Like most roguelike games, Hades is an extremely difficult game to complete. Every time you die, you are forced to restart from the beginning and lose all the boons and upgrades you've gained across an entire run. Thankfully, there are many strategies and tricks you can follow to grow stronger in between runs, from using Darkness to give yourself an edge or even leveling up your many weapons.

Making it to the true ending of Hades is no small task, especially when you consider all the difficult bosses in your way. Your first victory past Hades himself is only the beginning, even though defeating the final boss tests everything you've already learned. You'll need to invest Skill Points smarter, look at your weapons more carefully, and save more currency than before to beat the game more than once.

Invest Skill Points Correctly

Upgrade Zagreus' Best Traits

One of the best ways to become stronger in Hades is to invest Darkness in the Mirror of Night in Zagreus' bedroom. The skills you gain from this may not all be incredibly strong, but picking a particularly strong upgrade could be the key to winning future runs. Leveling up the skills you acquire can gradually make them even better, allowing you to turn hard encounters into easy fights as you try to clear areas.

You need to find Chthonic Keys in Hades to get Mirror Upgrades, either from room rewards, fishing, or the Fated List of Minor Prophecies.

Some of the strongest Mirror of Night skills you can unlock to help you beat Hades completely are:

• Dark Regeneration - At first, Chthonic Vitality may seem like the better skill, but Dark Regeneration can give you a major health boost if it is fully upgraded. With this skill, you will receive a significant amount of health back every time you pick up Darkness from an encounter. Where Chthonic Vitality only heals the player 3 points per room, Dark Regeneration can heal Zagreus for up to 60% of his total health.
• Family Favorite - This will allow you to gain a 5% damage boost whenever you pick up a Boon from a God. This can quickly add up in a run, especially if you can obtain five or six Boons by the time you reach the end.
• Thick Skin - This skill is just a raw health boost, which will be sorely needed by the end of the game. With Thick Skin leveled up completely, you're able to have a maximum of 100 health compared to the base 50.

Pick The Right Weapon

Use Whatever Weapon Works Best For You

Every build you create starts with your weapon, which all have wildly different attack patterns and movesets. You have six different weapons to choose from once you unlock everything, but you want to choose one that is the most comfortable for your playstyle. Try to take each on at least one run to get a feel for every weapon before deciding to upgrade the ones that felt the best in Hades.

Titan Blood can be used to upgrade weapons, unlocking weapon aspects in Hades that strengthen the best properties of each tool. Try to make your favorite weapon as strong as possible with Aspects that complement your preferred strategies in combat. As you can see in the above video by YouTube creator Haelian, the best builds for Zagreus usually revolve around how Boons interact with weapon aspects.

Keep in mind that many Boons are great for some weapons you take on a run, but that same favor from a god or major character in Hades could be useless when applied to a different weapon.

Use the Dash-Strike Constantly

Don't Forget To Utilize A Powerful Move

You may not realize this at first, but the Dash-Strike is by far the most powerful attack at their disposal. For most weapons, it deals more damage than any other attack and gives you some other advantages in combat. For example, if you're using the Heart-Seeking Bow in Hades, performing a Dash-Strike will reduce the wind-up time for the weapon's charge shot.

Using a Dash-Strike consistently will give you a chance to take less damage as you start stringing together attacks and dodging simultaneously. Mastering combat in Hades is key to making a run to the surface feel trivial, even against the toughest bosses.

Take Advantage Of Daedalus Hammers

Give Powerful Boosts To Your Weapon

You can find two Daedalus Hammers in every run that helps upgrade the current weapon Zagreus is wielding with significant boosts. The first Daedalus Hammers in Hades can be found in Tartarus, while the other can be found in Elysium. These Hammers increase your weapon's damage stats, giving you a stronger tool to contend with the stronger and stronger enemies you meet as you progress into new realms.

You will sometimes have a choice between other resources and a Daedalus Hammer in some areas. It is always wise to take the Hammer instead of anything else since they appear in limited supply.

Stop Spending Coins

Save Your Currency Until The Final Boss

Since you aren't able to keep your coins upon death, it makes it very easy to just spend them whenever an opportunity presents itself. Those who want to complete the game may want to take a different approach and save their money for the final boss fight against Hades. The items from the shop right before this battle are much more expensive, but give you incredible bonuses that you'll likely need to survive the battle.

Pick the Right Boons and Keepsakes

Gain ive Bonuses To Push Zagreus To Succeed

Boons and Keepsakes can give you the final push you need to destroy all your enemies and make it to the surface. Keepsakes are easy, as they can be obtained by gifting bottles of Nectar to any NPC that you encounter. One Keepsake can be selected before each run to gain different stat bonuses that could be the deciding factor between a failed run and an unexpected victory in Hades.

One great Keepsake that you could use is Cerberus' Old Spike Collar, which grants Zagreus an additional 50 Health during a run.

The biggest issue with Boons is that Zagreus isn't able to search and select specific ones, so it comes down to chance. You can increase your chances for specific Boons by wearing a Keepsake connected to the God whose favors you want, or by picking the God you want early in a run. Both of these will make a God's bonuses appear more often, which gives you a better chance of acquiring the Boons you wish.

There are no right or wrong Boons, only the ones that best suit your combat style with the weapons, upgrades, or other equipment you have prepared for a run. The best strategies and tricks you can use to beat Hades are entirely personal, reflecting the individuality of your journey to reach the surface despite fate over and over again.

Source: Haelian/YouTube