In this article, we will be taking a look atHades 2, the follow-up toSupergiant’ssuccessful rogue-like game. Much akin to the first game, you will have access to a myriad ofboonsfrom the pantheon of gods onOlympusand more, and can be spoiled for choices. Today, we will be taking a look at some of the combinations of boons and buffs that will help you bring out your most potential in your task of taking down theTitan of Time, Chronos.
Introduction
This build is an“early game” buildthat we can easily put together during the early runs of the game where we haven’t unlocked everything in the game yet and will be using the very first weapon available toMelinoë,Descura,The Witch’s Staff, and with this build, we will be focusing more on thearea effectusing theDescura, trying to increase area of coverage as much as possible while also increasing our damage.
InHades 2, we can meditate at theAltar of Ashesat the beginning of each night before heading out to increase our strength and upgrade ourselves, but the amount ofArcanathat we can use is limited by the amount ofGraspavailable to us, which can be upgraded using thePsycheresource.
For this specific build, which is aimed at early runs and bringing out the best offensive capability early on in the game, we will be focusing on earlyArcana cardsavailable to us to make the most out of the tools available to us.
The first Arcana available to us and that we will be using for this build isThe Sorceress.
This card costs one Grasp to equip and will increase the charge speed of our omega versions of our attacking moves.
Next, we will use theWayward Son Arcana.
Its another card costing one Grasp and will allow us to recover Health Points after each encounter, and at the base level of the card, it enables us to regain 3 HP.
This card helps with thesustainon our runs and is one of the more valuable Arcana to use.
TheHuntress cardrequires 2 Grasp to use and will increase the damage of ourAttackandSpecialwhen ourMagickis not at full capacity, and since we will be using our charged omega attacks that use the resource quite often, we will benefit highly from having this card equipped.
TheFuries Arcana cardis the fourth one we will be using with this build and it requires 2 Grasp to activate.
Having this card will increase the amount of damage we deal against enemies that are within ourCast circleand will help bring down foes that are ensnared in your Cast quite quickly.
The next Arcana card we will be using isThe Messenger.
This card costs one Grasp to use and it will make us immune and impervious to all attacks for a second while speeding us up whenever we cast ourBinding Circle.
This allows us an additional dodging component attached to one of our offensive tools with this build, enabling us to be more aggressive in our approach.
We will also be equipping theSwift Runner Arcana, that also requires one Grasp to activate with this build.
What this Arcana does is that it increases oursprint speed, making it easier to dodge enemy ranged attacks with our sprint while also enabling us to pass through enemies when we aresprinting. The added mobility from using this card is invaluable in allowing us to go on the offense using our agility and speed.
Finally, we will be using theDeath Arcana.
This Arcana card requires 4 Grasp to equip and the high cost is definitely worth it as it gives us aDeath Defiance. This acts as an extra life which allows you to come back with 40% of your max life and Magick upon dying, increasing your chance of successfully finishing a run.
For thisearly game build, as we are looking to maximize our damage potential, we will be taking theSilver Wheelkeepsake.
This is a gift from the Headmistress,Hecate, and will increase our maximum Magick by 50 for our run. Since we will be going through a lot of Magick with our charged omega attacks, the added pool greatly enhances the time we can stay on the offense without holding back.
Among the plethora of boons offered by the gods, we will have 5 main slots that will affect and upgrade our moves.
First, regarding the boon relating to ourregular attacks, we will take one of theGod of Sea’s Boons,Wave Strike.
This will add waves to our attacks that will splash any enemy behind the initial target away, making it easier to keep hordes of enemies away and preventing them from surrounding and overwhelming you.
For ourSpecial attack, we will be taking the boon from our cousin,Apollo, the God of Light.
This will increase thearea of effectof our special ranged attacks and also the chargedMoon Strikeusing the omega version, enabling us to deal with groups of enemies more easily.
With ourCastplacing our binding ring on the ground, we will be choosing another boon ofPoseidon, theTidal Ring.
This will enable our casting sigil circle to inflictFroth, which is a curse that has a 25% chance to deal damage to afflicted foes. While this may not feel like a high chance, the added damage does help with clearing out enemies caught within our binding ring.
To add to ourmobilitywith this weapon, we will be using another boon from Apollo to enhance our sprints by taking theBlinding Rushboon.
This boon will increase our sprint speed, which is extremely helpful when fighting against bosses and dodging their huge area of effect attacks, and will also provide the benefit of traversing through the lands faster. Additionally, Blinding Rush will allow us toDazeour surrounding foes, making them miss more of their attacks and increasing our dodge chance passively.
For ourSpecial buff slot, we will take the boon from our aunt,Hestia, theGoddess of the Hearth,Cardio Gain.
This boon will allow us to recover Magick whenever we land our attack or special, making sure that we never run out of Magick while we stay on the offensive.
These five boons will occupy our core slots when we are on our runs, but they do not necessarily need to be the only boons that we use. After we have received theTidal Ringboon, we can supplement our Cast withSuper Novafrom Apollo to allow our circle to expand in size, allowing us to deal damage in an even wider area.
Additionally, we will take theDazzling Displayboon from Apollo to give our attacks the chance to inflict Daze.
The Daze will passively help with our survivability as it will increase the chance of enemies to miss their attacks against you, and this works amazing in tandem with theSwift Runner Arcanathat we’re using with the build.
Next, we will take another boon fromHestiathat will give us an additional way to easily deal with groups of enemies.
This boon is theFlash Fryboon and it will cause an explosive blast around enemies whenever they perish, damaging all the nearby foes.
This is great for setting off a chain reaction of explosions that can easily take out a swarm of small enemies, preventing them from overwhelming you.
Another boon that will help immensely, especially if you come across it early on in the run, is theSea Starfrom the God of the Sea,Poseidon.
This boon will grant a chance for a copy of your rewards to appear at the end of encounters apart from Boons,Daedalus Hammer, or rare resources.
The double rewards can greatly increase your max life, max Magick, or give you extra coins to spend atCharon’s shopfor additional upgrades and overall helps with the run.
Weapon Upgrade
Regarding the options we get from using theDaedalus Hammer, we will be looking to enhance ourAttackthe most, as we are looking to maximize our damage both with our initial attack and splash damage.
TheWicked Thrasherupgrade will increase the power of our attacks, which also scales with the damage effect from the Boons granted by other gods, andMirrored Thresherwill change all our attacks, including the charged omega version, to double attacks at the cost of Magick.
The mirrored attacks essentially double our damage output and paired with theCardio Gainboon from Hestia, we can maintain the mirrored attacks without having to worry about our Magick running out.
Playstyle and General Tips on Runs
The playstyle of this build leans toward a moreoffensive approach, utilizing the variety ofarea of effect attacksand spells from the boons to isolate the most dangerous target from the crowd while taking out smaller enemies using the splash damage and explosions in the process.
The respectableattack speedof the Witch’s Staff combined with the mirror attacks is great for dealing massive amounts of damage within a short period of time, and since the staff does not have attacks with a long animation duration, you do not need to worry about getting stuck in an attack to dodge away from incoming danger.
The omega charged attack of the regular attack will send outdamaging wavesin a line centering on yourself and is great for dealing with enemies at a longer range.
Since theMirror Thrasherupgrade will also double your omega attack, this is a great tool for using it at range to deal consistent damage to bosses while we escape their huge close-range attacks and move in with our agile regular attacks and specials when the windows of opportunity for damage present themselves.
TheMessengerandSwift Runner Arcanacards should be used to full extent, and the efficiency between dodges can be improved by remembering to use theimpervious from castingto avoid damage while your regular dash and sprint are on cooldown.
While we are on our early runs, it is generally useful to go forAshesinstead ofBones, since that will allow us to unlock more Arcana cards, giving us more options to use on our later runs.
When faced with choices between an upgrade that is not a boon that you are not necessarily aiming for andgold coins, it is generally better to go for the coin route, as you will then have access to more options that you can choose between at the Boatman,Charon, whenever you run into him.
But if you are certain that you will not be able to gain enough coins to afford multiple purchases, you go for the upgrade route.
Going forPoms of Powerwill also allow us to level up our Boons, increasing our damage, and for this build, I suggest upgrading theWave Strikeboon as much as possible since the mirrored attacks and the splashes will be our main source of damage when using this build.
Conclusion
While this build is more offensively oriented, it still offers decentdefensethrough theArcanawe are using. TheWitch’s Staffis arguably the most solid starting weapon, and with this build, it becomes a solid powerhouse for dealingarea of effect damagewhile also dishing out considerable damage to your foes.
This wraps up my article for theBlinding Sea, Witch’s Staff early buildforHades 2.I hope you find this helpful on your conquest againstChronos, theTitan of Time, and may you find success in all your runs. If you have any tips, helpful tips, feel free to leave them in the comment section below!!
