How To Get All Familiars And Upgrade Them In Hades 2

Travelling through the world of Hades 2 is a lonely, arduous task. Between fields of nasties, ships of the undead, and brutal rock concerts, Melinoe does not have a very enviable task, and it’s a shame she has to do it all alone. Or does she?

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She does not! One particular incantation will grant Melinoe a certain item that allows her to turn furry (or slimy!) friends into Animal Familiars. These companions will be very useful on her journey, providing myriad boons and proving themselves very useful friends. If you’ve ever wanted to take along a massive frog to a fight, you’re in the right place.

Updated March 8, 2025: We’ve updated this guide to reflect the War Song Update, adding the locations and abilities of Gale as well as updated procedures on how to find Lotus for Witch’s Delight crafting.

How To Get Animal Familiars

The first step to unlocking Animal Familiars is to encounter a certain feline in Erebus – she will appear in a fountain room, which must be unlocked via an incantation that will unlock automatically once you’ve made enough progress in the game.

It’s a simple process:

• Cast the Woodsy Lifespring incantation to unlock fountain rooms in Erebus.
• Encounter the cat in a fountain room in Erebus.
• Use the Tablet of Peace at least twice in your runs.
• Conversations with Hecate will then unlock the Faith of Familiar Spirits incantation, which you should unlock. This will grant you a Witch’s Delight, the item used to tame and upgrade familiars.

Once you have Familiars unlocked, you will also be able to create more Witch’s Delights using alchemy at the cauldron. These cost one Star Dust and two Lotus per pair of Witch’s Delight, so they’re quite valuable.

There are currently four Animal Familiars in the game:

Frinos the Frog	Simply feed him a Witch’s Delight. He is always beside the sigil where Melinoe spawns after ending a night.
Toula the Cat	Find her in the transitional area between Ephyra and the Rift of Thessaly. She sits on the western edge of the docks and must be fed a Witch’s Delight.
Raki the Raven	Raki is in the fountain area of Erebus to the left of the exit doors (occasionally hard to see because of his small size). You must interact with him first and return on a second night to feed him a Witch’s Delight.
Hecuba the Dog	After finding all above familiars and upgrading at least one of them, you must wait for Hecate to prompt you over. Speak with her to be given permission to recruit Hecuba and Gale. Afterward, Hecuba can be found in Echo’s room in the Fields of Mourning just north and on the plaza between the exit doors. Interact with her first and then return on a second night to feed her a Witch’s Delight.
Gale the Polecat	Much like Hecuba, you must find all three original familiars and talk to Hecate. Afterward, Gale can be found at the end of Mt. Olympus and outside the door to Prometheus’s arena. Talk to her first and return on a second night to persuade Gale to join you with a Witch’s Delight.

How To Find Lotus To Make Witch’s Delights

With Major Update 2.0’s overhaul of spawn-rates for resources, Lotus has become slightly harder to find – an unfortunate result of increasing the chances of all other items except Flora. Lotus only grows in Oceanus (the second realm of the Tartarus path).

The most common rooms you’ll find Lotus are:

• The entry, realm-transition room
• Narcissus’s room

To increase your chances of finding Lotus, you’ll want Gale with you. A fast strategy would be to use your Lotus to unlock the other familiars and then Gale. Afterward, use your delights to increase Gale’s Flora chance. You’ll be able to farm Lotus – and therefore Witch’s Delights – for the entire group faster with this method.

How To Upgrade Familiars

At the Crossroads training grounds, you can Pet and feed your familiars Witch’s Delights. These treats will allow you to upgrade one of their skills by one rank, with each skill having three ranks maximum.

Without any upgrades whatsoever, your Familiars provide the following buffs:

• Frinos provides you with +10 extra Life and will cause more shades to spawn more often. He will also leap around you, which can be used to block projectile attacks and hop on enemies for small damage.
• Toula provides you with an extra Death Defiance use, will cause more fishing spots to appear during a run, and will attack enemies once every time you sprint or dodge through her.
• Raki provides you with extra Critical Hit chance, will cause more outcroppings to appear during a run, and will attack enemies to deal light damage and Mark them frequently.
• Hecuba increases your Magicka reserves by +15, spawns more digging spots on runs, and will stun enemies with her barks.
• Gale protects you with the ability to block damage and retaliate three times, causes more grown resources to appear, and increases your dodge change.

Each Familiar has different skills that are provided passively, as explained in the table below.

Each upgrade requires one Witch’s Delight.

Ability	Rank 1	Rank 2	Rank 3
Frinos
Life Bond	Frinos provides +20 Life.	Frinos provides +30 Life.	Frinos provides +40 Life.
Soul Bond	Frinos will make Lost Shades appear +25% more often.	Frinos will make Lost Shades appear +50% more often.	Frinos will make Lost Shades appear +75% more often.
Strength Bond	Frinos deals 10 damage when landing on foes after a leap.	Frinos deals 20 damage when landing on foes after a leap.	Frinos deals 30 damage when landing on foes after a leap.
Toula
Heart Bond	Death Defiances from Toula restore +10 Life.	Death Defiances from Toula restore +20 Life.	Death Defiances from Toula restore +30 Life.
Soul Bond	Toula will make fishing spots appear 25% more often.	Toula will make fishing spots appear 50% more often.	Toula will make fishing spots appear 75% more often.
Claw Bond	Toula strikes 1 more time before losing interest.	Toula strikes 2 more times before losing interest.	Toula strikes 3 more times before losing interest.
Raki
Blood Bond	Gain an additional +1% chance for Critical damage.	Gain an additional +2% chance for Critical damage.	Gain an additional +3% chance for Critical damage.
Stone Bond	Raki will make outcroppings appear 25% more often.	Raki will make outcroppings appear 50% more often.	Raki will make outcroppings appear 75% more often.
Wing Bond	Raki attacks foes 25% more often, having a chance to Mark them.	Raki attacks foes 50% more often, having a chance to Mark them.	Raki attacks foes 75% more often, having a chance to Mark them.
Hecuba
Spirit Bond	Hecuba provides +15 Magicka.	Hecuba provides +15 Magicka.	Hecuba provides +15 Magicka.
Earth Bond	Hecuba will make digging spots appear 25% more often.	Hecuba will make digging spots appear 50% more often.	Hecuba will make digging spots appear 75% more often.
Guard Bond	Hecuba stuns surrounding foes 15% more often.	Hecuba stuns surrounding foes 30% more often,	Hecuba stuns surrounding foes 50% more often.
Gale
Veil Bond	Gale increases your dodge chance by 4%.	Gale increases your dodge chance by 5%.	Gale increases your dodge chance by 6%.
Nature Bond	Gale will make Flora appear 13% more often.	Gale will make Flora appear 13% more often.	Gale will make Flora appear 13% more often.
Wild Bond	Gale deals 250 damage on a retaliation.	Gale deals 300 damage on a retaliation.	Gale deals 350 damage on a retaliation.

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