Jotunnslayer Hordes of Hel Beginner’s Guide

While I was on the lookout for shoot 'em up bullet hell games like Vampire Survivors, Jotunnslayer: Hordes of Hel caught my attention. It is a top-down, survival RPG inspired by Norse Mythology where you battle hordes of enemies using your special abilities while completing assigned tasks. In this guide, I've included everything a beginner player needs to know to get started with Jotunnslayer.

Jotunnslayer Hordes of Hel Beginner's Guide

Jotunnslayer: Hordes of Hel is currently in early access and features limited content, however, the developers have plans to drop updates over time until the game's final launch. Players can purchase the early access version for $10 on Steam and Epic Games storefronts. Let's take a deep dive into the gameplay and mechanics.

All Character Class in Jotunnslayer Hordes of Hel

Currently, there are four playable classes in Jotunnslayer Hordes of Hel: Berserker, Seeress, Flame Sister, and Revenant. Each character has a unique set of abilities called Class Traits that take effect or are activated automatically while playing. More classes are to be added to the game in future updates.

The Berserker carries an axe as his primary weapon and is built for close combat, just like Flame Sister who uses a dagger. Seeress and Revenant use a staff and bow respectively that make them a perfect choice for players looking for a class geared towards ranged attacks. You can check out all of the characters and their respective Class Traits in the table below.

Class Customization

After you've determined what character to play with, you can customize the hero in a few ways. Firstly, you can select from a variety of Weapons available for that class. For instance, Revenant features three types of bows and each comes with a different Weapon Skill and bonus ability. The default weapon is perfect for beginners as the remaining need to be unlocked for gems.

Thereafter, you can select Skins to further customize your class. These are cosmetics and don't impact the gameplay, nonetheless, you have the option to deploy into hell with style. If you can spare some extra cash, get the Odin's Legendary Armor Pack as it includes themed skins for all four classes.

All Locations in Jotunnslayer Hordes of Hel

Initially, players can experience only two worlds in Jotunnslayer Hordes of Hel: Niflheim and Muspelheim. While the former world is covered in freezing darkness, the latter is a fiery wasteland. More worlds including Jotunheim, Svartalfheim, and Helheim are to be added in future content drops. The locations aren't just aesthetically different but also have unique monsters of their own.

Location Customization

Before beginning a match, you can customize the location by setting Difficulty and Modifiers. Below are all the location difficulties available in Jotunnslayer Hordes of Hel and their attributes.

To access the higher difficulties, you'll have to complete the level in the lower difficulty first. Each world also offers some Modifiers that come with some pros and cons. You can assign some to make the gameplay favorable to your play style. Here are the Modifiers available on Niflheim:

Attack Preferences Setting in Jotunnslayer Hordes of Hel

Now that character and location selection is out of the way, beginners must understand the Attack Preferences setting in Jotunnslayer Hordes of Hel before diving into the gameplay. This setting determines how the attack mechanics will work. Here are the available options and how they function:

• Attack Mode
  • Smart: Attack automatically only when there are enemies within range.
  • Automatic: Attack constantly even when the enemies aren't around.
  • Manual: Press the attack button manually each time to attack.
• Aim Mode
  • Automatic: Automatically aim at the nearest enemy.
  • Manual: You control the Hero's aim using the mouse or the right stick on the gamepad.

I suggest the default setting for new players, i.e., Smart Attack Mode and Automatic Aim Mode. This will keep things simple and you'll have to focus on moving around, dashing, and dodging the enemies. However, try out the Manual Attack Preferences after you've gained some experience as this can be fun for some players who want a challenge and want more control over their Hero's attack maneuvers.

Jotunnslayer Hordes of Hel Gameplay Explained

Your goal after deploying into hell is to survive the hordes of enemies while leveling up the hero and completing objectives. There is plenty of time to complete the objectives, especially for beginners who are playing on Easy or Normal difficulty. Your character initially has the default weapon attack, Class Traits, and Weapon Skill, which we've talked about previously.

Maintain some distance between yourself and the hordes of enemies, which keep getting more powerful and bigger as the raid time passes by. Dead enemies drop Crystals that you need to collect by walking near them as these will help you level up the hero and acquire new abilities and attack moves.

Always keep an eye on the HP Bar at the bottom left corner and take a back peddle when your survival is at stake. Let the health regenerate slowly or consume Food dropped by enemies for an instant HP boost. Food appears as the meat symbol on the minimap on the top right as well.

Make sure to collect Gold dropped after killing golden enemies, defeating bosses, and objective completion. It can be used to purchase new weapons for your characters from the main menu. Keep leveling up your class, defend against enemy hordes, and complete objectives within the allotted time until the final boss fight. Defeating the Jotunn to finish the raid and unlock the main reward.

Objectives

In Niflheim, the objectives I received during the Easy and Normal difficulty raids were pretty straightforward. Below of some of the objectives in Jotunnslayer Hordes of Hel and how they work:

• Mushrooms: You have to collect eight fungi scattered across the map for this objective. Each mushroom is marked on the minimap and you stand atop each one for a second to collect them.
• Graves of Chieftains: Summon the giant Chieftains by standing over their graves and defeat them to unlock rewards. These bosses are easy to kill, just make sure to keep some distance and dash to dodge their attacks.
• Survive the Curse: The frozen world of Niflheim will see a one-minute blizzard in which your movement speed slows down but the enemies become agitated and attack in numbers. Make it through the curse period to complete the objective.

Completing all three objectives in Easy difficulty (four in Normal difficulty, and so on) will mark the portal from where you start the final mission to defeat the main boss: Summon the Jotunn.

Level Up - Choose Skill Type

As you level up, a screen will pop up asking you to choose the Skill Type between the Class or God. The Class will remain the same as your acquired hero, i.e., you'll only get the option for Revenant if you're playing as Revenant during the match. However, you may get any of the four Gods: Thor, Loki, Freya, Odin.

This menu appears each time you gain a level by playing and collecting crystals, so don't worry about missing a specific power-up as you'll get plenty of chances to acquire it during the raid. I suggest acquiring any God Skill Type initially as these can grant you powerful attack moves. You can later unlock the Class Skill Type to strengthen your hero's base abilities.

With Skill Type level up, you can acquire up to 3 God Autocasts and 2 Class Autocasts. These are attack moves that are performed along with your hero's basic maneuver. You can also gain up to 6 Passives that give you, well, passive buffs. Autocasts and Passives can also be leveled up to increase their effectiveness. Furthermore, if you don't like the Skill Type shown to you, use the Reroll option to get new ones and Banish to make them disappear completely for that round.

Level Up - Choose a Subclass

Later in your character's leveling-up journey, you'll get the option to choose a Subclass instead of the usual Skill Type. Pick this one carefully as per your requirement and playstyle as it can grant you a powerful buff, unlike the passives. For instance, I picked Zealot for Berserker during my playthrough as I had a lot of God Skills acquired and this Subclass reduced the cooldown for those significantly.

Treasure Chest

Treasure Chests will also appear on your minimap from time to time, so keep an eye out for these and open them when possible. These can provide temporary yet powerful abilities that can prove very useful when fighting against hordes or bosses (see the second image above). Below are some of the common Treasure Chest rewards in Jotunnslayer Hordes of Hel:

• Elixir of Bloodlust: Critical Hit Chance +15%, Duration 70s
• Valhallan Mead: Bless Damage +30%, Duration 70s
• Elixir of Haste: Movement Speed +25%, Attack Speed +25%, Duration 70s
• Urd's Dice: +3 Rerolls
• Magnet: Draw XP Crystals from further away
• Charm of Giants: Max HP +100
• Charm of Aesir: Damage God Skills +20%
• Charm of the Elves: Movement Speed +7%

The last three rewards mentioned above are from the divine Freya Treasure Chest, therefore, the effects of the reward are permanently applied to your hero and are also stackable.

Boss Fight

As mentioned before, the final boss fight can only be started after you've completed all the objectives depending on your difficulty level. Stand on the marking on the ground to summon the Jotunn (appears on the minimap) and the monster will appear after a short cutscene (which is thankfully skippable).

The boss's HP bar and attack strength will be determined by what level of difficulty you're playing on. Having said that, beginners don't need to worry as the beast is not that tough to defeat in Easy or Normal modes. If you get too close, the monster will perform a smash attack followed by a barrage of rockets. The target area is highlighted in red, so stay out of it to avoid taking damage. You can always rely on the dash to dodge. Fight the boss while keeping yourself alive to finish the raid and claim the rewards.

Jotunnslayer Hordes of Hel Skill Tree

What was initially available as Virtues in Jotunnslayer Hordes of Hel, has now been converted into the Skill Tree. Although the ability boost unlocks are no longer as streamlined, this change represents a classic takeover of the skill tree mechanic like most other games. There is a separate skill tree for each Class and God. For beginners, I suggest starting by upgrading the God Skill Tree for your preferred divine power, i.e., the God whose weapons you like using the most. You can simultaneously level up and obtain skills for your favorite Class to make a strong build for higher difficulty raidsin Jotunnslayer.

If you're familiar with Vampire Survivors, check out How to beat Slogra and Gaibon in Vampire Survivors Ode to Castlevania on Pro Game Guides.