Welcome to your comprehensive Torchlight: Infinite league starter guide! In this guide, we'll take a deep dive into one of the most efficient, fast-paced, and off-meta league starters: Selena with Howling Gale. Whether you're a returning player or a complete newcomer, this guide is tailored to help you blast through the campaign in under 3 hours, prepare for endgame content, and stay competitive with minimal friction. Let's dive in!
Why Selena?
Selena stands out for one major reason: auto-channeling. This unique mechanic enables her to channel abilities like Howling Gale automatically while moving. That means you're not wasting time standing still and casting—your damage-dealing spell is doing its job as you zip across the map.
When her hero trait activates early (as soon as 15–30 minutes into the campaign), it fundamentally transforms the gameplay. The "auto-channeling" kit allows Selena to:
• Run and channel at the same time.
• Cast powerful area damage spells like Howling Gale passively.
• Off-screen enemies before they even appear.
Selena is frequently spotted at the top of the leaderboards during the first couple of days of a new league, and for good reason: she's fast, strong, and simple.
Howling Gale – The Core of the Build
Howling Gale is a channeling skill that functions like a roaming tornado. It moves through enemies, dealing damage and freezing them with cold conversion. It becomes your main skill early in the campaign and remains powerful through the endgame.
Why Howling Gale?
• Autonomous damage: Once activated, it continues dealing damage without needing constant reactivation.
• Cold conversion: Freezes enemies, which means fewer threats on screen.
• Scales extremely well with channeling stacks and casting speed.
• Easy to control: Hold down your mouse button or let it roam freely.
Once you get enough damage, enemies won't even make it onto your screen—they'll be eliminated before you see them.
Leveling and Campaign Strategy
Selena's leveling process is blazingly fast. Many players have reached level 75 within 2–3 hours by following this method.
Early Steps:
1. Use the default starting skill until you can unlock Howling Gale.
2. Immediately switch to Howling Gale and begin stacking channeling nodes.
3. Aim for max channeling stacks—this is where your damage scales exponentially.
Quick Tips:
• Golden Zones: Focus your leveling in golden zones. These offer enhanced rewards and drop rates. Stay in a golden zone until experience gain drops below 60%, then move on.
• Campaign Bosses: Drop powerful, rare, and unique gear early—check the loot tables in each golden zone.
• Please keep it simple: Campaign isn't about finesse; it's about power. Choose the nodes and gear with the biggest numbers early on.
Passive Tree and Conversion
A critical element of this build's success is damage conversion. Since Howling Gale is a physical spell, converting it to cold not only synergizes with freeze mechanics but also scales with cold-related multipliers.
Core Nodes:
• Cold Conversion: Two key nodes convert physical damage to cold (first 50%, then 100%).
o If you get a slate with 100% conversion, you can skip these entirely.
• Channeling Nodes: The more stacks you can channel, the more damage Howling Gale does.
• Quick Decision and Controlled Destruction: These boost damage significantly, even though they reduce crit chance (not an issue early game since crit scaling comes later).
Gearing Up – Rare Gear, Legendaries, and Slates
Selena's build can thrive on a combination of smartly chosen rare items and slates (gear-affecting memory tiles), without requiring heavy Torchlight: Infinite Currency investment.
Rares and Legendaries:
• Defense ring buff: New legendaries were buffed, including rings with +40 defense and dual effects after corrosion.
o Tip: Corrode items to activate both ring slot bonuses simultaneously.
• Kismets and Candles: Use Kismets to re-roll pack spirit affixes for much better stats. Candles and pedigrees help with enhancing item traits and supporting channeling.
Stat Priorities:
• Casting Speed: Directly increases Howling Gale frequency.
• Physical Damage & Levels: Needed before cold conversion kicks in.
• Channeling Stack Levels: The single most important stat for scaling.
Note: Avoid +cold damage before conversion—you'll get no benefit from it.
Slates – The Secret Sauce
Slates are often an overlooked component, but are essential for pushing Selena's build to the next level.
Key Slate Stats:
• Channeling stack bonuses
• Physical to cold conversion
• Cooldown reduction or casting frequency
• Multiplicative damage boosts
Most people who reach out for build help are lacking good slates, which significantly limits their damage. A proper slate setup can increase your DPS by 10x or more.
Where to Get Good Slates:
• Golden zones
• Leaderboard inspiration (copy top players' builds)
• Trade house (early slates are often affordable)
Kismets & Pack Spirits
With the introduction of Kismets, power creep has shifted in favor of progression-focused players, not just whales.
How to Use Them:
• Apply Kismets to pack spirits to override bad affixes.
• Stack multiplicative mods (damage per channeling stack, etc.)
• Use defensive or offensive pack spirits based on preference.
You can still push high-tier content without legendaries—this system allows customization and boosts even in low-budget scenarios.
Endgame Push – What to Aim For
Once you're through the campaign, it's time to prep for Time Marks, Beacons, and Boss Fights. Here's what you should focus on:
Hero Memories:
• Choose a defensive route for survivability in boss fights.
• Look for memory effects that boost channeling or cooldowns.
Gear Upgrades:
• Legendary Pets (if available): Boost channeling stacks.
• Max Channeling Gear: Seek out items that scale per stack.
• Conversion Rings: Look for those god-tier double effect ones mentioned earlier.
Example of a Top Build:
From Day 1 and Day 2 leaderboards, top players used:
• Non-corroded or basic legendary rings
• Rare gear with high levels and stack scaling
• Candles, pedigrees, and high-quality slates
• Some were even level 95+ on Day 1 without having maxed out items—proof that skill and setup matter more than raw gear.
Final Tips
Here are some parting tips to help you crush it with Selena:
General Advice:
• Play Selena: Auto-channeling is smooth, fast, and effective.
• Use Howling Gale: Freezing tornado of doom. Early, mid, and late-game viable.
• Stack Channeling: More stacks = more damage. Period.
• Convert Physical to Cold: Makes enemies freeze, improves scaling.
• Level in Golden Zones: Always go for high experience + rare drops.
• Focus on Slates: They multiply your damage more than you think.
• Don't fear early budget gear: Day 1 leaderboard builds weren't perfect either.
Selena with Howling Gale is not only one of the fastest ways to power through the campaign in Torchlight: Infinite, it's also a build that gives newer and experienced players a rewarding path to deep endgame content.