Halls of Torment Tier List 2026: Best Traits, Items & Builds

Halls of Torment shipped 1.0 in 2024 with 11 heroes. The Early Access tier lists that ranked seven characters and put Cleric on top are now outdated in two directions, the roster is bigger and the balance has changed. What was S-tier in 2023 is A-tier now. What was bottom-tier got buffs. The four new heroes added in later updates changed the available synergies enough that the entire ordering shifted.

This tier list reflects the current 1.0 balance. Eleven heroes ranked by how reliably they clear high Agony runs, how well they scale into late-game hordes, and how much the game bends around their mechanics versus how much they have to bend around the game's.

One important thing about Halls of Torment tier lists that most guides skip: the difference between heroes matters less than the difference between item and ability loadouts. A well-built Warlock will outperform a poorly-built Sage. But when both are built well, the Sage wins, and this list reflects that ceiling-to-ceiling comparison.

Which Heroes Are S-Tier in Halls of Torment?

Sage, Shield Maiden, and Norseman sit at S-tier in the current 1.0 balance. Sage dominates with ability scaling that clears screens early, Shield Maiden combines tankiness with real DPS through block stacking, and Norseman benefits from an area-scaling bug that makes his attacks cover far more screen than intended.

Sage

The Sage arrived and the meta rearranged itself. Her primary mechanic, abilities deal more damage than weapons, flips the standard Halls of Torment priority system. While every other hero invests in weapon upgrades first and abilities second, the Sage wants ability upgrades first because they scale harder. This means the Sage reaches her power spike earlier than anyone else, because ability options show up more frequently than weapon-specific upgrades.

At full build, the Sage's abilities can clear the screen before enemies reach melee range. Ring Blades fully upgraded covers more area than any single weapon in the game. The Sage is fragile, low HP, low armor, but fragility doesn't matter when nothing gets close enough to hit you. The best defense in Halls of Torment is everything being dead.

Shield Maiden

The tank that hits back. Shield Maiden's block scaling makes her functionally unkillable once you stack defensive items, and her War Hammer + Shield combo provides surprisingly high DPS for a character designed around not dying. Where other tanky characters sacrifice damage for survivability, Shield Maiden gets both.

The specific interaction that makes her S-tier: block stats in this game are actually worth stacking, but only on Shield Maiden, because she's the only hero whose kit rewards it. Everyone else who stacks block is just surviving. Shield Maiden is surviving and killing simultaneously. Her Agony clears are the most consistent in the game because she rarely dies to spikes. Consistent clears beat flashy clears.

Norseman

Currently bugged in his favor, which is worth knowing when you read this tier list. The Norseman's area scaling produces larger hit zones than intended, which means his attacks cover significantly more screen than they should. Even without the bug, Norseman would be A-tier. With the bug, he's S-tier and the community knows it.

If Chasing Carrots patches the bug, Norseman drops to A. Until then, enjoy the free real estate. His playstyle is satisfyingly simple, wide sweeping attacks, physical damage, crit scaling. Nothing clever. Just effective.

Which Heroes Are A-Tier in Halls of Torment?

Archer, Beast Huntress, Swordsman, and Cleric make up A-tier. These heroes reward smart building with powerful late-game scaling. Archer's crit damage outpaces everything, Beast Huntress adapts to any item RNG, Swordsman covers the entire screen at max upgrades, and Cleric melts bosses with 666 split damage.

Archer

Physical crit damage scales faster than any other damage type in Halls of Torment, and the Archer is built to exploit that. High attack speed, projectile stacking, crit chance synergies. The Archer starts slow, early waves feel underwhelming while you're building crit infrastructure, but by Wave 20, every arrow is a kill and the screen clears faster than it fills.

Archer's Mark is also worth mentioning because it's one of the best abilities in the game regardless of which hero you're playing. The +10% base crit rate it provides makes every build better.

Beast Huntress

Two viable playstyles in one hero. You can build summoner (empower the hound, let it tank and kill while you stay safe) or you can build spear maiden (attack speed, damage, crit on the spear). The flexibility means Beast Huntress can adapt to whatever items and abilities the run offers. Bad summoner items? Pivot to spear. Bad melee items? Pivot to hound. Having two viable paths reduces the impact of bad RNG, which at high Agony is the most valuable thing a hero can offer.

Swordsman

The starter hero. The one most players dismiss as "basic" before discovering that a fully upgraded Swordsman has the highest main-weapon DPS in the game. His attacks at full upgrade cover the entire screen. The entire screen. No other hero's primary weapon matches that coverage.

Swordsman is the ideal choice for Stage Adept runs specifically because his weapon scaling is so complete. He doesn't need clever ability combinations or niche item synergies. He needs upgrades. Give him upgrades and he solves everything through violence.

Cleric

Was S-tier in every Early Access tier list. Now A-tier, not because the Cleric got worse but because the new heroes are better. His main attack deals 666 damage split evenly among all targets, which makes him a boss and elite killer. The split damage mechanic means he's weaker against large crowds (damage per enemy decreases as enemy count increases), but against single targets, Cleric melts.

Highest base regeneration in the game. Radiant Aura for magic damage scaling. Status effect builds on Cleric are strong. He's still very good. He's just not the best anymore, and the meta moved.

Which Halls of Torment Heroes Are B-Tier?

Sorceress, Barbarian, and Landsknecht land in B-tier. All three are fully functional and can clear content, but they require more effort or have narrower build paths than the heroes above them. Sorceress brings crowd control at the cost of survivability, Barbarian is dependable but unexciting, and Landsknecht excels against bosses but struggles with hordes.

Sorceress

Lightning bolts that chain between enemies. High crit damage potential. Strong control via Electrify stun. The problem: Sorceress has the lowest health pool of all heroes, and her main attack doesn't scale as well with levels as the heroes above her. With enough Force stat investment to make her chains hit enough targets, and enough Piercing to extend them, Sorceress provides excellent crowd control. Without those investments, she's a glass cannon that breaks before it fires.

Lightning Strikes and Kugelblitz are her best abilities and provide everything she needs to clear. The build path is narrow but the ceiling is real.

Barbarian

Tanky, strong, straightforward main weapon. Slightly weaker than Cleric in terms of area coverage and multi-hit. The Barbarian does what the Swordsman does but with more health and less weapon scaling. Perfectly viable. Rarely exciting. The dependable friend who shows up and does their job.

Landsknecht

The two-handed specialist. High single-target damage, wide swings, satisfying impact. The Landsknecht's problem is that "high single-target damage" is less valuable than "screen-wide area damage" in a game where the primary threat is being surrounded by hundreds of enemies. Good for bosses. Mediocre for hordes. Most of the game is hordes.

Which Halls of Torment Heroes Are C-Tier?

Exterminator and Warlock sit at C-tier, the lowest ranking. Exterminator's burn damage ticks too slowly for high-Agony enemy density, and Warlock's summoner kit demands very specific items to function. Both can clear content with the right build, but they need more investment just to reach viable while other heroes start there.

Exterminator

Flamethrower that applies burn damage over time. Sounds incredible. In practice, the direct damage from the flame is low, and burn damage ticks too slowly to handle late-game enemy density. Exterminator clears early Halls beautifully, the fire effect is satisfying and effective against weak enemies. Against Agony-level hordes with real health pools, you're waiting for burn ticks while enemies close the distance.

The character needs range upgrades and flame potency investments to function, which means your first several upgrades go into making the base kit viable rather than making it strong. Other heroes start viable and upgrade toward strong.

Warlock

The summoner that doesn't quite summon well enough. Homing spirits as a primary weapon have long range and target tracking, but the damage is low and the attack speed is glacial. Clay Golem and summon ring abilities are thematically cool and mechanically underwhelming. The Warlock fantasy is "command an army of minions." The Warlock reality is "watch slow ghosts drift toward enemies while you run away."

Recent patches improved Warlock, and a main-weapon-focus build can produce high damage numbers now. The conversion mechanic fix helped significantly. But the hero still requires more specific building and more specific item luck than any hero ranked above. When it works, Warlock is genuinely powerful. When it doesn't work, nothing else in your kit compensates.

The Real Takeaway

Halls of Torment's hero balance is tighter than most tier lists suggest. The gap between S-tier and C-tier is smaller than in comparable bullet heavens. A well-built Exterminator can clear content that a poorly-built Sage cannot. Builds matter more than tier placement, and this list reflects ceiling-to-ceiling comparisons, not floor-to-floor.

Halls of Torment's hero balance is tighter than most tier lists suggest. The gap between S-tier and C-tier is smaller than in Brotato or Vampire Survivors, a well-built Exterminator can clear content that a poorly-built Sage cannot. The tier list reflects ceiling-to-ceiling comparisons, not floor-to-floor.

The meta will keep moving. Chasing Carrots is actively patching, the Norseman bug will presumably get fixed, and future updates may add new heroes. What won't change is the fundamental structure: heroes with strong ability scaling (Sage) and heroes with strong defensive scaling (Shield Maiden) will always have an edge in a game where the primary failure mode is "too many enemies hit you."

Eleven heroes. Five Halls. Agony levels that keep climbing. Pick someone and start dying.

Halls of Torment is available on Steam. If you're into bullet heavens with Diablo's gothic atmosphere and actual dodge mechanics, it's the one that brought skill back to the survivors-like genre, and Granny's Rampage is ours, launched on Steam June 22.