Halls of Torment players can now try the game’s October 22 update ahead of release. Developer Chasing Carrots has placed an unfinished version on Steam’s experimental branch, where it plans to revise the build in response to bug reports and player feedback over the coming weeks.
The test build introduces a Challenge Shrine, a weekly mode and a broad balance pass. Because the branch is explicitly experimental and its changelog may be incomplete, players should expect further changes before the stable release.
Challenge Shrine adds a shared weekly run
The new shrine unlocks after defeating the Lord of Greed in the Vault. Each weekly challenge gives every participant the same hall, mode and artifact set, then records score, kill count, completion time and rank. These runs do not award Torment Shards, so the mode is structured around comparison rather than permanent progression.
A separate Kill Count mode replaces the timer with a target that varies by stage, from 12,000 to 30,000 enemies. It unlocks through each stage’s Berserker I quest. Boglands reverses that arrangement: Kill Count is the default there, while Boglands Champion I unlocks the timed mode.
Characters get faster while enemies get tougher
Most characters receive roughly 20% more movement speed, while the Norseman gains about 10%. Character damage generally rises as well. The trade-off is a 50% increase to enemy health, denser spawns in base-game stages and more minions during Lord encounters. Each Torment level adds 10% enemy health and defense instead of 9%.
Affliction, Fragile and Slow have also been rebuilt. Their stacks no longer expire over time, Affliction can spread half of its stacks when an affected enemy dies, and Slow can reach 70%. Most abilities receive damage increases, although several also have rate, range or critical-damage adjustments.
How to enter the experimental branch
In the Steam library, right-click Halls of Torment, open Properties, choose Game Versions & Betas, and select “experimental.” The game should then update automatically. Players can return to the stable branch at any time.
The build also adds lifetime statistics to the Compendium, bottle chests, artifact deselection and numerous crash, stability and interface fixes. Chasing Carrots says the branch will be updated before the main release on October 22.
Sources
- Reporting source: GamerHeadlines
- Primary source: Chasing Carrots’ official Steam update
- Official media source: Halls of Torment on Steam
