Torchlight: Infinite has two very different reasons for players to keep an eye on its near future. XD Games has confirmed a collaboration with Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed franchise for January 2027, while the SS14 Tartarus hardcore server, The Unbound, is now live worldwide.
The collaboration has a date window but few specifics for now. It is confirmed to bring Assassin’s Creed content into Torchlight: Infinite, with further details promised in the coming weeks. That leaves the essential questions—such as the exact form of the content, its gameplay role, and whether it will be cosmetic or progression-focused—unanswered for the moment.
The Unbound, meanwhile, is available now and has much clearer stakes. The hardcore offering returns after appearing during SS13 Afterlight in the summer, asking players to begin a fresh run under permadeath rules. In plain terms, permadeath means a character’s death is permanent rather than a temporary setback. It is a mode built around risk management: every aggressive choice can improve a run, but it can also end it.
Assassin’s Creed arrives in January, but details remain under wraps
Crossovers can be a useful way to give an established action RPG a new visual identity or a fresh short-term objective. For this one, however, the confirmed information is deliberately narrow: Assassin’s Creed content is coming to Torchlight: Infinite in January 2027.
Players should be careful not to fill the gaps with assumptions. There is no confirmed list of Assassin’s Creed characters, equipment, maps, story material, rewards, or systems. There is also no stated end date for the event. For now, January is the firmest planning point, and additional information is expected before it begins.
The timing means The Unbound is the more immediate story for players deciding what to play today. It is a self-contained hardcore environment that changes both the consequences of failure and the tools available to make a powerful character.
The Unbound makes every run matter
The Unbound is a Tartarus hardcore server, and its appeal is tied to a familiar challenge-run loop: make a new character, push for valuable rewards and leaderboard standing, then accept that one fatal mistake can erase the run. The mode reintroduces mechanics from previous seasons while adding two notable changes to the game’s core character-building and combat flow.
The first is Move to Cast. This system regularly triggers a player’s Core Skill and attempts to unleash the spell burst associated with their Core Spell Skill while the character is moving. The intended effect is straightforward: less stopping to cast can mean faster clearing and higher potential damage output.
Related coverage includes Torchlight: Infinite Confirms Assassin’s Creed Event for January 2027.
That wording matters. Move to Cast does not simply guarantee a spell burst at every moment; it attempts to fire one while moving. Still, the mechanic points toward a more mobile approach to combat, potentially helping players maintain momentum as they advance through content. In a permadeath setting, mobility can be valuable not just for speed, but for reducing time spent stationary amid threats.
The second major system, Unshackled Destiny, lifts the limit on the number of installed Destinies. Socket restrictions still apply, so it is not an unrestricted invitation to use everything at once. Rather, it removes one specific cap while preserving the physical or structural constraints of the socket system.
Destinies, in this context, are build-defining components that can be installed subject to sockets. Removing the installed-Destiny limit creates more room to experiment with combinations. The practical implication is that players may be able to pursue more layered builds than the standard restriction would permit, provided they can satisfy socket requirements and survive long enough to capitalize on those choices.
That combination creates an interesting hardcore tension. Move to Cast offers a route to quicker progression and greater output, while Unshackled Destiny broadens build experimentation. Neither changes the core fact that The Unbound uses permanent character death. More power can enable bolder farming plans, but a stronger build is not the same as a consequence-free one.
Five free Compasses raise rewards—and danger
The other centerpiece is a set of five new Unbound Compasses. A Compass is a special map modifier for a run: players may deploy one special Compass in each map. All five are obtainable for free, and each targets a different activity or reward pursuit.
They are not purely reward buttons. The Compasses improve the potential value of a run while making enemies more dangerous, putting them squarely in the mode’s risk-versus-reward design. Choosing one is therefore a commitment: players are selecting the content they want to pursue and accepting harder opposition in exchange.
Unbound Arcana Compass
The Unbound Arcana Compass increases the chance of encountering a Tarot Trial after killing a boss in Arcana. Each completed Tarot Trial then increases the chance that Secret Paths will appear. This produces a chain of potential value rather than a single guaranteed payout: defeat a boss, seek the Trial, complete it, and improve the odds for Secret Paths afterward.
For players already focused on Arcana, it is a way to lean harder into that loop. The distinction between boosted chance and a guarantee is important, though. The Compass makes the desired encounter more likely; it does not promise that every boss defeat produces a Tarot Trial.
Unbound Overrealm Compass
The Unbound Overrealm Compass offers a direct quality floor for a specific capture. It guarantees that the first Bottle Shadow captured in the Overrealm will be Red Quality or higher. Unlike the Arcana Compass, its benefit is expressed as a guarantee, but it applies to the first Bottle Shadow rather than every capture in the area.
That makes it especially relevant to a player whose immediate goal is securing a strong initial Bottle Shadow from Overrealm content. It is a focused payoff, not a broad promise about all subsequent captures.
Unbound Outlaw Compass
The Unbound Outlaw Compass guarantees that every Bonus Supply triggers two additional times in applicable content. In practical terms, a Bonus Supply event that would normally occur once is pushed further by two extra triggers under the Compass’s relevant conditions. It is a clear multiplier-style modifier for players concentrating on that activity.
As with every Compass, the upside arrives with tougher enemies. A player deciding whether to use it must weigh the additional supply triggers against the increased danger of the map.
Unbound Dark Surge Compass
The Unbound Dark Surge Compass greatly increases the likelihood that Dark Surge rewards roll as Legendary Gear. “Greatly increases” is not the same as a guarantee, and no percentage has been provided. Even so, the purpose is clear: it gives Dark Surge-focused players a stronger route toward high-tier gear outcomes.
For a hardcore character, potential Legendary Gear can be particularly appealing because equipment gains may help stabilize a fragile run. It remains a gamble rather than a certainty, and the map’s stronger enemies ensure the player is taking on additional pressure to chase it.
Unbound Lunaria Compass
The Unbound Lunaria Compass guarantees that players in Lunaria will summon a Scarlet Moon Incantation boss encounter. This is the most explicit encounter-control option of the five. Players looking for that boss can use the Compass to ensure the encounter appears, rather than relying on an unspecified chance.
A guaranteed boss does not necessarily mean an easy reward. In The Unbound’s broader design, the special Compass selection increases enemy danger. The value here is certainty of access to the encounter, paired with a harsher run.
What players can plan around now
The current information divides neatly into confirmed, immediate systems and a future collaboration that remains mostly secret. Players who want the Assassin’s Creed event have a January 2027 start window to watch, but should wait for official details before making claims about its content.
For those entering The Unbound now, the available decisions are more concrete. A fresh hardcore character gets access to the mode’s permadeath challenge, Move to Cast’s mobile spellcasting attempts, and Unshackled Destiny’s relaxed installed-Destiny limit within existing socket rules. Each map can take one special Compass, and the five new Compasses are free to obtain.
The sensible approach is to match the Compass to a clear objective: Arcana for improved Tarot Trial and Secret Path prospects, Overrealm for the first Red Quality-or-better Bottle Shadow, Outlaw for extra Bonus Supply triggers, Dark Surge for better Legendary Gear odds, or Lunaria for a guaranteed Scarlet Moon Incantation encounter. Because a special Compass also makes enemies more dangerous, it is best treated as a calculated escalation rather than an automatic selection.
The Tarot-focused Arcana loop may also sound familiar to players interested in other games experimenting with tarot-driven routes and risk systems, such as The Devil’s Due. Torchlight: Infinite’s version is tied specifically to boss kills, Tarot Trials and the chance for Secret Paths, rather than a separate card-game structure.
Platforms
Torchlight: Infinite is available on PC, iOS and Android. The Unbound is live worldwide, while the Assassin’s Creed collaboration is scheduled to begin in January 2027. More collaboration details are expected in the weeks ahead.
