Since there is alot of confusion with various stats and stuff ingame,
here is a collection of some usefull information accross the board.
Also a lot of information can be found here as well:
https://hot.fandom.com/wiki/Halls_of_Torment_Wiki

https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3029081986

If something is missing, wrong, outdated or unclear, feel free to ask and discuss.
Missing information will be added, if requested.

This is an overview of contents with short explanations what to expect in them.

For quick navigation:
Ctrl+F
Typing or Copy-Pasting the desired Headline (e.g. "Force, the universal Stat")
into the Search-Bar in the upper right corner (default)

--- An explanation what Trait Branches are and how they behave when picked. ---
--- Overview for minimum requiered Hero Levels, to get certain Tiers of Traits. ---
--- Ability Upgrades, How and When? ---
--- How to unlock Items and use them permanently? ---
--- How to unlock the Cupbearer and gather Ingredients? ---
--- How to unlock the Scriptor and collect Uncommon Items? ---
--- What they do and how to use them. ---
--- How does it work and what are the benefits? ---
--- What is the difference? What is it good for? ---
--- List of Damage Types, Effects and Attributes for all Main Weapons, Abilities + Upgrades ---
--- When the cogwheels fit together. ---
--- Short descriptions for some cryptic numbers. ---
--- My 2 Cents on the value of Defensive Traits ---
--- Above 100%? What happens? ---
--- Difference between BASE and NON-BASE Values with some Examples ---

Something that every player has to understand and what is very important:
Character Traits like Weapon Proficiency, Proficent Stance and Dedication have multiple branches per Tier. The same rule applies to Ability Traits and Advanced Traits.

It is possible to display Trait Variants for the current Rank with a designated Button.
This can help to descide mid-run which Branch to choose.

For detailed values you can look here:
https://hot.fandom.com/wiki/Trait

Character Traits are straight forward, since you have two branches per Trait,
applying to all four Tiers.

Example with Swordsman
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3340623556
If you know pick one of the two Weapon Proficiency Traits,
the other one gets removed for the Tier.
Same rule applys to Proficient Stance and Dedication as well.
On the next Tier, both Traits are avaible again.


Tier V Traits
Each Character has a unique set of five Tier V Traits, which have to be unlocked via quest.
Weapon Proficiency Traits are Character exclusive.
Proficient Stance and Dedication can be avaible to other Characters via their Class Marks.

Example with Swordsman

Those five Traits are linked together and only one can be picked.

Here it gets a bit more complicated,
since the amount of Traits are varying between different Tiers.
On top you have to unlock Advanced Traits via Skill Mastery Quests I + III,
so the amount of Traits in the beginning is limited.

Example with Astronomer's Orbs
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3340630918
If you know pick one of the possible Ability Traits,
the other ones get removed for the Tier.
On the next Tier, all possible Traits are avaible again.

Some Advanced Traitshave multiple Branches and Tiers.


Demonic Exchange

If you know pick one of the three Demonic Exchange Traits,
the other two get removed for the Tier.
On the next Tier, all three Traits are avaible again.


Ethereal Shift


Only one Trait can be picked per Ethereal Shift A and B.

Most Traits have multiple Tiers.
Before the next Tier can show up. the previous Tier has to be picked.
Besides that, all Traits are locked behind Minimum Hero Level Requirements.
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3340629764

• Basic Traits
  
  • Collateral Damage, Cunning Technique, Quick Hands, Ruthlessness, Strength, Vanguard
    
  • Channeling, Long Fingers, Metabolism, Parry, Swift Feet, Thick Hide, Vitality
• Character Traits
  
  • Weapon Proficiency, Proficient Stance, Dedication
• Affinities
  
  • Crippling Strikes, False Blessing, Fire Affinity, Frost Affinity, Lightning Affinity
• Bulwark
  
• Demonic Exchange
  
• Multistrike
  
• Piercing Wind
  
• Elemental Surge
  
• Ethereal Shift

To upgrade or evolve an ability, some requirements must be achieved before.
Ability Tiers are bound to minimum Hero Level Requirements:
So as soon as you hit Hero Level 48 and your Ability is on Tier V, you can get Tier VI Traits offered.

When you pick a Tier III Trait for an Ability, you can pick up another Ability Scroll to upgrade your Tier III Ability. You get offered one Upgrade guaranteed, sometimes two possible upgrades, when you have unlocked a second.
The next upgrade can be done after picking a Tier VI Ability Trait.

A small Arrow pointing upwards on the Ability Icon in the upper right corner will indicate a possible Upgrade.
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3340635362
Not only knowing when you can upgrade your Abilities, you can also kind of manipulate the Abilities offered on Scroll-Pickup, since they are controlled by RNG.
You have leveled your Ability to Tier III and picked up a scroll, if you get an Ability offered you like, you may think about picking the Ability, instead of the upgrade.
If not and you are out of Potions of Renewal, pick the upgrade instead and hope for the offering you like, when upgrading the Tier VI Ability.
The only downside, your Ability Offerings can be limited to only one, when upgrading an Ability with no upgrades but you unlocked both.

When using a Potion of Renewal while being presented with an Ability Upgrade,
the Upgrade will be rerolled to another one, until all possible options were presented.
After that, the Upgrade Slot gets replaced with an Ability.

To retrieve found items for permanent use, the Wellkeeper has to be freed in the first place.
This can be done on Ember Grounds via a small quest.

With the Wellkeeper's arrival in your camp Equipment will become useable, which gives a huge power-boost, allows collecting of more items and makes stronger builds possible.

• enter Ember Grounds and follow the unique compass icon
  
• after a short talk, the Wellkeeper wants to be freed
  
• find the Cage Key marked with a new compass icon and open the Cage

After his rescue, the Wellkeeper will sit on the left side of the camp, right next to your Stash Chest.
Some good Starter Items can already be found inside.
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3340637835

• find a new Item marked with a Grey Star (*not retrieved)
  
• go to the Well and open it's interface
  
• put the desired item into the Bucket Slot and click "Send Item Up"
  
• in the camp, talk to the Wellkeeper to open his Shop Interface
  
• buy the retrieved items, to unlock them permanently in the Stash Chest

https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3340639735

• only one item per run
  
  • in Agony up to two Buckets can be found to unlock the Well again
• Bottles can be retrieved infinite times before Well is locked
  
• Bottles stashed in the Bag when a run is won are instantly avaible

To unlock Potions, the Cupbearer has to be rescued in the first place.
This can be done on Forgotten Viaducts via a small quest.

With unlocking the Cupbearer, Ingredients can be collected, to unlock various Potions.
Potions are a strong addition to the arsenal and boost the overall powerlevel by a huge margin,
since they can be used to manipulate and boost Traits or RNG.

• enter Forgotten Viaduct and follow the unique compass icon
  
• after a short talk, the Cupbearer wants his potion flask
  
• find they Potion Flask marked with a new compass icon and bring it back

After the rescue, the Cupbearer will sit on the right side of the camp.
One Strong Wine is granted, which can be used to reroll a Trait Selection on level up.
Also, the Gatherer's Charm will be avaible as random drop, which boosts Movement Speed and works like a Compass for Ingredient Farming.
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3340642723
Two categories of collectables are now available.

• Bottles, that can be found in random Elite Drops (White Chests)
  
  • those have to be retrieved via the Well
• Ingredients, scattered accross the Stages in Normal and Agony
  
  • have to be collected by walking over and can be located via Gatherer's Charm

• the Gatherer's Charm works, when equipped, like a Compass
  
• the Compass Icon is located right next to the Experience Bar
  
• the green Arrows point in a general direction of an Ingredient
  
• the Arrows vanish, when Ingredients are collected

Potion Positions in Cupbearer's Overview
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3340646143
Potion of Memories

• Coppergrass - Haunted Caverns Normal
  
• Firepaw - Ember Grounds Normal
  
• Truffle - Chambers of Dissonance Normal

Potion of Oblivion

• Amanita - Ember Grounds Normal
  
• Bluecap - Frozen Depths Normal
  
• Dragon Nettle - Forgotten Viaduct Normal

Reverberant Tinkture

• Belladonna - Forgotten Viaduct Normal
  
• Salsify - Frozen Depths Agony
  
• Wallflower - Chambers of Dissonance Agony

Potion of Renewal

• Redmoss - Frozen Depths Normal
  
• Saxifraga - Forgotten Viaduct Normal
  
• Sulfur - Haunted Caverns Normal

Hallucinogenic Elixir

• Asafoetida - Haunted Caverns Agony
  
• Heracleum - Chambers of Dissonance Normal
  
• Pink Salt - Ember Grounds Agony

The Scriptor's rescue is the first step to gain the ability to retrieve Uncommon Items.
He is found in the Frozen Depths, sealed into a cold prison.

His main role is an Archive about all Items and their Uncommon Variants,
as well the option to boost Characters with collected Torment Shards.
Torment Shards can be acquired from slain Lords.
Drop amount can be increased with higher Torment Rank or by paying higher Tribute in the Vault.
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3340642255
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3340643854
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3340644060

• to free him, one needs a source of Burn Damage
  
  • e.g Exterminator Main Weapon, various Abilities, Items
• enter Frozen Depths and follow the unique compass icon
  
• at the target location, the Ice Block has to be melted away with Burn Damage
  
• after a short talk he will move into the camp location

After his rescue, the Scriptor will sit on the right side of the camp, right next to the Cupbearer.

• to unlock the Vault, 30 Items (not Empty Bottles) have to be bought from the Wellkeeper
  
  • Milestone II - Greed
• the Wellkeeper will leave after a Restart or after another Run eventually, leaving a Trail of Goldcoins to the Vault Entrance
  
• to enter the Vault, Tribute has to be paid
  
  • the more is paid, the more random Modifiers will be active (Buffs, Debuffs, Loot)
• killing the Lord of Greed at any point will drop the Archeologist's Thread Artifact

https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3340637835
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3340643501

• activate the Archeologist's Thread Artifact in the Shrine of Torment
  
• find a new Uncommon Item marked with a Blue Thread (*not sent up)
  
• go to the Archeologist's Shrine and open it's interface
  
• put the desired item into the Bucket Slot and click "Send Item Up"
  
• at this point, items are instantly avaible

https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3340639979

• only one item per run
  
  • in Agony up to two Buckets can be found to unlock the Shrine again
• Retrieve Option is shared with the Well

With potions, especially with Potion of Memories and Reverberant Tinkture, you can do pretty insane builds and combinations.
The numbers in () representing the maxium capacity.

• Strong Wine (10) - for rerolling one Trait selection on level up
  
• Potion of Oblivion (8) - for banishing one Trait and it's follow ups
  
• Potion of Memories (8) - for locking one Trait, which stays in the selection
  
• Reverberant Tinkture (3) - for applying one Trait twice
  
• Potion of Renewal (3) - for rerolling one Ability selection
  
• Hallucinogenic Elixir (3) - for rerolling one Chest selection

You can pick multiple Traits of the same Tier by locking them.
E.g. Demonic Exchange has 3 different Traits with 3 Tiers each.
If you pick Demonic Exchange Damage I, you cant pick the other two, Demonic Exchange Force and Demonic Exchange Speed I
But you can lock the first Demonic Exchange trait that shows up, reroll or pick something else and wait until the next level up, lock the second Demonic Exchange trait and finally pick the third Demonic Exchange trait when it shows up, followed by the first and second.
This works on every Trait, that has at least two branches.

This one is pretty obvious, but there are some Traits that have more value than others.
Try to use your 3 Double Potions on Tier V Character Traits, Ability Mastery III Traits, Ethereal Shift A+B, or the final Tier IX and Tier X Basic Ability Traits, since they have doubled values.

Example with Demonic Exchange:
I Force - locked with MP
I Speed - locked with MP
I Damage - picked with RT
picking I Force and I Speed afterwards
II Force - locked with MP
II Speed - locked with MP
II Damage - picked with RT
picking II Force and II Speed afterwards
III Force - locked with MP
III Movement Speed - locked with MP
III Damage - picked with RT
picking III Force and III Speed afterwards

I want to point out how important those potions can be, especially in the early minutes.
On all characters we have a well filled trait pool with basic and character traits,
without even counting ability traits.
If the trait pool is clumped up to much, RNG can have a heavy influence which traits show up.
Always think about "Do I really need to pick THIS Trait". If not, banish it right away to clean up.
IMPORTANT
If you decide to banish one branch of a Character Trait or Ability Trait, this branch is removed completly for all following Tiers.
Example:
Swordsman - Weapon Proficiency I (Coverage)
banishing this Trait will remove Weapon Proficiency II-IV (Coverage) as well
Astronomer's Orbs - Mass I
banishing this Trait will remove Mass III, V, VII, IX as well

One could say different Traits have different Values or Priorities when it comes to using a Bansih Potion on them.

1. Basic Traits
   
2. Ability Traits
   
3. Character Traits
   
4. Advanced Traits

Basic Traits have the highest Value
They are avaible from the start and fill up the Trait Pool by alot.
13 total Traits with 5 Tiers each are worth 65 Level Ups, which can be only cleared out after reaching Hero Level 50.

Ability Traits have the 2nd highest Value
Both basic Ability Traits, which are avaible from the beginning, can show up on 7 or 6 Ability Tiers. Those can be a good strategic pick. The 3d and 4th Ability Traits can still show up on 5 Ability Tiers.
The Mastery Traits only at Tier III, VI and X. Still, those Tiers have 4 Traits at the same time,
so a spare Potion can be used clever here.

Character Traits have a medium to high Value
When using foreign Class Marks, the Trait Pool receives a heavy increase, where it can be crucial to strategically banish some unwanted Trait Branches. For Pure Builds without foreign Class Marks,
it would be a waste.

Advanced Traits have a low Value
They mostly have only 3 Tiers and some become only avaible with certain Elements or Debuffs.
Exceptions are Elemental Surge, which should be banished if Summon Damage Type should not be modified and some Character Tier V Traits have some unwanted effects.

Agony is a dynamic Difficulty Mode, unlocked after defeating the Lord of a stage.
To gain access to Agony, one has to defeat the first Boss in Chambers of Dissonance, the Void Caller, which will unlock the Shrine of Torment. (Chapter V: Chambers of Dissonance - Void Caller)

The Shrine of Torment is located on the left side in front of the large Gate in the Camp.
Entering a Stage via Shrine of Torment will automatically activate Agony.
Artifacts, that have been collected in Agony Runs can be activated here as well.
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3340642446
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3340643645
The Agony Meter increases automatically at a fixed rate, ~1 level per 5 minutes.
Agony V can be achieved at 6:00 with higher Kill Counts.
If your Character dies, you lose one level of your Agony Meter, which reduces Difficulty.

What happens with increased Agony Level?

• amount of Experience-Gain is increased
  
• Rare Equipment drops, with major improvements
  
• more enemies will spawn
  
• enemies have more health points
  
• Agony Champions spawn with random modifiers and random loot drops,
  influenced by Agony Level
  
• up to two Buckets can drop from Agony Champions with a low Chance, which will unlock the Well or Magic Shrine again
  
• the maximum Agony Level is V

What happens with increased Torment Rank?
The more Artifacts are active, the higher Torment Rank will be, which will increase the following:

• Enemy Health
  
• Enemy Damage
  
• XP Drops
  
• Enemy Speed
  
• Torment Shard Drops

Direct Damage on Hit, can be modified with Base Damage and %-Damage
Can be further increased with Critical Hits, which deal extra Direct Damage.

• Physical
  --- Archer, Beast Huntress (+ Hound), Landsknecht (Arquebus), Shield Maiden (+ Shield Bash),
  Swordsman
  --- Astronomer's Orbs, Clay Golem, Morning Star, Phantom Needles, Ring Blades
  
• Magic
  --- Cleric, Warlock, Landsknecht (Grenades)
  --- Arcane Rift, Arcane Splinters, Radiant Aura, Spectral Fists, Spirit Warrior, Transfixion
  
• Fire
  --- Exterminator
  --- Dragon's Breath, Flame Strike, Meteor Strike
  
• Lightning
  --- Sorceress
  --- Kugelblitz, Lightning Strike
  
• Ice
  --- Norseman, (+ Frost Nova)
  --- Frost Avalanche, Hailstorm

Elemental Effects do not get influenced by Attack Speed, Damage, Crit, Force, etc.
Instead, they have related Items, Blessings, Traits and Character Specific Traits, that clearly state they influence a DoT in some way.
Example: Fire Affinity +5% Burn Damage +10% Burn Chance

Burn

• 1 Stack ticks every 0.5 seconds for 5 seconds total
  
• all old Stacks' timers getting resetted with new application
  
• you can afflict a maximum of 20 Stacks per Target
  
• the 21th application does deal instant Burn Damage, all 20 Stacks at once
  
• the 20 Stacks don't get consumed in the process

Spark

• 1 Stack ticks every second, every additional Stack reduces the tick time
  
• 1 Stack is removed per tick
  
• you can afflict a maximum of 20 Stacks per Target
  
• the 21th application does deal instant Spark Damage, all 20 Stacks at once
  
• the 20 Stacks don't get consumed in the process

Frost

• 1 Stack has 10 seconds life time
  
• all old Stacks' timers getting resetted with new application
  
• you can afflict a maximum of 20 Stacks per Target
  
• the 21th application does deal instant Frost Damage, all 20 Stacks at once
  
• the 20 Stacks don't get consumed in the process
  
• Frost AOE size is determined by the highest single hit on target
  
• Frost Damage is triggered on Target's death

Effects don't deal direct damage and have a build in Stack Limitation.
The more Stacks a Target has, the faster the Stacks expire.
All Effects can be influenced with On Hit Chance + On Crit Chance.

• Fragile = 5% Direct Damage increase per Stack (Not from DoTs)
  
• Affliction = 5% DoT Damage increase per Stock (only from DoTs)
  
• Slow = reduces Enemy Movement Speed

Give often an idea how an attack is delivered. (E.g. Melee VS Projectile)

• Melee
  
• Projectile
  
• Elemental
  
• Summon
  
• Main Weapon
  --- Arquebus / Grenades is Landsknecht exclusive
  
• Abilities
  --- Ability Traits will only buff their connected Ability

There are multiple Traits, that affect certain Damage Types or Attributes,
which give a moderate boost and could be called Synergies.
Also, there are various things that can change a Damage Type, but not the Attributes.

Example Damage Type:
Elemental Surge can change the Damage Type of Astronomer's Orbs to Fire, Ice or Lightning, but it will NOT change the Attributes.
It will add one Attribute on top: Burn for Fire, Frost for Ice, Spark for Lightning.
After changing them to e.g. Fire you can boost them with Exterminator's Hellfire and Conflagration and buff them on top with Demonic Exchange, which gives power to Summons.
If you pick multiple Elemental Surge Traits, the last one you pick is the final Damage Type Transformator, but all applied DoT-Attributes will stay.
Example:
1. Elemental Surge (Fire), locked with MP
2. Elemental Surge (Ice), locked with MP
3. Elemental Surge (Lightning), picked -> Transformation to Lighting + Spark
4. Elemental Surge (Fire), picked -> Transformation to Fire + Burn
5. Elemental Surge (Ice), picked -> Transformation to Ice + Frost
6. Final Result -> Damage Type: Ice with Attributes: Spark, Burn, Frost

Other options to change the Damage Type for Main Weapons:
Ring of Fire > Fire + Burn Attribute
Ring of Lightning > Lightning + Spark Attribute
Ring of Frost > Ice + Frost Attribute
Equipping one Ring will remove the original Main Weapon Damage Type for the run.
Equipping two of those Rings gives the Main Weapon both Damage Types
If wearing two Elemental Rings, one can be exchanged for another Non-Elemental Ring during the run, while keeping both Elemental Damagy Types.
The unequipped Elemental On-Hit Effect will be lost though.

• Archer - Physical, Projectile
  
• Beast Huntress - Physical, Projectile
  --- Hound - Physical, Melee, Summon
  
• Cleric - Magic, Melee
  
• Exterminator - Fire, Elemental (Burn)
  
• Landsknecht
  --- Arquebus - Physical, Projectile
  --- Grenades - Magic, Area, Projectile
  
• Norseman - Ice, Elemental (Frost), Melee
  --- Frostnova - Ice, Elemental (Frost)
  
• Shield Maiden - Physical, Melee
  --- Shield Bash - Physical, Melee
  
• Sorceress - Lightning, Elemental (Spark)
  
• Swordsman - Physical, Melee
  
• Warlock - Magic, Projectile, Summon

Arcane Rift - Magic, Area
--- Elemental Rift: Fire - Fire, Rift Splinters -> BUG: Rift Splinters?
--- Elemental Rift: Ice - Fire, Rift Splinters -> BUG: should be ICE
--- Elemental Rift: Lightning - Fire, Rift Splinters -> BUG: should be Lightning
--- Rift Splinters - Magic, Area, Projectile
--- Wandering Rifts - Magic, Area
Arcane Splinters - Magic, Projectile
--- Arcane Elements - Fire, Lightning, Ice
--- Arcane Shivers - Magic Projectile
--- Arcane Unrest - (empty)
Astronomer's Orbs - Physical, Summon, Projectile
--- Electrified Orbs - Lightning, Elemental, Projectile
--- Inner Orbit - Physical, Summon, Projectile
--- Orbital Shift - (no tooltip)
Dragon's Breath - Fire, Elemental (Burn), Area
--- Heat Blast - (empty) -> should be Physical
--- Refined Flame - (empty)
--- Stream of Fire - Fire, Elemental (Burn)
Flame Strike - Fire, Elemental (Burn), Melee
--- Blazing Emberfall - Fire, Elemental (Burn), Melee
--- Frost Strike - Fire, Elemental, Melee -> BUG: should be ICE
--- Scattered Sparks - Fire
Frost Avalanche - Ice, Elemental (Frost), Projectile
--- Debris Avalanche - Ice, Projectile, Elemental
--- Quick Freeze - Slow, Frost
--- Static Ice - Lightning, Spark
Hailstorm - Ice, Elemental (Frost)
--- Frozen Fire - Fire, Burn
--- Hailstrom Spikes - Ice Elemental
--- Hailstorm Vortex - Ice Elemental
Kugelblitz - Lightning, Elemental (Spark), Projectile, Area
--- Final Discharge - Chain Lightning, Spark, Area
--- High Voltage - Chain Lightning, Elemental
--- Static Attraction - (empty)
Lightning Strike - Lightning, Elemental (Spark)
--- Concentrated Strikes - Area, Fire, Elemental (same as Explosvie Strikes?)
--- Electrifying Strikes - (empty), Spark (not working atm)
--- Explosive Strikes - Area, Fire, Elemental
Meteor Strike - Fire, Elemental, Projectile, Area
--- Burning Craters - Area, Burn
--- Fireball - Fire, Elemental (Burn), Projectile, Area
--- Scattered Debris - Fire, Elemental, Projectile, Area
Morning Star - Physical, Projectile, Melee
--- Butterfly Swing - Physical Projectile
--- Spiked Chain - Physical, Projectile, (Slow)
--- Unleashed Stars - Physical, Projectile
Phantom Needles - Physical, Projectile
--- Phantom Fetters - (empty) (Slow)
--- Phantom Rift - Magic, Area
--- Phantom Split - Physical Projectile
Radiant Aura - Magic, Area
--- Echoing Light - Magic, Area
--- Punitive Light - Magic, Area, Fragile, Affliction
--- Sacred Flame - Fire, Elemental
Ring Blades - Physical, Melee
--- Crippling Blades - Physical, Melee, Slow
--- Cyclone - Physical, Melee, (Slow Effect?) (same as Crippling Blade)
--- Piercing Blades - Magic, Melee, (Fragile)
Spectral Fists - Magic, Summon, Melee
--- Consecutive Punches - Magic, Summon, Melee
--- Ground Pound - Magic, Summon, Melee
--- Spectral Clutch - Magic, Summon, Melee
Spirit Warrior - Magic, Summon, Melee
--- Dash Impact - Magic, Summon, Melee
--- Spirit Needles - Magic, Summon, Projectile
--- Spirit Orbs - Magic, Summon, Projectile
Summon Golem - Physical, Melee, Summon
--- Double Trouble - (empty)
--- Ferrite Infusion - (empty), Spark
--- Magma Fists - Fire, Elemental (Burn)
Transfixion - Magic, Projectile, Fragile
--- Amputation - (empty), (Debuff)
--- Crippling Cuts - Magic, Projectile, Slow
--- Painful Incision - Magic, Projectile, Affliction

https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3038035307
There is a multitude of Traits, that influence a specific Damage Type or Attributes.
Those could be considered as Synergies.
They can give a general direction, how a character can be build, to deal significant more damage.
With mixing in Class Marks, Hybrids are very viable and Build Freedom is drastically increased. The choice depends on the desire of the user, Main Weapon only or mixed with Abilities.


Characters are presented in Order of Appearance!
Melee
Swordsman can enhace all Melee Types, his Physical Main Weapon included,
with Attack Speed, Crit Chance, Range and Damage.
Abilities: Ring Blades, Summon Golem, Morning Star

Main Weapon
Purely focused on her Main Weapon, besides very high Movement Speed and one Tier V Trait,
which modifies Crit Chance for everything. Physical Projectile Abilities seem fitting.
Abilities: Phantom Needles, Astronomer's Orbs, Morning Star

Magic, Debuff
Magic Damage and Attack Speed, paired with high Debuff Chance and high Regeneration.
Combining both or mixed in with DoTs feels good.
Abilities: Transfixion, Radiant Aura, Arcane Splinters, Arcane Rift, Spirit Warrior, Spectral Fists

Fire, Burn
The biggest impact for Burn and Fire.
Exterminator is born to set things ablaze.
Abilities: Flame Strike, Dragon's Breath, Meteor Strike

Summon
A perfect match for everything related to Summons.
Great in addition with Summon Rings and Demonic Exchange for Summon Builds.
Abilities: Astronomer's Orbs, Summon Golem, Spirit Warrior, Spectral Fists

Main Weapon, Block
She is the ultimate Tank and her Main Weapon can hit like a Truck.
No special Synergy, her Weapons are Physical and Melee.
Abilities: Ring Blades, Summon Golem, Morning Star

Lightning, Spark
Surrounding Lightning and Spark, crit builds with DoTs are very powerfull.
Focused on Lightning Crit Chance and Spark Chance and Spark Damage.
Abilities: Lightning Strike, Kugelblitz

Physical
Focused on Physical Projectiles, combined with her Hound which is a Summon, which also profits from Physical and Main Weapon. Either Projectile or Summon, both are viable.
Abilities: Phantom Needles, Astronomer's Orbs, Morning Star, Summon Golem

Ice, Frost, Melee
The Norseman has a very fast hitting Main Weapon and is the Master for Ice and Frost.
This can easy open up for mixed DoT Builds.
Abilities: Frost Avalanche, Hail Storm

Physical, Magic, Projectile
Either for Physical or Magic, everything related to Projectiles is very powerful.
The Grenades will trigger based on Final Projectile Damage.
Abilities: Phantom Needles, Astronomer's Orbs, Morning Star, Arcane Splinters, Transfixion

Abilities (1st picked Ability = Main Weapon)
Total flexibility for all Ability Builds. Raw Damage Buffs for all Abilities or Elemental for Main Ability.
Every Ability Scroll works like the Tome of Mastery, which allows free Ability and Upgrade pick.
Abilities: ALL OF THEM

While most Stats are straight forward, in HoT they can be very overwhelming and confusing, since they come in a large variety, in different Value Forms, etc.

Stats can be displayed in various Vlaue Forms,
but all start with a BASE Value (white) and end with a FINAL Value (green)
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3174154695
Some Examples:

• Damage = Flat Value - 123
  
• Crit Chance = % Value - 123%
  
• Attack Speed = Value per Second - 1.23/s
  
• Launch Velocity = Meter per Second - 12.3m/s

Launch Velocity
--- increase Projectile Travel Distance
--- increase Projectile Travel Speed
Cone Range
--- increases Lenght of Cones from Melee Attacks

Size
--- increases Radius, Thickness. Impact Area for Auras and Projectiles
Cone Angle
--- increases Width of Cones from Melee Attacks

Attacks per Second
--- 1.0/s = One Attack per Second
--- +100% -> Value increases with Attack Speed Boni
--- 2.00/s = Two Attacks per Second
Attack Interval
--- 4.00s = One Attack every 4 Seconds
--- +100% -> Value decreases with Attack Speed Boni
--- 2.00s = One Attack every 2 Seconds

increases Number of Projectiles or Strikes
--- 3.00 = Three Strikes per Attack
--- 1.20 = 12 Strikes in 10 Attacks
1.20 = 1 rest 0.20 -> 1 rest 0.40 -> 1 rest 0.60 -> 1 rest 0.80 -> 2 rest 0.00 -> cycle starts anew
--------1 Strike ----->1 Strike ------>1 Strike ----->1 Strike ----->2 Strikes ----> cycle starts anew
Attack Speed Multiplier (not displayed in Tooltips)
--- increases Attack Speed for Phantom Needles
--- increases Attack Speed for Ring Blades
--- increases Attack Speed for Kugleblitz (Base Emitter only)

Force has a very large variety of Stat Modifikations accross the board, most of them have strong benefitial impacts. In most cases, it's a strong Stat that should always be taken.
Two Exceptions: (depending on personal preference)
--- increases Summon Golem Roll Duration
--- increases Knockback

Piercing
--- increases Number of Targets a Projectile can hit in a Row, before breaking.
Damage Mod per Hit
--- reduces Damage Reduction Value for every Target Hit per Projectile
Damage Reduction per Second
--- reduces the Damage Loss per Second of Lifetime for Projectiles
Max. Duration
--- increases Lifetime for Projectiles, Summons

In the early game, both Stats can be viable to keep you just enough alive to finish a goal.
But only, if no Damage Stat suffers from upgrading.
In most Games of this Genre and here as well:
Offense is your best Defense!

You can make Full Tank Builds, where you take almost no Damage, except from Lords.
But then you have to commit full into the Stats, which requires Equipment and a fitting Character or Class Mark, or both, like the Shield Maiden, to buff the Defense beyond.

If you have to decide between Block and Defense, take Defense.

Block can absorb an entire Attack, but with increasing Enemy Damage the Chance gets lower and lower. Without full commitment, you can't keep up with that.

Defense will lower the Damage per Attack through the entire run. The Tresholds before it falls off are very high, so it will be more useful over the whole Run Duration.

In the very Late Game, both Stats are mostly dead, since you don't get hit anymore.
(Very few Exceptions like Shield Maiden Retaliation Tank)

This is probably the best "Defensive" Stat.
With Skill you can outmaneuver almost everything, which results in not taking any Damage.
Movement Speed has in almost every Run my highest Pick Priority.

Some Attacks profit from Movement Speed as well (Astronomer'S Orbs, Hailstorm),
which will boost their DPS into Late Game.

As defensive Stats they have, similar to Block and Defense, limited Functionality.
But some Builds need those Stats till the very Late Game.
Two Examples:
--- Scars of Toil - Damage Bonus based on missing HP
--- Mask of Madness Uncommon Versions - more Boni depending on Max HP or Regeneration

Every Max HP Trait also works similar to a Health Potion.
The Moment you take the Trait, you get healed by the Max HP Bonus and Bonus Multiplier.

Use 4 Banish Potions on Vitality, Metabolsim, Parry and Thick Hide as soon as they show up,
UNLESS you want to use the Stat for dealing Damage.

If you improve your Maneuver Skills with Movement Speed and have Knowledge about Enemy Behaviour and Movement Patters, your Life will be way easier.

For every Chance-Type there is one important rule:
If you go over 100%, you can get an additional chance for XY.

• If your Critical Hit Chance goes above 100%, you can do an Overcrit.
  
  • e.g. 150% crit chance / 200% crit damage =
    50% chance for 200% damage and 50% chance for 400% damage
    (counted as one attack with increased damage, not multiple)
• If your Effect Chance goes above 100%, you can afflict an additional Effect.
  
  • Effects are Fragile, Affliction and Slow
• If your Burn/Spark/Frost Chance goes above 100%, you can apply an additional Stack.

Chance-Types are seperated from each other.

Damage = Final Damage Value + (Final Damage Value x ("Amount" of Crits x Crit Damage Bonus)

Example:
100 Base Damage - 100% Crit Chance - 200% Crit Bonus
Damage = 100 + (100 x (1.00 x 200%) = 100 + (100 x 200%)
Damage = 300

100 Base Damage - 200% Crit Chance - 200% Crit Bonus
Damage = 100 + (100 x (2.00 x 200%) = 100 + (100 x 400%)
Damage = 500

All Stats come in two different Variations, BASE and MULTIPLIER
Final Values are put together with different Values and Formulas.
Base is mostly additive, which is a flat Value.
NON Base is always multiplicative, which is a % Value.

Adding the similar Values together first:
--- Original Base + Bonus Base = NEW Base
--- 1.00 + Bonus Multiplier = NEW Multiplier
Leads to:
--- New Base x NEW Multiplier = FINAL Value
The whole Formula:
FINAL = (ORIGINAL Base + BONUS Base) x (1.00 + NEW Multiplier)

One Exception: Dragon's Breath - Tier III, VI, X - Agony (+10.0% Base Attack Speed)
BASE 0.02/s + (BASE 0.02/s x 10.0%) OR BASE 0.02/s + (BASE 0.02/s x 0.10)
10% = x 0.10
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3175222321

Base Damage

• Base Value 60
  
• + Strength I-V = +50% Damage (10% + 10% + 10% + 10% + 10%)
  
• Base 60 + 50% = 60 + (60 x 0.5) = 90
  
• + Iron Ring = +10 Base Damage
  
• Base 60 + 10 = 70
  
• NEW BASE 70 + 50% = 70 + (70 x 0.5) = 105

Multistrike

• Base Value 3.00
  
• + Proficient Stance - Barrage I-III = +45% Multistrike (15% + 15% + 15%)
  
• Base 3.00 + 45% = 3.00 + (3.00 x 0.45) =4.35
  
• + Proficient Stance - Barrage IV = +0.3 Multistrike <- this is a BASE VALUE
  
• Base 3.00 + 0.3 = 3.30
  
• NEW BASE 3.30 + 45% = 3.30 + (3.30 x 0.45) =4.785

Attack Speed

• Base Value 1.0/s
  
• + Weapon Proficiency - Quickdraw I-III = +30% Attack Speed (10% + 10% + 10%)
  
• Base 1.00 + 30% = 1.00 + (1.00 x 0.3) = 1.3
  
• + Weapon Proficiency - Quickdraw IV = +0.15/s Base Attacks
  
• Base 1.00 + 0.15 = 1.15
  
• NEW BASE 1.15 + 30% = 1.15 + (1.15 x 0.3) = 1.495

Force

• Base Value 3.0
  
• + Channeling I-V = +60%Force (12% + 12% + 12% + 12% + 12%)
  
• Base 3.0 + 60% = 3.0 + (3.0 x 0.6) = 4.8
  
• + Weapon Proficiency - Pierce I-III = +2.0 Base Force (1.0 + 0.5 + 0.5)
  
• Base 3.0 + 2.0 = 5.0
  
• NEW BASE 5.0 + 60% = 5.0 + (5.0 x 0.6) = 8.0

Crit Chance

• Base Value [30% = 0.30]
  
• + Proficient Stance - Pinpoint IV = +10% Crit Chance
  
• Base 0.30 + 10% = 0.30 + (0.30 x 0.1) = [0.33 = 33%]
  
• + Proficient Stance - Pinpoint I-III = +0.15 Base Crit Chance ( 0.05 + 0.05 + 0.05)
  
• Base 0.30 + 0.15 = [0.45 = 45%]
  
• NEW BASE 0.45 + 10% = 0.45 + (0.45 x 0.1) = [0.495 = 50%]

Crit Bonus

• Base Value [100% = 1.00]
  
• + Proficient Stance - Pinpoint I-III = +45% Crit Bonus (15% + 15% + 15%)
  
• Base 1.00 + 45% = 1.00 + (1.00 x 0.45) = [1.45 = 145%]
  
• + Weapon Proficiency - Pierce IV = 0.15 Base Crit Bonus
  
• Base 1.00 + 0.15 = [1.15 = 115%]
  
• NEW BASE 1.15 + 45% = 1.15 + (1.15 x 0.45) = [1.6675 = 167%]

Feel free to discuss and comment.

If you have any suggestions, feedback or questions, don't hestitate to post here.

Cheers!