15 Things You Need To Know Before Playing Hades 2

Hades 2 is out now in early access. After the success of the first game, players are bound to be excited for yet another trip into the depths of the underworld. Of course, you might be wondering how to succeed in this challenging roguelike title. We've got a Hades 2 beginner's guide with several tips to help you on your journey as Melinoe.

Hades 2 beginner's guide - 15 tips to know before playing Hades 2

Our Hades 2 beginner's guide has tips for the mechanics and concepts that you'll encounter within your first few hours of playing. Given that this is an early access title, some features might change down the line.

The single most important Hades 2 tip is to keep Melinoe in good condition. Your character's health determines just how long you'd be able to survive in the dark depths. Once depleted, you'll return to the Crossroads (i.e. main hub) to restart your run.

There are a few ways to heal Melinoe or increase her max HP. These include procuring Centaur's Hearts as rewards, eating snacks (i.e. purchased from Charon if available as a reward), and drinking from fountains after defeating a zone boss. Likewise, there are certain permanent buffs that can increase maximum HP, as well as passives and bonuses that heal you for a small amount (i.e. when exiting a room). You can learn more about this mechanic in our healing and max HP guide.

While roaming around, you're going to encounter many interesting characters, such as Nemesis, Odysseus, Olympian gods, and even some folks that only appear in each dungeon's zone. Make sure you talk to them (and salute if the option is available). Doing so helps you learn about the backstory for this sequel, while also advancing the narrative for future interactions.

As you trek through multiple dungeon rooms/floors, you're going to see a bunch of rewards when selecting a path/doorway. Most of the time, these can only be acquired once you've cleared a particular encounter in that room. As such, it's also a good idea to consider which of these rewards you should go for--i.e. think of your character's current status/what you need, or the particular build that you're going for. Here are some examples of these perks and their respective symbols:

• Centaur's Hearts
  • Effect: Increases maximum HP.
  • Symbol: A heart with a red-colored trident.
• Magick Flask
  • Effect: Increases your maximum mana.
  • Symbol: A circular bottle with a five-pointed star symbol.
• Obols
  • Effect: Coins used to purchase items.
  • Symbol: A golden coin with an hourglass drawing.
• Charon's Shop
  • Effect: Enter a room where you can buy stuff from the Ferryman of the Dead.
  • Symbol: Item pouch with a skull.
• God Boons
  • Effect: Grants different skills/passives based on the god that provides the boon.
  • Symbols: Aphrodite (pink heart), Apollo (golden sun), Chaos (purple crystal), Demeter (light blue wheat), Hephaestus (blacksmith tongs), Hera (turquoise ankh), Hermes (wings), Hestia (fireball), Poseidon (blue-green trident), Selene (crescent moon), and Zeus (lighting bolt).
  • Note: Some gods such as Artemis appear as part of special encounters, as opposed to seeing boons/symbols inscribed on pathways.
• Upgrades: Pom of Power and Daedalus Hammer
  • Effect: Levels up your abilities (Pom of Power) or improves certain facets of your weapon-based attacks (Daedalus Hammer)
  • Symbols: Pom of Power (a red fruit) and Daedalus Hammer (an ornate hammer).
• Resources
  • Effect: Collect these so you can use them for various permanent unlocks in the Crossroads.
  • Symbols: Ashes (a wispy grey tuff), Psyche (green slime), and Bones (purple bones).
  • Note: There are also several other materials acquired from mining and farming, as well as those dropped by bosses.
• Special Encounters
  • Effect: Meet unique characters and dungeon denizens.
  • Symbol: Two hands with a speech bubble.
• Bosses
  • Effect: These rooms lead to boss encounters (i.e. sub-bosses and main bosses).
  • Symbol: There's usually a white skull icon affixed on the doorway.

Some dungeon rooms with rewards that you can readily grab might also have doorways that are sealed. Interacting with these triggers additional battles against enemy mobs. Think about whether you truly want this to happen or not--perhaps the reward that's already available is enough, or maybe you're enticed by the possibility of another boon you could choose.

One of the most integral Hades 2 tips is to be mindful of the skills granted by gods to Melinoe. In general, skills will replace basic actions, such as your attack, special, dash, and cast. There are also passives that provide bonuses. What you see in the selection pool is also randomized. And, yes, it's also possible to replace a particular boon with something else (i.e. replace the Poseidon dash move with one from Hestia or another god).

The idea is to think of potential synergies among these abilities so that you've got a well-tailored build for the long road ahead. For example, a Demeter-boosted cast can freeze enemies, which means you probably don't want to replace it with something else. You can also look at the Boon Info panel to see the perks that you've already acquired in that particular run.

Lastly, there are two additional features that are worth mentioning:

• Duo Boons - Upon acquiring powers from two different Olympians, there's a chance that the next one you find has a Duo Boon ability in the selection pool. This is a combined effect from the two gods. One example is Chain Reaction, a Duo Boon from Hestia and Hephaestus. It causes Hephaestus' blast effect to fire twice if you use them as soon as they're recharged.
• Infusion - Once you've unlocked the Divination of the Elements from the Incantation Cauldron (more on this later), you'll be able to see the elemental affinities of boons. In turn, some abilities offer stronger buffs depending on how many boons you've acquired that belong to a particular element. For example, there's an Infusion called Slow Cooker, and it increases the power of your attacks and specials for each fire-type boon that you've found.

To learn more about the ideal picks for subsequent runs, you can take a look at our best boons/skills guide.

Melinoe's dash move is a very important action during combat. When used, it causes her to dodge incoming hits for a split second (i.e. iframes). Boons also grant additional effects, such as applying a debuff or knocking back foes.

The cast move causes Melinoe to spawn a circular vortex at her location. This immobilizes enemies that pass within its area of effect (AoE), making it invaluable when multiple hostiles are chasing you around. Since new enemies appear after you've cleared the initial group, it's often a good idea to "precast your cast"--i.e. throw down that vortex--as your foes are about to spawn.

Omega abilities use up your magick (mana). These are stronger versions of your moves (i.e. attack, special, and cast). They can be activated by holding the corresponding button, as opposed to just pressing it.

Omega abilities take at least a couple of seconds to fully charge before you can unleash them. The good thing is that the Sorceress Arcana Card grants a passive that slows down enemies while you're channeling the move. Combining your regular moves with omega abilities is a viable idea, especially if you have magick to spare.

Here's what happens when you use Omega abilities:

• Omega attacks and specials tend to trigger a high-damage variant of the move (usually dependent on the weapon that's equipped).
• The Omega cast still immobilizes foes, but a high-damage instance is triggered once the effect ends.
• Holding down the dash button makes Melinoe sprint, though this isn't an Omega ability on its own. However, there are boons that may cause certain effects while sprinting, and these will gradually deplete your mana.

The Incantation Cauldron in the main chamber of the Crossroads provides long-term benefits, not just for your current run but for your entire playthrough. These Incantations often require various resources, such as those mentioned earlier, as well as ones that are acquired from tools or dropped by bosses.

Incantations may cause new characters to appear, such as the Wretched Broker, who sells valuable items. Others help you spot more resources. A few even grant special functions that trigger while you're exploring dungeon rooms.

The Arcana Cards are somewhat akin to Zagreus' Mirror of Night from the first game. Here's what you need to know:

• Unlocking a card requires certain amounts of Ashes. You also unlock the cards that are adjacent to the one you picked.
• Activated cards grant passive perks that affect your character.
• Each card has an activation value called Grasp. If you prefer something else, you can deactivate a bonus you don't need.
• You're limited to 10x Grasp by default, but spending Psyche can increase this further.

To learn more about this nifty feature, you can head over to our best Arcana Cards guide.

As you gather more resources, such as different kinds of minerals, you'll be able to unlock new weapons and tools:

• Tools - These are used to gather various materials in dungeons. Examples include the Crescent Pick (stones/minerals), Silver Spade (dig for reagents/seeds), Tablet of Peace (lone shades that give you a lot of Psyche), and Rod of Fishing (aquatic creatures).
• Weapons - By default, you only have the Witch's Staff. Later, you can acquire the Sister Blades, Umbral Flames, and Moonstone Axe.

Note that you're limited to one weapon and one tool for each run that you undertake. As such, you need to be mindful of what you'd bring. You can learn about various gear pieces for Melinoe in our weapons/aspects guide and gathering tools guide.

From time to time, you might see a symbol of a pouch with a skull. This leads you to a room where you'll find Charon, the Ferryman of the Dead. Charon usually sells three items, which can be purchased via Obols (i.e. gold coins). Make sure you've amassed enough so you can buy what you need.

The Nectar is a special item that you can obtain during your journey. We've got a Nectar sources guide to help you acquire more of this concoction.

The reason why it's valuable is because it can be given as a gift to other notable characters (i.e. Nemesis, Odysseus, Olympians, and more). Notable effects include:

• Characters that receive Nectar grant you their Keepsake. These equippable items have unique effects, which can be boosted further as you complete encounters. We've got you covered in our Keepsake accessories guide.
• As you increase your relationship level with a character, certain romance options may open up. We have all the details for you in our character romance guide.

Each zone that you traverse in Hades 2 has a boss battle at the very end, denoted by a skull icon or other notable symbols:

• Sub-bosses - These are encounters against elite foes. You'll likely encounter at least one in each zone (usually after clearing a few rooms).
• Main bosses - These are the champions guarding the exit to the next zone. Taking them out allows you to progress to the next level. We discuss these opponents further in our Guardian bosses guide.

Hades 2 is a roguelike game, which means deaths are expected. In fact, we'd even say that deaths are totally welcome. Here's a quick summary:

• When Melinoe dies, she'll respawn at the Crossroads. You'll lose all God Boons, gold coins, and temporary upgrades.
• However, you don't actually start your next run from scratch. Every resource/material you've collected can be used for Arcana upgrades, Incantation bonuses, weapon/tool unlocks, and item purchases.
• Each time you revisit the Crossroads, NPCs might have additional dialogue.
• Some key events may happen, such as flashbacks.
• Your next run may introduce you to new characters, Olympians (and their boons), and villains, too.

That concludes our Hades 2 beginner's guide. We hope our Hades 2 tips help you survive the journey. Please remember that the game is still in early access, which means some mechanics and features may change in the future.