Hades: Beating the game - practical tips Hades guide, tips

This page of the Hades guide contains practical advice on how to get through the game more easily for the first time. These tips are for new players learning the basics of the game.

Last update: 31 August 2021

On this page of the Hades guide you can find a set of practical tips and tricks on how to complete the campaign for the first time, i.e. how to get through all 4 main realms and defeat all mandatory bosses (including the final boss). The tips are prepared mainly for new players who want to complete the game for the first time and find out what will happen after escaping from the underworld.

• Introduction to tips
• Recommended weapons and play style
• Gifts selections and weapon upgrades
• Health and Death Defiance charges
• Unique NPCs and Chaos
• Charon's Obols management
• Fights with bosses of 1-3 biomes
• Last decisions and getting through the Styx Temple
• Final boss fight - tips

Introduction to tips

1. As we have already mentioned, the following tips are meant for novice Hades players, i.e. people looking for tips on how to finish the game for the first time by reaching the bosses of all 4 realms and dealing with them. More advanced tips can be found on other pages of this guide.
2. Some of our advice (in particular those concerning the choice of weapons and recommended combat tactics) are very precise and tackle upon very specific topics. However, it should be made clear that these are just our recommendations for an exemplary gameplay. Don't treat them as the only correct tactics, but rather as tips on how to facilitate your first of many more victories.
3. Although there is a possibility to choose which chambers you will visit and which gifts you will unlock, Hades involves a lot of randomness. It's unlikely that you will come across the same treasures during next gameplays and that the character development will proceed identically. Expect some differences and that, for example, some weapon upgrades may not appear in every attempt. Thus, you have to adapt your play style and the character development to what you find during the particular gameplay.

Recommended weapons and play style

 

In our opinion, the best weapon to complete the game for the first time is the Eternal Spear. As a reminder, it's a weapon that you can buy early in the game for 4 Chthonic Keys.

Eternal Spear has two main advantages:

1. Ability to attack enemies from a large distance - much larger than the other varieties of melee weapons available in the game. As a result, you don't have to perform attacks that involve a high risk of receiving damage from your enemies.
2. Ability to throw the spear so it can also become a long-range weapon. This makes the spear quite a universal weapon, which you can adapt to the found gifts and upgrades as well as to the current situation on the battlefield.

 

While playing, attack enemies as soon as they find themselves within the range of the spear attacks. The point is not to allow them to get close enough to Zagreus and start throwing punches that could endanger him. Performing a series of rapid spear attacks can additionally lead to a situation in which the attacked enemy will be hit all the time and will have a problem with performing any attack themselves.

Throwing a spear (special spear attack) proves useful in two types of situations:

1. the enemies are standing far away from Zagreus and you want to attack them from a long distance,
2. you want to backstab the enemies and deal them increased damage.

While playing, you are free to choose the type of Eternal Spear attack. You can:

1. focus on developing standard attacks, i.e. increasing their damage and thus, imposing negative statuses on enemies,
2. combine standard and special attacks so that you can always adapt to the situation on the battlefield,
3. focus on developing special attacks, i.e. on eliminating enemies by throwing a spear at them.

In our opinion, the first and the third option are the best. Focusing on one type of attack will allow you to equip gifts and upgrades that will help you drain large amounts of enemies' health points.

Gifts selections and weapon upgrades

 

As far as gifts are concerned, your priority should be to choose the ones that increase damage dealt. It's even better if the chosen gift allows you to impose some negative or positive status on the enemy.

As mentioned in the previous paragraph, we advise you to focus on developing standard or special attacks. The point is to make sure that standard or special spear attacks deal as much damage as possible in the final stage of the game and thus, effectively weaken bosses and elite enemies.

 

In the case of Daedalus Hammer upgrades, you can look for those that increase the strength of attacks. While playing with the use of Eternal Spear, the most useful are the upgrades that increase the range of the spear (see the above image).

Playing with a longer range spear can facilitate attacking all sorts of "problematic" enemies. It will enable hitting the enemies standing very far from you, even at the other side of the screen. This will allow you to avoid their normal or area attacks and will consequently reduce the risk of receiving damage.

Health and Death Defiance charges

 

You can increase your chances of survival even before starting the next attempt. You must therefore buy the right talents. First, have a look at the following talents:

1. Thick Skin - each level will increase your default health bar by 10 points. Of course, you will be able to extend it even more while playing.
2. Death Defiance - this talent is extremely important because each level increases the number of resurrections in case of death by 1. Try to spend all the accumulated Darkness to develop this talent (500 Darkness to reach Level 2 and 1000 Darkness to reach Level 3). In addition, give Nectar to Skelly and you will get a keepsake with a similar effect - we described this in more detail on the Death - how to avoid? page. Death Defiances can help you the most in boss fights. If you really want to complete the game, then try to save as many of them (optimally all) for the last realm and for the final boss.

 

In the meantime, look for Centaur Hearts - especially for the ones that are chamber rewards, although individual ones may also be found in Charon's shops.

At the end of the game, it is recommended to have at least 200 health points. This will provide you with a sufficiently large buffer for fighting bosses and recovering a large amount of health points thanks to Death Defiance. However, we don't recommend trying to reach all the hearts hidden in the chambers at all costs, because you also need to take care of obtaining other gifts and upgrades in order to develop the character in terms of the damage dealt. Otherwise, you may end up with a character with a huge health bar, but performing weak attacks.

Unique NPCs and Chaos

 

In every attempt, look for exclamation point symbols by the passages leading to meeting places with unique NPCs - Sisyphus, Eurydice and Patroclus. Nothing bad will happen if you don't meet them, but they can make it easier for you to go further and increase your chances of winning:

1. Sisyphus can provide you with a large health pack (assuming you need healing).
2. Eurydice offfers the option to upgrade or increase the rarity level of gifts, which will increase their statistics.
3. Patroclus offers the option of renewing the uses of Death Defiance. This will be extremely helpful while completing the Elysium realm and while getting through the Styx Temple.

Your chances may also increase by taking at least one Chaos challenge. However, take advantage of this opportunity only if the Chaos Gate appears in Tartarus, so that the difficulties associated with the chosen Chaos gift will not cause you problems and will not significantly weaken Zagreus.

Charon's Obols management

 

You should think ahead when managing gold within a given gameplay. We definitely do not recommend spending all collected Charon's Obols on a regular basis. These, however, are exceptions:

1. items with permanent effect - Centaur Hearts, Poms of Power and other such objects that will not "disappear" from the inventory after a certain number of fights,
2. healing items - only if you have sustained more damage and don't want to risk death.

Save as much gold as possible for later. This approach is supported by the fact that the most valuable things to buy are in the Charon's shop at the Styx Temple (see image above). Most of them cost several hundred pieces of gold (or even 1000 and more) and these are not sums you could obtain while exploring the chambers of the temple. Thus, it may come to a situation in which you'll have to pass up some valuable items.

Fights with bosses of 1-3 biomes

 

If you are serious about completing all the realms, you should not lose a single Death Defiance charge in any of the battles with the bosses of Tartarus, Asphodel and Elysium. Otherwise, your chances of surviving until the end will drop significantly, because the Styx Temple is the most challenging location as far maintaining health is concerned - and that's before starting the final boss fight.

Megaera / Alecto / Tisiphone: No matter which of the sisters you run into, focus on dodging when the enemy is charging. Perform a series of long-range spear blows. Remember to avoid contact with the traps and to run around the arena when the "bombing" starts or when the boss falls into a battle frenzy.

 

Lernaean Bone Hydra: weakening Hydra itself can be fabulously easy because you can attack or throw a spear while standing out of range of its blows directed to the ground. You can also use spears to destroy incoming projectiles. Deal with smaller snakes one at a time, but beware of magma and projectiles/waves. Watch out if the boss starts to scatter cocoons - enemies will start to hatch out of those. Destroy them as soon as possible, otherwise the area will get crowded and it will be easier to receive serious damage and die.

 

Asterius and Theseus: first of all, always focus on Minotaur. Run around the edges of the arena while avoiding ranged attacks of Theseus. Look for an opportunity to attack Asterius from a safe distance and instantly perform a dash when you notice that he performs a new jump. As far as Theseus is concerned, you can rely on dashes to get behind his back or on throwing the spear and then summoning it to yourself. Run even more after Theseus asks one of the deities for help and when regular "bombing" of the arena begins. It's easy to get critical damage.

Last decisions and getting through the Styx Temple

 

Making bad decisions and careless Styx Temple playthrough can easily ruin your previous achievements. In extreme cases, you can die even before reaching the final boss's location. Here are some important tips:

1. Plan your shopping at the Charon's shop - try to focus on those items that you can afford or for the purchase of which you need just some more gold. These should be gifts or weapon upgrades to maximize your stats.
2. First, choose the simpler chambers out of the available ones, i.e. those that are not marked with a skull icon - it means there is a chance that you will find an item for Cerberus without having to engage in the most difficult fights.
3. Aggressively attack enemies as soon as you reach each chamber - use casts and quick spear attacks. This approach is supported by the fact that most of the rooms are small in size and you need to weaken or eliminate as many monsters as possible before they get close to Zagreus.
4. Prioritize avoiding poison - getting Zagreus poisoned can begin to weaken him very quickly and if that happens, you need to quickly get to the healing fountain. Instantly attack all new cultists who can poison Zagreus with ranged attacks the easiest.

Final boss fight - tips

 

If you have prepared well for the final clash, you should start the duel with Hades :

1. with a full or almost full health bar of at least 200 points,
2. with at least two resurrections in stock,
3. with a high-level standard or special Zagreus attack - use this attack during the final clash.

In our opinion, winning the fight with Hades while equipped with Eternal Spear is easier than with the use of other weapons because you can launch attacks from a greater distance. There is a good chance that Zagreus will avoid the dangerous "pivot" attacks of Hades or that you will have enough time to escape after the boss signals the intention to use this attack. Dodges are also mandatory when Hades prepares to attack after using invisibility, charges and shoots projectiles towards Zagreus.

 

Remember that Hades must be defeated twice (i.e. you have to drain his energy bar twice) so don't take too much risk in the first stage of the fight and calmly look for opportunities to attack. Only deal with the boss's helpers if they threaten you directly.

In the second stage of the fight against Hades, try to stay close to indestructible obstacles so that you can hide behind them when the boss launches the strongest attack and starts shooting rays.

The spear can be useful to destroy green pots from a safe distance so that you're not within the range of the rays. For that purpose, you may also use a cast that will work well for hitting distant jugs.

Good luck!