A powerful secret survivor who cannot be selected from the character screen. Heretic is accessed by collecting all four Heresy Lunar items in one run. She has the highest base HP (440) and base damage (18) of any survivor in the game, but constantly loses health over time. Shadowfade and healing items are mandatory to survive the drain.
Heretic's skills come entirely from the four Heresy Lunar items. Each item individually replaces one skill slot for any survivor. Collect all four at once to transform into Heretic. All four are Lunar rarity - found in Lunar pods or the Bazaar Between Time.
All four of Heretic's skills are granted by the Heresy items. She has no alternate skill variants and no additional unlock challenges. Her kit is built around firing Hungering Gaze to stack Ruin debuffs, then detonating them for massive burst, while managing HP loss through Shadowfade and healing items.
Heretic cannot be unlocked permanently. She is accessed by transforming mid-run. Two things are needed first: the Blockade Breaker challenge for all four items, then all four items in the same run.
Complete the Blockade Breaker challenge: kill 15 bosses in a single run. This unlocks Hooks of Heresy and Essence of Heresy. Visions and Strides of Heresy are available before this challenge.
In any subsequent run, collect all four Heresy Lunar items from Lunar pods or the Bazaar Between Time. Use Lunar Coins at Newt Altars to access the Bazaar.
The moment you hold all four simultaneously, you transform into the Heretic. Your stats change immediately to Heretic's base stats (440 HP, 18 damage).
Play as Heretic for the rest of the run. Heretic items cannot be taken by Mithrix in Phase 4, making Heretic's kit always available for the final fight.
Use the Artifact of Command to guarantee item choices. When lunar items drop, choose the Heresy items directly. Start with Visions of Heresy (available before Blockade Breaker), then complete Blockade Breaker in the same run to unlock and immediately acquire the remaining three. Captain is a popular base survivor for Heretic runs since his Defensive Microbots passive carries over.
Heretic's item priorities are healing to offset the HP drain, and burst amplifiers for Ruin detonations. Rejuvenation Rack is the single most impactful item - it doubles Shadowfade's healing and turns each 7-second cast into a substantial recovery. Kjaro's and Runald's Bands proc on Ruin detonation and Slicing Maelstrom explosions for free bonus burst.
Doubles all healing. Shadowfade heals 18.2% max HP per use normally - with one Rejuvenation Rack it heals 36.4%. Given Heretic's negative regen, maximizing Shadowfade healing per cast is her primary sustain strategy. Multiple stacks push each Shadowfade to near-full heals.
On-crit: heal for 8 HP. Hungering Gaze fires rapidly and crits frequently with decent crit chance, turning every volley into a healing source that partially offsets the HP drain. Pairs with Lens-Maker's Glasses for sustained healing through damage.
Adds 8% max HP as shield that regenerates when not taking damage. Heretic's 440 HP means the shield is a substantial buffer (~35+ HP at base). Shield regenerates freely even while Heretic's health drains, providing a second HP layer.
Hits above 400% trigger a flame tornado. Slicing Maelstrom's explosion deals 700% and Ruin detonation scales into thousands of percent - both reliably proc Kjaro's every use. High single-target damage amplifier on Heretic's two biggest burst skills.
Hits above 400% trigger an ice blast and 80% slow. Same proc condition as Kjaro's Band. Both bands fire on Slicing Maelstrom explosion and Ruin detonation, stacking massive bonus damage on top of Heretic's already enormous burst windows.
Attack speed increases Hungering Gaze's fire rate and Slicing Maelstrom's charge speed. Faster Hungering Gaze fire rate means more Ruin stacks accumulated per second, scaling Ruin detonation damage higher in each window.
Adds an extra Ruin charge. Two Ruin charges let you detonate twice per cooldown window - devastating when Ruin stacks are high. Also makes Ruin more forgiving since losing one charge does not eliminate the entire special window.
Gain 100 armor for 5 seconds after taking damage (0 armor base). Heretic's constant HP drain means this rarely procs from the drain itself, but any hit from an enemy briefly grants massive damage reduction. Very effective given she is often in melee range for Slicing Maelstrom.
Heretic's core loop: use Shadowfade on cooldown without exception, fire Hungering Gaze continuously to stack Ruin debuffs, charge Slicing Maelstrom through enemy groups for AoE + root, then detonate Ruin for the burst window. The HP drain is relentless - never skip a Shadowfade cast.
Shadowfade first, always. Heretic's HP drain cannot be stopped - only offset. A missed Shadowfade cooldown is HP you lose permanently until the next cast. Build around Shadowfade uptime with Rejuvenation Rack and additional Strides of Heresy stacks before worrying about damage items.
Ruin burst rotation: Dump all 12 Hungering Gaze charges into a target to maximize Ruin stacks, then immediately activate Ruin for the detonation. The window is fast - fire, detonate, repeat as stacks accumulate again. Kjaro's and Runald's Bands both proc on the detonation projectiles.
Shadowfade fall damage: Shadowfade does NOT prevent fall damage. The intangibility removes your hitbox from enemy attacks but landing from a large height still deals full fall damage when Shadowfade ends. Use other methods to cancel fall damage, or be careful with aerial positioning.
Slicing Maelstrom charge damage: The charge phase deals 875% damage per second to nearby enemies for 3 seconds before the explosion. In a tight group, the total charge damage (2625%) plus the explosion (700%) vastly outperforms firing uncharged. Find a cluster before committing to the charge.
Captain starting survivor: Captain's Defensive Microbots passive (shoots down nearby projectiles) carries over when transforming into Heretic, giving her a passive projectile defense that no other starting survivor provides. This is particularly useful in later stages where enemy projectile spam is dangerous.
Mithrix Phase 4: Heretic's Heresy items cannot be taken by Mithrix during his Phase 4 item-stealing mechanic. Heretic keeps her full kit throughout the final fight, which is a significant advantage over other survivors who may lose key items.
Heretic cannot be permanently unlocked or selected from the character screen. To play as her, collect all four Heresy Lunar items (Visions, Hooks, Strides, and Essence of Heresy) in a single run. You must first complete the Blockade Breaker challenge (kill 15 bosses in one run) to unlock Hooks and Essence of Heresy. Artifact of Command makes acquiring all four items much easier.
Heretic constantly loses HP over time regardless of regeneration items. The only ways to offset it are healing from Shadowfade (18.2% max HP per use, boosted by Rejuvenation Rack), on-crit heals from Harvester's Scythe, and shields from Personal Shield Generator. Transcendence also works since it converts HP to regenerating shield. Shadowfade on cooldown is mandatory.
Captain is the most popular choice because his Defensive Microbots passive (shoots down nearby projectiles) carries over when transforming into Heretic, giving her passive projectile defense. Acrid is also strong since his high base armor and poison synergy persist. Any survivor works - the transformation changes stats but retains passive skills from certain survivors.
No. Heresy items cannot be taken by Mithrix during Phase 4 of the final fight. Heretic keeps her full kit throughout the fight, which is a meaningful advantage over other survivors who risk losing key items during the item-stealing phase.
Ruin is a debuff applied to enemies when Heretic deals damage with any skill. Each damage instance adds one Ruin stack that lasts 10 seconds. Activating the Ruin skill detonates all current stacks on all enemies at unlimited range, dealing 300% base damage plus 120% per Ruin stack. Stack Ruin with Hungering Gaze fire before detonating for maximum burst.