[Guide] Beating "The Vault"

[🌺💗Tazzamorous💗🌺]

READ ON... If you have attempted The Vault a couple of times and generally die before the first 5 minutes.

DO NOT READ OF... If you have beaten The Vault or can survive 15+ minutes. That said, the opening note is applicable to all players, all the time, feel free to read that.

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Opening Note

The struggle people have inside the vault is basically the hard-mode version of the struggle you have in agony. That is... You start behind the enemies in power and you need to get yourself stronger than them to win. Obviously, this has to happen before you die and so the race is on.

Simply put... You have to get your power curve ahead of theirs for victory. This is true for every run. Though "power" has different interpretations depending on what/how you play. The bold statement is basically the essence of this game.

About This Guide

The purpose of this guide is to give struggling people the help/general direction they need to win. As such I have opted for a generic approach. This is so people can make it fit their playstyle. That said, there is a prescriptive "TL;DR" build at the end which will clear the vault for you 100%, with minimal equipment and blessings. I would encourage you NOT to use it though and stick to your own playstyles.

General Steps to Victory

The Vault has a steeper (enemy) power curve than even agony with a couple of artefacts. That said, it is very beatable if you follow some basic principles. You can apply these principles to every run if you like, though as you gain confidence you can do more and more of your own thing.

The following 4 steps could be condensed into the statement... "Go in with a plan!"
That's too generic to be helpful though, but just keep in mind that is our goal. You might already be doing that, in which case, this guide should help you focus in on refining the right aspects.

1. Make sure you know what ability you will take first.

You might think it is ok to decide what you'll pick once you're in there. It's not.

Originally posted by Author's Pre-emptive Note:

If you disagreed with this statement because every ability is valid... Yes I agree, they are, but this guide isn't written for you. I'm writing this to help others, who mostly don't play as much as us. Keep that in mind as you keep reading. [Though I'm interested to know why you decided to read this anyway, please share?]

Pick an ability that starts strong. You can take others later, but your first must be strong. You need this because to get ahead, you need levels... which means you need XP... which means stuff needs to die. The longer that takes, the longer it will take you to get ahead of the enemy power curve (if it takes too long, then you never do and death follows soon after, even if it doesn't, being slow means less XP, which means less stuff dying etc etc). We're trying to get there as quickly as possible by taking a stronger ability.

I wasn't going to do a list, and instead just use a couple of examples, but decided that wasn't helpful enough.
So here is my recommendation for a starting ability for all available in the game. These are still just recommendations, you're free to do as you please.

✔️ These are strong regardless of the character you play. Pick one of these.
❔ These can be strong but need a supporting character/playstyle/item. Probably best not to pick one of these.
❌ These are never strong early. Under no circumstances pick of these. These are usually utility/supporting skills, or they are very strong late game, but not early game.

• ✔️ Phantom Needles
  
• ❌ Arcane Splinters
  
• ❌ Astronomer's Orbs
  
• ❔(Reqs. Sorceress/specific playstyle) Lightning Strikes
  
• ❌ Flame Strike
  
• ❌ Frost Avalanche
  
• ❔(Reqs. specific playstyle) Hailstorm
  
• ❌ Ring Blades
  
• ✔️ Transfixion
  
• ❔(Reqs. Exterminator/specific playstyle) Dragon's Breath
  
• ❌ Radiant Aura
  
• ❔(Reqs. Warlock) Summon Golem
  
• ❔(Reqs. Landskneckt/specific playstyle) Meteor Strike
  
• ❌ Kugelblitz
  
• ✔️ Arcane Rift
  
• ✔️ Spirit Warrior
  
• ❔(Reqs. Landsknecht/Swordsman/specific playstyle) Morning Star
  
• ❌ Spectral Fists

2. Pick a supporting mark to use.

We are not choosing a character yet, because you want to focus, exclusively, on the traits available and the mark bonus... NOT the character. You can view traits here:

https://hot.fandom.com/wiki/Trait#Class_Trait
They're not updated for 1.0 yet, but not much important changed anyway (that affects your early game).

You should pick a mark that has strong (early <lv25) synergy with the ability you chose.
Examples...

• Archers mark with Phantom Needles/Transfixion (+0.1 base crit chance). Very strong since these two abilities scale off crit.
  
• Swordsman with Arcane Rift (+10 base defense, +10 base damage). Very strong as the extra defense lets you to be more aggressive when detonating rifts.
  
• Warlock with Spirit Warrior. The mark bonus isn't as good, but the Warlock traits are great! (e.g. lv5+ Sacrifice +20% Spawns/Projectiles)

Lastly, if the marks really aren't making that much sense to you, then skip to the next step and come back and pick a mark that combos well with your characters main weapon instead.

If you're STILL unsure just take Archer's Mark.

3. Select a character that makes sense.

Normally, you would want to pick a character before deciding on an ability, but I find people tend to be better at matching a character that does well with a given ability, than they are at matching the reverse.

The character you pick here should be mostly based around how that character plays. After all, you should have picked up any traits you were interested in via the mark choice. Again you should pick a character that is stronger early. However, if you have a character that you play a lot of, and as such, know it really well... Then I would recommend you pick that and not bother considering anything else. After all, knowledge is power, so use it. Note that this choice may require you to adjust your mark/ability selection if they're no longer suitable.

Character examples to get you thinking...
Archer: Mid MW, but the mobility is very strong and the range lets you keep your distance. Scales well but does very poorly against block.
Swordsman: Strong early MW but does not readily scale. Good all rounder.
Sorceress: Strong MW but the lack of range means you will always be close. Has good traits for abilities but getting it right isn't easy.
Sage: Incredibly strong late game, but the trade-off is an incredibly weak early game. If you want huge numbers, this is your pick, but if you are seriously reading this guide then this is the worst character you could choose.
Exterminator: Strongish MW, strongish traits for abilities. The power curve is fairly linear though. So staying ahead, over time, is a little harder than other characters.
Shield Maiden: Incredibly tanky character, but with a fairly weak early-game MW. Character excels at buying time early on to execute a strategy that needs time to come online.

If you are still unsure, then here is a list of my recommendations:
✔️ Generally quite strong. Pick one of these.
❔ Can be strong as long as you know how to play them. Probably don't pick of these.
❌Not strong by themselves and requires substantial knowledge to be strong. Definitely don't pick these.

• ✔️ Swordsman
  
• ✔️ Archer
  
• ✔️ Exterminator
  
• ✔️ Warlock
  
• ❔ Cleric
  
• ✔️ Sorceress
  
• ❔ Shield Maiden
  
• ❌ Beast Huntress
  
• ❌ Norseman
  
• ❌ Landsknecht
  
• ❌ Sage

4. Bring in gear that makes sense.

You've chosen an ability, a mark and a character. All that is left is to tailor your equipment to suit.

This is broken down into 3 easy steps that will let you know exactly what you need.
Make sure you fill out your entire equipment set before moving onto the next question.
I will have an example set of gear to illustrate each step.

1. "Are my previous choices very DPS dependant?" (Is your "don't die" strategy, basically kill them before they get to me?)
   
   IF YES: (If you are unsure, start here anyway)
   Then you need to be filling in as many slots as you can with damage/crit/multistrike stats as you can.
   Remember that the strongest stats over time are Crit Chance/Damage (base) > Multistrike > Attack Speed > Damage%
   

   Originally posted by Extra Info:

   Note that the first stat depends on the source of your damage,
   e.g. Base damage is strong where your ability has a low base damage. A good example is Phantom Needles.
   e.g. Crit Chance is strong when your ability has a high crit chance already. A good example is Transfixion.

   
   IF NO:
   Then you should be select the strongest items for your synergy and then fill in the gaps with damage related items.
   
   • e.g. Shield Maiden scales off block for offense as well.
     
   • e.g. Arcane Rift requires you to get hit more often than normal, so you might need more defense.
     
   • e.g. Spirit Warrior requires enemies to be close before attacking, so you might need extra mobility.
     
   • e.g. Arcane Rift duration scales off Force. So you need more Force to be able to get to them in time (without just running over enemies for too much unnecessary damage).
   
   

   EXAMPLE GEAR SET CHOICES

   For this purpose we'll pretend I chose Phantom Needles (ability) + Archer (mark) + Swordsman (character) and take as much damage-related stuff as we can.
   
   • Head: Wind Crown (+attack speed%)
     
   • Neck: Blood Catcher (+dmg%)
     
   • Ring1: Wooden Ring (+crit%)
     
   • Ring2: Iron Ring (+base damage)
     
   • Feet: Pace Setters (+attack speed%)
     
   • Chest: Blood-soaked Shirt (+dmg%)
     
   • Hands: Hunting Gloves (+multistrike%)
   
   
2. "Given my gear selection, will I be able to survive long enough to make it work?" "Conversely... Will it be really easy to survive given my gear selection?"
   
   You've given up all thoughts of defense to synergize with your DPS strategy or you gave up all thoughts of DPS to synergize with your <other strategy>.
   
   So now you ask yourself... "Did I go too far?"
   
   If you don't think you can survive early on with exclusively DPS stuff, then you should now begin culling your worst DPS items, for survivability.
   Conversely, if you think you went overboard with your <other strategy>, then you should now begin culling the worst item for more damage instead.
   
   You stop repeating this step when you think you've found the right balance. Often this will require you have a go in The Vault first to see how it plays. After all, it's quite easy to just keep swapping things out until you no longer have anything suitable to your strategy. So change, at most, 1 or 2 pieces before trying it out then coming back to change more.
   
   

   Originally posted by Extra Info:

   You don't want to strictly swap the weakest, rather you actually want to swap out the one with the worst trade-off ratio. That is, the difference between how good the item currently is (at doing the current objective) vs how good the replacement item is (at doing the alternative objective). I don't want to make the normal guide too complex, but I felt that this had merit enough for a comment.

   
   

   EXAMPLE GEAR SET CHANGES

   For this purpose we'll say that I think I need more defense as my mobility is a little lacking. I'm expecting to get hit a bunch. We'll change two pieces starting with the weakest.
   1) Chest: SWAP Blood-soaked Shirt (+dmg%) for Defiant Plate (+def/+regen).
   2) Neck: SWAP Blood Catcher (+dmg%) for Maiden's Tear (+immunity).
   
   In this case, the chest piece takes quite a while to become useful, and the bonus amount isn't big. So we'll swap it for Defiant Plate which provides really good defense and regen stats in the event you do get hit.
   We'll also swap out the neck piece. Blood Catcher is very strong, but as a Swordsman you have a lot of HP and it's only strong if you are expecting to be full HP, which you aren't. So we'll replace it with the Maiden's Tear which will prevent you taking damage once every 30s and also provide a bonus itself if you manage to avoid taking damage for 30s+. You could consider other options like Scars of Toil (+dmg% for missing HP) or Gatherer's Charm (+movespeed).
   

   Originally posted by Author's Note:

   I'm also swapping out the Blood Catcher in this guide, in anticipation of when they give it diminishing returns and it's not completely busted strong.

   
   
3. "Would some utility items be better than what I have equipped?"
   Your equipment choices are basically done, but we want to make one last check that we aren't missing anything. You should never consider swapping out items that have really powerful synergy but now is your chance to think about any other things that might have bothered you up until now.
   
   • e.g. "I'm always moving and I'm never full HP, Pace Setter's seem like a bad choice for me."
     A swap to something like Berserker Boots might be good, but only if you don't need the movespeed bonus.
     
   • e.g. "I'm playing Exterminator with burn in mind, but none of my items support this."
     A swap to something like Blazing Shell might be good.
     
   • e.g. "I'm going to play with Spirit Warrior, aren't the summon gloves good for this?"
     Yes they are. A swap to Invoker's Grasp might be good.
     
   • e.g. "The best-in-slot item doesn't synergize as well as a combination of other items I want."
     A swap to Warrior's Fervor + Holy Relic might be good.
   
   If you find yourself struggling with this step, either from lack of equipment, lack of knowledge, or a general lack of willpower... skip it and stick to the first two, it should see you though anyway.
   
   Again, you should not change more than 1 or 2 pieces.
   
   

   EXAMPLE GEAR SET CHANGES

   We're generally pretty happy with our gear, but thinking about it... we know that there aren't lots of enemies early in The Vault and we have a somewhat limited range. So looking at our list of gear perhaps the Wind Crown isn't the best choice. We have to kill stuff... lots of stuff... constantly... for it to be good. Sure it's great in Haunted Caverns with low HP, high volume enemies, but I don't think it's appropriate for The Vault.
   SWAP Head: Wind Crown (+attack speed%) for Vision Crown (+area/+range).
   We'll use the Vision Crown instead. If I'm moving because enemies are close to me, then my MW will hit more (+area). If I'm stationary because I'm safe then I'll hit more (without moving) because of the range bonus (+range).
   
   

   FINAL GEAR SET

   • Head: Vision Crown (+area/+range)
     
   • Neck: Maiden's Tear (+immunity)
     
   • Ring1: Wooden Ring (+crit%)
     
   • Ring2: Iron Ring (+base damage)
     
   • Feet: Pace Setters (+attack speed%)
     
   • Chest: Defiant Plate (+def/+regen)
     
   • Hands: Hunting Gloves (+multistrike%)
   https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3339974492

[🌺💗Tazzamorous💗🌺]

Generalized Playstyle Tips

• Overall Trait priority Oblivion Potion Trait > Class Trait > Ability Trait > Elevated Trait (e.g. multistrike/crit bonus/bulwark) > Basic Trait
  

  Originally posted by Extra Info:

  By "Oblivion Potion Trait" I mean that you should not take a trait from a tier if you have not oblivion'd (assuming there is one you would oblivion'd) the other traits in that tier. The first example you will encounter is the class traits at level 5. Assuming you have sufficient oblivion potions to do so, then you should not take a class 5 trait (weapon/proficient/dedication) until you have oblivion'd one of the other traits in that tier first.

• Basic trait priority...
  Long Fingers > Vanguard > Quick Hands > Cunning Technique > Ruthlessness > Swift Feet > Metabolism > Collateral Damage > Strength
  You should always choose to level up any of Long Fingers / Vanguard / Quick Hands / Cunning before taking a new trait. If you are only offered new traits and you know you have a few that could be upgraded use a strong wine.
  If you are on a rather slow character, then Swift Feet priority might need to increase.
  
  
• Generally, you want to try and move in a large circle.
  Why?
  This forces enemies to group up in the middle which lets you cleave more of them together. Consistently doing a circle also lets you ensure that mobs always move in a consistent pattern.
  How is it consistent?
  When you run in a straight line, any mobs that move too far off screen will get teleported randomly back onto your outer screen again. This will also reset any actions they may have done. The enemies onscreen are all known variables. You can see them and dodge them. Enemies appearing offscreen are the unknowns. You
  don't know where they will appear or what the timer on their actions might be. By not moving in a circle you are increasing the number of unknowns.
  
  When getting started, you want to be paying attention to how enemies move. Learn their pattern and how you can navigate around it. You won't be perfect, but getting hit less buys you a bigger window to get strong.
  
  The first mobs you encounter all move together in regular intervals. Use this to your advantage by stopping when they stop (and planning your next move), and moving when they move.
  
  The second set of mobs will charge at you but sometimes change direction. When they change direction, it's going to be in the same direction you are going. This is frustrating but can be beaten by changing your direction once more.
  
  The third set will just try and walk into you.
  
  Play on your own and learn the rest as you go.
  
  
• It might be tempting to load up on abilities from all the scrolls you get. However, you should avoid this. Leveling up and taking good traits for one ability is much better than taking many which will force you to take bad traits. Additionally, it makes it harder to get the required trait level for upgrades which are always very strong.
  
  So before you just take extra scrolls... check if you can get an upgrade first, and then check if you really want another ability at all.
  
  
• The boss is fairly tanky but their moveset is basic. You won't really have much trouble dodging their attacks. What you will find though, is that mobs (which keep spawning during the fight) will give you trouble.
  
  For this reason, you want to make sure that you have a good clear speed before tackling the boss. A way to test this might be "Can I stand still for 1+ minute without anything touching me?" If yes then you definitely have the clear speed needed. I'm sure you can get away with much less than this, but it's an ok test.
  
  I recommend attempting the boss around the lv80 mark or 15-20 minutes.

If you want more info on fighting the final boss skip to the last post and read the final "16min + OR lv70+" section.

Final Comments

I often struggle to get it right when writing for players in the very early game. I am a super-late game player and most of what I write is within that context. I have an absolute heap of knowledge, and I like to share it with those that will benefit.

With that in mind, if you find that some aspect of this doesn't seem to work out for you. Please don't be afraid to let me know and, if reasonable, I will update it as best I can.

If you have questions, please ask. I'll answer any I can. Even if they're unrelated to this guide. The better a question you ask, the better the answer will be. i.e. give context.

Lastly, if you used this guide and got your completion... I'd love to hear what you did it with and what worked for you? It makes doing this all worth it when people share that it worked out. Plus it's a lot of fun for me hearing how people applied what I shared! What they chose to do it with! etc.

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TL;DR

Originally posted by Exhausted Gamer:

TBH I just want to complete the game! I just want to enjoy the completion/get my achievements and then I'm outta here.

Aight, bet. Let's go.

Map: The Vault
Tribute: 1000 gold.
Anything that isn't +monster amount, +monster HP, +boss HP or some other super bad effect (like reduced vision).
If you get one of these, enter and exit then try again.
(I got +16% Monster Damage" for my run.)
Character: Swordsman
Mark: Archer
Gear:

• Head: Vision Crown (+area/+range)
  
• Neck: Maiden's Tear (+immunity)
  
• Ring1: Wooden Ring (+crit%)
  
• Ring2: Iron Ring (+base damage)
  
• Feet: Pace Setters (+attack speed%)
  
• Chest: Defiant Plate (+def/+regen)
  
• Hands: Hunter's Gloves (+multistrike%)

Originally posted by New Gamer:

But I don't have X.

Then go get it... OR swap it out for something. Please do not comment about this guide not working if you changed something though.

Blessings: (202k worth)

• Movement Speed: Rank 5 (21000 gold)
  
• Health Capacity: Rank 3 (4000 gold)
  
• Health Regeneration: NIL
  
• Defense: Rank 5 (14000 gold)
  
• Block Strength: NIL
  
• Damage: Rank 3 (8000 gold)
  
• Physical Damage: Rank 3 (6000 gold)
  
• Magic Damage: NIL
  
• Burn Damage: NIL
  
• Spark Damage: NIL
  
• Frost Damage: NIL
  
• Attack Speed: Rank 5 (35000 gold)
  
• Multistrike: Rank 5 (35000 gold)
  
• Attack Range: Rank 5 (14000 gold)
  
• Area/Projectile Size: Rank 3 (4000 gold)
  
• Force: NIL
  
• Crit Chance: Rank 5 (21000 gold)
  
• Base Crit Chance: NIL
  
• Crit Bonus: Rank 3 (6000 gold)
  
• Effect on Hit Chance: NIL
  
• Pickup Range: Rank 5 (7000 gold)
  
• Gold Gain: NIL
  
• Ability Drop Chance: NIL
  
• Revives: Rank 2 (35,000 gold)

I did my best to remember what is easily accessible for blessing unlocks. Please, if one seems unreasonably hard, let me know and I'll try and adjust it.

Originally posted by New Gamer:

But I don't have 202k for blessings.

Then go get it... OR swap it out for something. Please do not comment about this guide not working if you changed something though.

Ability: Phantom Needles
Achievement Count: ~250

Originally posted by Reassurance:

If you are wondering about how the XP gain vs achievements affects this guide. I was 498/500 (+149.4% XP) at the time of posting. However, I enforced an XP gain equivalent to exactly 250 (+75% XP) achievements for the run. If you have less than 250 you will probably be lower level. If you have more than 250 then you should be higher. Point is, you can be sure the level/timing figures I gave are accurate.

Trait Selection:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3340006545
Orange = Take either from the tier, it doesn't matter, pick the first one that pops up.
Yellow = Reverb (you need 2 for this guide).
Red Stars = What I ended up taking for the screenshot run.

Some trait values are wrongly displayed in my screenshot. I copied this from the wiki which isn't 1.0 updated. The names are still correct though.
Tier 5 traits are omitted because it's too specific and they don't matter. Take whatever you want/have unlocked when you get to lv60.

Follow the trait priority given in the guide earlier. It's under "Generalized Playstyle Tips".

I CANNOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH... Use the oblivion potions at your first opportunity. These are critical to making everything else easy. Ideally, you want 5+. 4 Is the absolute minimum I can guarantee this guide still reasonably working with.

Skip to the 12min part of the guide and read the bold part, then come back here.

How to play it:
This is written as a timeline for you to follow. It's quite general in parts and specific in others, but along with the screenshots that should be good enough to understand.

0min - 2min (0 - lv10)
You've got ugly hooded enemies popping up outta the floor like that one meme from 2018 with the two dogs in the car.

• You should have used 4 oblivion potions by level 10ish (the 4 basic traits).
  
• If you get offered all basic traits on the lower priority end, use a strong wine.
  
• You want to basically stay in the starting area and run in a circle around the pillar in the middle. By doing a circle it will help group the enemies up as well as make it easy for you to dodge past them.
  
  These enemies all move together towards you at regular intervals. Use this to advantage by moving when they move, but otherwise being stationary.
  
  I recommend doing roughly the following movement pattern. Go a little further down though, it just didn't fit in the screenshot.
  
  https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3339979433
  
  
• I recommend having auto aim off, and point your MW attacks into the middle of the circle/biggest clump of enemies you can hit. You don't particularly care if enemies are close to you as you're planning to run past and dodge them anyway, so prioritise damage not proximity. If you are in a spot without anything nearby, stop moving to take advantage of the +range vision crown bonus instead. Phantom Needles will quickly do more damage than you so we want to assist with that where we can.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3340036088

2min - 4min (lv10 - lv20)
Now we got some crab-like-scorpion thingy to deal with as well. I'm sure these trip up a lot of players, tbh I hate em too.

These enemies are relatively weak but their movement pattern is a real pain. When these enemies change direction, they will match the direction you are walking in. This means that to dodge these you have to change direction after them. It's un-intuitive and annoying as multiple enemies can offset leaving you with little/no dodging room. Just dodge what you can. They're kinda weak so feel free to adjust your MW attack direction to kill em off if you can hit at least a couple. If they stay within range of you for a while, they'll try charging you. Don't stress dodging these attacks too much if the movement would put you in danger.

• You should oblivion Sharpness on Phantom Needles at level 16-23. Even if it means delaying taking Puncture a little bit.
  
• You should secure T2 Puncture on Phantom Needles, AT THE LATEST, by level 23 (even if you didn't get your oblivion potion use, remember to reverb). Spend Strong wines to achieve this, but distribute them sensibly.
  
• Maintain roughly the same movement pattern.
  
• At 02:30 an elite will spawn along with a new wave of thicc bois. Get what damage into the elite you can while focusing on the normal mobs (you want the XP more than it's scroll). Once it dies, leave it's scroll on the ground until you secure the lv24 trait Power on Phantom Needles. (I killed it at 3:52).
  
• IF THE 02:30 ELITE SPAWNS OUT OF BOUNDS, RESTART IMMEDIATELY AS YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO KILL IT IN A REASONABLE TIMEFRAME. (why was 1.0 even released with such an obvious and feelsbad bug?)
  
• If you die, just press on. It doesn't matter. I died once myself. Pausing to take pics (or forgetting to pause as the case was) and adjusting my XP rate as well as making sure I'm following my own guide... lol so distracted. Hopefully, you can just focus on the game.
  
• You should have cleared Tier 1 class traits, and hopefully 1+ from Tier 2.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3340036444

4min - 6min (lv20 - lv30)

• Stick with the strategy, nothing has changed yet.
  
• You'll find it gets quite intense from lv22-24 (04:30-05:00ish). This is crunch time, make or break for your run basically. Hitting lv24 is when everything will start to get MUCH easier for you.
  
• You should have cleared T2 class traits by lv23. If you haven't, it isn't a deal breaker but it's going to hurt you for strong wine use on 24. Ideally you want to spend some strong wines prior to 23 to ensure you clear it (as opposed to spending them on 24 instead).
  
• You MUST take T3 Power on Phantom Needles at level 24 (I hit 24 at 04:54, remember to reverb). Spend strong wines to achieve this (all of them if needed). If by some magical garbage RNG (or lack of oblivion potion/previous strong wine use... I'm lookin at you eh?) you can't get Power on 24... STRONGLY consider just restarting the run. At lv25 all the new class traits, and then some more, will unlock and begin interferring with your trait pool... and you REALLY want that trait NOW. You're only ~5min in anyway, not a big commitment. Your choice though.
  
• If you didn't get to oblivion Sharpness prior, you can oblivion it here while you re-roll for Power.
  
• Once you secure Power at lv24 grab the scroll. Reroll with Potions of Renewal to secure "Phantom Split".
  
• At 05:00 new tall mobs are going to spawn. If you stay in range of them, they'll spawn a gold pool on the ground which will fly at you. This has no purple marker, and it kinda hurts. Watch out for it.
  
• You're ability to move from 05:00 onwards is largely dictated by the crabs, feel free to focus attacks on these to open space for yourself.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3340036658

6min - 8min (lv30 - lv40)

• Stick with the strategy, nothing has changed yet.
  
• A new elite spawns at 06:00. Once you kill it (mine died at 08:20), take Transfixion > Ring Blades > Morningstar > Radiant Aura from it's scroll. If you get none of these, I dunno. GG. Sadge. Press on anyway and let me know how it went with whatever you had?
  Second skill traits/upgrades...
  
  • Transfixion take Slow + any. Traits: anything DPS related, get +base damage/range on 3/6/10 if you can.
    
  • Ring Blades take Cyclone + any. Traits: anything attack speed > DPS related,get +base damage/crit on 3/6/10 if you can.
    
  • Morningstar take Butterfly + Chain (if possible). Traits: FORCE FORCE FORCE > multistrike, get the +range/angle on 3/6/10 if you can.
    
  • Radiant Aura take anything but Echoing. Traits: anything area > attack speed related, get +base damage on 3/6/10 if you can.
  I'll assume you didn't get the best pick and I took Ring Blades myself. This one doesn't really become good until you get the cyclone upgrade but then it rocks.
  https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3340036975

[🌺💗Tazzamorous💗🌺]

8min - 10min (lv40 - lv48)

• Stick with the strategy, nothing has changed yet.
  
• At 08:30 more crabs will spawn. At least they're red this time right? You know the drill and your DPS is much higher now. Kill em off.
  
• At 09:00 you'll get a purple-outline Mimic spawn. Avoid it while DPSing. Grab whatever is good from its loot on death (mine died at 11:49). I completed this run with no upgrades of any kind so I left the chest on the ground :(.
  
• At 10:00 another elite will spawn. Fight this while dealing with the Mimic, it isn't that strong. When it dies (mine died at 10:31) leave the scroll on the ground until you have another upgrade unlocked on one of your abilities (Unlocks with lv48 trait).
  
• Secure the Phantom Needles upgrade "Phantom Fetters" with the scroll. Taking your first choice upgrade for your secondary skill is also fine (I took cyclone for Ring Blades).

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3340037257

10min - 12min (lv48 - lv55)

• Stick with the strategy, nothing has changed yet.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3340037375

12min - 16min (lv55+)

• I stopped resetting my XP here, so if you have been tracking well so far, just know that I'm going to pull ahead. Why? 'cos it was annoying as hek to keep adjusting and I don't wanna anymore. +75% extra exp sounds like a lot, but in practice I won't gain a level over you until about 65. It's not much, especially now that we're nearing the end anyway.
  
• Begin trying to avoid getting hit. We want to start stacking up some bonus on our Maiden's Tear/Defiant Plate. If you don't execute this well, still do your best because the Maiden's Tear protects Defiant Plate stacks which is nice. (In the interest of "lower common denominator" I ensured I got hit every now and then)
  
• You also want to be max health for the pace setter bonus. If you can be stationary as often as possible to heal up. (As per above, I didn't heal up)
  
• At 12:50 you get another elite. Pickup another upgrade for one of your skills. If you didn't get Phantom Fetters the first time, you REALLY want it this time. But if you run out of rerolls, just take what you can. (I took Crippling Blades in the interest of sticking to "lowest common denominator")
  
• At lv60, if you have Tier 5 class traits unlocked, they'll appear. I didn't want to affect the guide, so I took...
  For the Swordsman +250HP. If you have it though, take the +30% Range > +45degree attack angle > +250HP. DO NOT take the +60% melee damage (the hit to range hurts your abilities too much).
  For the Archer +movespeed. If you have it though, take +30% Crit Chance. DO NOT take +90% damage.
  If you have only the bad versions of Tier 5 unlocked, keep an oblivion potion aside to get rid of it.
  
• I accidently walked over the chest here, so I took XP (and then deleted the XP gained).
  
• At 14:00 new green statue things appear. They're weak AF, knock em off.
  
• At 15:00 new tanky shield bois. They knock back pretty easy, coupled with the slow (hopefully you got one), they're easy to deal with.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3340037532
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3339978173

16min + OR lv70+

• We've hit the end now. Secure your etheral traits and let's go kill the boss.
  Eth A take +multistrike (taking Projectile is OK too, but DO NOT take Melee).
  Eth B take Physical (yes even if you have Transfixion/Radiant Aura. It's fine.
  
• At some point a second Mimic spawns. Mine spawned out of bounds and I noticed at it at 16:30. I'll update this timeline to reflect it more accurately later. Kill it, take whats good.
  
• Head to the middle of the map (NE) until you see a white streak or find the boss in the middle. (The mimic is just the one i mentioned earlier after getting teleported)
  https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3339977234
  
• Follow the white streak away from the boss until you see it end at a glowing sphere similar to the ones that surrounded the boss. Destroy it.
  https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3339977715
  
• If you pass scrolls feel free to grab them and pickup another upgrade but DO NOT take another ability until you secure the lv80 traits for the first two.
  
• Return the way you came, and find another white streak coming off the boss. Follow it again. Repeat this process for all 4. They go N S E W away from the boss. It took me about 2 min to run in and out 4 times to unlock the boss.
  
• After you destroy the 4th one. The boss will unlock. When you return to the middle this time. It will attack you. (My boss fight started around 19:00)
  https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3339976865
  
• Other mobs do not stop spawning during this time.
  
• Boss attacks are very basic, prioritise your HP over dealing damage. It'll die, just so long as you don't die first.
  
• If you have Morningstar or Radiant Aura, you want to fight up closer to the boss so they're hitting it. Morningstar dishes out serious hate (at the expense of being decent clear) so if you picked up Morningstar this boss is going to curl up real fast.
  
• Use your MW to clear out enemies around you, as opposed to trying to kill the boss. Again, your HP matters here, not damage. If you are feeling pretty confident, DPS the boss instead. I'm not your mum do what you like.
  
• At some point the boss will transition to put its legs away and summoned skeletons will walk towards it. You'll want to fight in closer to try and kill as many as you can (and to keep getting DPS in on the boss).
  
• By now, you're probably getting semi-frequently hit and losing HP. That's ok, you've also run out of good traits to take and so you can take +HP here. This is a pretty big boost for you and will very much prolong your life.
  
• Eventually you will kill "the boss" which hurls a person out from it. F**K the wellkeeper man. (My kill was at 22:10)
  https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3339976317
  https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3339975952
  
• Remember to collect your artefact before exiting.
  
• You can skip the final cutscene by holding down LMB or your equivalent. It isn't long though.

[🌺💗Tazzamorous💗🌺]

Reserved

[🌺💗Tazzamorous💗🌺]

reserved2

[Sneak0r]

Thank you for helping me to beat the vault at least once. Now I can farm all the other items!
Why did you not create a real guide?