Halls of Tormentintroduces players to a roster of unique characters, each one capable of navigating the horrific corridors with their own special approach. One of the last ones you’re likely to unlock is the Shield Maiden, who is good at wading right into the thick of battle and enduring more abuse than her comparatively fragile cohorts. Here is our guide telling you how to unlock the Shield Maiden inHalls of Torment.
Halls of Torment– how to unlock the Shield Maiden
Most of the characters you unlock attack with projectile weapons of some sort, or they use a melee weapon (such as the starting Swordsman). The Shield Maiden, who also uses projectiles, nevertheless thrives during close-range combat.To unlock the Shield Maiden, defeat the Wraith Horseman in the Forgotten Viaduct region.
The Forgotten Viaduct is the third stage in the game.It’s also a point of interest when you want to figure outhow to unlock the Sorceress. TheWraith Horsemanattacks when you have played in the area for a mere six minutes or so. It moves pretty quickly, galloping around you in a loop. Sometimes, it launches ghostly riders that stand for a moment before sliding across the path with blades drawn. Avoid them by standing between where they are positioned. Other times, the rider extends a javelin. Just before it does, you may see green marks along the path to easily avoid the impending thrusts. Similarly, it sometimes fires a rain of arrows using its bow. Just steer clear of the green circles that indicate arrows are inbound. Also, don’t let the rider bump into you with its horse. Contact does a lot of damage.
As you battle, you also need to avoid mobs. However, you’re able to defeat them as you play and continue to level up during what may prove to be a lengthy battle. For this stage (and throughout the game in general), my favorite approach is to equip theRuby Circletand theCollar of Confidence. Then, using fire attacks, I basically have twice the attack power as long as there are mobs crowding my space. This happens often in the Forgotten Viaduct, and during the battle with the Wraith Horseman.
After you defeat the Wraith Horseman, you access the Shield Maiden. HerKugelblitzability sends an electrical ball floating around the area to harm enemies. Her more standard attack comes in two parts. First, she attacks a nearby point in the direction she is facing. Then, a half-second later, she unleashes a short-range projectile. It’s important to improve her attack speed when possible, so that she can hit more enemies in a hurry. HerParrytrait is also good, because it improves her Block rating quickly. Better yet, you can master it to unlock theBlock Strengthblessing, so that other characters also start out with stronger defenses. Make doing so an early priority.
Halls of Tormentis available to purchase on Steam.
Jason Venter
Jason Venter is a contributing writer for PC Invasion since 2022 who can trace his love for video games back to the Apple IIe port of Mario Bros. in the late 80s. He remains a diehard Nintendo fan to this day and loves JRPGs, adventure games, and platformers in particular, but he still plays games in most genres and on most hardware. After founding indie gaming site HonestGamers in 1998, he served as an editor at Hardcore Gamer Magazine during its entire print run. He has since freelanced for a variety of leading sites including IGN, GameSpot, and Polygon. These days, he spends most of his time writing game guides and entertaining readers with his fantasy novels.
