Hades II (Early Access) | OT | Helldiver

[BobSaac2]

I've been playing non-stop for the last 4 days, to the point it's affecting my work productivity, but who cares.

The scaling early on is a lot slower than Hades 1, but I actually liked it because there's more variety in content and plenty of things to chase.

At first, I was a bit frustrated, because it seemed like the combos/powers were a lot weaker than Hades 1, but as soon as I started to get a better understanding of a few combinations, it was a blast.

As of the last runs, I started to run only with Sister Blades with Aspect of Pan (ironic, because IK fucking hated the weapon before Aspect of Pan). Any combination with Fire and/or Water just destroys everything. Now I need to try other things because everything else I tried before doesn't feel as good.

 

[Sande]

I can imagine the resource RNG getting annoying. Like I've seen Chaos about 5 times in 15 hours (why is it so rare anyway?), and the associated mining resource once. Would be kind of annoying to run into it without a pickaxe.

 

[Metroidvania]

Weapon stuff: Unlock, yes. Upgrade, no. As for the unlock conditions, I have no idea. I think it's just having all the weapons unlocked as eventually I got an incantation to unlock them after that point.

Unlock triggers are a complete mystery to me for most things, though. I've seen people talk about having familiars, and I have a material that alludes to that, but I've not seen a way to unlock that yet!

Click to shrink...

I googled it, in case you were curious:

for weapon unlocks, it's just

Spoiler

doing a run with each weapon, and THEN doing one more run (which is what I hadn't done) - then the next hecate boss fight will have a pre-battle conversation about the aspects

For your second aspect...

Spoiler

You need to make it to Hecate with each of the foraging tools (except the rod, I think) at least once - as well as find the cat resting in Erebus (which can only happen after unlocking the 'mid-run fountain room' in Erebus, and 'talk' to the cat 3 or 4 times - then Hecate will have another/similar conversation, which opens up the invocation

edit:

I can imagine the resource RNG getting annoying. Like I've seen Chaos about 5 times in 15 hours (why is it so rare anyway?), and the associated mining resource once. Would be kind of annoying to run into it without a pickaxe.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, I just unlocked the fishing rod, and I've gone from seeing 2-3 fishing spots per zone, to now barely even finding one, lol.

Definitely could see a similar situation with seeds (which seem to be not possible to get unless you grab the mystery seed demeter blessing), especially once you can start planting 4 at a time, but only 'acquire' one per dig, and only otherwise in the 'conversation partner' in zone 2.

 

[S1kkZ]

was there a patch that broke the game? everytime i start, it gives me "please verify the integrity of your game files". i do that in steam but the issue remains.
edit: had to reinstall the game but now it works again. i hope this is not something that will hapen after every new update.

 

[Lump]

And boy does it run so well. Little to no fan use and good battery usage.

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There should be a level above Steam Deck Verified, like Steam Deck Supreme, because that is what Hades II is even in Early Access

 

[Wunder]

This game is crazy fun; it's wild how exciting it is when you just stumble upon a certain combo of boons and suddenly what was once a mishmash of crappy things harmonizes into a killing machine. I still feel really fragile but still need to prioritize damage so most of my builds have been glass cannon-y but I've only really had one or two "dud" runs where nothing comes together and I hit like a pool noodle by stage 4.

 

[spacer]

I finally got around to buying the game on Steam. Just have to ride out a few more work meetings and then I will be able to dive in. LFG

 

[dipship31]

So I've been struggling quite a bit, mostly dying at the lvl 1 or 2 boss, but finally last night had a big run and got all the way to

Spoiler: Boss

Chronos

beat the first phase easily and then insta died on the 2nd phase. That's supposed to happen right? Like there was no way to avoid that?

 

[Beardlini]

So I've been struggling quite a bit, mostly dying at the lvl 1 or 2 boss, but finally last night had a big run and got all the way to

Spoiler: Boss

Chronos

beat the first phase easily and then insta died on the 2nd phase. That's supposed to happen right? Like there was no way to avoid that?

Click to shrink...

There is.

 

[Animus Vox]

I've been trying to make the torches weapon work and I think I have but it's such a mana guzzler. To put out comparable damage to other weapons you have to spend quite a bit. I discovered that you could spawn multiple flames that spin around you but at 20MP per cast and they don't really last that long. If you have a near infinite supply this is ok. On my last run I got a boon perk that refills mana completely but reducing or "priming" to some amount which after upgrades was like 3 each time, drop in the bucket (e.g. if your pool is 100 and you deplete, it would refill up to 97, deplete that then 94, etc). This also reset after moving locations so it ended up being quite a good ability.

The main problem with the weapon is still the main attack. You're so vulnerable while attacking and the projectiles still have to travel and aren't very wide so they'd often miss enemies unless they're directly in the line of fire. The omega main attack takes too long kick in, after which you're hemorrhaging 5 mana per cast of acceptable damage, but it's also a little quicker. You're still exposed though since you move slower and fire only in one direction.

I really hope they still improve this because it's an otherwise boring weapon.

 

[Pumpkins]

I've been trying to make the torches weapon work and I think I have but it's such a mana guzzler. To put out comparable damage to other weapons you have to spend quite a bit. I discovered that you could spawn multiple flames that spin around you but at 20MP per cast and they don't really last that long. If you have a near infinite supply this is ok. On my last run I got a boon perk that refills mana completely but reducing or "priming" to some amount which after upgrades was like 3 each time, drop in the bucket (e.g. if your pool is 100 and you deplete, it would refill up to 97, deplete that then 94, etc). This also reset after moving locations so it ended up being quite a good ability.

The main problem with the weapon is still the main attack. You're so vulnerable while attacking and the projectiles still have to travel and aren't very wide so they'd often miss enemies unless they're directly in the line of fire. The omega main attack takes too long kick in, after which you're hemorrhaging 5 mana per cast of acceptable damage, but it's also a little quicker. You're still exposed though since you move slower and fire only in one direction.

I really hope they still improve this because it's an otherwise boring weapon.

Click to shrink...

I'm glad it's not just me. I tried the torches the other night and I just could not jive with them.

I think in theory they are interesting, but they feel a bit lackluster compared to the other weapons.

I often felt that I couldn't proc the long press attack button move often enough to do significant damage. I feel like enemies in Hades 2 move a lot more and also pursue you more than in Hades 1, so anything that impedes movement puts you at a significant disadvantage.

 

[MoonlitSeer]

I googled it, in case you were curious:

for weapon unlocks, it's just

Spoiler

doing a run with each weapon, and THEN doing one more run (which is what I hadn't done) - then the next hecate boss fight will have a pre-battle conversation about the aspects

For your second aspect...

Spoiler

You need to make it to Hecate with each of the foraging tools (except the rod, I think) at least once - as well as find the cat resting in Erebus (which can only happen after unlocking the 'mid-run fountain room' in Erebus, and 'talk' to the cat 3 or 4 times - then Hecate will have another/similar conversation, which opens up the invocation

edit:



Yeah, I just unlocked the fishing rod, and I've gone from seeing 2-3 fishing spots per zone, to now barely even finding one, lol.

Definitely could see a similar situation with seeds (which seem to be not possible to get unless you grab the mystery seed demeter blessing), especially once you can start planting 4 at a time, but only 'acquire' one per dig, and only otherwise in the 'conversation partner' in zone 2.

Click to shrink...

Oh that makes sense! I haven't tried using them all yet, I'll give it a try and see what happens.

I've been trying to make the torches weapon work and I think I have but it's such a mana guzzler. To put out comparable damage to other weapons you have to spend quite a bit. I discovered that you could spawn multiple flames that spin around you but at 20MP per cast and they don't really last that long. If you have a near infinite supply this is ok. On my last run I got a boon perk that refills mana completely but reducing or "priming" to some amount which after upgrades was like 3 each time, drop in the bucket (e.g. if your pool is 100 and you deplete, it would refill up to 97, deplete that then 94, etc). This also reset after moving locations so it ended up being quite a good ability.

The main problem with the weapon is still the main attack. You're so vulnerable while attacking and the projectiles still have to travel and aren't very wide so they'd often miss enemies unless they're directly in the line of fire. The omega main attack takes too long kick in, after which you're hemorrhaging 5 mana per cast of acceptable damage, but it's also a little quicker. You're still exposed though since you move slower and fire only in one direction.

I really hope they still improve this because it's an otherwise boring weapon.

Click to shrink...

Agreed. I really wish it was more like how Hecate uses them. She's WAY cooler.

 

[Wunder]

I've been trying to make the torches weapon work and I think I have but it's such a mana guzzler. To put out comparable damage to other weapons you have to spend quite a bit. I discovered that you could spawn multiple flames that spin around you but at 20MP per cast and they don't really last that long. If you have a near infinite supply this is ok. On my last run I got a boon perk that refills mana completely but reducing or "priming" to some amount which after upgrades was like 3 each time, drop in the bucket (e.g. if your pool is 100 and you deplete, it would refill up to 97, deplete that then 94, etc). This also reset after moving locations so it ended up being quite a good ability.

The main problem with the weapon is still the main attack. You're so vulnerable while attacking and the projectiles still have to travel and aren't very wide so they'd often miss enemies unless they're directly in the line of fire. The omega main attack takes too long kick in, after which you're hemorrhaging 5 mana per cast of acceptable damage, but it's also a little quicker. You're still exposed though since you move slower and fire only in one direction.

I really hope they still improve this because it's an otherwise boring weapon.

Click to shrink...

Had a decent Apollo-focused run. Mostly spammed Special without the Omega with a duo boon with Hephaestus that made my sprint feel like an extra attack. So I was mostly running around and avoiding attacks and then spamming a few balls that hit super hard. I thought the 3rd boss would be the end since it was such a short range playstyle but it worked out.

 

[LProtagonist]

Finally beat him. Used the axe.

 

[TheCthultist]

Ended up making Scylla's songs my ringtone and my morning alarm, respectively. What a wild boss fight with genuinely amazing music. Think it has unseated Hades from the original game as my favorite Super Giant boss fight.

 

[Tsunami561]

How much did they pack into this game?!

 

[Draper]

I wish Sony offered early access. I bought it on steam deck but I kinda wanna play on the big screen

 

[Brodo Baggins]

I can imagine the resource RNG getting annoying. Like I've seen Chaos about 5 times in 15 hours (why is it so rare anyway?), and the associated mining resource once. Would be kind of annoying to run into it without a pickaxe.

Click to shrink...

Yeah I don't really get why they make you pick one particular tool for each run when you aren't guaranteed to get those resources in the first place.

Feels like you should just have to unlock the tools and maybe slightly reduce the # found to more evenly spread across runs.

 

[chipperrip]

Whoa! Any "refresh on fountain" effects work on the special fountain rooms you can unlock for each region ("duh", but also I didn't consider it). Makes the Selene heal hex even stronger (it refreshes uses on fountain use, and can even stack them with one of the upgrades (fountain refresh can exceed cap if you already have charges).

I'd really clowned up my health pool on a winning run in the final biome, only to proc a fountain room and get all my heal charges back.

 

[zeldor711]

Finished my 5th run and made it past Scylla by the skin of my teeth. Awesome boss fight overall, maybe a bit too much HP (or I was just underpowered)!

I'm really vibing with the Omega attacks and taking as much mana regen as possible. Haven't been too impressed with most of the boons I've seen so far, but I really like the variety and I think the meat will be with synergies between boons and more flexibility.

Getting yeeted to Asphodel was awesome, cool way to trigger nostalgia, introduce a new mechanic as well as Chronos himself!

 

[NabiscoFelt]

Whoa! Any "refresh on fountain" effects work on the special fountain rooms you can unlock for each region ("duh", but also I didn't consider it). Makes the Selene heal hex even stronger (it refreshes uses on fountain use, and can even stack them with one of the upgrades (fountain refresh can exceed cap if you already have charges).

I'd really clowned up my health pool on a winning run in the final biome, only to proc a fountain room and get all my heal charges back.

Click to shrink...

Yeah both my winning runs so far I had like 10+ healing charges going into the final fight

Didn't even end up needing more than like 3 but it's really comforting having that safety net

 

[ozumas]

I didn't know you can upgrade the arcane so easily.... but the game doesn't explain to you either, like the UI might get some work or tutorials. I have been playing with the 10 limit all time

 

[Rickyrozay2o9]

I didn't know you can upgrade the arcane so easily.... but the game doesn't explain to you either, like the UI might get some work or tutorials. I have been playing with the 10 limit all time

Click to shrink...

How do you do it because so have I.

 

[Beardlini]

I didn't know you can upgrade the arcane so easily.... but the game doesn't explain to you either, like the UI might get some work or tutorials. I have been playing with the 10 limit all time

Click to shrink...

A lot of people are having the same issue. It's definitely something they need to make more noticeable.


I had the same issue with the "Shadow" items later on lol.

 

[Sande]

I don't get the Umbral Flames at all. Zero damage and they practically lock you in place. The skull just seems strictly superior in every imaginable way as far as ranged weapons go. I haven't had a chance to test the aspects yet though.

I didn't know you can upgrade the arcane so easily.... but the game doesn't explain to you either, like the UI might get some work or tutorials. I have been playing with the 10 limit all time

Click to shrink...

Yeah, that menu is a mess. Nothing looks clickable, yet everything is.

How do you do it because so have I.

Click to shrink...

It's on the right in the Arcana menu.

 

[ozumas]

How do you do it because so have I.

Click to shrink...

So individual arcane upgrades are explained and you have to get a permanent upgrade in the caudrol thing but the Arcane limit you have to press the right button in the menu and it says you can upgrade with the green material. I can upload a screenshot for you if you don't find it

 

[Rickyrozay2o9]

It's on the right in the Arcana menu.

Click to shrink...

So individual arcane upgrades are explained and you have to get a permanent upgrade in the caudrol thing but the Arcane limit you have to press the right button in the menu and it says you can upgrade with the green material. I can upload a screenshot for you if you don't find it

Click to shrink...

That's wild, I have literally been wondering how you do this for 12 hours and I figured you'd use the green material for it but I assumed it wasn't available to me yet. Thank you.

 

[ANNeFRANKxGOKU]

resource collection improves dramatically as you play

 

[Wtfpigeons]

I googled it, in case you were curious:

for weapon unlocks, it's just

Spoiler

doing a run with each weapon, and THEN doing one more run (which is what I hadn't done) - then the next hecate boss fight will have a pre-battle conversation about the aspects

For your second aspect...

Spoiler

You need to make it to Hecate with each of the foraging tools (except the rod, I think) at least once - as well as find the cat resting in Erebus (which can only happen after unlocking the 'mid-run fountain room' in Erebus, and 'talk' to the cat 3 or 4 times - then Hecate will have another/similar conversation, which opens up the invocation

edit:



Yeah, I just unlocked the fishing rod, and I've gone from seeing 2-3 fishing spots per zone, to now barely even finding one, lol.

Definitely could see a similar situation with seeds (which seem to be not possible to get unless you grab the mystery seed demeter blessing), especially once you can start planting 4 at a time, but only 'acquire' one per dig, and only otherwise in the 'conversation partner' in zone 2.

Click to shrink...

It's not to do with the foraging weapons as I've only used two of them and have all the aspects.

 

[Nelo Ice]

Finally beat Chronos! And it took the about the same number of attempts it took me to beat Hades for the first time so 30 lol. As it turns out defense was key cuz having increased sprint and dash made me nearly untouchable.

 

[WizdogC]

After 30 hours have officially beaten all the bosses currently available. Originally when I started I felt like the balance for some of the bosses was off, but honestly after playing this long they kinda feel correct. Especially because like others have said, my time to get to similar progress level in Hades 1 was about this length of time too. And with this game actually having more content, it seems to line up correctly.

Either way, all bosses beaten, all cauldron upgrades unlocked (that are currently possible), so rather than grind for random weapon/tool upgrades or for arcana cards I haven't already maxed out, I think I'll take a bit of a break until the next major update is released.

 

[zashga]

Awesome game already in EA, no surprise. I both love and hate that it dropped out of nowhere on a Monday; I'll finally have a bit more time to play it over the weekend.

Looking forward to the steady drip of new content through the rest of the year.

 

[Animus Vox]

The axe with any form of continuous energy regen is like instawin with the omega attack. Spin to win.

 

[kmadison]

has anyone else's game been bugged out by what feels like a jammed button on controller? I've had this happen many times now where Melinoe gets stuck in some pose and I can move but not all controls work. My current timed run now ends as I can't (rb) to collect reward :(

 

[Derbel McDillet]

Oh wow ... they got me to care about the dash strike. Got a hammer boon that has one strike knock 60% of armor.

 

[Derbel McDillet]

The tricky part of this game is finding the line between "they need to tweak" vs "get good" because half the stuff I was unsure about initially I've totally made work for me.

 

[Boopers]

has anyone else's game been bugged out by what feels like a jammed button on controller? I've had this happen many times now where Melinoe gets stuck in some pose and I can move but not all controls work. My current timed run now ends as I can't (rb) to collect reward :(

Click to shrink...

That happened to me during the tutorial run starting the game. Was confusing because I thought the game was doing it on purpose.

 

[Metroidvania]

has anyone else's game been bugged out by what feels like a jammed button on controller? I've had this happen many times now where Melinoe gets stuck in some pose and I can move but not all controls work. My current timed run now ends as I can't (rb) to collect reward :(

Click to shrink...

My controller bugged out on zone 3 boss, to where I could not move unless I was already dashing - I think it was in response/while I was charging an omega move of some kind.

Moving to the next floor fixed it, but it was NOT fun for the rest of that boss fight.

 

[kmadison]

My controller bugged out on zone 3 boss, to where I could not move unless I was already dashing - I think it was in response/while I was charging an omega move of some kind.

Moving to the next floor fixed it, but it was NOT fun for the rest of that boss fight.

Click to shrink...

I've had that happen too... part of the upgraded pact of punishment i guess. Bugs cannot be stopped :)

 

[WizdogC]

My controller bugged out on zone 3 boss, to where I could not move unless I was already dashing - I think it was in response/while I was charging an omega move of some kind.

Moving to the next floor fixed it, but it was NOT fun for the rest of that boss fight.

Click to shrink...

Yup, exact same thing happened to me. Luckily not in a boss fight but a regular encounter. Fixed itself once I left the location lol.

Also, idk if it's a bug, but on one of my runs, half way through the pitch for the voice for Melinoe went low. And then on the following run, halfway through, her pitch went really high. I couldn't tell if it was a bug or if it's intentional lol.

Also I lied, I said I'd stop playing and take a break now that I've beaten all the bosses multiple times. But the game is so addictive lol.

 

[Derbel McDillet]

With Scorch (cast) and Freeze (attack) and that double curse attack bonus at 38%, I can pretty much take down the first and second boss like they're Meg and the Hydra.

Downside is, I'm still a bit fragile and operating off 49/125 health going into Area 3, so this clearly isn't gonna be a the run to do it, but let's see how far I can go.

 

[Metroidvania]

Yup, exact same thing happened to me. Luckily not in a boss fight but a regular encounter. Fixed itself once I left the location lol.

Also, idk if it's a bug, but on one of my runs, half way through the pitch for the voice for Melinoe went low. And then on the following run, halfway through, her pitch went really high. I couldn't tell if it was a bug or if it's intentional lol.

Also I lied, I said I'd stop playing and take a break now that I've beaten all the bosses multiple times. But the game is so addictive lol.

Click to shrink...

Not sure if related, but Mel's voice will change in tone when sapped by one of the zone 3 'clouds'/bubbles, or when she takes her alternate form with Selene's (underpowered, even with invulnerability) transformation hex.

The tricky part of this game is finding the line between "they need to tweak" vs "get good" because half the stuff I was unsure about initially I've totally made work for me.

Click to shrink...

IDK if it's 'get gud' so much as 'keep playing and unlocking new shit/powering up shit', but....I imagine they MIGHT lower some of the arcana upgrade material costs - those starting getting REAL demanding, real fast.

Yeah, I'm admittedly curious on this as well - if boss health bars truly stop becoming a problem that's great...

BUT, I don't remember Lerny or the zone 3 duo having NEARLY as much time spent in those zones compared to Scylla or Zone 3 boss, even in the 'recent' beginning when I replayed through the whole game on Steam.

(They did admittedly nerf the # of heads needed for each Lerny phase at some point, iirc)

But, I don't have the 'two-curses = 25-50% more damage' arcana active yet, or any aspects powered up yet, so....who knows.

If one of the dagger boons truly is increasing the # of projectiles flung with special, that build's gonna get obscene.

Incidentally (and probably not even the case), something that kinda-sorta looks like Zag's mirror is present on the training grounds, albeit not-interactable.

 

[Gero]

I hope this game has those boss modifiers that changes the bosses a bit.

 

[Kyra]

The only weapons that feel good to use are sister blades and witches staff. I want to like the axe but I just feel like if I'm not dash striking I am not playing that thing right.

 

[Rickyrozay2o9]

I hope this game has those boss modifiers that changes the bosses a bit.

Click to shrink...

They definitely have more patterns the more you fight them which is pretty dope.

 

[WizdogC]

Not sure if related, but Mel's voice will change in tone when sapped by one of the zone 3 'clouds'/bubbles, or when she takes her alternate form with Selene's (underpowered, even with invulnerability) transformation hex.

Click to shrink...

That could be it. It might have just gotten mixed up and started playing the voice under those modifiers. Interesting nonetheless.

The tricky part of this game is finding the line between "they need to tweak" vs "get good" because half the stuff I was unsure about initially I've totally made work for me.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, I was feeling slightly frustrated at the very beginning but honestly got into a pretty good rhythm within 2-5 hours. And at this point I've gotten to the point where I have most of the bosses move sets figured and maybe use one death defiance through a run and usually because I get a bit impatient and too aggressive and get hit by big boss moves.

I do agree with the grindy feeling of collecting resources, especially with their low drop rates coupled with the fact you can use only one tool per run. What I ended up doing was just looking at which resources and which locations they're in and then doing runs there but without the intention of farming resources but more so getting to bosses and learning their move sets. I was pretty much farming but changing my mindset about the intention of the run helped alleviate my annoyance. That's a terrible way to go about it lmao, but it kinda worked for me. It's early access and that's what this is all for, to give them feedback to tweak the mechanics. So I'm super forgiving about it all.

 

[Derbel McDillet]

Not sure if related, but Mel's voice will change in tone when sapped by one of the zone 3 'clouds'/bubbles, or when she takes her alternate form with Selene's (underpowered, even with invulnerability) transformation hex.



IDK if it's 'get gud' so much as 'keep playing and unlocking new shit/powering up shit', but....I imagine they MIGHT lower some of the arcana upgrade material costs - those starting getting REAL demanding, real fast.

Yeah, I'm admittedly curious on this as well - if boss health bars truly stop becoming a problem that's great...

BUT, I don't remember Lerny or the zone 3 duo having NEARLY as much time spent in those zones compared to Scylla or Zone 3 boss, even in the 'recent' beginning when I replayed through the whole game on Steam.

(They did admittedly nerf the # of heads needed for each Lerny phase at some point, iirc)

But, I don't have the 'two-curses = 25-50% more damage' arcana active yet, or any aspects powered up yet, so....who knows.

If one of the dagger boons truly is increasing the # of projectiles flung with special, that build's gonna get obscene.

Incidentally (and probably not even the case), something that kinda-sorta looks like Zag's mirror is present on the training grounds, albeit not-interactable.

Click to shrink...

Get good as in figure out boon synergy. Or just triple down on a single God. Once the abilities start stacking, they stack.

 

[WizdogC]

The only weapons that feel good to use are sister blades and witches staff. I want to like the axe but I just feel like if I'm not dash striking I am not playing that thing right.

Click to shrink...

I pretty much ignored the "Special" move for the first 20 hours. And then when I used the axe, it's special (shield and then AOE) is what has carried me to like 5 completed runs. It honestly is a little broken but I'm not complaining. I literally just rely on it and the regular attack of the axe is like a backup strat after both the Special and the Cast.

They definitely have more patterns the more you fight them which is pretty dope.

Click to shrink...

I was pleasantly surprised by this. Really made the repeated fights feel fresh. Loved the variety.

 

[Derbel McDillet]

Spoiler Spoilers

Spoiler

That Hades flashback was something I wouldn't have expected until like 1.0 if at all honestly, holy crap.

 

[WizdogC]

Spoiler Spoilers

Spoiler

That Hades flashback was something I wouldn't have expected until like 1.0 if at all honestly, holy crap.

Click to shrink...

Spoiler: Story Related

Yeah, that one and even the one that happens earlier. I don't remember the first game having anything like that, let alone playing as a different character. I'm loving all the small surprises the devs have thrown in, like (spoiler for semi early story/gameplay surprise) Chronos throwing you back into Asphodel early on and having to fight through an encounter location from the first game