These Hades 2 tips will help if you're new to Hades – or even roguelikes as a whole – or if you're a returning player as there are some changes and new features to be aware of. While the game starts of relatively simple, you're still thrown into the deep end at the start of Hades 2, and things get more complicated the more runs you attempt and the more inhabitants of the Crossroads you speak to. With Arcana Cards to pick, resources to collect, upgrades and weapons to unlock, and plenty more, it can be a lot, so here are 10 tips and tricks for Hades 2 to help you learn the infernal ropes of this fast-paced roguelike.
1. Death is a key part of Hades 2
In case you've not played Hades 1 or Hades 2 is your first experience playing a roguelike game, dying and failure is a core part of the genre, leading to gradual improvement with each death. In Hades 2 almost every failed attempt unlocks new features and mechanics for Melinoe, making the game feel like its constantly changing and responding to your learnings. Getting sent back to the Crossroads is also your opportunity to spend any spend any resources you may have collected on your run. If can unlock anything new, such as new Hades 2 weapons, tools, or Arcana Cards, change your build and experiment as this may help you get a little further on your next run.
2. Prioritize Boons that improve your Attack, Special, and Cast
Boons can fit into different slots (visible on the left side of your screen), either directly affecting one of your main abilities, such as your Special or Cast, while others are just passives that broadly improve Melinoe in some way. I suggest focusing on grabbing solid options for your Attack, Special, and Cast slots, especially early on in a run, to ensure your basic methods of dealing with enemies are nicely enhanced. Any Poms of Power you collect can then go towards upgrading those Boons, improving your offensive options further.
3. Hephaestus has some of the best Boons
If you want some examples of these top-quality Boons, Hephaestus might be your god. He has one Boon that adds periodic blast damage to Melinoe's weapon Attack and another that does the same thing for her Special. The Blast damage is pretty significant too, and depending on the weapon they're used on, these explosions can cover a wide area, hitting many targets at once. They're also especially good against bosses and armored enemies, letting you strip their health with large chunks of damage every 20 seconds or less. I found these Boons to be especially destructive with the Sister Blades, combining backstabs with the blasts for brutal damage in a single attack.
4. Check for Surrounding Auras that affect the environment
When you start a run, open the Boons menu and check for any Surrounding Auras that may be active on the location. These environmental conditions can affect what collectible resources appear that may be necessary for certain Incantations or trade. For example, the Rainfall aura for Erebus means Deathcap mushrooms have a chance to appear in encounter areas, so be on the lookout for those rare fungi and other resources like them.
5. Spend your Magick meter during each encounter
Melinoe has a limited bar of Magick which she can spend to empower her Attack, Special, and Cast, turning them into Omega Moves. These powerful abilities can really turn the tide of encounters, especially with the right Boons, so make sure you use them over the course of an encounter. Melinoe's Magick bar refills whenever she enters a new arena too, so you don't need to worry about saving Omega Moves for later, but it's harder to regain Magick mid-fight unless you've got the right Boons or Arcana Cards active.
6. Use your Cast as often as possible
Melinoe's Cast ability causes her to place a circle on the ground that slows or immobilizes enemies caught inside. Given how fast some enemies can be in Hades 2, this is a great ability to use, and needs to be used in combination with Attacks and Specials. Enemies that either chase you relentlessly or move rapidly when they attack can be massively limited by the Cast. You can improve the Cast too by powering it up with damage thanks to your Omega Cast, or Boons can grant it capabilities, such as knocking enemies back with water or increasing in size over time.
7. Sprinting is essential for avoiding certain enemies and attacks
Some enemies in Hades 2, especially bosses, are much harder to pin down with your Cast or have attacks that aggressively track you no matter where you run. To avoid these, you should try using the new Sprint that Melinoe has as well as her fast Dash. Holding the Dash button lets Melinoe move a bit faster than her usual running pace, letting you more easily avoid certain enemies without having to Dash over and over. Apollo has a Boon that increases the Sprint speed, letting Melinoe move at a ridiculous pace, and plenty of other Boons enhance her Sprint with the ability to apply status effects to enemies.
8. Focus on getting Ash early on
Arcana Cards are one of the main ways you can increase Melinoe's power early on Hades 2, and pretty much all of them cost varying amounts of Ash to unlock while meditating. Ashes are a common reward for completing combat encounters and have a gray-ish icon, so when you're deciding which encounter to go to next, look for this icon.
Once you've got a few Arcana Cards with your Ashes and have filled Melinoe's Grasp, you need to spend Psyche – the pale green, liquid-looking icon – to increase Grasp, allowing you to have more Arcana Cards active at once. Getting Psyche is much easier once you've got the Tablet of Peace too.
9. Give gifts to as many different characters as possible
While playing Hades 2, you'll eventually come across Nectar, which is an item that can be gifted to Melinoe's allies, both in the Crossroads and during runs. Giving gifts is how you improve your relationships with Hades 2 characters, and the first gift you give to each character always results in them giving you a Keepsake in return.
You can equip one Keepsake at a time, and each one provides a nice buff usually themed around whoever gave it to you. These are really useful items to have and experiment with, but there are lots to collect since there are so many characters. To quickly fill out your collection, you should give gifts to different characters rather that giving gifts to the same character to power level your relationship with them. Once you've found at least one Keepsake that really fits your ideal playstyle, continue using it during runs to improve it.
10. Get the Fated Intervention Incantation as soon as possible
Performing Incantations at the Crossroads cauldron is the main way you'll unlock permanent new features and upgrades that Melinoe can use during runs or in the Crossroad. One of the most important ones is Fated Intervention Incantation (it costs one Silver, two Ash, and two Molies) which appears to do nothing at first.
Attempt a run after you've performed the Incantation and then when you die, you'll see some story developments involving a new character. This will also unlock the Fated List of Minor Prophecies in the Crossroads, which is a board of challenges that can be completed for even more rewards, which can help you out a lot.
© GamesRadar+. Not to be reproduced without permission.
