Thor the Warrior is a brute-force powerhouse, and contrary to popular initial belief, is actually a very tactical character to play. I've often said that Thor is the most cryptic character out of the five. He comes off as simplistic with not much to him in the eyes of many beginners (and understandably so), but he's actually quite a complicated character for several reasons that are less than obvious.

Many, with good reason and when in the right hands, consider him to be the safest option for unlocking portals in Endless mode due to his high health and abundance in invincibility frames. With his potion ability, More of Thor, he becomes the most equipped to save a party when at high risk.

Be warned that he is also often considered to be very difficult to play at a high level (the most difficult in many cases). I do not say this to deter you but rather to encourage you to be patient with yourself should frustration find you on your way to becoming a better warrior. I tend to believe that this difficulty is largely due to the aforementioned cryptic nature of Thor himself, which we will attempt to uncover in this chapter. If you master him, however, you can become a dominating force and tremendous asset to any team.

This chapter references material from Heroes of the Gauntlet. It is highly recommended that you read the fundamentals in that chapter either prior to or alongside Thor the Warrior.

To start, we'll go over the basic abilities that Thor has at his disposal. Later, we will start to see how these can be linked together in more useful ways.






Slash Attack is Thor's most basic attack. Perhaps its most useful feature is that it can be used to stun light enemy units. It cannot stun heavy enemy units, however, so consider its somewhat of a slow startup before you start swinging. It is also good for disrupting enemies such as Grunt Shamans or Cultist Sorcerers to prevent them finishing their attacks.






Slowly but powerfully is the way of Thor's Smash Attack. This is often the best option for attacking mini-bosses and summoning stones. It can destroy projectiles and stun heavy enemy units. The range of the the stun covers directly in front of Thor and slightly on each side (a wider range than the attack itself). The stun is also quicker than the attack itself. While Thor must complete the swing to use the attack, the stunning is instant.






Rush is Thor's most versatile ability, as it makes available to him many followup options. It can be used as an attack in and of itself (killing the weakest of enemies), an approach or retreat, a means to jump, and it grants him invincibility (great for dashing across traps). Thor cannot Rush through heavy enemy units so be careful in darkness.






It's essentially an upgraded Slash Attack. Not only does it stun light enemy units but also heavy ones, not to mention that it is also more powerful. The only real caveat is that it can only be activated out of Rush. To do this, simply press the Slash Attack button while Thor is in a Rush.





Another move that can only be activated during Rush is the Leap Attack. This ability has three main functions: dealing high damage, jumping over enemies (keep this in mind when surrounded by heavy units), and extending the invincibility of Rush. Like Smash Attack, it too can stun heavy units.






Demonic Cleave is a very powerful attack that also grants Thor invincibility for a brief window of time. It is the weapon ability of the weapon, Murder, and therefore operates on a cooldown. Enemies directly surrounding him will be stunned for a very short moment. This buys you just enough time to walk away or use Rush immediately afterwards.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Hit the Breaks

Use a Super Slash Attack (or even a Leap Attack) if you need you stop your Rush early. This is good to know in many situations like when you need to cross over a series of spikes with gaps between them. This also doubles as a defensive maneuver as it attacks and stuns enemies in front of you.

Caution:⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Using an attack to bring Rush to a stop briefly leaves Thor immobile and vulnerable. Sometimes the safest thing to do is to let Rush reach its end, as this allows him to seamlessly transition into a run, which means you can immediately kite or weave afterwards.

If you continue mashing the attack button after performing a Slash Attack, you will continue to perform an additional six slashes.

The 360° attack (or "circle attack") is the final attack in the sequence, however, in this animation, I have included the first attack in the next sequence just to show you the timing of two Slash Attack sequences being chained together.

Take notice of that attack with the white slash (the fourth attack in the sequence). That's the Super Slash Attack—you know, the one you can use during Rush—it's the same exact attack. In fact, if you were to use the Super Slash Attack out of Rush then continue the sequence, the sequence would start from that point (in other words, the first 3 attacks will be skipped). This also means that because it is the same attack, you will still get the benefit of stunning heavy enemies at this point during the sequence.

For this section, I will choose some equipment options that I recommend and explain why I recommend them. Be aware that I do not intend to cover all weapons, relics, talismans, abilities, etc. I will be limiting loadout topics to what I believe to be the strongest and/or most popular options as they relate to high-level Endless mode play unless I feel there is something noteworthy to say otherwise.

Note:⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Among items that share the same ability, their differences are purely cosmetic.

Demonic Cleave


Weapon: Murder

Do not be deceived by Demonic Cleave's relatively modest display in contrast with some of Thor's other weapon abilities—it is an incredibly powerful ability for reasons beyond mere damage output. Although Thor has several viable weapons at his disposal, Murder is generally considered to be Thor's best weapon in terms of safety and versatility. Demonic Cleave has primarily three aspects (aside from its short cooldown) that work in tandem and are collectively responsible for this.

1. Concentrated Attack Power
   This allows you deal with single high-priority targets (or small groups) quickly. Although the bulk of the force of the attack is directed forward, you may be surprised by how generous its range is from side to side also. It covers nearly the entire area surrounding Thor except near the middle of his back. That said, not even his back is completely vulnerable as a small (and brief) "force" surrounds Thor on all sides, stunning enemies that are immediately close to him (they would basically have to be touching him). This affords a sort of "safety circle" to Thor when he uses Demonic Cleave. This circle is very brief, so you will need to follow through with your next course of action very promptly (using Rush, running away, etc.).
   
   
2. Invincibility
   It's not something that is unique to this weapon, but Demonic Cleave's invincibility is perhaps equally as important as its attack power, if not more so in some situations (largely due to the next point I'll be covering). This can be used to dodge certain imminent dangers unscathed. For example, if Thor stands on an automated spike trap (as in spike traps that are operated by a timer rather than a pressure plate) while the spikes are down, if timed correctly, using Demonic Cleave will make Thor impervious to the spikes when they spring up. Similarly, stepping on pressure plate spikes then immediately using Demonic Cleave will allow Thor to stand in place on the pressure plate unharmed. Another common use of this invincibility is dodging a Cultist Sorcerer's hex, though this may require much practice to get the timing down consistently.
   
   
3. Control
   When Thor uses Demonic Cleave, he stands his ground and remains perfectly in place. This is good as it leaves several followup options available to you. For example, if you'll recall to the first point I mentioned, Thor has a bit of a safety circle when he uses this special, which buys him just enough time to use Rush without getting hit, even if surrounded by a huge mob.
   
   The fact that it has a short cooldown also allows you to use your invincibility with more precision by choosing the exact moments you will need it. Other specials might give longer-lasting invincibility, but it's going to be a while before that becomes an option again due to the cooldowns.

More of Thor


Talisman: The Prize

More of Thor is widely agreed upon to be one of the best potion abilities in the entire game (with many holding the opinion that it is singularly the best). I view it as one in a trinity along with Elf's Dryad's Song and Valkyrie's Divine Aegis—none of the three inherently being more valuable than the other two but rather having their value ever changing in relativity to each other as the situation dictates.

Caution:⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Boots of Ranadam shortens the effect of More of Thor when used together.

Boots of Ranadam


Boots of Ranadam not only makes you faster, but also slows enemies around you. When playing lava floors in Endless mode, Boots of Ranadam can be extremely helpful for getting through large crowds (often occurring at the end of the floor). As you become more familiar with and proficient at utilizing gaps in crowds, you may find the aid of Boots of Ranadam to be less necessary for getting through these parts and may find Ring of Mirrors to be a more beneficial relic choice overall.

Caution:⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Boots of Ranadam shortens the effect of More of Thor when used together.

Ring of Mirrors


Ring of Mirrors is the only relic that varies depending on the hero wielding it. As it so happens, Thor has one of the best variants of this relic, making it one of his strongest relic options. Ring of Mirrors is particularly useful in mini-boss battles. In difficult rooms, use them as often as you can (except during Dryad's Song) to get the highest number of uses out of them.

Caution:⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Enemies can see illusions even if you are invisible. This can cause Cultist Sorcerers to attack you via hex if you are not careful.

Thor is a character that requires nearly constant mobility. Because he is a melee fighter, he needs to fight up close, but because he is a relatively slow (albeit powerful) attacker, he often needs to evade since defense is not an option for him in the way it is for Valkyrie, who is also a melee fighter.

A great way to keep Thor evasive and mobile is the excessive use of Rush. The great advantage to this is that it opens up some of Thor's best options and at almost no cost. It's faster than running, it gives you access to one of his fastest attacks (Super Slash Attack) and two of his more powerful attacks (Super Slash Attack and Leap Attack), and it gives him access to his jump (Leap Attack, which is great for jumping over heavy enemies that you can't blast through)—all while giving you invincibility for the duration of the dash.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Layering

One way to travel through a line of enemies is to cut through them one layer at a time by repeatedly using Rush with the Super Slash Attack, backing up after each attack to give yourself room for the next Rush as necessary.

The only costs of note in exchange for these advantages is that Rush has a small amount of startup time where Thor is vulnerable (this is so minimal that to be hit during this, enemies would've had to have been practically touching you already) as well as the fact that you can't change direction during Rush.

Do not feel as if you need to constantly stand your ground. Attack and retreat as necessary. Chip away at your enemies if that's what you need to do. When you get an opportune moment, use Rush toward a target (e.g. summoning stone), attack, and if need be, leave—even if the target is still alive. If your situation allows for you to hold your ground and launch your assault, that's great. If it doesn't, don't force it. Stay mobile. Attack where you can, when you can.

When feasible, attack summoning stones with repeated Smash Attacks, however, this will leave you vulnerable on all other sides. When enemies approach you, you don't necessarily have to give up your position. Depending on your situation, you can employ a technique that I've taken the liberty of dubbing "corner killing".



Corner killing is when you position and angle yourself in such a way so that when you attack enemies near you, you are also destroying a summoning stone simultaneously with the side of your attacks. I recommend having your special attack off of cooldown (or nearly) when attempting this, that way you can quickly resort to it if enemies approach from behind.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Breaking Away from Hordes

To break away from a horde that is chasing you (and they are too close for you use Rush without taking damage), quickly pivot with a Smash Attack to kill (or briefly stun) the enemies nearest to you. This will grant you enough time to use Rush to get away and put a substantial gap between you and the rest of the horde.

This is useful to know in Endless when you are approaching one horde while fleeing from another. Putting a gap between you and the horde behind you will give you room and time to fight the horde ahead of you and avoid being immediately pressured from both sides.

"Pockets", as I call them, are little gaps within enemy crowds that you can use to your advantage. They can be very subtle and easy to miss, particularly if you don't know to look for them, but they are extremely crucial for high-level play as Thor. Let me reiterate, being aware of pockets is incredibly important and being able to recognize them is the key to traveling through large crowds. If you've ever seen a good Thor player rush through huge crowds seemingly randomly on difficult lava floors in Endless mode without using potions, yet emerge unscathed by some miracle, this is how. They were taking advantage of pockets.

Thor does not need much space in order to use Rush without taking damage, but he does need at least a little bit of space. Ordinarily, if you were you just use Rush straight into a crowd that's packed tight, you're taking damage—no two ways about that really, but if you Rush into a pocket and your timing is good, there's a good chance you can start up a second Rush immediately afterwards and get out of the crowd (or into another pocket).

Not all pockets must be found. You can actually create your own pockets if none are available. Doing so will likely require resources on your part, however, so you'll have to be smart about how and when you go about doing this. It is also usually riskier than using pockets that already exist to be taken advantage of, but sometimes that is not an option.

Using your special, Demonic Cleave, will likely be the most common way you create a pocket for yourself. Simply use Rush (and jump into a crowd with Leap Attack for more distance), throw out Demonic Cleave, then Rush again to get out. The special attack just barely gives you enough time to get away, so be ready to hit that Rush button as soon as you've attacked.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Be careful of where you go without your special.

The invincibility provided by Demonic Cleave is the key to doing many things including getting through packed crowds. It's the source of your power in many ways, if it helps to think about it like that. When your special is on cooldown, play relatively safe and save the riskier stunts (like diving into a crowd with no gaps) for when you get your special back.

One great way to create a pocket is to use illusions against a wall (I say "against a wall" because the illusions can really only protect you from one side; the wall will protect you from the other side—or at least it won't attack you like an enemy would). This is a relatively expensive way, considering the cooldown, but it's well worth it if that's what needs to happen to survive.

Sometimes teammates create pockets that you can use. Usually this isn't to specifically help you unless they're just that good of a mindful teammate (after all, they have their own problems to worry about too), but if they make one for themselves anyway, you might as well take advantage of it. Suppose they placed some illusions ahead of you and in turn that opened up a gap—well, there you go.

Some other notable examples of teammates creating pockets that you can use in your favor might be Wizard's Static Shield, Valkyrie's Extreme Prejudice, Elf's Mortar Shot (briefly stuns enemies as it sets them on fire), or Necromancer's Dominate. Just be careful; sometimes you can get hit by enemies simply by being in the crossfire of them trying to attack someone else (very common when Necromancer uses Dominate in large packs). Also be mindful of projectiles; there's no "cool tricks" for this, but just be cautious of them.

Some pockets don't cost anything except a little bit of time. As enemies within a crowd come over to attack you, they're naturally opening up empty space where they once were (assuming more enemies don't immediately fill those empty spaces—which does happen—in that case, you may have to use a different pocket-creating method). Let's consider the diagram below.



Pretend the green icon is you playing Thor, and the red skull guys are enemies. You can see that initially there's no open space with which to travel, but as the enemies chase you, they automatically open up a pocket. Now you can use this pocket to your benefit by jumping into it with Rush. By the time they realize you passed them, it's too late for them. They've already given you enough time to use Rush again and get out of there.

If you need to go down a straight hallway instead of a curved road, use the same principle and just zig-zag. As you go to one wall, the enemies on the opposite wall chase you, opening up space on the other side, and so on.

One problem you may find is that sometimes enemies do not move out of your way quickly enough. You might be ready to jump into the crowd, but maybe the enemies are too slow and just haven't moved to the front and haven't yet created a gap in the back that you need. If the enemies in the back are being too slow, then you need to stall in order to give them more time to move forward... but how can you do that? Well, this is a situation that I've found the basic Slash Attack sequence to be great for. Let's take another look at that.



As you slash away at the enemies in the front, the enemies in the back are moving up—creating a pocket. There is something important to note here, though. Look at that 360° attack and the amount of time before the next slash comes out. This is enough time for an enemy to hit you in many cases.



To avoid being hit, throw in a Rush immediately after preforming the circle attack. The speed is important here. Don't wait until you see the circle attack before you go into a Rush. By then it's sometimes too late. Go into the Rush as soon as you've finished doing the input for the circle attack. To do this, you'll need to practice so you know exactly when the circle attack will be happening before you actually see it on the screen. The timing should only take a few attempts to get used to but perhaps longer to become habit.

In the animation, I used Rush to go backwards, but remember, you can use Rush to go in any direction that you need to.

...No pockets necessary. Really, that's one of the huge selling points of the boots—you basically get to transcend this whole "pocket" business altogether (assuming they're not on cooldown). When you use the boots, it slows down the enemies around you enough to the point where it's very difficult for them to attack you so long as you keep moving.

"So why not just use Boots of Ranadam and not bother with any of this?" you might be asking. Well simply put, the answer is because they are bound to be on cooldown at some point when you need them, so you will need to learn about pockets eventually anyway. If you know about pockets and can use them well, you don't need to rely on Boots of Ranadam; you can take Ring of Mirrors instead which is better for combat anyway.

That said, they're still a good choice for beginners, but you wouldn't be significantly disadvantaged if you were to start off with Ring of Mirrors right away.

If you don't know when you should use a potion, keep in mind that there are many differing opinions on the matter. Some say if there is a certain number of summoning stones (three or more, for example) in a room or if there is a mini-boss, use a potion. Others say to only use them in certain rooms (like Lich rooms) or when using the last coin in Endless, and so on.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Save Potions for Lich Rooms

Rooms with five Liches are usually the most difficult rooms you will encounter in Endless mode. It is recommended that you keep this in mind as you are playing lava levels and keep about 3-5 potions saved for crypt rooms, where you will likely encounter 5-Lich rooms at some point (5-Lich rooms happen on the first floor of the crypts, but you may encounter multiple 5-Lich rooms on that floor).

I personally tend to go by a certain feeling and don't necessarily adhere to a strict rule or formula (except perhaps in 5-Lich rooms). With time and practice, you will begin to develop a general feel of your own for when you think it's a good time to use a potion. That said, there are a few things I like to keep in mind when reading situations for potion use that you may find helpful to think about.

⠀Do not use Boots of Ranadam and More of Thor simultaneously.

Using Boots of Ranadam not only makes you move faster but also makes you run through the potion's effect quicker. This matters since your special attack doesn't recharge fast enough for you to use your special attack more than once before the effect wears off. Without activating Boots of Ranadam, you would have enough time to use it twice. Also, don't use More of Thor immediately after using your special, as this means your special is recharging while your limited time of More of Thor is depleting.

If, when I enter a room, I see that it's going to be a very difficult battle (i.e. I can reasonably expect the team to lose many lives before we're done), I typically wait about 3-5 seconds to see if Elf uses Dryad's Song. If he doesn't, I'll usually use a potion right away to lower the overall difficulty of the room by clearing out whatever I think would otherwise give the team the most trouble (except mini-bosses—save them for last) before the room has enough time to eat through too many of the team's Skull Coins.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Depreciating Potions

From the moment you first step into a room, some potion abilities (particularly More of Thor and Elf's Dryad's Song) are at their highest peek in value. From that point on until the room is completed, that value is on an overall steady decline. Think about it: the beginning of the room is when that room is at its strongest and you most need help; as you kill more things and the room gets weaker, the less you need help.

Do not mistake this as me saying that you must use a potion at the beginning of every room. It is simply one of several things to consider and factor into your decision making.

In cave levels, the dangers that I target with my potion ability will typically be large crowds of Orc Juggernauts and Spider Warriors. In lava levels, this means large groups of Demon Imps, summoning stones with Cultist Scorers nearby (focusing on the stone and killing Cultist Sorcerers when optimal), or areas with a high concentration of Cultist Sorcerers (generally a lower priority relative to the previous two targets; go for this if you've already taken care of more important things). If Elf uses Dryad's Song, wait before using a potion of your own. You might not need it unless you can see this is an exceptionally strong room.

Take a look at the animation below. Ordinarily, using Thor's potion ability, More of Thor, renders him immobile during his transformation (left), but this can be bypassed by utilizing his Rush in conjunction with the use of a potion (right). To do this, hold down the Rush button, use a potion, then release Rush. This will allow you to maintain full control while also taking advantage of the earliest stages of the potion's invincibility (keep in mind that you can also cut Rush short at any time by using an attack and move freely afterwards).

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Regaining Mobility With Demonic Cleave

Using a special attack can also break Thor out of this immobility, however, this is generally not advisable. Although Thor's invincibility is granted immediately, his extra attack power is relative to his size (even during transformation), so save your special ability for when the potion is in full effect to do maximum damage. If you fail to do the potion dash correctly, simply stand where you are and wait for the transformation to complete (or nearly) before using your special attack (unless it is imperative that you escape Death Incarnate, who will kill you regardless of More of Thor).

The basic strategy to fighting a Lich is to hammer away at it with Smash Attack until it's dead. When you see a big orange circle on the ground indicating a counter attack, that's when you time your Demonic Cleave to negate it and stand your ground as you continue to attack the Lich. Of course, things become less simple when the Lich starts spawning its minions and you have to contend with them as well.

There are two enemies that a Lich can spawn: Skeleton Soldiers and Ghosts. Fortunately for you, as Thor, both of these enemies are extremely weak and can be destroyed with Rush (no additional attack necessary; just the Rush itself will kill them). To kill several of them quickly, run away in a straight line so they form a line themselves, then use Rush to blast through them.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Let the Enemy Help You

When the Skeleton Soldiers in the room are becoming numerous, let the Liches help you out. When you see a orange circle on the ground indicating that a Lich is about to go underground and respawn there, lead those Skeleton Soldiers into the orange circle and let the Lich help you out a little bit by killing them for you. Just remember to use your special with good timing to avoid being one of the Lich's victims.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Avoid Using More of Thor and Dryad's Song Together

Even when Liches have no targets to attack (or can't see them), they move about aimlessly. Keep this in mind when Elf's Dryad's Song is in play. Dryad's Song turns all heroes invisible, thus causing Liches to wander. This in turn makes it difficult for Warrior to take full advantage of the increased power that comes with More of Thor.

An exception to this might be made if there are also summoning stones present. In which case, the focus of Warrior's attacks could go towards the stones while the Liches move around anyway.

Fighting a single Lich isn't very difficult, however, they often come sets of 2, 3, or 5, and when they do, the fight can get a lot more hectic. Muli-Lich rooms (specially 5-Lich rooms) are often considered to be among the most difficult rooms the game has to offer. The biggest problems here are probably going to be Ghosts and ice beams (5-Lich rooms are most likely to happen on floors that contain portals in Endless, however, you can run into multiple 5-Lich rooms on a single floor).

When Ghosts become very numerous, it can be extremely difficult to recover from without the aid of a Valkyrie or Wizard (The Hollow Chapters). This is why it is important to kill off one Lich and take it out of the picture as soon as possible.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Keep Their Numbers Down

It is better to fully kill off 1 Lich as soon as possible and to have another 4 at full health than it is to have all 5 Liches alive at ⅘ health each. It may be the same amount of damage overall, but now you can only be attacked in fewer ways. To think about it another way, imagine a 10-Lich room (and the Ghosts they would spawn...) where each Lich has half the health. Even though it would be the same amount of health just divvied up differently, it still be much more difficult.

If you remember the tip I gave about the value of More of Thor generally depreciating over the duration of the room, keep that in mind for Lich rooms. Upon entering a 5-Lich room, I immediately scan the room, looking for where Liches are huddled up together the most (there's almost always at least 2 or 3 Liches that spawn very close together), then use a potion—no questions asked. After that, I reassess the situation. I very well may use a second potion as soon as my first one wears off if the room still looks too strong. I set my sights on one Lich and attack that one Lich relentlessly, ignoring the rest where I can. Usually the only exception would be if I can either do much more damage to the room overall otherwise, or if I see a Lich that's weaker than the one I'm currently fighting.

In Endless, remember to save a couple of potions if you can. You may come across another Lich room before you're finished with the crypts.

Despite how it may seem initially, Spider Queens are actually simple to fight and are the easiest of the mini-bosses for Thor to defeat. The strategy here doesn't deviate much from that of fighting Liches (if anything, it has fewer complications when not accounting for other enemies present): continuously hammer away with the Smash Attack, then use your special to avoid the counterattacks.

The only two things you'll need to dodge with Demonic Cleave are her charges (telegraphed by a screech and subtle lean backwards) and leap (telegraphed by an orange circle on the ground). Once you become proficient enough with it, you will be able to dodge the leap attacks even in the dark when you can't see where the Spider Queen is coming from.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀“Aiya Eärendil Elenion Ancalima!”

When fighting a Spider Queen, the invincibility of your Demonic Cleave is more valuable than its attack power. If it helps, just think of it as a defensive move that happens to have an attack bonus.

Perhaps the most difficult part about this fight would be getting used to the timing of the dodges, but that will naturally come with practice.



When it comes to fighting the Spider Spawns and egg sacs that the Spider Queen creates, the offensive side of your Demonic Cleave becomes more useful. Demonic Cleave can one-hit kill egg sacs, so when possible, try to use it to take out multiple egg sacs at a time.

Thor is good at fighting Demon Horrors if you watch out for a couple of things. Basically, the fireball attacks (both variants: the double orbiting ones and the thrown ones) are all you need to look out for since those are the only attacks Demon Horrors have for melee fighters that can come as surprises. Fortunately, both of these attacks are relatively easy to avoid.

Although all Demon Horror fireballs deal the same amount of damage, the orbiting fireballs are typically more dangerous because of how suddenly they appear, however, they are also predictable. All you have to do is just watch where the current ones are. If you still see them flying about and they're not near their maximum range, you're safe to attack the Demon Horror without fear of new ones spawning in your face. If you don't see the orbiting fireballs at all or you see them near their outer limit, then watch out. Orbiting fireballs will very likely be one of the next two attacks that the Demon Horror uses. Simply take a few steps back and wait for the next set to appear.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Wait for It

If you suspect that a Demon Horror will use the orbiting fireball attack next, that's a good time to step back a little bit and attack it from a distance by using the Demonic Cleave attack.

For the thrown fireballs, you will receive more of a warning, as the Demon Horror will turn to face its target before becoming a large spinning ball of fire itself. Note which way it was facing when it started spinning. The direction it faced is where the first fireball is going to be thrown from out. From there, just step to the side, clockwise. Its fireballs always come out counterclockwise, so step clockwise to dodge that first fireball, then step back (counterclockwise) to go to where the second fireball was.



The first and last fireball go to the same place (i.e. if you get hit by the first fireball, you will get hit by the last one too if you don't move), but aside from that, no two fireballs hit the same place, so once you dodge that first fireball, go stand where the second fireball is launched and you're safe.

As for the purple cone attack, that's basically just free damage you get to lay on as Thor. Demon Horrors can't hit you with that even if they are facing you, so long as you're standing right next to them (which you probably will be since you will be presumably attacking it).

Although it probably goes without saying, practice anything you care to improve at. You may have learned something here, but it will take time to build habits around that knowledge, break old habits you'd like to be rid of, and to develop a certain feel for things such as timing and assessing situations and making good judgement calls.

Knowing all the tricks in the world doesn't make you skillful—it just makes you knowledgeable. Being able to apply what you know when you need it is what makes you skillful, which is the one part I can't teach you with words and pictures. That only comes with practice and discipline. It's on you to develop your own style and habits.

One thing that I tell people who are trying to learn to play the character of their choice is to play other characters once you've become comfortable with that one. There's a couple of reasons for doing this. Playing other characters allows players besides yourself to use that character, which can be beneficial to you. This can give you further insight and new ideas about how to play that character. Speaking from personal experience, most of what I have learned has come to me by watching others play. You can also apply several little things you learn from one character to other characters—things you might not have thought of otherwise. I've also done that several times as well.

I've seen many players who play exclusively one character. If "their character" is taken, they just don't play, and as a consequence, they tend to plateau their own improvement since under those circumstances, you'd rarely come across any ideas that weren't already your own. When I think of the players that I would count among the best I've ever seen play the game, they all play multiple characters (even if they have a favorite they usually play—they can play at least two other characters well).

Though there are some, very few of the techniques or combinations I use (across all characters) have been invented by me. The vast majority of them I either picked up by watching others or they're a derivative of something I got from someone else. You may come up with an idea that mostly belongs to you, but maybe you needed to get that first piece from someone else.

Admittedly, I just couldn't find an appropriate place to make mention of this, and maybe this is just a rant bit. I considered not even putting this in here, but I feel I would be remiss to make an extensive guide about Thor and not mention those infuriating rocks on volcano levels (there's two types of lava levels: temple and volcano). These are just a complete nightmare to navigate with Thor sometimes in Endless. I guess all I'm really trying to say is, if these frustrate you, I definitely know your pain. If you can't tell, I hate them with a passion.

Unfortunately, there's really not any advice I can give for these. They're just... there... and with the experience of getting stuck on them and dying countless times, you'll get better at knowing exactly what areas to avoid and such.

If you have no idea as to what I'm talking about right now, then don't worry about it. If you spend enough time with Thor in Endless mode, believe me, you will.

Thanks for visiting. I hope you found something useful here.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Good luck!

Heroes of the Gauntlet⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Thyra the Valkyrie