Supergiant struck gold when they released the beautifully designed and intensely addictive Hades on September 17, 2020. The action roguelike was a Game of the Year nominee and has won the hearts of over a million players. While there are plenty of new players stepping into the Underworld with Zagreus, a lot of fans have completed the story and are looking for a bigger challenge.
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This won’t be a problem thanks to Hades’ unique “Heat” mechanic, which allows players to up the difficulty as they please to each run. As the runs get harder though, players will need the best kits to beat the endless shades and tough bosses. Many builds are viable, and roguelikes thrive off of experimentation. However, a few builds stand out as the best choices for the most challenging runs.
Prerequisites For These Builds
In Hades, every weapon has a base design and several unlockable variations. Players ahead in the game will have access to all of these variations and hopefully have a fully upgraded mirror, alongside most of the game’s keepsakes. All of these loadouts rely on these conditions to be met.
Hera's Bow (Athena/Aphrodite Build)
The bow is a fantastic weapon for zoning out enemies and keeping Zagreus out of harm’s way. The Aspect of Hera makes the bow a DPS machine, and with the right build, it can carry players to victory.
This build is based around Zagreus’ casts. Hera’s bow allows the player to load the cast into the next shot, delivering both the damage of the bow and the effect of the cast. Though many of the casts work for this build, a safe go-to is Athena’s Phalanx Shot cast.
Best Boons
Players should build around Athena and Aphrodite, with the primary goal being to obtain the duo boon Parting Shot. This Athena/Aphrodite boon gives the player’s cast the same damage multiplier from a backstab to every cast! This will ensure that enemies are always taking massive damage, so long the player is loading casts into the bow. Keep in mind that this build is very aggressive, and will require players to push forward and regain their lost casts.
Keep an eye out for Poseidon boons for the bow’s special if it seems like getting casts back is troubling. Finally, should the player come across Artemis, her boon Fully Loaded works wonders with this build!
The Glass Tank Build (Shield, Aspect of Beowulf)
For a long time, the shield was considered the best weapon in the entire game. No other weapon offered the unbeatable combination of defense and offense as the shield. Though it has been nerfed, the shield is still a viable weapon with the right builds. For this build, players will use the final unlockable shield aspect: The Aspect of Beowulf. This shield can be a gamble because players will take 10% more damage with it, but the positives are often more than enough to compensate.
Like Hera’s Bow, this build centers around a strong cast. Players will be using the shield’s Dragon Rush ability quite a lot, loading their casts into the rush and heading straight into danger.
Best Boons & Upgrades
Luckily, there is a lot of freedom with the boons in this build. The best deities to build around include:
- Zeus
- Poseidon
- Dionysus
- Athena
- Artemis
- Aphrodite
Keep in mind that it is best to devote to one or two gods to build good synergies.) Athena’s dash boon remains one of the best in the game, and benefits the dangerous playstyle of this build greatly. Dionysus’ Hangover also works well with this build, especially when combined with Artemis for the duo boon Splitting Headache.
Most important to this build are the Daedalus Hammer upgrades. As players will be using their special almost exclusively with this build, it is imperative that they gather the following upgrades if possible:
- Sudden Rush
- Breaching Rush
- Ferocious Guard
- Unyielding Defense
The Guan Yu Spear
The Guan Yu spear has been a topic of discussion in the Hades community since the game’s full release. It’s surprisingly divisive: Some players say that it’s one of the worst weapons, while others say it is the single best weapon in the game. As it is, Guan Yu can be incredibly powerful, but it has to be fully upgraded. This is because using it debuffs Zagreus’ total life and life gain by 70% at level 1. By max level, this debuff is reduced to a meager 50%.
Despite these drawbacks, the weapon does hold certain appealing qualities. Guan Yu offers a unique move set called “Frost Fair Blade,” which gives the spear a great spin attack variant and changes up the special. Normally, the spear is thrown with the special attack and recalled with a second press of the special button. On the other hand, Guan Yu pierces enemies and explodes in midair, causing even more damage. The spin attack sends a vortex that can bounce around and heal Zagreus for 1 HP per hit. These two moves are the bread and butter of Guan Yu.
Best Boons & Upgrades
The best boons for Guan Yu are endlessly debated, but common gods to build around include:
- Dionysus
- Athena
- Aphrodite
- Poseidon
Normally, players should take one defensive deity (Athena or Aphrodite) and combine it with a more offensive deity (Dionysus or Poseidon). Generally speaking, Aphrodite and Dionysus are great picks for Guan Yu, but as with many of these builds, player preference comes first.
Players should also prioritize getting a few Daedalus Hammer upgrades. The critical ones are:
- Quick Spin
- Winged Serpent
- Massive Spin
The Spear of 1000 Cuts (Aspect of Hades)
Semi-spoiler: it turns out that Hades is Zagreus' rival. Though the two are constantly fighting, this build has Zagreus using his dad’s own spear, the Aspect of Hades. Unlike many other builds, this spear build isn’t strictly considered meta. It is, however, like many builds that players love, a lot of fun to play around with. This is definitely one of the more aggressive builds, so players who don’t like getting their hands dirty might not enjoy it.
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Best Boons & Upgrades
This build focuses on Ares and his blade rifts. Ares isn’t always considered meta, but he is undeniably fun to play around and the sounds of his blade rifts chopping away will never get old. Players will want to get Ares’ dash and cast and build these to be as powerful as possible. They can do this by getting more Ares boons.
The important boons for the build are:
- Black Metal
- Engulfing Vortex
- Vicious Cycle
- Artemis duo boon Hunting Blades
Players looking to slow mobs down can splash some Demeter boons in the mix, but keep in mind that the Ares/Demeter duo boon should not be taken with this build, as it directly nerfs it!
Hammer upgrades should be focused around the spin attack of the spear:
- Quick Spin
- Massive Spin
- Flaring Spin
The whole idea behind this build is to cut through mobs and clear rooms quickly. Get as many blade rifts out as possible, and then go to town with the Hades’ spear and the extra added damage with the spin attack.
Slugger Sword Build (Aspect of Arthur)
Tired of all of these cast-based builds that require impeccable movement and frantic dodging? Want to deal massive amounts of damage with only a few swings? Look no further than the Aspect of Arthur critical strike build. Though common among the community by now, this build turns the otherwise fleet-footed Zagreus into a slow attacking slugger.
Though the sword is usually a weapon built for an "all-around '' approach, the Aspect of Arthur turns it into a heavy-hitting, albeit slow-moving, greatsword. Many players will be turned away by the nerf to movement speed, but if built correctly, Arthur's sword can certainly feel like a one-hit machine.
Best Boons & Upgrades
Many players like to go for a devotion build to Artemis, building as much crit power as possible. Because the sword moves so slowly, builds with stacking (Dionysus, Aphrodite, Ares) won't perform as well. Thus, players should try to stick to gods that affect damage or enemy movement speed. Demeter and Artemis are great options, but the mainline build involves jacking up the crit chance and damage of the sword so much that every swing will be burying monsters six feet under.
Players should try and gather the following Artemis boons:
- Deadly Strike
- Pressure Points
- Hide Breaker
- Clean Kill
- Hunter's Mark
A few good Hammer improvements would be Breaching Slash and Arthur's unique upgrade, Greater Consecration. Double-Edge and Hoarding Slash can also be decent addons if there is nothing better available.
Lightning Fast Punches (Twin Fists, Aspect of Talos)
T his Twin Fist build is aimed at helping the player live up to Muhammed Ali’s fighting advice: “Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. Your hands can’t hit what your eyes can’t see.” It focuses on quick movement, even quicker attacks, and a lot of pain for the shades trying to keep Zagreus down.
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Best Boons & Upgrades
Players will want to devote most of their boons to Zeus with this build. Essentially, players will be pulling enemies in with the unique special attack of Talos’ Fists, and then applying endless charges of chain lightning. Like the Hades Spear build, this build is made for maximum aggression and constant attacks.
Players will want a mix of the following boons:
- Lightning Strike
- Lightning Reflexes
- Storm Lightning
- High Voltage, Static Discharge
- Splitting Bolt
- Festive Fog
- Scintillating Feast
- Demeter's Aid
- Cold Fusion
- Thunder Flourish
Breaching Cross and Explosive Upper are good Hammer upgrades to round out this electric display of lightning and ice.
The Boss Buster Sword (Aspect of Poseidon)
Many of these builds focus on wiping out hordes of enemies quickly and effectively. They can sometimes suffer against the many intimidating bosses that Zagreus will face on his journey through the Underworld. As many challenge runs will make the bosses harder, this build can make these cinematic fights just a little easier.
Players will be using the Aspect of Poseidon sword, which focuses on building a powerful cast and spamming it as much as possible. Poseidon’s sword dislodges casts with successful special hits, allowing Zagreus to quickly gather his casts back and send them right back into the enemy hordes.
Best Boons & Upgrades
While many deities could work well with this build, players should focus on the punishing debuffs of Ares and Aphrodite for maximum efficacy with this blade. The idea behind this build is to debuff enemies into oblivion, then send them to their final resting places with powerful casts and specials from the sword.
Players should begin with Aphrodite's cast and level it as much as they can with Poms. Her stacks of Weak from the casts (and possibly from sword attacks) will make bosses easier to deal with. Next, players should enlist the help of Ares with the goal of obtaining the duo boon Curse of Longing. When combined with other Ares boons that cause the Doom debuff, as well as his and his debuff powering boons Curse of Agony and Curse of Pain, the enemies will begin falling in troves.
Dire Misfortune and Impending Doom are also good pickups. Players should fill out their boons with Artemis’ Fully Loaded and Exit Wounds boons.
Lastly, players should upgrade the sword. Some good upgrades to nab are:
- Piercing Wave
- Super Nova. This one is especially incredible for this build as it makes the special attack range wider, leading to more casts being dislodged. This in turn leads to more brutal cast damage!