A new patch for Hades 2 is live, and it brings changes to several boons and blessings, new incantations, and a couple of gameplay adjustments to things such as the Nocturnal Arms, Alter of Ashes, and keepsakes.
Gameplay changes
This is the third patch to Hades 2 Early Access, and according to Supergiant Games, the next one will be a major update. Because this one’s only a patch, the changes aren’t so significant, but a lot of them were made based on community feedback.
Because of the feedback, selected Duo Boons and Legendary Boons should be offered with more frequency, and Charon’s Gold Rewards now include Nightmare after a certain point. The minimum number of Boons and rewards you can find past Erebus was increased, and Warding Circles in Erebus will stagger foes that touch them.
Supergiant also reworked the Gathering Tool upgrades, letting you find plus one Elemental Essence for your Infusion Boons, and entering Chaos while in the Mourning Fields will no longer cause you to skip a Location in that region.
Weapon adjustments
All weapons received small adjustments to how they work. When using the Witch’s Staff, indirect damage will count to activate Serenity. Hit-stun effects during Riposte won’t affect you when using the Sister Blades. The devs improved the Omega Attack tracking, slightly increased the Magick cost, and reduced max damage from the upgrade path for the Umbral Flames. And now, any Cast damage will extend the Omega Special, not just Omega Cast.
Altar of Ashes
Three cards received the greatest changes: The Moon, Night, and Death. The Moon and Night had their names swapped and themes changed, while the Death card was reworked. Omega moves now have a chance to deal Critical damage if the last one used was different than the one before.
The Moon also costs zero Grasp now, but has an Awakening requirement to activate the surrounding Card. The Unseen had Magick restoration improved, Dvinity now also requires activating a column of Cards to be Awakened, and Origination now specifies that Curses from different Olympians are required.
New incantations
There are six new incantations in the Crossroads Cauldron. Here is what they do:
- Temporal Fluctuation: Time-slow effects such as Phase Shift work against Chronos.
- Circles of the Moon: Activating Warding Circles in Erebus fully charges your Hex.
- Ashen Memories of Life: Claiming rewards of Ash, slightly raise your Life limit.
- Psychic Slivers of Clarity: Claiming rewards of Psyche, slightly raise your Magick limit.
- Bones of Burnished Bronze: Claiming rewards of Bones, you gain some Armor.
- Nectar of Godly Savor: Claiming rewards of Nectar, gain +1 Lv. for a random Boon.
Keepsakes
Supergiant Games heard the community and made some changes to the keepsakes. The White Antler from Artemis was reworked, you won’t lose your armor from Arachne’s Silken Sash if you change keepsakes. Moon Beam also makes Selene or a Path of Stars to be offered soon, and the Olympian Keepsakes will make their respective Olympian Boons more likely to appear.
Boons & Blessings
More than 80 boons received alterations. Some were cut from the game and replaced by another Boon like Apocalyptic Storm, Hera’s Keen Intuition, and Hephaestus’ Tough Trade. Still, the changes mostly revolve around an increase in damage and an increased bonus from Poms of Power, while some were reworked completely.
Hexes of Selene
Five of Selene’s Hexes—Phase Shift, Total Eclipse, Dark Side, Lunar Ray, and Moon Water—were rebalanced, and they all had their required Magick reduced. Phase Shift also had the effect duration slightly reduced, Dark Side had its damage increased, and Lunar Ray will be easier to target using gamepad controls.
Path of Stars
There are two new Path of Stars Upgrades: Growth for Dark Side and Preparation for Total Eclipse. Growth makes your Hex passively recharge overtime, and Preparation starts encounters with your Hex spatially charged.
The devs also reduced the effectiveness of Extraction for Twilight Curse and the Sublime upgrades will also raise your Hex’s recharge cost, making Hexes more usable throughout each night.
Minor changes
Two Daedulus hammer upgrades were slightly changed, the Aphrodite and Hephaestus Duo Boon Soft Caress was replaced by Breath of Eros with a few differences, and some foes and encounters had their behavior and looks adjusted.
There were some minor changes to environments as well, updates to some Prophecy fulfillment requirements, several additions to the menus and UI, visual FX, music, and many bug fixes. You can check all the changes in the official patch notes.
