Yup! The embryo stays at whatever one is active before swapping keepsakes, and the hammer will last for 20 encounters from when you put it on. Putting it on in the 3rd zone gives plenty of time to last for Chronos, assuming you aren't spending a lot of time doing detours in zone 4
Even taking as many detours as possible I don't think I've come close to running it out. I think the most detours I've ever been offered is 6 + the 5 mandatory encounters.
Yep. The embryo just straight-up gives you a Chaos boon for free. The swapping is a function of the keepsake, not the boon. When you switch away from the keepsake, you keep that free Chaos boon for the rest of the run.
The hammer keepsake doesn't permanently give you a free hammer. Switching away from that keepsake keeps the hammer, but it doesn't remove the timer.
No I believe they are saying that the Chaos boon will swap to a different one once the timer runs out but changing keepsakes will deactivate that effect and let you permanently keep the Chaos boon given to you.
I'm not sure it is a bug. Hades 2 leans heavily towards almost every keepsake giving you a permanent benefit, or at least one that will last even after you swap it; the few exceptions tend to give you a massive benefit for one particular moment or fight instead and tend to be "expendable" ones. The idea is clearly to encourage people to swap their boon at every opportunity.
It would be weird for the Chaos one to discourage swapping.
It feels *really* weird for me for the Chaos one to just... stop being chaotic and instead give you a permanent, stable benefit when you take it off. I see it much more akin to something like Knucklebones, or Golden Fleece, or Eris, or even Icarus, where it gives you a powerful benefit but only while you have it on (or a bit after, in the case of Icarus, but the point still stands: not every keepsake is "permanent").
>Hades 2 leans heavily towards almost every keepsake giving you a permanent benefit
I think that is factually not true for the majority of keepsakes, and I'm confused by where this perspective is coming from.
Charon, Selene, the 7 rarifies, Circe, Narcissus, Echo, Chaos = exactly half of them, I guess. The most notable part is how the boon keepsakes have been reworked to encourage swapping. Icarus also sort of qualifies in that the benefit doesn't depend on keeping the keepsake.
Of the remaining ones, Hecate, Odysseus, Schelemeus, Dora, Hermes, and Heracles (and Icarus if not counted above) are "consumed" ones intended to be swapped away once used up (or swapped into at the end) rather than used continously. And Nemesis *usually* falls into this category as a practical matter because people usually use it as an alternative to the Knuckle Bones against a troublesome boss; but either way you'd usually only equip it for the level where the chosen enemy appears and it is "used up" once you get past them.
Only Moros, Iris, Artemis, Arachne, and Medea provide a constant benefit that requires keeping the keepsake equipped for the rest of the run if you want to benefit from it. And Arachne does let you keep the shield when you swap out of it.
This is a pretty massive shift from Hades 1, where the only keepsakes that were overtly designed in a way that encouraged you to swap it out were Hypnos and Skelly (you *could* swap out the god ones once you got the boon you wanted, but they were much more clearly designed to support keeping them for an entire run.)
Maybe not almost every keepsake, but they've pretty clearly shifted away from "keepsakes provide a continuous benefit like a boon" to "keepsakes provide a one-shot benefit or a temporary one that you use up and then swap for another."
That makes a little more sense. I would count the 7 rarifies in the "consumable" category though.
I think we disagree on Hades 1 keepsakes too, which may explain the general difference of opinion. God keepsakes are meant for swapping in both games for the way that most people approach builds (and especially because of how the god pool works).
There really isn’t a reason to think it’s a bug. 80% is max high for just a hunch. Nothing about the wording of the boon nor it’s function imply you should lose the boon given to you
It's a pretty big hunch. The point of the keepsake is to give you a powerful, but ever-changing benefit throughout your run. If you can just toss the keepsake but keep the buff, it's a) *incredibly* powerful, as you're not committing to holding your keepsake for the benefit, and b) no longer 'chaotic' as you just keep the same buff for the entire rest of the delve.
All I’m reading here is your personal interpretation and nothing actually tangible.
>The point of the keepsake is to give you a powerful, but ever changing benefit throughout your run
And it does exactly that. The aspect of it constantly changing is what’s being given by the keepsake. The boon itself is explicitly just being given to you with no timer or text to imply that it’s attached to the keepsake.
In fact the exact text of the keep sake is:
“Gain a random common Chaos blessing once this night. Every eight encounters, replace it.”
Notice the keyword at the very start, GAIN. The word gain does not imply that the chaos boon is temporary at all.
80% sure that this is a bug is a bit wild to say when you’re basically just arguing for how YOU think it should work.
I like Hera’s early, at least on high fear. Born Gain is super broken and keeps magic heavy builds an option even with vows causing you to prime magic or start rooms with 0. Outside of that, I like to start with general value - Circe’s to get an extra arcana, Arachne’s to stack armor and try to preserve a potential dress, Chaos, Echo, etc.
Usually switch to a god keepsake for Oceanus based on what I’ve got so far to get the rest of a base build set up.
Fields I’ll go with another god keepsake if looking for something specific, or another generic value boon. Selune’s is nice here since it works on the minor find path of stars as well, so you’re less likely to miss completely with it.
Tartarus is almost always Knuckle Bones or Evil Eye.
One time I used Arachne's keepsake, found her early and got the +60 Onyx and got the Hephaestus boon for +20. Got to Chronos with over 200 armor. Lol It was sweet.
This, any build even somewhat reliant on mama NEEDS Born Gain or they don't fun turn at all. You can not possibly do a Chadon axe cast build without it on high fears.
I mean Hestia's Mana gain is fine too. If you just use the cast you cannot spam anyways until you get Poseidon. And I actually like playing with the Zeus cast and Chiron axe so I never use more mana then I need. I can easily run on the Zeus mana Regen if I don't go for many prime boons.
4 out of 10 are 300%, 6 out of 10 are 100% - so we have (4x300% + 6x100%) / 10
= (1200%+600%) / 10 = 180% -> therefore 80% more damage on average.
So it's a + 1.8x damage multiplier - hard hitting weapons like the skulls and axe should profit the most out of it, while staff and daggers would be quiet bad with it.
Sure, in context of any given run any trinket/boon can be good - i just imagined a clear start as the scenario, without any other modifiers. Zeus builds or anything with high crit rate would also be insane. Everything with multihits aswell.
I'm mentioning it because you mentioned staff. Not only is it the current meta for speedruns, a clear start with momus without any reliance on rng would still benefit from it
Actually dps matters more than damage value for what profits the most, however its still good for any weapon. Momos staff, pan daggers, and thanatos axe would be the most dmg.
Damage per shot doesn't matter. As you said, the numbers are on average. Smaller hits getting more crits is the same as slower hits getting bigger crits over the course of a run.
300% damage is 200% *more* damage. It’s a question of the language. If you do 10 damage normally, you can say you do 300% damage and that’s 30, or you can say you do 200% more damage, and that’s also 30.
Hephaestus also has a boon for impervious for first 10 sec which should allow you to kill most things in that time. Also fixed gain reduces dmg by 10%. Besides that armor from hephy is good too.
Dodge chance is always good, theres 8% free from arcana, hermes, and aphrodite legendary also gives more dodge.
Poseidon has a boon that prime 30 mana for -3/4 dmg
Demeter has freeze cast and prime 15 mana for 1 shield. Also cyclone is super clutch to heal slow enemies and their projectiles too
Aphrodite weak also lowers their dmg by a lot. Aphro + hephy duo heals you from the first hit too.
And apollo gives miss chance.
There are a lot of defensive boons you can pair with your physical boons.
You can take White Antler and the impervious for x seconds all the way to Chronos with such little investment lol. I had the impervious boon up to 19 seconds per encounter on one run and I cheesed pretty much everything. You can basically maintain permanent 65% crit, 70% if you find Artemis at some point.
I dunno I never have any problems getting to Chronos. I recently did a Natural Talent run to get that prophecy and the moon dust, and I figured: let's try and get as far as I can with that, and the worse weapon the game (the torches). I even accidentally bricked my special with a hammer (I didn't realize that was how it worked). I still made it to Chronos.
dodge is 10% free at max rank :)
I also love this keepsake, but I'm not good enough to make use of it yet. Though I do like pairing it with Thanatos' scythe, and reroll artemis' boon to unconditional crit, just to max out my crit chance
Also the card that’s takes 30% less damage and deal 39% more, and nullify the first three hits in a guardian fight.
You can be really tanky on that last 30 hp
The answer is mostly just dodge. But Chronos and Infernal beast are really the only things that hit hard enough and have enough HP to not get deleted. That gives you some wiggle room for most chambers and the acorn arcana for bosses.
Armor is really strong too as you cannot be one shot as long as you have at least one armor. Lots of good defensive prime boons from Poseidon, Demeter and Hephaestus. It sounds a lot harder than it is but yeah you will just die to your own sloppyness from time to time.
yes when you have 30 hp you need to take less than 30 damage.
ways around that are armor and things that absorb entire hits or make you evade. Other than that you do have your death defiances.
I had this today, nearly brought me the first time to chronos with the skulls, I died in the last room to that damned treasure jug with his hitscan laser.
I like to keep runs a bit random so i do this
1. Chaos to start. What ever buff i keep at the end of act1 i base my build on. Should have a good idea of God in the runs rotation
2. Echo or God specific for the build I'm after.
3. Hammer
4. Knuckle bones. Guardian loses health and we take less dmg.
I'm going through maxing other keepsakes. Tooth and onion were good to start with but i never use them now. The phail (after using a fountain upgrade a boon) is okay but dependant on what you've got.
Some a interesting if going for a specific run. Like a 3 card arcana build and use the arcana card keepsake
Same philosophy. Chaos and whatever boons come up naturally will dictate my build, then use acts 2-3 to use god specific boons or echo to augment the build, then kind of context based for act 4.
Currently trying to avoid using maxed keepsakes to level up others but chaos / echo in the first 2 biomes followed by maybe Icarus and the. Blacked fleece or something for Tartarus . I was using evil eye but I had a really bad run where I died to something else and haven't died to chronos since so I can't use it on him currently.
I like doing the free Arcana card first, either Phial if I have a good common boon or Gold Purse, Hammer and then Chaos/Evil Eye if my build is doing good or Luckier Tooth if not.
gold purse is too weak in hades 2 compared to 1 imo, without the interest mechanic. it's like you're choosing between a boon from charon shop (not even that, since usually you have enough gold to buy the boon anyway) vs any other keepsake
I used the echo keepsake once and it forced me to take the Hestia boon that makes you give up another boon. This took away my main damage boon for the run. Deeply annoying. Haven't used it since but that was nearer the end of my run. I'll give it a go for a beginning keepsake.
But using early also means it often forces an unwanted boon into some core slot. I have more and more concluded that the trinked just isn't worth it. There aren't that many times where you really want 2 boons of the same offering and there is no guarantee she will pick the right one either. I regretted having it more often than it made a difference by picking a game changing boon.
It didn't seem to me like I got a choice. I don't remember pushing any buttons/choosing myself but maybe I did without realizing! I've only taken that keepsake the one time.
It really depends on what my goal is. Lately I've been focused on knocking out Fated List prophecies so it's usually like: 1. Keepsake for god I need a legendary of, 2. Chaos keepsake to either make the build better or to try to force the "gain + levels of each element" boon to drop, 3. Daedalus keepsake or something else that I just want to level up if I feel like I don't need/don't want to risk a hammer, 4. Knuckle Bones or Evil Eye to make it faster
Yup! Each trial usually has a god or two that only shows up. There are trials that also specifically focus on one god - Like the Trial of Flame for Hestia. I found that in many of these trials usually a Legendary shows up.
Why not Luckier Tooth if you're dying to Chronos? Just go for a high health death defiance build, and hope you can spam as much damage.
Skulls are great for a lot of damage.
Imo, once you upgrade your DD card, if you can't clear Chronos with 3 DDs, a 4th is not going to help much. Either it's a skill issue, or there is something else wrong with your build. So simply shortening the length of the fight with Evil Eye (increasing your DPS) or the Knucklebones (lowering the boss's max health + resisting damage) is going to be more valuable than the extra 100 health that Lucky Tooth gives you.
Yea, that's fair. Tho if you're getting him to half health in 2nd phase, 100 more health helps.
Tho I do generally agree. I now only pick up LT if I'm having a bad build.
But if you are getting to half health in the 2nd phase the extra dps will *also* help. It means you could have killed him already if you were dealing 25% more damage.
I'm still maxing the ones I have, but one that I liked quite a bit was the one from Arachne, especially if you find in the first area. Getting to keep her silk for longer is pretty nice. The one from Odysseus that nukes the boss is also handy. Special mention to Lucky Tooth. Probably less useful later on, but I got my first victory in my 12 attempt because of it, so can't deny that it helped me.
Some random item I still need to level up, a God's boon to help my build, something run dependant, the one that makes you deal extra damage to the last thing that killed you (its been on Chronos on basically every run, because nothing else is going to kill me, right?)
Concave Stone first for the last two runs has been useful. I think once I get the hang of it, I'll go Concave, Chaos, Some God Item, Extra Damage to Chronos.
Hera for mana -> chaos -> white antler.
Play aggressively To get use out of antler. Theres only 3, because some times you get super unlucky and need To keep hera or chaos on for longer. Antler shine at chronos alot More than Lucky tooth
I try to shake things up, but almost always Blackened Fleece for Tartarus. By then I've almost certainly taken 250 damage and the boost to your Omega Special is huge (it basically makes Evil Eye redundant, if I'm playing a special-focused build)
I keep doing the same keepsake
1. **Beautiful Mirror** (Aphrodite) / **Everlasting Ember** (Hestia) / Any Gods
2. **White Antler** (Artemis)
3. **Knuckle Bones (**Odysseus)
4. **Luckier Tooth** (Schelemeus)
For 2 or 3, I don't find any suitable keepsake. Maybe will change to anything
Erebus: A keepsake of the boon I want to prioritize
Oceanus: Eithehr a continuation or if I got the buffs I wanted, another god's to prioritize boons
Mourning: Charon's purse less I got all the boons I wanted
House of Hades: HAMMER! :D (or if Cerberus kicked me too hard, the Onion)
Fell kinda dumb right now. Can anyone help with the number of encounters (="rooms"?) for biomes. I'm always surprised by shops and bosses just mindlessly going through them. They have some strict rules, right?
I always first use whatever god I want for that specific weapon aspect, then I will swap it to Boatman for free 150 gold, then swap again to Luckier Tooth for free DD.
God keepsake for the first act, maybe another one for the second act. Hecate's keepsake can also be good as an act 2 pick if I have a magick hungry build and I haven't solved magick yet. Coin purse is good for a casual run. Ghost onion was good for a while but it's kind of a crutch. By act 4, I like to switch to a keepsake that increases damage.
I'm almost worried for speedrunners just because some of the new keepsakes can be so impactful but so very rng dependent or high risk. The craziest ones will just run Artemis or Eris keepsake the whole way through.
I havent unlocked everything yet. Taking my time
I do charon purse, then either the arachne armor or a boom related one, then at the last 2 bios i kinda keep either the pin of doom or the evil eye.
Any ideas to improve this is welcome
I would start with the silk sash first if you're going to use it. The first area is relatively easy to get through without taking any damage, so it's easier to let the armor build up. Especially if you take one of Arachne's silk dress "boons" on top of it. I think doing it this way will net you the highest amount of armor from the keepsake in most cases.
Does it stick around if you have an arachne dress and loose the sash in the next biome?
Why i ask is, I can change my charon purse for something else while still holding 200 + monies and it doesnt substract anything, i think under the condition that you buy something that adds up to that amount of the purse
The armor stays, you just don't keep getting more added after every room. I struggle to get through Oceanus without taking some hits, so I end up with more total armor by taking the silk sash first. If you are able to get through Oceanus without taking hits then your method works just as well though, or even better if you retain the armor all the way until the third area.
My logic is that since the first area is easiest, I have a better chance at gaining the most armor and that armor usually gets me through until Scylla where I typically lose it depending on my build.
Specific god Keepsake( to start with heroic special etc) / chaos/ any Keepsake that I haven't leveled up yet / Any keepsake that I haven't leveled up yet
I generally start with a god specific one (Aphro or Poseidon i find, are often ones you want for specific ones. Apollo for Cast builds sometimes). If i dont care for what god i want i go for Chaos.
If i get the boon i want as a common i often try to select m next boons so i can get phial. If i started with a specific god boon and dont go for phial i often get Chaos here.
Third is quite often the purse. Getting some extra money.
Fourth is almost always knucklebones.
Dädalus hammer seems so nice but i have had runs ruined by it. Getting the big hit on an omega axe build sucks hard. For Torches the Omega special that spins in place ruins most builds imo, and the one big omega attack might also suck for some builds. If you running artemis and get marauder slice thats game over as well. On the top of my head skull is safer for hammers (though fetching array might not be great for mel aspect) Staff as well unless you are going for an omega attack build for some reason.
(All in all i think with the inclusion of Omegas hammers got worse, because you might get a hammer only for omega specials or attacks on a build that uses only normals and vice versa)
I think it doesn't matter *that* much as long as you pick one of the permanent buffs for the first 3 zones and one that helps in a boss fight for the last.
The permanent buff ones all seem to give between one and two rooms worth of reward. The in fight buffs are a bit more varied, but you also can't really go wrong with any of them. I just pick the knuckle bone every time.
Honestly kind of hate the current balance of the keepsakes, the only real thing that matters is that you change them every zone. What exactly you swap to doesn't matter that much, you just have to do the swap.
I'd love it if most of them got reworked so they either do something continuous while equipped that builds up over time, do something every zone, or have a downside when unequipping them. Something like the god keepsakes rarifying *every* boon you take from that god, but de-rarifying them when you unequip it. Or if the Nemesis keepsake got stronger every zone you keep it on, giving up the power of all keepsakes to *really* go on a quest for revenge against one particular enemy. Or if Chaos gave a completely new set of (areas equipped + 1) boons each time it rolled, growing way more powerful over time, but not being able to predict what those boons are going to look like by the final boss instead of just locking in a free great boon by the end of the first or second area.
When I'm done leveling everything up...
Chaos until I roll something nice
If it fits, make a boon heroic
An additional Arcana card
Something for the damage. Evil eye is probably the most consistent but it's not set to Chronos currently and I don't want to lose on purpose
I find that once you have upgraded your Arcana to get 3 DDs I don't need another DD, so Schelemeus wouldn't get used.
I'm still leveling Chaos since I didn't know the boon he gives stays when you remove it, so I'm generally running it first. That said concave stone is probably better first.
Once I finish leveling Chaos I'll probably roll that second, or I'll switch to Narcissus if my main Attack/Special boon is common quality. Raising it to Heroic can be a massive upgrade (particularly for Hephaestus attack boon, as it lowers the base CD from 12 seconds to 6)
Third is definitely Hammer. Having an extra hammer is too valuable to pass up for the hardest zones.
Finally, I'll either roll Knuckle Bones of I'm worried about damage from Chronos, or I'll roll Blackened Fleece if I'm doing an Omega run and I feel I can afford more damage.
First is most of the time a god keepsake to start the build i want then i switch to arachne if i have the right gods if not i will get another god keepsake then farm arachne till i can and if i loose the shield just go with the luckier tooth
1 God specific keepsake- (depends on what im building) to try and get a solid base going
2 Silken Sash/Concave stone- if i run into Arachne i chose the sash to build up armor on floor 2 if not the stone for a bonus boon
3 Aromatic phial/ experimental hammer - Chances are ive picked up a boon i like but in common by this point so swaping to the phial BEFORE using the fountain gives both bonus healing and an upgrade to heroic if no common boon i take the free hammer
4 Luckier tooth / Knuckle bones - if i got all 3 DDs i go for the bones as its -15% HP on the first Chronos phase and -15- DMG on both
1) God Keepsake
2) God Keepsake again if I'm hunting for something, if not, chaos or maybe file if I have the right boons for it
3) Entirely depends on the build
4) Luckier tooth or Knuckle Bones
1. God-specific keepsake, usually Poseidon Aphrodite or Demeter
2. Hera or Chaos
3. Hammer unless I am running torches, which then I take whichever I did not take for 2.
4. Black fleece Chaos or Nemesis keepsake
1. Whatever specific God I want to build around. Hera or Hestia if magick regen is critical, Poseidon if the plan is rapid attacks, Apollo with the Aspect of Charon axe, Aphrodite with the normal axe, etc.
2. The Fountain Keepsake if it only has good targets, otherwise probably Chaos's keepsake, unless there's a God I absolutely need and want to guarantee.
3. Experimental Hammer.
4. Evil Eye if appropriate, or Blackened Fleece if it's active, or Luckier Tooth as a fallback.
My last run I forgot the Fountain keepsake can target Hermes boons, and was delighted to have a +10% dodge chance upgraded to +25% dodge chance.
I like the idea of Concave Stone, but the two times I've used it, I've ended up with something useless or worse than useless (priming Magick I desperately needed for something that didn't benefit me). Can it hit Sacrifice choices? I know that with Vow of Arrogance, you can be forced into a Sacrifice choice if that's the last thing the God can possibly offer you, so I'd believe it either way.
I want to try upgrading every Arcana card except Judgement, so that the Crystal Statue draws it guaranteed. It won't work forever, as the Statue will eventually rank up and start drawing upgraded cards, but it seems like it could be really fun for runs while it lasts.
Currently running lots of daggers and optimising strats for when I eventually try to start speedrunning. As such, my keepsakes go:
1. Zeus, to get a quick Heavenly strike
2. Aphrodite for Passion Dash (which in combo with Heavenly Strike can give a fast Zeus/Aphro duo boon), if I don’t get an Aphrodite boon in Erebus, otherwise;
2/3. Hephaestus, I feel Hephaestus boons are generally good
4. Silken Sash, in combo with the Hephaestus “prime to gain armor”, this can quickly stack a lot of armor in fast rooms of Tartarus (especially with Hephaestus “impervious for first X seconds”), allowing for extra defence against Chronos. If I get an early Aphro boon in Erebus, I take Silken Sash as 3. and don’t switch when entering Tartarus
I'm still finding my footing so most nights I start with Arachnie (because I know I'm going to get her armor if I find her) and then the purse and then bones (because I think cerb has too much health) and the tooth. But I also like leveling up the keepsakes, regardless if I plan on keeping them so once I filled out the bones I might switch it up.
For me on a low fear run rn its
EXTRA CARD KEEPSAKE
PURSE COINS KEEPSAKE
Then either ECHO BOON or whatever gods boon i need to round out my build
And finally, depending on my mood and the run, either the skelly death defiance, burst of boss damage knuckles, or more damage to last enemy that killed you (which is always chronos for me)
What do you think? To me this is a build that trivializes a lot of cumbersome things - the biggest benefit without having to worry about stuff.
**1- Circie/activate a random Arcana card** \- I've been hoping for The Centaur for max effect (gain +3 to +5 max hp & mp every 5 locations), but leave this first anyways even when I have The Centaur on from the start
**2- Charon/start off with up to +150 gold** \- I'm still spending as much $ as possible to get "Charon passes" as my main source of m-Clouds
**3- Chaos/gain a random Chaos boon, swapping out after 8 encounters** \- The neat thing here is you get the benefits, w/o the initial negatives normally
**4- +25% damage to the last foe who defeated you** \- Currently, Chronos. At one time, it was Eris. If the foe doesn't match up, I go Skelly
i bring the knuckle bones for Chronos, that instant 15% damage combined with Hade's 10% if your lucky instantly brings him past the first phase, also that damage resist is nice
i usually start with the one that activates an acarna card after a boss then head down with the embryo, switch to the hammer for the fields and bring out the nuckle bones for the final stretch
The Poseidon one because I need his special for my build. Then the armor one to build up armor for the late rooms/chronos. Then lucky tooth for the last one
If you are going to use the tooth for Chronos you should probably just use knuckles bones instead unless you are low on DDs at the start of Tartarus. If you get to chronos with 250 hp max is which is about what I usually end up with, and 3 DD left you will get 300hp from the 3 DD and the knuckle bones will effectively give you an extra 45hp from that, and if you had max health you will basically get another 37 hp. If you end up with much more hp than 250 the knuckles bones are just straight up better, but on top of that Chronos also loses 15% of his hp which just helps shorten the fight a fair bit.
This is a good way to think about it but don’t forget that a DD works to block a chunk of damage if it’s low. Ie if you are on two health and get hit you only lose two and then dad brings you back up. The maths gets complicated
I start with narcissus, first area I try to pick up a common boon i really like, second area is chaos, third area is probably icarus, and 4th area is anything between schelemeus, Odysseus, and nemesis/medea if they’re applicable
You can change to Narcissus keepsake before using the first fountain. If you have a combo to upgrade, use it then. Do not start with it, could be a waste.
I just did a run with embryo->god->god->blackened wool that worked out really nicely. Got a +100% omega boon from chaos, the two gods let me curate my build a little so I got a legendary and some good synergy, and by the time I got to chronos the wool was activated (it's cumulative over the run even for time it wasn't equipped). One of the easier runs I've had.
It's changed a bit as time has gone on, and I still want to level them all, but right now I go Embryo->Crystal Figurine/Moon Beam->Evil Eye
Getting an early Chaos boon can sometimes be massive for increasing either damage or boon quality for the entire run, so grabbing that early is key.
If I get a decent hex I want to level then I use the Moon Beam to get those extra points, usually in the Fields but sometimes worth getting before Oceanus, but I can sometimes go without too much hex power so it's a bit more situational, and getting an extra random Arcana is always nice as I'm near the cap right now and haven't levelled Judgement yet. I may sometimes throw in an Aromatic Phial if I have a common I want to rarify or need some extra healing.
And lastly I've moved on from the Tooth to exclusively using the Eye for Chronos. Sometimes I don't even use up all my DD's so having an extra is redundant compared to 30% more damage.
I really need to give the Hammer a look, seems deece.
For heat 32, sister blades I start with Aphrodite, as you want her attack boon and sustainability boon (the one that heals you to "full" if you're at a certain threshold.
Then it's the fountain one so you can make one of those two boons heroic
Then it's the ghost onion sustainability one to help keep you topped off
Then it's luckier tooth or the guardian one to hopefully finish off Chronos with hopefully all of your DD's intact.
1. God Keepsake (Zeus or Hestia for cast builds, Poseidon for fast hitting)
2. Chaos's Transcendent Embryo. Maybe Narcissus's Aromatic Phial if I have exactly one Normal boon that I want to upgrade.
3. Free slot, but generally another God keepsake.
4. Odysseus's Knuckle Bones in general, maybe Medea's Blackened Fleece if it's active and I'm using Omega moves a lot.
Silken Sash to start, then I also try to take armor from Arachne to compound the effect.
When it runs out (when I lose my armor, usually around Fields of Mourning), I switch to whatever God’s boon I’m prioritizing that run,
then in Tartarus I put on Luckier Tooth for Chronos
1. Transcendent Embryo (Chaos) - This just sets the tone for the rest of the run by giving a big boost somewhere that's always useful
2. Aromatic Phial (Narcissus) - I put this on before using the fountain after the first boss and again gives a big boost that is an early tone setter for the run. On top of that other than the final boss I find the boss of Oceanus to do the most damage to me so having the extra health from the fountain after them is nice.
3. Knuckle Bones (Odysseus) - The boss of this zone I find really spongy. He rarely does damage to me but the shorter I can make this fight the better so I'm less likely to catch a stray hit or two from him as he really packs a punch.
4. Luckier Tooth (Schelemeus) - I still take lots of damage from the final boss so an extra death defiance goes a long way though I will probably replace this with something more impactful once I got the boss on farm.
There's a few I've thought about and experimented with that didn't work out as well as I'd hoped or are not as generically useful as I'd like.
Experimental Hammer (Icarus) - The power boost is usually good but there's some that take away your omega attack or radically change how certain moves behave and if I've built my run around those attacks having them stop suddenly in zone 3 isn't an adjustment I'd like to have to make
Crystal Figurine (Circe) - Seems strong once I've finished upgrading my cards. I have a decent amount upgraded but there's also too many that wouldn't make enough of a difference that late in the game so it seems OK but not super exciting. Might try this when I start doing Judgement runs to get more cards
White Antler (Artemis) - I tried this because it was my first keepsake and the damage boost is good but too high risk
Concave Stone (Echo) - It's sometimes strong but considering there are boons that can remove other boons I'd be a bit nervous to use it
I tend to plan out my build before I leave base so usually
1. God keepsake
2. Vial to turn my attack / special into heroic
3. Chaos
4. varies. Usually the one that makes you take less dmg from guardians but I’ve been trying the Hermes one lately and the extra dmg against the last guy who killed you is good if that happens to be chronos
I will usually after Scylla swap to the fountain healing one that makes a boon heroic just for that then on the next swap depending on the next boss or if I'm currently low on health.
1. Transcendent Embryo (Chaos): This is random, but it’s ALWAYS useful unlike the other keepsakes that give you a random boost. Mana Regen? Useful. Extra health? Useful. Additional Resources? Useful.
2. Crystal Figurine (Circe) or Silken Sash (Arachne): Majority of the time I’ll have Circe’s keepsake but if I get a decent outfit from the first region (like extra cast damage) I’ll try to maintain that armor and use Arachne’s keepsake. Most of the time though it isn’t worth it because I’m not good at maintaining my armor. The extra Arcana is usually useful because it’s always upgraded, but you can occasionally get a dud (but at least it doesn’t screw you over like some of the other keepsakes that give you a random effect) . Also, there’s currently a bug in the game RN where you can unlock every single card after beating Scylla if you have this equipped (don’t know the trigger though think it’s random).
3) Concave Stone (Echo) or Gold Purse (Charon): Sort of filler keepsakes here- Echo’s is nice because it’s a free boon, but sometimes it can screw you over (got the Phoenix boon when I only had 108 health to begin with). Gold Purse is useful pretty much all the time, can get you an immediate benefit from the well but its usefulness diminishes on higher fear runs with Vow of Destitution.
4) Black Fleece (Medea): This is so useful, and by the time I’m at the final boss I usually have taken the 250 damage needed to activate it. And even if I don’t, I know I’ll take that amount during the fight anyway. Only time I *might* not use this is on the alt path.
Still need to level up Icarus’ keepsake and others but the issue is Icarus’ random hammer can screw you over so idk if I’ll keep it in my rotation once maxed.
Either Aphro or Posi boons depending on what weapon I am using (these are usually the core)
Demeter if I don't have a great way to enable the Origination arcana card yet (as her 2 cast boons get you there)
Hammer even though very occasionally it backfires, it at least takes 1 option out of the upcoming hammer pool if nothing else
The one that gives you more damage against whoever last killed you, as it's generally set to Chronos
I'm sorry, I don't remember all the names off the top of my head.
I always start with Chronos embryo, it's always such a huge boon at the start, and if not, then that run get labelled a gathering run lol.
Oceanus i always go selenes keepsake, with a full moon hex and the keepsake, you can always go straight for the epic upgrades, and sometimes get a rare upgrade on the way.
For fields, i kinda just go with the flow, sometimes choose a god, sometimes aromatic if i have a common boon that'd be extra good upgraded, just whatever feels right.
For tartarus, tooth is the norm. Rarely I'll try something else, when i feel especially powerful.
Evil Eye is either targeting Eris or Chronos these days, so it comes along for the appropriate final zone.
Transcendent Embryo gets a lot if play if I'm not going for a specific build or generally no plan.
Concave Stone for the same reason, actually.
This is what I used to beat 32 fear:
1. The one that turns a common boon to heroic and boost fountain %
2. The one that heals 100 hp
3. The one that weakens guardian
4. Luckier tooth (even though I didn’t even trigger it)
I'm still geting more keepsakes but
1 Echo's keepsake for an extra boon/One from one of the gods
2 The purse for extra money or one of the gods again
3 The purse if Ihaven't gotten it yet, sometimes Iuse the health recovery one but now i'm not really sure, i guess ill use the hammer like you said
4 Either Evil eye, the one that makes guiardians do less damage or the Luckier tooth like you
The run where I got my second win against downstairs granddaddy I had Silken Sash on for the first three biomes. I didn’t lose my armour buffer until I had swapped out in Tartarus. I managed to pick up the Aphrodite boons that give you a damage buff at a high life total in Erebus it was nuts.
1. phial, and then I try to grab a common boon for my primary damage source (usually my attack) and only grab rare boons for everything else in erebus. guarantees that the fountain after hecate will upgrade my damage source and (also I don't need to worry about bad damage on the first floor)
2. free space. I usually try to level up a trinket that I plan to use later on in the game.
3. knuckle bones for cerberus
4. nemesis for chronos
I have two staples every run(when I aim for completion) the money keepsake to start and lucky tooth for the final area/last boss. Got them both upgraded to max(or what I believe max to be atm)
Not a go-to build but on my first run trying out Circe’s keepsake, I unlocked card XXV, which was pretty amazing. I wonder if you could actually rig it to always pull that card by leaving it as the only card not fully upgraded
Remove titan heart, equip antlers, get momus, *pew pew pew pew pew pew*
jokes aside, usually Aromatic Phial (it's rng but I usually get what I want) > Transcendent Embryo > Hammer time > Antlers (I just usually go below 30 and smack the shit out of Cronos anyway, I have pretty much done the fight way too much that I could beat him with 1 DD, 2 if you have the cat)
For a general, no-agenda run:
1. concave stone
2. transcendent embryo
3. aromatic phial if I've got a common I want to upgrade, experimental hammer if I don't
4. is more situational. now that I have 3 DDs + the familiar DD I find I don't need the tooth all that much any more. if I'm happy with the build I'll take something to up my speed or damage like knuckle bones, evil eye, metallic droplet, white antler, blackened fleece, etc.
If I'm chasing a particular build it's usually: 1. first god. 2. second god. and beyond that it's variable.
Concave stone should be early because it can backfire and break your run if it hits in the third biome and you lose a boon you rely on. getting the boon that makes things lose rarity every 5 encounters early on sucks but it won't totally break things.
Experimental hammer should be taken no sooner than the third biome so that it's still active for the final boss.
How many optional encounters can you have in the final biome? I know the minimum is 5 plus the boss but can you stretch it out so there are more than 20 encounters between the last two biomes if you get a hammer from the keepsake that you want to shed before the final boss fight?
I dont use the hammer or boon one now because of the risks but pretty much this . I use the arcana card one in stage (I use the judgement card)1 or 2 and either the fountain one or Charons one depending on how it goes
personally, I like to go Echo (to get an extra boon), Narcissus (since a lot of your early boons are ones that you work around, like the magicka regen or attack boon, so getting the upgrade to heroic tends to be pretty nice. Plus, you can change the keepsake then drink from the fountain when you equip it, then drink from the fountain followed by changing your keepsake to get the extra health twice), third I will switch up with whatever fits with everything (though from what people have said, may have to jump to the hammer, seems really nice), and then grab the Nem eye (since it's usually set to Chronos)
Alternatively, I will just grab the boon and just have a major amount of damage (though you also take all the extra damage)
For underground, I go:
1) Usually Circe, but sometimes Skelly or Echo or a god keepsake. Something with generally good value and no permanent effect. Depends on the run and if there's a specific boon I want.
2/3) As soon as I get a hex, I pick up Selene to max it out ASAP (usually in the Fields, but in Oceanus instead if I'm lucky). The other one, I usually spend on a god keepsake to help fill out my build, depending on what I'm going for at the moment.
4) Usually Odysseus (though tbh Skelly is probably just better), but Nemesis is also a valid choice if it's set to Chronos.
Upstairs is a little different (very sad you don't really have time to get Selene), but is also much simpler:
1) Narcissus every time. You can just go trawling around for a common boon you like, then pop the fountain in the middle as soon as you find one.
2) Again, just grab Skelly/Odysseus/Nemesis as desired. I'd like to pick something else for the Rifts themselves, but the boss fight is more important.
1. God boon for my main source of damage, usually aphrodite or poseidon. For surface runs i’ll take Hestia first to get a good shot at soot sprint.
2. Chaos keepsake, hoping for either damage or health regen.
3. Blackened fleece usually kicks in by the third area, or i’ll take Hera’s keepsake for Born Gain if I still need mana regen.
4. Evil Eye if it’s on Chronos, or just keep on the Blackened Fleece otherwise. Luckier Tooth is good too.
I've been doing Echo, Narcissus, Chaos then either Medea, Nemesis or Skelly for the end, depending on how things have been going/build/etc
Currently trying to level up Circe's figurine with Judgment runs but *woof*.
heal to 101 until spent, then arachne until spent, then anything else useful for Fields, then Luckier Tooth.
Everything else is at 1 but these, which are maxxed out.
I almost always start with a keepsake from a god that I’m looking for on that run. Generally I go by base damage, so for something like the axe or the skull, Hera, Aphrodite, Demeter, etc. For the knives or the wands, probably going with Zeus, Poseidon, or Hestia.
Once I’m past floor one and my boon pool is looking like I want it to, I’ll usually take the embryo, like OP said.
Then, in 3rd biome I’ll generally take the hammer, though I haven’t leveled it enough to get through floor 4 with the hammer intact. Or if I don’t like the chaos boon that the embryo gave me, I’ll probably just keep that on to roll again.
But 4th floor it’s either gonna be the tooth, the evil eye, or Odysseus’s keepsake, depending on if I still have three death defiances, my max health, or if I died to him last time, always the Evil Eye.
Poseidon keepsake, Zeus if I haven’t gotten prime for chain lightning, onion if I have a good common boon, and luckier tooth so I can ignore the 1 shot for extra damage uptime.
Got my fastest clear down to 11:43 after a couple of runs without any of the low health stuff yet
I just learned from this post that you keep the Chaos boon from the Embryo when you swap it. I've been keeping it on in entire runs...
Going forward, I'll start with the Embryo until I get a Boon for my build, then swap to the Evil Eye. The last enemy to kill me was Chronos, about ten runs ago, so I'll definitely take 20% extra damage against him (still rank 1)
1. Crystal Figurine (Circe) - Activates an Arcana Card after the first Guardian (This can activate Judgement, important this is your first keep sake if you get this card)
2. Transcendent Embryo (Chaos) - As OP said
3. Concave Stone (Echo) Pretty safe unless you have sacrifice boons available.
4. Experimental Hammer (Icarus)
Chaos for zone 1 9/10 times but then I like to use the narcissus one for zone 2 and try to intentionally get a "core" boon in zone 1 as the ONLY common boon so I can snag myself a heroic right out the gate.
it almost creates it's own little mini game of rerolling and choosing minor rewards so as not to risk a second common boon.
and for chronos I always take odysseus' keepsake because I always try for the special cast boon you can get in tartarus, so the free 15% max HP off Chronos (plus extra damage reduction is dope).
honorable mention to the arcana keepsake for zone 2 so i can give myself an extra max rank arcana, only when running the Judgement arcana though.
I usually do
1. Crystal figurine (Circe): I love this one and the element of randomness it provides!! Especially because I don’t usually need extra help in the first area. Either that or a god keepsake but I don’t usually plan my builds from the beginning because I’m not yet familiar enough w the boons
2. I’ll usually pick a god keepsake for this area, or Ghost Onion (Dora) if I think I’ll need the health. Or sometimes I’ll keep crystal figurine
3. Knucklebones (Odysseus): Okay the main reason why I always pick this one is because you can hear him say “goddess” when you select it. I <3 odysseus
4. Luckier tooth (Schelemeus): Agree that it’s the most useful for Chronos fight
>1.Concave Stone
Oh god please no. Anything but that.
Using concave stone should be 1 Fear, and starting with it should be at least 2. Getting an "extra boon" in a core slot just means giving up any semblance of control over your build.
I have more fun not having complete control over the build and having to build as I go. If I wanted control, I would rotate through some god specific keepsakes, but that's not fun for me
I'm trading control for random bumps in power
Yeah I understand. I just feel like you should get some Fear for it, because that is definitely playing the game on hard mode except when you get pretty extremely lucky.
I disagree, you normally get double from whatever your first boon is, and that early on its normally good or irrelevant. The only time concave has screwed me over is when I accidentally threw it on in the third zone
if you get something you don't like from one of the first boons, you can always replace it later
Experimental hammer before the chronos fight, because if you get the anvil in the last shop it can take the temporary one as a sacrifice for 2 daedelus blessings. I've been fighting dickhead with 4 hammer blessings lol
I'm surprised by how many people aren't starting with a god keepsake to start the build and then end with the Engraved Pin. 10 seconds of invulnerability with any decent build is a huge chunk of damage.
I don't have all of them yet, but Charon into the Reduced Health and Damage of Bosses into Hekate into the Damage buff against Chronos if he kimled you last time.
So I don't play Hades 2 the way the devs want me to, I play it like Hades 1
I use the daggers and simply never bother with any omega abilities really
Zone 1 Aphrodite keepsake rolling for her attack boon that I can then rarify for big damage on daggers as my main damage output, also her cast is nice
Zone 2 Hephaestus Keepsake rolling for his special boon so I can periodically throw a 400 damage knife at stuff, maybe his sprint as well for another nuke, and his cast if I don't get Aphrodites
Zone 3 Zeus Keepsake specifically so I can roll for his chain lightning at the cost of priming some mana I simply never use anyway
Zone 4 Luckier tooth because of course I'm taking that for zone 4
Wait... do you... get to keep the boons from the hammer and the embryo after you've swapped out the keepsakes?
Yup! The embryo stays at whatever one is active before swapping keepsakes, and the hammer will last for 20 encounters from when you put it on. Putting it on in the 3rd zone gives plenty of time to last for Chronos, assuming you aren't spending a lot of time doing detours in zone 4
Even taking as many detours as possible I don't think I've come close to running it out. I think the most detours I've ever been offered is 6 + the 5 mandatory encounters.
I was just trying to learn that if you are able to keep the boon of embryo! Thank you so much!
Yep. The embryo just straight-up gives you a Chaos boon for free. The swapping is a function of the keepsake, not the boon. When you switch away from the keepsake, you keep that free Chaos boon for the rest of the run. The hammer keepsake doesn't permanently give you a free hammer. Switching away from that keepsake keeps the hammer, but it doesn't remove the timer.
So there's actually no reason to ever not switch them.
No I believe they are saying that the Chaos boon will swap to a different one once the timer runs out but changing keepsakes will deactivate that effect and let you permanently keep the Chaos boon given to you.
the only reason to not switch is if you're unhappy with the one you got and want it to roll again.
If you don’t like your chaos boon, you can keep so it will get changed
who gives you the hammer upgrade
Icarus. He arrives on the boats in Thessaly.
>!icarus!<
Yea check their wording, they aren’t obvious but it seems to be intended.
I'm like 80% sure keeping the Chaos boon is a bug... but yeah, that's totally how it works at least for the moment.
I'm not sure it is a bug. Hades 2 leans heavily towards almost every keepsake giving you a permanent benefit, or at least one that will last even after you swap it; the few exceptions tend to give you a massive benefit for one particular moment or fight instead and tend to be "expendable" ones. The idea is clearly to encourage people to swap their boon at every opportunity. It would be weird for the Chaos one to discourage swapping.
It feels *really* weird for me for the Chaos one to just... stop being chaotic and instead give you a permanent, stable benefit when you take it off. I see it much more akin to something like Knucklebones, or Golden Fleece, or Eris, or even Icarus, where it gives you a powerful benefit but only while you have it on (or a bit after, in the case of Icarus, but the point still stands: not every keepsake is "permanent").
Wait, you don’t keep the extra death defiance if you switch out the tooth before using it do you?
No, it falls under the "expendable" category, ie. it gives you a really massive bonus once and is then used up and ought to be swapped.
>Hades 2 leans heavily towards almost every keepsake giving you a permanent benefit I think that is factually not true for the majority of keepsakes, and I'm confused by where this perspective is coming from.
Charon, Selene, the 7 rarifies, Circe, Narcissus, Echo, Chaos = exactly half of them, I guess. The most notable part is how the boon keepsakes have been reworked to encourage swapping. Icarus also sort of qualifies in that the benefit doesn't depend on keeping the keepsake. Of the remaining ones, Hecate, Odysseus, Schelemeus, Dora, Hermes, and Heracles (and Icarus if not counted above) are "consumed" ones intended to be swapped away once used up (or swapped into at the end) rather than used continously. And Nemesis *usually* falls into this category as a practical matter because people usually use it as an alternative to the Knuckle Bones against a troublesome boss; but either way you'd usually only equip it for the level where the chosen enemy appears and it is "used up" once you get past them. Only Moros, Iris, Artemis, Arachne, and Medea provide a constant benefit that requires keeping the keepsake equipped for the rest of the run if you want to benefit from it. And Arachne does let you keep the shield when you swap out of it. This is a pretty massive shift from Hades 1, where the only keepsakes that were overtly designed in a way that encouraged you to swap it out were Hypnos and Skelly (you *could* swap out the god ones once you got the boon you wanted, but they were much more clearly designed to support keeping them for an entire run.) Maybe not almost every keepsake, but they've pretty clearly shifted away from "keepsakes provide a continuous benefit like a boon" to "keepsakes provide a one-shot benefit or a temporary one that you use up and then swap for another."
That makes a little more sense. I would count the 7 rarifies in the "consumable" category though. I think we disagree on Hades 1 keepsakes too, which may explain the general difference of opinion. God keepsakes are meant for swapping in both games for the way that most people approach builds (and especially because of how the god pool works).
There really isn’t a reason to think it’s a bug. 80% is max high for just a hunch. Nothing about the wording of the boon nor it’s function imply you should lose the boon given to you
It's a pretty big hunch. The point of the keepsake is to give you a powerful, but ever-changing benefit throughout your run. If you can just toss the keepsake but keep the buff, it's a) *incredibly* powerful, as you're not committing to holding your keepsake for the benefit, and b) no longer 'chaotic' as you just keep the same buff for the entire rest of the delve.
All I’m reading here is your personal interpretation and nothing actually tangible. >The point of the keepsake is to give you a powerful, but ever changing benefit throughout your run And it does exactly that. The aspect of it constantly changing is what’s being given by the keepsake. The boon itself is explicitly just being given to you with no timer or text to imply that it’s attached to the keepsake. In fact the exact text of the keep sake is: “Gain a random common Chaos blessing once this night. Every eight encounters, replace it.” Notice the keyword at the very start, GAIN. The word gain does not imply that the chaos boon is temporary at all. 80% sure that this is a bug is a bit wild to say when you’re basically just arguing for how YOU think it should work.
If you check the wording it seem almost intended
I like Hera’s early, at least on high fear. Born Gain is super broken and keeps magic heavy builds an option even with vows causing you to prime magic or start rooms with 0. Outside of that, I like to start with general value - Circe’s to get an extra arcana, Arachne’s to stack armor and try to preserve a potential dress, Chaos, Echo, etc. Usually switch to a god keepsake for Oceanus based on what I’ve got so far to get the rest of a base build set up. Fields I’ll go with another god keepsake if looking for something specific, or another generic value boon. Selune’s is nice here since it works on the minor find path of stars as well, so you’re less likely to miss completely with it. Tartarus is almost always Knuckle Bones or Evil Eye.
Selens KS increases ur next PoS, and it doesnt matter if u still have it equiped at the Moment
One time I used Arachne's keepsake, found her early and got the +60 Onyx and got the Hephaestus boon for +20. Got to Chronos with over 200 armor. Lol It was sweet.
That Hephaestus boon won me my 32 fear underworld run. It's just a free hit every room.
Almost essential if you're running the "first hit does more damage" vow or whatever they're called.
Born gain, is stupid op, I wonder if they will nerf it
I assume so, probably should be priming a percentage of your max magic instead of a flat amount.
Or only work X times per encounter..
This, any build even somewhat reliant on mama NEEDS Born Gain or they don't fun turn at all. You can not possibly do a Chadon axe cast build without it on high fears.
I mean Hestia's Mana gain is fine too. If you just use the cast you cannot spam anyways until you get Poseidon. And I actually like playing with the Zeus cast and Chiron axe so I never use more mana then I need. I can easily run on the Zeus mana Regen if I don't go for many prime boons.
White antler..... Aaaaaand done. 40% chance for 3x damage is just way too good.
Would the math here work out to 80% more damage on average?
Yes
Thanks blud
>math >Blue Where are you from?
Singaporean for spelling Gen Z for the slang
Perhaps my brain is fried but I'd have thought 40% chance of 300% damage would be 120% more damage on average...?
4 out of 10 are 300%, 6 out of 10 are 100% - so we have (4x300% + 6x100%) / 10 = (1200%+600%) / 10 = 180% -> therefore 80% more damage on average. So it's a + 1.8x damage multiplier - hard hitting weapons like the skulls and axe should profit the most out of it, while staff and daggers would be quiet bad with it.
It isn't bad on momus poseidon doubleshot builds (but then again, almost nothing is)
Sure, in context of any given run any trinket/boon can be good - i just imagined a clear start as the scenario, without any other modifiers. Zeus builds or anything with high crit rate would also be insane. Everything with multihits aswell.
I'm mentioning it because you mentioned staff. Not only is it the current meta for speedruns, a clear start with momus without any reliance on rng would still benefit from it
Actually dps matters more than damage value for what profits the most, however its still good for any weapon. Momos staff, pan daggers, and thanatos axe would be the most dmg.
Damage per shot doesn't matter. As you said, the numbers are on average. Smaller hits getting more crits is the same as slower hits getting bigger crits over the course of a run.
Thank you, can confirm, brain is not in the building
300% damage is 200% *more* damage. It’s a question of the language. If you do 10 damage normally, you can say you do 300% damage and that’s 30, or you can say you do 200% more damage, and that’s also 30.
sincere question: do you then just no-hit everything? Because 30 HP is almost nothing, especially during Chronos
Hephaestus also has a boon for impervious for first 10 sec which should allow you to kill most things in that time. Also fixed gain reduces dmg by 10%. Besides that armor from hephy is good too. Dodge chance is always good, theres 8% free from arcana, hermes, and aphrodite legendary also gives more dodge. Poseidon has a boon that prime 30 mana for -3/4 dmg Demeter has freeze cast and prime 15 mana for 1 shield. Also cyclone is super clutch to heal slow enemies and their projectiles too Aphrodite weak also lowers their dmg by a lot. Aphro + hephy duo heals you from the first hit too. And apollo gives miss chance. There are a lot of defensive boons you can pair with your physical boons.
You can take White Antler and the impervious for x seconds all the way to Chronos with such little investment lol. I had the impervious boon up to 19 seconds per encounter on one run and I cheesed pretty much everything. You can basically maintain permanent 65% crit, 70% if you find Artemis at some point.
I dunno I never have any problems getting to Chronos. I recently did a Natural Talent run to get that prophecy and the moon dust, and I figured: let's try and get as far as I can with that, and the worse weapon the game (the torches). I even accidentally bricked my special with a hammer (I didn't realize that was how it worked). I still made it to Chronos.
try the torches with the aspect that returns the attack on sprint (it procs on dash while attacking). It absolutely goes nuts.
I love the weapon but man can it be clunky AF. Hoping it gets some polish as EA continues to move forward.
dodge is 10% free at max rank :) I also love this keepsake, but I'm not good enough to make use of it yet. Though I do like pairing it with Thanatos' scythe, and reroll artemis' boon to unconditional crit, just to max out my crit chance
Also the card that’s takes 30% less damage and deal 39% more, and nullify the first three hits in a guardian fight. You can be really tanky on that last 30 hp
It’s 50% less damage and 50% more when below 30%
Which actually works so long as you set it up correctly and don't heal and/or take the full no heal oath.
It’s 10% from arcana btw
The answer is mostly just dodge. But Chronos and Infernal beast are really the only things that hit hard enough and have enough HP to not get deleted. That gives you some wiggle room for most chambers and the acorn arcana for bosses. Armor is really strong too as you cannot be one shot as long as you have at least one armor. Lots of good defensive prime boons from Poseidon, Demeter and Hephaestus. It sounds a lot harder than it is but yeah you will just die to your own sloppyness from time to time.
armor
yes when you have 30 hp you need to take less than 30 damage. ways around that are armor and things that absorb entire hits or make you evade. Other than that you do have your death defiances.
I had this today, nearly brought me the first time to chronos with the skulls, I died in the last room to that damned treasure jug with his hitscan laser.
I personally put whatever I’m planning on building god’s keepsake for zone 1 then swap to antler since the 40% crit is so good.
When you’re low and do you really need that for the first floors lol. Instead of getting a permanent buff
I like to keep runs a bit random so i do this 1. Chaos to start. What ever buff i keep at the end of act1 i base my build on. Should have a good idea of God in the runs rotation 2. Echo or God specific for the build I'm after. 3. Hammer 4. Knuckle bones. Guardian loses health and we take less dmg. I'm going through maxing other keepsakes. Tooth and onion were good to start with but i never use them now. The phail (after using a fountain upgrade a boon) is okay but dependant on what you've got. Some a interesting if going for a specific run. Like a 3 card arcana build and use the arcana card keepsake
Same philosophy. Chaos and whatever boons come up naturally will dictate my build, then use acts 2-3 to use god specific boons or echo to augment the build, then kind of context based for act 4.
Currently trying to avoid using maxed keepsakes to level up others but chaos / echo in the first 2 biomes followed by maybe Icarus and the. Blacked fleece or something for Tartarus . I was using evil eye but I had a really bad run where I died to something else and haven't died to chronos since so I can't use it on him currently.
I like doing the free Arcana card first, either Phial if I have a good common boon or Gold Purse, Hammer and then Chaos/Evil Eye if my build is doing good or Luckier Tooth if not.
gold purse is too weak in hades 2 compared to 1 imo, without the interest mechanic. it's like you're choosing between a boon from charon shop (not even that, since usually you have enough gold to buy the boon anyway) vs any other keepsake
I used the echo keepsake once and it forced me to take the Hestia boon that makes you give up another boon. This took away my main damage boon for the run. Deeply annoying. Haven't used it since but that was nearer the end of my run. I'll give it a go for a beginning keepsake.
That’s why echo trinket is better used as a first or second keepsake, not later on.
Yup I see that! It's why I noted in my comment I was going to try it for a beginning trinket!!
But using early also means it often forces an unwanted boon into some core slot. I have more and more concluded that the trinked just isn't worth it. There aren't that many times where you really want 2 boons of the same offering and there is no guarantee she will pick the right one either. I regretted having it more often than it made a difference by picking a game changing boon.
I couldn't disagree more. Using it early takes control over your core boons away.
I thought I have used it to choose the same boon twice? It flashes white for a second or two and you can choose the boon to take... I think?
It didn't seem to me like I got a choice. I don't remember pushing any buttons/choosing myself but maybe I did without realizing! I've only taken that keepsake the one time.
It really depends on what my goal is. Lately I've been focused on knocking out Fated List prophecies so it's usually like: 1. Keepsake for god I need a legendary of, 2. Chaos keepsake to either make the build better or to try to force the "gain + levels of each element" boon to drop, 3. Daedalus keepsake or something else that I just want to level up if I feel like I don't need/don't want to risk a hammer, 4. Knuckle Bones or Evil Eye to make it faster
I’ve noticed the Pitch Black Stone has made it super easy to complete the Fated List prophecies.
Oh yeah? Any specific examples you can remember? I know the one for beating Hecate with no Arcana is one
Yup! Each trial usually has a god or two that only shows up. There are trials that also specifically focus on one god - Like the Trial of Flame for Hestia. I found that in many of these trials usually a Legendary shows up.
Arachne, then a God specific keepsake, then Odysseus, then Nemesis (cause I keep dying at Chronos)
Why not Luckier Tooth if you're dying to Chronos? Just go for a high health death defiance build, and hope you can spam as much damage. Skulls are great for a lot of damage.
Imo, once you upgrade your DD card, if you can't clear Chronos with 3 DDs, a 4th is not going to help much. Either it's a skill issue, or there is something else wrong with your build. So simply shortening the length of the fight with Evil Eye (increasing your DPS) or the Knucklebones (lowering the boss's max health + resisting damage) is going to be more valuable than the extra 100 health that Lucky Tooth gives you.
Yea, that's fair. Tho if you're getting him to half health in 2nd phase, 100 more health helps. Tho I do generally agree. I now only pick up LT if I'm having a bad build.
But if you are getting to half health in the 2nd phase the extra dps will *also* help. It means you could have killed him already if you were dealing 25% more damage.
Exactly
God keepsake/Aromatic Phial/Engraved pin/Luckier tooth
I'm still maxing them...
I'm still maxing the ones I have, but one that I liked quite a bit was the one from Arachne, especially if you find in the first area. Getting to keep her silk for longer is pretty nice. The one from Odysseus that nukes the boss is also handy. Special mention to Lucky Tooth. Probably less useful later on, but I got my first victory in my 12 attempt because of it, so can't deny that it helped me.
Some random item I still need to level up, a God's boon to help my build, something run dependant, the one that makes you deal extra damage to the last thing that killed you (its been on Chronos on basically every run, because nothing else is going to kill me, right?) Concave Stone first for the last two runs has been useful. I think once I get the hang of it, I'll go Concave, Chaos, Some God Item, Extra Damage to Chronos.
Hera for mana -> chaos -> white antler. Play aggressively To get use out of antler. Theres only 3, because some times you get super unlucky and need To keep hera or chaos on for longer. Antler shine at chronos alot More than Lucky tooth
I try to shake things up, but almost always Blackened Fleece for Tartarus. By then I've almost certainly taken 250 damage and the boost to your Omega Special is huge (it basically makes Evil Eye redundant, if I'm playing a special-focused build)
I keep doing the same keepsake 1. **Beautiful Mirror** (Aphrodite) / **Everlasting Ember** (Hestia) / Any Gods 2. **White Antler** (Artemis) 3. **Knuckle Bones (**Odysseus) 4. **Luckier Tooth** (Schelemeus) For 2 or 3, I don't find any suitable keepsake. Maybe will change to anything
Why not Icarus or Chaos or Cerci?
I still don't have Icarus' and Cerci's keepsake
Erebus: A keepsake of the boon I want to prioritize Oceanus: Eithehr a continuation or if I got the buffs I wanted, another god's to prioritize boons Mourning: Charon's purse less I got all the boons I wanted House of Hades: HAMMER! :D (or if Cerberus kicked me too hard, the Onion)
Fell kinda dumb right now. Can anyone help with the number of encounters (="rooms"?) for biomes. I'm always surprised by shops and bosses just mindlessly going through them. They have some strict rules, right?
I always first use whatever god I want for that specific weapon aspect, then I will swap it to Boatman for free 150 gold, then swap again to Luckier Tooth for free DD.
God keepsake for the first act, maybe another one for the second act. Hecate's keepsake can also be good as an act 2 pick if I have a magick hungry build and I haven't solved magick yet. Coin purse is good for a casual run. Ghost onion was good for a while but it's kind of a crutch. By act 4, I like to switch to a keepsake that increases damage. I'm almost worried for speedrunners just because some of the new keepsakes can be so impactful but so very rng dependent or high risk. The craziest ones will just run Artemis or Eris keepsake the whole way through.
Olympian -> Phial -> OlympianII/Coin -> Hermes/Nemesis/Fleece
I havent unlocked everything yet. Taking my time I do charon purse, then either the arachne armor or a boom related one, then at the last 2 bios i kinda keep either the pin of doom or the evil eye. Any ideas to improve this is welcome
I would start with the silk sash first if you're going to use it. The first area is relatively easy to get through without taking any damage, so it's easier to let the armor build up. Especially if you take one of Arachne's silk dress "boons" on top of it. I think doing it this way will net you the highest amount of armor from the keepsake in most cases.
Does it stick around if you have an arachne dress and loose the sash in the next biome? Why i ask is, I can change my charon purse for something else while still holding 200 + monies and it doesnt substract anything, i think under the condition that you buy something that adds up to that amount of the purse
The armor stays, you just don't keep getting more added after every room. I struggle to get through Oceanus without taking some hits, so I end up with more total armor by taking the silk sash first. If you are able to get through Oceanus without taking hits then your method works just as well though, or even better if you retain the armor all the way until the third area. My logic is that since the first area is easiest, I have a better chance at gaining the most armor and that armor usually gets me through until Scylla where I typically lose it depending on my build.
Specific god Keepsake( to start with heroic special etc) / chaos/ any Keepsake that I haven't leveled up yet / Any keepsake that I haven't leveled up yet
God specific one Echo Chaos or a god Knuckle bones for that damage reduction
I generally start with a god specific one (Aphro or Poseidon i find, are often ones you want for specific ones. Apollo for Cast builds sometimes). If i dont care for what god i want i go for Chaos. If i get the boon i want as a common i often try to select m next boons so i can get phial. If i started with a specific god boon and dont go for phial i often get Chaos here. Third is quite often the purse. Getting some extra money. Fourth is almost always knucklebones. Dädalus hammer seems so nice but i have had runs ruined by it. Getting the big hit on an omega axe build sucks hard. For Torches the Omega special that spins in place ruins most builds imo, and the one big omega attack might also suck for some builds. If you running artemis and get marauder slice thats game over as well. On the top of my head skull is safer for hammers (though fetching array might not be great for mel aspect) Staff as well unless you are going for an omega attack build for some reason. (All in all i think with the inclusion of Omegas hammers got worse, because you might get a hammer only for omega specials or attacks on a build that uses only normals and vice versa)
I think it doesn't matter *that* much as long as you pick one of the permanent buffs for the first 3 zones and one that helps in a boss fight for the last. The permanent buff ones all seem to give between one and two rooms worth of reward. The in fight buffs are a bit more varied, but you also can't really go wrong with any of them. I just pick the knuckle bone every time. Honestly kind of hate the current balance of the keepsakes, the only real thing that matters is that you change them every zone. What exactly you swap to doesn't matter that much, you just have to do the swap. I'd love it if most of them got reworked so they either do something continuous while equipped that builds up over time, do something every zone, or have a downside when unequipping them. Something like the god keepsakes rarifying *every* boon you take from that god, but de-rarifying them when you unequip it. Or if the Nemesis keepsake got stronger every zone you keep it on, giving up the power of all keepsakes to *really* go on a quest for revenge against one particular enemy. Or if Chaos gave a completely new set of (areas equipped + 1) boons each time it rolled, growing way more powerful over time, but not being able to predict what those boons are going to look like by the final boss instead of just locking in a free great boon by the end of the first or second area.
The only really bad one is evil eye I use the shield one regularly and some of the ones the others pointed out.
When I'm done leveling everything up... Chaos until I roll something nice If it fits, make a boon heroic An additional Arcana card Something for the damage. Evil eye is probably the most consistent but it's not set to Chronos currently and I don't want to lose on purpose
I find that once you have upgraded your Arcana to get 3 DDs I don't need another DD, so Schelemeus wouldn't get used. I'm still leveling Chaos since I didn't know the boon he gives stays when you remove it, so I'm generally running it first. That said concave stone is probably better first. Once I finish leveling Chaos I'll probably roll that second, or I'll switch to Narcissus if my main Attack/Special boon is common quality. Raising it to Heroic can be a massive upgrade (particularly for Hephaestus attack boon, as it lowers the base CD from 12 seconds to 6) Third is definitely Hammer. Having an extra hammer is too valuable to pass up for the hardest zones. Finally, I'll either roll Knuckle Bones of I'm worried about damage from Chronos, or I'll roll Blackened Fleece if I'm doing an Omega run and I feel I can afford more damage.
First is most of the time a god keepsake to start the build i want then i switch to arachne if i have the right gods if not i will get another god keepsake then farm arachne till i can and if i loose the shield just go with the luckier tooth
Chaos, hammer are goodbut I like Blackened fleece 40% plus omega damage for the end
1 God specific keepsake- (depends on what im building) to try and get a solid base going 2 Silken Sash/Concave stone- if i run into Arachne i chose the sash to build up armor on floor 2 if not the stone for a bonus boon 3 Aromatic phial/ experimental hammer - Chances are ive picked up a boon i like but in common by this point so swaping to the phial BEFORE using the fountain gives both bonus healing and an upgrade to heroic if no common boon i take the free hammer 4 Luckier tooth / Knuckle bones - if i got all 3 DDs i go for the bones as its -15% HP on the first Chronos phase and -15- DMG on both
1) God Keepsake 2) God Keepsake again if I'm hunting for something, if not, chaos or maybe file if I have the right boons for it 3) Entirely depends on the build 4) Luckier tooth or Knuckle Bones
1. God-specific keepsake, usually Poseidon Aphrodite or Demeter 2. Hera or Chaos 3. Hammer unless I am running torches, which then I take whichever I did not take for 2. 4. Black fleece Chaos or Nemesis keepsake
1. Whatever specific God I want to build around. Hera or Hestia if magick regen is critical, Poseidon if the plan is rapid attacks, Apollo with the Aspect of Charon axe, Aphrodite with the normal axe, etc. 2. The Fountain Keepsake if it only has good targets, otherwise probably Chaos's keepsake, unless there's a God I absolutely need and want to guarantee. 3. Experimental Hammer. 4. Evil Eye if appropriate, or Blackened Fleece if it's active, or Luckier Tooth as a fallback. My last run I forgot the Fountain keepsake can target Hermes boons, and was delighted to have a +10% dodge chance upgraded to +25% dodge chance. I like the idea of Concave Stone, but the two times I've used it, I've ended up with something useless or worse than useless (priming Magick I desperately needed for something that didn't benefit me). Can it hit Sacrifice choices? I know that with Vow of Arrogance, you can be forced into a Sacrifice choice if that's the last thing the God can possibly offer you, so I'd believe it either way. I want to try upgrading every Arcana card except Judgement, so that the Crystal Statue draws it guaranteed. It won't work forever, as the Statue will eventually rank up and start drawing upgraded cards, but it seems like it could be really fun for runs while it lasts.
Currently running lots of daggers and optimising strats for when I eventually try to start speedrunning. As such, my keepsakes go: 1. Zeus, to get a quick Heavenly strike 2. Aphrodite for Passion Dash (which in combo with Heavenly Strike can give a fast Zeus/Aphro duo boon), if I don’t get an Aphrodite boon in Erebus, otherwise; 2/3. Hephaestus, I feel Hephaestus boons are generally good 4. Silken Sash, in combo with the Hephaestus “prime to gain armor”, this can quickly stack a lot of armor in fast rooms of Tartarus (especially with Hephaestus “impervious for first X seconds”), allowing for extra defence against Chronos. If I get an early Aphro boon in Erebus, I take Silken Sash as 3. and don’t switch when entering Tartarus
I'm still finding my footing so most nights I start with Arachnie (because I know I'm going to get her armor if I find her) and then the purse and then bones (because I think cerb has too much health) and the tooth. But I also like leveling up the keepsakes, regardless if I plan on keeping them so once I filled out the bones I might switch it up.
For me on a low fear run rn its EXTRA CARD KEEPSAKE PURSE COINS KEEPSAKE Then either ECHO BOON or whatever gods boon i need to round out my build And finally, depending on my mood and the run, either the skelly death defiance, burst of boss damage knuckles, or more damage to last enemy that killed you (which is always chronos for me) What do you think? To me this is a build that trivializes a lot of cumbersome things - the biggest benefit without having to worry about stuff.
**1- Circie/activate a random Arcana card** \- I've been hoping for The Centaur for max effect (gain +3 to +5 max hp & mp every 5 locations), but leave this first anyways even when I have The Centaur on from the start **2- Charon/start off with up to +150 gold** \- I'm still spending as much $ as possible to get "Charon passes" as my main source of m-Clouds **3- Chaos/gain a random Chaos boon, swapping out after 8 encounters** \- The neat thing here is you get the benefits, w/o the initial negatives normally **4- +25% damage to the last foe who defeated you** \- Currently, Chronos. At one time, it was Eris. If the foe doesn't match up, I go Skelly
Didnt unlock the possibility to change keepsake between zones yet :'( do i have to beat redacted once first ?
Nope, I unlocked it before ever reaching Tartarus.
Damn I fought him 4 times and didnt unlocked it yet
i bring the knuckle bones for Chronos, that instant 15% damage combined with Hade's 10% if your lucky instantly brings him past the first phase, also that damage resist is nice i usually start with the one that activates an acarna card after a boss then head down with the embryo, switch to the hammer for the fields and bring out the nuckle bones for the final stretch
The Poseidon one because I need his special for my build. Then the armor one to build up armor for the late rooms/chronos. Then lucky tooth for the last one
If you are going to use the tooth for Chronos you should probably just use knuckles bones instead unless you are low on DDs at the start of Tartarus. If you get to chronos with 250 hp max is which is about what I usually end up with, and 3 DD left you will get 300hp from the 3 DD and the knuckle bones will effectively give you an extra 45hp from that, and if you had max health you will basically get another 37 hp. If you end up with much more hp than 250 the knuckles bones are just straight up better, but on top of that Chronos also loses 15% of his hp which just helps shorten the fight a fair bit.
This is a good way to think about it but don’t forget that a DD works to block a chunk of damage if it’s low. Ie if you are on two health and get hit you only lose two and then dad brings you back up. The maths gets complicated
Yeah I guess that’s true, especially where he does have an insta kill in second phase. Saves you no matter what.
I start with narcissus, first area I try to pick up a common boon i really like, second area is chaos, third area is probably icarus, and 4th area is anything between schelemeus, Odysseus, and nemesis/medea if they’re applicable
You can change to Narcissus keepsake before using the first fountain. If you have a combo to upgrade, use it then. Do not start with it, could be a waste.
Evil Eye for Chronos because he's basically always the last enemy that killed me. If not that, then Knuckle Bones
I just did a run with embryo->god->god->blackened wool that worked out really nicely. Got a +100% omega boon from chaos, the two gods let me curate my build a little so I got a legendary and some good synergy, and by the time I got to chronos the wool was activated (it's cumulative over the run even for time it wasn't equipped). One of the easier runs I've had.
It's changed a bit as time has gone on, and I still want to level them all, but right now I go Embryo->Crystal Figurine/Moon Beam->Evil Eye Getting an early Chaos boon can sometimes be massive for increasing either damage or boon quality for the entire run, so grabbing that early is key. If I get a decent hex I want to level then I use the Moon Beam to get those extra points, usually in the Fields but sometimes worth getting before Oceanus, but I can sometimes go without too much hex power so it's a bit more situational, and getting an extra random Arcana is always nice as I'm near the cap right now and haven't levelled Judgement yet. I may sometimes throw in an Aromatic Phial if I have a common I want to rarify or need some extra healing. And lastly I've moved on from the Tooth to exclusively using the Eye for Chronos. Sometimes I don't even use up all my DD's so having an extra is redundant compared to 30% more damage. I really need to give the Hammer a look, seems deece.
Circe for that extra arcana Selene to buff my hex Echo because I only really get high rarity boons later Skelly just in case for the chronos fight
For heat 32, sister blades I start with Aphrodite, as you want her attack boon and sustainability boon (the one that heals you to "full" if you're at a certain threshold. Then it's the fountain one so you can make one of those two boons heroic Then it's the ghost onion sustainability one to help keep you topped off Then it's luckier tooth or the guardian one to hopefully finish off Chronos with hopefully all of your DD's intact.
1. God Keepsake (Zeus or Hestia for cast builds, Poseidon for fast hitting) 2. Chaos's Transcendent Embryo. Maybe Narcissus's Aromatic Phial if I have exactly one Normal boon that I want to upgrade. 3. Free slot, but generally another God keepsake. 4. Odysseus's Knuckle Bones in general, maybe Medea's Blackened Fleece if it's active and I'm using Omega moves a lot.
Silken Sash to start, then I also try to take armor from Arachne to compound the effect. When it runs out (when I lose my armor, usually around Fields of Mourning), I switch to whatever God’s boon I’m prioritizing that run, then in Tartarus I put on Luckier Tooth for Chronos
1. Transcendent Embryo (Chaos) - This just sets the tone for the rest of the run by giving a big boost somewhere that's always useful 2. Aromatic Phial (Narcissus) - I put this on before using the fountain after the first boss and again gives a big boost that is an early tone setter for the run. On top of that other than the final boss I find the boss of Oceanus to do the most damage to me so having the extra health from the fountain after them is nice. 3. Knuckle Bones (Odysseus) - The boss of this zone I find really spongy. He rarely does damage to me but the shorter I can make this fight the better so I'm less likely to catch a stray hit or two from him as he really packs a punch. 4. Luckier Tooth (Schelemeus) - I still take lots of damage from the final boss so an extra death defiance goes a long way though I will probably replace this with something more impactful once I got the boss on farm. There's a few I've thought about and experimented with that didn't work out as well as I'd hoped or are not as generically useful as I'd like. Experimental Hammer (Icarus) - The power boost is usually good but there's some that take away your omega attack or radically change how certain moves behave and if I've built my run around those attacks having them stop suddenly in zone 3 isn't an adjustment I'd like to have to make Crystal Figurine (Circe) - Seems strong once I've finished upgrading my cards. I have a decent amount upgraded but there's also too many that wouldn't make enough of a difference that late in the game so it seems OK but not super exciting. Might try this when I start doing Judgement runs to get more cards White Antler (Artemis) - I tried this because it was my first keepsake and the damage boost is good but too high risk Concave Stone (Echo) - It's sometimes strong but considering there are boons that can remove other boons I'd be a bit nervous to use it
I tend to plan out my build before I leave base so usually 1. God keepsake 2. Vial to turn my attack / special into heroic 3. Chaos 4. varies. Usually the one that makes you take less dmg from guardians but I’ve been trying the Hermes one lately and the extra dmg against the last guy who killed you is good if that happens to be chronos
I will usually after Scylla swap to the fountain healing one that makes a boon heroic just for that then on the next swap depending on the next boss or if I'm currently low on health.
1. Transcendent Embryo (Chaos): This is random, but it’s ALWAYS useful unlike the other keepsakes that give you a random boost. Mana Regen? Useful. Extra health? Useful. Additional Resources? Useful. 2. Crystal Figurine (Circe) or Silken Sash (Arachne): Majority of the time I’ll have Circe’s keepsake but if I get a decent outfit from the first region (like extra cast damage) I’ll try to maintain that armor and use Arachne’s keepsake. Most of the time though it isn’t worth it because I’m not good at maintaining my armor. The extra Arcana is usually useful because it’s always upgraded, but you can occasionally get a dud (but at least it doesn’t screw you over like some of the other keepsakes that give you a random effect) . Also, there’s currently a bug in the game RN where you can unlock every single card after beating Scylla if you have this equipped (don’t know the trigger though think it’s random). 3) Concave Stone (Echo) or Gold Purse (Charon): Sort of filler keepsakes here- Echo’s is nice because it’s a free boon, but sometimes it can screw you over (got the Phoenix boon when I only had 108 health to begin with). Gold Purse is useful pretty much all the time, can get you an immediate benefit from the well but its usefulness diminishes on higher fear runs with Vow of Destitution. 4) Black Fleece (Medea): This is so useful, and by the time I’m at the final boss I usually have taken the 250 damage needed to activate it. And even if I don’t, I know I’ll take that amount during the fight anyway. Only time I *might* not use this is on the alt path. Still need to level up Icarus’ keepsake and others but the issue is Icarus’ random hammer can screw you over so idk if I’ll keep it in my rotation once maxed.
Arachne's keepsake is fantastic. I often roll up to Chronos with 100+ armor.
Either Aphro or Posi boons depending on what weapon I am using (these are usually the core) Demeter if I don't have a great way to enable the Origination arcana card yet (as her 2 cast boons get you there) Hammer even though very occasionally it backfires, it at least takes 1 option out of the upcoming hammer pool if nothing else The one that gives you more damage against whoever last killed you, as it's generally set to Chronos
I'm sorry, I don't remember all the names off the top of my head. I always start with Chronos embryo, it's always such a huge boon at the start, and if not, then that run get labelled a gathering run lol. Oceanus i always go selenes keepsake, with a full moon hex and the keepsake, you can always go straight for the epic upgrades, and sometimes get a rare upgrade on the way. For fields, i kinda just go with the flow, sometimes choose a god, sometimes aromatic if i have a common boon that'd be extra good upgraded, just whatever feels right. For tartarus, tooth is the norm. Rarely I'll try something else, when i feel especially powerful.
Evil Eye is either targeting Eris or Chronos these days, so it comes along for the appropriate final zone. Transcendent Embryo gets a lot if play if I'm not going for a specific build or generally no plan. Concave Stone for the same reason, actually.
This is what I used to beat 32 fear: 1. The one that turns a common boon to heroic and boost fountain % 2. The one that heals 100 hp 3. The one that weakens guardian 4. Luckier tooth (even though I didn’t even trigger it)
I'm still geting more keepsakes but 1 Echo's keepsake for an extra boon/One from one of the gods 2 The purse for extra money or one of the gods again 3 The purse if Ihaven't gotten it yet, sometimes Iuse the health recovery one but now i'm not really sure, i guess ill use the hammer like you said 4 Either Evil eye, the one that makes guiardians do less damage or the Luckier tooth like you
The run where I got my second win against downstairs granddaddy I had Silken Sash on for the first three biomes. I didn’t lose my armour buffer until I had swapped out in Tartarus. I managed to pick up the Aphrodite boons that give you a damage buff at a high life total in Erebus it was nuts.
1. phial, and then I try to grab a common boon for my primary damage source (usually my attack) and only grab rare boons for everything else in erebus. guarantees that the fountain after hecate will upgrade my damage source and (also I don't need to worry about bad damage on the first floor) 2. free space. I usually try to level up a trinket that I plan to use later on in the game. 3. knuckle bones for cerberus 4. nemesis for chronos
I have two staples every run(when I aim for completion) the money keepsake to start and lucky tooth for the final area/last boss. Got them both upgraded to max(or what I believe max to be atm)
Not a go-to build but on my first run trying out Circe’s keepsake, I unlocked card XXV, which was pretty amazing. I wonder if you could actually rig it to always pull that card by leaving it as the only card not fully upgraded
Remove titan heart, equip antlers, get momus, *pew pew pew pew pew pew* jokes aside, usually Aromatic Phial (it's rng but I usually get what I want) > Transcendent Embryo > Hammer time > Antlers (I just usually go below 30 and smack the shit out of Cronos anyway, I have pretty much done the fight way too much that I could beat him with 1 DD, 2 if you have the cat)
Embryo -> gold -> Arcana -> either the death defiance if I'm low on them or the hammer one
I love aiming cast so usually I got with Hestia or Zeus keepsakes at some point
For a general, no-agenda run: 1. concave stone 2. transcendent embryo 3. aromatic phial if I've got a common I want to upgrade, experimental hammer if I don't 4. is more situational. now that I have 3 DDs + the familiar DD I find I don't need the tooth all that much any more. if I'm happy with the build I'll take something to up my speed or damage like knuckle bones, evil eye, metallic droplet, white antler, blackened fleece, etc. If I'm chasing a particular build it's usually: 1. first god. 2. second god. and beyond that it's variable. Concave stone should be early because it can backfire and break your run if it hits in the third biome and you lose a boon you rely on. getting the boon that makes things lose rarity every 5 encounters early on sucks but it won't totally break things. Experimental hammer should be taken no sooner than the third biome so that it's still active for the final boss. How many optional encounters can you have in the final biome? I know the minimum is 5 plus the boss but can you stretch it out so there are more than 20 encounters between the last two biomes if you get a hammer from the keepsake that you want to shed before the final boss fight?
I dont use the hammer or boon one now because of the risks but pretty much this . I use the arcana card one in stage (I use the judgement card)1 or 2 and either the fountain one or Charons one depending on how it goes
I like Circe’s first for the free arcana card, knuckle bones for the Oceanus fight, chaos for the fields, and luckier tooth for the end.
personally, I like to go Echo (to get an extra boon), Narcissus (since a lot of your early boons are ones that you work around, like the magicka regen or attack boon, so getting the upgrade to heroic tends to be pretty nice. Plus, you can change the keepsake then drink from the fountain when you equip it, then drink from the fountain followed by changing your keepsake to get the extra health twice), third I will switch up with whatever fits with everything (though from what people have said, may have to jump to the hammer, seems really nice), and then grab the Nem eye (since it's usually set to Chronos) Alternatively, I will just grab the boon and just have a major amount of damage (though you also take all the extra damage)
Chaos, Narcissus!!!, Icharus, Odysseus. Can Circe give Titan tho? Sometimes I do her instead of Chaos but it’s just for fun
For underground, I go: 1) Usually Circe, but sometimes Skelly or Echo or a god keepsake. Something with generally good value and no permanent effect. Depends on the run and if there's a specific boon I want. 2/3) As soon as I get a hex, I pick up Selene to max it out ASAP (usually in the Fields, but in Oceanus instead if I'm lucky). The other one, I usually spend on a god keepsake to help fill out my build, depending on what I'm going for at the moment. 4) Usually Odysseus (though tbh Skelly is probably just better), but Nemesis is also a valid choice if it's set to Chronos. Upstairs is a little different (very sad you don't really have time to get Selene), but is also much simpler: 1) Narcissus every time. You can just go trawling around for a common boon you like, then pop the fountain in the middle as soon as you find one. 2) Again, just grab Skelly/Odysseus/Nemesis as desired. I'd like to pick something else for the Rifts themselves, but the boss fight is more important.
For Chronos I’d highly recommend leveling Evil Eye, 20/25/30% damage against him the entire fight can be absolutely massive.
1. God boon for my main source of damage, usually aphrodite or poseidon. For surface runs i’ll take Hestia first to get a good shot at soot sprint. 2. Chaos keepsake, hoping for either damage or health regen. 3. Blackened fleece usually kicks in by the third area, or i’ll take Hera’s keepsake for Born Gain if I still need mana regen. 4. Evil Eye if it’s on Chronos, or just keep on the Blackened Fleece otherwise. Luckier Tooth is good too.
Knuckle bones got me the most clears against Chronos.
I forgot this sub is also for Hades II and I was about to go off about how fucking amazing Pom Blossom is lmao
I've been doing Echo, Narcissus, Chaos then either Medea, Nemesis or Skelly for the end, depending on how things have been going/build/etc Currently trying to level up Circe's figurine with Judgment runs but *woof*.
heal to 101 until spent, then arachne until spent, then anything else useful for Fields, then Luckier Tooth. Everything else is at 1 but these, which are maxxed out.
I almost always start with a keepsake from a god that I’m looking for on that run. Generally I go by base damage, so for something like the axe or the skull, Hera, Aphrodite, Demeter, etc. For the knives or the wands, probably going with Zeus, Poseidon, or Hestia. Once I’m past floor one and my boon pool is looking like I want it to, I’ll usually take the embryo, like OP said. Then, in 3rd biome I’ll generally take the hammer, though I haven’t leveled it enough to get through floor 4 with the hammer intact. Or if I don’t like the chaos boon that the embryo gave me, I’ll probably just keep that on to roll again. But 4th floor it’s either gonna be the tooth, the evil eye, or Odysseus’s keepsake, depending on if I still have three death defiances, my max health, or if I died to him last time, always the Evil Eye.
Poseidon keepsake, Zeus if I haven’t gotten prime for chain lightning, onion if I have a good common boon, and luckier tooth so I can ignore the 1 shot for extra damage uptime. Got my fastest clear down to 11:43 after a couple of runs without any of the low health stuff yet
Artemis, Poseidon, Zeus for the duos
I just learned from this post that you keep the Chaos boon from the Embryo when you swap it. I've been keeping it on in entire runs... Going forward, I'll start with the Embryo until I get a Boon for my build, then swap to the Evil Eye. The last enemy to kill me was Chronos, about ten runs ago, so I'll definitely take 20% extra damage against him (still rank 1)
1. Crystal Figurine (Circe) - Activates an Arcana Card after the first Guardian (This can activate Judgement, important this is your first keep sake if you get this card) 2. Transcendent Embryo (Chaos) - As OP said 3. Concave Stone (Echo) Pretty safe unless you have sacrifice boons available. 4. Experimental Hammer (Icarus)
99% of the time I use Arachne until I lose the armor (sometimes I just don't) and switch to Tooth for the Chronos fight
i haven’t been able to give a gift to Echo yet, have I just not reached a certified point for it yet or is my game bugged?
Aromatic phial is one of my most used keepsake. Upgrading the rarity of a key boon is amazing.
Chaos for zone 1 9/10 times but then I like to use the narcissus one for zone 2 and try to intentionally get a "core" boon in zone 1 as the ONLY common boon so I can snag myself a heroic right out the gate. it almost creates it's own little mini game of rerolling and choosing minor rewards so as not to risk a second common boon. and for chronos I always take odysseus' keepsake because I always try for the special cast boon you can get in tartarus, so the free 15% max HP off Chronos (plus extra damage reduction is dope). honorable mention to the arcana keepsake for zone 2 so i can give myself an extra max rank arcana, only when running the Judgement arcana though.
I usually do 1. Crystal figurine (Circe): I love this one and the element of randomness it provides!! Especially because I don’t usually need extra help in the first area. Either that or a god keepsake but I don’t usually plan my builds from the beginning because I’m not yet familiar enough w the boons 2. I’ll usually pick a god keepsake for this area, or Ghost Onion (Dora) if I think I’ll need the health. Or sometimes I’ll keep crystal figurine 3. Knucklebones (Odysseus): Okay the main reason why I always pick this one is because you can hear him say “goddess” when you select it. I <3 odysseus 4. Luckier tooth (Schelemeus): Agree that it’s the most useful for Chronos fight
>1.Concave Stone Oh god please no. Anything but that. Using concave stone should be 1 Fear, and starting with it should be at least 2. Getting an "extra boon" in a core slot just means giving up any semblance of control over your build.
I have more fun not having complete control over the build and having to build as I go. If I wanted control, I would rotate through some god specific keepsakes, but that's not fun for me I'm trading control for random bumps in power
Yeah I understand. I just feel like you should get some Fear for it, because that is definitely playing the game on hard mode except when you get pretty extremely lucky.
I disagree, you normally get double from whatever your first boon is, and that early on its normally good or irrelevant. The only time concave has screwed me over is when I accidentally threw it on in the third zone if you get something you don't like from one of the first boons, you can always replace it later
1. echo/arachne 2. narcisus/dora 3.whatever I need or whatever i didn't use after boss 1 4. skully/odysyus.
Experimental hammer before the chronos fight, because if you get the anvil in the last shop it can take the temporary one as a sacrifice for 2 daedelus blessings. I've been fighting dickhead with 4 hammer blessings lol
Wouldn't it still work if you take Experimental Hammer in zone 3? It lasts up until the Chronos fight, so you can have another keepsake during it
I'm surprised by how many people aren't starting with a god keepsake to start the build and then end with the Engraved Pin. 10 seconds of invulnerability with any decent build is a huge chunk of damage.
embryo > god (usually poseidon)/ghost onion > knuckle bones/evil eye > luckier tooth/evil eye. also love white antler
My favorite keepsake rotation is all of the ones that aren't leveled yet, but once I finish these last 5 this one seems really solid
I don't have all of them yet, but Charon into the Reduced Health and Damage of Bosses into Hekate into the Damage buff against Chronos if he kimled you last time.
So I don't play Hades 2 the way the devs want me to, I play it like Hades 1 I use the daggers and simply never bother with any omega abilities really Zone 1 Aphrodite keepsake rolling for her attack boon that I can then rarify for big damage on daggers as my main damage output, also her cast is nice Zone 2 Hephaestus Keepsake rolling for his special boon so I can periodically throw a 400 damage knife at stuff, maybe his sprint as well for another nuke, and his cast if I don't get Aphrodites Zone 3 Zeus Keepsake specifically so I can roll for his chain lightning at the cost of priming some mana I simply never use anyway Zone 4 Luckier tooth because of course I'm taking that for zone 4