Casual rogue-lites have been popping up everywhere lately. One of the newest and well-received is Halls of Torment, released in May 2023. Posed as a combination of Diablo 2 and Vampire Survivors, this game can be a tough nut to crack. Thankfully, there are several classes in Halls of Torment, all with their own loadouts suited for overcoming the challenging hellscapes.
Halls of Torment has seven classes in total. The player starts with one, the Swordsman, and unlocks all the others by completing levels and challenges. Each class has particular specializations, scaling, and unique abilities. Therefore, the many items of the game are carefully cultivated and tailored for each class separately.
While some items offer universally good benefits, the classes are unique enough to warrant separate builds and gameplay tactics. Halls of Torment is a brutally unforgiving game, and going into a run unprepared will almost always result in certain death.
Best equipment for each class in Halls of Torment
Swordsman
The Swordsman is the default and starter class of Halls of Torment. As such, he comes with the most balanced and well-rounded stats and abilities. He attacks in cone-shaped sword swings and is quite resistant to direct hits. He benefits from equipment enhancing his block strength, critical attacks, and AoE damage.
Best items for the Swordsman
The best item set for the Swordsman in Halls of Torment includes:
- Footwear: Spike Boots (Drops spikes when hit, dealing massive AoE damage)
- Garment: Blazing Shell (Enemies that touch him burn, and block strength is increased)
- Gloves: Fencer Gauntlets (Critically strikes when blocking incoming damage, and increases block strength further)
- Headwear: War Horns (Periodically shouts, applying the Fragile debuff to nearby enemies, opening them to bonus damage)
- Necklace: Collar of Confidence (Gains bonus damage for each enemy within pick-up range)
- Ring One: Echoing Ring (Gains the chance to deal bonus splash damage)
- Ring Two: Wooden Ring (Grants increased critical chance)
Archer
The Archer is unlocked quickly after playing through the first level of the game. This class is focused on firing long-range projectiles, attacking quickly, and killing as many enemies as possible in a single volley. Its critical attack chance is already good, and focusing on it proves beneficial.
Items are complemented by traits, and archer players should focus on grabbing as many attack speed and projectile traits as possible. The Lightning Strikes ability is also nice to have on the Archer. When paired with the bonus range trait, it can make this class a formidable one, allowing it to decimate enemies from across the map.
Best items for the Archer
- Footwear: Runner Shoes (Grants the Archer bonus movement speed).
- Garment: Hunter’s Garb (Builds up bonus damage if the Archer stands still. Fantastic to have if you focus on increasing your range).
- Gloves: Longfinger Gloves (Grants massively increased pick-up range).
- Headwear: Wind Crown (Each enemy killed increases attack speed incrementally, up to a maximum of 50 percent).
- Necklace: Collar of Confidence (Massively increases damage for each enemy within pick-up range. Goes hand-in-hand with the Longfinger Gloves and is universally good for most classes).
- Ring One: Copper Ring (Increases the archer’s base critical strike damage).
- Ring Two: Wooden Ring (Gives bonus critical strike chance. Scales well with the archer’s already solid base crit chance).
Sorceress
The Sorceress is your standard spell-casting class that is low on defenses but hits hard to make up for it. It’s a simple way of playing Halls of Torment and is generally laid back. This class has fantastic critical strike damage, and her spells can wreak havoc on the undead.
For maximum efficiency and damage potential, players should neglect building up their defense and focus on multi-hit, Lightning Strikes, and Dragon’s Breath. Combine fire and lightning well and you’ll have yourself a class capable of taking on the biggest of threats. After my playthrough, I found I needed to build toward critical strike chance, which really helped me in the long run.
Best items for the Sorceress
- Footwear: Electrostatic Treads (Moving causes lightning attacks to charge up and fire, dealing AoE damage).
- Garment: Shadow Cloak (Periodically spawns shadows that haunt and damage the enemies).
- Gloves: Quickhand Gloves (Grants bonus attack speed, which is always great to have).
- Headwear: Ruby Circlet (Gives bonus damage for each burning enemy. Synergizes with the Ring of Fire).
- Necklace: Collar of Confidence (Gives bonus damage for each enemy within pickup range).
- Ring One: Ring of Fire (Transforms main damage type into fire. Goes hand-in-hand with the Ruby Circlet).
- Ring Two: Wooden Ring (Increases critical strike chance. This is a no-brainer and a must-pick for this class).
Warlock
The Warlock functions through summons—even the class’s main attack is a summon that flies around and strikes at enemies. As the Warlock cannot critically strike, no matter how much you increase the stat, it should be completely ignored. What shouldn’t be ignored is attack speed, as the main summon can hit pretty hard if cast often enough.
To complement the summoning build, players should choose the Summon Golem ability for the Warlock. This adds another ally to the roster that only grows more powerful through his items. The Warlock’s equipment revolves around additional summons, with some universally good items thrown in there.
Best items for the Warlock
- Footwear: Electrostatic Treads (Charges an electric AoE attack while moving).
- Garment: Shadow Cloak (Spawns shadows that damage enemies).
- Gloves: Longfinger Gloves (Increases pick-up range).
- Headwear: Wind Crown (Grants bonus attack speed for each enemy killed).
- Necklace: Collar of Confidence (Gives bonus damage for each enemy within pick-up range).
- Ring One: Demonic Bond (Periodically summons an imp to fight for him).
- Ring Two: Necromancer’s Clutch (Summons a powerful skeleton to be his ally. It synergizes fantastically with Demonic Bond and Summon Golem).
- Ring One/Two Option: Invocation Signet (Drastically increases summon duration).
Cleric
The Cleric stands out among the Halls of Torment classes. Its attacks are cone-shaped and AoE, but their damage is divided among enemies hit. This means it deals reduced damage if striking at multiple foes. However, if only one enemy is hit, they’ll take quite the beating.
Their attacks also cannot critically strike. The class starts with zero critical strike chance, and spending levels or items on it aren’t worth the investment. Instead, players should prioritize increasing the cleric’s damage, range, and attack speed, as his attacks can be brutal and punishing even when hitting multiple enemies. The Radiant Aura ability also suits them nicely.
Best items for the Cleric
- Footwear: Spike Boots (The Cleric releases AoE spikes when hit).
- Garment: Chain Mail (A standard item increasing the Cleric’s HP and defense).
- Gloves: Longfinger Gloves (Boosts pick-up range significantly).
- Headwear: Wnd Crown (Grants the Cleric bonus attack speed for each enemy killed).
- Necklace: Collar of Confidence (Boosts damage for each enemy within pick-up range. Synergizes with Longfinger Gloves).
- Ring One: Echoing Band (Attacks have a chance to deal bonus splash damage).
- Ring Two: Iron Ring (Bonus base damage).
The Exterminator
The Exterminator fights with a flamethrower. It has blazingly fast attacks (pun intended) and can burn through hordes of enemies with ease. The slightest attack speed bonus can multiply the number of the Exterminator’s hits, making this stat the utmost priority.
Both items and traits should focus on boosting the character’s primary stats. Attack speed, as we’ve mentioned, is a must-have. However, you should grab the burn chance increases every time you see them. These two stats alone will be enough to melt any enemy you encounter. However, the Lightning Strike ability provides nice AoE stuns that can further boost your performance with the Exterminator.
Best items for the Exterminator
- Footwear: Runner Shoes (Grants increased movement speed).
- Garment: Blazing Shell (Burns enemies that touch the Exterminator. A must-have on this burn-reliant class).
- Gloves: Quickhand Gloves (Boost attack speed).
- Headwear: Wind Crown (Grants bonus attack speed for each killed enemy).
- Necklace: Collar of Confidence (Gives bonus damage for each enemy within pickup range).
- Ring One: Ring of Fire (Transforms main weapon damage into fire, boosting burn-chance).
- Ring Two: Iron Ring (Gives bonus base damage).
Shieldmaiden
The Shieldmaiden is another class that stands out among the rest. Their attacks scale with block strength, making base damage boosts completely useless. Players should focus on increasing their block strength, critical strike damage, and attack speed. Her critical strike chance and damage are both fairly high, so boosting them can be very beneficial.
The Radiant Aura and Dragon’s Breath abilities are great for the shieldmaiden as they will spend most of her time face-to-face with her enemies. The latter especially works well for the Shieldmaiden with its burn debuff. If you’re not a fan of those two, Lightning Strike is another option for massive AoE damage and stuns.
Best items for the Shieldmaiden
- Footwear: Elven Slippers (Increase her block strength while moving).
- Garment: Blood-soaked shirt (Killing enemies has a chance of regenerating HP).
- Gloves: Quickhand Gloves (Grant bonus attack speed).
- Headwear: Helmet (Elevates defense and block strength).
- Necklace: Blood Catcher (Each time the Shieldmaiden deals 100 times her max HP as damage they restore one HP).
- Ring One: Copper Ring (Increases base critical damage).
- Ring Two: Wooden Ring (Gives bonus base critical strike chance).
