The boon system ofHadesreturns inHades 2with new Gods whooffer Melinoë completely new boons. Plenty of Gods return from the first game, too, and players' favorite boons are back too – more often than not, with new twists on familiar mechanics.
This list does not include Daedalus Hammer enchantments, as these tend to be different for every weapon, nor does it include unique NPC upgrades like Arachne’s armorsor life-taking Chaos boons. The bestHades 2boons recommendations listed below can be taken in just about any run, and are beneficial for just about every build
Hades 2is only available in Early Access right now. Information contained in this guide to the bestHades 2Boons will likely change as the Early Access period progresses, and when the final version of the game is eventually released. This guide will be updated as more Boons and balance changes are released.
Rapidly restore Magick, but you have -20% Max Life.
Fire
Hestia is one of the new gods inHades 2, and her boons are all themed around Scorch effects, though she does offer a few handy utility and stat improvement options too. The Hearth Gain boon is one of the bestHades 2boons because it has a relatively small downside but a huge upside.
Magicka is everything inHades 2, and picking up a high-rarity version of Hearth Gain early is the best way to ensure you can use Ω abilities more often. You sacrifice a bit of Life, but it’s not as much of a downside as other Magicka regen boons inHades 2.
While your Hex is ready, you move and strike faster.
Air
Though Hex abilitiesare very powerful inHades 2, there are sometimes benefits tonotusing your prepared Hex skill, even if it’s ready. The Hermes boon Midnight Oil works wonders when players avoid their Hexes.
This boon increases movement and attack speed by up to 40%, depending on rarity, but only when your Hex is ready and hasn’t been consumed (which would reset it to 0, anyway).
Your Attacks Freeze enemies and deal more damage
Water
One of the best curses that the player can inflict onto enemies inHades 2is the Frozen status effect. A single hit from a Frozen source will Freeze the target for five (or more) seconds. This takes some time to refresh before Frozen can be inflicted again.
Demeter’s Frozen Strike boon both grants this power toyour normal attacks with every weaponand increases the damage these attacks can deal.
Earth
Another powerful boon comes from Demeter as well, in the form of Rare Crop. When selected, Rare Crop selects a random choice of up to four boons and upgrades their Rarity every 3 encounters.
This gets better the earlier you acquire it, though one can be hard-pressed to have a lot of boons early inHades 2. Don’t pick this up too late, though, or you risk accidentally Common-ifying a higher-rarity boon.
Heaven Strike is not one of the best boonsHades 2players can pick up for just any build.Zeus' attack-modifying abilityputs a thunder cloud above opponents' heads when procced. When that enemy takes a combined 120 damage before the cloud disappears, they take additional Blitz damage.
Use this with weapons like the Witch’s Staff and the Sister Blades to proc and trigger the Heaven Strike ability more often, but avoid it on slower weapons like the Axe, which may have trouble triggering the damage threshold in time.
Your Casts drag foes in and inflict Weak.
Anundersung aspect ofHades 2is the sheer number of abilities that Melinoë has at her disposal, including a new CC Cast. The Rapture Ring Aphrodite boon improves the CC capability of your cast by drawing in enemies to its center.
It doesn’t work on bosses, but when taking on hordes of small and weak enemies, or if you just miss the cast location on a bigger enemy, this boon ensures that they get ensnared anyway. Plus, it inflicts Weak, which reduces the affected targets' damage output, and works amazingly well with other boons that cause extra effects with your Cast, like Zeus' or Apollo’s. Nifty!
Arguably the most powerful boon inHades 2is the Bridal Glow boon from Hera. Though players will not be able to meet Hera until several hours in their playthrough (after reaching the surface), her boons aresome of the game’s most decisive.
Bridal Glow is like the opposite version of Rare Crop from Demeter. Instead of setting your boons to Common and upgrading them, this sets your boons to Heroic (the highest level) and downgrades them with time. Taken near the end of a run, Bridal Glow has the capability to increase your build’s potential by magnitudes.
Rarity Modifiers
Elemental Type
Your Sprint destroys most ranged shots near you, and inflicts Scorch on foes that fired.
One of the most useful boons in the originalHadesfor any build was Athena’s Dash, which not only nullified incoming projectiles during a dodge, but also reflected them back to the enemies that shot them in the first place.
InHades 2, the Divine Dash gets a kind of spiritual successor in Soot Sprint. This Hestia boon uses the Sprint system, anew feature inHades 2, to destroy incoming projectiles and inflict the Scorch status effect on the enemy that cast them. This is especially powerful in fights where enemies use a lot of ranged attacks, like Hecate or even the final fight against Chronos.
