Remember how Hades 2 developer Supergiant told us not to expect any big balance changes until later? Well, later has officially come. Hades 2 Patch 2 is here, and it's stuffed with game-changing weapon updates.
"Among the improvements in this patch, look for many new UI icons as well as weapon-related balance changes aimed at enhancing core combat and related choices," Supergiant says in the patch notes. "Your feedback and volunteered gameplay data help inspire our changes, so thank you for playing! Stay tuned for Boon updates in our next patch."
For starters, all five currently unlockable weapons have been retouched. Here's the full list of changes, all inspired by community feedback:
- Witch's Staff: Special knocks foes away, but is slightly slower; Omega Special is faster
- Sister Blades: Special staggers standard foes longer; Attack visual FX better match the hitbox
- Umbral Flames: Attacks are stronger and faster; Omega Attack channels faster and uses less magick; Special gives a speed boost, but has reduced damage; Omega Special can be channeled while moving
- Moonstone Axe: reworked Special provides a lingering barrier; Omega Attack channels slightly faster; Omega Special channels faster
- Argent Skull: Omega Attack channels faster and hits a larger area
On top of that, multiple aspects fo the Nocturnal Arms have been adjusted, with some reworked outright. Further still, dozens of Daedalus Hammer upgrades have been reworked or removed, and replaced with all-new effects. Here are a few standouts from the laundry list of hammers:
- Rapid Thrasher (Staff): new! All your Attacks become faster
- Mirrored Thrasher (Staff): new! All your Attacks hit twice, but you take more damage
- Flick Knives (Blades): new! Your Dash-Strike also fires several Special knives in a fan pattern
- Mega Spark (Flames): new! All your Attacks travel farther and deal more damage
- Dashing Heave (Axe): removed damage bonus; instead, it now hits twice
- Mega Driver (Skull): new! Your Specials travel farther and you take less damage while using them
It just keeps going. Multiple Hexes of Selene have been buffed (generally with reduced Magick requirements), several enemies have been strengthened as well, timers thankfully now pause in Charon's shop, and "you now can fully control the game using keyboard only if you rebind Attack and Special." It's a humongous patch that ought to dramatically shake up how the game feels, which is exciting to see so early in Hades 2's Early Access journey. I can't wait to see what they do with Boons in Patch 3.
