Introduction
In this article, we will be taking a look atHades 2, the follow-up toSupergiant’ssuccessful rogue-like game. Much akin to the first game, you will have access to a myriad ofboonsfrom the pantheon of gods onOlympusand more, and can be spoiled for choices. Today, we will be taking a look at some combinations of boons and buffs that will help you bring out your full potential in your task of taking down theTitan of Time,Chronos.
For this particular build, we will be usingYgnium, theUmbral Flamesthat can be unlocked once we have gone through a few runs. These weapons are the ranged casting type ofHades 2and excel at keeping your distance from enemies and whittling your foes down at range.
InHades 2, we can meditate at theAltar of Ashesat the beginning of each night before heading out to increase our strength and upgrade ourselves, but the amount ofArcanathat we can use is limited by the amount ofGraspavailable to us, which can be upgraded using thePsycheresource.
For this specific build, we will be using arcana that will enhance ourmax magickwhile increasing ourdamage outputas much as possible.
The firstArcanaavailable to us and that we will be using for this build is theSorceress.
This card costs1 Graspto equip and will increase the charge speed of theOmegaversions of our attacking moves.
Next, we will use theWayward Sonarcana, which is another card costing1 Graspand will allow us to recoverhealth pointsafter each encounter.
At the base level of the card, it enables us to regain3 HP. This card helps with sustain on our runs and is one of the more valuable arcana to use.
TheHuntresscard requires2 Graspto use and will increase the damage of ourattackandspecialwhen ourmagickis not at full capacity.
Since we will be using our chargedOmega attacksthat use the resource quite often, we will benefit highly from having this card equipped.
TheEternityarcana card is the fourth one we will be using with this build, and it requires3 Graspto activate.
Having this card will slow down enemies for a short duration whenever we charge up ourOmega attacks. Although this doesn’t add to our damage directly, the slowdown really helps with taking our bearings in the heat of battle when a lot of enemies and projectiles are occupying the screen.
Next, we will be using theUnseenArcana. T
his card is one of the more expensive cards to use as it costs5 Graspto equip, but plays a crucial role, especially when using this build, as it will restore ourmagickby a set amount depending on the level of the card every second. Since using theUmbral Flamesis heavilymagick-dependent, the card is invaluable whenever you’re going for a run usingYgnium.
Finally, we will be using theDeatharcana.
This arcana card requires4 Graspto equip, and the high cost is definitely worth it as it gives usDeathDefiance.
This acts as an extra life, allowing you to come back with40%of your max life and magick upon dying, increasing your chance of successfully finishing a run.
For this build, as we are looking to maximize our damage potential, we will be taking theSilver Wheelkeepsake.
This is a gift from the Headmistress,Hecate, and will increase our maximummagickby 50 for our run. Since we will be consistently using our magick with Ygnium’s fast-charged omega attacks, the added pool greatly enhances the time we can stay on the offense without holding back, ensuring minimal damage fall-off time.
Among the plethora of boons offered by the gods, we will have five main slots that will affect and upgrade our moves.
First, regarding the boon relating to our regular attacks, we will take one of the boons fromHestia, the Goddess of the Hearth, by takingFlame Strike.
This will enhance our ranged attacks to also inflictScorch, which will melt most enemies as the effect can be stacked.
For our special attack, we will be taking the boon from the King of the Olympians himself,Zeus,Heaven Flourish.
This allows our special, which summons two orbs that circle around us damaging everything they come into contact with, to inflictBlitz. This is a curse that will call down a lightning strike after being dealt a certain amount of damage or after a set amount of time has passed.
With ourCastplacing a sigil on the ground, we will be choosing another one of the boons from Zeus with theArctic Ring.
This will enable our casting sigil circle to call down lightning bolts to damage one foe at a time. This will help greatly with dealing with mobs of regular enemies that can overwhelm you easily in the later stages, as your ranged attacks combined with the cast attacks can easily take normal foes out.
To add to our mobility with this weapon, we will be using a boon fromApolloto enhance our sprints by taking theBlinding Rushboon.
This boon will increase our sprint speed, which is extremely helpful when fighting against bosses and dodging their huge area-of-effect attacks, and will also provide the benefit of traversing through the lands faster. Additionally,Blinding Rushwill allow us toDazeour surrounding foes, making them miss more of their attacks and increasing our dodge chance passively.
For ourSpecial Gainslot, we will take the boon from our aunt, Hestia, the Goddess of the Hearth,Cardio Gain.
This boon will allow us to recover magick whenever we land our attack or special, making sure that we never run out of magick while we incinerate our foes using theUmbral Flamesfrom a distance.
These five boons will occupy our core slots when we are on our runs, but they do not necessarily need to be the only boons that we use. There are combinations of boons that can greatly improve us during the run, and for this particular build, we will be choosing a large number of boons from Hestia.
The first of which isGlowing Coal, which will allow us to fire off a ranged cast using a fireball with the binding circle forming at the impact of the fireball.
Additionally, we will take theHighly Flammableboon from the Goddess of the Hearth, which will upgrade the amount of damage ourScorchwill inflict the first time, increasing our overall damage output with this build.
Another boon that can greatly help with our ranged onslaught is theDouble Strikeboon from Zeus.
This will give our lightning bolts from theBlitzcurse and cast circle a chance to strike twice, dealing burst damage whenever the effect triggers.
If we are lucky on our run and come acrossArtemis, Goddess of the Hunt, we will be taking theLethal Snareboon, which will greatly help with our cast attacks as it will increase the chance of us inflicting critical strikes upon foes that are caught within the binding circle.
At this point in the game, we will have metSelene, the Moon Incarnate, and have ourHexability available to us. From among her gifts, we will be takingMoon Waterfor this build.
This hex will allow us to recover our health three times for each region before replenishing the charges by drinking from a fountain. The number of charges we can use between each fountain can be upgraded by choosing more gifts from Selene on our run.
Weapon Upgrade
Regarding the options we get from using theDaedalus Hammer, we will be looking to enhance our overall effectiveness of ranged attacks using the weapon.
TheDividing Blazewill make it so that our attacks will split in two the first time they hit an enemy, adding to the amount of ranged attacks that we will be able to unleash.
TheFurious Blazeupgrade will help with our mobility when using the build, as it will allow us to move faster while we charge our omega attacks.
Playstyle and General Tips on Runs
With the build, we will lean fully into the ranged capability of the weapon and bombard our foes from range simply by holding down our attack button.
Ygnium is unique from other weapons as the attack pattern will go into a charged attack for every third strike, and on account of the boons and upgrades we will be using, we will be able to maintain our magick for a long duration. Also, with theGlowing Coalboon, we will be able to fire off our cast from range, allowing for a multitude of ranged options to deal with our enemies.
Using Ygnium is great when fighting against bosses because the weapon allows us to stay at range while dealing consistent damage with minimum downtime. One important thing to note is that we can be caught in a constant attacking pattern, and since we will be moving slower while we are shooting our fireballs, we can easily put ourselves in a situation where we won’t be able to dodge away from an incoming huge area attack. Keeping the attacking patterns of the bosses in mind helps with this problem and can be easily circumvented.
Even though we are a few runs into the game, it is still useful to go forAshesinstead of bones, since that will allow us to unlock moreArcanacards to fully unlock all of the cards for use in our later runs.
Also, investing in at least threeCentaur Heartsso that our max HP can reach 100 is also helpful. Even though we will be staying at range and away from damage, the additional health will allow us to make more mistakes.
When faced with choices between an upgrade that is not a boon you are necessarily aiming for and gold coins, it is generally better to go for the coin route, as you will then have access to more options that you may choose between at theBoatman, Charon, whenever you run into him. But if you are certain that you will not be able to gain enough coins to afford multiple purchases, you can go for the upgrade route instead.
Going forPoms of Powerwill also allow us to level up our boons, and for this build, I suggest upgrading theBlinding Rushboon.
Although this will not increase our damage, the increase in sprint speed will help with our mobility and dodging incoming projectiles and attacks more easily. But if you want to focus entirely on offense, upgrading theFlame Strikeis also a viable option, as it will greatly improve our damage, especially at higher levels.
Conclusion
When using this build with theUmbral Flames, it can be tempting to just hold our ranged attack pattern and consistently barrage our foes at the cost of our movement speed.
For this particular build, since we will not be taking boons fromPoseidonorDemeter, we do not have a reliable crowd control measure that can either push away or freeze foes. As such, we will need to be more mindful of our surroundings and positioning when going for this more offensive and firepower-oriented build using theUmbral Flames.
Hades 2 Blinding Sea (Descura Staff) Build
In this article, we’ll be taking a look at how to put together Blinding Sea (Descura Staff) Build for getting into the early game
While mostly safe, having “trigger discipline” and holding off our ranged attacks can save us from tricky situations where we won’t be able to dodge away from incoming huge strikes. Although most of our choices are aimed at the offensive,Moon Waterwill give us more chances to make mistakes by allowing us to recover health on our run.
This wraps up my article for theUmbral Flamebuild forHades 2. I hope you find this helpful in your conquest againstChronos, the Titan of Time, and may you find success in all your runs. If you have any helpful tips, feel free to leave them in the comment section below!!
