How to NOT SUCK at Hades | Top 6 Tips 

"at no point should you be mashing your attack buttons" I feel personally called out

all you need to know is: 1. There is no escape 2. Pet Cerberus 3. Blood and Darkness

"Never mash your attack" *My first Hades clear being malphon dash-strike spamming*

Last tip. Get shield. Charge your attack. Never let go. Become invincible immovable. You won't progress at all, but you won't die either. If you can get a stalemate against an opponent that's better than you, it's just as good as winning. Trust me for no reason.

You lacked the most important tip to not suck, "if you are new, focus on getting darkness and keys for the mirror, not winning", without the mirror bonus, its almost impossible to beat

I notice the players i watch rarely use doom or hangover, but they have gotten me thru plenty of rooms and bosses where I felt like I just couldn’t do enough damage fast enough

"don't spam attack" - can't hear you over my athena charge and attack imbued twin fists Zag running around and spamming dash attack. It was the fastest way I got to Hades, but totally didn't work against him (((

I knew this game was a masterpiece when I went into the Hydra battle with 2HP and beat it for the first time. Just like old school shooters or fighting games, you can get in the zone and its so good.

Let's be clear: divine dash is THE BEST boon of them all (for me). I just love it.

Another tip is if you get really bad RNG make the run about getting as much stuff that can be used for upgrades as possible. If you know you’re gonna die at the boss then go for drops and not power ups

Give a nectar to Skelly for an extra death defiance or Cerberus for a Max HP trinket. It helps a lot on those first runs

Step one: Use doom Step two: Upgrade doom Step three: Upgrade doom more Step four: Beat Hades’ Step 5: ??? Step 6: Profit

Divine dash is so great because you don't have to pom it and common rarity is just as good for it to be broken

don't mash you're attack... mash your DASH-attack!

My favorite combo was one that healed me when I hit the enemy+one that made me attack obscenely rapidly. Enemies couldn’t hurt me fast enough to cover my regeneration

#7: dashing gives you i-frames. Dash _attacking_ does not. It took me 11 failed runs to figure that out. Once I did realize it, run 12 was an ezpz full clear.

I reached the butterfly mini boss, I’m so glad I officially don’t suck

How not to suck at Hades: keep playing it. I got destroyed by Meg the first few times I played it, now I can consistently reach and beat Daddy even with Heat points to make it harder. I wouldn't even call myself "good" at Hades, but I'm getting there.

I needed a video like this lmao, I love the game but I’m lowkey awful

Athena's divine attack and dash boones, cannot stress this enough. Especially for the first stage. Meg is so much easier when you're deflecting her own munitions back to her

Tip:The best boon for beginners is from dyonissus. Every fountain replenishes full health and gives more damage. Also as a weapon: the bow with crit and the empowered Special so you have more arrows and Artemis special so you crit each arrow. I got 50 escapes so far

“Don’t mash the attack button” Laughs in Twin Fists

I’ve literally never seen a “Duo Boon”. In my, probably, 50 or so attempts.

I agree 100% with all of these tips, especially on waiting for your opening. This got me into trouble a couple of times early on in my first encounters with Meg. Now I can handle Meg without too much difficulty. I still have to fight my impulse to go in and destroy in some cases. Such a great game though.

Your video was brilliant, I am a person who is severely physically disabled so love to watch people play, they could learn a lot from you thanks

... I actually really like phalanx shot. It does a lot of damage, covers a decent amount of space in front of you, and can reflect multiple times. It’s actually one of my favorite casts.

"Don't just treat it like a beatemup" Cursed Slash would like a word with you.

Personally, I found that, when you're just starting out, Dark Regeneration + Thirsty weapon are a great combo. It means that Sisyphus darkness gift or beating a fury you've killed before will almost completely heal you, AND you're building up your strength for future runs. Similarly, a philosophy: unless you're really good, you'll not beat the game the first time. Don't get frustrated; at the start, Prioritize long-term boosts like darkness, getting an item from each god, and unlocking the first few contracts so you can beat it later.

The butterfly keepsake is good for new players to learn how to not take damage, but becomes a bit worse later on since in high heat you are very likely to take damage and you also can't change your keepsake to something like the lucky tooth or spikes collar or any of those other useful keepsakes. Another thing, my favorite boons are Athena (specifically divine dash), any Artemis crit boons, Dionysus's festive fog and hangover effects, Aphrodite's weak effects and call, and Poseidon's knockback effects and call. There are some other good boons as well, those are just ones I particularly like to get.

I've started the game the other day i was stuck on meg for so long and was frustrated but i found that keeping your distance and slowly attacking and taking advantage of openings is the best way i also found I'd be losing becaue of what she spawns so it's definitely best to get rid of them first. It took me 30? Tries but it gets easier so don't be discouraged :)

I just finished my first playthrough of the game, beating hades and all, when I watched this. I got to the part where he said, if you got to the butterfly boss you don’t suck. Thanks for the confidence boost.(ps fists with aspect of talos mash your special)

"wait for it" *me on a tight 5 min deadline* I LITERALLY CAN'T

Another tip is to always get the hammer upgrade that gives you 2 health for every attack. It sounds bad since it decreases your max health but it's really op I your careful until you can upgrade your max health

Watching some runs on RU-vid will always help. It helped me to find a style of playing which helps a lot. You can see how they deal with certain enemies and learn the patterns by just watching and chilling.

I disagree about hammer over chaos gate. Not because I don't think it's better. (I may be wrong here but) I've noticed that if you skip a hammer room, another hammer room will appear, sometime as the very next room or the room after that. Sometime as one of the rooms in the final set of dungeon. And this is not just the hammer but I have notice that the odds of choices are not as randomized as one may expect.

Watching this after losing my 15 win streak just to see if I agreed with the tips lol. Definitely good points made. A few things I'd add are 1. If you've unlocked most or all of the weapons, give them all a shot and practice with whichever you vibe with most, and don't forget how drastically aspects can change the way the weapons feel. Don't like aspect of zagreus spear? Try out the Achilles aspect! You'd be surprised that a weapon you didn't initially like can really click with you when a different aspect is used 2. Don't be afraid of chaos gates. Just read the downside carefully and adjust your playstyle for a few rooms. Early on you can go for the boons that increase darkness gains for those sweet sweet mirror upgrades. 3. Don't get discouraged. There is SO much content in this game and there is absolutely no rush to complete it. Just experiment and have fun with it. When you die, just hop back into it and try a new approach. Find boon combinations you like, try them all out. A lot of boons seem underwhelming from their description but can be super beneficial in the right circumstances. Every resource you gain will be helpful for progression whether you win the run or not! 4. Beware of tiny rat. That's all I have to say about that one.

I already knew this game was my favorite on the switch, what I didn’t know is that i’ve already put over 200 hrs in and it felt like 50. the game is that good. and i still have so much story progression left to go

Good stuff - thanks for the tips! I just tried Hades for the first time yesterday, and I think I'm hooked!

For making a specific build for the Stygian Blade, I recommend the hammer upgrades that heal you every attack and the one that makes your sword attack automatically, it makes a blender that makes enemy damage easily mitigated, however, if you don’t attack, the build is useless. The best variation of the sword you want to use is the Nemesis Aspect because it will offer automatic crit chance for when you special, allowing you to combo on your enemies.

This was such a good video!! I realized how I sort of breezed through meg and hydra, learned minos + struggled a bit with theseus but then absolutely cannot beat the final boss for the life of me lol. I always ignore the poms but I'm going to see how I can maximize damage by leveling up now instead of boon piling. thank you so much!

Great video, most helpful one i've found so far for a beginner!

Hey Skip, Hades came out on PlayStation and Xbox on Friday and I've been playing almost non-stop! I've seen a bunch of basic videos of "beginner's tips" that were useful but all very similar (get keys to unlock weapons, get Death Defiance, give out Nectar for Keepsakes, etc.) but yours was the first that went beyond the first couple of hours to really help me take my runs to the next level, thanks!

My guide to beating Hades: Step 1: Enable Stubborn Defiance Step 2: Pick up the shield Step 3: Hope that you get the duo boon that lets you regenerate after dying in a chamber once. (Stubborn Roots, I guess) Hades is basically a waiting game at this point.

At run 50, I realized that I should focus on one type of attacks. This first tip resonates with me so deeply. Great job, Baron!

Something that really helped me was the divine dash to deal damage while evading, but also the doom fury upgrade. Upgrading that can deal an absurd amount of damage and the delay is long enough to support a poke - dodge - dodge - poke playstyle. Which is amazing at the later areas where you can only get one attack off safely.

The boons that I always pick in every run are Divine Dash and Artemis' Aid. I mean, the Divine Dash is self explanatory, but Artemis' boons that could deal crit damage, and self targets enemies? I've beaten Hades numerous times at near death just because of that boon.

ares is definitely THE guy if youre like me and just love button mashing that dash . doom and blade rift is GREAT esp w Artemis call

I always use hangover and doom and just *murder* (also I just like talking to Dionysus and Ares tbh). Zeus's chain lightning boon is also really handy for crowd control.

Damn this vid was dope. I realize a few mistakes I've made that could've made my runs much better. It's a good damn thing progression in Hades feel so rewarding(even if I die a million times)

The reason I love this game is because the ENEMIES ARE ACTUALLY SMART they don’t run into a wall and just keep trying to get to you. They actually go around, and come towards you.

I appreciate only having 6 tips in this vid. Some videos have like 50 tips and it’s impossible to actually remember and incorporate any of them

Thanks for the video, this is super helpful!

Thx for the Tip with the Codex, only look in it for the hearts. XD

Phalanx shot might suck as a defensive tool but it is a fantastic offensive cast, especially if you get the duo boon with Zeus that allows it to bounce between enemies, phalanx shot has great default damage that increases dramatically with every pom, I get that you might not like it as a reflecting tool but is a fantastic dps tool with the right boons.

Very helpful. Thanks!

Also, experiment with weapons, I used to only use the spear, but then once I tried exagryph, I liked it even more and ended up being the final boss for the first time. And now I'm finding that I really enjoy the sword

#1 tip: Start blasting. Do not stop blasting. Something will die and if it's you see step 1. When everything else is dead repeat step 1.

Items from well can literally save your run if your build is not great so far and you feel you're going to have trouble with the next boss, it's better to get a temporary boost your damage and health to carry you through the boss fight than to die in that fight; especially in Theseus can be a hell of boss fight if your damage output is low - if you're really unlucky/desperate with your build go you can also try sell a bunch of boons after the Thesius fight and hope to get better ones instead at the temple of Styx.

vengeful mood + holy shield is a brief sec of invincibility for every 3 secs! Really helpful.

Just got the game today and I love it.£20 well spent😭😭 the art, gameplay and story are wonderful. Still haven’t beaten my first boss yet the furysister. So this vid will help me a lot.😂😂😂

“There is no timer on this fight” me who is on the deadline 😂

Definitely use codex to Specialize your builds. Agree with that 100%. You can actually open your codex while choosing a boon offered from a god especially when you're going for a duo or legendary. Athena's dash is definitely a crutch for early game but eventually you'll have to learn not to depend on it too much and improve your dash timings. I would disagree with prioritizing hammer over chaos though I've learned to take hammer early on since the game essentially forces you to get 2 hammers at the very least and it'll be bad to see hammers in Elysium instead of gods or poms. Also, I agree to save at least 150 gold when deciding to enter shops. You don't have to avoid shops offered at the middle of a biome as long as you have 125-150 gold. But if it's a choice between a shop or a god you want to specialize into, then take the free boon unless you're speedrunning. Never skip shops and chaos when speedrunning.

Phalanx flare does a lot of damage once it hits the target. It is my 3rd or 4th favorite cast. My favorites by far is Poseidon's.

When you get your first few ambrosia you should sell them for titan blood at the broker cause titan blood is really good for upgrading your weapons aspects. You won’t have much need for ambrosia until many runs later so for the first few just sell them.

good tips to try thanks. I'm new to this game and games in general so wasnèt sure where to start.

Great video man I just love hades

Whaaa I love phalanx shot!! Can be an awesome and safe moderate damage dealer

that's helps a lot!! thanks!

My favorite thing to do with Boons is to add a damaging affect on both my special and attack, i use the Twin fist most of the time and that makes it very helpful since you can focus on upgrading your attack and use the de-buff for special for a quick bit of damage if you are low on health.

I love this game, It just says "screw you, not yet, you not gonna finish me that easy "

Also use weapons that have thirst on them to get more darkness and farm darkness

What worked for me is "Grind keys until you get Adamant Rail" -> "Improve special attack with Daedalus hammers and boons, but avoid cluster bomb unless you also got rocket bomb" -> "blast everything with special while running away" -> "profit". My current streak is 7 and two of them were with Extreme Measures Lv4. No, for real. That's how I first beat Hades and also how I defeated him in EM lv.4. Fuck engaging him up close. "Nuke the mo'fo from orbit" I say. Also, Hestia is bestia. Its reload attack deals just as much if not more damage than its special, so in case you don't get lucky with improving special attack, dump it all on attack and snipe them with reload + shoot + rinse and repeat. Especially with Artemis' crits, I got consistent 1200 damage per shot. But I cannot overstate how the Adamant Rail's special is good, especially against bosses. Lob grenades in your wake and watch bosses eat shrapnel as they chase you . Triple Bomb + targeting system is a godsend, but Hades on Phase 3 is a problem. He lowers your visibility and leaves those blasted skulls and trap jars everywhere. Which is why I actually think cluster bomb + rocket bomb is the better combo. Or as I like to call it, the "Fuck everything in that general direction" combo

Ah when you get that door in Asphodel (or boat I suppose) with your first Athena drop and it turns out to be the Witche's circle...Its like "prove you don't need it in order to get it!"

"How to NOT SUCK" 👌 I like this series 💘 (Artemis & Aphrodite) I started playing Hades yesterday. Awesome 😊 game.

Thing that helped me the most was learning the door signs and if I could avoid an extra mini boss fight I did.

My first clear was thanks to divine dash + some Aphrodite boons for damage reduction. After over 100 clears I still pick the dash when I have the opportunity

phalanx shot is just a big torpedo with bonus deflect damage. If you set up a build with 2, 3, or more cast shots then I'm sure it can be very powerful, just a different way to play.

GREAT!, now i need one for life : D

I took a break from the game for a time, and then just started to play it again, and something just clicked this time around. I haven't successfully escaped yet, but before Asphodel really gave me trouble, but now I can clear it even with weapons that I'm not a big fan of using, which is definitely nice. With my favorite weapons, I make quick work of Elysium, although struggle with theseus still. But, considering I was lucky to even REACH the bone hydra the first time I had started to play the game, I am happy to make it that far with ease.

Thanks to you i finally beat the game for the first time after long 30hrs of play time

Looks super cool just got it

I'd suggest swapping the controls around so you can hit the buttons for attacking and dashing in rapid succession more easily. I put the dash on the shoulder button (see: Bayonetta's dodge), and that has helped me so, *_so_* much.

was the 20-second intro of you just glazing yourself really necessary

Just bought the game, and spot on tips. Struggled thru the 1st 10-20 runs, then u start to get the system. Save up gold, focus your boons on 1 attack type, get reflect for your dash, and u should reach Hades without much trouble.

Yeah dot(damage over time) effects are very useful for new players especially. I'm still fairly new(trying to avoid spoilers I'm currently deepening my relationship with the gods to put a plan into action) I will say I wish he went into a bit more detail on one of his tips. That being the try to specialize into 1 or 2 attack styles. Somtimes the fate sisters just don't want to cooperate with that idea. And instead I'd say to specialize on a theme. What I mean by that is to stack boons that work with each other like parring demeter inflict chill on attack with 10 stacks of chill will explode reseting the chill to 0, and if u take damage completely chill your attacker(aka 10 stack ur attacker and cause an explosion on them). I will say it's better to diversivy a little bit with this style tho because in that example. You special attack is currently not useful but if u were to take special inflicts chill also that could be pretty wasteful. Instead you'd want something like special inflicts hangover/weak/doom ect. This will just be an extra debuff on the enemy to assist u

5:40 this tip couldn't be more accurate. Once I've picked it up and started using it I found myself move and attack much more carefully, carrying me much further with subpar boons and daedalus upgrades than ideal boons with great daedalus upgrades do. If there's one thing that convinced me that I was getting better at this game is not wasting any precious frames on random dashes and attacks.

This was good...Here I go back at it...Wish me luck...

Informative

Zeus Aegis build with aspect of Chaos is OP. Zeus' dash bolt thing with the lightning special and jolted makes for quick room clears. Combine with Demeter's Crystal Beam and Athena's aid and you've got a strong build that deals loads of damage and can tank through bosses. Demeter and Athena's boons allow access to the Stubborn Roots duo boon too which is ridiculously overpowered.

Also, you can 'hug' hades: you can get close to him when he does the laser attack and just press the attack button and easy second phase

thank you so much! this is my first dungeon crawling type game and even though I'm having fun, i suck lol 😂

Coming from a Monster Hunter, the "Wait for it" tip is the highlight of this video, IMO. Patience is key. Both in games and in life. In any game that has enemies with weak points and high resistance to being stunned/staggered, or even just patterns that take a while to learn how to counter them safely, knowing when you can and can't strike is INSTRUMENTAL to success. If any of you really want to train this aspect of your skill set, I HIGHLY recommend getting into Monster Hunter [Gen Ultimate or World, either works], Dark Souls, or even hack&slashers like Devil May Cry 3, Bayonetta 1&2, The Wonderful 101, Astral Chain, etc etc etc. There are so many games out there that teach you the value of an analytical and patient approach to combat. Mastering this aspect will also help you improve your patience in real life, if you take the lessons to heart well enough.

Ive been completely focused on building my codex and gathering keys and darkness. Im dying at the Elysium boss (Wont spoil the name) most runs, and thats without focusing on my build, just grabbing boons i havent picked up yet. But now i have a dozen ideas for how im going to build when i make my escape.

Man i made it to the first chamber of elysium on my first run and i still needed this😂

did not know about the boon list in the codex other than the prophecies in the bedroom. thanks.

My favorite time to mash is when I get the ares dash blade and the hammer 3 dash attack with the trident, sometimes a bit hard in bosses but otherwise very fun

One thing I like doing is have a Call boon handy. I don’t spend poms on them as I prioritize them to other boons, but the Artemis, Athena, Demeter, and Poseidon call boons have gotten me out of sticky situations.

Phalanx shot can help with Meg if you don’t know how to walk all over her. When she does the rapid fire spread shot: phalanx her. The sheer volume of reflected projectiles will chunk her health.

I find myself rarely using Cast, so tip would be to bind Special to right click and Cast to Q or something else instead (maybe side mouse button if you have) Helps a lot especially when you have Ranged Specials like Shield with Aspect of Captain America (I mean the hammer upgrade where you can have it bounce to enemies, + that plus doom boon is epic ) Also Shield Hidden Aspect with Ares Spinny Cast is epic with all 3 casts, deals a ton of damage, like a quarter of a fury's health, and almost directly drops down the hydra health to one level to make it invulnerable immediately.

Phalanx shot will deflect streams of bullets, it's very fire and forget and can do a ton of damage