A startling number of people had no idea that Hades 2 was currently in Early Access. Then again, many folks aren’t terminally online, so I can’t exactly blame y’all. To get you up to speed: Hades 2 recently received its second major update! The Warsong update brings many insane new features into the mix. So, if you’re curious, take a peek down below and see what’s poppin’!
‘hades 2’ warsong update details
‘Hades 2’ General Gameplay
- You no longer prioritize Gathering Tools in the Training Grounds, though still can harvest any type of resource as long as you have unlocked each Tool; resource appearance rates adjusted as part of this
- Psyche can no longer be found as a Location Reward; Bones may now be found sooner instead
- All Guardians and Wardens with Guardian-style Life Bars now are resistant to the slowing effect of your Casts; previously this applied only to some of them
- Any damage resistance effects you have no longer affect any Armor you have
- Adjusted requirements for certain key events early on; as a result, it should be possible to reach the surface earlier than before
Nocturnal Arms And Abilities
- Witch’s Staff: Attack sequence is faster and the final strike is stronger; Omega Attack is stronger; reworked Special is a fast powerful shot that pierces foes
- Argent Skull: reworked Attack fires straight ahead; Omega Attack is stronger; Special now retrieves Shells in the surrounding area
- Black Coat: increased Omega Attack damage; your Dash no longer cancels channeling your Omega Attack and causes you to perform the move right after
‘Hades 2’ Altar of Ashes
- All Cards now have unique illustrations; swapped or adjusted themes of several Cards, noted below
- Eternity: theme changed from Night; reworked — now makes everything slower while you channel Omega moves; note this effect is no longer on Silver Wheel (Hecate)
- The Messenger: reworked — your Casts briefly make you impervious and move faster
- The Swift Runner: your Sprint now also makes you phase through foes
- Night: reduced Grasp cost; theme changed from Death
- The Wayward Son: no longer provides doubled recovery at low Life; base recovery improved
- Death: theme changed from Eternity
- Persistence: theme changed from The Titan
- The Enchantress: theme changed from The Fates
- The Fates: theme changed from The Seer
- Grasp upgrade costs re-scaled as part of changes to resource gathering
Oath of the Unseen
- Added new Testaments for the final confrontation
· Vow of Shadow: adjusted various encounters with this
- Vow of Fangs: removed certain combinations of Perks that were unusually cruel…
- Fear requirements for some Testaments re-scaled to reduce jumps in difficulty; reduced Fear requirements in some cases
‘Hades 2’ Boons And Blessings
- Added Ares, with many of his own blessings, including a new Duo with each other primary Boon-giver
- Zeus: his Blitz Curse now activates at the end of the duration if not activated by dealing damage
- Storm Ring (Zeus): slightly reduced rate of lightning strikes
- Thunder Rush (Zeus): no longer requires Magick to strike foes with lightning; formerly Thunder Sprint
- Electric Overload (Zeus): reworked — your chain-lightning effects are stronger and bounce to more foes
- Toasting Fork (Zeus): cut from game; replaced with…
- Arc Flash (Zeus): new! Your Omega Moves activate your Blitz effects and make them stronger
- Romantic Spark (Zeus x Aphrodite): reduced damage bonus
- Hera: the Queen of the Olympians now has Boons of all four elemental affinities, not solely Earth
- Engagement Ring (Hera): reworked — now deals immediate damage for each foe in the binding circle
- Bridal Glow (Hera): reworked — upgrades a random Boon to Heroic Rarity and gives it bonus Pom Lv.
- Nasty Comeback (Hera): cut from game; replaced with…
- Extended Family (Hera): new! Your Olympian damage is stronger for each Olympian you met this night
- Proper Upbringing (Hera): increased activation requirement to include all four elements
- Breaker Rush (Poseidon): reworked — whenever you Sprint, damage and knock away the first foe you run into; formerly Breaker Sprint
- Geyser Spout (Poseidon): reworked — your Omega Cast gains Power and knocks foes away
- Buried Treasure (Poseidon): now also drops Bones, not Ashes or Psyche; formerly Ocean’s Bounty
- Flood Control (Poseidon): cut from game; replaced with…
- High Surf (Poseidon): new! Hit surrounding foes with a splash as they strike, but prime some Magick
- Phoenix Skin (Apollo x Hestia): cut from game; replaced with…
- Warm Breeze (Apollo x Hestia): new! Whenever Dodge or Daze makes foes miss, restore some Life
- Demeter: her Gust effects no longer destroy trees in Erebus or other such obstructions
Boons And Blessings (2)
- Local Climate (Demeter): reworked — your Omega Cast is stronger; bonus doubled in the binding circle
- Plentiful Forage (Demeter): now restores Life whenever you gather any resource
- Rare Crop (Demeter): cut from game; replaced with…
- Steady Growth (Demeter): new! Whenever you clear enough Encounters, a Boon gains Rarity
- Secret Crush (Aphrodite): now also affects Omega Attack
- Tough Gain (Hephaestus): reworked — whenever you take damage, shrug some off and restore Magick
- Flash Fry (Hestia): no longer requires foes to have Scorch to explode when slain; no longer requires a Scorch-related Boon to be offered; formerly Natural Gas
- Burnt Offering (Hestia): reworked — gain max Magick whenever you collect Ashes, and gain some now
- Mean Streak (Hermes): damage bonus no longer automatically ends after Encounters
- Tall Order (Hermes): updated elemental requirement; slightly increased damage bonus
- Travel Deal (Hermes): new! Your first purchase each Location costs less; another item appears after
- Saved Breath (Hermes): cut from game; replaced with…
- Winner’s Circle (Hermes): new! You channel your Casts faster and your Casts expire faster
- Witty Retort (Hermes): cut from game; replaced with…
- Hasty Retreat (Hermes): new! Gain more Dodge chance and move speed the more Boons you have
- Greater Evasion (Hermes): cut from game; replaced with…
- Stutter Step (Hermes): new! You can Dash more frequently
- Midnight Oil (Hermes): cut from game; replaced with…
Boons And Blessings (3)
- Success Rate (Hermes): new! Your chance-based effects are more likely to occur, except Dodge or Daze
- Close Call (Hermes): cut from game; replaced with…
- Paid Dues (Hermes): new Legendary! Whenever you take damage, you lose Gold before you lose Life
- Mental Block (Athena): reduced duration of Impervious effect
- Righteous Pike (Athena): new! Whenever you use enough Magick, several foes are struck by spears
- Killing Stroke (Artemis): new! Your Specials may deal Critical damage, but you prime some Magick
- The Marked Curses inflicted by Artemis and Raki the Raven now will never choose the same target
- Unseen Ire (Hades): the Dark effect and its damage bonus no longer expire after you strike
- Barren (Chaos): reduced Curse duration
- Neurotic (Chaos): no longer slows your Dash but still makes it use Magick; formerly Hobbled
- Life Savings (Narcissus): now gives Lotus instead of Deathcaps
- Wealth from the Dead (Medea): you now automatically absorb bonus Gold from slain foes on approach
- Supply Drop (Icarus): slightly reduced frequency of drops, and provides one fewer Pom Slice
- Adjusted names and elemental affinities of some Boons
- Additional minor adjustments to some bonuses from Rarity and Poms of Power
- Further clarifications to descriptions for various Boons
- Other minor fixes and adjustments
‘Hades 2’ Daedalus Hammer Upgrades
- Spiral Knives (Blades): cut from game; replaced with…
- Hidden Knives (Blades): new! Specials are stronger and Omega Special fires more shots than usual
- Fetching Array (Skull): Shells now also automatically return faster; removed penalty to total Shells
- Looming Ignition (Skull): now also affects your Omega Attack; reaches full strength faster
- Possessed Array (Skull): increased Magick cost
- Rocket Bombard (Skull): cut from game since this effect is now innate; replaced with…
- Boosted Ignition (Skull): new! After your Dash or Specials, your Attacks are faster and gain Power
- Counter Barrage: now launches more rockets, more often
- Adjusted names and descriptive text for several Daedalus Hammer upgrades
Keepsakes
- Added a new Keepsake now that Ares decided to show up, which you can gain in the customary way
- Silver Wheel (Hecate): reworked — adds to your Magick limit for the rest of the night
- Fig Leaf (Dionysus): now can only affect one Encounter per Region, but still works if you unequip it
- Engraved Pin (Moros): now counts as a Death Defiance effect
- Evil Eye (Nemesis): now targets Prometheus if his Eagle Aetos is the one to vanquish you
‘Hades 2’ Animal Familiars
- Gale the Polecat: new! Grants Dodge chance and move speed, blocks damage a few times per Region
- Toula the Cat: attacks more times successively; falls asleep faster (so she can wake back up faster!)
Resources and Reagents
- Added several new collectable resources found around the final confrontation
- Removed Deathcaps from the game as part of broader changes to resources described further above
Well of Charon
- Yarn of Ariadne: no longer consumed when meeting Hades, on whom this has no effect
Shrine of Hermes
- Fresh Sustenance MAX: reduced Life recovery
- Reduced chance of offering Minor Finds over other types of items
Foes And Dangers
- Added a variety of foes for the final surface Region, including new Wardens and a new Guardian
- Prometheus: adjusted behaviors; reduced damage for several moves; now sometimes foresees and dodges attacks, yet overall should be somewhat less punishing than before
- Aetos: reduced viciousness to some extent…
- Sky-Dracon: slightly reduced tracking speed
- Auto-Seeker: slightly reduced tracking speed
- Eris: improved previews of her various attacks
- The Yargonaut: new! Warden added to the Rift of Thessaly
- Charybdis: adjusted Tentacle behaviors; reduced overall difficulty
- Harpy Talon: slightly reduced radius of ranged attack
- Stickler: reduced damage
- Seesword: increased damage
- Blasket: reduced damage
- Infernal Beast: slightly increased Life
- Scylla: slightly increased Life
- Hellfish: new! Warden added to Oceanus
- Lurker: gained a defensive back-step maneuver after getting hit
- Headmistress Hecate: slightly increased Life
- Root-Stalker: adjusted behavior of tail; grew a second one
- Various other minor changes to foes and combat encounters
‘Hades 2’ Special Encounters
- Reworked Heracles combat encounters — vanquish specially-marked foes for a bounty in Gold
- Aetos will no longer swoop in to attack more than once prior to facing Prometheus
- Slightly increased appearance rate of Moon Monuments and Unseen Sigils on the surface
- Slightly increased difficulty of Moon Monument foes
- Moon Monuments no longer offer Path of Stars rewards if your Hex is fully upgraded
- Athena more consistently vanquishes Revenants from the Vow of Return (Oath)
- Minor adjustments to Artemis, Heracles, and Icarus appearance rates on the surface route
- Two Arachne Cocoon encounters can no longer occur very close together in some cases
- Family Disputes, formerly called Trials of the Gods, now can include Ares; several Olympians put up more of a fight than before…
Level Design And Environments
- Added the final confrontation on the surface route and various new Locations within it
- The Olympus Region has one fewer Location to traverse before the Guardian
- Encounters in the Rift of Thessaly that had too many waves (of foes) should now be more reasonable
- Optional rooms in Ephyra become more likely if you haven’t found many that night
- Reduced damage of Lone Shades freed from Ephyra Pylons
- You now must use the Fountain if you haven’t already done so prior to leaving the Ephyra main square
- Resources can appear in more places in the Ephyra main square
- Removed Bat Cage nearest to the initial entrance to the Ephyra main square
- Added another Location that can randomly appear in Erebus
- Added another Location that can randomly appear in Oceanus
· Added another Location that can randomly appear in Ephyra
- The final battle prior to the Guardian of each of Region should no longer get replaced by Fountain chambers or character encounters
- Adjusted resource points in some Locations, especially those close enough to exits that you could leave by accident while trying to harvest
- Various minor fixes and improvements to various Locations
Chaos Trials
- You now reappear before the Pitch-Black Stone upon returning from a Chaos Trial
- Trial of Thunder: new! Zeus-themed Trial set in Erebus
- Trial of Glory: new! Hera-themed Trial set on Olympus
- Trial of the Fall: new! Demeter-themed Trial set in the Mourning Fields
- Trial of Slaughter: new! Ares-themed Trial set in Ephyra
- Trial of Destiny: new! Chaos-themed Trial set on Olympus
- Trial of Strife: new! Eris-themed Trial set in Thessaly
- Minor fixes and changes to several Trials
‘Hades 2’ The Crossroads Renewal Project
- Updated Crossroads main grounds with new points of interest; the taverna now is easier to traverse
- Artemis now sometimes provides musical accompaniment in the Crossroads
- Added numerous new unlockable decorative items once the Renewal Project is available
- Some decorative items now unlocked from a new spot in the taverna
- Various forms of wildlife now may appear throughout the Crossroads
- Some groups of Shades in the Crossroads now have captions when you Salute them
- Recently-pacified Shades that appear in the Training Grounds now have varying appearances
- Melinoë will sometimes cover up the family portrait in her tent after brooding too much
- Odysseus will sometimes offer resources you may need; can sometimes be found seated in the taverna
- Eris will no longer litter in the midst of conversation with others
- The witch attendants of Hecate now are absent when she is
- Improved presentation around plants that can be harvested in the Garden
- Supply Shipments no longer prompt you to interact as frequently
- The moon now shows different phases in the Training Grounds vista scene
Cauldron Incantations
- Rage of the Elements: new! Lets you activate the statues on Olympus to defend you
- Path to Desired Blessings: new! Lets you track requirements for Boons listed in the Book of Shadows
- Acceptance of Another Fate: new! Salute the Oath of the Unseen to reset that night’s random events
- Shuffling of Noted Ballads: new! Lets the Music Maker make music choices for you if you wish
- Deathly Fortune: now introduced later and no longer lets you exchange plants for Bones(only fish…)
- Psychic Slivers of Clarity: removed from the game as part of resource system changes
- Bones of Arcane Wisdom: now makes Bones raise Magick limit rather than adding Armor; formerly Bones of Burnished Bronze
‘Hades 2’ Fated List of Minor Prophecies
- The Arms of Night: new! Rewards you for unlocking each of the Main Weapons
- Master of War: new! Rewards you for choosing various Boons of Ares
- Storm in the Heavens: new! Rewards you for prevailing on the surface route
- Sword of the Night: new! Rewards you for clearing the surface route with each Main Weapon
- Power Beyond Legend: new! Further rewards you for choosing all Legendary Boons; these are no longer included with each Olympian’s Boon prophecy
Book of Shadows
- Added new entries for various additions in this update
- Updated relationship status display for relevant characters after the Incantation Empath’s Intuition
‘Hades 2’ Menus And UI
- Updated Main Menu to reflect this Major Update
- Added art for all Arcana and adjusted layout in the Altar of Ashes screen
- Added animations for the Crossroads Cauldron screen
- Added animations for the Pitch-Black Stone screen
- Added animations for the Wretched Broker screen
- Added animations for the Fated List screen
- Added animations for the Inventory screen
- Added art for the Crossroads Renewal screen
- Added art and adjusted layout for the Music Maker screen
- Added art and adjusted layout for the Archived Trivia screen
- Added art and adjusted layout for the Past Deeds screen
- Added art for the Gifts of the Moon screen
- Added animations for info banners, such as when entering Locations or vanquishing Guardians
- Added animations to the Main Menu and related sub-screens such as the Pause menu
- Updated art and animations for Book of Shadows prompts
- Updated art and animations for Fated List prompts
- Updated art and animations for Incantation Learned and similar prompts
- Updated look of many in-world status icons
- You now can see your Change of Fate count when choosing Boons
- You now can exchange resources for Prestige more freely, with a new warning if you still need them
- The Victory Screen now has theming differences depending on which route you cleared
- Improved feedback in the Altar of Ashes for when you fully upgrade your Grasp
- Improved presentation when multiple Incantations are revealed at once in the Crossroads Cauldron
- Improved text descriptions for Animal Familiar upgrades
- Adjusted Godhood Gained presentation after failing in God Mode; the presentation no longer occurs once you reach the damage resistance limit
- Damage numbers that come from environmental effects and traps now have a distinct color
- Updated prompts on a number of menu screens
- Various other fixes and improvements
Art And Visual FX
- Updated environment art in various places in the Crossroads
- Updated the look of Shades in various Regions, including ones you can pacify with the Tablet of Peace
- Updated some visual FX for improved clarity in the heat of battle (this work is ongoing)
- Updated visual FX for Scalding Vapor (Poseidon x Hestia)
- Updated visual FX for when foes with Armor are struck
- Updated teleportation visual FX for Animal Familiars, Artemis, and others
- Updated some visual FX for Umbral Flames (Moros)
- Updated presentation during narrative flashback sequences
- Updated narrative background art in Erebus
- Added narrative background art for Selene
- Added character animations for Hermes
- Added alternate portrait for Melinoë
- Added alternate portrait for Odysseus
- Adjusted portrait for Zeus
- Adjusted portrait for Artemis
- Added death animations for Charybdis Tentacles
- Various other minor visual improvements
‘Hades 2’ Voice And Narrative
- Added more than 2,000 new voice lines, including new dialogue events for many characters
- Added more narrated Homer outcomes after a successful clear
- Chronos will give you a piece of his mind in more situations when leaving Erebus
- More characters react to resource-gathering and other interactions
- Numerous minor adjustments to requirements and content for various events
Music And SFX
- Added new music pieces for the final confrontation and the lead-up to it
- Added music theme for Icarus
- Added music theme for Echo
- Added a song from
- Added unlockable versions of each of these to the Music Maker
- Added new victory music stingers for each of the two routes
- Music from the Music Maker now grows softer during dialogue events
- Added new sound effects for the Main Menu
- Added new sound effects for the Crossroads Cauldron
- Added new sound effects for the Wretched Broker
- Updated sound effects for Staff Special
- Updated sound effects for some foes and encounters
- Other minor changes and improvements
Settings
- God Mode Limit: new! You now can reduce the effect of God Mode if you wish
‘Hades 2’ Miscellaneous
- Updated Development Roadmap to reflect our progress and plans for the next Major Update
- Clear times in the Past Deeds screen for the Surface route have been reset now that it is extended
- Adjusted presentation when Death Defiance effects activate
- Adjusted presentation when leaving the Training Grounds for the night
- Adjusted presentation when trying to attack while out-of-Shells with the Argent Skull
- Some Wardens’ Life Bars now follow their movements more closely
- Improved timing of Polyphemus knockout sequence
- Minor improvements to Charybdis fight intro
- Improved presentation choosing Boon Boon Boon (Echo)
- Added several Commendation messages that may appear on the Victory Screen
- Added more error messaging we hope no one will ever see
- Updated Credits with several additional contributors
- Updates and fixes to translations in all languages
Bug Fixes
- Fixed Rapture Ring (Aphrodite) not damaging foes at the edge of the binding circle
- Fixed Moon Monuments sometimes appearing unexpectedly if you had no Hex of Selene
- Fixed Icarus missing his targets unexpectedly (unless you’re his father and expect disappointment)
- Fixed optional rooms in Ephyra counting against Encounters needed to clear Chaos Curses
- Fixed unexpected delays prior to pre-fight dialogue against Hecate, Polyphemus, and Eris
- Fixed Gameplay Timer not pausing in some instances while pacifying Lost Shades
- Fixed Moonstone Axe (Thanatos) full-charge sound re-playing when entering new Locations
- Fixed Nemesis sometimes getting stuck wandering the Mourning Fields
- Fixed Evil Eye (Nemesis) switching targets after clearing Chaos Trials
- Fixed Dual Moonshot (Daedalus – Staff) sounds not playing for each shot
- Fixed foes playing hurt sound effects when taking damage to their Armor rather than their Life
- Many other minor fixes
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