LogFAQs > #947287358

14. Shadow Presence

Times Used: 139
Times Cleared: 51
Ranked among Talent #1: 1/2

Shadow Presence is funny. It's obviously superior to Fiery Presence. As opposed to Fiery Presence, you can actually get multiple backstabs on an enemy. But is it really that good? I mean, I do land a lot of backstabs. And when you go big on backstabs with Athena or Shadow Slash, it feels really good. But if I could lose one of the 12 talents, it would probably be Talent #1. Unfortunately, Routine Inspection doesn't work like that! So Shadow Presence is just this mainstay that you learn to accept is a part of the Hades experience.

13. Boiling Blood

Times Used: 126
Times Cleared: 50
Ranked among Talent #5: 1/2

More damage for something that's pretty easy to do is really appreciated, especially on bosses. I don't mind that the best casts tend to not be lodged into enemies. To me, this is more of an equalizer. The weaker casts have something that makes them strong too.

12. Golden Touch

Times Used: 56
Times Cleared: 23
Ranked among Talent #7: 1/2

While you can ignore Obol rooms in Tartarus with Deep Pockets, you can ignore Obol rooms in Elysium with Golden Touch. If you can get around 150-200 Obol by the end of the boss, you get a nice 100~ Obol by the time you're done. Generally, I like saving my money until the Asphodel-Elysium break room. Then I equip Bone Hourglass and go to town with the Well of Charon there. Golden Touch also makes it a lot easier to earn that Titan's Blood or Diamond by Styx, which is a great reward if you know you got a good set-up by Styx. Also, if you're doing Convenience Fee, Golden Touch is just a lot more valuable than Deep Pockets if you want to actually buy anything. The only reason it's not higher is that Obol becomes less and less valuable each time I play.

Gamma Tier

11. Dark Foresight

Times Used: 60
Times Cleared: 33
Ranked among Talent #10: 1/2

I alluded to this earlier, but it is painful doing a difficult Elysium chamber and being rewarded with something that is useless. By endgame, I'd say Dark Foresight is one of the few talents that is truly necessary to have on. That said, blue wreath rewards are definitely useful to get for the rest of the game. After the ending, I personally would be fine with having Dark Foresight, but I wouldn't say it's necessary yet.

10. Stygian Soul

Times Used: 13
Times Cleared: 9
Ranked among Talent #6: 2/2

Out of all the early green talents, Stygian Soul feels like it got screwed over the most. I've learned that Stygian Soul is a perfectly acceptable alternative to Infernal Soul. I'd argue it's actually better than Infernal Soul if you're doing cast-heavy builds. However, it's such a radically different way of using casts to Infernal Soul. You are just not used to the fact that you can cast Bloodstones every 3 seconds so you just don't abuse it nearly as much as you should. Plus, once you realize how much you can abuse casting, you forget to do other things like attack, special, call...it's legitimately a whole new way of playing cast builds. Unfortunately, you don't get a choice between Stygian Soul or Infernal Soul. Infernal Soul is your default, so you just get used to it.

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I feel completely refreshed. Like I just put on fresh underwear on New Year's Day.