The Most Overpowered Builds In Hades 2

Hades 2 has been in Early Access for some time now, and in that time players have been busy theory-crafting how best to take down the Titan of Time with each run. Building off its predecessor and then some, the hell-flavored roguelike grants its protagonist Melinoë a plethora of various tools to mix and match, chief among them the Nocturnal Arms and the various Boons from the Olympian relatives.

These five Boon types are Attack, Special, Cast, Dash, and Magick Restoration; save for exceptions like Hermes and Artemis, every Olympian provides one of each kind of Boon. Additional kinds of Boons, such as those that Prime a certain amount of the player’s Magick at the start of each encounter, will also be listed here.

This article will highlight at least one build for each of the five Nocturnal Arms that are (thus far) available to players in the game’s current build. Excluding Hermes and Artemis, the player can also only encounter a maximum of four Olympians each time most runs, which is accounted for in this list.

If a certain Boon is listed as ‘Any’, it means that the Boon of any of the four Olympians listed alongside the weapon can work as part of the build.

Updated December 6, 2024 by Erik Petrovich: With the Olympic update for Hades 2 the best builds have expanded with the addition of one new Nocturnal Arm: the Black Coat. Though some of Hades 2 best builds can definitely break the game in unexpected ways, the best Black Coat builds just about beat out all other weapons – if you can keep up with its fast-paced combat gameplay and maximize your boons. This guide to the most overpowered builds in Hades 2 has been updated to include a build for the Black Coat that relies heavily on Zeus and Poseidon boons, empowering its rapid attacks and aimed specials to overwhelm enemies.

1 Descura, The Witch’s Staff

Olympians: Demeter, Hephaestus, Aphrodite, Zeus/Hestia

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• Attack: Ice Strike (Demeter)
• Special: Volcanic Flourish (Hephaestus)
• Cast: Rapture Ring (Aphrodite) or Arctic Ring (Demeter)
• Dash: Any
• Magick Restoration: Any
• Additional Boons: Room Temperature (Demeter/Hephaestus), Glowing Coal (Hestia)/Lightning Lance (Zeus), Static Shock (Zeus)

As the first weapon available to the daughter of Hades, Descura sets the bar fairly high for the rest of the Nocturnal Arms, providing quick, reliable, and far-reaching DPS that can handle foes up close just as well as it can at range. This particular build highlights Descura’s versatile nature through a choice of either close or long-ranged attacks combined with a Cast that will keep enemies bunched together.

This build is all about grouping nearby enemies together using Melinoë’s Cast, then freezing them all at once using a Boon from Demeter – either Ice Strike or Arctic Ring works nicely here. After that, a Volcanic Flourish courtesy of Hephaestus is lobbed at the now bunched-up frozen statues to deal a massive burst of damage between them – and (if the powerful Duo Boon Room Temperature has been obtained) immediately reset the timer on her freeze effects. Rinse, repeat, and enemies will shatter like glass.

The biggest highlight of this build is its incredible flexibility, as it is as much at full strength up close as it is from a safe distance away. Additionally, there is no pressing need for Magick in any of this build, save for perhaps use in Omega Attacks, which frees up the Magick Bar to be used on Boons that Prime powerful effects (such as Aphrodite’s Secret Crush). Lastly, the fourth Olympian needed to complete this build can be either Zeus or Hestia, provided the player obtains either the Glowing Coal or Lightning Lance Boon. With either, the player can now fire off their Casts from a distance, enabling them to safely group enemies without risking melee damage.

2 Lim And Oros, The Sister Blades

Olympians: Zeus, Hestia, Apollo, Aphrodite

• Attack: Heaven Strike (Zeus) or Flutter Strike (Aphrodite)
• Special: Flame Flourish (Hestia) or Flutter Flourish (Aphrodite)
• Cast: Any
• Dash: Soot Sprint (Hestia)
• Magick Restoration: Lucid Gain (Apollo), Hearth Gain (Hestia), or Glamour Gain (Aphrodite)
• Additional Boons: Super Nova (Apollo), Static Shock (Zeus), Glorious Disaster (Apollo/Zeus)

For the most part, Lim and Oros are a close-range multi-attack duo that rack up damage through a continuous barrage of Attacks and Specials. This build capitalizes on the weapon’s rapid-fire offense by pairing it with Boons only made stronger the more times they hit their target.

Key to this build’s success is the frequent use of the weapon’s Special, which when fired off at point-blank range can deal massive burst damage to single targets. Combined with the effects of Hestia’s Flame Flourish or Aphrodite’s Flutter Flourish, Melinoë can Dash towards enemies and riddle them with holes.

Though this build has high risk due to its melee nature and isn’t the best at dealing with large hordes of enemies, it also has plenty of tools that let it mitigate at least some of those risks. Soot Sprint can gobble up nearby projectiles as Melinoë closes the distance between herself and her target, and well-timed execution of Lim and Oros’s Omega Attack can let players dodge attacks altogether by teleporting behind the enemy.

3 Ygnium, The Umbral Flames

Olympians: Poseidon, Hephaestus, Zeus, Aphrodite

• Attack: Wave Strike (Poseidon)
• Special: Volcano Flourish (Hephaestus) or Flutter Flourish (Aphrodite)
• Cast: Geyser Wave (Poseidon) or Rapture Ring (Aphrodite)
• Dash: Any
• Magick Restoration: Spirit Bubble (Poseidon) or Fixed Gain (Hephaestus)
• Additional Boons: Static Shock (Zeus), Lightning Lance (Zeus), Secret Crush (Aphrodite), Uncanny Fortitude (Hephaestus), Seismic Hammer (Hephaestus/Poseidon), Master Conductor (Hephaestus/Zeus)

Ygnium is a tricky weapon to master, shining exceptionally well as a ranged attacker with the downside of being perhaps the most Magick-dependent weapon in the game thus far. This next build can reliably shred enemies from a safe distance without ever needing to get too close.

To make the best use of this build, players will need to accumulate a lot of Magick over the course of a single run – Uncanny Fortitude is strongly recommended here for this reason, as it will shore up overall defense with a weapon that can prove difficult to dodge with. The reward, however, is well worth it: An ongoing Omega Attack that whacks foes away with the force of a heavy machine gun. Poseidon’s Wave Strike is the star of the show here – though it may seem counter-intuitive to add water to fire, it grants Ygnium a power boost that scales comparatively well to the weapons’s low base attack and keeps the enemy far away thanks to its knockback effect. Furthermore, Volcano or Flutter Flourish rip through anyone who gets too close, and Lightning Lance lets players sling a Cast at range, either grouping enemies together using Rapture Ring or unleashing a burst of damage with Geyser Ring.

4 Zorephet, The Moonstone Axe

Olympians: Aphrodite, Apollo, Hephaestus/Zeus, Demeter

• Attack: Flutter Strike (Aphrodite)
• Special: Any
• Cast: Solar Ring (Apollo), Arctic Ring (Demeter), or Rapture Ring (Aphrodite)
• Dash: Smithy Sprint (Hephaestus)
• Magick Restoration: Glamour Gain (Aphrodite), Fixed Gain (Hephaestus), or Lucid Gain (Apollo)
• Additional Boons: Super Nova (Apollo), Secret Crush (Aphrodite), Weed Killer (Demeter), Static Shock (Zeus), Master Conductor (Zeus/Hephaestus), Uncanny Fortitude (Hephaestus)

Much like the Silver Blades, Zorephet excels at close-quarters combat. The weapon may have a relatively slow attack speed, but its massive damage numbers and wide reach make it perfect for carving through encounters with brutal force. This build can be adjusted to accommodate players’ personal preferences, whether they wish to slowly hack away at opponents or simply plow through them.

Flutter Strike is the main draw for this build, as its massive damage boost will make every Attack land like a freight train. One of this build’s most powerful tools is its Omega Attack – a lethal spin attack that racks up damage fast at the cost of Magick. Boons like Static Shock, Secret Crush, and Weed Killer can make this attack’s power positively skyrocket, though implementing these tools will require hefty investment in Magick upgrades in order to work (in which case picking up Uncanny Fortitude is an excellent idea).

5 Revaal, The Argent Skull

Olympians: Apollo, Hephaestus, Demeter, Hestia

• Attack: Nova Strike (Apollo) or Volcanic Strike (Hephaestus)
• Special: Frost Flourish (Demeter)
• Cast: Geyser Ring (Poseidon) or Arctic Ring (Demeter)
• Dash: Soot Sprint (Hestia)
• Magick Restoration: Hearth Gain (Hestia)
• Additional Boons: Weed Killer (Demeter), Room Temperature (Demeter/Hephaestus)

Revaal offers perhaps the most unique playstyle of all Nocturnal Arms thus far, having Melinoë fire off a limited number of spectral skulls at range before needing to retrieve them in close quarters. This build makes the most of each strike and retrieval, letting players dish out great damage whilst minimizing risk to themselves. Apollo Boons can greatly improve the Argent Skull’s area of effect, while the cooldown intrinsic to Hephaestus’s Boons can synergize well with the weapon’s relatively slow attack speed. Melinoë only gets three skulls at a time before needing to reload, so each and every strike really needs to count.

As for ammo retrieval, there are ways to make it far less painless, chief among them making the best use of the weapon’s Special – a forward lunge that deals great damage when charged, albeit at the cost of Magick. Pairing Frost Flourish and Soot Sprint works wonders here, letting players freeze nearby enemies at them while incinerating wayward projectiles shot from afar. Mixing in a Cast here and there isn’t a bad idea either, as it will immobilize enemies and/or knock them away (granted Geyser Ring was picked up at some point along the way).

6 Xinth, The Black Coat

Olympians: Poseidon, Zeus, Hestia

• Attack: Wave Strike (Poseidon)
• Special: Heaven Flourish (Zeus)
• Cast: Rapture Ring (Aphrodite)
• Dash: Soot Sprint (Hestia) or Breaker Sprint (Poseidon)
• Magick Restoration: Born Gain (Hera)
• Additional Boons: King Tide & Slippery Slope (Poseidon), Static Shock (Zeus), Nimble Limbs (Hermes)

The Black Coat is a new weapon in Hades 2 as of the Olympic Patch for the Hades 2 Early Access. This new weapon is essentially a mech suit for Melinoë: her attacks become powerful close-range punches, and her specials launch missiles that lock onto targets.

Her Omega Attack charges up her fists with Magicka for a single, enormously powerful punch that deals a base 200 Damage in a small area. Her Omega Special lets her load up more missiles to fire and lock onto more targets.

The best Black Coat build in Hades 2 revolves around Poseidon and Zeus’ Wave Strike and Heaven Flourish boons, which deal immense extra damage with Attacks that push enemies back, and cause your missiles to inflict Blitz (which works differently now as of the Olympic patch).

Rapture Ring keeps enemies close together so you can hit more with your rapid punch Attacks or deal more damage to more enemies with your Missiles. Soot Sprint essentially makes you immune to ranged attacks, but Breaker Sprint is a powerful alternative that works well with your other Poseidon boons. Though Magicka is not too important for this build, Born Gain is always worth picking up if you come across Hera.

For additional boons, you should pick up King Tide (which makes your Splash damage even more powerful against Guardians), and Slippery Slope (which inflicts Slip, which lets you deal bonus damage) from Poseidon. Static Shock lets you Prime Magick to make your attacks deal chain lightning damage, and the Hermes boon Nimble Limbs increases your attack speed across the board, significantly boosting your DPS potential with your already-fast attacks.