Best Hades 2 Keepsakes and how to unlock them

Hades 2 Keepsakes are an important part of your build that grant extra powers, from chances to improve Boons and get more of them to damage upgrades and chances to cheat death. Since you can pick can equip four different ones over the course of full run, you'll also need to consider when you use them and how they can work with other effects in Hades 2 to get the most out of them. So, to help you unlock these valuable charms and know which ones are worth bringing, I've laid out all the best Keepsakes in Hades 2 and how you unlock them.

Best Hades 2 Keepsakes

Of the 33 Keepsakes in Hades 2, a good chunk of them are thankfully pretty good, offering excellent improvements themed around various Hades 2 characters that you'll want during almost any run. Having spent many hours trying a lot of them out, the following are therefore what we consider to be the best Keepsakes in Hades 2, in no particular order:

• Luckier Tooth from Schelemeus: The Luckier Tooth is essentially a Death Defiance which can come in very handy if you're not using the Death Arcana Card or if you've already burned through all your Death Defiances and need an emergency one to fall back on. Toula the Hades 2 Familiar also provides a Death Defiance if you want another.
• Moon Beam from Selene: If you're able to get a Hex from Selene early, I recommend equipping the Moon Beam at your next chance to get a Path of Stars upgrade to appear. With Full Moonglow and a fully upgraded Moon Beam, you can apply up to 10 upgrades to your Hex, which can make it ridiculously powerful in some cases.
• Any Olympian Boon-givers' Keepsake: Boons are the main way you gain power during a run, and the Keepsakes you get from Olympians that make their Boons likely to appear and provide a chance to rarify one are hugely useful for all runs. This is mostly down to your personal build preferences, but I recommend the following:
  • Cloud Bangle from Zeus
  • Iridescent Fan from Hera
  • Beautiful Mirror from Aphrodite
  • Adamant Shard from Hephaestus
  • Everlasting Ember from Hestia
  • Sword Hilt from Ares
• Gorgon Amulet from Athena: Athena is usually limited to Mount Olympus on the Hades 2 Surface path, but this Boon lets her show up anywhere to provide you with a Boon when you're out of Death Defiances. Her Boons are excellent too, so if you've had a terrible time and have lost all your Death Defiances or aren't using any to begin with, this is an essential pick.
• Concave Stone from Echo: This Keepsake gives you a chance to choose a second Boon after picking one from a Boon-giving Olympian. Since having more Boons is basically never a bad thing, this Keepsake is an all-round great pick for one region.

So, those are the best Keepsakes for pretty much any run, but many of them take a while to unlock as some characters don't show up until you've made significant progress. With that in mind, I also recommend the Knuckle Bones from Odysseus or Evil Eye from Nemesis as good early-game Keepsakes. Both are good for making Guardian boss fights easier, with the Knuckle Bones reducing the next Guardian's health and the amount of damage they deal to you. The Evil Eye causes you to deal more damage to the last foe that vanquished you, and that will often be a Guardian.

Other Keepsakes have much more niche uses but can still come in handy. Circe's Crystal Figurine is arguably essential if your Hades 2 Arcana Card selection includes the Judgement card. Also, if you make it through a Guardian boss fight – such as the Hades 2 Scylla or Hades 2 Eris boss fights – by the skin of your teeth, you can switch to Narcissus' Aromatic Phial before using the healing fountain found afterwards to restore more health and improve one of your Boons too.

How to unlock Keepsakes in Hades 2 and upgrade them

To unlock any Keepsake, you need to give the relevant character some Hades 2 Nectar – gift them one phial and they should give you their Keepsake in return. Note that some characters won't always be in the mood for gifts, so you might have to wait until later to get some Keepsakes (there are three that can't be unlocked until very late in the game).

Any Keepsakes you earn will go into the Keepsake case found in the Crossroads training ground where you can equip one before a run. Once you've cast the Kindred Keepsakes Incantation, the same case can be found in the post-Guardian fountain rooms at the end of most Regions, letting you change Keepsake mid-run.

Keepsakes are also levelled up simply by completing encounters while using them, so the more you use one, the faster it will level up. Later in the game, you can also cast the Quickening of Sentimental Value Incantation, which doubles the rate at which Keepsakes rank up, which obviously helps a lot!

As well as choosing the right Keepsake, you'll definitely want to unlock and upgrade the best Hades 2 Aspects for all six weapons, and our Hades 2 tips might even help you out too.

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