If you enjoy builds that come online early and never really slow down, Rusty Cleaver is easily one of the strongest choices in the current Oaken Tower meta. Unlike some late-game strategies that spend the first few days simply surviving, this build starts winning rounds almost immediately and keeps getting stronger every single day.
What makes it so consistent isn’t a complicated combo or a rare legendary item. In fact, the entire strategy revolves around one weapon: Rusty Cleaver. Once you find it early, almost everything else in the build exists to make that single weapon attack more often, crit more frequently, and eventually unleash ridiculous burst damage that can wipe enemy boards before they have time to respond.
It’s also one of my favorite builds for climbing because it isn’t overly dependent on perfect shop luck. Sure, finding supporting items helps, but as long as you secure a Rusty Cleaver early, you usually have a path toward a 10 Trophy run.
Oaken Tower Rusty Cleaver Build Guide (S-Tier Meta)
| Category | Details |
|---|---|
| Tier | S Tier |
| Difficulty | Medium |
| Stability | Very High |
| Goal | Reach 10 Trophies |
| Core Strategy | Scale one Rusty Cleaver into an extremely fast, high-crit burst weapon using cooldown reduction and Multicast synergies. |
This build focuses on accelerating one carry weapon rather than spreading power across your entire board.
Every upgrade, item, and positioning decision should ask one question:
“Does this make Rusty Cleaver stronger?”
If the answer is yes, you’re usually making the correct decision.
How the Build Works
At first glance, Rusty Cleaver doesn’t seem particularly impressive. It’s a decent early-game weapon, but nothing about its base stats screams “best build in the game.”
The secret is how well it scales.
Instead of continuously replacing your carry with stronger weapons, you spend the entire run investing into Rusty Cleaver until it attacks so quickly and crits so consistently that it simply overwhelms enemy teams.
The build scales through four major mechanics:
- Critical Strike Chance
- Cooldown Reduction
- Multicast
- Burst Damage
Each support item contributes to one (or more) of those strengths.
By the late game, your Rusty Cleaver should be attacking constantly while stacking enormous bursts of damage.
Core Perks
Whenever possible, prioritize these perks:
- Tempo
- Strike
- Toxic
- Electric
Each one supports the build differently.
Tempo
Tempo is arguably the most important perk early.
It helps you cycle through shops faster and increases your chances of finding additional Rusty Cleaver copies before other players start scaling.
Strike
Strike provides additional offensive pressure and helps maintain your early win streak while your Cleaver is still developing.
Toxic
Poison adds consistent damage during the early and mid game.
Even before your Cleaver reaches full strength, Toxic helps secure rounds against stronger boards.
Electric
Electric adds another layer of scaling damage that complements your growing burst potential nicely.
Final Board
A typical finished build looks like this:
- Rusty Cleaver ★★ (or ★★★)
- Wrench
- Frozen Jaw
- Multitool ★
- Dream Catcher
Once everything is assembled correctly, your board starts creating an almost endless loop of cooldown reduction and Multicast.
Watching it work is honestly pretty satisfying.
Item Priority
These are the items you should prioritize whenever they appear.
- Rusty Cleaver
- Dream Catcher
- Wrench
- Nature’s Call
- Multitool
- Frozen Jaw
Everything else is secondary.
If you miss Rusty Cleaver early, this build becomes significantly weaker.
If you find it immediately, however, you’re already halfway toward your final board.
Flexible Items
Sometimes the shop simply refuses to cooperate.
Fortunately, several alternative items fit naturally into the build while you search for your main pieces.
Useful flex options include:
- Time Pendant
- Lost Fragment
- Nightquill
- Spyglass
These aren’t permanent requirements, but they keep your board competitive until your core setup is complete.
Why Rusty Cleaver Is So Strong
Most builds try to spread power across multiple weapons.
Rusty Cleaver does the opposite.
Instead of upgrading several average weapons, you’re creating one incredibly powerful carry.
As the run progresses, your Cleaver gains:
- Higher critical strike chance
- Faster attack speed
- More Multicast triggers
- Greater burst damage
Eventually enemies simply can’t survive long enough to fight back.
It’s one of those builds that feels fairly normal for the first few days before suddenly becoming completely ridiculous.
Day 1-4: Build Your Carry Immediately
The opening four days determine whether this build reaches its full potential.
Unlike slower strategies, don’t be afraid to spend gold rerolling the shop early.
Your main objective is finding multiple copies of Rusty Cleaver.
Ideally you want to:
- Find Rusty Cleaver immediately.
- Upgrade it to ★ before Day 3.
- Continue collecting copies toward ★★.
Getting that early upgrade makes the rest of the run much smoother.
Pick Up Talon Early
Whenever Talon appears, grab it.
Talon quietly increases Rusty Cleaver’s critical strike chance every day.
The earlier you find it, the more total value you’ll receive throughout the run.
Dream Catcher Is Your Next Priority
Dream Catcher might not look exciting at first.
Its cooldown reduction is actually one of the biggest reasons this build scales so well.
More attacks mean:
- More critical hits
- More Multicast
- More burst damage
Every cooldown reduction effect becomes increasingly valuable as your build develops.
Priest Encounter
On Day 3, always choose:
Healing Touch
Extra health scaling throughout the run provides much more value than short-term alternatives.
Day 5: Don’t Fall Behind on Levels
By Day 5 your attention starts shifting away from shop rerolls.
Your priority becomes reaching Level 4.
Players sometimes become so focused on finding items that they forget levels also provide significant survivability.
If you’re under-leveled here, later fights become noticeably harder.
Day 6-8: The Build Starts Exploding
This is where Rusty Cleaver transforms from a strong weapon into your entire win condition.
Enchanter Priority
If your Rusty Cleaver is still only ★ when you meet the Enchanter, use the enchantment to upgrade it.
Saving gold while immediately increasing your damage is an easy decision.
Wrench Positioning
Positioning matters more than many players realize.
Always place your Wrench where it targets Rusty Cleaver.
That’s already powerful.
If you later find a second Wrench, things become even more interesting.
The Wrench + Multitool Combo Explained
This interaction is the heart of the entire build.
Here’s how it works.
The Wrench grants additional Multicast to Rusty Cleaver.
Multitool reduces cooldowns.
Now imagine placing another Wrench targeting Multitool.
Suddenly:
- Multitool reduces Wrench cooldown.
- Wrench grants more Multicast.
- Multicast activates more frequently.
- More Multicast means even more cooldown reduction.
The cycle keeps feeding itself.
As the fight continues, Rusty Cleaver attacks faster and faster until enemy boards simply disappear.
It’s one of the strongest scaling interactions available in the current meta.
Reach Level 8
During Days 7 and 8 your goal becomes reaching Level 8.
Higher levels provide significantly more effective health, making close rounds much easier to survive.
Don’t delay leveling for one extra reroll.
The additional survivability usually provides far greater value.
Day 9+ Encounter Priorities
Several late-game encounters work extremely well with this build.
Celestia
Probably the strongest option.
Her Wish upgrades Rusty Cleaver to ★★★, permanently increasing its scaling potential.
Drakk’Zar
If your critical strike chance still isn’t capped, Drakk’Zar solves that problem beautifully.
Lyra
Lyra can apply Frosty to your Wrench.
That means Multicast begins stacking even earlier during combat, speeding up your entire combo.
Master Alderos
Alderos offers some incredibly flexible slot enhancements.
Some of the strongest possibilities include:
- Multicast on Wrench
- Status effects on Multitool
- Additional healing
- Extra shielding
These buffs often push the build over the top.
King Midas
Sometimes you simply need gold.
King Midas provides exactly that through his Treasure Chest rewards.
Carmen
If cooldowns still feel slightly slow, Carmen offers another useful source of cooldown reduction.
Day 8 Life Threshold Decision
One encounter deserves special attention.
On Day 8 you’ll often choose between:
- +2 Lives
- Flat Health
Here’s the simple rule I follow.
Take +2 Lives only if it pushes your total life count above one of these important breakpoints:
- 3 Lives
- 6 Lives
- 9 Lives
Crossing one of those thresholds effectively grants an additional day before elimination.
If it doesn’t reach the next breakpoint, the flat Health option generally provides more value because it scales alongside your increasing level.
Frozen Jaw Is Your Final Power Spike
As you approach the late game, start searching aggressively for Frozen Jaw.
This item dramatically increases Rusty Cleaver’s burst potential.
Combined with:
- High critical strike chance
- Massive Multicast
- Constant cooldown reduction
Frozen Jaw often allows Rusty Cleaver to eliminate dangerous enemies almost instantly.
It’s usually the final piece that completes the build.
Advanced Tips
A few smaller tricks make this build even stronger:
- Don’t stop rerolling early until you’ve secured Rusty Cleaver.
- Talon becomes stronger the earlier you find it.
- Dream Catcher should be purchased as soon as possible.
- Nature’s Call or Lost Fragment can be used on Wrench to generate additional Multicast.
- If Spyglass appears before Talon, don’t ignore it. Spyglass provides excellent temporary critical strike scaling.
- Pairing Nightquill with Talon early creates even more critical strike growth over time.
- Always prioritize Wrench positioning correctly. A misplaced Wrench dramatically lowers the build’s potential.
The reason Rusty Cleaver continues to dominate the Oaken Tower meta is because it combines consistency with explosive scaling. You aren’t waiting until Day 10 for your build to become useful—instead, you’re winning early rounds while quietly preparing one of the strongest late-game carries in the game.
What I like most about this build is how every upgrade feels meaningful. Every extra point of crit, every bit of cooldown reduction, and every Multicast trigger makes Rusty Cleaver noticeably stronger. By the time your Wrench, Multitool, and Frozen Jaw are all working together, the entire build starts snowballing on its own, turning one humble weapon into a machine that can comfortably carry you all the way to 10 Trophies.