

The core element that connects all of these memorable moments is of course the unique and cherished setting of Titan Quest. In order to create an experience worthy of the original, the world of Titan Quest II is being handcrafted from the ground up, and today we want to take a deeper look into what this means.
A Setting of Mythic Proportions
When exploring the world of Titan Quest II you will discover many points of interest--from stately temples to lairs of mythological beasts and the realms of divine beings. Some are along the beaten path, while others are secluded, offering greater mystery and greater rewards, but also deadlier encounters to overcome.

We’ve designed our locations with the history and mythology of ancient Greece in mind. The player might stumble upon ancient ruins that reflect the the style of Bronze Age Mycenaean civilization, while locations more contemporary to the setting of Titan Quest II draw inspiration from the Archaic era. Doric temples and architecture showcase classical Greek style with simplistic columns and detailed upper trims.

In the example above, we have a ruined Doric shrine, surrounded by cascading waterfalls overlooking the turquoise coasts of the Peloponnese. Perhaps it was once used as a pilgrimage site for sailors or fisherman to seek good fortune before their voyage, but now it is overrun and defiled by ichthians. Environmental storytelling like this is an essential part of our level design process and helps reinforce the theme and function of each location. This is just one of many side areas you can come across.
Open World Potential
Titan Quest II’s world is a blend of open roaming spaces and structured points of interest. Our roaming areas are tailored toward freedom of exploration, environmental interaction, verticality, and uncovering secrets. Ladders can be climbed, ledges jumped, and if you look closely, you might even notice that it’s possible to interact with a part of the environment to create a new way forward. Epic vista points reveal glorious panoramic views of the picturesque, handcrafted world.

Meanwhile, smaller side locations and structured points of interest break up the open world, offering opportunities for grand adventures, like a harrowing mountain climb leading to a gryphon’s nest. The world itself provides player guidance, and we're sure you'll be pleased to see the classic 'zone torches' return!
Handcrafting each area means we can use navigation features and really reward those who want to explore every nook and cranny. Keep your eye out for hidden paths and ledges to jump from--you never know what’s waiting on the other side!

These new ways of traversing the world also compliment the verticality of our environments with deep canyons, coastal cliffs along pristine beaches, and backdrops of beautiful Grecian farmlands hinting at where your next adventure or challenge awaits.
Mythological Legacy
Finally, what would Titan Quest be without mythology? This is quite literally where the magic of Titan Quest II comes from, and we’ve designed the moment to moment experience to emphasize a feeling of wonder and myth as you step into the world.

You never know what might be waiting for you just ahead. From towering colossi of the Olympian pantheon, to ancient Trireme shipwrecks yet to be plundered, or even a sunken temple where the remains of ornate statues and sacred chambers, once dedicated to the great sea gods, now lie encrusted with barnacles as the ocean claims them back. A ruined shrine with a mysterious riddle could be an opportunity to win the favor of a god, while a relic of the Titans might be hidden underground, waiting to turn the unsuspecting into monsters. Attention to detail is key to ensuring that all these locations contribute to the end goal of crafting a world worthy of myth and legend.
With these pillars, we hope to create a world that captures all the magic of the original Titan Quest while delivering a rich, modern ARPG experience. What sorts of environments are you most excited to explore in Titan Quest II? Let us know in the comments!

In our March update, we detailed the ichthian faction, but alluded to how not all types of enemies in Titan Quest II form factions. The boss enemies that you encounter are perfect examples of this. Usually fighting alone, these enemies will generally be some of the most lethal encounters you will come across. In today’s update, we give you a glimpse of two of our minibosses: the gryphon and the hippokampos.

Gryphon
Mythologically, gryphons hail from Skythia, a region in eastern Europe and central Asia, where a tribe of them is said to sit atop a hoard of treasure. Like many monsters in Greek mythology, they are a hybrid creature, with a lion’s body and an eagle’s head and wings. When a gryphon moves into the neighborhood, there’s bound to be trouble, as they are known for picking off sheep, goats, pigs, and even wild boars for their supper. A fight with a gryphon is the perfect opportunity for a fledgling Greek hero to prove their mettle. But be warned--gryphons can be crafty creatures.
In combat, the gryphon’s most powerful ability has it take off into the air and utilize a powerful swooping attack. As an agile creature, it will also be capable of pouncing around the player, lashing out several times in a row where least expected. This then gets rounded out by several variants of regular melee attacks. While this is the first and easiest miniboss you will come across, we still intend for it to pose a threat and test your combat fundamentals.
Hippokampos
Hippokampi are what the ancient Greeks believed the adult form of the sea-horse looked like, and you can see that reflected in their colorful, almost feather-light appearance. In the world of Titan Quest II, they were coveted by the ancient Mycenaeans for their menageries. As mounts to the Nereids and chariot-horses for Poseidon, they can be quite dangerous when provoked.
The hippokampos is somewhat more advanced in combat than the gryphon. Utilizing a mixture of cold and lightning damage, it will hit the player with a barrage of powerful attacks, such as a telegraphed, but sudden geyser eruption, as well as a powerful water jet followed up by a stunning lightning strike. It will also be able to hurl ice shards at the player, and make use of several melee attacks, as well as a defensive barrier. What’s more, we are experimenting with making this creature completely immune to crowd control effects (e.g. stun, freezing) outside of telegraphed windows of vulnerability. These aspects together will require that the player makes use of all they have learned so far. A good sense of attack timings, movement during combat, and evasion will be rewarded.
As far as our vision for these boss encounters goes, studious players that learn the moves of these creatures will be best equipped to respond to them--it’s all about building a rhythm and achieving a clean execution. To aid this learning process, these creatures perform clear sequences of attacks, making it so that clean play can result in victory on a first attempt, provided you survive as you are learning the enemy’s moves! Mind you, death carries a heavy price in Titan Quest II. The entire encounter that killed you (whether it’s a boss or not) gets fully reset, and you will respawn in the previous hub (convenient teleport options will be provided, though). These creatures will certainly have the tools to put players down when they’re making several mistakes. Even defeats can teach useful lessons, however.
You can also always choose to work on getting a little stronger before returning for your next attempt. You can level up beyond the current area’s level, or simply farm for items that help against the specific boss in question, such as via resistances. On the other hand, if you are looking for even more of a challenge, you can raise the difficulty by invoking rituals.
Lastly, these fights are not one-off experiences, as you will be able to re-summon these beasts in order to reap the rewards again and again. We will talk about these rewards in more detail soon.