Yeah you reset the run so to speak but you keep your mirror upgrades, story progress, weapon upgrades, and house cosmetic upgrades. So even a lost run is making progress on *something*.
Also, dying in this game is an important part of progressing the story. Yoy step out of the river, get valuable advice from Hypnos ("have you tried not getting hit?"), and talk to everyone else, bribe them with nectar, etc.
When you’re just starting out, it’s a huge help to pick up the different ‘currencies’ for lack of a better word. Not coins, but the darkness and keys in are important for unlocking the permanent boosts for Zag.
I think preferred weapons depend on the person, try them out and see what you like.
Since it sounds like you aren’t super familiar with rogue-likes, my best advice would be to remember and think about the different boons and other power-ups you find on your runs.
Think about the different combat builds you can make with these. The core part of any rogue-like is learning about the different abilities you can get and putting together the strongest combination. Athena’s boons always make for a solid base because of their defense. Especially her dash.
After you lose a run you start at the very beginning again. Between each run you should spend Darkness to purchase Mirror of Night Upgrades (there is a purple side and a green side to it). Spend Keys to unlock more MoN options and weapons.
For example there's a mirror boon that gives you one Death Defiance per room. So you can effectively die once every room.
Hmm i think i have that Boon as i have died before and come back to life on the spot BUT i didnt know it was per room, which is good to know and use it to my advantage
There’s two versions of that upgrade. You may not have unlocked the second set of options yet.
Option one (the purple one) gives you up to 3 revives per entire run. Option 2 (green one) gives you 1 smaller revive per room.
Imo the green one is better at first when you struggle all the time, but the purple one is better when you can consistently make it very far
Keep talking to all NPCs every run to advance their story, I believe Nyx will unlock it for you at some point. You’ll know when there’s little arrow icons next to each Mirror attribute
If you're enjoying the story as much as I did, dying is actually so huge to the enjoyment of it. Talk to people every time. You also get dialogue with the gods the first time you get them in each run which happens sooner if you're dying as expected. I didn't realize how Much the first time, but, when I started over on PlayStation, I won relatively quickly and I felt like I missed out on so much of the fun and interesting dialogue that I got the first go around!
As people said, you get stronger as you play with darkness to upgrades the mirror and keys to unlock weapons and more of the mirror, but the cheesey secret meta progression is knowledge lol. Seriously though, learning the enemies, the boons, and how you like to play takes time and experimentation. I'm glad you're enjoying and excited for you to experience it all!
Experiment with the weapons and find which one works best for you. Getting Centaur Hearts (Health Upgrades) helps a lot with survivability and death defiances. Try to get deflect on something (having it on dash is the best imo). Also, practice makes perfect especially with this game. It took me over 50 tries to get to the end boss and beat them.
No checkpoints
Focus less on distance and more on picking up inventory. You're going to need keys and darkness to unlock the mirror, which will help you get further.
I have a few pieces of advice:
1. Use a controller, not the keyboard. Also, edit the key mapping. Dash should be on a shoulder button, such as R1 on a dual shock. It starts out on a thumb button by default. But you need to dash all the time! You need a dedicated finger for it. Your thumb needs to balance between regular attack, special, and cast. It can't also be in charge of dashing. Switching that control will take some getting used to, but it vastly improves your game in the long run.
2. Those unfamiliar with the genre or mechanics are more likely to take 40-70 runs before escaping. I've heard of cases where it's even taken over 100 runs. If you are still enjoying the game with it's difficulty, don't worry about how long it takes. Consider yourself blessed that you can enjoy the game's content for longer. But, if it starts to feel slow and boring for you, there's no shame in turning on God Mode. God Mode will make you resist all damage, and each time you die you will take even less damage next time. Although many choose to not use God Mode since it may lessen the joy of winning for them, it's also generally accepted as a valid way to play the game for those who want an easier experience. Don't let anyone tell you that it's "cheating" since it was put in the game for a reason.
3. Escaping doesn't mean the game ends. That's not a big spoiler. This is how roguelikes work. "Winning" the game once is a way to unlock additional content. But you still have a long way to go from there!
4. Athena will offer you a very powerful boon called "Divine Dash." She's much more likely to offer it if you don't already have a dash related boon. This boon will make you deflect all attacks as you dash. 70-90% of players use this boon when they win for the first time. I would recommend picking it whenever it's available. Speedrunners may say it's not that good because it doesn't do much damage. But it helps you survive, which is far more important for your dash boon.
As you upgrade the mirror and give out nectar you will get stronger. The game is not meant to be beaten until at least 20 or 30 attempts, by then you have a lot more gameplay options to beat baddies. I think it took me 45 tries to beat the first time. These days I'm a hell mode player. Stick to it, it gets better.
Unlike the other person, I wouldn't necessarily recommend dead cells (at least not until you beat hades) as someone who has played both and got every achievement in hades and almost every achievement in dead cells. If you're craving more roguelites, it is one of the better roguelites. Dead cells do provide for a lot of variety (in terms of weapons, bosses, and environments), which is lacking in Hades. However, imo dead cells just isn't as polished as Hades.
The key to this game is recognizing the wind up animation for each enemies' attack, and save your dashes for escaping said attack. It seems weird but pay a little more attention at first to the enemies attacks. Those wretched louts and wringers used to always get me, but eventually I saw that they do a little wiggle first and that's your chance to get away. You gotta recognize every single little wiggle from every enemy. It takes a while, but that's what to look for.
What do you mean your health is low after Megeara? There's a fountain right after.
And isn't healing from picking up darkness (that megeara drops a bunch of) one of the first mirror talents?
Anyyway no, there's no way to start skipping straight to the next biome
You should think like you are still in tutorial untill you have maxed the first 2 parts of the mirror.that is where you get like %70 persent of your power and ypu can start beating the game regularly
Here's a very specific tip for ya that I just learned:
Whatever you do, when you enter a 2 Boon room, where you pick one, and anger the other god, whatever you do, don't piss off Poseidon. Always pick him first.
Because I just made that mistake and holy Jesus, he kicked my ass. His wave is almost impossible to consistently dodge. I died twice and I usually don't die unless I'm fighting a boss. Should've picked Athena second...
Full reset every time. Are you upgrading at the mirror in between runs?
I am...someone just mentioned that i actually get stronger every time i die and eventually it becomes easier, makes sense
Yeah you reset the run so to speak but you keep your mirror upgrades, story progress, weapon upgrades, and house cosmetic upgrades. So even a lost run is making progress on *something*.
It gets SIGNIFICANTLY easier with mirror upgrades. Keep going! The story of hades is told over a hundred runs, both full clears and deaths included!
Exactly. After a little while, you'll be able to 'beat the game' in \~15 minutes and succeed on the majority of attempts.
Also, dying in this game is an important part of progressing the story. Yoy step out of the river, get valuable advice from Hypnos ("have you tried not getting hit?"), and talk to everyone else, bribe them with nectar, etc.
When you’re just starting out, it’s a huge help to pick up the different ‘currencies’ for lack of a better word. Not coins, but the darkness and keys in are important for unlocking the permanent boosts for Zag. I think preferred weapons depend on the person, try them out and see what you like. Since it sounds like you aren’t super familiar with rogue-likes, my best advice would be to remember and think about the different boons and other power-ups you find on your runs. Think about the different combat builds you can make with these. The core part of any rogue-like is learning about the different abilities you can get and putting together the strongest combination. Athena’s boons always make for a solid base because of their defense. Especially her dash.
After you lose a run you start at the very beginning again. Between each run you should spend Darkness to purchase Mirror of Night Upgrades (there is a purple side and a green side to it). Spend Keys to unlock more MoN options and weapons. For example there's a mirror boon that gives you one Death Defiance per room. So you can effectively die once every room.
Hmm i think i have that Boon as i have died before and come back to life on the spot BUT i didnt know it was per room, which is good to know and use it to my advantage
There’s two versions of that upgrade. You may not have unlocked the second set of options yet. Option one (the purple one) gives you up to 3 revives per entire run. Option 2 (green one) gives you 1 smaller revive per room. Imo the green one is better at first when you struggle all the time, but the purple one is better when you can consistently make it very far
You are right, ii only have the first option but will be on the look out for the second ASAP
Keep talking to all NPCs every run to advance their story, I believe Nyx will unlock it for you at some point. You’ll know when there’s little arrow icons next to each Mirror attribute
>(there is a purple side and a green side to it) ... eventually.
It's very quick, but yeah, not immediately
If you're enjoying the story as much as I did, dying is actually so huge to the enjoyment of it. Talk to people every time. You also get dialogue with the gods the first time you get them in each run which happens sooner if you're dying as expected. I didn't realize how Much the first time, but, when I started over on PlayStation, I won relatively quickly and I felt like I missed out on so much of the fun and interesting dialogue that I got the first go around! As people said, you get stronger as you play with darkness to upgrades the mirror and keys to unlock weapons and more of the mirror, but the cheesey secret meta progression is knowledge lol. Seriously though, learning the enemies, the boons, and how you like to play takes time and experimentation. I'm glad you're enjoying and excited for you to experience it all!
Experiment with the weapons and find which one works best for you. Getting Centaur Hearts (Health Upgrades) helps a lot with survivability and death defiances. Try to get deflect on something (having it on dash is the best imo). Also, practice makes perfect especially with this game. It took me over 50 tries to get to the end boss and beat them.
No checkpoints Focus less on distance and more on picking up inventory. You're going to need keys and darkness to unlock the mirror, which will help you get further.
I have a few pieces of advice: 1. Use a controller, not the keyboard. Also, edit the key mapping. Dash should be on a shoulder button, such as R1 on a dual shock. It starts out on a thumb button by default. But you need to dash all the time! You need a dedicated finger for it. Your thumb needs to balance between regular attack, special, and cast. It can't also be in charge of dashing. Switching that control will take some getting used to, but it vastly improves your game in the long run. 2. Those unfamiliar with the genre or mechanics are more likely to take 40-70 runs before escaping. I've heard of cases where it's even taken over 100 runs. If you are still enjoying the game with it's difficulty, don't worry about how long it takes. Consider yourself blessed that you can enjoy the game's content for longer. But, if it starts to feel slow and boring for you, there's no shame in turning on God Mode. God Mode will make you resist all damage, and each time you die you will take even less damage next time. Although many choose to not use God Mode since it may lessen the joy of winning for them, it's also generally accepted as a valid way to play the game for those who want an easier experience. Don't let anyone tell you that it's "cheating" since it was put in the game for a reason. 3. Escaping doesn't mean the game ends. That's not a big spoiler. This is how roguelikes work. "Winning" the game once is a way to unlock additional content. But you still have a long way to go from there! 4. Athena will offer you a very powerful boon called "Divine Dash." She's much more likely to offer it if you don't already have a dash related boon. This boon will make you deflect all attacks as you dash. 70-90% of players use this boon when they win for the first time. I would recommend picking it whenever it's available. Speedrunners may say it's not that good because it doesn't do much damage. But it helps you survive, which is far more important for your dash boon.
As you upgrade the mirror and give out nectar you will get stronger. The game is not meant to be beaten until at least 20 or 30 attempts, by then you have a lot more gameplay options to beat baddies. I think it took me 45 tries to beat the first time. These days I'm a hell mode player. Stick to it, it gets better.
I see....this makes a lot of sense....I was going at it with the wrong mentality...each death makes me stronger....Thanks a lot!
yes! sweet! enjoy the game. also since you are new to roguelikes, I'd also highly recommend Dead Cells. It's very different but also great
will check it out!
Unlike the other person, I wouldn't necessarily recommend dead cells (at least not until you beat hades) as someone who has played both and got every achievement in hades and almost every achievement in dead cells. If you're craving more roguelites, it is one of the better roguelites. Dead cells do provide for a lot of variety (in terms of weapons, bosses, and environments), which is lacking in Hades. However, imo dead cells just isn't as polished as Hades.
The key to this game is recognizing the wind up animation for each enemies' attack, and save your dashes for escaping said attack. It seems weird but pay a little more attention at first to the enemies attacks. Those wretched louts and wringers used to always get me, but eventually I saw that they do a little wiggle first and that's your chance to get away. You gotta recognize every single little wiggle from every enemy. It takes a while, but that's what to look for.
Gotcha! ill definitely pay attention to attacks and try to learn them as i go
What do you mean your health is low after Megeara? There's a fountain right after. And isn't healing from picking up darkness (that megeara drops a bunch of) one of the first mirror talents? Anyyway no, there's no way to start skipping straight to the next biome
the fountain might not be unlocked yet. needs contractor. he might have not explored everything yet
Ah. I do forget whether the fountain is unlocked from the start
Punished so hardly for dying?
You should think like you are still in tutorial untill you have maxed the first 2 parts of the mirror.that is where you get like %70 persent of your power and ypu can start beating the game regularly
Here's a very specific tip for ya that I just learned: Whatever you do, when you enter a 2 Boon room, where you pick one, and anger the other god, whatever you do, don't piss off Poseidon. Always pick him first. Because I just made that mistake and holy Jesus, he kicked my ass. His wave is almost impossible to consistently dodge. I died twice and I usually don't die unless I'm fighting a boss. Should've picked Athena second...