Board 8 > Ranking everything in Hades (spoilers)

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SSBM_Guy
11/17/20 4:28:50 PM
#1:


Hades is my 2020 GOTY. I've been playing non-stop since it officially released. It's hard to see how a roguelike/roguelite will ever top Hades, just due to how polished it is in all areas. I just finished my 150th escape attempt and I feel like I understand and know the game well enough to share my opinion on all aspects of the game.

I'll be ranking around 15-20 topics in Hades, ranging from boons to weapons to keepsakes. I'm using a RNG to determine what topic I'll rank next. Here's a brief overview of who I am so you know where my opinions come from.

  • I've done 150 escape attempts with 53 successful escapes.
  • I play on the Switch, almost always in handheld mode.
  • I fulfilled (almost) every prophecy and, while I don't have an official achievement system, I'm fairly certain I hit every achievement.
  • I completed a Heat 32 run.
  • I've beaten Extreme Measures Hades with all 6 infernal arms.
  • I have max bond with every character.
  • I'm a huge sucker for stats, so I'll be adding some relevant stats in most of the rankings.


Other people are welcome to post their own rankings as I go through my rankings. The beauty of Hades is that there are so many ways to play the game right.

First up will be all 24 Mirror talents.

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SSBM_Guy
11/17/20 4:55:27 PM
#2:


Mirror Talents:

Zeta Tier

24. Fiery Presence

Times Used: 4
Times Cleared: 2
Ranked among Talent #1: 2/2

I don't get why this talent exists. Generally speaking, your first hit isn't going to be that great. Sword's best attack is the third hit. Rail and Fist rely on multi-attacks. Shield's damage is so pitiful that increase isn't going to do much. So this is basically exclusively go on Spear and Bow. But even then, it's only the first attack. I just don't get it.

What's interesting is that the screenshot says this goes up to 75%. I'm on Switch and it definitely has Fiery Presence max at 100%. Did this talent get nerfed? Of all talents? Really?

23. Stubborn Defiance

Times Used: 10
Times Cleared: 3
Ranked among Talent #3: 2/2

Stubborn Defiance doesn't make sense to me. I tried using it a couple of times, especially on higher Heat. To me, it just feels like you're stuck in a perpetual cycle of dying, defying, clearing, and then dying again. Getting 30% HP on defying as opposed to 50% HP is brutal. It really feels like there's no reprieve to getting out of that cycle unless you get to a shop or a Well. Plus, every boss just feels a little more scary knowing that you have only two lives, with the second life being at 30% HP.

Epsilon Tier

22. Abyssal Blood (Talent 5)

Times Used: 11
Times Cleared: 3
Ranked among Talent #5: 2/2

A friend brought this up to me, but it really feels like you should start with the green talents and then get the purple talents later. By the time you get Abyssal Blood, you already have a nice pattern with Infernal Soul and Boiling Blood. Shoot bloodstone, beat enemy faster to get bloodstone back, shoot another bloodstone.

On its face value, Abyssal Blood seems OK? Attack speed debuff is especially nice and it's never bad to go defensive. The boss should always have a bloodstone lodged in him. I tried using it in the last few runs, but I just ended up getting non-lodging casts. "oops."

21. Dark Regeneration

Times Used: 14
Times Cleared: 1
Ranked among Talent #2: 2/2

Good crutch to have in the earlygame. Until you beat Hades, you basically get a full heal every time you fight a boss, which is not bad. It also makes you intrinsically seek out darkness more, which makes you stronger. The big problem is Styx. There's no darkness in Styx. In addition, Chthonic Vitality is actually really good in Styx since the mini-chambers all count to your health recovery. Considering most of the difficulty is Hades, it sucks that your only way of healing will be the fountain.

After beating Hades, it's difficult going back to Dark Regeneration. The Pact of Punishment makes it so that you only get darkness on bosses if you get defeated during your Pact of Punishment run. Besides, you just get used to that passive +3 healing from Chthonic Vitality.

20. High Confidence

Times Used: 8
Times Cleared: 4
Ranked among Talent #8: 2/2

If you use the Bow, Rail, or the Shield, this is good. Those are the three weapons where you can reliably play defensively enough to have 80+% HP. That said, I usually need the damage boost the most by Hades, which is probably the least likely fight you'll have 80+% HP during the entire run. In addition, having Thick Skin instead of High Confidence also goes a long way for the Hades fight, since he can knock out 50 HP in a single hit.

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SSBM_Guy
11/17/20 5:10:29 PM
#3:


19. Gods' Pride

Times Used: 4
Times Cleared: 1
Ranked among Talent #11: 2/2

This gets really stung by its opposing talent. Both talents are about getting higher rarity from Gods. I'll take the one that gets me more chances of getting Duos. Plus, you could get 40% chance of Rare with Olympian Favor. The gap between Rare and Epic isn't that high.

Delta Tier

18. Fated Authority

Times Used: 46
Times Cleared: 28
Ranked among Talent #12: 2/2

There's a few good places to use Fated Authority. The most important part is Styx. You'll know at the very beginning of Styx what your final selection of goods are. Fated Authority gives you some control over tweaking it, like trying to get a particular god to show up. I also like using it for the blue wreath rooms (Darkness, Gemstones, Keys, Nectar). I'm generally rerolling it to get either keys for more rerolls or nectar for a Pom upgrade.

Aside from that, I generally like what rewards I get, especially with Dark Foresight. Even without Dark Foresight, you can never reroll a blue wreath into a gold wreath, so it's a little pointless. I also never realized you can start off with 8 reroll dice, which is...an insane amount to me. Honestly not a bad idea to keep all 8 for Styx.

17. Deep Pockets

Times Used: 60
Times Cleared: 30
Ranked among Talent #7: 2/2

Deep Pockets allows you to ignore Obol rooms for a while. You can also get some early shop upgrades, which is honestly not too bad. The shop gods are most amorphous in Tartarus anyways, so it's definitely not bad to have 150~ Obol for the god boon. The other nice thing about Deep Pockets is that you don't have to worry about having 200+ Obol by the boss to get a nice Golden Touch return. You can freely spend throughout the area, which is nice. This really only applies to Tartarus and Asphodel, though.

16. Ruthless Reflex

Times Used: 22
Times Cleared: 9
Ranked among Talent #4: 2/2

I'll be honest: the big reason I don't like Ruthless Reflex is that I'm so used to double dashes at this point. Not really for combat, but just for moving around in the game, even in places like the House of Hades. Ruthless Reflex is probably the better of the two. There's a fairly good chance you'll get Greatest Reflex from Hermes in the run, which just makes it a straight upgrade from Greater Reflex. Once you get the timing right, you honestly don't even need the two dashes. I'm just so used to two dashes at this point that having one just throws me off so much.

15. Olympian Favor

Times Used: 47
Times Cleared: 20
Ranked among Talent #10: 2/2

40% chance to get Rare boons is awesome. I've been playing Dark Foresight/Gods' Legacy for a while, which means I've seen a loooot of Common boons. They're not good. And when I was playing with Olympian Favor, it felt nice to always have at least 1 solid boon pick. But you know what wasn't nice to see? Blue wreath rooms in Elysium. In exchange for getting better boons, I had several rooms where my reward was essentially useless. And after fighting Chariots and Greatshields, it's not a good feeling.

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SSBM_Guy
11/17/20 5:14:07 PM
#4:


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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SSBM_Guy
11/17/20 5:16:29 PM
#5:


9. Thick Skin

Times Used: 108
Times Cleared: 49
Ranked among Talent #8: 1/2

If I had to give someone one big hint on how to reliably beat Hades, it's this: get more health. By the time you're at Theseus, enemies do at least 20 damage per hit. At 200 HP, that means you can survive about 10 hits at max health or about 4 Hades hits. Learning the patterns becomes the main goal of getting better at Hades, but having more health will give you more time and more safety nets after getting hit. With Thick Skin, you begin at 100 HP, which is just such a nice buffer and sets you up to reliably get 200 HP by Hades.

8. Family Favorite

Times Used: 6
Times Cleared: 4
Ranked among Talent #9: 2/2

Talent #9 is a gamechanger. No matter which talent you get, it helps you out enormously. Family Favorite is the more consistent one. You're looking at a 25% - 30% damage increase by Elysium. There is absolutely nothing wrong with Family Favorite and I would take it over a lot of other talents. I'm just so used to Privileged Status.

Beta Tier

7. Fated Persuasion

Times Used: 39
Times Cleared: 19
Ranked among Talent #12: 1/2

I used to not like Fated Persuasion, especially learning that you can reroll the same exact stuff. And then you have to pay +1 reroll to do it again? It seemed pointless, especially when you only have 1 or 2 rerolls. The true beauty of Fated Persuasion is how versatile it is. Need a specific boon upgrade? Reroll. You have a lot of money and you have the Bone Hourglass? Buy things from the Well, reroll, buy again. You're doing a Pact of Punishment and you have Approval Process or Underworld Customs? Guess who's there to save you when you get a bad set of choices. That's right. Fated Persuasion. I don't think I could have beat Heat 32 without Fated Persuasion. And let's be honest. A lot of the fun of Hades is getting specific boon combos. What better way to do that than Fated Persuasion?

6. Chthonic Vitality

Times Used: 130
Times Cleared: 52
Ranked among Talent #2: 1/2

I did a 100% Routine Inspection run just the other day. That +3 HP regeneration goes a long way. You really begin to realize how much healing 3 HP every encounter can help. To put it another way, the only way you can heal without Chthonic Vitality is 1) getting darkness or Centaur Heart, 2) buying a healing item, 3) getting a fountain, and 4) equipping Harpy Feather Duster and/or Companion Shady.

5. Gods' Legacy

Times Used: 98
Times Cleared: 50
Ranked among Talent #11: 1/2

I like duo boons. They make the game easier. They make the game more fun. The more duo boons I get, the more enjoyable Hades is.

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SSBM_Guy
11/17/20 5:19:02 PM
#6:


4. Greater Reflex

Times Used: 117
Times Cleared: 44
Ranked among Talent #4: 1/2

Double dashing is just such an efficient way of maneuvering. There's no real reason to just walk anywhere when you can just double dash. As I said earlier, double dashing is not really necessary, but it just feels really weird when you don't have double dashing. Greatest Reflex is completely unnecessary, but it's hilarious. Dashing 5 times is pretty fun.

3. Infernal Soul

Times Used: 123
Times Cleared: 44
Ranked among Talent #6: 1/2

I have an easier time of mentally keeping track of hunting down 3 bloodstones over casting a bloodstone every 3 seconds. Also, being able to instantly toss out 3 casts on a boss is always a great way to do a lot of damage. You're also able to use Lightning Rod and Greater Recall with Infernal Soul, both boons that I enjoy quite a lot.

Alpha Tier

2. Privileged Status

Times Used: 105
Times Cleared: 49
Ranked among Talent #9: 1/2

Every main god can give you a status. Weak, Hangover, and Chill are particularly easy to get. Rupture and Exposed require one upgrade. Marked and Jolted are both a little inconsistent, but honestly, between 5 gods and 5 main boons, it shouldn't be too difficult to get 2 statuses on an enemy. In exchange, you get 40% attack buffs on the enemy. Combine that with Boiling Blood and you get 40% + 50% attack bonus at the very least. Like I said, Talent 9 is a gamechanger.

1. Death Defiance

Times Used: 128
Times Cleared: 50
Ranked among Talent #3: 1/2
Nothing quite beats Death Defiance. To prove a point, I did two challenge runs the other day. One with 100% Lasting Consequences and one with 100% Routine Inspection. Both were tough, but I was actually able to beat Lasting Consequences. Going through the game without dying once is difficult. Death Defiance protects you from dying not once, but three times. Easily the most important talent in the game.

Next up: God boons! Specifically, the primary ones that you see on the left: Attack, Special, Cast, Dash, and Aid.

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Mega Mana
11/17/20 5:41:02 PM
#7:


Tag! Really enjoying this topic so far.

Also, question, possible spoilers. I've escaped Hades roughly twenty times now. Are those green mirror boons something to unlock by playing or through a side quest/prophecy I haven't completed yet?

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HeroDelTiempo17
11/17/20 5:42:59 PM
#8:


family favorite too high

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Mac Arrowny
11/17/20 5:53:31 PM
#9:


Mega Mana posted...
Tag! Really enjoying this topic so far.

Also, question, possible spoilers. I've escaped Hades roughly twenty times now. Are those green mirror boons something to unlock by playing or through a side quest/prophecy I haven't completed yet?


You just need to press the button to switch over to them. Not sure what button it'd be on your system, but you probably gained access a long time ago.
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ZenOfThunder
11/17/20 6:29:34 PM
#10:


SSBM_Guy posted...
Hades is my 2020 GOTY

samsies

tag

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TheArkOfTurus
11/17/20 6:38:36 PM
#11:


Tag

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WazzupGenius00
11/17/20 6:49:08 PM
#12:


Ruthless Reflex is great when you have Divine Dash, since it counts any deflected projectile as a Near-Miss

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ZenOfThunder
11/17/20 7:31:11 PM
#13:


WazzupGenius00 posted...
Ruthless Reflex is great when you have Divine Dash, since it counts any deflected projectile as a Near-Miss

this is good info

i will be getting all my hot tips from this hades topic keep em coming

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azuarc
11/17/20 7:50:19 PM
#14:


As someone who played Hades for a bit and then got distracted, but might like to go back and finally finish a clear, I'll keep an eye out here for ways to improve.

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CoolCly
11/17/20 9:47:03 PM
#15:


Dark Regeneration is the BOMB

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Mac Arrowny
11/17/20 10:21:14 PM
#16:


CoolCly posted...
Dark Regeneration is the BOMB


How do you use Dark Regeneration on runs where none of the bosses give darkness?
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mcflubbin
11/17/20 10:34:41 PM
#17:


Tag

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foolm0r0n
11/17/20 11:55:34 PM
#18:


Mac Arrowny posted...
How do you use Dark Regeneration on runs where none of the bosses give darkness?
Sisyphus or room rewards. You still come out on top.

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HeroDelTiempo17
11/18/20 12:13:47 AM
#19:


foolm0r0n posted...
Sisyphus or room rewards. You still come out on top.

Dark Foresight reduces the amount of blue rooms you get so it's really not worth it unless you are specifically farming darkness

Troves are another incentive for it but that's another layer of RNG and I dont always feel like doing them

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WazzupGenius00
11/18/20 12:42:21 AM
#20:


If you're hurting enough to need healing by the time you reach Sisyphus you screwed up big time

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SSBM_Guy
11/18/20 12:57:48 AM
#21:


Yeah, Dark Regeneration is just too inconsistent for me unless 1) I know I'm getting a large amount of darkness through bosses or 2) I'm specifically planning a farming run.

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KanzarisKelshen
11/18/20 2:13:40 AM
#22:


Hard disagree re: Golden Touch. You're banking on getting money down the line instead of when it most matters (early, to get your build online) and it's not even good returns. Here's your return on investment with pretty generous values.

Tartarus: 30 obol with 200g

Asphodel: 75 obol with 500g (this is pretty high end)

Elysium: 105 obol with 700g

Basically you're doubling the benefit at the cost of not being able to rack up boons to smash the game with before the game starts punishing you for being choosy with your picks. This to me is just a huge mistake all told, because you lose synergy with all the best keepsakes like the lambent plume and broken butterfly or pom blossom by delaying your acquisition of boons. At most, Golden Touch buys you +1 boon later on when boons matter least. Better to have 1 boon now than 2 boons later, IMO.

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HeroDelTiempo17
11/18/20 3:27:33 AM
#23:


I never feel like I'm in a rush to get my build online until Elysium, for one. Nor do I think you need great early boon luck for the plume and butterfly, with good weapons. Maybe this is true on higher heat though - I'm typically only around 10 and I've only done 16 once. No 32 yet.

I will say that I'd expect Pom Blossom to be better with fewer boons, since you want less duds for it to level up. Guaranteeing it on your core boons early on seems better.

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KanzarisKelshen
11/18/20 7:06:48 AM
#24:


That's exactly why being able to buy a boon early on is so important, yeah

If the first few boons are duds, then a lot of blossom powerups get wasted. You don't want to wait until elysium to start racking up levels on your core boon.

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HeroDelTiempo17
11/18/20 11:04:27 AM
#25:


I just don't typically have a problem getting a decent boon to build around in Tartarus

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KanzarisKelshen
11/18/20 11:46:16 AM
#26:


HeroDelTiempo17 posted...
I just don't typically have a problem getting a decent boon to build around in Tartarus

Lucky man. More than once I've had winning runs where all I had were miscellaneous boons with no slots filled besides like, dash until deep into elysium, because it was a choice between something useless to the build (Zeus attacks on a Hestia rail build...) or being patient. Anything to cancel out those worst case scenarios is a huge boon, pardon the pun.

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SSBM_Guy
11/18/20 11:48:09 AM
#27:


KanzarisKelshen posted...


Basically you're doubling the benefit at the cost of not being able to rack up boons to smash the game with before the game starts punishing you for being choosy with your picks. This to me is just a huge mistake all told, because you lose synergy with all the best keepsakes like the lambent plume and broken butterfly or pom blossom by delaying your acquisition of boons. At most, Golden Touch buys you +1 boon later on when boons matter least. Better to have 1 boon now than 2 boons later, IMO.

I agree with taking an early boon over a later boon. The problem is that the early boon with Deep Pockets means you're relying on Charon's shop, which you really have no control over. Aside from God boon, I would really only buy the weaker Pom slice. Everything else, I can easily get on the run.

The main reason I'm using Obol nowadays is mainly Well of Charon, especially for Elysium and Styx. The more Obol I have, the more buffed I get. Plus, having money to shell out for a potential Kiss of Styx is always good.

This is all endgame speak. Until getting the ending, Deep Pockets is probably the better call.

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HeroDelTiempo17
11/18/20 12:38:59 PM
#28:


KanzarisKelshen posted...
Lucky man. More than once I've had winning runs where all I had were miscellaneous boons with no slots filled besides like, dash until deep into elysium, because it was a choice between something useless to the build (Zeus attacks on a Hestia rail build...) or being patient. Anything to cancel out those worst case scenarios is a huge boon, pardon the pun.

Part of it might be I have zero qualms using rerolls early on to set up a build. I've had a few runs with bad boon RNG but nothing quantity of boons/earlier boons could fix (i.e., I take early Blade Rift and then don't get more Ares until Styx, Dionysus being useless on a sword run when I already have an attack and cast). I think you have a pretty compelling argument for actual speedruns or if you play with Routine Inspection/Approval Process but I try to avoid those whenever possible.

Also your example is funny to me because Zeus attack on gun is so good I'd personally just abandon the Hestia gimmick entirely in that situation

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malyg
11/18/20 3:03:57 PM
#29:


just beat Hades the boss for the first time and it doesn't even feel earned my setup was so cheap lol
made it through to him on the weekend for the first time and have got through to him everytime since with all weapons at least once but was yet to get past his second form.
had a few Zeus Boons that made the whole thing easy. I had the boon that causes the cast seed to spam lightning bolts when it's waiting to be picked up, the boon that causes lightning bolts to inflict Jolt damage and the duo with the Chill God so that Jolt lasts for 10 seconds instead of being removed when the eneyy attacks. i don't think i even pressed the attack button. Just ran around avoiding attacks, throwing cast seeds against the wall, spamming special (which also had a Zeus boon on it), and using Poseidon's call to get out of any areas when it looked like i might get damaged.

there's probs a lot of great boons i've not used to their full potential/ignored but fuck me that boon that spams lightning bolts when the cast isn't in anyone has got to be one of the best boons in the game? combined with the Jolt it trivialized every boss. would expect it to be very high up whenever you get onto Zeus boons.
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trdl23
11/18/20 3:26:10 PM
#30:


I mostly like Golden Touch because right now I'm slobbering over buying premium stuff from Charon in Styx...

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SSBM_Guy
11/18/20 3:50:42 PM
#31:


Primary Boons

Zeta Tier

40. Curse of Agony

Times Used: 11
Times Cleared: 6
Ranked among Ares: 5/5
Ranked among Attacks: 8/8

Spoiler alert: I respect Attack boons and Cast boons a lot more than Special, Dash, or Call. Attacks and Casts are gonna rank very highly. On the flipside, a bad Attack or a bad Cast will rank very poorly. I have no idea why you'd want Doom - a status that deals delayed damage that cannot stack - on your Attack. Even with Dire Misfortune, the Attack won't go up very much. And the Doom damage is not even that much either. And, finally, on top of everything, this is one of two Doom boons for duos. Since you're absolutely not going to get Curse of Agony, that means you're stuck with Curse of Pain if you want Doom duos. Yikes.

39. Crush Shot

Times Used: 9
Times Cleared: 2
Ranked among Aphrodite: 5/5
Ranked among Casts: 8/8

Crush Shot is so weird. It's one of the more damaging casts, but you have to be up close to land it. Generally, when I'm casting, I'm pretty far from enemies. If I'm up close, I might as well be attacking instead. The fact that it doesn't combo very well with duos also kills it for me. I tried using Crush Shot on Beowulf Shield and that didn't feel nearly as satisfying as Festive Fog or Slicing Shot either. Again, I see no point in getting Crush Shot when I can get literally any other cast and be happier.

38. Mistral Dash

Times Used: 4
Times Cleared: 3
Ranked among Demeter: 5/5
Ranked among Dashes: 8/8

Most dashes are not great. They're usually the last main boon I grab and it's usually to determine who will be in the Duos pool for me. Sometimes, you can get an extra status out of it, getting you closer to Privileged Status.
For most dashes, there are offensive dashes and status-applying dashes. I generally prefer offensive dashes, because I'm already applying status with Attack, Special, or Call. In addition, Mistral Dash shoots the Chill forward as opposed to it being where you land, differing from the other status dashes. It's a little annoying to land. Usually, I only grab Mistral Dash if I want Demeter in the pool for duos.

Epsilon Tier

37. Athena's Aid

Times Used: 5
Times Cleared: 3
Ranked among Athena: 5/5
Ranked among Calls: 8/8

Athena's Aid is in a weird place. Calls generally have some level of defense on them. Ares and Poseidon both make you invulnerable. I like using calls like Zeus or Demeter or Dionysus while dashing away. I have to kind of flip that with Athena. I'm invincible, but I don't do any additional damage. In fact, I do no damage at all unless I'm actually attacking. Ironically, I usually cast Athena's Aid after getting hit or I get hit once the Aid runs out, which kind of ruins the point of it. Admittedly, I never really went big on Athena's Aid. It seems to get much better with a few Poms on it, especially with the greater call. It's also probably really good with Smoldering Air.

36. Blade Dash

Times Used: 2
Times Cleared: 0
Ranked among Ares: 4/5
Ranked among Dashes: 7/8

If you're going the Slicing Shot route, it requires quite a bit of investment. Out of Ares' pool, there are 3 specific Slicing Shot upgrades, including the legendary. If you get a few of those, Blade Dash looks a lot better. But by that time, you should have your primaries filled out. It also really doesn't benefit from any of the duos. I like Freezing Vortex and Hunting Blades fine, but unfortunately, it doesn't combine with Ares' Aid or Blade Dash.

---
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SSBM_Guy
11/18/20 3:52:00 PM
#32:


35. Divine Flourish

Times Used: 12
Times Cleared: 4
Ranked among Athena: 4/5
Ranked among Specials: 8/8

Deflect is kinda useless on special. I can't even imagine how difficult it would be to time a deflect for using a special, especially on Rail. Divine Flourish has its positives. It's good on Blade. It's really amazing on Bow. However, one thing you'll learn is that I really appreciate consistency among weapons. I'd also argue that the best weapon its for, Bow, probably needs a deflect the least out of all the weapons.

34. Lightning Strike

Times Used: 12
Times Cleared: 4
Ranked among Zeus: 5/5
Ranked among Attacks: 7/8

On Rail and Fists, this thing shreds through Encounters. I appreciate that a ton, Unfortunately, it's terrible on the other weapons. Even on Fists and Rail, it's terrible by the time you get to Styx too. The HP is just way too high for Lightning Strike to really get anywhere. If you want to clear out a bunch of enemies, you're better off buffing Electric Shot.

33. Tempest Strike

Times Used: 7
Times Cleared: 3
Ranked among Poseidon: 5/5
Ranked among Attacks: 6/8

This attack is basically useless on Blade, Fists, and Rail. You're going to have to chase down a lot of enemies. If you get them against a wall, you're in a good place. Honestly, though, Asphodel and Elysium tend to have bottomless pits rather than walls. That said, it's pretty good on Spear, Shield, and especially Bow. Again, though, consistency is key. Especially for an Attack boon.

32. Drunken Flourish

Times Used: 11
Times Cleared: 2
Ranked among Dionysus: 5/5
Ranked among Specials: 7/8

You want to strike something at least 5 times to get the max Hangover. Ideally, you want to do it fairly consistently. That's going to be rough with most specials. For most specials, I'm only doing it every now and then. The main thing I like doing with Drunken Flourish is triggering Bad Influence, which is 50+% damage if 3 enemies have Hangover. That's much easier to inflict than with Drunken Strike, since Specials generally tend to target more enemies. Still, that's pretty niche.

31. Deadly Flourish

Times Used: 11
Times Clear: 4
Ranked among Artemis: 5/5
Ranked among Specials: 6/8

Crits are a little like Hangover. On its own, it's really not too great. You can buff it, though, and it'll be better. But it requires some investment and I'm not entirely sure how good the reward is yet.

I went back and forth a lot on this one and Deadly Strike. While you get a lot of chances to trigger critical with Deadly Strike, your ceiling for critical damage is higher with Deadly Flourish. However, again, consistency is key. You're mainly looking at Bow, Spear, and Rail, plus a couple of aspects like Demeter Fists. That's just not good enough for me.

---
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SSBM_Guy
11/18/20 3:54:13 PM
#33:


30. Drunken Strike

Times Used: 12
Times Cleared: 3
Ranked among Dionysus: 4/5
Ranked among Attacks: 5/8

So Hangover. You do poison damage and it stacks to a multiple of 5. There's also a few things you can do to buff your Hangover, including making enemies slower, making Hangover apply faster, stacking higher Hangover, etc. In theory, I like Hangover. The problem is that I want my attacks to be doing a lot of damage. Drunken Strike only gives you the Hangover effect and the Hangover damage. It does nothing to the original attack damage.

Just off the top of my head, Drunken Strike is best applied on Fists, Rail, and Shield. 3/6 weapons. Not bad. Just based on how I play, I just don't really have much respect for Hangover.

Delta Tier

29. Phalanx Shot

Times Used: 8
Times Cleared: 1
Ranked among Athena: 3/5
Ranked among Casts: 7/8

Probably the most mediocre boon on this list. It's a perfectly fine cast. You shoot it from a distance, it homes, it does good damage, it lodges into the enemy, and you can even get a duo out of it. I'd even say that you can actually deflect things with it. I just have no real particular strong opinion about getting Phalanx Shot. It exists and it's not a liability.

28. Passion Dash

Times Used: 5
Times Cleared: 2
Ranked among Aphrodite: 4/5
Ranked among Dashes: 6/8

If you're up in someone's business, you probably want them to be Weak. Passion Dash is fine, I just don't care for it. Also, I love Aphrodite's Heartbreak Strike and Heartbreak Flourish, so Passion Dash is a little useless to me. If you don't have anything for a dash and you don't have any weak-applying Aphrodite boons yet, though, Passion Dash is certainly fine to choose.

27. Ares' Aid

Times Used: 9
Times Cleared: 4
Ranked among Ares: 4/5
Ranked among Calls: 7/8

I always end up too close to enemies after doing Ares' Aid and getting hit, similar to Athena's Aid. Ares' Aid does get bonus points for being able to be upgraded alongside Slicing Shot and Blade Dash, though. It also does way more damage than Blade Shot does. Probably one of the few calls where I would prefer a greater call, too, thanks to Vicious Cycle.

26. Drunken Dash

Times Used: 9
Times Cleared: 3
Ranked among Dionysus: 3/5
Ranked among Dashes: 5/8

You can stack up Hangover really easily with Drunken Dash. You can combine it with Duos to make Hangover better. The competition for Dash is less strong than the other boons. However, the damage is pretty pitiful. Probably best when paired up with another Hangover boon.

---
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SSBM_Guy
11/18/20 3:56:16 PM
#34:


25. Thunder Dash

Times Used: 5
Times Cleared: 3
Ranked among Zeus: 4/5
Ranked among Dashes: 4/8

Basically the same deal as Blade Dash. You can invest in Zeus to make Thunder Dash better. Though, honestly, you get much more mileage getting Tidal Dash and aiming for Sea Storm than going for Thunder Dash. Still, I like grabbing Thunder Dash because Zeus tends to be one of my later Gods to pick up and Dash/Call are usually the only slots remaining.

24. True Shot

Times Used: 25
Times Cleared: 7
Ranked among Artemis: 4/5
Ranked among Casts: 6/8

I used to use True Shot all the time. It was my go-to cast. At 50 runs, True Shot might actually have been my top cast boon. The homing's really good. It lodges into the enemy. Going down Artemis gets you some nice cast boons, like Exit Wounds and Fully Loaded. It even goes through shields, so those Greatshields can finally go down.

What really kills True Shot though is that the best Artemis duos literally require you to not have True Shot.

23. Frost Flourish

Times Used: 25
Times Cleared: 12
Ranked among Demeter: 4/5
Ranked among Specials: 7/8

Percentage-based damage is good. Chill is good. Demeter duo boons are good. On its face, Frost Flourish is great. It just doesn't pair well with the other Demeter boons. You don't really spam Special, so getting to 10 chill for Arctic Blast is not too great. You could theoretically get every enemy chilled for Killing Freeze, but you can do that better with Demeter's Aid.

I do have a soft spot in my heart for Frost Flourish, as it's basically the bread-and-butter of my Chiron Bow strategy.

22. Demeter's Aid

Times Used: 12
Times Cleared: 6
Ranked among Demeter: 3/5
Ranked among Calls: 6/8

What's neat about Demeter's Aid is that the greater call basically fills up the whole arena. You're almost certainly going to trigger Killing Freeze and Arctic Blast. The problem is actually getting to the greater call. I only get to greater calls in boss battles and while the Killing Freeze bonus is nice, I want it to more centralize on one enemy rather than hit everyone.

21. Deadly Strike

Times Used: 18
Times Cleared: 5
Ranked among Artemis: 3/5
Ranked among Attacks: 4/8

Deadly Strike is all about frequency. You're doing attacks more often than anything else, so it's going to be most likely to trigger. However, it's probably not going to do too much damage unless you got Arthur Blade or Heart Rend. I also like combining it with Nemesis Blade or Zagreus Bow for more consistency with crit chance. Probably not a great boon, but I have fun with it.

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SSBM_Guy
11/18/20 3:57:17 PM
#35:


Gamma Tier

20. Slicing Shot

Times Used: 22
Times Cleared: 12
Ranked among Ares: 2/5
Ranked among Casts: 5/8
Out of all the main boons, Slicing Shot probably requires the most investment to be good. You're going to want one of Hunting Blades or Freezing Vortex, for sure. Greater Recall for Infernal Soul or +1 Bloodstone for Stygian Soul helps a ton. Going for at least one Ares upgrade and the Legendary is good too. When you got a Slicing Shot build going, it's awesome. It just utterly wrecks Styx. But base Slicing Shot is not good. It's one of three boons that doesn't lodge itself. It doesn't have the range of Crystal Beam and it doesn't have the raw power of Trippy Shot. It's also probably the most annoying of the three to pick up too. I've had a lot of good memories of Slicing Shot, but I won't let nostalgia paint this ranking.

19. Tidal Dash

Times Used: 19
Times Cleared: 8
Ranked among Poseidon: 3/5
Ranked among Dashes: 3/8

Tidal Dash is not really good for most of the game. You dash to get to the enemies and then you have to chase them down again. But the real benefit of Tidal Dash is to stack up on Poseidon boons and go for Sea Storm. Sea Storm makes Tidal Dash the most offensive dash by far. Tidal Dash really shines in Styx, where so many of the encounters are in close quarters. It is so much fun just destroying 90% of Styx by just turning into a Super Saiyan and dashing everywhere. It should more than do its job by the time you get to Hades. Kind of like Slicing Shot though, this boon requires a lot of investment.

18. Artemis' Aid

Times Used: 18
Times Cleared: 11
Ranked among Artemis: 2/5
Ranked among Calls: 5/8

The greater call version is the best equilibrium of Deadly Strike and Deadly Flourish. With 10 arrows doing at least 100 damage, each with at least 35% chance of getting a critical, you're doing a great amount of damage. It also homes and you can use it from a distance. Probably the best greater call against Hades. I also love Artemis' quote when you use it. OH HI REMEMBER ME?

The main reason it ranks this low among Calls is because the normal call version is not good. You're going to be using the normal call version a lot more than greater call, too. At least I do. It has much higher combo potential than waiting for a greater call.

17. Dionysus' Aid

Times Used: 15
Times Cleared: 5
Ranked among Dionysus: 2/5
Ranked among Calls: 4/8

16. Zeus' Aid

Times Used: 16
Times Cleared: 7
Ranked among Zeus: 3/5
Ranked among Calls: 3/8

Both of these are pretty similar. Zeus' Aid is probably better because of how much you can buff lightning bolts. On the other hand, you can sorta fuck around with Dionysus' Aid, while Zeus' Aid requires you to be near the enemy. I can really go either way with this ranking. I'd rather have Zeus in my pool than Dionysus.

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SSBM_Guy
11/18/20 3:58:24 PM
#36:


15. Aphrodite's Aid

Times Used: 16
Times Cleared: 6
Ranked among Aphrodite: 3/5
Ranked among Calls: 2/8

This is actually the best defensive Call boon. For encounters, just getting one enemy off of you helps a lot. Having them fight the other enemies helps too, but it's mainly for lowering pressure. For bosses, Aphrodite's Aid actually cancels the boss' attack animations. Very helpful for actually dodging some of those attacks. On the offensive side, you just charge Aphrodite's Aid to its greater call. You just got to time it right so the greater call isn't wasted on a phase shield.

Beta Tier

14. Heartbreak Flourish

Times Used: 30
Times Cleared: 10
Ranked among Aphrodite: 2/5
Ranked among Specials: 4/8

A very good special. It does a lot of damage, it applies weak, it opens the gates to several Aphrodite duos. No negatives with getting it. You could get better specials, but you don't lose anything at all by getting Heartbreak Flourish.

13. Hunter Dash

Times Used: 21
Times Cleared: 12
Ranked among Artemis: 1/5
Ranked among Dashes: 2/8

Dash strikes are really good. You can actually stack up on dash strikes through Chaos and hammers. This is the only god boon I can think of that specifically targets dash strikes, too. This also gets you duos, specifically Hunting Blades, Crystal Clarity, and Lightning Rod. You can even get Fully Loaded just by having Hunter Dash as your only primary Artemis boon.

12. Trippy Shot

Times Used: 16
Times Cleared: 7
Ranked among Dionysus: 1/5
Ranked among Casts: 4/8

I don't like the lob, but I do respect the damage. Trippy Shot's also the go-to cast for Hera Bow or Beowulf Shield, for obvious reasons. While the damage is the key factor in picking Trippy Shot, the stun effect is a really nice bonus too. Both duos are very good and not too difficult to pick up. Honestly, that lob is the only thing keeping this boon from being higher.

11. Thunder Flourish

Times Used: 10
Times Cleared: 7
Ranked among Zeus: 2/5
Ranked among Specials: 3/8

A single thunder strike actually works very well with most of the specials. The only one it doesn't really work with is Bow. I generally like the lightning strike over the chain lightning when it comes to Zeus. I think it upgrades better than chain lightning and you get that sweet Sea Storm damage with lightning over chain lightning. Speaking of Sea Storm...

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SSBM_Guy
11/18/20 3:59:21 PM
#37:


10. Tempest Flourish

Times Used: 16
Times Cleared: 5
Ranked among Poseidon: 2/5
Ranked among Specials: 2/8

Again, this works very well with most specials. The damage percentage is always nice and, when combined with Sea Storm, can be really good with racking up damage. If you actually want to knock back enemies, specials are the most effective way of doing so, too.

9. Divine Strike

Times Used: 28
Times Cleared: 9
Ranked among Athena: 2/5
Ranked among Attacks: 3/8

It has an attack buff. It gets you some of the more elusive Athena duo boons. And you'll be attacking a lot, so you'll be deflecting a lot. It's especially nice on the Spear spin attack. I kind of wish you can deflect while holding up your shield, but I guess that would be cheating. Shield attacks so quickly though, that you can just deflect by mashing attack anyways.

8. Electric Shot

Times Used: 22
Times Cleared: 8
Ranked among Zeus: 1/5
Ranked among Casts: 3/8

If you want to clear out an Encounter, there's no better way than Electric Shot. I respect that so much. Also makes a Lambent Plume run viable on a lot of weapons. The only negative is that it doesn't do much damage on bosses, but that's fine. Your nukes should be reserved to your Attack, Special, or Call and Boiling Blood will boost that nuke.

7. Curse of Pain

Times Used: 22
Times Cleared: 9
Ranked among Ares: 1/5
Ranked among Specials: 1/8

Welcome back, doom! You're on a boon that actually fits your purpose! Most specials are either 1) something you generally do once every so often and 2) hits several enemies. Doom is perfect for both of these. It's also great for getting doom duos, since the other doom boon is just absolute shit.

6. Poseidon's Aid

Times Used: 23
Times Cleared: 9
Ranked among Poseidon: 2/5
Ranked among Calls: 1/8

Invulnerability and big damage. Add in Rip Current and it lasts a surprisingly long amount of time and draws enemies to you. You can even get some knockback damage if you aim it right. It's also much easier to be away from the enemy when the invulnerability runs out, unlike Ares' Aid.

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SSBM_Guy
11/18/20 4:00:35 PM
#38:


Alpha Tier

5. Crystal Beam

Times Used: 16
Times Cleared: 4
Ranked among Demeter: 2/5
Ranked among Casts: 2/8

I especially like Crystal Beam with Infernal Soul. I can either set 3 up in the same direction for a ton of damage or I can set 3 up facing in different directions for coverage. You either need to get Crystal Clarity or Glacial Glare (or both!) for it to really get going, which is actually fairly simple to get. What's really nice about Crystal Beam is that you can set it down and then you can just ignore that area for a bit.

4. Flood Shot

Times Used: 13
Times Used: 9
Ranked among Poseidon: 1/5
Ranked among Casts: 1/8

Flood Shot has it all. First off, it lodges itself in the enemy for Boiling/Abyssal Blood. It's an attack that makes sense to have knockback on. It unlocks several of the knockback bonuses that Poseidon needs to get stronger. If you want to do damage, go straight for Blizzard Shot.

3. Heartbreak Strike

Times Used: 24
Times Cleared: 15
Ranked among Aphrodite: 1/5
Ranked among Attacks: 2/8

2. Frost Strike

Times Used: 20
Times Cleared: 8
Ranked among Demeter: 1/5
Ranked among Attacks: 1/8

Both strikes are very good. They apply an easy status to get you one step closer to Privileged Status. They both have high damage potential, while also applying protecting you since both statuses are defensive in nature. Both Aphrodite and Demeter gets a ton of useful duos. I like going for Frost Strike a little bit more, because I like getting to 10 Freeze and triggering Arctic Blast with certain weapons like Rail and Fists.

1. Divine Dash

Times Used: 51
TImes Cleared: 19
Ranked among Artemis: 1/5
Ranked among Dashes: 1/8

Divine Dash is very unique. I hunt for the other 4 boons in my top 5. I don't hunt for Divine Dash. I want as high rarity as I can get for most boons. Divine Dash...I'm happy with just Common. It's always a good boon to get. Your survivability just shoots up with having Divine Dash on you. I think everyone has relied on Divine Dash at some point in Hades. The point where I realized that I'm good at Hades is when I don't have to automatically pick Divine Dash anymore.

Being completely and utterly invulnerable to everything while dashing is just so good. It's also the easiest way to actually deflect anything. You get a decent amount of duos (including Stubborn Roots, another excellent survivability boon) and opens the door to Divine Protection. It's a shame that it doesn't open up Deadly Reversal or Merciful End, but I'll take what I can get.

Next up...Chaos. A little bit of a breather after two heavy rankings.

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HeroDelTiempo17
11/18/20 5:02:48 PM
#39:


A lot to take in but the first thing that jumps out is I think you're overweighting consistency on some of these. Yeah, I'm never unhappy to slap Artemis strike on something, but when the Dio/Zeus strikes jump up SEVERAL tiers on half the weapons (they're decent on spear too), that isn't really inconsistent. Something like Dio special that's only good on a couple of specific aspects I could understand, bit not this. I guess I value their statuses higher as well.

Also I think you are underrating Passion Shot and Phalanx Shot for cast builds. They deal a ton of damage and actually work with most cast gimmicks. For example on Beowulf shield - you can easily blast out 2-3 full powered rushes in the time it would take for a Festive Fog to wear off, which is just downtime without a duo.

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Mac Arrowny
11/18/20 5:04:56 PM
#40:


Frost Strike #1. I have a ridiculous winrate with it. It manages to be good on low hit count weapons (because it gives a damage boost) and good on high hit count weapons (because 10 chill stacks is awesome).
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SSBM_Guy
11/18/20 6:20:00 PM
#41:


HeroDelTiempo17 posted...
A lot to take in but the first thing that jumps out is I think you're overweighting consistency on some of these. Yeah, I'm never unhappy to slap Artemis strike on something, but when the Dio/Zeus strikes jump up SEVERAL tiers on half the weapons (they're decent on spear too), that isn't really inconsistent. Something like Dio special that's only good on a couple of specific aspects I could understand, bit not this. I guess I value their statuses higher as well.

Also I think you are underrating Passion Shot and Phalanx Shot for cast builds. They deal a ton of damage and actually work with most cast gimmicks. For example on Beowulf shield - you can easily blast out 2-3 full powered rushes in the time it would take for a Festive Fog to wear off, which is just downtime without a duo.
That's fair. Attack and Special boons were easily the hardest to rank since they're so reliant on what weapon you use. Cast, Dash, and Call all can be done with the same strategy regardless of what weapon you have, which is probably why Cast and Call consistently got higher. In general, I just decided to put all the inconsistent boons in a tier and leave it at that.

Might as well call it out since this is also being used as an advice thread for Hades. These boons jump higher if you're using these weapons. Bold for special emphasis.

Curse of Agony: Shield, Bow
Divine Flourish: Bow, Blade
Lightning Strike: Rail, Fists, Spear
Tempest Strike: Spear, Shield, Bow
Drunken Flourish: Zeus Shield, Chaos Shield, Bow
Drunken Strike: Fists, Rail, Shield, any weapon with Flurry enhancement

I don't respect Crush Shot unless you have Flurry Cast or Blown Kiss. It's just too close for comfort otherwise. It doesn't help that basically every other Aphrodite option is viable too. As for Phalanx Shot...eh. It's very in-the-middle for casts.

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HeroDelTiempo17
11/18/20 7:07:30 PM
#42:


It's more that all the casts are good so it feels wrong to put them under worse boons. I'm never unhappy if I end up having to take either of those casts unless I'm on a ranged weapon for Crush Shot. I guess it's a matter of priorities.

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KanzarisKelshen
11/18/20 8:30:23 PM
#43:


Curse of Agony is best on rail and fists tho

It gives fists something to do with hit n run and rail is just obvious in its application, and the damage is so high it's still value even with the hestia rail

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ZenOfThunder
11/18/20 10:31:01 PM
#44:




me waiting patiently for the next ranking

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Mega Mana
11/19/20 8:12:53 AM
#45:


Mmm, Rail Curse of Agony + doom stacks buff

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foolm0r0n
11/19/20 9:48:59 AM
#46:


Athena's Aid is great since the full bar bonus is massive, and you can use your regular attacks to DPS. If you have low DPS then it won't help, but you shouldn't rely on your aid to DPS anyways. And Athena in your pool is always good.

---
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SSBM_Guy
11/19/20 2:12:37 PM
#47:


I guess my next run's going to be a Curse of Agony run!

Chaos Curses (ranked from worst option to best option)

Gamma Tier

13. Maimed

You can win by not attacking. It's just...why would you do that?

12. Caustic

This can get really, really bad if you have Jury Summons or Forced Overtime on. Even without either of these, some rooms like Numbskulls or Flame Wheels will make this way more frustrating.

Beta Tier

11. Roiling

This is basically temporary Jury Summons. I don't like Jury Summons. A large majority of the difficulty in Hades is when there's too many things going on. Case in point: Asterius. Not too bad when you fight him alone, much more unpredictable when you have Theseus running around too. Since a large amount of the difficulty buffs rely on you actually getting hit (Hard Labor, Lasting Consequences, etc.), you're fine if you don't get hit. Jury Summons/Roiling ruins that.

10. Halting

Having less mobility is generally not good. When you're dashing all the time, you kinda have an idea how far you'll go. Having that measurement messed up is...a little rough.

9. Enshrouded

If you get a late-chamber Chaos, this one is absolutely the play. This counts Charon's Shop, the boss room, the rest area, and advancing to the next biome as part of the chambers. That's already 4 more-or-less automatic options.

That said, I remember getting this at the beginning of Asphodel and, by the time it wore off, I was already at Charon's Shop heading to the boss. Not knowing what you're getting sucks. You can't plan for gods. If you have a god keepsake, it might end up becoming entirely useless. Some people I know deliberately avoid the skull chambers if they're still getting used to the game. On the flipside, it does nothing to change difficulty of the chamber (other than accidentally wandering into a miniboss or skull chamber). I also have begun to appreciate every chamber reward, so nothing truly feels debilitating.

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SSBM_Guy
11/19/20 2:13:52 PM
#48:


7. Abyssal

Temporary Heightened Security. Could absolutely ruin your day if you wander into one. Unlike Heightened Security, this one isn't hovering your head the entire game. It's just a couple of rooms, so you can be more aware of avoiding traps as long as you have Abyssal. Probably not a good call to get if you're going to be spending a lot of time in Asphodel.

6. Slippery

The real annoying part of this is that the "invisible" bloodstone is still pretty visible. Anyways, not too bad if you're in Tartarus since casts aren't that great in Tartarus. You don't really need Boiling Blood since the HP total is low. And there's a fairly good chance you may even leave Tartarus without a cast at all. For the record, the grand majority of my Chaos visits happen in Tartarus. I just can't reliably get Chaos outside of Tartarus other than Light of Ixion.

While it's annoying in Elysium and Asphodel, it's not that awful. I can live without using cast for a while, as long as I can use it every now and then. I'm only spamming Cast if I have Greater Recall. I actually don't know what happens with this Chaos curse if you do have Greater Recall.

Alpha Tier

5. Pauper's

Avoid obol rooms for a while. Sometimes you can't and that's just...you just have to be OK with clearing an encounter for absolutely no reward. As I said earlier, Obol isn't the most valuable thing in the world, so not being able to collect it for a while is fine.

4. Flayed


3. Addled


If you're in Tartarus, Addled is one of the better curses to get - if not the best. As stated before, you both get Chaos a lot more in Tartarus and casts in general are not that important in Tartarus at all. It's also the easiest of Attack/Special/Cast to ignore. On the flipside, getting Addled in Tartarus or Elysium is pretty rough.

Flayed, on the other hand, is probably the least used out of Attack/Special/Cast for the entire run. However, I like using Special every now and then. Out of Attack/Special/Cast, Special is by far the one I will accidentally trigger the most, just because I forget that I can't use it.

But in the end, it's literally 5 HP per use.

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SSBM_Guy
11/19/20 2:15:54 PM
#49:


2. Atrophic

Doesn't actually impact you in the Encounters unless you begin to lose HP. Shouldn't really be a problem unless you're going against a boss.

1. Slothful

How often are you actually moving and not dashing? Honestly, I can't even tell you. It also has the added benefit of just looking funny to watch.

Chaos Blessings:

Delta Tier

12. Assault

I tried comboing this with one of my few Fiery Presence runs. I even had an Eris Bangle on. I saw no real big difference in the damage I was doing.

11. Affluence

I don't particularly like Obol, but not bad of a choice if you're still leveling up Deep Pockets/Golden Touch or if you have Convenience Fee up. Probably best for the following: 1) reliably buying multiple Kiss of Styx, 2) buying the Titan's Blood/Diamond in the Styx Charon shop, 3) clearing out Well of Charon if you have Fated Persuasion, and 4) HOARDING SLASH STRATS

Gamma Tier

10. Eclipse

If you're in the earlygame to midgame, a solid option. Especially nice if you're getting early Poseidon so you can pair it with Ocean's Bounty. I kinda wish the chef shade appears in the rest area, so that you can get a bigger return on the fish rewards.

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SSBM_Guy
11/19/20 2:17:01 PM
#50:


9. Soul

Even though I usually like Life rewards, this is...whatever to me? With Dark Foresight, you usually have more than enough Life through the Centaur Hearts. Even without Dark Foresight, I just didn't value getting this that much. Maybe that's why I died so often? Who knows.

Beta Tier

8. Flourish

We're going to talk about doubling up. Generally, when I go for Chaos, I want to get the exact same blessing each time. So two Flourishes, two Strikes, etc. However, things are fine even if you get 1 blessing, because there's another way to double up: Well of Charon. With a well-timed Well of Charon, you can get a temporary double-up through Chimaera Jerky (Special), Cyclops Jerky (Attack), Braid of Atlas (Cast), or Prometheus Stone (Bloodstone). If that's a little too RNG-dependent, let me introduce you to the Bone Hourglass. You get a guaranteed Well of Charon with bonuses that will last you until the end of the area. You can also use Fated Persuasion to get another 3 options from the Well of Charon. Probably the main way I'm building up damage for Elysium and Styx nowadays.

Anyways, Flourish. Great option if you're going for a heavy-hitting special build, like Rail, Spear, or Chiron Bow. But that's a little inconsistent for me, so not usually my choice when I'm at Chaos.

7. Lunge

I respect Lunge a little more because I'm dash-striking more than using special. Unfortunately, there's no Well of Charon item for Lunge, so it's going to be a little harder to stack. On the other hand, you can get Hunter Dash, which is one of the more useful dashes to get for an easy doubling. Plus, I think every melee weapon has some dash-attack hammer upgrade, all of which can make your dash-strike suprisingly powerful. Getting a Chaos Lunge and Hunter Dash makes it more than viable.

Alpha Tier

6. Defiance

An awesome upgrade, but a very difficult one to get. It requires at least 2 Chaos visits, which is already unlikely. By the time you have a generous amount of Fated Persuasion, you probably don't need another Death Defiance. You're also better spending your Fated Persuasion on building a stronger god build or doubling up on your Chaos boons.

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