Iāve gone back to the game for a few nights now. I felt like I was getting worse yet again.
Then I mucked around with a few things and made two startling realisations.
Firstly, in your mirror there is a little arrow down the left hand side which switches the permanent power up effects to an alternate option. I HAD NO IDEA. So I spent loads of the night powering them up.
But then I found I was dying even more and Iād lost all my Death Defiance. And I then realised, that you choose which one you like the most and only power that one up, as the other is effectively lying dormant and is useless.
So intrigued to try a run out now where Iāve gone down the mirror and carefully curated my lasting effects rather than having a bunch maxed out and hidden.
yeah Iāve got the health from shadow switched on rather than the 3 health per chamber, seems a lot more useful. think thatās the only one of the alternatives Iām using though
Yeah, I was surprised the first time I saw that option. I assume that it must be unlocked at some point, as opposed to it being available since the very beginning!
I think I found most of the alternative versions a bit trickier than the standard ones, but theyāre nice for a bit of variety. I liked the one that gives you bonus money at the end of each level instead of upfront cash.
Thereās a challenge/reward that you get if you complete the game with every power up at least once - which I managed, but some of them were definitely less useful!
Itās useful if youāre struggling with the first three levels or so, but be warned the fourth features no shadow drops whatsoever and also a lot of very quick chamber in succession, making the 3 health per chamber far more helpful.
Overall the stock mirror options are better in most circumstances honestly.
Ah good work, I havenāt played for a couple of weeks now. Unlocked everything in the mirror bar better boon chances and can regularly get past Theseus and the Minotaur but by the time I get to hades (if I make it past all the little Chambers at all) Iāve got no death defiances left and barely any health. Donāt last very long and not really sure how to tilt things in my favour, it all seems to have dried up a lot.
yeah thatās pretty much my experience too. if it helps, the breakthrough was with the shield, aphrodite on attack, ares on special and their duo boon (also poseidon on dash with rupture & bonus damage vs bosses).
One of the things I love about this game is that it has that Slay the Spire-esque feel of limitless potential where youāre never too far from linking a few abilities up and creating an absurdly over-powered build, if the stars will just align for you. This one was great - I was hitting mofos at a rate of about 4 strikes a second whilst endlessly blasted lightning through their ranks. Went through the final boss like butter.
Did it for the first time on my 40th attempt. Found the āexploding launcherā on the spear to be pretty essential, as well as boosting my special with Doom up loads. I was always coming up short in Hadesā second phases in other build runs. It was SO quick this time, and I even had a death defiance left!
The special aspect of the Rail is huge amounts of fun, get on that if you havenāt already. Laser beams and explosions as far as the eye can see.
Really come around to Dionysus - aside from his health-based boons being absurdly powerful if you couple hangover to something with good repeat action you can play peekaboo with the enemy and make them pray for death. Demeter in particular has fantastic synergy with him.
how do you get the hidden aspects? just level up all the other ones?
had my first win with the rail earlier as it happens, dionysus on attack and artemis on special. the supporting fire boon is great, absolutely fucked up the old man with it
I think you have to have either spent some Titan blood on all of the upgrades for that specific weapon and/or have at least spent Titan blood on 8 or so different weapon upgrades. And then having someone speak a phrase to you then unlocks it the next time. Canāt remember that all now, but it wasnāt too clear at the time. The rail gun special aspect definitely is super different and fun. I think a couple of the special aspect weapons are not the easiest of weapons to use though, especially when trying to reach Hades with them (to fulfill another prophecy). But itās just good fun trying all the different options.
Looking forward to returning to this game again some point later this year. Just to continue with the story, and see how many flame levels (or whatever theyāre called) I can progress up to.
Yeah, it doesnāt unlock them all at once, but I think it unlocks the opportunity for you to be able to start unlocking them. It took a while for me to unlock them all/hunt down the various people I needed to speak to, although I guess it probably just happened by chance as you ended up seeing the various characters during your normal runs.
Just checked online and these are the requirements apparently:
"How to unlock Weapon Aspects in Hades
Itās important to note that Weapon Aspects are an upgrade available later in the game. Aspects arenāt available out of the gate once you use Chthonic Keys to unlock the weapon - instead, youāll need to unlock all six weapons first. At that point, youāll be able to spend Titan Blood to unlock the first three Weapon Aspects.
The fourth, hidden Aspect for each weapon can only be obtained much later. Youāll need to have unlocked three different Weapon Aspects and the Fated List of Minor Prophecies for a start, and youāll also need to reach the final boss - which isnāt the end of the game at all, as thereās plenty still to do in order to reach the true ending to Hades. Anyway, near the boss entrance you can speak with Achilles; youāll want to discuss the ātrue natureā of your weapons, which will set you on the path to unlock the 4th aspect"
escaped with every weapon now, still struggle a bit with gunny but like all the others. also unlocked the sword and spear hidden aspects, the sword in particular seems a lot of fun
Bought this over Christmas and Iām shit at it but also canāt stop playing it.
The story so far:
17 tries to even beat the first boss.
3 tries to beat the second boss.
15 tries to beat the third boss. About half of those I didnāt even make it back to Elysium after the Hydra changes up.
Iāve finally made it to the last level once and Iām gradually starting to get a feel for the good boons to go for. Think I know the mistake Iām making, which is the same one I kept making on Dead Cells. The action within the levels is very frenetic so Iām always trying to get up in their faces and smash them to pieces rather than taking a breath and waiting for the right chance to attack. Especially with bosses.
Spear and gun are probably the best weapons. Bow and shield are definitely the worst. Doubt Iāll ever make it through with them.
yeah half the battle is figuring out which gods / boons suit which weapons (and also which gods work well in tandem with each other)
shield is good imo. get aphrodite and ares on your attack and special (or vice versa) and go to work! or get athena on there and just bounce everything away with your bull rushes
