Board 8 > Hades topic

(+) Yeah! (+)

everything i see about unlocking guan yu is contradictory. some say you need to upgrade spear aspects, some say it's not the spear, you need to spend 5 titan's blood on non Zagreus aspects... but they all take 2 titans blood, so how cna that be?

Does unlocking count? I've every aspect unlocked except the hidden weapons for a long time, so I figured that would count, but I've had a ton of runs since then without Achilles mentioning it... unless he's just too busy catching up on main story / Patroclus dialogues...

---

Unlocking aspects worked for me, though it is as you say and Achilles might just want to talk about other things. It apparently only puts the progression dialogue into his pool of conversation topics.

---

Honestly I think I died in the first room 3 or 4 times trying to get him to tell me about the spear upgrade after I spent the titan's blood

---

my first impression of the hidden rail aspect is not great. anyone made use of it? i quite like all the other hidden aspects, and the rail is one of my favorite weapons. am somewhat disappointed

---

I'm 99% certain I'd only spent 2-3 blood at most on the spear by the time Achilles talked to me about Guan Yu. I almost never use it because Dark Thirst rarely chooses it for me, and also because I don't like it.

---

it's definitely spend 5 total titan's blood , including the cost to unlock aspects. so usually you can get it by buying both aspects and then doing one upgrade

---

oh sorry, that's for everything after the initial spear. to unlock the first one, you need to unlock 5 aspects total across all the weapons, not necessarily the lance. after that, to unlock the other 5 hidden aspects, it's 5 titan's blood on each specific weapon.

---

pxlated posted...

my first impression of the hidden rail aspect is not great. anyone made use of it? i quite like all the other hidden aspects, and the rail is one of my favorite weapons. am somewhat disappointed

My first impression was that it's absolutely the worst thing in the game. I guess it could be good with lightning attack or Artemis boon that fires a homing missile. The special is almost completely useless in my opinion.

---

haven't used it much yet, but i had a fun time with the hidden rail aspect with poseidon boon on special, the hammer that makes the area wider on it, and triple bomb. just tossed a bunch out and watched enemies pinball - didn't use the beam much that run esp. in small rooms.

---

Secret of the hidden rail aspect is the special keeps all properties. Deflect on it was very fun.

But even with that said I dont think its good, but not worse than Hidden aspect spear

---

Saw this topic for the first time after a week of playing. Just finished up my fiftieth Escape Attempt, clearing Hades 8 times with every weapon except maybe Fists, I forget.

To clarify, I meant 8 times total. Twice with Shield, and maybe twice spear.

15746 enemies slain
11300 Purple Gems used

WEAPONS:
Stygian Blade (12) - 1 Clear
Eternal Spear (10) - 2 Clears
Heart-Seeking Bow (10) - 1 Clear
Shield of Chaos (7) - 2 Clears, Fastest Time 27:54
Twin Fists (6)
Adamant Rail (5) - 2 Clears, Highest Boon: 2

Top Boon Use:
Static Discharge (10) - 3 Clears
Trippy Shot (9) - 3 Clears
Urge to Kill (9) - 3 Clears
Side Hustle (8)
Pressure Points (8) -1 Clear
Battle Rage (8) - 3 Clears
Flood Shot (8) - 1 Clear

Overflowing Cup is most used Keepsake at (8)

Dusa is the only character I've unlocked giving Ambrosia too, working on Orpheus at the moment.

---

i actually love the hidden aspect spear. i love the move set.

i'll have to play around more with the rail. what do you mean by "it keeps all properties"? that could have a few different interpretations

---

Man, Stubborn Defiance sure feels a lot harder to beat Hades with than Death Defiance. Glad I had a great run when I tried using it.

Had a fun run where I got the rocket launcher and triple special. Paired it with Aphrodite Special for real good damage. Blowing things up was a neat change of pace.
---

playing on a controller, one of my biggest issues with the hidden rail was that it was basically impossible to target the special balls. my most effective way at detonating them was dashing into them. felt very clunky and not ideal

---

Yeah, I dont think detonating the special balls is actually what you want to do most of the time. Use the special balls as a festive fog type effect and attack normally

by keeps all properties I mean if you have Athenas special it will sit there deflecting forever

---

oh interesting. okay, yeah. i'll have to change my approach to it. my initial reaction to the hidden sword was also that it sucked but i've come to enjoy that one too so hopefully i'll change my mind on the rail.

---

speaking of festive fog, that's definitely one of my favorite casts in the game. i wouldn't use it on a lot of builds but it has so many great combo effects and the base damage value is huge.

festive fog + naeglings board is so so so good

when i first was playing the game i felt like i would never ever want to use a cast that didn't get stuck in enemies because of the damage boost but festive fog is wonderful.

---

Festive fog will always be near to me as it was the main way I killed Hades in my 32 heat run.

---

Festive Fog is great but I almost never take it if I'm on a fast weapon that can benefit more from the bonus damage of the debuff, which is often. That said after the spell bow run it'll be my go to for that weapon from now on, that was so great. Though, now I wonder what happens if you load the turret laser into it...

I think my favorite cast is Athena's, it's relatively high damage, has a small aoe, deflects, and still gives the debuff. Least favorite is Ares's, it is just a little too awkward to put up with and doesn't go in enemies. I did get a pretty great Duo version with it once that turned it into a close range pulse that resulted in a ton of damage.

Does anyone use the spell cooldown instead of the 3 bloodstones? I haven't messed with it too much.

---

It's good for bosses if you are actually relying on cast damage with casts that embed into the enemy, and also helps avoid the problem in Asphodel where missing with your casts means they're deep in magma so you're just not gonna get it back for like 30 seconds

---

HeroDelTiempo17 posted...

That said after the spell bow run it'll be my go to for that weapon from now on, that was so great. Though, now I wonder what happens if you load the turret laser into it...

if it's anything like naegling's board, it will just change demeter's cast into a chill aoe instead of the laser. (or some other change to make it work more simply)

---

so i've never gotten into a rogue-like in the same way hades has hooked me before (i realize it's not a typical roguelike). anyone have recommendations for other games to play?

i also would love a sort of tetris 99/mario 35-esque multiplayer version of something like this. where all the players are in their own single player run but how well you do/what choices you make affects the other players runs. i imagine this doesn't exist, but it should!

---

i think naegling's board actually changes how the casts work (athenas goes from a slow moving deflect thing to aoe quakes around you) whereas the bow doesnt so i assume the turrets just come wherever your shot lands, but ive never tested it

---

i havent used the cast bow much but i thought i remembered it changing some casts. maybe not though! but yeah, the board has separate unique casts for most (maybe all?) of them

---

okay yeah, tested it. it just drops the laser where your shot lands. the bow does change some casts, though. or at the very least just dionysus, which becomes trippy flare same as the shield.

---

If nobodys ever tried it, Aspect of Hera has a weird interaction with Aphrodite cast where it just doesnt hit whoever you shot the arrow at, so avoid that combo until it (presumably) gets fixed

---

I literally just used Aphrodite cast on my first Hera run last night. Not entirely sure what you mean by it doesn't hit, but I was still doing damage to my targets?

---

WazzupGenius00 posted...

If nobodys ever tried it, Aspect of Hera has a weird interaction with Aphrodite cast where it just doesnt hit whoever you shot the arrow at, so avoid that combo until it (presumably) gets fixed

from what i can tell, this is a hitbox issue. the cast does damage in a cone behind the point the arrow hits, so if the enemy you hit isn't particularly big, it will miss. so it will hit against most the bosses, and it will also work if the enemy is like, against a wall or similar, but yeah, you get screwed on most normal enemies. it's still pretty good for mobbing despite this, though. it's most noticeable trying to take out like, solitary witches or similiar sized enemies by themselves.



first time clearing with the hera bow. trippy flare continues to be a champ. hit hades for 3.5k multiple times, and i absolutely *stomped* the heroes. they both died basically at the same time in i think less than a minute

---

I went from hating the Rail to loving it, and its all thanks to Eris

---

What makes Eris so good? I haven't tried it yet.
---

I dont know how this happened, but I think I threw one of those Crystal guys off the boat mid boss level and it just instadied once it got off the level? Thats what it looked like at least

---

I also had that exact thing happen just last night! When I first saw it fly off I was afraid it would take forever to come back, which would have been bad since I was using the Tight Deadline heat rule, but it must have been killed after getting ejected.

---

Mac Arrowny posted...

What makes Eris so good? I haven't tried it yet.

Well theres the damage buff of course, and its way easier to activate and keep active than I was expecting. Especially with the cluster bomb hammer, keeping it up is no big deal. But I also think this aspect made get over the hump of you have to reload???? and really actually give the weapon a try

---

Eris + Hazard Bomb so good

---

they just put out a patch

Heart-Seeking Bow (Hera Aspect): additional improvements to interaction with Crush Shot (Aphrodite)

guessing they fixed that issue talked about earlier

---

Just had the easiest run ever.

Rail gun, lightning strike, storm lightning, and splitting bolt.

Basically just unloaded on a single target and everything in the room died. I was looking forward to Hades summoning enemies because it just gave me more damage on him lol

---

WazzupGenius00 posted...

I'm 100 percent positive that the full stack of Chill is removed after Arctic Blast is triggered. You must have had some other interaction going on there.

Well, I shared the tip with a friend and he tried it as well. He had the same absurd damage numbers out of it. That's the same result three times in a row now with three different builds.

Regardless of what the item description says (which I agree means all 10 stacks are removed upon triggering of Arctic Blast), the way the game is currently programmed leads to some pretty damn good numbers with the volley. It might be a bug with the game registering all arrows of the volley as hitting at the same time (and therefore triggering Arctic Blast with every arrow).

---

Tried Eris. Worked fairly well, but I wasn't super into it. Feel like I'd want it at a higher level to get real good use out of it.

Also got Aspect of Arthur. That and the Shield are the two Hidden Aspects I've gotten so far, and I liked Arthur a lot better (though the Shield was okay too). Arthur's sky-high damage numbers are great, and its high defense is cool too. Very nice that it works even with no extra Blood put into it. Are there some other weapons where you don't really have to put much Blood in to get good use out of them?

Also, is there a way to progress the Favors with the gods? I've given maximum Nectar to all of them now and none of them ever seem to make any progress. Dusa, Skelly, and Athena are the only ones who've gotten past their locks for some reason.
---

Just started playing recently. On my fifth run I got what felt like a pretty ridiculous combo-- explosive spear special with hangover on impact. It basically let me spam the special button and wipe out enemies without being anywhere near them.

I wound up getting as far as Minos in Elysium before dying. Not sure how far that is but it definitely felt further than I deserved to get!

---

What are some of the easiest modifier to use for the first 3-4 heats? I've tried extreme encounters, the increased HP one, and the traps one.

---

Escaped 10 times with my 59th run last night, and finally won with Fists. Absolutely loving the story still. It hasn't been like other roguelikes I've played like Binding of Isaac, Slay the Spire, or Rogue Legacy; story and narrative feel super central to everything and truly encourage repeat play. The game has very good goal-setting brain hacks to keep you going in over and over again.

I love it!

---

foolm0r0n posted...

What are some of the easiest modifier to use for the first 3-4 heats? I've tried extreme encounters, the increased HP one, and the traps one.

Tight Deadline is basically nothing, since the 9 minutes gets added on to your time every area. Routine Inspection might not be a big deal early on when you haven't leveled the last three boons much. Damage Control doesn't do much unless you're trying to one-shot enemies.
---

foolm0r0n posted...

What are some of the easiest modifier to use for the first 3-4 heats? I've tried extreme encounters, the increased HP one, and the traps one.

There is a reward for doing all of them so I would try all of them at least once

As far as easiest is concerned, my first 6 heat are always extreme measures 1-3 mostly because I think it makes the bosses more fun and it isn't that bad. At low heat the first deadline one of 9 minutes is extremely generous and you should easily clear it anyways in that time (Though do note in my 32 heat run I purposely took no time limits because my plan was to turtle and it worked)

Shop price is another easy one.

So that gets you to 9 heat with pretty much no large difficulty increase. After that it gets spicier

---

Middle Management is a really easy one, it only affects mini boss rooms and for some of them it barely matters

The trap one is fairly simple but just be warned that the vases in the final boss count as traps, and already do 30 damage without modifiers, so do the math on that one

---

The really cool thing is most of them aren't bad on their own, but combine into gross combinations

Like traps is easy, unless you have another 30 heat and you are getting blown up by lava as you madly try to avoid enemies stomping you.

Having to sell boons isn't bad, and having fewer choices isn't that bad, but having fewer choices of which boons to sell is awful

---

traps scares me because i practically live in the lava, it's like it's using magnetic cutter on me non stop

---

My first run trying traps I didn't know about the final boss thing and died there which made me very sad, especially since I don't usually get damaged by those vases anyway.
---

The dropping axes in the last area get me every time. I've twice used two death defiances on them in a single run

---

the dropping axes i think are kinda dumb, i'm just dashing around trying not to get hit by poison clouds from the rats or poison darts from the satyrs and basically ignore those things and don't get touched by them 99% of the time, except sometimes when they randomly actually do damage to me. doesn't really make sense.

if I play around them I feel like its impossible to avoid the poison which is wayyyyy too strong to ever risk getting infected by

---

So, lets talk about influencing boons

If you take a gods keepsake, it gives a rarity bonus, but most importantly, if you start the run with it, the first boon at the beginning (or in a subsequent room if the run starts with a Daedelus hammer) will be from that god. But does it have any impact after that? If I start with Zeus, I'll get Zeus to begin with, but I don't think it'll influence Tartarus after that. If I keep Zeus in Asphodel, Elysium, and Styx, does that have any influence on finding his boon? I'm thinking it doesn't.

If I switch to Poseidon before Asphodel, Elysium, or Styx, does that increase my chances with Poseidon? I don't think it does. Just that very first boon at the start of the run.

What I think I HAVE observed though is that the game prioritizes the gods you already have. If I pick Zeus at the start, I am more likely to get Zeus later. If I take Poseidon as my second boon, I'm more likely to get Zeus and Poseidon. If I take an Athena boon third, that decreases my chances of getting Zeus and Poseidon since now Athena is more likely too.

I find that if I just take Zeus and Poseidon only and avoid other gods, I'm way more likely to find them in the late game and get my legendary and duo boons that I want. If I just grab the special and attack from Zeus/Poseidon, and then I dilute my pool with some Ares or Hermes or some shit, then I'm getting all kinds of junk at the end.

Last night I had a pure Zeus run. Started with Zeus, somehow got Zeus as a second boon, and then I just kept finding Zeus. I was lucky enough that I was never forced to take a god as my only option as the next room, so I avoided anybody else and man I had SO MUCH LIGHTNING by the end.

---