Titan Quest: Immortal Throne Designer Diary #1

GameSpot has published their first designer diary for Titan Quest: Immortal Throne, kicking off the new series with Iron Lore producer Mike Verrete giving a general overview of what we can expect from the expansion pack.
The expansion will still feature the fast-paced, action-oriented gameplay found in the original Titan Quest, and the loot-collecting is better than ever. We have added over 400 new pieces of equipment. There are new affixes for weapons, new relics and charms, and 20 new monster types to hunt for rare loot. Caravans now travel between all the major cities providing players with added storage space for collecting items they may not wish to carry with them at all times. Additionally, caravans will enable players to transfer items between their characters.

Enchanters are another new type of non-player character that can be found in Immortal Throne. These characters serve two main roles. First, they will allow players to separate relics from items, and players will have to choose which of the two they wish to recover. They will graciously do this for a fee of course, and the rarer the item or relic, the higher the cost. Enchanters will also allow characters to create powerful items called artifacts, should the player become lucky enough to acquire any of the highly coveted "arcane formula." These formulae are a recipe of sorts--bringing the recipe as well as the required relics to the enchanter will allow them to create an artifact. More-powerful artifacts require rarer and more-powerful ingredients. Eventually players will even be creating artifacts made from artifacts themselves. Once created, these artifacts can be equipped on the player and will bestow powerful bonuses and skills.