Hi everyone!
I am a 3d character artist and would love to learn how to mod characters looks, weapons, and maybe even monsters.
My aim is to create models only and textures/retexture, is that considered modding already?

I would love to take this new hobby so I can also improve my modeling and texturing skills in the process. But do I need to know scripting and other awesome techy stuff you guys do to achieve my goal? My end goal is to see my character or an original character retextured by me and even a new weapon modeled and textured by me) its okay if I cant put it in game or post it as an official mod (though that would be awesome)
I am kind of lost and unsure which to learn first. Typically I just want to hang out all day and model/retexture old and new items in TL :)

If you can point me in the right directions please? That would be a big help!

Also here's my recent work, its actually my first serious lowpoly- handpainted texture model. And when I was doing it, I realized how much fun it is and to do it always would be really great for me.

Well, He's a fast one to post 

So, to get you an introduction, to put your models in game has some degrees of difficulty, from very easy, like adding weapons, to a bit frustating like armors. Props and characters are somewhere in between.

In your other topic I asked what modelling program you use, so let's keep that topic on there.

The modding knowlegde you need to add models to the game is fairly basic.

For example, for adding a weapons, you are going to need to create a unit file, that defines it as a weapon, this file is going to contain all the data of this weapon, like type (sword, hammer, etc.), level, effects, etc. one of this properties is the one that interest you, and that is resource directory and mesh file. Creating this file is not hard, you can use the GUTS units editor to clone an existing weapon and then just change the mesh file. I have done this a lot for my Ripper's armory mod.
This Tutorial gives a pretty good idea of how to add weapons, was made for Torchlight 1, but the same principles still apply.

Now for characters, it became a little more tricky, editing the unit file of a monster or character class and changing his resourse and mesh files is not enough for it to work. You also need to define his "animation file" this file contains data of what his animations do in the game, for example in the "Attack.skeleton" animation in what frame does the attack hit, and the sounds it plays.

Right now the only progam able to export animations to the torchlight format, that I know, is 3ds max... I don't if maya can do it, since I haven't worked with it. And Blender has some nasty bugs, but I'm still experimenting with it, so don't take my work as absolute.

For some guides on how animations work you can read this and this

Now, for your props, there are two ways to add them, as a room piece (purely cosmetic, not interactable) or as a real prop that has interaction. This I'll let Kva talk about since I have little to no experience with how to make them work. 

This can help you get started:

Dusho torchlight-mesh-viewer:

"GUTS Tools and Assets" contain examples 3d max files, textures and game- ready models

Thanks a lot!

Which path to take? Ooh there are a lot for a 3D modeler

As Anarch explained you can work on level props both static and interactive.

You can work on items, the simplest of which would be weapons and the more complex being armor pieces (maybe not complex in themselves, but because you have to get them on to a character mesh and to work with the character's skeleton).

Those are the rigid models; much more complex are the character models, starting with NPCs which don't need a whole lot of animations (2 or 3) up to player characters with all kinds of animations (the TL2 player characters have something like 250 animations each).

Start anywhere you'd like! The important thing is to create useable stuff that makes you happy