While Zagreus was all about defeating his father’s Shades, Melinoë is their best friend in Hades 2, and you can compel them, sending them to The Crossroads.
Raised and trained by Hecate, the goddess of Witchcraft, Melinoë grows up to become a fine witch, and as such, a fan of all things sorcery, ghosts, and necromancy in Hades 2. That means you won’t see her beating up Shades during your runs; instead, she Compels them to join her at The Crossroads. That said, understanding how this mechanic works isn’t super straightforward. In this guide, I’ll show you how to Compel Shades in Hades 2.
How to compel Shades in Hades 2
To compel Shades in Hades 2, approach green Shades on the sidelines of each location with the Tablet of Peace and follow the trigger or key prompts on the screen. But you’ll need to do some crafting first.
Craft the Tablet of Peace
The Tablet of Peace is a tool in Hades 2, like the Silver Spade and Crescent Pick. Instead of digging seeds like Cattails or mining Silver, the Tablet of Peace recruits Shades and sends them to The Crossroads.
If making Shades happy isn’t enough of an incentive for you, you’ll be happy to learn that they grant you large quantities of Psyche, the resource required to increase your Grasp and get more Arcana cards.
You can craft the Tablet of Peace with five Silver and five Psyche at the crafting table under the Gathering Tools tab. But first, you need to unlock the recipe by completing the Night’s Craftwork Incantation The Crossroads cauldron, which costs you only one Moly. These grow naturally in the Underworld; you can just pick them with your hands.
Once you’ve crafted the Tablet of Peace, equip it in the area with Skelly and head out into the Underworld.
Compel Shades
As you traverse the locations of the Underworld in Hades 2, look for sad, green Shades floating on the outskirts. If you don’t spot them yourself, chances are a blue light guides you to them once the location is cleared of enemies.
When you approach them with the Tablet of Peace, a minigame begins. Press and hold the buttons or keys as shown on the screen (L2 and R2, if you’re playing with a controller). Sometimes, you have to hold just one, but at times, it requires you to hold both buttons or keys at the same time. Once each prompt is filled, the Shade is successfully compelled to The Crossroads.
