Hades: Boons and Abilities Guide

Welcome to our ultimate Hades guide, designed to elevate your gameplay and help you master the complex and thrilling world of the underworld. Ready to dive into the intricacies of boons and abilities? Look no further! In this comprehensive guide, we'll walk you through everything you need to know, starting with 'Understanding the Boon System' to uncovering the 'Best Combinations for Each Run.' You'll learn 'Using Abilities Effectively' to turn the tide in your favor, 'Managing Health and Resources' to ensure your survival, and 'Unlocking All Boons' to complete your arsenal. Get ready to conquer the challenges ahead with our expert tips and strategies!

Understanding the Boon System

In Hades, your success depends heavily on the Boons you collect during your escape attempts. Boons are temporary power-ups granted to you by the Olympian gods. Each god offers a different set of abilities that boost your combat effectiveness and provide various perks. Here's everything you need to know about mastering the Boon system.

How Boons Work

As you progress through the Underworld, you'll come across small, glowing symbols on the ground. These symbols represent different gods offering you their aid. When you step on one, you'll get to choose from three possible Boons, each tailored to aid specific parts of your gameplay.

• Attack Boons: These enhance your basic attack, making it stronger or adding special effects. For example, Zeus’ Attack Boon adds chain lightning to your strikes, damaging multiple enemies.
• Special Boons: These modify your weapon's special move. For instance, Poseidon’s special can add knockback, pushing enemies away and dealing extra damage if they hit walls or other obstacles.
• Cast Boons: These improve your Cast ability-your ranged attack. Aphrodite’s Cast might create an area of effect blast that weakens enemies, making them more susceptible to damage.
• Dash Boons: These give enhancements to your dash maneuver. Hermes, the speed god himself, can provide Boons that allow multiple dashes or increased dash distance.
• Call Boons: These are ultimate abilities you can build up over time and unleash for devastating results. Athena’s Call, for example, makes you invincible and deflects all attacks for a short period.

The Gods’ Favor

Every god has a certain theme related to their mythology and personality:

• Zeus: Offers electrical damage and chain lightning effects.
• Athena: Provides defensive Boons and the ability to deflect attacks.
• Poseidon: Deals with knockback effects and environmental damage.
• Aphrodite: Focuses on weakening enemies and reducing their damage.
• Ares: Grants direct, brutal damage and adds Doom, delayed bursts of damage.
• Artemis: Known for critical strikes, boosting your chances of dealing extra damage.
• Dionysus: Inflicts Hangover, a damage-over-time effect similar to poison.
• Demeter: Introduces effects that chill and slow enemies.

Choosing the Right Boons

Synergy and Duo Boons

Certain Boons work extremely well together, creating powerful synergies that can significantly increase your survival and damage output. For example, combining Athena's deflect abilities with Poseidon's knockback can make you almost untouchable.

Additionally, Hades also features Duo Boons-special, rare upgrades that grant combined powers from two gods. These are some of the most powerful enhancements you can get, but they require you to first pick Boons from both gods involved. An example is the "Curse of Drowning," which combines Poseidon and Ares to create a wave of blades on your backstab.

Rarity and Upgrading Boons

Boons come in different rarities-Common, Rare, Epic, and Heroic. Higher rarity Boons offer stronger effects and better stats. To increase the chances of getting higher rarity Boons, you can use Poms of Power (upgrades scattered throughout the Underworld) or by offering Nectar to the gods to increase favor, thus boosting the odds of receiving more potent gifts.

Keepsakes and Boons

Keepsakes are another way to tailor your Boon experience. For instance, starting a run with Zeus' Thunder Signet increases the likelihood of his Boons showing up early. Mixing and matching Keepsakes allows you to drive your build in a direction you find most effective or fun.

Conclusion

Understanding Boons and how they interact with your playstyle in Hades is crucial for making it through the Underworld. Experiment with different combinations, utilize Keepsakes, and aim for Boon synergies to maximize your potential and bring you closer to escaping your father's realm. Happy escaping!

Best Combinations for Each Run

Cruising through the Underworld can be a challenge, but with the right combinations of boons and abilities, you can turn Zagreus into an unstoppable force. Here's a guide to some of the best setups for your runs in Hades.

Sword: Stygius

Primary Boon: Athena's Divine Strike

Athena's Divine Strike boon is fantastic for Stygius, giving your attacks a chance to deflect. This not only protects you from incoming damage but also allows you to reflect projectiles back at enemies.

Secondary Boon: Aphrodite's Heartbreak Strike

Combine the defensive power of Divine Strike with Heartbreak Strike from Aphrodite to inflict Weak. This lowers enemy damage and makes it easier for you to sustain longer fights.

Call: Poseidon's Aid

Poseidon's Aid deals massive damage and can knock foes around, giving you crucial crowd control. A lifesaver in tight spots, it has the potential to clear entire rooms in seconds.

Spear: Varatha

Primary Boon: Zeus's Thunder Flourish

Varatha’s range and speed are perfect for inflicting damage with Zeus's Thunder Flourish. The chain lightning effect ensures multiple enemies are hit, making crowd control a breeze.

Secondary Boon: Artemis's Pressure Points

Rarely will you find a boon as universally useful as Pressure Points. With Varatha, you’ll be striking quickly and often, so the increased critical hit chance provided by Artemis's boon can lead to some huge damage spikes.

Duo Boon: Lightning Rod (Zeus + Artemis)

If you manage to score the Lightning Rod duo boon, your cast crystals turn into lightning strikes. Given Varatha’s long reach, you can place your crystals strategically and deal constant damage while keeping your distance.

Shield: Aegis

Primary Boon: Artemis's Deadly Strike

Aegis benefits immensely from Deadly Strike. Combining the shield's defensive capabilities with a high critical hit chance allows for devastating shield bashes.

Secondary Boon: Poseidon's Tempest Flourish

With the shield’s unique ability to knock enemies back, Poseidon’s Tempest Flourish works wonders. The extra knock-back can keep enemies at bay and deal bonus wall slam damage.

Call: Athena's Aid

While the shield is already great for blocking, Athena's Aid offers brief invulnerability with the ability to deflect incoming attacks. This ensures you stay safe during crucial moments in battle.

Bow: Coronacht

Primary Boon: Dionysus's Trippy Shot

Dionysus’s Trippy Shot boon adds a festive fog effect to your special, which can create chaotic opportunities for damage. This pairs well with Coronacht’s ability to hit from a distance while keeping enemies debilitated.

Secondary Boon: Artemis's Hunter Dash

Winning fights often demands mobility and dexterity; Hunter Dash boosts your critical chance just after you dash, syncing perfectly with the rapid-fire nature of the bow.

Duo Boon: Scintillating Feast (Zeus + Dionysus)

The Scintillating Feast combo takes the bow's crowd-controlling capabilities to another level. When festive fog creates lightning bolts, it increases your overall damage output dramatically.

Fists: Malphon

Primary Boon: Demeter's Frost Strike

Demeter’s Frost Strike can significantly slow down enemies, which is crucial for melee combat. Malphon is fast-paced, and the added chill effect can make fights much easier to handle.

Secondary Boon: Hermes's Swift Strike

Speed is everything with Malphon, and Swift Strike from Hermes will make your punches even faster. The combination of rapid hits and slowed enemies is a deadly mix.

Call: Dionysus’s Aid

Having Dionysus’s Aid on call for Malphon is awesome. The hangover effect on foes adds up as you keep punching, leading to significant damage over time.

Conclusion

*Tinkering with boons and abilities is part of the fun in Hades. These combinations help optimize your chances of success, but the best setup can sometimes depend on what's available during your run. Experiment, adapt, and enjoy the chaos as you guide Zagreus out of the Underworld!

Using Abilities Effectively

In Hades, mastering when and how to use your abilities can make the underworld a whole lot more manageable. Whether you’re wielding the Stygian Blade or blasting foes with a Heart-Seeking Bow, understanding your abilities is key. Here’s a closer look at using those important abilities effectively.

Dash Like a Pro

Dashing is your best friend in Hades. Not only does it help you dodge incoming attacks, but it can also deal damage or set you up for more powerful combos. Look for boons that enhance your dash; Athena's Divine Dash reflects projectiles, while Zeus's Thunder Dash adds a lightning strike.

1. Combine with Attacks: Always dash before attacking to gain an edge on your enemies.
2. Use Defensively: Save your dash for dodging boss attacks or heavy-hitting enemies.

Pro Tip

Master the timing of the dash to pass through traps and avoid damage. A well-timed dash can mean the difference between life and death!

Special Attacks and Casts

Special attacks and casts vary greatly depending on your chosen weapon and the boons you pick up.

1. Repeat Specials: Some weapons, like the shield, benefit from repeated use of special attacks. For example, Chaos Shield's special attack can bounce between multiple enemies.
2. Strong Casts: Utilize casts by aiming them strategically. Artemis's True Shot or Dionysus's Trippy Shot can turn the tide of battle when aiming for clustered enemies.

Make these abilities even more potent by finding boons that complement them. For example, pairing Poseidon's cast with his attack boons can push enemies back, dealing extra damage if they hit walls.

Pro Tip

Retrieving your cast ammo quickly lets you fire them again in rapid succession, especially useful during boss fights.

Call Abilities: The Ultimate Game-Changer

Once you unlock Call abilities from the gods, they become a game-changer at critical moments. Each god’s Call serves different situations:

• Ares’s Call deals immense AoE (Area of Effect) damage.
• Athena’s Call provides temporary invincibility.
• Poseidon’s Call can push back bosses and clear entire rooms.

Save your call for when you’re either overwhelmed or need a quick escape. Remember, you can charge Call abilities for higher-tier power moves. A full charge usually unleashes a devastating attack or provides significant buffs.

Pro Tip

Timing your Call ability during a boss's vulnerable phase can drastically shorten the encounter.

Optimizing Boons

To maximize your ability strategies:

1. Mix and Match: Different boons complement different playstyles. For example, combining Zeus’s chain lightning with Poseidon’s knock-back can wreck groups of enemies.
2. Upgrade Wisely: Focusing on a few core abilities (e.g., dashes, specials) and upgrading them can be more effective than spreading your upgrades thin.
3. Support Boons: Don’t ignore utility boons, like those that give you extra healing, gold, or death defiance charges. These can make a huge difference in longer runs.

Pro Tip

Certain gods have greater synergy with each other. For example, combining Aphrodite’s damage debuffs with Artemis's critical damage boosts can devastate foes.

Utilizing Keepsakes

Remember to use Keepsakes to tailor your playthrough further. You can start with keepsakes that increase health, gain specific god’s boons early, or boost certain abilities. Adjust them as you progress to match your playstyle.

Wrap-Up

Mastering abilities in Hades is an art that involves strategic thinking and quick reflexes. Mix and match your dashes, specials, casts, and calls at the right moments to unleash your full potential and escape the underworld. Keep honing those skills, adapt to the boons you acquire, and soon, blasting through Tartarus will feel like a walk in the park!

Happy slaying, and may the gods be ever in your favor!

Managing Health and Resources

Keeping your health and resources in check is critical if you want to make it out of the Underworld. Here’s how to stay alive and stack up those useful items in Hades.

Keep an Eye on Health

Healing Items

In Hades, regaining health can sometimes feel like digging for gold. Make sure to check for these items:

• Centaur Heart: This power-up increases your max health by a set amount. Stack these hearts to give yourself a larger health pool, making it easier to survive longer runs.
• Chthonic Keys and Darkness: These won't heal you directly but can be exchanged in the Mirror of Night for permanent upgrades that impact health.
• Fountain Chambers: Rare chambers where you can find fountains to heal up mid-run. These fountains are your best friends, so use them whenever you can.

The Well of Charon

When you find Charon's shop, check the Well of Charon for items. They offer temporary buffs for your current run, like instant health boosts or increased damage resistance. Don't overlook:

• Hydrolite: Restores a portion of your health after encounters. Ideal if you're low and need a more continuous healing source.
• Kiss of Styx: Revives you with a good chunk of health after you die. Super useful if you’ve run out of Death Defiances.

Managing Resources

Darkness, Gems, and Keys

These aren't just shiny collectibles. They are crucial to upgrading Zagreus and his weapons.

• Darkness: Collect this to invest in the Mirror of Night, unlocking essential skills and buffs. Focus early on unlocking more Death Defiance charges and healing options.
• Gems: Use these to upgrade the House of Hades and get buffs like better rewards. Prioritize the Infernal Troves - they're helpful when you need health or extra resources.
• Keys: These unlock new weapon varieties and Mirror of Night upgrades. The more variety you have, the better you can adapt to different challenges.

Nectar and Ambrosia

Building relationships with other characters not only makes the narratives more engaging but also grants you powerful Keepsakes.

• Nectar: Gift it to characters to grow your relationship and earn Keepsakes. These Keepsakes offer great in-run bonuses (ditching Prince the Gouger for the Lucky Tooth keepsake can mean life or death).
• Ambrosia: This is used to further deepen relationships or trade for rare resources later in the game.

Strategizing Boons and Keepsakes

Boon Management

Boons from the gods are crucial. It’s often better to specialize instead of spreading your choices too thin.

• Synergies: Many gods' boons work well together (e.g., Zeus and Poseidon). Look for boons that enhance each other to maximize your damage.
• Priority Boons: Some boons are game-changers. Athena’s “Divine Dash” can help you avoid damage, and Dionysus’ “Hangover” effects add continuous damage over time.

Keepsake Strategy

Keep an eye on what’s ahead. Some Keepsakes are perfect for specific situations:

• Early Game: Use Skelly’s Lucky Tooth for an extra life.
• Mid-Run: Thanatos’ Pierced Butterfly, to boost damage for flawless rooms.
• Boss Fights: Stick to Athena’s Owl Pendant for added defense or avoid taking damage entirely with Hermes’ Lambent Plume.

Conclusion

In Hades, managing health and resources is about preparation and smart choices. Whether you're picking up a Centaur Heart, investing in the Mirror of Night, or relying on Charon’s wares, every bit counts towards your escape. Stay sharp, strategize synergies, and always be on the lookout for ways to stretch your resources further than the banks of the Styx - good luck, and happy escaping!

Unlocking All Boons in Hades

If you want to make it out of the Underworld, understanding and unlocking all the boons in Hades is key. Boons are powerful abilities granted by the gods of Olympus that can dramatically change your build and strategy. Here's how to unlock and make the most of them.

What Are Boons?

Boons are gifts from the gods, offering powerful enhancements for Zagreus during his runs. These can boost your attacks, dash abilities, or even grant new powers. Each god offers different types of boons that can turn the tide in your favor when escaping the Underworld.

Meeting the Gods

To start unlocking boons, you'll first need to encounter and impress the gods. This happens naturally as you progress through the game. Here’s a quick rundown:

• Zeus: God of Thunder, who adds electrical damage and chain lightning.
• Poseidon: God of the Sea, offering knock-back effects and tidal waves.
• Athena: Goddess of Wisdom, giving you defensive capabilities like deflection.
• Aphrodite: Goddess of Love, inflicting Weak status and charm effects.
• Ares: God of War, providing Doom effects and increased damage over time.
• Artemis: Goddess of the Hunt, boosting critical hit chances.
• Dionysus: God of Wine, adding Poison and AoE damage with Festive Fog.
• Hermes: Messenger God, speeding up your movement and actions.

How to Unlock Boons

1. Progress Through the Game:

   • Engage with the gods as you clear chambers.
   • Each run offers a chance to meet different gods and receive unique boons.

2. Give Nectar to the Gods:

   • Collect Nectar and give it to the gods. They'll reward you with Keepsakes that increase the chances of their boon appearing.
   • Start with easier gods to find like Zeus and Athena, then branch out to others.

3. Fulfill God Favors:

   • Complete tasks and favors for the gods to unlock their legendary and duo boons.
   • Pay attention to the Fated List of Minor Prophecies, which often leads you to specific boons or god interactions.

4. Use Keepsakes Strategically:

   • Equip god Keepsakes before starting a run to increase the likelihood of their boons appearing.
   • Use Keepsakes from gods you haven’t maxed out on boons yet.

5. Choose Boons Wisely:

   • After acquiring a boon, sparingly use rerolls (if available) to get the one you need.
   • Balance between Attack, Special, and Support boons to cover various combat scenarios.

Duo Boons

Duo Boons are special abilities formed when two gods' powers combine. They’re more powerful but require you to have specific boons from two different gods. Here's how to get them:

1. Acquire Prerequisite Boons:

   • Each Duo Boon requires you to have specific boons from both gods first.
   • For example, to get Zeus and Poseidon’s “Sea Storm” which adds lightning to knock-back effects, you need both of their basic boons.

2. Increase Encounter Chances:

   • With prerequisites met, the chance to see Duo Boons in future god rooms increases.
   • Equip Keepsakes from gods whose Duo Boon you aim to unlock.

3. Re-roll God Boons:

   • Use Fated Authority from the Mirror of Night to reroll boons per chamber.
   • This can help finesse the likelihood of Duo Boons appearing.

Conclusion

Unlocking all boons in Hades is a mix of understanding god allegiance, strategy in using Keepsakes, and making the most of each run. By engaging with different gods, fulfilling their requirements, and balancing your boons, you’ll not only enhance your chances of escape but also discover the myriad ways Zagreus can conquer the Underworld. Enjoy experimenting and harnessing the power of the gods!