How to get Hades 2 Nectar and how to use it

Hades 2 Nectar location reward icon
(Image credit: Supergiant Games)

Gathering Hades 2 Nectar during runs is a slow process at first but it gets easier the more you play, and you'll need a lot of Nectar as it's a crucial Indulgence item. Since Melinoe can't sip the divine drink herself in Hades 2, it seems a bit useless initially, but you can hand it out to your pals in the Crossroads, Underworld, and the Surface to improve your relationships and get useful gifts in return. To help you stock up on as much of the stuff as you can, I've explained all the ways of getting Nectar in Hades 2 that I've come across and how you use it.

How to get Nectar in Hades 2

Hades 2 Nectar for sale from the wretched broker

(Image credit: Supergiant Games)

Nectar can be obtained in a few different ways in Hades 2, slowly at first, but you'll be able to get it more consistently later, even being able to brew it yourself:

  • Choose Nectar as an Encounter reward: Nectar is an uncommon reward from encounters in all regions, so look for the filled phial icon on exit doors and other reward locations.
  • Buy it from Charon: The boatman very occasionally sells a phial of Nectar for Gold if you visit his shop during a run.
  • Kinship Fortune Incantation: Cast the Kinship Fortune Incantation to receive one Nectar phial and upgrade the Wretched Broker at the Crossroads, revealing the Exotic Goods tab which lets you exchange 30 Bones for one Nectar once per Crossroads visit.
  • Harbinger of Doom Minor Prophecy: By summoning Moros for a second time with the Doomed Beckoning Incantation, you will complete the Harbinger of Doom Minor Prophecy from the Fated List, which gives you one Nectar phial as a reward.
  • Sweet Nectar alchemy recipe: Later in the game, you will unlock this recipe at the Cauldron, letting you turn one Golden Apple and one Star Dust into six Nectar phials. I got the recipe from Aphrodite after beating the Hades 2 Eris boss fight.

What is Nectar for in Hades 2?

Hades 2 giving nectar to hecate and receiving silver wheel keepsake in return

(Image credit: Supergiant Games)

Now that you have some Hades 2 Nectar, you can give it as a gift to various characters found in the Crossroads, the Underworld, and the Surface to get Keepsakes and relationship points. Nectar is also sometimes used as an incantation and alchemy ingredient.

If you have Nectar in your inventory, you can approach most non-hostile Hades 2 characters – that includes allies at the Crossroads, Olympian Gods that provide Boons, and other characters you come across in the Underworld and Surface like Charon, Arache, Narcissus, and Medea – and offer a gift by pressing R2/RT and selecting the Nectar item from the list of Indulgences. The first time you do this for a particular character, you'll be given a valuable Keepsake buff item to take on your runs in return (though there are a few exceptions) and you'll improve your relationship by one point.

Hades 2 Moros would welcome a gift of Nectar book of shadows message

(Image credit: Supergiant Games)

You won't get anything in return for every Nectar bottle you hand over after the first (and they can even be rejected in some cases), but you can eventually unlock Fated List prophecies and opportunities to offer other Indulgences, such as Bath Salts and Twin Lures for bathing and fishing with a friend respectively.

Cast the Empath's Intuition Incantation, which is unlocked quite far into the game (based on my experience, you might have to gift 20 Nectar to unlock it at the cauldron), and reveals your relationship level for any character listed in the Book of Shadows. It also shows what you can unlock by giving them more gifts, and what gifts they want, if any.

As our Hades 2 tips suggest, it's a good idea to give out Nectar to several characters as soon as possible to quickly build up a small collection of Keepsakes. But if you're after Hades 2 Familiars you'll need Witch's Delights instead.

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Will Sawyer
Guides Writer

Will Sawyer is a guides writer at GamesRadar+ who works with the rest of the guides team to give readers great information and advice on the best items, how to complete a particular challenge, or where to go in some of the biggest video games. Will joined the GameRadar+ team in August 2021 and has written about service titles, including Fortnite, Destiny 2, and Warzone, as well as some of the biggest releases like Halo Infinite, Elden Ring, and God of War Ragnarok.

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