Hell Clock’s free 2.0 update arrived July 9, along with the launch of its console editions and Cursed War DLC. Our friends at Maxroll have released a massive update for Hell Clock 2.0 and the Cursed War DLC including new and updated guides, a database update (adding all of the new Skills, Relics, and Unique Blessings), and several quality of life updates to the Hell Clock Planner, most notably, the ability to upload your save and instantly share a build!
Journey System
The free Journey of Nightmares system is ARPG seasonal content without the FOMO. With the Journey of Nightmares enabled, you can encounter nightmare portals that take you to a new level full of random foes. Defeat enough of them to spawn a boss, which drops a Unique Relic. As you progress your save file in the Journey of Nightmares, you can complete tasks to unlock cosmetic rewards.
The Nightmare levels are packed with enemies, so you should do them when you spot the portals. If you have a bunch of gold you can always check out the blessing pillar at the end of the current floor before backtracking to hop into the Nightmare Portal. Learn more about the Journey of Nightmares with Maxroll’s guide.
Ascension
Ascension is Hell Clock’s roguelike endgame activity. When you start a new Ascension, you allocate penances, increasing your hell level (and the game difficulty). Then you have five runs to beat the Floor 21 boss. Each time you do this you earn an additional three runs. Complete this three times (before running out of attempts) and you win the ascension.
Ascension has been around since Hell Clock released, but until now the system was in beta. You can now explore the full Penance tree and challenge Hell 100. In addition, the game mode is now more polished with smoother access to Gear/Relics and the “Blessing of Beginnings” that can help in early runs. Like with the Journey of Nightmares, this is a free update that only requires the base game. Learn more about pushing your Hell Level with Maxroll’s Ascension guide.
Endless Nightmares
Endless Nightmares offers new randomized areas and 16 tiers of difficulty that take place in randomized zones (which are also used in Ascension).
- Shards of Place determine the tileset.
- Shards of Hope add reward affixes.
- Shards of Fear add dangerous debuffs.
Endless Nightmares offers better endgame progression than the old Abyss, Oblivion, and Void. You have a variety of different modifiers to manage and your Shards of Fear stack up as you complete floors. The random levels are less linear than the original campaign, meaning you can go through them quickly or loot the side areas for Shrines or Treasure Chests. This is a free update available to anyone after they complete the campaign. Check out Maxroll’s Endless Nightmares guide for tips and tricks on how to progress!
Unique Blessings
There are now Unique blessings for every skill, and unlike other Blessings, you can have as many as you want (or at least as many as you are lucky enough to get). The Unique effects include those found on Unique Relics, or more powerful versions of Epic Blessings.
Ailment and Endurance Rework
Hell Clock 2.0 brings big changes to Ailments and Endurance. Here’s a quick TL;DR:
- Ignite now deals damage faster, in addition Oiled is no longer removed when you ignite enemies.
- Monsters are more susceptible to bleeding. The base damage of bleed has been doubled from 40% to 80%.
- Shock causes enemies to take 40% increased critical damage in addition to its current effect.
- Endurance is no longer a chance to avoid damage. Instead, up to 75% of the damage you take is taken over 4s. This gives you more time to counter the damage with Potions, Life Regeneration, or Life Leech.
- Check out the Hell Clock 2.0 Patch Notes to learn more!
New Relics
There are dozens of new Relics to find in Hell Clock 2.0. This includes fun effects for existing skills which enable entirely new builds. Here are a few examples:
- Plague Bullets converts Split Shot’s damage to Plague and causes the bullets to ricochet instead of piercing.
- Propaganda drops with 2 random Corrupted implicits. Good luck rolling the perfect combo!
- Energized Figurine converts Veil of Quills to Lightning, and combines all of the projectiles into one that moves at high speed.
- When you take damage, Belt of the Cowboy restores a portion of your Conviction based on your Evasion, making this a potent defensive option.
- Broken Mirror is an Uber Relic that gives you a permanent clone which attacks with Repeater.
In the past, most skills in Hell Clock had one playstyle. With 2.0, most skills have multiple playstyles as many relics change both the damage type and the playstyle. Energized Figurine and Plague Bullets are perfect examples of this, offering you new ways to play old favorites.
Note While most of the new Relics are free, any Relic associated with a Cursed War skill requires the DLC.
Act IV
Explore Pajeu’s past by exploring the hell of the Paraguayan war. This chapter includes a new act to the campaign, three bosses (and 3 mini-bosses), and a new story to experience. If you need a beginner’s guide, or want help getting through the campaign, Maxroll has you covered!
There are are 6 new skills to use as you explore Act 4:
- Tupã’s Wrath – Fire electric projectiles which fill the screen.
- Lead Sermon – A revolver skill that bounces between enemies.
- Holy Fire – FIREBALL!
- Jaguar Spear – Throw a spear, and with the right constellation you can literally summon jaguars.
- Carcará Dive – Leap into the air then dive down on your target, setting the ground aflame.
- Cilada – Trap foes, causing them to be rooted in place.
Hell Clock Planner Save File / Build Import
Sharing a build is easier than ever! You can directly upload a save file to Maxroll’s Hell Clock planner. Open the folder in AppData/Locallow where the Hell Clock saves are located. This may be different depending on your operating system and you may need to show hidden files to see Locallow. Once you find it, drag and drop any of the PlayerSave.json files to import your build.
Add notes, blessing priorities, and whatever else you want. Then don’t forget to set your profile to public to share your build with the community! There are several new builds to check out including:
Written by IGN Staff with help from Maxroll.