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Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →The best Halls of Torment build depends on your character, available gear, and preferred damage style. Pocket Gamer’s October 5, 2026 guide for version 1.1.1495 recommends five approaches: a flexible beginner template, plus builds for the Swordsman, Archer, Exterminator, and Cleric. Its Cleric build focuses on area, piercing, and attack speed—not critical hits; the Archer is the guide’s clearest crit-focused choice.
How to choose among the five builds
Start with what you can equip and how you want to deal damage. The beginner setup is intended for players who may not yet have the gear, blessings, or Compendium bonuses for a specialized build. The other recommendations depend more on particular items and marks.
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- Choose by damage pattern: Exterminator emphasizes burning enemies; Archer combines projectiles with critical hits; Cleric scales area and piercing. Swordsman spreads its priorities across attack speed, damage, and area.
- Factor in movement and survival: Archer is framed around moving quickly and kiting groups, while several builds include defensive or sustain-oriented equipment options.
- Adapt to your inventory and difficulty: Treat the listed equipment as recommendations, not mandatory rules. The guide does not establish a universal winner across characters, gear, or difficulty settings.
The builds below are Pocket Gamer’s recommendations, not independently verified performance rankings. Halls of Torment builds are flexible, and balance changes can alter how they work.
1. Beginner build: a flexible starting template
The guide uses Exterminator as its example, but the point is to offer an early-game foundation rather than a finished specialist setup. It recommends starting with defensive gear and developing around burn damage.
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Start with survivability, then build into burn
- Equipment foundation: Plated Boots and Plated Armor.
- Abilities: Dragon’s Breath and Flame Strike.
- Early priorities: Burn chance and burn damage, followed by force and attack speed.
- Later priorities: Movement and defensive stats to help you stay alive and reposition.
Dragon’s Breath burn is the guide’s main damage source for this template. Its reported end-of-run damage is specific to the author’s experience and should not be treated as a result every player can expect.
2. Swordsman: attack speed, damage, and area
This setup aims to improve the Swordsman’s overall attack output while giving attacks more area. Critical chance is one of several priorities, rather than the build’s sole identity.
Recommended loadout
- Helmet: Wind Crown.
- Other equipment: Collar of Confidence, Blood-Soaked Shirt, Quickhand Gloves, and Spike Boots or Berserker Boots.
- Rings: Guiding Star with Echoing Band, or the guide’s listed alternatives.
- Abilities: Radiant Aura, Astronomer’s Orbs, Lightning Strikes, and either Flame Strike or Transfixion.
Stat priorities
Build around attack speed, then invest in area and critical chance. Pickup range and survivability round out the guide’s priorities, helping the Swordsman collect resources and last through a run.
3. Archer: projectiles and critical hits
For players specifically looking for a crit-oriented build, Archer is the clearest match among these five. The guide’s approach combines critical chance and bonus with projectile pressure, movement, and the ability to kite groups.
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- Helmet: Wind Crown.
- Other equipment: Blood Catcher, Blood-Soaked Shirt, Quickhand Gloves, and Running Boots or Berserker Boots.
- Rings: Choose from the guide’s listed ring options.
- Ability order: Phantom Needles first, followed by Lightning Strikes, Transfixion, and Flame Strike.
What to prioritize
Invest in critical chance and critical bonus, then damage, attack speed, and force. Movement speed supports the build’s hit-and-kite approach. The guide does not provide a single ring combination as a universal requirement.
4. Exterminator: a burn-first setup
This is the specialized version of the burn approach introduced in the beginner template. Its defining pieces are Flame Crown, Ring of Fire, and Flame Strike, with area and burn chance emphasized early.
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Recommended loadout
- Core items: Flame Crown and Ring of Fire.
- Other equipment: Collar of Confidence, Blazing Shell, Sparking Tips, and Firewalker Boots.
- Marks and rings: Use the guide’s listed ring and mark alternatives.
- Abilities: Dragon’s Breath, Flame Strike, Astronomer’s Orbs, and Lightning Strikes.
Burn or critical hits?
Burn is the guide’s primary recommendation: increase area and burn chance early. It also describes a critical-hit alternative using Mark of the Arrow, but that option does not change the build’s main burn-first framing.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.5. Cleric: area and piercing, not crit
The Cleric recommendation is built around scaling area, piercing, and attack speed. Wind Crown paired with Radiant Aura is the guide’s stated goal. Despite the title’s mention of “crippling crits,” critical hits are not the focus of this Cleric build.
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- Helmet and core ability: Wind Crown and Radiant Aura.
- Other equipment options: Collar of Confidence or Jade Amulet; Hunter’s Garb or Blood-Soaked Shirt; Quickhand or Hunting Gloves; Spike Boots or Electrostatic Treads; Guiding Star or Seal of Rebirth.
- Additional abilities: Lightning Strikes, Phantom Needles, and Astronomer’s Orbs.
Stat priorities
Prioritize attack speed and damage, then area and range. The guide also lists force and pickup as useful stats. For a crit-centered run, the Archer recommendation is a better fit.
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How the October 2026 patch announcement affects these builds
On October 5, 2026, Chasing Carrots described balance changes on the experimental branch and said they were planned for the main update on October 22. The announcement said the branch would be regularly updated before release. These figures describe announced experimental changes, not confirmed constants for the live game; check the version displayed in your game before relying on them.
- Enemy health was set to increase by 50%.
- Additional enemy health and defense per Torment level was set at 10%, up from 9%.
- Stage kill targets were set to rise from 12,000 to 30,000.
- Movement speed was set to increase by about 20% for most characters and about 10% for Norseman.
Such changes can affect clear speed, survivability, and the value of individual stats. The announcement is available from Chasing Carrots’ official Halls of Torment update news.
What these recommendations can—and can’t—tell you
Pocket Gamer’s guide identifies version 1.1.1495 and presents these as builds its author tried. That account is not an independent benchmark, and it does not establish that one setup is best for every player or patch. Use the item lists as starting points, adjust to what you have unlocked, and reassess after balance updates. The five recommendations appear in Pocket Gamer’s Halls of Torment builds guide.
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