Hades II

Dionysus, Drunken Strike – Hangover

Drunken Strike inflicts Hangover (4 damage / 0.5 seconds, for 4 Seconds) with a stack limit of 5. This boon is less effective with high-frequency attacks that surpass the stack limit or low-frequency attacks that could benefit more from immediate damage. While a hit-and-run dash strike tactic with Stygius might work early on, better weapons and boons are generally available.

Aphrodite, Heartbreak Strike – Weak

Heartbreak Strike offers a +50% damage increase and applies the Weak status effect. It is viable on most weapons, including the Heart-Seeking Bow, Stygian Blade, Eternal Spear, and Shield of Chaos. It is particularly favored for the Stygius Aspect of Arthur, Coronacht Aspect of Chiron, and Coronacht Aspect of Hera. The Weak effect reduces incoming damage by 30%, allowing for safer combat. Although considered “low-frequency” due to the inability to stack Weak multiple times on one enemy and its 3-second duration, its potency is enhanced by supplementary boons like Sweet Surrender and Broken Resolve. The Legendary boon Unhealthy Fixation can grant a 15% chance to Charm enemies, synergizing well with high-frequency attacks. Heartbreak Strike is viable on any weapon, but its suitability as the best boon depends on your build.

Ares, Curse of Agony – Doom

Curse of Agony deals 50 damage after 1 second. It is a viable option for the Heart-Seeking Bow (unless using Flurry Shot) for players prioritizing pure damage over Weak. However, it is difficult to justify on weapons with repeating or combination attacks due to poor stacking without supplementary boons. Its viability is mainly limited to the Bow and Shield of Chaos, where it competes with the superior Heartbreak Strike. Curse of Agony lacks the power to be a primary damage source against sturdy bosses and offers no other utility.

Artemis, Deadly Strike – +20% damage, 15% chance for critical hit

Deadly Strike provides a general damage increase and a 15% chance for a critical hit, with no stack limit concerns. While adequate for any weapon or circumstance, it lacks specialized benefits that can significantly alter your battle approach or address specific build weaknesses. It serves as a reliable fallback if other boon choices are incompatible with your current weapon.

Athena, Divine Strike – +40% damage, Deflects

Divine Strike offers a +40% damage bonus and deflects projectiles. While deflection is valuable, Divine Strike is not always the optimal way to achieve it. It is best suited for melee weapons with broad-sweeping attacks, making the Shield of Chaos a compatible choice for deflecting projectiles and knocking back melee enemies. It can also be used with Stygius and the Eternal Spear, particularly with its sweeping dash-strike. However, it is often a fourth-best option for many weapons. It is particularly viable on the Stygius hidden Aspect of Arthur and the Twin Fists hidden Aspect of Gilgamesh, allowing for safer close-quarters combat against projectiles.

Poseidon, Tempest Strike – +30% damage, Knockback

Tempest Strike provides a +30% damage bonus and applies Knockback. The guide expresses a general dislike for Poseidon boons, citing that knockback effects are not useful in boss fights, complicate aiming for ranged weapons, and push enemies out of melee range. The Wave Pounding boon can add extra boss damage to knockback attacks.

This section cracks open into the Special Boons available in Hades II, analyzing their effectiveness and synergy with various weapons and playstyles. We'll cover boons that excel with high-frequency use, low-frequency use, and those that are effective regardless of usage frequency.

High-Frequency Use Boons:

1. Zeus, Thunder Flourish: Deals 30 damage as a lightning bolt. This boon concentrates area-of-effect damage on primary targets and synergizes well with the Shield of Chaos, especially the Aspect of Zeus. It can also be effective on the Heart-Seeking Bow (Coronacht) for spreading damage in early-game encounters.
2. Demeter, Frost Flourish: Grants +60% damage and applies Chill. This boon spreads Chill across wide areas and is a core component of the Aspect of Chiron (Heart-Seeking Bow) combined with Aphrodite's Attack boon. It's highly effective against standard enemies and bosses, slowing them significantly. It's also a good alternative for most Heart-Seeking Bow or Shield of Chaos builds if Thunder Flourish is unavailable.
3. Dionysus, Drunken Flourish: Applies Hangover (5 damage / 0.5 seconds, for 4 seconds). The stack limit of 5 makes this boon less viable for high-frequency Special moves compared to Zeus and Demeter, as Hangover fits better in other slots with greater impact.

Low-Frequency Use Boons:

1. Aphrodite, Heartbreak Flourish: Provides +80% damage and applies Weak. This is an excellent choice for the Aspect of Gilgamesh (Twin Fists) to smooth out the Maim debuff. It's also reliable for the Adamant Rail and Stygius, offering significant damage and the useful Weak status effect. Weak is beneficial for most builds, especially when avoiding damage is a priority.
2. Ares, Curse of Pain: Applies Doom (60 damage after 1 second). This boon is a significant improvement over the Ares Attack boon, as it can spread Doom to multiple enemies. It's viable for most weapons, including Stygius, Eternal Spear, Shield of Chaos, Heart-Seeking Bow, Adamant Rail, and Twin Fists, though it's not always the optimal choice for every weapon aspect or upgrade. It can serve as a tolerable early-game strategy for spreading damage while evading enemies.

Frequency-Independent Boons:

1. Artemis, Deadly Flourish: Grants +40% damage with a 20% chance for a critical hit. Similar to Deadly Strike, this boon offers improved damage potential, though its critical hit chance might not always be the most impactful for Special moves compared to other boons.

Artemis, Divine Flourish

Divine Flourish offers +60% damage and the ability to deflect projectiles. While useful defensively, especially for the Heart-Seeking Bow, it lacks the deflection range on the Aspect of Chiron or Aspect of Rama Specials. It is not considered Athena's best boon, with a superior Deflect ability yet to be detailed.

Poseidon, Tempest Flourish

Tempest Flourish provides +70% damage and knockback. Its use with the Adamant Rail can be problematic, unintentionally drawing enemies closer. Viable uses include:

• With the Eternal Spear Aspect of Zagreus and Exploding Launcher, it creates a fast, spammable projectile that hits enemies against walls and traps, preventing them from approaching. Without Exploding Launcher, enemies return on the projectile's path and aiming is less precise.
• With the Heart-Seeking Bow (excluding Aspect of Rama), it can keep enemies at bay in a spammable manner, but is not damage-efficient, vulnerable to ranged foes, and ineffective in boss fights.

Poseidon's primary boons are generally considered weak; refer to supplementary boons for more helpful effects.

CAST BOONS

Cast boons are important but typically contribute a small portion of total damage unless powerful synergies, often involving Duo boons, are established. The strongest base Cast boon damage at Common rarity is 100. With limited cast uses per run (regardless of Infernal Soul or Stygian Soul), weapons are often more reliable for key fights. The casting animation also leaves you vulnerable.

Sticking Casts: Bloodstones deal immediate damage and lodge in enemies. They are dislodged after a delay or via the Stygius Aspect of Poseidon's Special. Sticking Casts deal damage more quickly but have less frequent use (depending on Mirror of Night skills). The supplementary boon Exit Wounds (Artemis) and the Mirror of Night skills Boiling Blood and Abyssal Blood only affect Sticking Casts.

Non-Sticking Casts: These create continuous damage or effects within the chamber. Bloodstones are retrieved immediately after the effect expires, allowing for quick reuse. The Mirror of Night skills Boiling Blood and Abyssal Blood have no effect with Non-Sticking Casts.

Mirror of Night Synergy:

• Infernal Soul attribute generally stacks well with Non-Sticking Casts, which often have higher direct damage potential with complementary boons.
• Stygian Soul attribute generally stacks well with Sticking Casts, which benefit from debuffs via Boiling Blood and Abyssal Blood.

These are general rules and can be altered by available boons.

Complications for Infernal Soul vs. Stygian Soul:

1. Hermes's Legendary boons (Greater Recall for Infernal Soul, Bad News for Stygian Soul) affect Cast boon effectiveness.
2. Boons providing additional bloodstones (from Chaos and Artemis) scale differently with each Soul option.
3. The Duo boon Lightning Rod, arguably the best non-speed run boon, is only available with one of these Soul choices.

Hermes Boons:

• Greater Recall (Legendary, for Infernal Soul): Synergizes with Sticking or Non-Sticking Casts by automatically returning bloodstones from anywhere in the chamber as soon as they are visible.
• Bad News (Legendary, for Stygian Soul): Deals +50% Cast damage to enemies without a bloodstone stuck in them. This significantly buffs Non-Sticking Casts, potentially reversing the general rule regarding Infernal Soul and Non-Sticking Casts.

Bloodstone Count Boons

Chaos boons are highly recommended.