Introduction
In this article, we will be taking a look atHades 2, the follow-up to Supergiant’s successful rogue-like game. Much akin to the first game, you will have access to a myriad ofboonsfrom the pantheon of gods on Olympus and beyond and can be spoiled for choice. Today, we will examine somecombinations of boons and buffsthat will help you bring out your full potential in your task of taking down theTitan of Time, Chronos.
This build is an“early game”build that we can easily put together during the early runs of the game, where we haven’t unlocked everything yet. We will be using the second weapon available to Melinoe,Lim and Oros, The Sister Blades. With this build, we will attempt to maximize the damage we deal by taking full advantage of the weapon’s fast attack speed and focusing our choices on theboons from the Goddess of Loveherself.
InHades 2, we can meditate at theAltar of Ashesat the beginning of each night before heading out to increase our strength and upgrade ourselves, but the amount ofArcanathat we can use is limited by the amount ofGraspavailable, which can be upgraded using the“Psyche”resource.
For this specific build, which is aimed at early runs and bringing out the best offensive capability early on, we will focus on earlyArcana cardsavailable to us to make the most out of the tools we have.
The firstArcanaavailable to us and that we will use for this build is theSorceress.
This card costs one Grasp to equip and increases the charge speed of the omega versions of our attacking moves.
Next, we will use theWayward SonArcana, another card costing one Grasp, which allows us to recover health points after each encounter. At the base level, it enables us to regain 3 HP.
This card helps with sustain on our runs and is one of the more valuable Arcana to use.
TheHuntresscard requires 2 Grasps to use and increases the damage of our attack and special when our Magick is not at full capacity.
Since we will be using our charged omega attacks that consume this resource often, we will benefit greatly from having this card equipped.
TheEternityArcana card is the fourth one we will use with this build and requires 3 Grasps to activate.
Having this card slows down enemies for a short duration whenever we charge our omega attacks. Although this doesn’t add to our damage directly, the slowdown really helps us take our bearings in the heat of battle when many enemies and projectiles are on screen.
The next Arcana card we will use isNight.
This card costs 2 Grasps to use and gives us additional critical chance whenever we use our charged omega attacks in succession, chaining into a combo. As we can easily chain the charged specials of our weapon with the Sister Blades, this comes in handy, especially during boss fights where we rely more on specials than regular attacks.
We will also equip theSwift RunnerArcana, which requires one Grasp to activate.
This Arcana increases our sprint speed, making it easier to dodge enemy ranged attacks while sprinting and enabling us to pass through enemies. The added mobility from this card is invaluable in allowing us to go on the offense using our agility and speed.
Finally, we will use theDeathArcana.
This card requires 4 Grasps to equip, and the high cost is definitely worth it as it grants usDeath Defiance. This acts as an extra life, allowing you to come back with 40% of your max life and Magick upon dying, increasing your chance of successfully finishing a run.
For this early game build, we will use theLuckier Toothkeepsake obtained fromSchelemeusin the Training Grounds.
The Luckier Tooth allows us to return with a higher amount of hit points after we have used up all our Death Defiance from other sources once per night. This is invaluable because while we are extremely swift and agile when using the Sister Blades, the close-ranged nature of the weapon also puts us in more danger of getting hit by huge area-of-effect attacks from enemies.
Among the plethora ofboonsoffered by the gods, we will have5 main slotsthat will affect and upgrade our moves.
First, regarding the boon relating to ourregular attacks, we will take one of the boons fromAphrodite, the Goddess of Love,Flutter Strike.
This will allow our attacks to deal increased damage when we are at close range to our foes. WithLim & Orosbeing highly close-ranged oriented, the boon works amazingly with the weapon.
For ourspecial attack, we will be taking the boon from theGoddess of the Seasons, Demeter,Ice Flourish.
This enhances our special throws to freeze enemies, stopping them in their tracks and adding a crowd control option to our ranged attack. Although the attack speed of the special is not as fast as the regular attacks, the added freezing effect is great, especially when combined with the charged omega attack fan freezing a large group in front of you.
With ourCastplacing our binding ring on the ground, we will choose theRapture Ringboon from Aphrodite.
This will enable our casting sigil circle to inflict damage on foes while drawing them to the center, grouping them up and making it easier for us to damage groups of enemies with our attacks.
To add to our mobility with this weapon, we will use another boon fromApolloto enhance our sprints by taking theBlinding Rushboon.
This boon will increase our sprint speed, which is extremely helpful when fighting bosses and dodging their huge area-of-effect attacks. It will also provide the benefit of traversing the lands faster. Additionally, Blinding Rush will allow us toDazeour surrounding foes, making them miss more of their attacks and increasing our dodge chance passively.
For ourspecial buff slot, we will take the boon fromAphrodite,Glamour Gain.
This boon will automatically inflictWeakupon any nearby enemies, decreasing the damage they deal against us and allowing us to gradually restore our Magick whenever any foe is afflicted by our Weak curse.
These five boons will occupy our core slots when on our runs, but they do not necessarily need to be the only boons we use. There are combinations of boons that can greatly improve the damage we deal when using the Sister Blades.
The first of them is the“Sweet Surrender”boon from the Goddess of Love.
This boon increases the damage we deal against Weak-afflicted foes and, since we automatically inflict the curse on nearby enemies with Glamour Gain, it adds to the overall effectiveness of our attacks.
Additionally, we will take the“Dazzling Display”boon from Apollo to give our attacks the chance to inflictDaze.
The daze will passively help our survivability by increasing the chance of enemies missing their attacks against us. This works amazingly in tandem with theSwift RunnerArcana we’re using in this build.
Lastly, we will aim for a boon that greatly increases damage with our highly agile, fast-attack-speed weapon: theBack Burnerboon from Apollo, God of Light.
The Back Burner will give us additionalBackstab Damageon our attacks, working to our favor as we quickly dash behind foes and unleash a fury of slashes with the Sister Blades.
If we are lucky enough to run into one of our sisters of the night, the Goddess of the Hunt,Artemis, we can greatly increase our damage output by taking the“Pressure Points”boon.
This will increase the critical chance of all our damaging attacks, which works amazingly with the Sister Blades given their fast attack nature.
Another boon that will help with the effectiveness of our cast circle isArctic Gale, a boon from the Goddess of the Seasons, Demeter.
This will add a gust around the binding circle of our cast which deals ice damage and also slows down enemy projectiles passing through the gale, helping with our dodging as we cut down foes pulled to the center of the circle.
Weapon Upgrade
Regarding the options we get from using theDaedalus Hammer, we will look to enhance our overall effectiveness with Lim & Oros by upgrading both our attacks and specials.
TheWicked Onslaughtupgrade will increase the power of our attacks, which also scales with the damage effects from the boons granted by other gods.
Rapid Onslaughtwill further increase the already fast attack speed of our weapon by 35%.
These upgrades together greatly enhance the damage output of our regular attacks in combination with the boons we are using for this build.
Playstyle and General Tips on Runs
This build is highlyassassin-class oriented, aiming to backstab enemies using our agility and speed. Even though we can deal respectable damage attacking from the front, backstabs increase our damage by at least 50%, depending on the rarity of theBack Burnerboon.
When fighting bosses, it can be tempting to get in close and personal to slice away using the fast attack speed, but more often than not, this is risky because you will be too close to dodge incoming big area-of-effect attacks. The safe option is to whittle bosses down using specials when they are performing AoE attacks and go in for quick slices at the end of their attacks before the next one starts.
While on early runs, it’s generally useful to go forAshesinstead ofBones, as this unlocks more Arcana cards, giving more options for later runs.
Also, investing in at least threeCentaur Heartsso that our max HP can reach 100 is helpful since we’re prone to taking damage with our close-range attacks.
When faced with choices between an upgrade that is not a boon you are aiming for and gold coins, it’s generally better to choose coins. This gives access to more options when visiting the Boatman,Charon, whenever you run into him. But if you are certain you won’t earn enough coins for multiple purchases, choose the upgrade route.
Going forPoms of Powerwill also level up our boons and increase damage.
For this build, I suggest upgradingFlutter Strikeas much as possible since increased close-range damage is very powerful combined with the fast-attacking Sister Blades.
Conclusion
While playing with the Sister Blades tends to draw you toward an aggressive playstyle with quick combos, this can be a weakness rather than a strength since you really need to be in close range for attacks.
Relying on specials will help alleviate some of the weaknesses when using this weapon. But if you are looking for a fast-moving, fast-striking combination of boons that can also deal respectable damage, this build will reliably serve that need.
This wraps up my article on theSisters of Night early buildforHades 2. I hope you find this helpful in your conquest against Chronos, the Titan of Time, and may you find success in all your runs. If you have any helpful tips, feel free to leave them in the comment section below!
