Arms of God Best Build Guide: Maximum DPS Loadout for Every Act (2026)
Arms of God Best Build: The Maximum DPS Loadout
I've cleared all four Acts with seven different characters and tested roughly 40 build variations since the June 8 Early Access launch. This guide distills what actually works — not theorycrafting, not "this looks good on paper." Every build here has been validated through complete Act 4 clears.
One thing the game doesn't tell you: your build isn't just your weapons. It's the triangle of weapons, blessings, and Cathedral upgrades working together. A weapon that's S-tier with maxed Cathedral stats is C-tier on a fresh account. I'll call out which builds require heavy Cathedral investment versus which ones work right away.
The Triangle: Weapons, Blessings, Cathedral
Before diving into specific builds, understand how these three systems multiply each other:
Weapons determine your base damage output and attack patterns. A Seraph's Judgment with 0 blessings does maybe 200 DPS. The same weapon with 5 synergistic blessings does 800+ DPS. The difference isn't the weapon — it's the support systems.
Blessings are multiplicative modifiers. A +30% Fire damage blessing and a +25% projectile count blessing don't add up to +55% damage. They multiply: 1.3 x 1.25 = 1.625, or +62.5% effective damage. This compounding effect is why focused builds outperform hybrid builds every time.
Cathedral upgrades are your baseline. A maxed Training Ground gives +15% movespeed, +20% HP, and +10% damage before you even pick a weapon. That's roughly equivalent to having two extra common blessings active from the start of every run.
| Upgrade Priority | Stat | Max Bonus | Impact |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1st | Movespeed | +15% | Most impactful stat. Dodge more attacks, reposition faster, clear rooms quicker. |
| 2nd | HP | +20% | Survive one extra hit from elites and bosses. One extra mistake per fight. |
| 3rd | Damage | +10% | Flat increase to all sources. Lowest priority because weapons and blessings provide plenty. |
Build #1: The Firestorm (Highest DPS, Acts 3-4)
This is the build I use for speed-clearing Act 4. It stacks Fire damage and projectile count to create a screen-filling wave of damage that melts bosses in under 60 seconds.
Weapons (5 slots):
| Slot | Weapon | Role |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | Infernal Repeater | Primary DPS. 12 rounds/sec, Fire DoT stacks 8 times. |
| 2 | Hellfire Magnum | Boss killer. Merge Brimstone Pistols' fire rate stat onto it immediately. |
| 3 | Ember Cannon | Wave clear. Charged AoE explosions clear clusters. |
| 4 | Incendiary Rounds Launcher | Area denial. Fire pools control enemy movement. |
| 5 | Sacred Crux (Aura mode) | Applies Fire status from all equipped weapons in a radius around you. |
Merge recipe (in order):
1. Brimstone Pistols → Hellfire Magnum (fire rate for faster boss DPS)
2. Flame Lance projectile effect → Infernal Repeater (every bullet spawns a fire projectile)
3. Any fire rate donor → Ember Cannon (reduces charge time by ~40%)
Blessing priority:
1. Projectile count increase (take this over everything else)
2. Fire damage +%
3. Piercing projectiles
4. Burn duration extension
5. Damage to burning enemies +%
Stat benchmarks:
- By level 10: Infernal Repeater equipped, one merge complete
- By level 20: At least 3 Fire blessings active, Hellfire Magnum merged with fire rate
- By level 30: All 5 weapon slots filled, Ember Cannon charge time below 1 second
- By level 40: Sacred Crux at max level, burning everything in aura range
Best characters for this build: The Inquisitor (fire damage passive), The Zealot (damage ramp during boss fights). Both have natural Fire synergy in their skill trees.
Build #2: The Holy Wall (Safest Clear, All Acts)
This build sacrifices theoretical max DPS for near-immortality. You won't set speed records, but you will clear Act 4 on your first attempt with this setup. I recommend this for learning new Acts or for players who hate dying to random wave spawns.
Weapons:
| Slot | Weapon | Role |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | Seraph's Judgment | Main DPS. 5-pellet piercing spread. Covers entire corridors. |
| 2 | Sanctified Buzzsaw | 360-degree melee defense. Nothing gets close. |
| 3 | Crusader's Shotgun | All-rounder. Fills gaps in coverage. |
| 4 | Holy Water Sprinkler | Debuffer. Applies Weakened (-30% enemy damage) to everything. |
| 5 | Sacred Crux (Beam mode) | Long-range pierce through terrain for sniping dangerous backline enemies. |
Merge recipe:
1. Holy Water Sprinkler's Weakened chance → Crusader's Shotgun (every pellet applies debuff)
2. Attack speed donor → Sanctified Buzzsaw (faster spin = safer)
3. Knockback stat → Seraph's Judgment (push enemies back into the piercing cone)
Blessing priority:
1. Knockback distance increase
2. Projectile count
3. Holy damage +%
4. HP regeneration per kill
5. Damage reduction while standing still
Why this build works: The combination of Seraph's Judgment clearing waves before they reach you and Sanctified Buzzsaw deleting anything that gets through creates a death zone around your character. Holy Water Sprinkler's Weakened debuff means even if enemies reach you, they hit for 30% less damage. You can stand still for 80% of most wave rooms.
Best characters: The Paladin (melee synergy with Buzzsaw), The Templar (balanced stats, works with everything).
Build #3: The Lightning Storm (Best for Wave Clear, Acts 2-3)
Shock weapons chain between enemies. More enemies on screen = more damage. This build exploits that scaling to clear wave rooms faster than any other setup.
Weapons:
| Slot | Weapon | Role |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | Stormcaller | Primary chain DPS. 4-target chain with zero falloff. |
| 2 | Tesla Coil | Deployable. Drop it and focus on dodging. |
| 3 | Thunderstrike Gauntlets | Melee AoE nova on every 5th hit. |
| 4 | Chain Lightning Rifle | Secondary chain, snowballs on kill. |
| 5 | Sacred Crux (Aura mode) | Applies Shock status in radius, enabling chain reactions. |
Merge recipe:
1. Attack speed donor → Thunderstrike Gauntlets (faster nova procs)
2. Chain count donor → Stormcaller (chain to 6+ targets)
3. Projectile speed → Chain Lightning Rifle (faster chain jumps)
Blessing priority:
1. Chain count increase (adds targets to every chain weapon)
2. Shock damage +%
3. Attack speed
4. Projectile count
5. Damage to shocked enemies +%
Stat benchmarks:
- By level 10: Stormcaller equipped
- By level 20: Tesla Coil deployed, chain count at 5+
- By level 30: Thunderstrike Gauntlets proccing nova every 1.5 seconds
- By level 40: Chain Lightning Rifle self-sustaining chain reactions
Best characters: The Stormcaller (Shock damage passive, natural synergy), The Prophet (summons distract enemies while chains do work).
Build #4: The Boss Melter (Single-Target Specialist)
Some runs end at the Act 4 boss because your wave-clear build can't output enough single-target damage. This build solves that problem by stacking every damage multiplier onto one target.
Weapons:
| Slot | Weapon | Role |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | Hellfire Magnum | Primary boss DPS. Highest single-hit damage in the game. |
| 2 | Infernal Repeater | DoT stacker. 8 burn stacks ticking independently. |
| 3 | Seraph's Judgment | Trash clear so you reach the boss with full HP. |
| 4 | Blessed Mace | Utility. Interrupts elite charge attacks. |
| 5 | Sacred Crux (Beam mode) | Additional single-target beam damage. |
Merge recipe:
1. Brimstone Pistols' fire rate → Hellfire Magnum (reduces 2.1s reload to ~1.2s)
2. Fire projectile on-hit → Infernal Repeater (more burn applications)
3. Damage % donor → Hellfire Magnum (stack raw damage)
Blessing priority:
1. Damage to burning enemies +%
2. Fire damage +%
3. Critical hit chance (rare blessing, take whenever offered)
4. Projectile count
5. Attack speed
Boss damage rotation:
1. Apply 8 burn stacks with Infernal Repeater (takes ~3 seconds)
2. Switch to Hellfire Magnum, unload while burn ticks
3. Sacred Crux beam during Magnum reload
4. Repeat. Bosses die in 45-60 seconds with this rotation.
Best characters: The Zealot (damage ramp during boss fights), The Inquisitor (fire synergy).
Build #5: The Speed Farmer (Early Act Resource Grinding)
Not every run needs to clear Act 4. Sometimes you're farming Cathedral currency, testing a new character, or just want a quick 15-minute run. This build optimizes for clear speed in Acts 1-2.
Weapons:
| Slot | Weapon | Role |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | Crusader's Shotgun | All-purpose clear. Good enough for everything. |
| 2 | Shock Dagger | Fastest attack speed, clears Act 1 rooms in seconds. |
| 3 | Seraph's Judgment | Wave coverage for Act 2 rooms. |
| 4 | Any Fire weapon | Coverage for Fire-weak enemies. |
| 5 | Sacred Crux (Aura) | Passive damage while moving. |
Merge recipe:
1. Any attack speed donor → Shock Dagger (even faster)
2. AoE radius → Crusader's Shotgun (wider spread)
Blessing priority:
1. Movespeed (clear rooms faster)
2. XP gain increase (level faster)
3. Projectile count
4. Any damage blessing
Goal: Clear Act 1 in under 8 minutes, Act 2 in under 15. Die intentionally at the Act 3 mid-boss to collect currency and restart. You'll earn roughly 30% more currency per hour with this farming build versus attempting full clears.
Common Build Mistakes
Mistake 1: Spreading across damage types. A rank-5 Fire blessing is +60% fire damage. If you have 2 Fire weapons and 3 Holy weapons, you'll end up with rank-2 in both (+20% each). That's a 40% damage loss compared to going all-in on one type. Commit to one damage type for your first 20 hours.
Mistake 2: Ignoring utility weapons. Five pure damage weapons loses to four damage weapons plus one utility weapon (knockback, slow, Weakened). The utility weapon effectively increases your survivability by 30-50%, which means more time dealing damage instead of dodging.
Mistake 3: Merging too late. You should complete your first merge by level 10 and your second by level 20. Waiting for "better donors" means you're running underpowered for half the run. A common donor merged at level 8 is better than a legendary donor merged at level 25.
Mistake 4: Undervaluing projectile count. Adding one projectile to every weapon is mathematically the best blessing in the game. A weapon firing 5 projectiles that each deal 100 damage does 500 DPS. Add one projectile: 6 x 100 = 600 DPS. That's a 20% increase. No other blessing gives that much value that consistently.
Mistake 5: Not adapting to the Act. Act 2 has narrow corridors where piercing weapons dominate. Act 3 has open arenas where AoE radius matters more. Act 4 has high enemy density where chain weapons scale hardest. A build that crushes Act 2 might struggle in Act 3 if you don't adjust your weapon priorities.
Build Summary Table
| Build | Best For | Difficulty | Cathedral Investment | Clear Time (Act 4) |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Firestorm | Max DPS, speed clears | Hard | High | ~25 min |
| Holy Wall | Safe clears, learning | Easy | Medium | ~40 min |
| Lightning Storm | Wave clear, Act 2-3 | Medium | Medium | ~30 min |
| Boss Melter | Boss killing | Medium | High | ~35 min |
| Speed Farmer | Currency farming | Easy | Low | N/A (Act 2 only) |
Pick the build that matches your goal for the run. Rotating between them keeps the game fresh and lets you experience different playstyles. The Firestorm is the overall strongest for endgame players, but the Holy Wall will get you to endgame in the first place.