Halls of Torment: #1 Best Build For A Hilarious Run

The amulet in this build is less ice-centric, but is nonetheless vital to this build becoming the ultimate death dealer. The Jade Amulet (Flourishing) necklace converts picked-up gold into XP, the Flourishing variant increasing the amount of experience per gold. With this, you are able to quickly build up your traits and reach 100+ levels during your 30-minute run.

And lastly but not least, the Broker’s Cape (Quick Hands) and Quickhand Gloves (Boost) help round out this violently fun build. Broker’s Cape (Quick Hands) spreads a random debuff every second in a 3-meter range, applying either Fragile, Affliction, or Slow. But with this variant being affected by Attack Speed, it’s looking to be a bit more often than every second. And the Quickhand Gloves? Well, the Boost variant adds a whopping +60% Attack Speed to the Norseman’s already crazy baseline. Halls of Torment really wants you to feel like an unhinged, bloodthirsty murder hobo, and the Norseman is the epitome of this. Why do you think he’s my favorite?

Abilities? What Are Those?

Now remember, I haven’t claimed this is the most “optimal” build, but rather the “best” for a hilarious run. And in keeping with that, the most optimal way to have the most fun with this build is to forgo abilities altogether. Some may not know this, but in Halls of Torment, you can opt out of gaining abilities from Tomes and Scrolls and instead get your XP bar filled by 50%!

REMEMBER: To have the most fun with this build, we have to get our Norseman leveling up as quickly as possible. We’re essentially hardcore focusing on what makes this Hero already a blast to play. I’ve been able to get to level 30 in under ten minutes in some runs using this method and have routinely reached level 100+ by the end of the run.

Traits

Now this is the part where it’s never going to be the same every time, as the nature of Rogue-Like/Lites. You are presented with random lists of 4 traits to choose from with every level-up. So rather than trying to tell you the exact ones to pick and when (because it’s literally impossible), I’ll instead give you the three Base Traits you want to prioritize above anything else. Everything else is up to you, depending on the current state of your run and your limited choices.

The most obvious of this entire build is Quick Hands. Each selection adds +6% Attack Speed, and with the potential to upgrade it up to 5 times, that’s an additional +30% to Attack Speed. At that point, you’ll be breaking through those 250 hits within less than a second if you pile up the horde just right. With an already respectable 2.00/s Base Attack Speed, this guy’s dual axes will be breaking the sound barrier.

The second trait to take priority is Thick Hide. While you’re able to add to the Norseman’s already baked-in regeneration rate per level via other sources (i.e., Blessings and the Scripter), it’s optimal in this case to build on Defense. Being able to straight-up take a flat damage reduction from all incoming damage is huge, since you’ll be gathering up hordes of hundreds. Regeneration helps, but in the cases you get a little too eager, you’d be surprised how quickly your HP can get drained.

Last, but certainly not least, Metabolism. I know I just mentioned above that the Norseman already has other methods of adding to his regeneration, but without other abilities helping in DPS output, you’ll want all the survivability you can get. Especially if you’re playing your runs with Malignant Mirror, Hastening Sands, or Torment Banner. Nothing is more annoying than spending that half-hour building your hero up, only to get absolutely bursted into oblivion by the Lords at the end. Thankfully, Halls of Torment gives you nearly limitless combinations to try out. So there are so many creative ways to BECOME the tormented, rather than the tormentee (this isn’t a real world, but it felt appropriate).

Only Scratching The Surface

There’s so much to play with in Halls of Torment and that makes it so addictive. While I could spend another 1,000+ words going over other aspects of the game to build upon this, I invite you to play around with other parts of the build I haven’t touched upon. Maybe your priority is focusing on DPS? Or perhaps trying to get his adorably low 5% Crit Chance and relatively low 20 Base Damage into something rivaling that of the Archer or Swordman?

In any case, this is a build I’ve had so much fun playing with and crafting. Hopefully, you’ll find it as entertaining as I do.