Dwarves are an extinct race appearing in Torchlight and Torchlight II. The only dwarves left are undead creatures animated by corrupted Ember and machinery.
Lore
“ | The oldest myths of the creation of the world always mention the dwarves: Short, stout beings who discovered the secret of Ember-powered clockworks, and, with it, conquered all of Vilderan and much of the rest of the world. But their lust for Ember led them to make war on the dragons, and, ultimately, brought them to the brink of destruction. As the dwarves' power waned, the races they had subjugated rose up and decimated them, sacking their glorious cities and plundering their precious Ember-powered machines. Also, they dip themselves in metal.
All that is left now of the once-mighty dwarven empire are their dead, grotesquely animated by the corruption of Ember, and their wondrous machines; all still steadfastly defending their deserted mines and ruined cities from invaders who never come. |
” |
—"Creature Race of Torchlight II," Runic Games |
According to an interview with Runic's writer JD Wiker, the dwarven civilization fell in the distant past, before the rise of the Estherians and the Zeraphi, who themselves are millennia old. Dwarves are responsible for building about half of all ruins on Vilderan and 90% of the Ember-related artifacts.[1]
In Torchlight
In the original Torchlight, dwarves are found in the Lost Fortress.
Dwarven Wight
These are the standard melee soldiers.
Soulless Cutter
These tougher dwarves have frost-enchanted axes.
Deathwalker Battlemaster
Larger, red dwarves that can buff nearby Dwarven Wights.
Mechanical Construct
The dwarven mechanical construct is a machine-gun-armed walking automaton piloted by an undead dwarf.