Horace's spear deck unlocks after the third-run rescue quest in Limbo and rewards players who invest in critical chance and critical damage charms. Blade of Augustus anchors this build with piercing thrust attacks that proc crit-mod Effects for burst damage and lifesteal sustain. The build peaks in Lust against Scarmiglione and Libicocco but requires patience during early Limbo levels before crit stats accumulate.
Rescue Quest Prerequisite
Horace weapons cannot appear until you complete her rescue quest on your third Limbo run. The quest triggers at 3:30 when a marker appears on your mini-map. Reach Horace and defend her from enemy waves before 5:45 — failure retries on subsequent runs until success.
Plan your third run with defense in mind: AOE weapons like Selenic Bloom protect Horace during the quest even if you intend to pivot to spear builds afterward. Full quest pathing in the Horace rescue guide and Horace poet page.
Spear Weapon Configuration
Slot 1: Blade of Augustus — primary crit thrust weapon. Slot 2: Crit Spread or Boost mod carrier buffing slot 1 and slot 3 spears. Slot 3: Secondary Horace spear weapon for merged crit Effects. Slot 4: Virgil star or Dante fire supplement for trash waves before crit stats peak.
Blade of Augustus scales with every Critical Chance and Critical Damage charm from Beatrice. Delay filling slots 3 and 4 until slot 1 crit mods reach merge level 2 minimum — spear damage before crit investment feels weak compared to fire or star alternatives.
Weapon details on the weapon cards page. Spear attack patterns pierce lines — position facing elite spawn directions during minute 4 and 7 surges for multi-hit value.
Critical Charm Focus
Beatrice charm priority shifts from Attack Speed toward crit stats. Level 7: Critical Chance if offered, otherwise Attack Speed. Level 9: Critical Damage. Level 11: stack whichever crit stat is lower. Levels 13+: Max Health or lifesteal-adjacent charms if Horace mods include heal-on-crit Effects.
Attack Speed still helps spear attack interval — don't ignore it entirely. Ideal split by minute 10: Attack Speed level 5+, Critical Chance level 5+, Critical Damage level 5+. This split melts Scarmiglione and pressures Libicocco during damage windows.
Twenty-one charm types include bronze, silver, and gold tiers — gold Critical Damage multipliers define this build's ceiling. Charm reference on the charms page.
Lust Boss and Sub-Boss Strategy
Scarmiglione sub-boss: Burst crit during his stagger windows after charge attacks. Blade of Augustus thrust during stagger deals triple-digit crit damage with invested charms. Avoid attacking during wind-up — spear attacks require facing and whiff if you misread timing.
Libicocco final boss: Wind mechanics scatter enemies and push player position. Crit burst matters more than sustained DPS — save spell tokens for Libicocco phase transitions when wind calms briefly. See Scarmiglione guide and Libicocco guide for attack pattern details.
Hybrid slot 4 star or fire weapon handles trash between boss phases where crit overkill wastes damage on low-health mobs.