This guide contains light spoilers for stage names, campaign order, and post-game unlocks.
Fast answer
The answer before the background
The campaign is best understood as nine sequential stages, each representing one circle of Hell: Limbo, Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Anger, Heresy, Violence, Fraud, and Treachery. Every stage is a wave-defense encounter around the central tower. You survive each wave, make deck or defense decisions between waves, and then continue to the next circle. The main progression gate is simply clearing the previous stage. After the credit sequence, Torment mode becomes available, while Endless mode is a separate replay mode intended for longer runs and scores rather than normal campaign rewards.
Campaign structure
How the stage route works
Heretic’s Fork does not use a conventional chapter map with freely selectable missions. Its main run moves through a fixed sequence of nine circles of Hell. Each circle changes the setting and enemy pressure, but the core objective remains the same: protect the central tower while sinners attempt to escape.
The game’s stage structure is closer to a roguelike wave-defense run than to a traditional level with exploration. You prepare your defenses, let the wave play out, respond to cards and active abilities, and then use the transition before the next wave to strengthen the build. A failed run sends you back to the start, although permanent unlocks and account-level progress can continue between attempts.
- Progression through the main route is sequential rather than an open map.
- The same broad stage order applies across normal campaign runs.
- Randomized cards and build choices make individual attempts play differently.
- Enemy waves and stage order are more consistent than the cards you receive.
| Order | Circle or stage | Practical expectation |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Limbo | The opening stage and your first test of whether the starting build can clear basic pressure. |
| 2 | Lust | An early difficulty increase where weak damage or poor coverage becomes more noticeable. |
| 3 | Gluttony | A stage with a distinctive central-mouth visual and heavier pressure on sustained area damage. |
| 4 | Greed | A sharper mid-run check on damage, defense, and resource efficiency. |
| 5 | Anger | Fast or aggressive threats make reliable slowing, control, and focused damage more valuable. |
| 6 | Heresy | A later campaign stage with increased difficulty and less room for an unfocused build. |
| 7 | Violence | A demanding late-game circle where survivability and consistent damage must work together. |
| 8 | Fraud | The penultimate campaign stage and a major preparation check for the finale. |
| 9 | Treachery | The final listed circle, themed as Satan’s domain and the end of the normal route. |
The nine-circle order is documented by the developer’s game announcements. Official material does not provide a complete, stable table of wave counts for every circle, so do not treat community estimates as universal values across characters, difficulties, or updates.
Wave progression
What happens inside a stage
Each circle is broken into enemy waves. During a wave, your automated towers and garrisons do most of the fighting, while you manage timing, active abilities, card effects, and emergency decisions. The central tower is the critical objective: if its health is depleted, the run ends.
The important decision point is the interval after a wave. You can draw or select additional cards, improve your existing setup, and decide whether to commit to a focused damage plan or cover weaknesses. Because the card pool and available choices vary, two runs can reach the same circle with very different tools.
- Before a wave, check that your damage covers the likely threat range rather than relying on one perfect tower.
- Between waves, prioritize a clear weakness: single-target damage, area damage, crowd control, range, or tower durability.
- Keep at least one response for sudden leaks instead of spending every active ability immediately.
- Do not judge a build only by how comfortably it clears the opening circle; later gates punish setups that lack scaling.
| Progression point | What to do | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Start of a circle | Review tower positions, health, and available cards. | A new stage can expose a weakness that was harmless in the previous circle. |
| During a wave | Use active abilities when a leak is developing or when a high-value target enters range. | Early panic spending can leave you unable to answer the next threat. |
| After a wave | Take the strongest upgrade that supports your main plan, then repair coverage gaps. | Consistent scaling is more reliable than collecting unrelated effects. |
| Stage transition | Treat the next circle as a new difficulty check, not a free reset. | Health, card quality, and defensive coverage carry directly into the next challenge. |
Build around one dependable source of damage first, then add control or survivability. A broad collection of mediocre effects is usually less useful than a coherent build that improves the same win condition.
Unlocks and gates
Campaign, Torment, and Endless
The main campaign gate is stage completion: survive one circle to move to the next. The most important post-game gate is the credit sequence. The developer states that Torment mode unlocks after the credits and that its progress is tracked per character. Each Torment level is then unlocked successively for that character.
Torment is optional. It revisits the game with higher challenge and provides extra credits, higher scores, and achievement goals. It also opens access to a separate high-cost card folder, so clearing the normal route is not the end of long-term progression.
Endless mode should be treated differently. It is a replay and score mode rather than another campaign chapter. The official update notes specifically added an explicit description that Endless provides no further rewards, so use it for practice, challenge, or leaderboard-style runs rather than for normal unlock hunting.
- Clear all nine circles and reach the credits to open Torment mode.
- Torment progress is per character, so a successful run with one employee does not automatically complete every character’s Torment track.
- Unlock Torment levels in order rather than expecting all difficulties to be available immediately.
- Use Endless when you want to test a build beyond the normal route, not when you need campaign rewards.
| Mode | Role in progression | Best use |
|---|---|---|
| Normal campaign | Nine-stage main route | Learn the stage order and establish a reliable build. |
| Torment | Post-credit, escalating challenge | Earn extra credits, scores, achievements, and test character-specific mastery. |
| Endless | Separate extended run | Practice scaling, chase longer survival, or pursue score goals. |
The campaign’s stage gates and Torment’s character-based gates are separate systems. Reaching the final circle does not mean every character or every Torment level is finished.
Run planning
A reliable way to advance through the circles
Start by identifying what your current cards already support. If the opening choices favor a particular tower, garrison, damage type, or control effect, strengthen that direction instead of repeatedly replacing it with unrelated upgrades. The goal is not to make every category strong; it is to make one core plan strong enough to survive the next gate.
At each transition, ask three questions: Can the build handle groups? Can it finish durable targets? Can the tower survive a mistake? If one answer is no, use the next card choice to repair that weakness before chasing a higher theoretical damage ceiling.
When a run reaches the late circles, preserve defensive flexibility. The final stages are not the place to discover that every tool depends on enemies standing in one exact area or that your only answer to a leak is an ability already on cooldown.
- Favor upgrades that improve your established damage plan or fix a specific survival problem.
- Save emergency abilities for moments that threaten the tower, not merely for faster clears.
- Use early circles to learn which cards combine well before attempting Torment.
- If a run repeatedly fails at the same circle, change the build’s weakness rather than only replaying the same choices.
Card availability is variable, so there is no single guaranteed build for every employee or run. The safest general approach is focused scaling plus one dependable answer to leaks.
Version notes
What may change between updates
The developer continues to publish fixes for gameplay, controls, saving, and later-stage issues. Recent notes include fixes for enemy-speed behavior at high Torment levels and a March 8, 2026 hotfix correcting unexpectedly fast enemies after an earlier patch.
That matters when comparing older guides, videos, or community advice. A strategy that depended on an old timing issue, an outdated enemy speed, or a known late-stage bug may no longer describe the current game. Check the in-game mode description and current patch notes if a run behaves differently from older reports.
- Treat exact wave counts from unofficial guides as version- and mode-dependent unless verified in-game.
- Recheck Torment advice after balance or enemy-speed updates.
- If late-stage controls behave incorrectly, confirm the game is updated before rebuilding your entire strategy.
The stage order and major progression gates are supported by official developer or publisher material. Exact enemy compositions, wave counts, and optimal builds are less consistently documented, so this guide labels recommendations separately from verified facts.
FAQ
Common questions
How many stages are in the main campaign?
The normal route contains nine stages, corresponding to the nine circles of Hell: Limbo, Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Anger, Heresy, Violence, Fraud, and Treachery.
Are the chapters freely selectable?
Not in the usual mission-select sense. The main run advances through the circles in order, with the next stage opening after you survive the previous one.
How many waves are in each stage?
A complete, current official wave-count table is not available. Wave details can vary by mode or update, so fixed counts quoted by community sources should be treated cautiously.
When does Torment mode unlock?
Torment mode unlocks after the credit sequence, which follows completion of the main campaign. Its progression is tracked separately for each character.
Does Endless mode unlock more campaign stages?
No. Endless is a separate extended mode for longer runs and scores. The official update notes state that it does not provide further rewards.
Sources
What we checked
Official listings establish current availability and product facts. Community pages are used for mechanics and build history, then labeled separately.