12 Hades 2 tips and tricks to get you started in the Underworld

These Hades 2 tips and tricks will set you up nicely on your hunt for Chronos as there's a lot to keep track of in the Crossroads and the perilous underworld. The game starts off relatively simple but far from easy, with your first few Hades 2 runs likely resulting in Melinoe being sent back to the Crossroads before making it out of Erebus.

From then on, new upgrades, features, weapons, Incantations, and vendors quickly start appearing, which will certainly increase your odds of success, but it's hard to know what the best approach is with so many avenues to pursue. So, whether you're a Hades veteran or a rogue-like novice, these tips for Hades 2 – learned from over 100 hours of playing in early access and 1.0 – will help you get off to a great start on Melinoe's revenge mission.

1. Death and experimentation are key parts of Hades 2

In case you've not played Hades 1, or any roguelike for that matter, death and failure are a core part of Hades 2. Almost every failed run unlocks new features and mechanics for Melinoe, and getting sent back to the Crossroads is also your opportunity to spend any resources you may have collected on those new things. If they include any Hades 2 weapons, Arcana Cards, and Keepsakes make sure you experiment with them to both find out what you like and what you don't and potentially unlock even more stuff when you return to the Crossroads.

2. Spend your Magick to cast powerful Omega Moves

Omega Attacks, Specials, and Casts can turn the tide of encounters, especially with the right Boons, but it can be quite easy to forget about this feature in the heat of combat! Although bear in mind that Melinoe is vulnerable while channelling Omega Moves and that her Magick bar refills only when she enters a new encounter arena, so don't spam your Omega Moves as soon as you start a fight or when surrounded. Thankfully there are many ways to passively regenerate Magick and increase how much Mel has (mainly through Arcana Cards and Boons).

3. Learn when to Dash and when to Sprint

If you're used to Zagreus' rapid double-dashing in Hades, you'll have to adjust to Melinoe's slightly delayed Dash which can't be used as often. It's still the best way to avoid damage, but the increased movement speed she gains from her Sprint ability, which is active whenever you hold the Dash button, is also hugely useful. Sprinting helps you reposition and avoid attacks that a single Dash can't avoid and can help you stay out of reach of certain pursuing enemies and attacks. Knowing when to Dash and when to Sprint is essential for many boss fights too – do not rely on repeatedly dashing!

This Sprint can also be improved by Boons, with some increasing the speed to a ridiculous pace, and others adding ways for Sprint to deal damage or apply Curses and other effects to enemies.

4. If you're stuck, you probably need to perform some Incantations

Incantations are the main way you'll permanently unlock new features and upgrades for the Crossroads and the various regions in Hades 2. Most of them will provide an obvious benefit for Melinoe, often helping you reach and beat tough Guardian bosses.

If there's isn't a clear benefit, you probably need to do a run first. As an example, the Fated Intervention Incantation is a significant early spell but appears to do nothing at first. When you next return to the Crossroads, there will be somn story developments and the Fated List of Minor Prophecies will be unlocked, letting you complete prophecy challenges for useful rewards.

5. Focus on getting Ashes early on in Hades 2

Hades 2 Arcana Cards are one of the main ways you can increase Melinoe's power early on, and all of them cost varying amounts of Ashes (with more powerful ones also requiring other resources too) at the Altar. Ashes are a common minor reward for completing combat encounters and have a gray-ish icon and you should prioritize them over the purple Bones for now.

6. Unlock the Wretched Broker and Tablet of Peace to increase Melinoe's Grasp quickly

You'll quickly find that you need tons of Psyche to upgrade Melinoe's Grasp limit to equip more Arcana Cards. The main way to get Psyche early on is to perform the 'Summoning of Mercantile Fortune Incantation' at the cauldron, unlocking the Wretched Broker at the Crossroads.

The Broker will exchange 30 Bones for 5 Psyche, which is handy, but I recommend focusing on getting the Tablet of Peace tool from the Silver Pool for 4 Silver (in fact, you should try and get all four tools as early as possible). This will let you get huge amounts of Psyche by compelling shades you find during runs without sacrificing Ash rewards. You can also get Bones by clearing encounters with the current Grave Thirst weapon once you've also performed the Gathering of Ancient Bones Incantation, letting you easily get Psyche, Bones, and Ash throughout a run.

7. Prioritize Boons that improve your Attack, Special, and Cast at first

Boons can directly affect one of your main abilities or provide a passive buff that broadly improves Melinoe in some way. I suggest trying to get solid options for your Attack, Special, and Cast slots early in a run to ensure your basic methods of dealing with enemies are nicely enhanced. Your Cast especially can benefit from lots of Boons, letting it create Cyclones, pull enemies together, or strike enemies with lightning. Upgraded Keepsakes from any of the Olympian gods will really help with getting excellent Boons early too.

8. Hephaestus has some of the best damage Boons

Speaking of excellent boons, Hephaestus definitely has some of the best of all the Hades 2 characters, with Volcanic Strike and Volcanic Flourish Boons being highlights. They add massive damage to Melinoe's Attacks and Specials respectively thanks to some explosive blasts, capable of hitting many targets at once and tearing chunks out of bosses and armored foes. But if the God of the Forge is proving shy, Zeus and Hestia also offer some superb damage effects.

9. Don't sleep on Selene's Hexes in Hades 2

The Moon Incarnate can appear for Melinoe during a run like any of the other Olympian gods, but she offers a selection of special Hex powers instead of Boons, and I highly recommend getting one if Selene appears for you.

Crucially, they can all be massively upgraded with subsequent Selene rewards – Paths of Stars – turning them into game-changing abilities that can be lifesavers during intense fights. To get the most out of the Path of Stars, pay attention to the Hex at the bottom of the list with the Full Moonglow effect, which provides extra upgrade points at your next Path of Stars. It can be worth choosing the bottom Hex purely for this benefit as I've found every Hex to be good if not great when upgraded a bit.

10. Search for resources before moving on

Resources are essential for performing Incantations and upgrading Melinoe's gear, so it's important that you look diligently for anything useful in most encounter rooms. You'll eventually unlock the Reagent Sensing Incantation, which helps a lot as Selene will mark mining outcrops, digging spots, fishing points, flowers, and lone shades.

However, later in the game, you'll reveal things like Gold Coin vases, Wells of Charon, Shrines of Hermes, and Infernal Troves, which are not pointed out by Selene, so check for these before leaving too!

11. Don't visit Charon too often and save your Gold

Charon and his wares are guaranteed to appear before every Guardian boss fight, letting you get some last-minute buffs before a big fight. However, he also has a small chance of appearing earlier in a region when you likely won't have much gold to buy his best offerings. For that reason, I think it's better to avoid him and save your gold so that you can splash out when you inevitably meet him before a boss. Use your common sense and if you see Charon's shop as an option suspiciously early on in a region, you should probably avoid it.

12. Gift Nectar to every pretty much every character you find

Nectar is the first gift item you'll find, and you should hand one jar of it to every character you come across that will accept one, both in the Crossroads and during runs. The first time you give Nectar to an eligible character, they will give you a Keepsake (although there are a few exceptions where you won't get anything in return) – a useful item that provides a unique buff during a run. Early on, focus purely on giving out as much Hades 2 Nectar as possible to quickly fill out your Keepsake collection, and don't give it all to the same few Olympians – there will be time for romancing gods later!

Further into the game, you can unlock Hades 2 Familiars to provide extra help and make sure you're frequently upgrading Hades 2 Aspects to improve your weapons.

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