The idea for this guide was born after several discussions with insane roguelike players on tome discord, when it turned out Corruptor was considered by some a weaker class.
Not only I disagree on that, I also believe it to be one of the strongest classes on insane and below. And definitely one I've had lots of fun with.
The latest Corruptor guide I've found on tome forums was written for 1.6.7, so I guess technically it can be considered a raison d'être. Surely I had to bring something new into the game, so I browsed the vault for every insane/roguelike Corruptor win and found that up to this day no characters have ever beaten both optional and very challenging zones in the Westen Eyal - Dark Crypt and Godfeaster, as well as defeating all the superbosses of Maj'Eyal campaingn - Athamaton, the Giant Golem; Linaniil, Supreme Archmage of Angolwen and The Hypostasis Of Entropy - all in the same playthrough. So I decided that such a feat would be the most convincing argument in the debate over Corruptor's strength. Doing all of that in a single insane roguelike run turned out to be pretty spicy as I've lost a number of promising characters to the denizens of the eerie corridors of Dark Crypt. To pump up the challenge, I refused to drink the Blood of Life or wear the Ring of the Dead, to truly have only one life. Only official addons were used, for what it's worth.
Here is my winner: https://te4.org/characters/207036/tome/ ... 4255acb4e7
A bit of the character's personal story for the flavour:
An adolescent village boy and the eldest son of the local woodcarver, Cruise had a weight of expectations resting on his frail shoulders his whole childhood. His sister, a carefree village beauty, was a valuable asset for the family's future and financial ambition; destined to one day marry a middle son of a wealthy merchant. His brother, a little baby resting on mother's bosom, was adorable, but getting what Cruise thought was all the love and attention he himself deserved. Born into a body that sometimes would not respond to his will, he struggled with mastering carving techniques and tool-handling, frequently angering his aspirational father. As these things tend to happen, there was a day when he was scolded and humiliated so deeply, Cruise decided he could no longer take it and any life would be better than staying in the family. He was a rational boy and in secret, he prepared what belongings he could, and left his house for a journey to the glorious Town of Last Hope. He found a carriage and paid a substantial portion of his savings for the ride. Unfortunately, his luck ran out fast and the carriage was ambushed by bandits on the ouskirts of the Old Forest, and the boy had to run for his life, leaving his bag behind. The forest thicket was unwelcoming and full of snakes, giant insects and hungry wolves, with strange patches of crystal fields glowing in the dark. Next to one of the crystals he spotted a cloaked and stocky figure chipping on one of the crystals with a tool that looked unfamiliar. It turned out to be none other than Agrimley the Hermit, stories of whom Cruise heard in his childhood. They said it was a stern, aloof old man who showed up in the village once in a decade to kidnap children and eat them alive in his lair. Cruise quickly found out that the stories were just that, a set of common folk superstitions, just as he suspected. Long story short, Agrimley needed some help gathering some ingredients for his alchemical experiments - and thus, Cruise was introduced into the fine art of Alchemy...
A student of Agrimley the Hermit, Cruise did well at first, but as the complexity of material went on, his master's unconventional, erratic explanations and chaotic behaviour made it harder and harder for Cruise's rational mind to understand, so he struggled again, growing bitter and resentful as time went on. His master had a rather short temper and yet again Cruise found himself in the position of a scolded, good-for nothing apprentice, with little hope for the better... But Cruise was undeterred by these circ*mstances. He decided he would impress his goofy master, as there was one ingredient that Agrimley was always fond of, but was too wary to collect - the ashes of a faeros elemental. He was going to Last Hope anyway, as he had an errand to run, ferrying a bunch of plants, ingredients and herbal infusions to sell or deliver to the local infusion merchant, Sarah, and Ungol, the town alchemist. Cruise was very fond of Sarah's daughter, Emma - a charming and witty, if a wee bit unsocial young maiden. She had a rather deep voice and her mood was sometimes gloomy, but does it really matter when there were so many adorable things about her that kept catching his eye every time he saw her at the counter, reading a book or helping her mother with accounting? He was going to get that faeros ash, and he was going to live and tell her the tale and show her how brave and competent he is! It's not that dangerous, anyway. Well, it **is** the Mark of the Spellblaze, but really, on the outskirts of it there should be some ashes lying on the ground from the recent battle of the elementals and the mad mages of the Scar... He had a plan, you see... His master supplied him with an invisibility potion, so he could quaff it if things went south on his trip to the town - a security measure, that is - after all, the master is responsible for his student. No big deal, Cruise thought, he can make his way back from town without the potion, he knows the road well and he's not a good-for nothing child he used to be...
He was lying there, covered in foul, corrupted blood, his left leg and his back severely burnt, his hair and face a mess of sweat and dirt. Breathing heavily, he was waiting for his doom behind a boulder, his heart racing, his thoughts scattered, his stomach primed to turn itself inside-out. The nausea was so severe, even adrenaline rush of the situation was not enough to bring him to concentrate. The rotten stench of corrupted blood was beyong anything he could ever imagine, gnawing on his nostrils, penetrating his mind... He was barely holding his senses, desperately trying to keep his awareness. He felt his very essense wasting away. It was an ominous feeling of bleak outcome. He heard their footsteps, they were coming to end him and there was no way out. Somehow he felt them and he knew they felt him. "So this is what blood magic is like, no wonder it is shunned and despised in every corner of Eyal..." A torrent of strange thoughts visited his blighted mind, amidst the nauseating pulses - "This what true power is like... Power to destroy, power to dominate, power to corrupt... Did he not deserve power? Did he not try as hard as he could? Did he not merit recognition?" As he was entranced in these thoughts, he couldn't notice the figures until it was too late. There they were - the dreadful rhaloren, their skin pale as death, their eyes exuding demonic glow - their presence itself felt unnatural. Cruise shut his eyes in desperation, as if that would save him from his evil fate... But all he heard was laughter - a wicked, shallow laughter... And then his mind exploded with infernal visions... Then, came the blackness... He came to his senses, alone and seemingly safe, in the mountain foothills, north of the ominous height of the Tower of Dreadfell. He was not worried or afraid - stragely - he almost felt nothing at all. Nothing, but malice. Malice... And anger. "Who does he think he is, that old lunatic? Sending me on errands year after year while hiding all that knowledge behind a charade of obvious acts? Did he think he can fool me forever? Old bastard... He will pay. He will pay for it with his worthless life. But first... Yes. Yes... I would pay my lovely family an unexpected visit. They owe me a little debt of humiliation..." His rumination was interrupted by a shrill howl. Instinctively, he focused and felt his blood calling for their blood and somehow became aware of a pack of wolves stalking him from the woods nearby. "Ah, the hunters think they've found their prey. Indeed... So be it, beasts, I'll give you the honour of experiencing my newfound power firsthand!" He felt it within. His blood... Was flaring with a craving... A craving for... Murder. He lured them, acting as if he was afraid and helpless, and when they were close enough... He knew what he was going to do. He saw it. Now he understands... Stretching his hand at them, he let out a terrible cry. Foul words in an unknown, but strangely familiar tongue left his mouth... And a cone of corrupted blood engulfed the unsuspecting beasts... They were lying there in agony, whimpering, rotting away. He immediately felt drained and hollow, but then came a surge of power so overwhelming and so intoxicating, that it shook his very core. And then he realised... "So this is what it's like..." He was extatic... He was finally... Complete.
Moving to the more practical parts of the guide, I'll elaborate on the alchemical part of the declared "Blood Alchemist" title.
Corruptor is pretty powerful on its own, but there's one category available from lone alchemist escort quest that just takes this class to another level - Spell/Stone Alchemy. It's so good in fact, that at level 20 you'll 1/1/2/5 it immediately. And leave it at 1/1/5/5 until you have decent gems to imbue your robes with, so 20 points in the late game for 5/5/5/5 eventually. Don't worry, you'll have plenty of generic points for that. Let's see what it actually provides:
- Extract Gems. A way to extract gems from metal weapons and armors
- Imbue Item. A way to imbue your body armor and robes with a gem of your choice
- Create Alchemist Gems. A way to create special gems consumed by Gem Portal
- Gem Portal. A way to travel through impassible, but diggable, terrain (i.e walls, etc.)
- Stone Touch. A way to fully disable your opponent(s) for up to 6 turns, becomes a beam
As you can see, there are two very powerful additions to Corruptor's arsenal - Gem Portal and Stone Touch. One is giving it a much needed mobility option (which Corruptor only has one of). And the other... Is the star of the show 
Let's dive deeper into it:
Touch your foe and turn it to stone for (3, 4, 5, 5, 6) turns. Stoned creatures are unable to act or regen life, and are very brittle. If a stoned creature is hit by an attack that deals more than 30% of its life, it will shatter and be destroyed. Stoned creatures are highly resistant to fire and lightning, and somewhat resistant to physical attacks. At level 3 the touch will become a beam. This spell may fail against creatures resistant to being stunned, that are specifically immune to stoning, or certain bosses.
So, you Stone Touch an enemy, apply Corrosive Worm, cast Soul Rot into their face and boom! It's a one-shot that also deals insane damage (creature's max life value) in a huge aoe. Simple as that. You can even skip the corrosive worm part if you don't care about aoe in a 1v1 fight, for example (but corrosive worm is still great as it reduces target's blight resistance). Any high damage spell will do, it's just that Soul Rot has the highest spellpower and talent level scaling as well as extra spell critical chance.
But there should be limitations to such power, of course. This talent checks three immunities (stoning, instakill, stun/freeze) and the opponent's spell save against your spellpower. It is also removed by Unflinching Resolve as it is considered a stun. That pretty much means that all fixed Bosses, all Xorn type enemies, all Ghost type enemies and all Elemental type enemies are unaffected. Also, all stun/freeze immune enemies are unaffected, but that can be worked around somewhat by applying the wet status effect (-50% stun/freeze immunity) with a Biting Gale rune. And you also must have high spellpower to beat their spell save. This talent also uses mana, which Corruptor has no innate regeneration of, so keep a staff of channeling in your offhand, to regen it now and then.
There are many gem candidates to imbue your robes with, but I've found quartz (+30% stun/freeze resist) to be the best overall early-midgame option; bloodstone (+60% stun/freeze resist) to be the best overall lategame option; and Goedalath Rock unique gem (+8% all damage, 16 spellpower, +50% healmod, telepathy/demons) to be the overall best if you have at least 100% stun freeze resist from other gear already. Other options include Petrified Wood (+23% to ignore critical damage, 25 CON), Prothotipe's Prismatic Eye (on spell proc), Telos's Staff Crystal (a better version of diamond), Glowing Core (100% blindness resist) and Windborn Azurite (8% chance to ignore all damage).
Now, the blood part...
The second category this build is focusing on is Corruption/Blood. Eventually, you'll spend full 20 points on it. Surely you won't beeline for 5/5/5/5. In the talent section of the guide you will find the leveling order at certain points of character development. Let's see what utility this category provides:
- Blood Spray. A much needed area of effect damage spell with a high chance of applying a disease
- Blood Grasp. A lower damage single target spell that heals you and increases your maximum life, in the lategame this alose will give you ~1500+ extra max life. Most I had was +2200. For a grand total of 4100 max life. Yeah.
- Blood Boil. A multi-target spell that damages and heavily slows diseased targets in sight
- Blood Fury. A sustain that increases spell crit chance and overall blight damage
As you can see, this is a heavily offensively focused category of talents that provides crucial multi-target damage and detrimental effects and synergises well with another offensive talent category - Corruption/Plague. Though you'll only be investing in Plague category later in the game as class points are limited.
Moving on... To the more traditional guide sections - stats, prodigies, talents, etc...
I've romanticised and praised this class enough, but it's time to discuss the flies in the ointment. I will ramble a bit about this class - mostly its strengths and weaknesses, you might skip this whole section, or bear with me, for what it's worth.
This is a pure arcane (spellpower-based) caster class, and it specialises in dealing heavy damage with nuke spells, appliying debuffs to weaken enemies/increase damage taken by enemies while enhancing itself with sustains so it can deal more damage. Yeah. The epitome of a glass cannon in this game. Snowball potential is extreme and boy oh boy does it feel good when you do that. Things die so fast you won't really notice how frail the class actually is... But if you get unlucky with gear or lack understanding of i.e. combat positioning or waste/fumble your Dark Portal or overcommit to a fight, you'll pay the ultimate price, especially early-midgame. Corruptor does indeed pay dearly for such mistakes, compared to other classes.
Well, there is one defensive sustain, Bone Shileld, which happens to be one of the best in the entire game, but that's it in the defense department... Like, imagine being dispeled by an Archmage that teleports in from the fog of war... All five of your sustains are gone, including Bone Shield. You're naked and vulnerable, you die, your body participates in vile arcane experiments. Moreover, the class only has one "lockdown" spell (Pacification Hex, which guarantees a daze, assuming you can beat the target's spell save, but then becomes unreliable) and one stun+damage spell that has a condition on cast (Catalepsy). And, uuuh, a mind control spell (Domination Hex), which is the source of infinite fun. You beat their spell save, they go all out on other enemies, sometimes destoying them utterly; great in the Orc Prides especially. That's one defensive talent and three control talents. Ah, forgot about Bone Grab - sadly, it only makes sense using it while adjacent to an enemy to push it away, but if you fail to beat their spell save, you'll have a dangerous melee in your face getting an attack after your failed attempt that can potentially kill you or leave you disabled and more. There's also Poison Storm but it's a bit of a mixed bag. Sure, it deals automatic damage in a decent radius once you activate it, but the damage is not high at all; it applies three different detrimental effects, but only one at a time and only one of them is actually worth it in my understanding, the crippling blight (talent failure chance). It also is a poison effect, so everything that is immune to poison (i.e. most of undead enemy types) is immune to its effects. Don't get me wrong - Poison Storm is a powerful talent, it's just that I've found no need for it in this particular run, and decided to put points elsewhere earlier than usual (mostly Corruption/Blood). Also, my previous insane/roguelike Corruptor winner has Poison Storm maxed.
Fearscape. I must say that I haven't used it at all in this run. Didn't have it in Dark Crypt yet and later on I had like three tough situations and those were resolved with Gem Portal. But the premise of Fearscape is pretty straightforward: You cast it on an enemy and you both get teleported to another dimension. In that dimension, the ground is burning with demonic flame that heals demons and burns everyone else. Should be used while in demon form (having Flames of Ur'Rok sustained). Has some handy uses - "escaping" an unfavorable matchup (i.e. you vs several rares and randbosses at the same time, Fearscape someone harmless, heal, reset your cooldowns, heal from the flames); or ensuring 1v1 against someone, after casting Fearscape you both will appear in front of each other and at comfortable distance, wild west style.
Finally, Corruptor has only ONE mobility talent with a range of SEVEN. It doesn't get any worse than that for a pure caster with no utility spells or active shield talents. Corruptor also has only four talents that are dealing damage types other than blight, and it's not high at all. Which means Worms That Walk (100% blight damage affinity) give Corruptors a very hard time. Especially Archmage/Corruptor/Paradox Mage/Brawler/Rogue Worms That Walk. Just leave them for good.
This set of circ*mstances is exactly why Stone Alchemy is the best of all possible worlds for this class.
Stat distribution
TL;DR
MAG > CUN > CON or MAG > CON > CUN
Definitely Magic first, as it gives much needed spellpower (literally everything scales with spellpower on this class) and is a prerequisite for your talents. There are two options for your second stat: Cunning (which I picked) and Constitution (which you will be leveling anyway later on if you pick Corrupted shell). Cunning gives crit chance (about 15% from the 50 points you'll invest), while Constitution gives max life (200 points from the 50 points you'll invest) and contributes to the second prodigy you might or might not be picking (Corrupted Shell). Leftover points will go into Dexterity for crit shrug (chance to avoid critical hits) and a tiny little boost to defense (a.k.a. evasion).
Race of choice
TL;DR
Cornac
Cornac seems to me the most fitting choice both from power level and character story perspective. First of all, having four starting inscriptions is a very covenient, safe and powerful option on Corruptor. Second, you get to pick all the talent categories you want without restricting yourself to four inscriptions. Finally, you get six extra class and generic points.
Other powerful options include:
- Shalore (runner-up after Cornac because global speed is king and Timeless can remove silence and other nasty detrimental effects and take some spells off cooldown, but you get it pretty late, at lvl 24, and it takes at least four more levels to get it to full power).
- Drem (being able to double-cast class talents is powerful on its own, but hardly necessary for Corruptor; two Dark Portals, Corrupted Negations, Blood Sprays, etc. in a row is fun, though; can distract enemies with a summon, for what it's worth).
- Ogre (writ large with stormshield runes is very powerful, but you need to get lucky with those runes, otherwise this race is a late bloomer).
- Doomelf (another runner-up after Cornac because Haste of the Doomed solves one of its key problems, lack of mobility; can teleport with Haste of the Doomed even when silenced AND pinned by Garotte, Grapple, and Fiery Grasp; Epidemic into Pitiless into Catalepsy deals ridiculous damage, but it's not that you lack damage anyway).
- Halfling (another runner-up, has talents that complement Corruptor's skillset; boosts crit chance substantially early on when it matters most; provides 50% evasion if a dangerous weapon user, say, a Rogue or a Brawler lands a heavy hit on you; can remove stuns, dazes and, above all - pins, i.e. Garotte, Grapple and Fiery Grasp; but that talent comes pretty late, at level 24).
Inscriptions
TL;DR
early game: Movement, Shatter Afflictions, Shielding, Wild (mental/mental, physical)/Acid Wave/Biting Gale/Healing
late game: Movement, Shatter afflictions, Wild (mental,physical), Stormshield, Stormshield
Early on, you want Movement Infusion, since you only have one mobility talent (Dark Portal). A rune of Shatter Afflictions, since it clears three types of detrimental effects and even provides a little shield for each type. A rune of Shielding (or ideally Reflection Shield) since you have no shielding talents and it works well with Bone Shield, unlike Healing and Regeneration infusions. And finally, you want an Acid Wave rune (to disarm dangerous melee enemies) or a rune of Biting Gale (to freeze any enemy class and, say, run away, or make them waste powerful talents on ice block; as well as lower their stun/freeze immunity by 50%, useful for Stone Touch) or a second Shielding or a Healing infusion (for instant heal, posion, disease or cut cleanse). But my personal favourite fourth inscription by far is a mental or physical or better off a (mental, physical) Wild infusion. Because silence (and especially pin+silence) is the bane of this class. Shadowblade's Shadow Grasp, Brawler's Grapple, Rogue's Garotte and Doombringer's Fiery Grasp are most problematic. Shadow Grasp's silence can be removed with a mental Wild or a torque of mental cleansing, but for the other three you'll need a physical Wild because they are pins, which is a physical detrimental effect. Grapple and Garotte can also be broken with torques of gust of wind (which pushes enemies back, thus ending the effect).
Category order
TL;DR
Inscription -> Bone -> Stone Alchemy -> Inscription/Shadowflame/Chants/Chronomancy -> Whatever you didn't pick earlier
Extra inscription at the start is pretty self-explanatory. Bone is picked at lvl 10 because Bone Shield is a lvl 12 talent anyway, and the rest of them hardly matters. Stone alchemy at lvl 20 because it's the earliest you can pick it without sacrificing either a fourth inscription or Bone. At lvl 34 there's a bit of a crossroad, but to me the most optimal pick would be an fifth inscription. By that time you usually buy or find a stormshield rune. I guess, Chronomancy or Chants are also decent picks at 34, if you have them available. I didn't, but even if I did, I woud still go with Shadowflame, as it is pretty good utility-wise and flavour-wise. If you're wondering why am I not mentioning Tinkers, it's because I consider them non-canon in the main campaign (as stated by Darkgod himself), unless I'm playing a tinker metaclass. If you don't care about canon, pick them at lvl 34 to get the schematics earlier.
Prodigies
TL;DR
Ethereal Form into Corrupted Shell
There are many options, but I've found Ethereal Form at lvl 25 into Corrupted Shell at lvl 42 to be the strongest (a.k.a. most effective) overall combination on insane/roguelike. Here's why:
Ethereal Form is one of the "best" prodigies in the entire game. Corruptor, unlike some other arcane full casters (Necromancer, Archmage, Anorithil) has no built-in resistance penetration (only resistance reduction), eform gives that. Next, 25% absolute damage resistance is unique and is calculated separately. Finally, defense bonus complements abovementioned boons making you harder to get hit. It's just that good.
Corrupted Shell... You know, a 500 life bonus is great on its own. It also encourages you to max CON, which nets you another 200 life. I mean, it's a 700 total max life bonus... Also, ~30 defense, ~25 armor, +20% armor hardiness and ~30 all saves. Not like the saves part matters, but the rest is pretty substantial and makes you rather tanky. And that's what I want for a class so fragile.
Other powerful options would be:
- Cauterize (one-shot protection, but Corrupted Shell takes care of that), Worldly Knowledge (to guarantee Stone Alchemy), Aether Permeation (if you worry about dispel), Adept (boosts all talents, possibly providing a 5th layer of Bone Shield), Rak'Shor's Cunning (ghoul has Ghoulish Leap as another mobility option; and one of the strongest defensive talents in the entire game, Ghoulish Resilience), Arcane Amplification Drone (massive area of effect damage of a different type, it's pretty bonkers; destroys problematic Worms That Walk with 100% blight damage affinity; can block pathways)
Flavour/unpopular, but viable options:
- Eye of the Tiger (if you feel like you run out of buttons to press), Swift Hands (if you enjoy charm management; an underrated yet powerful option), Crafty Hands (if you want to imbue more item types), Armor of Shadows (if you want to be even tankier), Spine of the World (if you are annoyed by physical detrimental effects), Revisionist History (if you want to break the game and legitimately "savescum"; requires Chronomancy escort or Threads of Fate fixed art; arguably the most "powerful yet tedious" prodigy in the entire game), Meteoric Crash (to add a powerful nuke with two other damage types on top of your nukes, best used with Corrupted Negation), Draconic Will (if you don't want all the detrimental effects to affect you, period; requires proactive attitude)
Gear
You want following properties on gear, in order of priority:
- Earlier in the game: max life/negative life, spellpower/magic, healing charm (amulets, totems), gust of wind (torques, breaks Grapple and Garotte), stun/freeze immunity, blight damage increase, spell crit, summon tentacle (pins and distracts enemies)
- Later in the game: spellpower/magic, blight damage penetration, crit chance, blight damage increase, crit power, cooldown reduction (boots, pickaxes, Zemekkys' Broken Hourglass), spellsurge (spellpower on spell critical), defense, silence immunity (you'll have physical/mental wild anyway), stun/freeze immunity (you'll imbue your armour with a bloodstone anyway)
- You can also, of course, opt for out of phase (up to +40% all resistance, 40 defense, 40% reduction in detrimental effects duration, for 5 turns) since Dark Portal is a teleport and you can have it on decent uptime if you get a second mini-teleport from a pair of boots of blinking, for example.
Talents
Now, people on the forums discussed most of the talents through and through in their guides, and on most of that I probably agree, so...
Here's a TL;DR
"+" means float
Class:
Corruption/Sanguisuge
3/0/0/0 early
4/0/0/0 later
Corruption/Vim
3+/1/0/0 early
5/1/0/0 later
Corruption/Bone
1/1/1/5 as soon as possible
Corruption/Plague
1/0/0/0 at the start
1/1/1/1 by lvl 25
5/1/5/5 lategame
Corruption/Blood
3/1/2/0 early
5/1/3/2 by lvl 25
5/5/5/5 lategame
Corruption/Blight
1/2/2/0 by lvl 14 or so
1/4/2+/0 by lvl 25
5/4/4/0(5) lategame, poison storm optional
Corruption/Shadowflame
1/1/1+/1 at lvl 34
1/1/5/1 lategame
Generic:
Technique/Combat Training
0/1/1/0/0/0 as soon as possible
5/1/2/0/0/0 eventually
Spell/Stone Alchemy (Alchemist escort)
1/1/2/5 at lvl 20 immediately
5/5/5/5 eventually
Spell/Staff Combat (Angolwen staff carver)
1/1/4/0 pick it when you have spare generic points, normaly this happens later in the game, in the Eastern Eyal
Corruption/Torment
1+/1/1/0 early
2/1/1/0 lategame, wilful tormenter luxury
Corruption/Hexes
1/1+/1/3 by level 14
3/3/1/3 later
Corruption/Curses
1/1/5/0(1) by level 16 or smth, curse of vulnerability optional
Brotherhood of alchemists quest:
Elixir of Focus for +2 class talent points (Agrimley the Hermit)
Elixir of Foundations for +2 generic talent paoints (Ungol of Last Hope)
Elixir of Explosive Force for +4% spell critical chance (Agrimley the Hermit)
Aaaand that's it! Have fun corrupting your way to the victory
