Charms are permanent-within-a-run stat buffs offered by Beatrice at odd levels starting at level 7. Unlike Mod Cards that attach to specific weapons, Charms boost your Poet globally and stack up to level 10 per type. With only three rerolls per run, every Charm choice matters. This guide ranks Charm priorities for Limbo and Lust progression.
How Charms Work in Hell Maiden
Beatrice appears at levels 7, 9, 11, 13, and every odd level thereafter, offering three Charm choices alongside your regular card picks. Each Charm type stacks up to level 10 within a single run — selecting Attack Speed at level 7 and again at level 9 gives you Attack Speed level 2.
Charms reset when a run ends. They do not carry between attempts, unlike rescued Poets or completed questlines. This means Charm optimization is about maximizing your current run's power, not long-term investment.
You receive exactly three rerolls per run to refresh Beatrice's Charm offers. Rerolls are shared across all Charm selection screens, so budgeting them is a core skill. For the full Charm list with stat values, see the Charms from Beatrice reference.
Charm Priority Rankings for Limbo
Attack Speed is the top general-purpose Charm. It multiplies the effectiveness of your merged Mod Cards by increasing how often weapons fire. A level-3 Boost Mod on Dragon's Breath combined with Attack Speed charm 3+ creates exponential damage scaling that carries through elite waves and the Minos fight.
Growth ranks second for players who can survive consistently. Growth accelerates experience gain, giving you more total level-ups over the 12-minute timer. More levels mean more card picks and more Charm stacks — a Growth charm at level 7 snowballs into significantly higher level-17 stats.
Elite Slayer is situational but powerful during the 8:00–12:00 elite-heavy phase. It does not apply to boss enemies like Minos, so its value is concentrated in the survival phase. Pick Elite Slayer if you already have Attack Speed and struggle with elite waves specifically.
- S-tier — Attack Speed (universal damage multiplier)
- A-tier — Growth (accelerates leveling snowball)
- A-tier — Power / Ferocity (raw damage for boss fights)
- B-tier — Elite Slayer (survival phase elite deletion)
- B-tier — Vitality / Regen (survivability for learning runs)
Reroll Strategy with Three Per Run
Do not reroll at level 7 unless all three offers are genuinely useless for your build (e.g., three defensive charms on a glass-cannon setup). Early Charm levels matter less than late ones because you have more opportunities to stack the same type.
Save at least one reroll for level 15 or later. By this point, your build identity is clear and a specific Charm type — usually Attack Speed or Power — at high stack levels makes a measurable difference against Minos. Rerolling a bad level-17 offer is worth more than rerolling a mediocre level-7 offer.
If Beatrice offers a Charm type you are already stacking, always take it over starting a new type. Attack Speed 4 is far stronger than splitting between Attack Speed 2 and Power 1. Concentration beats diversification for Charms.
Charm Choices by Build Archetype
Fire AOE builds (Dante): Attack Speed first, then Growth. Your wide-coverage weapons benefit enormously from faster firing. Power charms are a luxury once Attack Speed is stacked.
Star burst builds (Virgil): Power and Attack Speed equally valuable. Selenic Bloom hits hard per activation, so Power charms amplify already-large numbers. Growth helps reach Mod merge thresholds faster.
Critical damage builds (Horace): Ferocity and Attack Speed. Horace's spear weapons scale with crit chance, and Ferocity charms boost critical damage multipliers. See the Critical Damage Build Guide for full synergy lists.
Curse builds (Ovid, Lust): Vitality charms become more important because Curse Mods often carry health penalties. Balance offensive charms with enough survivability to survive the drawbacks.
Common Charm Mistakes to Avoid
Spreading across too many Charm types is the most common error. A run with Attack Speed 2, Growth 1, Elite Slayer 1, and Power 1 loses to a run with Attack Speed 5 every time. Commit to one or two types.
Taking defensive Charms on runs where you plan to learn boss patterns wastes slots. During learning runs, damage Charms help you kill Minos faster, shortening the fight and reducing total damage taken. Defensive Charms matter more in Lust where enemy damage scales higher.
Forgetting that Charms appear alongside card picks means you sometimes must choose between a great card and a great Charm. Prioritize cards that complete Mod merges over Charm stacks when the card offer is a level-3 merge for your primary weapon.