Hades |OT| Ah Hell, here we go again (Now on Xbox & PlayStation!)

[Uncivilized Elk]

Has anyone kept up with the early access versions of this game? I'm curious how many weapon balance tweaks there were. For the most part, they seem decently balanced, although a couple of the base (Zag) forms seem a tad subpar (definitely less fun due to a lack of gimmicks).

I'm kinda amazed the Gilgamesh fists give you +2 dashes rather than just +1. I don't think it's worth a nerf (unless they buff maim damage a little to compensate), but that built-in mobility blows me away every time I start a run with em (they're my fav fists too). I already tend to use the perk where perfect dodges give you +50% damage for 2 secs (except with bows and shields), and with the Gilgamesh fists that at times nearly seems unfair so I guess I wouldn't be surprised if those fists eventually get a dash taken away.

Also, I pity those who don't use Dark Souls controls for this game (triggers for attacks).

 

[Uncivilized Elk]

I've decided the most absolutely busted combo is the Duo of Zeus + Aphrodite (caps your meter at 25%, but it recharges to full by itself every 5 seconds) with any Call boon that makes you impervious (especially Athena, as you can do your own big boy combo damage instead for ~2.5 seconds). You don't even have to "fight" anymore if you don't feel like it, you can just play keep-away for 5 seconds, use call, and repeat to guaranteed victory. Reminds me a little of some of the busted Black Hole Gun stuff from Gungeon.

Without cheap stuff, Extreme Measures version of the final boss seems mostly reliant on whether you can time an offensive dash against the spin attack 80%+ of the time. Without extreme measures, you can bait out and punish plenty of other attacks and it's fine, but with Extreme Measures there's simply way too many beefy grunts spamming the screen with stuff and it becomes a long-term nightmare if you can't stick close to the boss and punish nearly every spin.

 

[Calabi]

I think I've figured out my my problem with the combat. There's no animation or dodge cancelling. While using the fist Gilgamesh aspect, and the special you have to be really careful and even with other moves with other weapons. Your locked into that animation, and I'm finding that if I use the special to hit the rats for instance I end up getting hit by the rats after I've done the special because your locked in place for a few frames. I'm not saying it has to have animation cancelling its just I'm used to it from other games, and why I think I prefer the faster weapons, because it doesn't effect those so much.

 

[Jintor]

i'm a hard dodge cancel adherent in most games (or at least some kind of cancelling) but it's not so bad, most everything is quite fast paced, there is at least dodge buffering I think, everything has massive windup windows so it's more about positioning than dodge reacting imho

 

[Calabi]

i'm a hard dodge cancel adherent in most games (or at least some kind of cancelling) but it's not so bad, most everything is quite fast paced, there is at least dodge buffering I think, everything has massive windup windows so it's more about positioning than dodge reacting imho

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Yeah I'm not saying it needs it or anything not all games do. But it can throw you off at times, like you think you've hit them and finished the move but there's still a few frames to finish the move off. And some abilities can even add a longer animation like the fist ground pound(also the kick somersault move) your stuck there for an even longer time where your vulnerable to getting hit by all the fast moving enemies and projectiles. Its just something to be aware of and means you have to be more careful when using those moves.

 

[Calabi]

I've also figured out why I get the stutter, its because I set L3 to the screenshot button and press it when dodging sometimes. Oops 😓

 

[Animus Vox]

Ok I think Gilgamesh is officially my favorite weapon in the game. It's so satisfying to get up there and wreck things. The free dashes allow me to use the dodge skill instead so I'm buffed a lot of the time.

 

[Solaire]

Yoooo I just tried the Chiron bow for the first time




I felt crazy overpowered

 

[Dio]

Yoooo I just tried the Chiron bow for the first time




I felt crazy overpowered

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chiron is so goooooood

 

[Poodlestrike]

Hidden Aspect > Hera Bow >>>>> Chiron

I will not be taking questions.

 

[PBalfredo]

Any uses for the keys after you've unlocked the weapons and the mirror? Or am I free to sell them for nectars?

 

[AncientReptileBrain]

Hidden Aspect > Hera Bow >>>>> Chiron

I will not be taking questions.

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all the alt aspects for the bow are wonderful -- i've put more titan blood into it than anything else i think

 

[Llyrwenne]

Cleared all Pact of Punishment bounties. Beat 32 Heat. Beat Extreme Measures 4. Maxed out all relationships. Completed all story content. Fully unlocked and upgraded the Mirror of Night. Unlocked and fully upgraded every Aspect and Companion. 126 escapes out of 214 total attempts. I have one last cosmetic item to unlock at the House Contractor (+3 Decorative Themes) and one piece of music left to unlock for the Music Stand (Good Riddance, which does not show up at my House Contractor due to a bug that has been patched on PC but not yet on Switch). I still have nine Keepsakes to fully level up and 14 Prophecies to complete, mostly related to finding specific Boons or Daedalus Hammer upgrades.

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After 22 more runs (148 clears out of 236 runs), I've fully leveled up all Keepsakes, completed the Fated List of Minor Prophecies, and purchased every item from the House Contractor (minus two items currently bugged on Switch). All that's left for me now is filling out a last few Codex entries and grinding out Resource Director badges (currently at 15/50).

And yes, every Bow Aspect is amazing - probably to make up for the pretty lackluster base weapon.

 

[AncientReptileBrain]

please, olympian gods. unlock your final heart. please. PLEASE

 

[BlueScrote]

What is the definition of a nearby foe vs distant foe for boon bonuses?

 

[Orb]

I just cannot put this game down. After my first clear I thought I would be satisfied but I just can't stop. I got credits and am now working on maxing out everything in the game. Can pretty much clear every time if I really put my mind to it. I'm up to 8 heat and can definitely see myself getting to 20 with all weapons at some point.

The game is just incredible.

 

[Llyrwenne]

What is the definition of a nearby foe vs distant foe for boon bonuses?

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Just tested the range for 'distant' with Skelly and Orpheus' Keepsake;

For 'nearby', I think it's close melee range only.

 

[QuigleyMcShine]

Is there any reason to keep giving gods gifts after you already have their keepsake? Can I make certain ones show up more often or anything?

 

[Salty Catfish]

Is there any reason to keep giving gods gifts after you already have their keepsake? Can I make certain ones show up more often or anything?

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There is no direct gameplay benefit but having max hearts with most of the gods is eventually part of unlocking the epilogue. If you're still early in the game don't worry too much about it, you're better off focusing on the other characters.

 

[YourFriendLevi]

Currently running the bow aspect that loads cast. I have an Explosive Shot Daedalus, Trippy Shot cast, Heartbreak Strike Attack, and Swift Attack to offset the speed loss from my Daedalus. It's working pretty well, any other boons I should look out for with this setup?

Regret not running Privelaged Status for the Weak + Hangover synergy.

 

[Llyrwenne]

Currently running the bow aspect that loads cast. I have an Explosive Shot Daedalus, Trippy Shot cast, Heartbreak Strike Attack, and Swift Attack to offset the speed loss from my Daedalus. It's working pretty well, any other boons I should look out for with this setup?

Regret not running Privelaged Status for the Weak + Hangover synergy.

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Definitely look out for the Festive Fog Duo Boons; Scintillating Feast from Zeus and Ice Wine from Demeter. Scintillating Feast makes it so enemies standing in your Festive Fog get periodically hit by lightning. Ice Wine increases Festive Fog's blast damage and adds a Chill effect. You can even have both at the same time! This obviously requires some set-up as you need to get both Demeter and Zeus boons and then get the Duo Boons, but it's definitely worth it.

 

[Young Liar]

bumped up from doing 8-heat runs to a 16-heat run so i could see what em4 was all about. that was pretty fun! took all my death defiances, but i pulled it out on my last health bar unscathed. used the zeus shield and a mix of dionysus, aphrodite, and artemis with three duo boons between all three synergizing for more hangover effects, more crit damage, and higher crit chance. wasn't actually expecting to beat it on that first attempt since i just put on lambent plume as my keepsake for the entire run just to get it to max level for hermes' hearts and to unlock the achievement, but i guess the speed and dodge chance boost helped me navigate through that clusterfuck of a boss battle!

 

[Sulik2]

Has anyone kept up with the early access versions of this game? I'm curious how many weapon balance tweaks there were. For the most part, they seem decently balanced, although a couple of the base (Zag) forms seem a tad subpar (definitely less fun due to a lack of gimmicks).

I'm kinda amazed the Gilgamesh fists give you +2 dashes rather than just +1. I don't think it's worth a nerf (unless they buff maim damage a little to compensate), but that built-in mobility blows me away every time I start a run with em (they're my fav fists too). I already tend to use the perk where perfect dodges give you +50% damage for 2 secs (except with bows and shields), and with the Gilgamesh fists that at times nearly seems unfair so I guess I wouldn't be surprised if those fists eventually get a dash taken away.

Also, I pity those who don't use Dark Souls controls for this game (triggers for attacks).

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I found the Gilgamesh gloves completely useless, I use the two dashes mirror upgrade any more then two just feels weird to me at this point.

I had to move my dash to LT and X to right trigger because the game was making my hands hurt horribly playing it with how much thumb mashing there is. Let me keep playing the game and I ended up really liking the layout. Did keep special on Y.

Yoooo I just tried the Chiron bow for the first time

I felt crazy overpowered

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Easily the best weapon, slap Artemis crit bonus on the special and you are basically Rambo. The gun with the 3 bomb split and rocket bomb is better, but that is very RNG heavy to get both daedulus upgrades and Chiron is just a beast from the go.

 

[mere_immortal]

This was a fun one. Crit arrows and continuous doom everywhere.

 

[Solaire]

chiron is so goooooood

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I wasn't a fan of the base bow but Chiron is super efficient and a lot of fun to use. Got that 32 heat clear a few runs after on a much worse build.

Easily the best weapon, slap Artemis crit bonus on the special and you are basically Rambo. The gun with the 3 bomb split and rocket bomb is better, but that is very RNG heavy to get both daedulus upgrades and Chiron is just a beast from the go.

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Zeus attack rail is still the most busted weapon you can start with imo. Triple/cluster rocket propels it into another dimension.

 

[Manu]

Just got my first sub 20 min run with the fists. Special hitting multiple times cuts through everything.

 

[Uncivilized Elk]

My biggest nitpick with this game is that I wish there was a way to save your Dark Mirror perk allocations for every weapon type (or just go all out and save the last used perks for every individual Aspect), so that I don't constantly have to run back inside my room after swapping weapons between runs (which is encouraged by Dark Thirst). Takes 30 seconds max, but it's just enough of a bother to be annoying after dozens upon dozens of runs. Would also be less of an issue if your room came after the training room. It's having to go through your room to get to the training room to see which weapon has Dark Thirst, and then having to go back to your room that's at the heart of my gripe moreso than wasting 10-30 seconds.

Another minor issue I have is that I wish the treasure chest battles paused the game time (like fishing does), but I wouldn't die on this hill.

 

[Orb]

Just hit epilogue / "true ending" and not stopping yet. I want to max out all my bonds and best 32 Heat. Then I might be able to take a break.

 

[Sadsic]

i been playing this game for like a week, its super addictive and fun! one of my favorite switch games really

 

[Mocha]

Finally got the credits. I enjoyed the game a lot, definitely the most polish rouge-lite. I'm probably going to take the game in a slower pace now since it's just side quests at this point.

Spoiler

The game deserves a sequel tho, it felt like we just ended the first act of the story.

 

[Sulik2]

My biggest nitpick with this game is that I wish there was a way to save your Dark Mirror perk allocations for every weapon type (or just go all out and save the last used perks for every individual Aspect), so that I don't constantly have to run back inside my room after swapping weapons between runs (which is encouraged by Dark Thirst). Takes 30 seconds max, but it's just enough of a bother to be annoying after dozens upon dozens of runs. Would also be less of an issue if your room came after the training room. It's having to go through your room to get to the training room to see which weapon has Dark Thirst, and then having to go back to your room that's at the heart of my gripe moreso than wasting 10-30 seconds.

Another minor issue I have is that I wish the treasure chest battles paused the game time (like fishing does), but I wouldn't die on this hill.

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I'm curious what are you changing? I haven't changed any of my mirror perks since I got the prophecy done and that was like 40 escapes ago.

 

[mere_immortal]

wtf you can switch your mirror perks?! How did I not notice :o

 

[red_shift_ltd]

wtf you can switch your mirror perks?! How did I not notice :o

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Now you have something to spend your stocked up darkness on :)
There are a few you need to activate to get the rest of the prophecies too.

Specifically you can't buy a Touch of Styx from Charon if you aren't using Death Defiance.
Also if you're not using Burning Presence you can't get a certain Chaos boon.

 

[Lego]

I just bought this game with my Epic Games Store £10 voucher and I'm excited to see what everyone has been talking about!

 

[mere_immortal]

Now you have something to spend your stocked up darkness on :)
There are a few you need to activate to get the rest of the prophecies too.

Specifically you can't buy a Touch of Styx from Charon if you aren't using Death Defiance.
Also if you're not using Burning Presence you can't get a certain Chaos boon.

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Excellent!! It had been stacking up so excited to try out some new perks.

Do I need keys for anything else once I've unlocked the weapons and perks or can I trade them now?

 

[red_shift_ltd]

Excellent!! It had been stacking up so excited to try out some new perks.

Do I need keys for anything else once I've unlocked the weapons and perks or can I trade them now?

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Not really..... There is a cosmetic that costs 200(!) keys later and a couple other things that cost like 5-10 keys each.
I traded my keys for nectar until I maxed out everyone's levels.

10 gems = 1 key so you always have access to them anyway so for now I think you're set.

 

[SothisKrieg]

How bad and frequent are the framerate dips on Switch (undocked) ?

 

[Orb]

How bad and frequent are the framerate dips on Switch (undocked) ?

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Not very frequent and not bad at all. You can tell it's dipping but it's not jarring and the game is still very playable.

 

[PBalfredo]

Can someone clarify a story bit for me?

Spoiler

Is Nyx in a relationship with Hades? Or did I just assume that since she's cast as a surrogate mother to Zagreus? I think Zeus called her Hades' concubine at one point, but he might be mistaken? I've gotten to the part where Thanatos can be romanced, which is cute, but I want to make sure he and Zag aren't like step-brothers? Half-brothers? Which isn't outside the norm for how wild Greek mythology gets, granted, but I want to be sure.

 

[red_shift_ltd]

Can someone clarify a story bit for me?

Spoiler

Is Nyx in a relationship with Hades? Or did I just assume that since she's cast as a surrogate mother to Zagreus? I think Zeus called her Hades' concubine at one point, but he might be mistaken? I've gotten to the part where Thanatos can be romanced, which is cute, but I want to make sure he and Zag aren't like step-brothers? Half-brothers? Which isn't outside the norm for how wild Greek mythology gets, granted, but I want to be sure.

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Keep playing, they talk about it.
I'm about 100 attempts in and it was clarified to me yesterday.

 

[Jyrii]

Beat Hades 3rd time, this time with heat 2.

Heart seeking bow with speed boost + Zeus's attack boost really cleared rooms.

Spoiler: Final keepsake

How do I get Hades' keepsake? Wiki tells me to give nectar to him, but there isn't an option to do so.

 

[red_shift_ltd]

Beat Hades 3rd time, this time with heat 2.

Heart seeking bow with speed boost + Zeus's attack boost really cleared rooms.

Spoiler: Final keepsake

How do I get Hades' keepsake? Wiki tells me to give nectar to him, but there isn't an option to do so.

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Keep on doing runs and talking to him whenever there's an ! above him. You'll get there eventually.

 

[eek]

I think I like the spear best, so far. Bow and gun are fine. Don't really know what to do with the sword. TERRIFIED of trying out the shield or the gauntlets, LOL

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Don't be afraid of the shield. It's actually a really good weapon to be able to practice and figure out enemy patterns. You can pretty much block everything if your'e patient which will let you observe without a lot of pressure.

 

[Jyrii]

Keep on doing runs and talking to him whenever there's an ! above him. You'll get there eventually.

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Cheers

 

[freetacos]

This game has its hooks in me now. 4 clears in 28 attempts, with 4 different weapons

Must keep going

 

[GeoGonzo]

Oh hey, Kotaku published a piece filled with official art from the game. I'm posting it here since the other thread is for fan art.

The Art Of Hades

Ah, this is exciting. Welcome to The Art of Hades, a look at the work that went into what’s easily one of the best-looking video games of 2020.

kotaku.com

 

[Animus Vox]

How bad and frequent are the framerate dips on Switch (undocked) ?

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I've only played it undocked and it only really struggles when there are lots of enemies, particularly those skulls, on screen at once. Otherwise, perfectly playable.

 

[robot]

Oh hey, Kotaku published a piece filled with official art from the game. I'm posting it here since the other thread is for fan art.

The Art Of Hades

Ah, this is exciting. Welcome to The Art of Hades, a look at the work that went into what’s easily one of the best-looking video games of 2020.

kotaku.com

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Gorgeous, and lots of stuff in there that I never saw in-game.

 

[freetacos]

What's generally a good build for sword runs? Aspect of Nemesis and then Artemis on the attack for high crit and maybe Aphrodite on the special?

 

[whatsarobot]

I'm a little nervous to say this after all the hype but I think I'm... a little disappointed in the game? I'm not done yet, about 10 hours and made it past the third boss, but Pyre just pulled me in. It had plot always moving ahead, and while matches could get similar, it never felt too same-y due to the narrative nature.

This has great characters, gorgeous art, and the gameplay is so much fun, but it's hard not to feel like I'm just... repeating the same rooms over and over and over. There are little character moments between runs, but they are limited, especially compared to Pyre or even Bastion.

Am I missing something? Does the plot improve? Is the praise mostly just for the gameplay loop and does it not bother anyone else that it's the same first levels over and over?