Favor Items
Swift Anklet: This is arguably the best favor item in the game, the 15% movement speed makes chasing and running a lot easier it can help you get close enough for that killing fireball or rain
Blade of the Serpent: Handy mana regeneration item. Gives you a bit of extra mana and damage and will allow you to regenerate 1000-2000 additional mana every 45 seconds.
Blood of the Fallen: Having enough health to stick around battles long enough is very important for Torch Bearer. The extra 800 health and 5 HPS is definitely helpful.
Amulet of Teleportation: This is only something I consider on larger maps such as Exile and Leviathan.
Diamond Pendant: Provides additional mana and reduces cooldowns by 10%, only consider this if you cannot afford Staff of Renewal.
Staff of Renewal: Increases health and mana and reduces cooldowns by 20%.
Heaven’s Wrath: 250 damage to any position on the map, this item is good for any Demigod, but doesn’t specifically enhance this build so it is not one I would often consider.
Consult the Favor Item Guide for Additional Information
Items
Items for this build are focused on health/armor and mana. Health because you need to be in the fight long enough for a couple of rounds of spells, and mana to ensure you can cast all your spells as soon as your cooldown is over.
Banded Armor (550g): Basic health and regeneration item. Always get this at the start.
Scaled Helm (550g): Basic mana and regeneration item. Always get this at the start
Boots of Speed (1000g): +10% Movement. May want to consider these if you do not go for Swift Anklet.
Unbreakable Boots (1500g): Provides significant health, mana and health regeneration, fulfilling both item requirements in one. A must early game (especially if you need the health!).
Nimoth Chest Armor (1500g): Increases health and armor, I tend to avoid this, but if you are dying too quickly then it is a good cheap option.
Plenor Battlecrown (1500g): A very effective increase in mana capacity and regeneration.
Vlemish Faceguard (1750g): Increases mana capacity and regeneration. Always purchase before Plenor Battlecrown if you can afford it.
Hauberk of Life (1750g): Increases health and health regeneration. A bit too expensive compared to items which provide almost identical benefits such as Unbreakable Boots.
Groffling Warplate (5200g): Large increase to health and armor but at a price. Get this if you need a defensive solution and cannot wait until Godplate.
Hungarling’s Crown (6500g): The ultimate mana item. It reduces ability cost by 35% and significantly increases regeneration. With this you may only need the Vlemish Faceguard to meet your mana needs.
Journeyman’s Treads (6750g): 15% additional movement speed and a chance to greatly increase your movement when being struck. This is the ultimate in logistics and great for chasing/running.
Godplate (10000g): The ultimate chest plate. It provides armor, health and health regeneration in large quantities. The biggest benefit here is it provides good bonuses in one item, freeing up other item slots.
Trinket Consumables
Wand of Speed (1250g): Gives you a 25% speed boost for eight seconds. Very helpful if you need speed.
Heart of Life (4250g): The ultimate regeneration item. Just do not get hit while using it! Personally, I rarely get Heart of Life because it is not an offensive item. I think if you need to use it you are doing something wrong to start with. There is no doubt about its effectiveness though, and if you do not have regeneration from other means it helps you avoid going back to base.
Artifacts
In most games you will not even consider getting one of these, they only really come into consideration when you’re dominating a game and have been fed a lot of gold, or the game has been going for a long time.
Girdle of the Giants (13000g): Main benefit is an extra 1600 health, good if you need it!
Bulwark of the Ages (16000g): The ultimate tanking item in the game. Massive health, armor and regeneration and it decreases all damage absorbed by 25%.
Stormbringer (17500g): Very good mana item, but the main benefit is definitely -15% to all ability cooldowns.
All Father’s Ring (25000g): The ultimate item. No explanation needed.
Now with all the groundwork laid, you can find out how to put it all into practice and be a threat to the opposition. Remember, a strategy is only as good as the person using it. Visit the next page to learn how to make the most out of your hybrid Torch Beare
Early Game Tactics
This strategy does not make Torch Bearer an ultimate early game weapon but it will definitely give you enough tools to be able to stick around and not get pushed around easily, provided you play it right. Once you hit level 15, 16 and 17 you will start to feel the ultimate power.
Only two things matter early game - farming and survival.
You need to make sure you get to those high levels as soon as possible before anyone else. Luckily you will be equipped with a great creep killer, Rain of Ice.
Once you have Rain of Ice II you can kill an entire creep wave in one cast, providing an instant cash and experience boost. If Priests are on the battlefield, Rain of Ice III will sort them out in one strike too. The benefit of being able to kill a creep wave so quickly is that it leaves you with sufficient time between the next wave to go and capture flags, farm more creeps or maybe even help kill a Demigod. An important part of this process is to make sure you have the experience flag when possible, and experience Citadel upgrades are not too shabby either.
It is however possible to be over-ambitious. The only thing that is worse than being a poor farmer is someone who dies a lot. Know your health, know your speed, know your enemy Demigods. Do not put yourself in a situation where you will die as the price is too great. If you feel vulnerable, fall back behind a tower and farm from there, or hang around friendly Demigods. If you are dead you have just given the opposition gold and experience, and you're depriving yourself of important time which could be spent farming.
Don't forget to "Form Dance", because the best aspect here is the mana regeneration. Always remember if you are idle to be transforming into Fire and then back to Ice and remaining there, this gives you the Soul of Ice and Permafrost mana regeneration buffs together. While it is unlikely to happen often early on, if you are in a position where you can chase and kill a Demigod you want to be in Ice form. The reason for this is that Permafrost reduces enemy movement speed, but more importantly in Ice mode, Torch Bearer can attack on the run whereas Fire Torch Bearer is slightly less nimble.
Middle Game Tactics
Once you are at Level III and IV Fireball and Rain of Ice you can start doing some real head to head damage and become a threat in your own right. Fireball is an amazing weapon and is not only great 1v1, but is also very good when trying to trap enemy Demigods. By now you would have Deep Freeze too which is an excellent aid in fighting off Demigods.
When you are about to engage an enemy Demigod it is vitally important you approach in Fire Form. You want your best damage - Fireball out first and then be able to swap straight into your Ice spells and "chase mode". The reason for this is that transforming from Ice to Fire takes too long and if you had to do it during a chase it would give sufficient time for the enemy to run away. Transforming Fire to Ice is almost instant and does not disrupt the chase.
You still want to be farming though so do not get too caught up trying to kill Demigods. If you waste a minute hunting without success, that is a minute of XP and gold you could have acquired farming.
Late Game Tactics
You are hitting the big levels, feel the power! Now you are great all around. Demigods, towers, and grunts are all at your mercy. Much of the finer details remain the same, but now it is all about winning the game. Start using the game ending tactics you know best, start believing that you can now effectively kill other Demigods.
Without a doubt, the most fulfilling aspect of reaching the higher levels is that you can unlock the ultimate five command combination.
Remember to always approach in Fire Form.
- Fireball
- Fire Form -> Ice Form
- Rain of Ice
- Frost Nova
- Deep Freeze
Well done. Providing all abilities were successful, you've just delivered 3425 damage in no more than 3 seconds. 
Generally I cast Frost Nova after Rain of Ice because the negative effects last longer on Rain of Ice. There is no right or wrong way though.
If you know the Demigod is going to run you want to get Frost Nova on as soon as possible (because of limited range and 1.0s cast time) to make sure it hits. There is a slight delay on cast and impact with Rain of Ice so you want to make sure it hits the target before using Deep Freeze.
Once you have completed that combination, you want to be back in Fire form in time to cast Fireball again. Now it is best to wait in Fire Form until Fireball has once again recharged. By then all your Ice abilities will be good to go, and you can start the combination again.
Conclusion and Video
Perhaps not the most inspiring build order early on, but in the later stages it becomes both rewarding and satisfying. I definitely find it much more enjoyable than a standard Fire Torch Bearer strategy and it provides more bang per buck than an all out Ice strategy. This is my idea of a hybrid Torch Bearer without trying all possible combinations. You will be getting more damage per gallon riding with this build. Substituting Fire Nova x3 for Permafrost x3 adds more damage to your already devastating combination but perhaps is not a larger gain than what you would miss out on - a lot less mana and a poorer chase and run ability.
If all the reading is too much for you and you want to see this in action, be sure to check out the video with commentary which will surely help you expand on what you've learned in this guide!
Early Game Tactics
This strategy does not make Torch Bearer an ultimate early game weapon but it will definitely give you enough tools to be able to stick around and not get pushed around easily, provided you play it right. Once you hit level 15, 16 and 17 you will start to feel the ultimate power.
Only two things matter early game - farming and survival.
You need to make sure you get to those high levels as soon as possible before anyone else. Luckily you will be equipped with a great creep killer, Rain of Ice. Once you have Rain of Ice II you can kill an entire creep wave in one cast, providing an instant cash and experience boost. If Priests are on the battlefield, Rain of Ice III will sort them out in one strike too. The benefit of being able to kill a creep wave so quickly is that it leaves you with sufficient time between the next wave to go and capture flags, farm more creeps or maybe even help kill a Demigod. An important part of this process is to make sure you have the experience flag when possible, and experience Citadel upgrades are not too shabby either.
It is however possible to be over-ambitious. The only thing that is worse than being a poor farmer is someone who dies a lot. Know your health, know your speed, know your enemy Demigods. Do not put yourself in a situation where you will die as the price is too great. If you feel vulnerable, fall back behind a tower and farm from there, or hang around friendly Demigods. If you are dead you have just given the opposition gold and experience, and you're depriving yourself of important time which could be spent farming.
Don't forget to "Form Dance", because the best aspect here is the mana regeneration. Always remember if you are idle to be transforming into Fire and then back to Ice and remaining there, this gives you the Soul of Ice and Permafrost mana regeneration buffs together. While it is unlikely to happen often early on, if you are in a position where you can chase and kill a Demigod you want to be in Ice form. The reason for this is that Permafrost reduces enemy movement speed, but more importantly in Ice mode, Torch Bearer can attack on the run whereas Fire Torch Bearer is slightly less nimble.
Middle Game Tactics
Once you are at Level III and IV Fireball and Rain of Ice you can start doing some real head to head damage and become a threat in your own right. Fireball is an amazing weapon and is not only great 1v1, but is also very good when trying to trap enemy Demigods. By now you would have Deep Freeze too which is an excellent aid in fighting off Demigods.
When you are about to engage an enemy Demigod it is vitally important you approach in Fire Form. You want your best damage - Fireball out first and then be able to swap straight into your Ice spells and "chase mode". The reason for this is that transforming from Ice to Fire takes too long and if you had to do it during a chase it would give sufficient time for the enemy to run away. Transforming Fire to Ice is almost instant and does not disrupt the chase.
You still want to be farming though so do not get too caught up trying to kill Demigods. If you waste a minute hunting without success, that is a minute of XP and gold you could have acquired farming.
Late Game Tactics
You are hitting the big levels, feel the power! Now you are great all around. Demigods, towers, and grunts are all at your mercy. Much of the finer details remain the same, but now it is all about winning the game. Start using the game ending tactics you know best, start believing that you can now effectively kill other Demigods.
Without a doubt, the most fulfilling aspect of reaching the higher levels is that you can unlock the ultimate five command combination.
Remember to always approach in Fire Form.
- Fireball
- Fire Form -> Ice Form
- Rain of Ice
- Frost Nova
- Deep Freeze
Well done. Providing all abilities were successful, you've just delivered 3425 damage in no more than 3 seconds.
Generally I cast Frost Nova after Rain of Ice because the negative effects last longer on Rain of Ice. There is no right or wrong way though.
If you know the Demigod is going to run you want to get Frost Nova on as soon as possible (because of limited range and 1.0s cast time) to make sure it hits. There is a slight delay on cast and impact with Rain of Ice so you want to make sure it hits the target before using Deep Freeze.
Once you have completed that combination, you want to be back in Fire form in time to cast Fireball again. Now it is best to wait in Fire Form until Fireball has once again recharged. By then all your Ice abilities will be good to go, and you can start the combination again.
