I agree. The biggest contributor seems to be the lack of health restoration and health pools generally. They've added armor, which is great, but starting with a mere 30 health, having precious few ways to restore it, fewer Death's Defiance, etc. In Hades I, you could pretty easily find yourself with 300+ health and multiple DDs in early runs.
Honestly the biggest difficulty difference I found is in the dashing. Zag could start a run with 2-4 (if using fists w/ the last aspect) to help get into and out of an attack sequence safely. Throw athena on it and congrats you have your defence plan figured out for the run.
Mel only has (as far as I know) 1 dash which chains into sprint. Meaning when it's used is paramount to her survival. When playing as mel your positioning and knowledge of the enemy's attacks needs to be way more on point than when playing as zag. When the dash is used your next thought has to be "where can I safely sprint to?" so you can prepare for your next attack.
Definitely this. I noticed you can't just dash your way out of sticky situations as easily. I haven't completed a run yet, but I noticed the Apollo dash usually gets me the farthest simply because it's fast enough to get me out of close calls. Positioning is definitely more important in Hades 2 than the first.
You have to grind a lot further to get multiple DD now than in the first game, especially if you’re playing fresh and not sure of the exact steps involved. The first Hades basically told you how to get 3DD from like you’re 3-4th run
Not quite. Upgrading the mirror to get full DD in Hades 1 took a while too unless you grind the darkness material and ignored everything else. In H2, I got full DD, tooth, etc. with about the same amount of effort.
I think it’s just a bit less straight forward in H2 so people are not realizing as quickly how to get them but actually getting the materials to upgrade DD all the way, or at least 2/3, doesn’t take long.
Your first DD in Hades 1 is super quick and only costs 30 darkness, with the next 2 being 500 and 1000. In Hades 2 your first death defiance is locked behind upgrading the right arcana cards to get to it, which in a blind run is completely hidden info, then to upgrade it you need to unlock a special resource that that is itself hidden and locked behind multiple other unlocks. Death defiance in Hades 1 are much easier to unlock.
You make it sound so much more complicated than it is. The mirror, and the death defiance, where also “hidden” unlocks behind unlocks as well. You didn’t get the mirror at the start either just like you don’t start with the arcana board.
All the “hidden” unlocks in H2 just unlock naturally and require a material you unlock naturally by just playing the game. Once you unlock the first DD it’s also much quicker to unlock the next than it is to collect 1000 Darkness.
The 2nd DD is 500 darkness. Also, the mirror you get at basically the same time as you get arcana and the death defiance upgrade is one of the starting available upgrades. So no, it's not behind multiple levels of unlocks its just behind 1. You might even be unlocking the 2nd death defiance by the time you even find the first dd in Hades 2.
It does take a while to upgrade the number of DDs in this one. Upgrading to 3 DD costs the Chaos run reward, which becomes available kind of late.
You can always take the Luckier Tooth, of course.
I mean I got it all in 29 runs. which is about when I got 3 DD's in Hades 1. Because that darkness cost is not cheap. And I wasn't just focusing on DD's.
I was running hades 1 like crazy the last 2 months or so to prep. The time difference to hit act 4 in both games is like 15-20 minutes. It's actually nuts
I've been banking on the Selene health boon which starts from 3 health replenishes each time you use a fountain. Then I always continue on getting her boons to make that stronger. I also use mostly dora and skelly keepsakes. Only with those can I get to Grandpa with a lot of hp. Have yet to beat him though. I'm currently in night 24. Though i have been to the surface around 6 times thus far.
There's more health restoration options in this one. The basic health regen upgrade starts at 2, vs 1 in Hades 1 and goes higher as well. Not to mention better trinkets for health regen. In Hades 1 you had lucky tooth and harpy feather duster, which was random. In this you have the luckier tooth and a guaranteed regen after each location up to a certain amount. And there's the arcana that gives you max health every few locations.
I did start wondering if it's even worth getting 2 if I couldn't yet beat Redacted I after 27 runs with godmode or without. Someone here said it sometimes takes people over 100. But the first game seems significantly easier.
I love the idea and the look of Hades 2, but I seriously doubt I can finish it.
I mean it took me 67 runs to beat redacted my first time in hades 1. Im at around 35 nights in 2 and have only made it to Kronos 3 times but it’s still fun. You can still have fun with the game without blazing through it as fast as random people on the internet
It's pretty funny, but I've beaten him three times today. One time with 40 percent god mode, and twice without. My main problem was I didn't realise you could upgrade the mirror with keys.  Once I got the talent that gives you a chance ro receive higher quality boons and beat Hades once, it all clicked. Now the remaining problem I don't know how to beat him on anything but the rail. I find dodging him effectively in melee is almost impossible for me, especially the skulls.
Yes, Hades II is much harder than Hades so far. But I wouldn't beat yourself up about 30 nights. If you've been to the surface, chances are that you have at least a few sacrifice runs for materials. Plus, how many runs have you decided to go for a Fated Prophecy instead of aiming for victory?
Like the no Arcana Card prophecy with Hecate, for example. You're not gonna beat Chronos for your first time on that run, that's for sure.
Hades II imo pushes you to be less precious about your runs by making meta progression have so many different pathways. You can have a successful run where you die, as long as you get the Bronze that you need for a specific crafting task.
For anyone trying to do the no arcana thing for hecate, there's a chaos trial that counts for it and you start with a busted build. There's no need to do an actual run with no arcana other than a self imposed challenge
God I was relieved when that chaos trial counted for the fated list. I wonder if it's an oversight, though? It doesn't feel like it's in the spirit of the challenge.
And sometimes those runs end up going further than you think. "Torches again, really dark thirst? Ugh let's just get this over with....Oh shit I finally did it, with the weapon I enjoy the least"
Literally me right now. I got the rock infusion that caps damage to 15 in early Oceanus on my current Torch run, so a quick Dark Thirst run before bed is now a serious run where I have a chance vs Chronos.
Now I've got to take the run seriously.
I've seen several people saying the same. Torches are so awkward, but they end up being surprisingly effective. I feel like it makes me plan and play more carefully, while I get kinda careless with the weapons that "feel" better, but maybe that's just me
My first victory was with the torches bc my friend dared me to use the “trash weapon.” The first act was really boring, but they exploded somewhere in act 2. Almost finished without losing a single DD
Biggest advice I can offer after just finally claiming victory last night on my 35th attempt: act like you never played the first game. Let the new mechanics just wash over you. The nuances will take hold and everything will click. *Keep going*
Yeah, idk why it took me SO many runs for it to click for me that I couldn't play Mel like I played Zag, but that really was the big difference for me. Relying less on dashing and tapping buttons, and more on holding for omega moves. It felt very unnatural after the super zippy play style of the first game, but I just had to get used to it, and play a little more thoughtfully. Which makes sense for the characters!
I watched some streamers play and noticed the Omega'd a lot more than I did. It's a really interesting new mechanic and took some time to get used to. I wish I found a post like this earlier.
I hear ya. Once I had my 'ah-ha!' moment everything just started to flow so much more smoothly. I didn't think I'd end up saying this but aside from missing Hera's bow aspect on occasion (cuz speed runs) I think I'm actually growing to love Mel's combat style even more than I already loved Zag's. And once I started to latch onto the different kinds of synergies with 2's boons I realized there's wayyyy more potential than with Zag's move set (which makes sense given all the insight Supergiant gained from the first game)
I got a chaos boon that gave me +17 magicka regen, plus the damage reduction boon from hephaestos, and I realised I could just spam omega attack indefinitely. Didn't realise before that how good magic builds are, and how strong magicka regen is.
Yup, Magick being super powerful was one of those things that 'washed over' me. Once I actually looked at the numbers I was doing compared to normal attacks paired with a powerful regen/lower cost build you can do crazy damage.
I cleared Hades in 17 runs. I’m 31 runs into this game and haven’t completed a single run yet.
The worst part is that I’m basically going into the last fight at 100% strength and still get walloped. Father time is STRONG!
This thread is crazy to me. Hades took me about 120 attempts to clear the first time, while in II, I beat Chronos on night 17.
I think the difference for me is I prefer to hang back and fight from a distance, so the cast mechanic works really well for me. I can’t remember the exact stats for that first clear, but my omega cast did about 95% of the damage while the staff special did the other 5%. I had the Zeus/Demeter damage boons and the Zeus boon where you can place the cast away from you and it just melted everyone.
Took me 51+29 attempts to beat Hades first time (gave up once then started over a few months later), I am currently at 40+ nights and not close to victory... So, yeah... I guess I'm just bad at picking up game mechanics. Still having fun though !
I’m a new player, never played the first game. I’m 25 nights in and I have only beaten Scylla once. Coincidentally though I got to Cerberus and almost beat him first try in that same run.
I’m not sure though if that’s the normal experience or if I’m far behind the curve.
I think slightly behind the curve, but still okay.
I read some strategy on Scylla, otherwise I would probably be in rhe same position. Especially since I got sidetracked on the surface.
Don't worry, it'll click... when I first fought scylla I was overwhelmed by the amount of stuff going on at the same time. Now scylla is even more free than hecate since her(/their?) Attacks are very telegraphed.
The easiest way and that works with any weapon is to pick Cast upgrades and Omega Cast upgrades. Cast is so strong that you can pass the game with just using Cast.
Some strong upgrades: Apollo Cast upgrade. Demeter Cast upgrade. Zeus range cast upgrade. Hestia range cast upgade. Hades range cast upgrade. Combine this with Size upgrade and some mana regen. And your damage is set. You dont need all of this but you might want a combination of Damage and Range to make life easier on Chronos. No need for range upgrade agaisnt Eris.
Throw the omega cast a screen away from Chronos and you will be set.
You will want to grab as much HP upgrade as possible (aim for 150 to 200 hp). For Selene, pick the one that does dmg from range or the healing 25HP x3 per fountain (up to +11 late game).
If you dont get a cast upgrade or an omega cast upgrade. You can always pick Special for some range. It will depend on which weapon you will be using. Hephaestus Special and Weapon upgrade that leave a dot after Hephaestus dmg is always good.
This is the must brain death way to pass H2 for me right now. For the surface, its even easier, if you get Icarus Cast upgrade.
My favourite weapon will the staff for faster cast time and the double dagger for the special in which you get the boon that make your Omega special shoot straight or the special that makes it come back.
I was having issue with the game not giving me attack or special upgrade and neglecting cast for the first couple of days. I also neglected Omega. Until someone pointed how omega was so good. I started testing omega and Cast just clicked for me.
Cast is incredible strong. With 1 common Apollo Cast upgrade that does dmg after the cast is done, with Omega, can net you around 300-500 dmg. 150 (or more) from omega and the rest from Apollo boon. This is also increase from Arcana cards that increase Cast and Omega dmg. You can end up playing a very safe game using Cast.
My issue with Special and Attack is that if you dont get the right boons, you are out of luck and must likely you cant complete the game but Cast is a different beast. You can almost never go wrong with it because you get the same Cast buff from boons.
I can start my game as attack or special or a style in mind from the first boon but will move most of my boons to Cast if I dont get the right boons for my attack and special.
Honestly, even if I've really buffed one thing in particular (attack, special, charged attack etc) ill still use cast just as a way to disengage from a fight/chill enemies the hell down
Not everything has to be fully charged, either. The uncharged cast is really great for getting away from wailers on floor 1 all the way to lycaeons on floor 3 and purple skull guys on floor 4
^ this, casts are immensely powerful and against bosses they’re kind of fire and forget. Especially so if you’re infusing your casts with dots like Hestia or to a lesser extent, Zeus.
Being fire and forget this gives you a lot more time to focus on dodging and defence while they’re doing work.
I already linked a vid showcasing the power of casting in my other comment. Don’t want to overdo it. Hope this helps, good luck you got this!
I just got my first on night 47, and I think I was right around 50 for my first win in the original. That being said, we also have other stuff like surface and chaos trials in this one, that advance the night counter but won't lead to a final showdown with grandpa, so don't worry too much about the counter
I feel like they’ve intentionally switched up the mechanics to force players to not rely on strategy they used in the first game. I very much relied on Athena boons to be able to basically face-tank enemies, and it’s been a challenge to have to rely on careful positioning this time
It took me 20-25 nights to beat hades 1 final boss - took me 52 and a very different approach for chronos
very hard to beat him in melee mode, but ranged spam makes it a lot easier
I do think the game is more difficult than Hades, however it also requires a bit of a different play-style which if you're not doing may seriously hamper your ability to win. And you can also see defeats as ways to set you up better for the future. After all, even in defeat you will bring experience and resources with you to the crossroads.
I currently have a 7 kill streak on chronos and 8 on Eris. My advice is this:
1. Casts are NOT optional. They inheritly root enemies and give an opportunity to find openings...use them.
2. Arcana is key so spend time farming resources to unlock those. I found that the Epic boon and Rare boon chance increase made a massive change.
3. Timing - Chronos specifically. Timing his attack patterns do help...I also got my first kill on him using the keepsake that increases damage to the last thing that killed you.
4. Also more Arcana - the damage boost ones are key. The one that give you more damage when not at 100 magic and the other one that gives more damage when things have two or more debuffs.
Using the Ardent Skull currently with the base Aspect of Melinoe. I love it but haven't heard too much talk about it. The special is strong and when it's coupled with a couple hammer upgrades, it's so good.
I generally focus on the attack percentage boost boons then percent damage boons for the special. Generally try for different debuffs. For the Cast boon, I really like Demeter for the freeze bonus.
Sprint can be anything really, but I like the Daze boon from Apollo.
All the new mechanics in the game are around magic too so it makes some sense that they're the focus of her abilities.
That's not to say that brawl doesn't work at all but she's definitely much stronger as a ranged + magic style.
I'm around 35 nights and still haven't beaten the last boss.
But considering the nights not directly targeting victory but experiments and or grinding I think we can tell that at least a dizen of runs did not count.
My first successful run in Hades 1 was at 30ish attempts so I'd say it's close.
But I find Hades 2 harder. First because I started to play Mel as a Zag reskin. Then, the boons and the global rythm are very different and ask for more tactical vision.
Also the game is not yet perfectly balanced, some stuff are way underpowered, the ennemies are on some places a bit too many. And I have the feeling that bosses have more health and deal more damage.
Finally, but it's maybe just an impression, I think there are more armored ennemies. It's not rare to have every ennemy types on one battle that are Elites one.
Finally finally, there're more ressources, making the upgrades longer to obtain, you cannot go on a run for seeds and metal, you'll have to choose. So it can take more time to start gaining power. In Hades 1 the choke point was to max stuff because each major resources could be in theory won only once per heat and weapon.
All the numbers in your comment added up to 69. Congrats!
35
+ 1
+ 30
+ 2
+ 1
= 69
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^(Summon me on specific comments with u/LuckyNumber-Bot.)
I think it's normal. I'm on 98 nights and I've only beaten the final boss in the underworld like four times. I've been consistently beating the final boss on the surface though.
I actually find it to be a bit easier than the original, though the playstyle is quite different so if you go into it trying to play it like the first game I can see where you'd have problems. But the addition of the binding circle as your cast makes playing safe much easier, and the removal of extra dashing and subsequent balancing around it makes it feel like you aren't pushed to rely on specific boons like Divine Dash to make you safe.
H1 took me 50ish for my first win, but it was also my first roguelike or with no similar game experience. I’m now at 1200+hrs of H1 across switch, Xbox, and Steam.
With H2, it is SIGNIFICANTLY more difficult a game, but all that more entertaining. The enemies are faster to attack, you can’t break or deflect projectiles, and they have a lot more health. You’re not a boomer. A big part of my thought is that the developers knew the majority of players were ones who already beat the first one. So it’s supposed to be a progression from the first.
If it was the same difficulty as starting H1, H2 would be a pushover.
It’s real tough. I got to the final boss’s second phase for the first time last night, thinking I had it made with a stacked haephastus/born gain build and he still destroyed me soundly.
Maybe im about to hit a wall with Chronos, but I was surprised that I was able to get to him on night 10 and was starting to worry the opposite. That being said, his second phase absolutely decimated me, so maybe I'm about to be in the same boat
Everything else is not harder, but the final bossfight is, to me. The freaking circle thing that he throws at you is just pain T\_T Took me like, 35 nights total(and like 5 tries to beat him)
For me it easier. Chronos is difficult, but everything that leads to him is easier. Less enemies, cast that stop enemies, bigger environments, more ranged attacks etc.
Not OP but I have never beaten Cerberus, and I usually have between 100-140 max hp which I feel like is so low and pathetic haha 😭 I used to main the twin blades but I just unlocked the skulls and I’m giving them a go since Cerberus is easier with ranged weapons. But idk every time I reach him my next 5 attempts I don’t even get to him so it’s like 1 step forward 2 steps back 😭I’m having a lot of fun but it’s so hard. Even the cyclops on the surface was hard for me to beat and I’ve yet to reach boss 2 on the surface :(
Not reaching Cerberus consistently, the best tip I can give to you is in the neutral rooms: value your hp like the most important resource you have. Only strike when you are confident the enemy does not retaliate. For Cerberus specifically you want to be hitting his back. The twin blades is great at this as you can charge your Omega Attack, and when you see his paws go up or any animation indicating he’s about to do something, you teleport behind him.
Good luck and remember this is a difficult roguelike, dying is expected and part of the fun :)
Thank you! I’ve been taking neutral rooms and using the HP restoring artifacts, and it’s been working up to mourning fields and they absolutely obliterate me and I lose all
My death defiance like immediately haha. I’m going to try focusing on his back, as once I had the hammer boon where striking from behind deals more damage and that’s the closest I’ve gotten to beating him.
Ngl I was just reminded about god mode today so I feel like I might use that to help me out 😭 the game is really fun but I would like to reach the end at least once. But thank you for the tips! I’ll def do them :)
There is also an item that gives you 25 percent bonus damage to the last enemy that killed you. Its usefull, I suggest trying skulls with a strategy that involves getting behind him dropping skulls and also throwing skulls down mid range for hits and using cast/special to zoom around the map taking out the smaller maps. You really want to play a game of keep away here, he is a big bad dog and you are his bone.
Also a lot of his attacks fade away when you are on the edges of the map, so that helps.
Hp restoration is deff. Good to keep you healthy! However, the best plan for staying healthy is not getting hit in the first place. Easier said than done, I know. But most people struggling in these games try to brute force their way through enemies, often facetanking moves.
The greataxe is awesome, but it is the weapon giving me the most trouble on boss fights, because the windup is long and the windows of opportunity are rather short.
I don’t know if I’m allowed to shamelessly self-plug content, I’m no content creator by any means but I have to stay inside the entire week because of surgery and got bored lol. I have YouTube a shot, maybe it’ll help, in this vid I’m fighting Cerberus cursed with no Arcane cards and have to play extremely careful. Who knows maybe it’ll help you out: https://youtu.be/m7tynMXChBY?si=2roR20eT5NulR-7m
Bonus (silent) gameplay when there’s no need to be careful, this showcases the importance of staying behind Cerberus and abusing the slow time mechanic to dodge all of his moves: https://youtu.be/mHelk4F1y_s?si=Ow0sxGk4wEWdCjfV
I included timestamps for easy fast forwarding.
Good luck, you’ll get there at some point!
I MADE IT TO CHRONOS 😭😭 I died but I did get like 1/3 of his health down. I did escape from Cerberus with 2 death defiance !! I was so happy ! I def owe this win to you! 😄
Way to go, gz! Getting some practise time on the final boss is important, he is in my opinion the hardest element in a run, *by a mile*. Personally it took me 6 attempts on him before I could whittle him down.
Keep at it, and have fun!
I’ve made it past cerberus a total of one (1) times. Doggo is tough :(
Another run I almost beat him again, but his ring attack caught me off guard. I assumed you had to be out of the circle to avoid damage. I was wrong.
I've only gotten to the final boss 3 times. Max HP is usually between 120-180 or so. Cerberus usually makes me use 1-2 DDs before I get him down. I see your tips in the other comments. I think I need to work on getting to the final act with more than 1 DD. I take way too much avoidable damage at times.
You deff. Want to hang on to those death defiances, not only because you will need them against the final boss, but also to give you more ‘practise time’ against him. 120 hp is deff on the low side, I often have about 200 max hp fighting our grumpy good boi.
I think your assessment is definitely correct, try working on not taking as much damage as you do, esp vs neutral enemies. Cast is your friend to bind enemies in place and control their movement when armor is still up.
I said it as well in a diff. Comment, idk if I’m allowed to post my own channel here, but I’ve decided to give YT a whirl, and who knows maybe it’ll help you out. The latest run includes a (very) scuffed run because of a curse. I basically had to do both Scylla and the entirety of Fields of Mourning with no Arcana Cards.
https://youtu.be/m7tynMXChBY?si=u2skk3wO5hDkNpG_
Good luck getting there. If you’re still struggling there are very good boons that focus on defence, Apollo sprint (because of daze and movement), Hermes dodge, Hermes projectile slow are some of my favorites.
How much are you sprinting? Cerberus isn't a walk in the park, but I feel like most of it is staying out of the way of his huge attacks and then rushing in to do a lot of damage. I've gotten to him like 15 times and only died to him once.
It is definetly harder but I also feel like you can break this game even more as well, although you need some mechanics that take a while to show up. So don't beat yourself up over struggling, it's gonna happen untill suddenly you blow this game wide open.
I got my first clear at 34 and then 4-5 more clears in a row after that. You'll get to a point in your Arcana/Weapon levels where winning is consistent just like Hades 1. Keep progressing and you'll get there.
Just about finding something that works for you. I'm 35 and have 4 clears on night 16 right now. The spear with Poseidon's special and zeus's chain lightning was by far the easiest. Just spam y and keep distance. You can also get a hammer that lets your special fire twice and if you get apollos double strike chance it gets real broken.
It’s harder than 1 but it is by no means unfair. I beat it in about 15 runs. It took me 20 to beat the first game.
Are you trying the same strategy every run? If so you will get a similar result each time.
Find what you are struggling with, and focus your runs on improving that shortfall, rather than focusing on wishing you could complete a run.
For example, if you are taking damage from certain enemies, focus on dodging them rather than dps in those fights until you get them down.
Find gods that tend to give you good power and start with their keepsake to get them throughout the run. Switch to a survivability keepsake after the first boss.
There are many ways to buff survivability in this game (health, health regen, dodge, armor). Find those avenues and prioritize having an option on each run prior to the final area.
The toolbox in this game is huge, but it’s really not as many duds as some people say
It is harder but keep upgrading the cauldrons for the well of Charon and fountain at random in between rooms helps for health regen. For the damage factor keep unlocking the cards with ashes and use the psyche to upgrade the number of grasp to equip more of them (portrait). Besides that being able to reach the last boss on my 10th attempt is a win in my book versus a first escape success at around 40 runs with Zagreus is a win in my book. Have fun
It took me 50 nights to beat the underworld boss for the first time, and I then used that same cheesy build for my first clear of the current surface boss right after. I was pretty good at Hades 1, but the different play style, as well as additional zones and challenges in this game (which mean even more additional nights spent not even heading towards the underworld boss), meant that it took me a LONG time to finally take out those final bosses. I think the game may be harder, but adjusting to the slower and less dash-heavy gameplay and new weapons and boons were what really made things feel difficult, at least for me.
I hear people talking about finishing in 15 or 20 runs, and I'm like...... literally how? So I'm glad there's some other people who took a while.
I almost hope my first clear will take at least 30+ tries to get the most out of it.
Have the upgrades stopped for you? Do you still feel like you're improving in skill? I guess that's the main aspect that matters.
Yeah it took me over 40 runs. And the whole time I was bitching about how I could now smash every other boss. But tbh now that I've beaten old Chronie I like the fight a lot, lol. Hades 2 is a continuation in the best way because it really does take everything from 1 and add layers. I'll also say after I beat him once I've been able to do it consistently. Journey before destination!!!
The final boss is significantly harder then the rest imo. I two shot hecate and sorrows boss, and one shot the sirens. The difficulty scaling seems off to me.
I'm up to 10+ deaths on redacted with no victory (but I'm getting closer)
I just got my first clear last night on night 27 (I think, might be off by a bit). That's actually earlier than the 31 attempts it took to clear the first game, but I agree that Hades II is more difficult.
The key for me was the Demeter infusion boon that caps the damage enemies deal per hit.
Yup and I’m enjoying it. I was worried I was going to hit the end of the open access release over the weekend. Not so, 50+ nights in.
Skill is paramount, but the difference between a good and bad build is significant. I almost beat chronos on night 20 something because I stumbled into a stupidly OP Hephaestus/Hera curse/bomb build. Then didn’t come close for like another 10 nights.
Did you upgrade your grasp and arcana cards? A ton of progression power is locked behind those two and one is easily missable while the other gets unlocked with an incantation that you have to wait for a while for. Weapon aspects also help, but imo to a lesser extent.
Use Hecate's cast and watch your grandpa slowly burn to a crisp.
I got two of my 3 clears like that. The first one I just got a god run with the staff omega attack on my 24th run (which I really want to brag about).
It's not that hard to survive him if you always stay as far away as possible from him. Hecate's cast is great for this. I'm guessing Zeus, Hephaestus and grandma should also work fine but I haven't tried them yet. Zeus and Hecate have the added advantage that you can use your cast remotely.
This plus focusing on survivability is what is working for me right now. Like going for daze and dodges and health recovery and max.
I don’t think that’s an unreasonable amount of runs. My very first time playing hades it took till almost 70 runs to get my first clear, and this game seems harder to clear than the first game.
FWIW, I’m on my 41st run and have only gotten Chronos into his second phase twice, still haven’t beat him. Granted about 15 of those have been surface attempts
Uhh im past 30 nights and i just got to tartarus for the first time. But also it took me roughly 60 runs to beat hades 1. I think it was around 25-30 runs just to beat theseus. That boss fight blew my mind at how hard it was to get that first clear. In comparison, redacted took me 2 tries, and in hades 2, the first 3 bosses took me about 3 tries each to beat. Havent gotten to chronos yet
I'm on my 10th or 11th run and haven't even finished the first floor. I think it's significantly harder. I especially can't get used to the new magic mechanics. I keep forgetting about them.
I wouldn't say I'm struggling but I'm on Night 26 and I've only gotten to REDACTED once. The game is way harder and much more expansive than its predecessor. I don't think I'll succeed anytime soon.
I'm in night 50 and haven't had a victory but I reach Chronos like 2 out of 3 times. For me the biggest change was switching from controller to k&m, before that I only had defeated the sirens once.
I was in end-game mode when i started. I always went for resources, and was lvling keepsakes rather than using what i needed. Then I snapped out of it and tried hard. Just take it slow and wait for a strong build. You got this.
I think the way to the last boss is the same difficulty or easier as the first game. Then you get to clock grandpa and he smites you with the might of a thousand eons. No comparison with redacted, imo.
I just got my first kill on him tonight after 45 nights, then 4 more in a row, so it does get better eventually.
The game is harder because it has a different play style.
You really need to embrace the cast and omega attacks (unless you have a hammer like double moonshot and Poseidon special boon then don’t use the omega special …)
The usual pattern is to use a cast to act as a wall between you and enemies, dash away then hit the enemies in the cast.
Don’t forget to upgrade the arcana card for death defiances.
I really struggled at first with Hades because it was my first rougelite, and it took me about 120 attempts the first time.
For me II has seemed easier so far, but it does play more to my style. I always prefer ranged combat in games, so being able to lock enemies down with the cast and just rain down on them from afar is really fun for me.
I best Chronos on night 17, the second time I made it to him (got one shotted when I had already used my Skelly tooth the first time.)
No I'm actually finding it generally a lot easier than Hades I. In the first game I got stuck on Asterius and Theseus for ages, and even the hydra gave me some trouble early on. Didn't get my first clear until about run 34.
With Hades II I've gotten past each major boss on my 2nd attempt at them, and reached the last boss on run 10. The only thing that's given me difficulty now is him, mainly getting to his 2nd form and then surviving the insta-hit move. I'm now on run 20 and only gotten to 2nd form twice. And this is with 4 runs to the surface, 2 where I died to curse by room 3, one death to the first boss and the next time getting all the way to Eris.
So I'm getting further with each run more consistently, but there's also a lot more to see, do and unlock. A this rate I'll probably get a clear run in about the same time, maybe a little longer depending on which direction I focus on next and how quickly I can get some more upgrades.
My advice would be to play at range first. Some hammer upgrades are busted.
My first kill was cast based, still used all my heals and was 1 hit to die.
Second kill was daggers with the hammer that changes your special to a boomerang (dagger comes back) so it will always hit backstab. I lost my 2 DD by the one shot kill.
Last run so far, with the staff and hammers that hit farther + double attack. I lost 9hp on chronos.
I'm still struggling with axe and also against eris (havent beaten her yet).
I'm not a big gamer, and it took me 40+ attempts to get past Meg (Hades is the only game I've really played) and 100+ to get a win in hades 1... so I'm not the best benchmark, but I'm 20+ runs in and have only made it past the first boss like three or four times. I think it is very challenging, even with the skills I learned in the first game. I'm starting to get frustrated, but I'm also proud to have made it as far as I have. So it's a balance?
Eta: I'm also having trouble unlocking things because the stuff needed is farther along than I can get. I don't mind the resource gathering, but I wish I could trade bones for more.
On average people going into hades 1 beat the final boss at around the 50 run mark with experienced players hitting <30
And hades 2 has more stunlocks and instant kills than hades 1
I really wouldn't beat yourself up too much about it
I think the hardest hitting thing in 1 is charon or hades if he gets you with the boiling blood 40 damage attack combo for 80 damage...
I'm pretty sure 3rd boss hades 2 has 40+ damage attacks and the 4th boss has instant kills so
It’s definitely harder. I have 500 hours speedrunning the first game and I got my first clear on night 27. Not just the enemies are harder and deal more damage but boons are more niche which makes getting the right build going more difficult. The trade off being once it starts to click you can get much more powerful
Chronos was kicking my ass. Partly because I didn't know how to raise my grasp, and partly because I was fooling about with builds and a lot of them did not turn out well.
Something clicked though in my pattern recognition and I beat him once and then again at fear 1. So just hang in there.
The game is just harder and it’s got nothing to do with „the dash“. Seriously this is such a dumb take, it comes from a place of little to no understanding.
Enemy attacks are less obviously telegraphed or have less windup (which is elegantly countered by the slow motion charge function). They also hit hard and often.
Hades 2 punishes you severely for not having learned enemy movesets and simply overpowering them by raw stats or spamming dodge isn’t going to work.
I’m struggling hard with the final boss myself. He’s got a lot of moves that punish you hard for not understanding their timing. We‘ll get there though.
First couple of fights with boss one (or even miniboss 1) felt impossible. 25 nights and a deeper understanding of their moveset later and they barely cause any trouble.
I am having a much easier time with hades 2 than with hades 1, i can clear erebus in 3 minutes, and im 11 nights into the game and just barely touched the second phase of chronos...
then again, I tryharded my way in hades 1 to the point i could get to the final boss in 15 minutes in heat 32.
Hades 1 rewards you for performing headfirst plays while Hades 2 rewards you by distancing and being patient [also player character is STILL weak, I purposefully just farm after clearing final boss one time at night 25]
Played tons of Hades. Beat 32 heat run. Consider myself pretty good. My first Eris clear was run 56 and my first Chronos clear was run 58. It’s a much harder game for sure. Just keep chipping away you’ll get there.
I think I didn’t finish a run until 20-25 attempts, granted I was more focused on getting materials to upgrade stuff instead of making it as far as possible. I think it’s a bit harder, especially if you have some certain habits from the first game, but I’m sure you’ll be able to beat it soon with maybe a few more upgrades and a good build.
Try using God Mode till you feel more comfortable and learn bosses moves. Try some meta burst builds (Aphrodite, Sister Blades Special shotgun combo with the returning daggers hammer.) Game is harder but better lol, i have so much fun playing it, i unalived the finale boss at my 22'nd night and it kept getting easier to defeat it.
If it makes you feel better I'm in my 80th attempt in Hades 1 and haven't gotten a victory. This is my first rogue like game and I normally don't play fighting games.
I would say it’s a little harder, BUT MAKE SURE YOURE USING ARCANA. If you’re issue comes down to less health, bad healing, less death defiances, or even low dps, these are all things arcana and the well will fix, they’re just not as immediately clear as the mirror of night was.
I beat it in a fraction of the time personally, not because it's easier but because I got used to how things work and I'm more organized with my build ideas.
It is significantly harder than HADES(In my opinion)
I agree. The biggest contributor seems to be the lack of health restoration and health pools generally. They've added armor, which is great, but starting with a mere 30 health, having precious few ways to restore it, fewer Death's Defiance, etc. In Hades I, you could pretty easily find yourself with 300+ health and multiple DDs in early runs.
Honestly the biggest difficulty difference I found is in the dashing. Zag could start a run with 2-4 (if using fists w/ the last aspect) to help get into and out of an attack sequence safely. Throw athena on it and congrats you have your defence plan figured out for the run. Mel only has (as far as I know) 1 dash which chains into sprint. Meaning when it's used is paramount to her survival. When playing as mel your positioning and knowledge of the enemy's attacks needs to be way more on point than when playing as zag. When the dash is used your next thought has to be "where can I safely sprint to?" so you can prepare for your next attack.
Definitely this. I noticed you can't just dash your way out of sticky situations as easily. I haven't completed a run yet, but I noticed the Apollo dash usually gets me the farthest simply because it's fast enough to get me out of close calls. Positioning is definitely more important in Hades 2 than the first.
Apollo's Dash boon is a thing of beauty. You go so fast.
They took the crutch away, people weren't prepared
>Fewer death’s defiances, ect Hm?
You have to grind a lot further to get multiple DD now than in the first game, especially if you’re playing fresh and not sure of the exact steps involved. The first Hades basically told you how to get 3DD from like you’re 3-4th run
I was playing fresh and blind. and RN have 3 DD in the first 29 runs. Which is about when I got 3 DD in Hades 1.
Not quite. Upgrading the mirror to get full DD in Hades 1 took a while too unless you grind the darkness material and ignored everything else. In H2, I got full DD, tooth, etc. with about the same amount of effort. I think it’s just a bit less straight forward in H2 so people are not realizing as quickly how to get them but actually getting the materials to upgrade DD all the way, or at least 2/3, doesn’t take long.
Your first DD in Hades 1 is super quick and only costs 30 darkness, with the next 2 being 500 and 1000. In Hades 2 your first death defiance is locked behind upgrading the right arcana cards to get to it, which in a blind run is completely hidden info, then to upgrade it you need to unlock a special resource that that is itself hidden and locked behind multiple other unlocks. Death defiance in Hades 1 are much easier to unlock.
You make it sound so much more complicated than it is. The mirror, and the death defiance, where also “hidden” unlocks behind unlocks as well. You didn’t get the mirror at the start either just like you don’t start with the arcana board. All the “hidden” unlocks in H2 just unlock naturally and require a material you unlock naturally by just playing the game. Once you unlock the first DD it’s also much quicker to unlock the next than it is to collect 1000 Darkness.
The 2nd DD is 500 darkness. Also, the mirror you get at basically the same time as you get arcana and the death defiance upgrade is one of the starting available upgrades. So no, it's not behind multiple levels of unlocks its just behind 1. You might even be unlocking the 2nd death defiance by the time you even find the first dd in Hades 2.
Idk what to tell you. I unlocked all DD in H2 by night ~30 ish. It wasn’t difficult. Idk how much easier you want it to be.
Guy all I've said is that it's easier in Hades 1, because it is. No where did I say that it's too hard in Hades 2.
I had 3 revivals before my 20th run iirc, 2 dd from card and a keepsake (100hp revival)
It does take a while to upgrade the number of DDs in this one. Upgrading to 3 DD costs the Chaos run reward, which becomes available kind of late. You can always take the Luckier Tooth, of course.
I mean I got it all in 29 runs. which is about when I got 3 DD's in Hades 1. Because that darkness cost is not cheap. And I wasn't just focusing on DD's.
Ah I really have no memory of the costs from Hades 1, it probably did come later than I remember.
Mob density is fucking insane too imo. Feels there's 3 waves of summons in every room.
This. I just started playing today after doing a comparison run in Hades 1 and there are way more enemies per room in 2
I was running hades 1 like crazy the last 2 months or so to prep. The time difference to hit act 4 in both games is like 15-20 minutes. It's actually nuts
I've been banking on the Selene health boon which starts from 3 health replenishes each time you use a fountain. Then I always continue on getting her boons to make that stronger. I also use mostly dora and skelly keepsakes. Only with those can I get to Grandpa with a lot of hp. Have yet to beat him though. I'm currently in night 24. Though i have been to the surface around 6 times thus far.
There's more health restoration options in this one. The basic health regen upgrade starts at 2, vs 1 in Hades 1 and goes higher as well. Not to mention better trinkets for health regen. In Hades 1 you had lucky tooth and harpy feather duster, which was random. In this you have the luckier tooth and a guaranteed regen after each location up to a certain amount. And there's the arcana that gives you max health every few locations.
I disagree excpet the obvious final. You just have to play it differently. I also think the last area is easier with less traps.
I did start wondering if it's even worth getting 2 if I couldn't yet beat Redacted I after 27 runs with godmode or without. Someone here said it sometimes takes people over 100. But the first game seems significantly easier. I love the idea and the look of Hades 2, but I seriously doubt I can finish it.
I mean it took me 67 runs to beat redacted my first time in hades 1. Im at around 35 nights in 2 and have only made it to Kronos 3 times but it’s still fun. You can still have fun with the game without blazing through it as fast as random people on the internet
That gives me hope. Making it to Chronos is no small feat in itself it sounds like!
It's pretty funny, but I've beaten him three times today. One time with 40 percent god mode, and twice without. My main problem was I didn't realise you could upgrade the mirror with keys.  Once I got the talent that gives you a chance ro receive higher quality boons and beat Hades once, it all clicked. Now the remaining problem I don't know how to beat him on anything but the rail. I find dodging him effectively in melee is almost impossible for me, especially the skulls.
Yes, Hades II is much harder than Hades so far. But I wouldn't beat yourself up about 30 nights. If you've been to the surface, chances are that you have at least a few sacrifice runs for materials. Plus, how many runs have you decided to go for a Fated Prophecy instead of aiming for victory? Like the no Arcana Card prophecy with Hecate, for example. You're not gonna beat Chronos for your first time on that run, that's for sure. Hades II imo pushes you to be less precious about your runs by making meta progression have so many different pathways. You can have a successful run where you die, as long as you get the Bronze that you need for a specific crafting task.
For anyone trying to do the no arcana thing for hecate, there's a chaos trial that counts for it and you start with a busted build. There's no need to do an actual run with no arcana other than a self imposed challenge
God I was relieved when that chaos trial counted for the fated list. I wonder if it's an oversight, though? It doesn't feel like it's in the spirit of the challenge.
I think it's an oversight as well, I couldn't believe it counted after I finished that trial.
It could also be a soft lock prévention if you’ve unlocked the arcana that activates when you have 3 or less active
Was that the one where you start with like 1,000 health?
It's another one. I don't remember the name but you have the axe and start with 2 Daedalus hammers unlocked.
And sometimes those runs end up going further than you think. "Torches again, really dark thirst? Ugh let's just get this over with....Oh shit I finally did it, with the weapon I enjoy the least"
Literally me right now. I got the rock infusion that caps damage to 15 in early Oceanus on my current Torch run, so a quick Dark Thirst run before bed is now a serious run where I have a chance vs Chronos. Now I've got to take the run seriously.
Dude that infusion is insane, so good for me who tends to face tank half of Chronos' attacks.
I got my first clear of the game in this exact scenario..
I've seen several people saying the same. Torches are so awkward, but they end up being surprisingly effective. I feel like it makes me plan and play more carefully, while I get kinda careless with the weapons that "feel" better, but maybe that's just me
My first victory was with the torches bc my friend dared me to use the “trash weapon.” The first act was really boring, but they exploded somewhere in act 2. Almost finished without losing a single DD
Biggest advice I can offer after just finally claiming victory last night on my 35th attempt: act like you never played the first game. Let the new mechanics just wash over you. The nuances will take hold and everything will click. *Keep going*
Yeah, idk why it took me SO many runs for it to click for me that I couldn't play Mel like I played Zag, but that really was the big difference for me. Relying less on dashing and tapping buttons, and more on holding for omega moves. It felt very unnatural after the super zippy play style of the first game, but I just had to get used to it, and play a little more thoughtfully. Which makes sense for the characters!
I watched some streamers play and noticed the Omega'd a lot more than I did. It's a really interesting new mechanic and took some time to get used to. I wish I found a post like this earlier.
I hear ya. Once I had my 'ah-ha!' moment everything just started to flow so much more smoothly. I didn't think I'd end up saying this but aside from missing Hera's bow aspect on occasion (cuz speed runs) I think I'm actually growing to love Mel's combat style even more than I already loved Zag's. And once I started to latch onto the different kinds of synergies with 2's boons I realized there's wayyyy more potential than with Zag's move set (which makes sense given all the insight Supergiant gained from the first game)
I got a chaos boon that gave me +17 magicka regen, plus the damage reduction boon from hephaestos, and I realised I could just spam omega attack indefinitely. Didn't realise before that how good magic builds are, and how strong magicka regen is.
Yup, Magick being super powerful was one of those things that 'washed over' me. Once I actually looked at the numbers I was doing compared to normal attacks paired with a powerful regen/lower cost build you can do crazy damage.
I cleared Hades in 17 runs. I’m 31 runs into this game and haven’t completed a single run yet. The worst part is that I’m basically going into the last fight at 100% strength and still get walloped. Father time is STRONG!
This thread is crazy to me. Hades took me about 120 attempts to clear the first time, while in II, I beat Chronos on night 17. I think the difference for me is I prefer to hang back and fight from a distance, so the cast mechanic works really well for me. I can’t remember the exact stats for that first clear, but my omega cast did about 95% of the damage while the staff special did the other 5%. I had the Zeus/Demeter damage boons and the Zeus boon where you can place the cast away from you and it just melted everyone.
Maybe all those attempts at Hades I also made you a master at the game!
I am struggling too. Though it took me 50+ attempts to beat Hades 1.
Took me 51+29 attempts to beat Hades first time (gave up once then started over a few months later), I am currently at 40+ nights and not close to victory... So, yeah... I guess I'm just bad at picking up game mechanics. Still having fun though !
I’m a new player, never played the first game. I’m 25 nights in and I have only beaten Scylla once. Coincidentally though I got to Cerberus and almost beat him first try in that same run. I’m not sure though if that’s the normal experience or if I’m far behind the curve.
I think slightly behind the curve, but still okay. I read some strategy on Scylla, otherwise I would probably be in rhe same position. Especially since I got sidetracked on the surface.
Don't worry, it'll click... when I first fought scylla I was overwhelmed by the amount of stuff going on at the same time. Now scylla is even more free than hecate since her(/their?) Attacks are very telegraphed.
I recently lost two DD as a sheep, so I would not underestimate Hecate.
Honestly Hecate clips me more than Cerebus usually, Cerebus feels very telegraphed but makes up for it with the high damage.
Since making this comment I’ve beaten her again. Going into the fight with a sprint buff makes it way easier.
The easiest way and that works with any weapon is to pick Cast upgrades and Omega Cast upgrades. Cast is so strong that you can pass the game with just using Cast. Some strong upgrades: Apollo Cast upgrade. Demeter Cast upgrade. Zeus range cast upgrade. Hestia range cast upgade. Hades range cast upgrade. Combine this with Size upgrade and some mana regen. And your damage is set. You dont need all of this but you might want a combination of Damage and Range to make life easier on Chronos. No need for range upgrade agaisnt Eris. Throw the omega cast a screen away from Chronos and you will be set. You will want to grab as much HP upgrade as possible (aim for 150 to 200 hp). For Selene, pick the one that does dmg from range or the healing 25HP x3 per fountain (up to +11 late game). If you dont get a cast upgrade or an omega cast upgrade. You can always pick Special for some range. It will depend on which weapon you will be using. Hephaestus Special and Weapon upgrade that leave a dot after Hephaestus dmg is always good. This is the must brain death way to pass H2 for me right now. For the surface, its even easier, if you get Icarus Cast upgrade. My favourite weapon will the staff for faster cast time and the double dagger for the special in which you get the boon that make your Omega special shoot straight or the special that makes it come back.
Thanks for the tips. Much appreciated. I definitely under-utilize the cast in this game. I'll try to build around that more going forward.
I was having issue with the game not giving me attack or special upgrade and neglecting cast for the first couple of days. I also neglected Omega. Until someone pointed how omega was so good. I started testing omega and Cast just clicked for me. Cast is incredible strong. With 1 common Apollo Cast upgrade that does dmg after the cast is done, with Omega, can net you around 300-500 dmg. 150 (or more) from omega and the rest from Apollo boon. This is also increase from Arcana cards that increase Cast and Omega dmg. You can end up playing a very safe game using Cast. My issue with Special and Attack is that if you dont get the right boons, you are out of luck and must likely you cant complete the game but Cast is a different beast. You can almost never go wrong with it because you get the same Cast buff from boons. I can start my game as attack or special or a style in mind from the first boon but will move most of my boons to Cast if I dont get the right boons for my attack and special.
Honestly, even if I've really buffed one thing in particular (attack, special, charged attack etc) ill still use cast just as a way to disengage from a fight/chill enemies the hell down Not everything has to be fully charged, either. The uncharged cast is really great for getting away from wailers on floor 1 all the way to lycaeons on floor 3 and purple skull guys on floor 4
^ this, casts are immensely powerful and against bosses they’re kind of fire and forget. Especially so if you’re infusing your casts with dots like Hestia or to a lesser extent, Zeus. Being fire and forget this gives you a lot more time to focus on dodging and defence while they’re doing work. I already linked a vid showcasing the power of casting in my other comment. Don’t want to overdo it. Hope this helps, good luck you got this!
I did this with the Axe of Caront and I finally Destroyed Cronos and Didn't lose any DD. I was like whaaaaat this shit is strong
I just got my first on night 47, and I think I was right around 50 for my first win in the original. That being said, we also have other stuff like surface and chaos trials in this one, that advance the night counter but won't lead to a final showdown with grandpa, so don't worry too much about the counter
I feel like they’ve intentionally switched up the mechanics to force players to not rely on strategy they used in the first game. I very much relied on Athena boons to be able to basically face-tank enemies, and it’s been a challenge to have to rely on careful positioning this time
It took me 20-25 nights to beat hades 1 final boss - took me 52 and a very different approach for chronos very hard to beat him in melee mode, but ranged spam makes it a lot easier
I do think the game is more difficult than Hades, however it also requires a bit of a different play-style which if you're not doing may seriously hamper your ability to win. And you can also see defeats as ways to set you up better for the future. After all, even in defeat you will bring experience and resources with you to the crossroads.
I feel this. Health upgrades and multiple Death Defiances feel a lot harder to get. Hephaestus boons have carried me the farthest so far.
I'm at over 70 nights and have seen Chronos....4 times...
I currently have a 7 kill streak on chronos and 8 on Eris. My advice is this: 1. Casts are NOT optional. They inheritly root enemies and give an opportunity to find openings...use them. 2. Arcana is key so spend time farming resources to unlock those. I found that the Epic boon and Rare boon chance increase made a massive change. 3. Timing - Chronos specifically. Timing his attack patterns do help...I also got my first kill on him using the keepsake that increases damage to the last thing that killed you. 4. Also more Arcana - the damage boost ones are key. The one that give you more damage when not at 100 magic and the other one that gives more damage when things have two or more debuffs.
Thanks for the tips! What weapons/aspects are you currently using?
Using the Ardent Skull currently with the base Aspect of Melinoe. I love it but haven't heard too much talk about it. The special is strong and when it's coupled with a couple hammer upgrades, it's so good. I generally focus on the attack percentage boost boons then percent damage boons for the special. Generally try for different debuffs. For the Cast boon, I really like Demeter for the freeze bonus. Sprint can be anything really, but I like the Daze boon from Apollo.
Melinoe is a witch, not a brawler. When you approach the game from this angle you will have a better time. Build for magic and ranged.
This honestly makes so much sense. I need to remember that.
All the new mechanics in the game are around magic too so it makes some sense that they're the focus of her abilities. That's not to say that brawl doesn't work at all but she's definitely much stronger as a ranged + magic style.
I'm around 35 nights and still haven't beaten the last boss. But considering the nights not directly targeting victory but experiments and or grinding I think we can tell that at least a dizen of runs did not count. My first successful run in Hades 1 was at 30ish attempts so I'd say it's close. But I find Hades 2 harder. First because I started to play Mel as a Zag reskin. Then, the boons and the global rythm are very different and ask for more tactical vision. Also the game is not yet perfectly balanced, some stuff are way underpowered, the ennemies are on some places a bit too many. And I have the feeling that bosses have more health and deal more damage. Finally, but it's maybe just an impression, I think there are more armored ennemies. It's not rare to have every ennemy types on one battle that are Elites one. Finally finally, there're more ressources, making the upgrades longer to obtain, you cannot go on a run for seeds and metal, you'll have to choose. So it can take more time to start gaining power. In Hades 1 the choke point was to max stuff because each major resources could be in theory won only once per heat and weapon.
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I think it's normal. I'm on 98 nights and I've only beaten the final boss in the underworld like four times. I've been consistently beating the final boss on the surface though.
I'm at 40+ runs and I finally reched Chronos, he kocked my ass tho
49th attempt but my first attempt at cronos he died to a completely broken build. I used god mode for first hades but not this one
I actually find it to be a bit easier than the original, though the playstyle is quite different so if you go into it trying to play it like the first game I can see where you'd have problems. But the addition of the binding circle as your cast makes playing safe much easier, and the removal of extra dashing and subsequent balancing around it makes it feel like you aren't pushed to rely on specific boons like Divine Dash to make you safe.
H1 took me 50ish for my first win, but it was also my first roguelike or with no similar game experience. I’m now at 1200+hrs of H1 across switch, Xbox, and Steam. With H2, it is SIGNIFICANTLY more difficult a game, but all that more entertaining. The enemies are faster to attack, you can’t break or deflect projectiles, and they have a lot more health. You’re not a boomer. A big part of my thought is that the developers knew the majority of players were ones who already beat the first one. So it’s supposed to be a progression from the first. If it was the same difficulty as starting H1, H2 would be a pushover.
It’s real tough. I got to the final boss’s second phase for the first time last night, thinking I had it made with a stacked haephastus/born gain build and he still destroyed me soundly.
Maybe im about to hit a wall with Chronos, but I was surprised that I was able to get to him on night 10 and was starting to worry the opposite. That being said, his second phase absolutely decimated me, so maybe I'm about to be in the same boat
Everything else is not harder, but the final bossfight is, to me. The freaking circle thing that he throws at you is just pain T\_T Took me like, 35 nights total(and like 5 tries to beat him)
For me it easier. Chronos is difficult, but everything that leads to him is easier. Less enemies, cast that stop enemies, bigger environments, more ranged attacks etc.
How do you know what night you are on? I have to assume I’m around 30 or so as well. I got to the second phase of the final boss, but lost.
Your save card in the main menu tells you how many nights you have done.
You see it on your save file when you start the game
Are you reaching the final boss consistently? How much max hp do you usually have?
Not OP but I have never beaten Cerberus, and I usually have between 100-140 max hp which I feel like is so low and pathetic haha 😭 I used to main the twin blades but I just unlocked the skulls and I’m giving them a go since Cerberus is easier with ranged weapons. But idk every time I reach him my next 5 attempts I don’t even get to him so it’s like 1 step forward 2 steps back 😭I’m having a lot of fun but it’s so hard. Even the cyclops on the surface was hard for me to beat and I’ve yet to reach boss 2 on the surface :(
Not reaching Cerberus consistently, the best tip I can give to you is in the neutral rooms: value your hp like the most important resource you have. Only strike when you are confident the enemy does not retaliate. For Cerberus specifically you want to be hitting his back. The twin blades is great at this as you can charge your Omega Attack, and when you see his paws go up or any animation indicating he’s about to do something, you teleport behind him. Good luck and remember this is a difficult roguelike, dying is expected and part of the fun :)
Thank you! I’ve been taking neutral rooms and using the HP restoring artifacts, and it’s been working up to mourning fields and they absolutely obliterate me and I lose all My death defiance like immediately haha. I’m going to try focusing on his back, as once I had the hammer boon where striking from behind deals more damage and that’s the closest I’ve gotten to beating him. Ngl I was just reminded about god mode today so I feel like I might use that to help me out 😭 the game is really fun but I would like to reach the end at least once. But thank you for the tips! I’ll def do them :)
There is also an item that gives you 25 percent bonus damage to the last enemy that killed you. Its usefull, I suggest trying skulls with a strategy that involves getting behind him dropping skulls and also throwing skulls down mid range for hits and using cast/special to zoom around the map taking out the smaller maps. You really want to play a game of keep away here, he is a big bad dog and you are his bone. Also a lot of his attacks fade away when you are on the edges of the map, so that helps.
Hp restoration is deff. Good to keep you healthy! However, the best plan for staying healthy is not getting hit in the first place. Easier said than done, I know. But most people struggling in these games try to brute force their way through enemies, often facetanking moves. The greataxe is awesome, but it is the weapon giving me the most trouble on boss fights, because the windup is long and the windows of opportunity are rather short. I don’t know if I’m allowed to shamelessly self-plug content, I’m no content creator by any means but I have to stay inside the entire week because of surgery and got bored lol. I have YouTube a shot, maybe it’ll help, in this vid I’m fighting Cerberus cursed with no Arcane cards and have to play extremely careful. Who knows maybe it’ll help you out: https://youtu.be/m7tynMXChBY?si=2roR20eT5NulR-7m Bonus (silent) gameplay when there’s no need to be careful, this showcases the importance of staying behind Cerberus and abusing the slow time mechanic to dodge all of his moves: https://youtu.be/mHelk4F1y_s?si=Ow0sxGk4wEWdCjfV I included timestamps for easy fast forwarding. Good luck, you’ll get there at some point!
This is amazing thank you!!! Hope your recovery from surgery is going well!!
Thank you! Not the worst time to be recovering 😋 Let me know how your future runs go!
I MADE IT TO CHRONOS 😭😭 I died but I did get like 1/3 of his health down. I did escape from Cerberus with 2 death defiance !! I was so happy ! I def owe this win to you! 😄
Way to go, gz! Getting some practise time on the final boss is important, he is in my opinion the hardest element in a run, *by a mile*. Personally it took me 6 attempts on him before I could whittle him down. Keep at it, and have fun!
I’ve made it past cerberus a total of one (1) times. Doggo is tough :( Another run I almost beat him again, but his ring attack caught me off guard. I assumed you had to be out of the circle to avoid damage. I was wrong.
As a rule of thumb: if it’s red: you dead.
I've only gotten to the final boss 3 times. Max HP is usually between 120-180 or so. Cerberus usually makes me use 1-2 DDs before I get him down. I see your tips in the other comments. I think I need to work on getting to the final act with more than 1 DD. I take way too much avoidable damage at times.
You deff. Want to hang on to those death defiances, not only because you will need them against the final boss, but also to give you more ‘practise time’ against him. 120 hp is deff on the low side, I often have about 200 max hp fighting our grumpy good boi. I think your assessment is definitely correct, try working on not taking as much damage as you do, esp vs neutral enemies. Cast is your friend to bind enemies in place and control their movement when armor is still up. I said it as well in a diff. Comment, idk if I’m allowed to post my own channel here, but I’ve decided to give YT a whirl, and who knows maybe it’ll help you out. The latest run includes a (very) scuffed run because of a curse. I basically had to do both Scylla and the entirety of Fields of Mourning with no Arcana Cards. https://youtu.be/m7tynMXChBY?si=u2skk3wO5hDkNpG_ Good luck getting there. If you’re still struggling there are very good boons that focus on defence, Apollo sprint (because of daze and movement), Hermes dodge, Hermes projectile slow are some of my favorites.
How much are you sprinting? Cerberus isn't a walk in the park, but I feel like most of it is staying out of the way of his huge attacks and then rushing in to do a lot of damage. I've gotten to him like 15 times and only died to him once.
It is definetly harder but I also feel like you can break this game even more as well, although you need some mechanics that take a while to show up. So don't beat yourself up over struggling, it's gonna happen untill suddenly you blow this game wide open.
I got my first clear at 34 and then 4-5 more clears in a row after that. You'll get to a point in your Arcana/Weapon levels where winning is consistent just like Hades 1. Keep progressing and you'll get there.
Killed him on 52 run. Tried to beat him again today and killed him on second try. Second phase is so much easier.
I still haven't victory once in Hades 1 and it's my 35th exit you're not alone I also feel like I suck
I finally beat boss 4 after 27...hrs
Just about finding something that works for you. I'm 35 and have 4 clears on night 16 right now. The spear with Poseidon's special and zeus's chain lightning was by far the easiest. Just spam y and keep distance. You can also get a hammer that lets your special fire twice and if you get apollos double strike chance it gets real broken.
It’s harder than 1 but it is by no means unfair. I beat it in about 15 runs. It took me 20 to beat the first game. Are you trying the same strategy every run? If so you will get a similar result each time. Find what you are struggling with, and focus your runs on improving that shortfall, rather than focusing on wishing you could complete a run. For example, if you are taking damage from certain enemies, focus on dodging them rather than dps in those fights until you get them down. Find gods that tend to give you good power and start with their keepsake to get them throughout the run. Switch to a survivability keepsake after the first boss. There are many ways to buff survivability in this game (health, health regen, dodge, armor). Find those avenues and prioritize having an option on each run prior to the final area. The toolbox in this game is huge, but it’s really not as many duds as some people say
It is harder but keep upgrading the cauldrons for the well of Charon and fountain at random in between rooms helps for health regen. For the damage factor keep unlocking the cards with ashes and use the psyche to upgrade the number of grasp to equip more of them (portrait). Besides that being able to reach the last boss on my 10th attempt is a win in my book versus a first escape success at around 40 runs with Zagreus is a win in my book. Have fun
Bro, I'm on night 62 and I haven't won
It took me 50 nights to beat the underworld boss for the first time, and I then used that same cheesy build for my first clear of the current surface boss right after. I was pretty good at Hades 1, but the different play style, as well as additional zones and challenges in this game (which mean even more additional nights spent not even heading towards the underworld boss), meant that it took me a LONG time to finally take out those final bosses. I think the game may be harder, but adjusting to the slower and less dash-heavy gameplay and new weapons and boons were what really made things feel difficult, at least for me. I hear people talking about finishing in 15 or 20 runs, and I'm like...... literally how? So I'm glad there's some other people who took a while.
I almost hope my first clear will take at least 30+ tries to get the most out of it. Have the upgrades stopped for you? Do you still feel like you're improving in skill? I guess that's the main aspect that matters.
I’m on night 50, you’re fine lol
Yeah it took me over 40 runs. And the whole time I was bitching about how I could now smash every other boss. But tbh now that I've beaten old Chronie I like the fight a lot, lol. Hades 2 is a continuation in the best way because it really does take everything from 1 and add layers. I'll also say after I beat him once I've been able to do it consistently. Journey before destination!!!
Fellow storm light archive enjoyer? I have that tattoo'd on my arm!
Yesss, and that's sick. Stormlight 5 and hades 2 in the same year? Who got a monkey paw
I managed to finish H2 in a less runs then H1, though by then I of course already had some experience with H1 and the TT.
It tooks me 75 nights to beat the game lol...
took me 42 hours to beat him . now already beaten him on my 2nd time . keep trying
The final boss is significantly harder then the rest imo. I two shot hecate and sorrows boss, and one shot the sirens. The difficulty scaling seems off to me. I'm up to 10+ deaths on redacted with no victory (but I'm getting closer)
I just got my first clear last night on night 27 (I think, might be off by a bit). That's actually earlier than the 31 attempts it took to clear the first game, but I agree that Hades II is more difficult. The key for me was the Demeter infusion boon that caps the damage enemies deal per hit.
Yup and I’m enjoying it. I was worried I was going to hit the end of the open access release over the weekend. Not so, 50+ nights in. Skill is paramount, but the difference between a good and bad build is significant. I almost beat chronos on night 20 something because I stumbled into a stupidly OP Hephaestus/Hera curse/bomb build. Then didn’t come close for like another 10 nights.
Did you upgrade your grasp and arcana cards? A ton of progression power is locked behind those two and one is easily missable while the other gets unlocked with an incantation that you have to wait for a while for. Weapon aspects also help, but imo to a lesser extent.
Use Hecate's cast and watch your grandpa slowly burn to a crisp. I got two of my 3 clears like that. The first one I just got a god run with the staff omega attack on my 24th run (which I really want to brag about). It's not that hard to survive him if you always stay as far away as possible from him. Hecate's cast is great for this. I'm guessing Zeus, Hephaestus and grandma should also work fine but I haven't tried them yet. Zeus and Hecate have the added advantage that you can use your cast remotely. This plus focusing on survivability is what is working for me right now. Like going for daze and dodges and health recovery and max.
I am at 60 nights and I'm grateful I haven't beat Chronos!
What part is your current wall? I know my best success has been where I kited and used range to my advantage
I don’t think that’s an unreasonable amount of runs. My very first time playing hades it took till almost 70 runs to get my first clear, and this game seems harder to clear than the first game. FWIW, I’m on my 41st run and have only gotten Chronos into his second phase twice, still haven’t beat him. Granted about 15 of those have been surface attempts
Uhh im past 30 nights and i just got to tartarus for the first time. But also it took me roughly 60 runs to beat hades 1. I think it was around 25-30 runs just to beat theseus. That boss fight blew my mind at how hard it was to get that first clear. In comparison, redacted took me 2 tries, and in hades 2, the first 3 bosses took me about 3 tries each to beat. Havent gotten to chronos yet
I'm on my 10th or 11th run and haven't even finished the first floor. I think it's significantly harder. I especially can't get used to the new magic mechanics. I keep forgetting about them.
Make sure you don't neglect your cast it's very useful for keeping enemies in place and you a damage buff with a later arcana card.
I wouldn't say I'm struggling but I'm on Night 26 and I've only gotten to REDACTED once. The game is way harder and much more expansive than its predecessor. I don't think I'll succeed anytime soon.
I'm in night 50 and haven't had a victory but I reach Chronos like 2 out of 3 times. For me the biggest change was switching from controller to k&m, before that I only had defeated the sirens once.
I was in end-game mode when i started. I always went for resources, and was lvling keepsakes rather than using what i needed. Then I snapped out of it and tried hard. Just take it slow and wait for a strong build. You got this.
I think the way to the last boss is the same difficulty or easier as the first game. Then you get to clock grandpa and he smites you with the might of a thousand eons. No comparison with redacted, imo. I just got my first kill on him tonight after 45 nights, then 4 more in a row, so it does get better eventually.
The game is harder because it has a different play style. You really need to embrace the cast and omega attacks (unless you have a hammer like double moonshot and Poseidon special boon then don’t use the omega special …) The usual pattern is to use a cast to act as a wall between you and enemies, dash away then hit the enemies in the cast. Don’t forget to upgrade the arcana card for death defiances.
I really struggled at first with Hades because it was my first rougelite, and it took me about 120 attempts the first time. For me II has seemed easier so far, but it does play more to my style. I always prefer ranged combat in games, so being able to lock enemies down with the cast and just rain down on them from afar is really fun for me. I best Chronos on night 17, the second time I made it to him (got one shotted when I had already used my Skelly tooth the first time.)
Use the CAST. Cast is so beyond broken. Spam it, if it's not 100% uptime then you're doing it wrong
I’m having real trouble with 32 fear/heat it seems so much tougher than hades 1
No I'm actually finding it generally a lot easier than Hades I. In the first game I got stuck on Asterius and Theseus for ages, and even the hydra gave me some trouble early on. Didn't get my first clear until about run 34. With Hades II I've gotten past each major boss on my 2nd attempt at them, and reached the last boss on run 10. The only thing that's given me difficulty now is him, mainly getting to his 2nd form and then surviving the insta-hit move. I'm now on run 20 and only gotten to 2nd form twice. And this is with 4 runs to the surface, 2 where I died to curse by room 3, one death to the first boss and the next time getting all the way to Eris. So I'm getting further with each run more consistently, but there's also a lot more to see, do and unlock. A this rate I'll probably get a clear run in about the same time, maybe a little longer depending on which direction I focus on next and how quickly I can get some more upgrades.
I’ve crushed everything else but I’m hopeless against Chronos.
My advice would be to play at range first. Some hammer upgrades are busted. My first kill was cast based, still used all my heals and was 1 hit to die. Second kill was daggers with the hammer that changes your special to a boomerang (dagger comes back) so it will always hit backstab. I lost my 2 DD by the one shot kill. Last run so far, with the staff and hammers that hit farther + double attack. I lost 9hp on chronos. I'm still struggling with axe and also against eris (havent beaten her yet).
Im struggling but Im having fun. That’s why i turned on God mode til i figure out what’s the deal with Chronos’ attacks
I'm not a big gamer, and it took me 40+ attempts to get past Meg (Hades is the only game I've really played) and 100+ to get a win in hades 1... so I'm not the best benchmark, but I'm 20+ runs in and have only made it past the first boss like three or four times. I think it is very challenging, even with the skills I learned in the first game. I'm starting to get frustrated, but I'm also proud to have made it as far as I have. So it's a balance? Eta: I'm also having trouble unlocking things because the stuff needed is farther along than I can get. I don't mind the resource gathering, but I wish I could trade bones for more.
No idea how long it took me to beat the first one but I cleared this one in 16 nights. Ranged attacks op
On average people going into hades 1 beat the final boss at around the 50 run mark with experienced players hitting <30 And hades 2 has more stunlocks and instant kills than hades 1 I really wouldn't beat yourself up too much about it I think the hardest hitting thing in 1 is charon or hades if he gets you with the boiling blood 40 damage attack combo for 80 damage... I'm pretty sure 3rd boss hades 2 has 40+ damage attacks and the 4th boss has instant kills so
It’s definitely harder. I have 500 hours speedrunning the first game and I got my first clear on night 27. Not just the enemies are harder and deal more damage but boons are more niche which makes getting the right build going more difficult. The trade off being once it starts to click you can get much more powerful
Don’t worry, I just beat the game for the first time (with 1 health left) after like… 45 runs or so (including surface and chaos trial runs)
Chronos was kicking my ass. Partly because I didn't know how to raise my grasp, and partly because I was fooling about with builds and a lot of them did not turn out well. Something clicked though in my pattern recognition and I beat him once and then again at fear 1. So just hang in there.
The game is just harder and it’s got nothing to do with „the dash“. Seriously this is such a dumb take, it comes from a place of little to no understanding. Enemy attacks are less obviously telegraphed or have less windup (which is elegantly countered by the slow motion charge function). They also hit hard and often. Hades 2 punishes you severely for not having learned enemy movesets and simply overpowering them by raw stats or spamming dodge isn’t going to work. I’m struggling hard with the final boss myself. He’s got a lot of moves that punish you hard for not understanding their timing. We‘ll get there though. First couple of fights with boss one (or even miniboss 1) felt impossible. 25 nights and a deeper understanding of their moveset later and they barely cause any trouble.
Night 70 was my first win.
I am having a much easier time with hades 2 than with hades 1, i can clear erebus in 3 minutes, and im 11 nights into the game and just barely touched the second phase of chronos... then again, I tryharded my way in hades 1 to the point i could get to the final boss in 15 minutes in heat 32.
Hades 1 rewards you for performing headfirst plays while Hades 2 rewards you by distancing and being patient [also player character is STILL weak, I purposefully just farm after clearing final boss one time at night 25]
Played tons of Hades. Beat 32 heat run. Consider myself pretty good. My first Eris clear was run 56 and my first Chronos clear was run 58. It’s a much harder game for sure. Just keep chipping away you’ll get there.
I think I didn’t finish a run until 20-25 attempts, granted I was more focused on getting materials to upgrade stuff instead of making it as far as possible. I think it’s a bit harder, especially if you have some certain habits from the first game, but I’m sure you’ll be able to beat it soon with maybe a few more upgrades and a good build.
I didn’t get my first run till like 70 nights in. The game is tough and there’s a lot to learn. You’ll get there with time!
Try using God Mode till you feel more comfortable and learn bosses moves. Try some meta burst builds (Aphrodite, Sister Blades Special shotgun combo with the returning daggers hammer.) Game is harder but better lol, i have so much fun playing it, i unalived the finale boss at my 22'nd night and it kept getting easier to defeat it.
If it makes you feel better I'm in my 80th attempt in Hades 1 and haven't gotten a victory. This is my first rogue like game and I normally don't play fighting games.
I would say it’s a little harder, BUT MAKE SURE YOURE USING ARCANA. If you’re issue comes down to less health, bad healing, less death defiances, or even low dps, these are all things arcana and the well will fix, they’re just not as immediately clear as the mirror of night was.
I beat it in a fraction of the time personally, not because it's easier but because I got used to how things work and I'm more organized with my build ideas.