I know I saw some odds and ends I didn't remember seeing in the vanilla game. I *think* Synergies adds new items in as well.
There are mods that fix items-actually quite a few of them(I use one called Affix.something or other, I'd have to boot up the game) that gives items new abilities and such and seems to give them a bigger variety earlier on. I really do love both games, though, each for their own reasons. Respec mods are all over the place so that isn't a problem. This is what i play when I want to try other classes out, to see what new mods people invented, or just have a sort of mindless romp with friends around a cool steampunky world. Torchlight 2 is more my free-for-all, modded ARPG with the more stylized atmosphere and generally more easygoing gameplay, even on the tougher difficulties. (If the mistake is like, 15 dots back? Yeah, that's a lot of orbs.)
PoE is my 'Play with numbers and do crazy builds' with it's ginormous skill tree, with full knowledge of 'I'm building a new character to do something new on, screw respeccing.' Changing builds can be a bit overwhelming after awhile. PoE, despite it being online and not moddable, gives me the 'Real Sequel to Diablo 2' feel in a way, in it's whole overall atmosphere and everything. I lean slightly more toward Torchlight 2 myself, but I really feel that the two games scratch different ARPG itches. So theres my persepctive, how about yours? Overall theyre both good games and both well worth playing but I would pick Torchlight 2 if I had to choose one of them. Other than that though the feel of the combat is excellent, loot is plentiful and even in the low 30s I'm still leveling at a brisk pace. Much more of a traditional D2 style skill system but for some reason you can only respec the last three skill points you earned, bit of a minus point as it isnt explained until you talk to the NPC which meant I got locked into a shotgun build because I waited too long to switch out of it. D2s gemstone system also makes a welcome return with some tweaks and I absolutely love both the pet designs and the option to send your pet back to town without you if all you want after you sell stuff is more potions or scrolls. Fortunately they seem to have got the balance exactly right betweeen realistic and stylised, although the customisation options are a bit lacking. Graphics are generally a bit better than POE but it does go a bit more towards the WoW/anime style in the character designs. Torchlight 2 has more of a steampunk vibe which I really like and additional weapon choices includes pistols, shotguns and a hand held cannon. Overall I enjoyed playing but eventually the fact I really didnt like the feel of the combat and I also felt it took too long to level kinda spoiled it for me. Difficulty curve is pretty balanced although I did have to grind a couple of areas and I hear the final boss pretty much requires grouping to defeat unless you have a very buffed build, group system seems very similar to D2 but is done in the instance rather than at logon. You can get respec items from vendors to correct any mistakes and as far as I know theres no limit to how far back you can go as long as you have enough of the items, so changing builds is fairly simple once you get going. You can also use pretty much any type of weapon with any type of character, although grid placements for boosts mean it is easier to specialise early on in certain weapons depending on class (using an off class weapon means spending a few grid points moving to the grid area that covers that fighting style and different classes start in different areas of the grid). POE definetely has more of an interesting and complex skill system, combining basic stat boosts from a grid with Jewels that contain the skills and level with use. Heres my impressions from playing both games to the mid 30s in level on my first character.
So wanting to scratch my diablo itch but not wanting to deal with the huge amount of hassle involved with diablo 3 Ive recently tryed out both Path of Exile and Torchlight 2.