Hades 2 – Gameplay Tips (Bosses, Pets / Familiars)

Useful Tips for New Players

How to Beat Chronos Boss

The first phase is all about timing and spacing, funnily enough. Everything he throws at you can be dashed through, if you’re watching closely enough. The only time you should be wildly spamming and putting out as much damage as you possibly can is when there are adds around that can disrupt you watching and responding to Chronos’s cues.

Go for damage when it’s safe to, which is usually right after he dashes/swings at you with his scythe. He’ll do it one time when he’s above 50% HP, and then a combo of three successive dashes/swings when he’s below. All of these can be dashed through. The little echo they do afterward that’s like a rip in the fabric of space, is deceptively larger than it appears, so mind your spacing.

If you have the ability to put your cast somewhere else, like with Zeus, Hestia, or Hades’ boons, slap him with it as often as you can. Take advantage of whatever ranged attacks that you have when he’s melee-unsafe to shorten the fight.

Note: I find putting Hephaestus on my magic regen helps a lot and then using the omega special on Zorephet with him, Demeter or Aphro if you can get an epic or better on her. Add in Dad’s sudden burst of damage or the boon that makes only half as many mooks spawn so you aren’t getting bombarded quite as hard. Luckier Tooth as your keepsake for insurance and if you have upgraded Eternity then Echo’s revive boon is invaluable. If you can get the healing hex from Selene and boost it so that you stock uses even when they aren’t expended then you’re golden.

How to Beat Mermaids

Dodging’s key here, but you gotta be smart about it, use that line of sight. When I’m in the thick of it, I usually target the drummer first ’cause she’s dropping all those nasty AoEs across the map. The key-tar player? Not too bad, honestly. She charges, and if she smacks into a wall, she’ll hurt herself. If not, leading her into environmental hazards does the trick when they’re active. Now, Scylla’s the real pain. She’s shotgun-blasting in front and blocking shots from behind.

Having different boons helps a ton. Zeus throws down lightning on everyone if your mana’s low, which is a lifesaver without mana regen. If you’re packing good mana regen, Zeus, Hestia, and Demeter all dish out serious damage.

Apollo’s got a range boost for your attacks, and Poseidon hooks you up with a damaging sprint.

Loads of strategies to win here. My tip? Just keep playing, stack those upgrades, and get those attack patterns down cold. You got this!

How to Beat Infernal Cerberus Boss

Literally just learn the pattern and don’t get greedy. The slam has a massive AOE so when you see the paw go up dash backwards/away from the paw being slammed so your opposite. Alternatively use ranged stuff. Get behind him when he does the vacuum so you can hit him for free when he spews fire. Run the hell away when everything starts glowing.

How to Get the Cat as a Pet / Familiar

You showed some love to the underworld cat a couple of times, scored a recipe for treats, and later ran into the same kitty on the surface. Now, she’s on your team. She’s got your back with a bit of health recovery, she can fetch a fish, and if you hustle over her, she’ll lay the smackdown on enemies for 90 damage. But let’s not get too excited, most of the time, she’s just snoozing in a corner, especially on the Fields stage. Cats, right? And her health boost? It’s just a measly 10 HP.

Note: The cat’s not exactly top-tier. It wanders off, takes a nap, and only wakes up when you dash through it to smack an enemy for 99 damage before going back to sleep. It’s got this weak death defiance thing too, just tossing you 15 HP. Oh, and it’ll fish for you once. But let’s be real, compared to the frog (Frinos)? The frog’s way better!

How to Deal with Screamers

Try a different tactic. This isn’t the original game where you can just abuse dodge and facetank hordes of enemies. the combat requires a little more finesse.

In this game, ensnaring enemies with your cast and punishing them with Omega attacks to break armour is the current meta.

Once you adapt, you’ll have tons of fun melting mobs. Those screamers are easy, there’s tons of other enemies later on that are way, way more annoying.

Tips on Goldwrath

He is pretty tanky. If you don’t end up with decent DPS he can be tedious.

I don’t think it is too difficult to avoid his damage, just continue dashing behind him when he does ranged projectile, and keep distance when he is spitting coins. He is pretty easy if you have cast with a decent damage output as you can just keep it underhim while you avoid his attacks.

You have to slow down its turning speed, then the lasers are dodgeable. Basic cast should be enough, add Demeter (any boon that freezes) for a bit of cheese.

How to Get Weapon Upgrades

This option will be unlock at the dialogue, and get a recipe on the calderon, speak and improve relation with hecate to unlock this. You get it from an incantation which Hecate will teach you after talking to her enough. I got mine on I think night 18? It was roughly ten hours from my latest playtime. Upgrades are all tied to resource gathering primarily gained from succeeding at oaths of night challenges.

How to Unlock Legendary Boons

There is an incantation that will enable offering lists in Book of Shadow, similar to Hades 1, and you can see requirements for legendary/duo boons. That will make getting legendary/duo boons a lot easier.

You need a combination of boons, there is a list that shows the combos that you can unlock.

For example to get king tide from poseidon (splash effects are larger and apply bonus damage to guardians).

You need:

1. Wave strike or wave flourish
2. Slippery slope
3. Crashing wave

Some of the duos have 3 requirements mixed between multiple gods/goddesses, some are only 2.

All Legendary Boons (expect) Hermes require 3 different boons from that god (and from very specific groups, can’t just be 3 random boons).

Thankfully you unlock a codex upgrade later on that gives you all that info on requirements.

What are the requirements for that codex

You need 2 Ambrosia, 2 Poppy and 1 Golden Apple. All 3 are pretty late game items. Poppy seeds are from Tartarus, Ambrosia from a specific main hub area upgrade (the tavern) and Golden Apple from last boss on the Surface.

How to Pause a Game

Tip/cheat for people who want to pause the game during that fight:

• You can just [Alt]+[Tab] the game while at full screen to pause it.
• When the game releases on consoles, going to the home menu of the console will also work.

More Helpful Tips

• That’s solid advice. Sometimes those boons you initially hate can turn out to be real game-changers, especially when paired up with the right upgrades or weapons.
• Frinos is clutch, no doubt. Psyche matters a lot in this game, and having more cards can really amp up your power against those titans.
• Sprinting is a lifesaver, especially with the cooldown on dashes now. Being able to outrun attacks or just create some space to strategize can be the key to survival.
• True, experimenting is where it’s at. Sometimes you gotta ditch the guides and figure out your own playstyle. You might stumble upon some killer combos you never knew existed.
• Forget-Me-Not is a godsend for us forgetful types. Keeps us on track with recipes and saves us a ton of time wandering around aimlessly.
• Nemesis can be a pain, but losing a few coins beats losing the whole run any day. Gotta play it smart.
• Can’t sleep on those hexes. They’re powerful on their own, but upgrading them with more Selene boons? That’s just next level.
• Frinos pulling double duty as a shield against projectiles? That’s some next-level teamwork right there. Especially handy against those pesky sheep hexes from Hecate.