• Guide

Hades 2 - Beginner guide and tips

Your guide to getting started in the Underworld.

Josh Broadwell

May 8, 2024 10:00 AM

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Supergiant's long-awaited sequel is a complex roguelike, so much so that a Hades 2's beginner guide is almost essential - even if you're familiar with the first game. Melinoe's fighting style is distinctly different than Zagreus', and Supergiant filled her version of the Underworld with several new mechanics and systems to get to grips with.

Our Hades 2 beginner's guide includes handy tips and tricks for making your way through without (much) hardship.

Pay attention

I’m not talking about watching and remembering enemy patterns, though you definitely need to be doing that. I mean pay attention to the room you’re in. Hades 2 adds collectibles that end up being very important after your first run – plants, for example, or certain minerals – and they’re easy to miss. Silver deposits don’t sparkle, and you can accidentally overlook them as part of the environment. Some plants do sparkle, though they’re tucked away near undergrowth or branches and might be hard to spot.

I had the most difficulty seeing fishing spots, mostly in the first world. Erebus’ waters are the color of pretty much everything else in Erebus, and unless you’re actually looking at a room’s far edges, it’s easy to miss the telltale ripples that denote a little hell fishy waiting for you.

Spend on tools, not weapons

Capable witch though Melinoe may be, she didn’t think to bring basics such as a pickaxe or fishing rod into the underworld with her. You have to unlock these tools and others using silver – but the catch is that unlocking weapons also requires silver. Melinoe’s staff is more than enough to see you through a few runs at first, though. Since crafting recipes and other unlockables require the materials you obtain with tools, we strongly recommend investing your silver into tools before weapons.

Don’t get too attached to your Arcana 

Melinoe has a deck of tarot cards where each card provides a permanent buff after you unlock it with ashes and equip it. Tempting though it may be to stick with one set of cards and just stockpile all the ashes you come across, you shouldn’t. Spend your ashes on new cards every time you come back – unless you’re saving for a specific card, of course – and experiment with different builds to see what works best. Unlocking cards also reveals the card adjacent to it, so even if the one you unlock is a poor fit, you might find something next to it that’s even better than you hoped.

It’s okay to fail

Roguelikes expect you to fail, and Hades is no different. It is more forgiving when you fail, though, and unless something very bad happened, you have more opportunities to upgrade and prepare for a new run than something like Dead Cells gives you. Most boss fights have more than one surprise up their metaphorical sleeves. New regions are home to fresh threats and devious monsters that force you into new ways of thinking and playing. Basically, there’s a lot going on in every part of Hades, and you’re bound to fail. Don’t sweat it when you do, though.

But you should play it safe, too

That said, you should approach each room with a degree of caution. You need to make some progress every few runs if you want enough materials to power Melinoe up further, after all, and that means making smart choices about which room to tackle next and what to do once you’re in there. If you’re low on health, for example, don’t pick the room with a mini-boss – denoted by a skull icon under the main icon – no matter how tempting the boon may be. Do pick the room with a Centaur Heart to give Melinoe an extra health cushion.

Careful, cautious approaches also let you observe how enemies – especially bosses – act, so you can plan accordingly and not die next time. Maybe. Hopefully.

Run for your life

Melinoe's sprint makes her invincible for roughly a second, and if you hold the button or key down, you can continue running indefinitely, though the invincibility effect won't continue applying until you stop running and sprint again.

Use your sprint to get away from tight spaces and push through enemies surrounding you, but also think carefully about when and how you use it. There’s a short recovery time before you can sprint again, and the last thing you want is to escape one bad situation just to land in another.

Spam your cast

Zagreus’ cast was just kind of there, but Melinoe’s is much better. It conjures a magic circle that freezes foes in place, and the omega version damages trapped foes. Even without the damage effect, it’s impossible to understate how essential Melinoe’s cast is. You can use it to stop fast foes while you deal with them from afar, create bottlenecks by blocking paths, or just give yourself a chance to retreat and plan your next move. Use it frequently to help control the battlefield. 

Use magic freely

Melinoe’s omega attacks – charged versions of her cast, special, and basic attacks – cost magic, and quite a bit of it. Using them too often or at the wrong time might put you in a situation where you need the extra power and can’t access it, but you should still use them. 

Unlike health and armor, Melinoe’s magic meter replenishes fully when you enter a new room, so there’s no reason not to use them (wisely). If you find you frequently run out of magic and prefer an omega-heavy playstyle, consider investing in magic-oriented tarot cards or prioritizing rooms that increase Melinoe’s maximum magic during a run.

Make sure to keep track of your boons as well. Some that buff your omega attacks also make them cost more magic than usual.

Remember the cauldron

Unlocking incantations at the cauldron is the main way you’ll upgrade the Crossroads – that’s your base – and improvements go far beyond just changing how the area looks. Incantations bring new merchants to the Crossroads, add helpful locations and boons in the Underworld, and even increase the healing you receive from wells. The number of incantations available to you is quite limited when the cauldron finishes its purification ritual, but check back after a run to see if anything fresh is bubbling away in there.

There's a lot to learn in Hades 2, but these handy tips should set you on the right path in your first few hours.

Josh Broadwell

Contributing Editor

Josh is a freelance writer and reporter who specializes in guides, reviews, and whatever else he can convince someone to commission. You may have seen him on NPR, IGN, Polygon, or VG 24/7 or on Twitter, shouting about Trails. When he isn’t working, you’ll likely find him outside with his Belgian Malinois and Australian Shepherd or curled up with an RPG of some description.