Hades is out now, holy heck

[Tangent]

I finally have one escape under my belt, but now I'm finding it a bit tricky to figure out the right priorities for getting to a place where that is repeatable. Should I explicitly go in and do runs just to grind for materials? Should I treat every run like an honest-to-goodness attempt to rack up another escape? So far I've been splitting the difference between those two and that doesn't go so well.

On the plus side, I am finding that more and more of my runs end at the last fight, so just getting more comfortable with that will hopefully be the tipping point. Most of my runs that end earlier are down to sloppy play because I'm trying to rush through things and counting on my build to make up for it (e.g., the upgrade for the fists that lets you regain HP on KOs forgives a lot of sloppy play in Tartarus, but 2HP per KO is not enough to stay afloat if you are playing sloppily in the later layers).

I really like how the narrative incorporates the rougelike structure, and incentivizes keeping on making runs after your first "victory." This is honestly the first roguelike where I've even racked up a single win (I've made it to the final boss in Dead Cells a few times, but never passed it), and it might be the only one where I'll ever be interested in goal for the long haul of mastery.

 

[ASandoval]

First clear required me staying up way too late, but it's done. Titan gloves + Hangover just absolutely melts enemy health bars, even if it means tanking a lot of damage from bosses.

 

[Sarcasmorator]

I like gloves a lot more than I thought I would. I actually like every weapon, though I use the sword least I think.

I like Hangover a lot, and Doom is also a good one for my dash-heavy play style. Hit a thing, dash away, watch it die.

 

[Egarwaen]

I cleared Elysium!

I got the Artemis / Zeus Lightning Rod duo, which makes your Bloodstones zort everyone around them on a regular basis, True Shot, Lightning Strike. Ironically I'm using the Rail, which I hate, but Flurry Fire and Seeking Fire mostly mitigate the worst of it.

 

[mike]

I like gloves a lot more than I thought I would. I actually like every weapon, though I use the sword least I think.

I was really surprised by how much I enjoyed both the shield and gloves playstyles, and how the sword is the least approachable for me. My only problem with the gloves is finding a way to comfortably perform the special dash move on my controller. I hit other inputs accidentally while using my thumb, and the face button claw grip isn't ergonomically sustainable outside of difficult boss encounters.

My favorite weapon is almost always the one I'm currently carrying, though, which is a wonderful recurring feature of every Supergiant game I've played.

 

[Destil]

A cleanup 0 heat win after getting 1 heat with the hidden aspect on my previous run. This build did all the damage.

Feel like bosses have 10% too much HP? Try Winter Harvest!

 

[Mogri]

Victory screens, is it?

Here's my best run! I got a no-damage win against the final boss.

 

[ASandoval]

Here's my best run! I got a no-damage win against the final boss.

Liar.

... Not really but having just beaten that boss and having to tank most of the damage I don't even see how that's possible.

 

[Mogri]

1. I was on my A-game that run
2. Athena legendary blocks an instance of damage every 20 seconds

They were both necessary, and Divine Dash never hurts, either.

 

[Regulus]

I'm still a baby at this game and haven't escaped yet, but my last run with Aegis was pretty close. You can block almost everything with it. I made a fatal error at the end, but I spent most of the fight taking no damage, so that seems conceivable to me.

 

[Mogri]

It also helps that that run was based around Ares shield special and homing Ares cast, neither of which requires you to be particularly close to what you're targeting. Just, you know, all of the Ares boons, easy mode.

But I took the shawl, so apparently I was attacking that run, too? I dunno, it was a while ago.

 

[Banach]

Almost got the sub-10 I've been looking for, but still by far my best, and I think I can be happy with that. Eris+Rocket Bomb+Cluster Bomb is a ridiculous amount of damage.

I was hoping to get the other accomplishment that I wanted done with this run as well, but it looks like I still have a couple more to go.

 

[Adrenaline]

I have cleared Hades three times. Can anyone explain to me the difference between boon rarity and boon level?

EDIT: It looks like they basically do the same thing (make the numbers go up), but you improve them in different ways.

 

[Mogri]

Yes, that's basically it. The same boon with better rarity will have bigger numbers.

 

[karzac]

Tip to everybody sharing these win screens: you can choose which boons are pinned. Show us what was relevant to your success!

Edit: Adrenaline, the way I think about it is that a boons Level (increased with Poms) is the rungs on a ladder, and each level of rarity is a whole different ladder, with the rungs space further apart (thus scaling faster with levels).

 

[Banach]

I did put the most important boons in the win screen (5 way rockets are extremely strong, if perhaps not quite historically accurate to ancient Greece). I probably should have included Zeus Attack, Artemis Special, and Poseidon Dash, though, it terms of things key to the time (really, the dash is the surprise MVP, as it cleans up little things very fast, and does a surprising amount of damage).

As others have said, both Pom's and Rarity scale the numbers on the boon, but rarity scales it faster, and also makes the Pom's more effective as the base is better. The downside is that while you can maneuver things in your favor, there's a limit to what you can do to affect Rarity, so sometimes your just stuck with the common. Also, a few god's\abilities aren't affect by Pom's at all, but greatly scale through rarity (Hermes extra dash charges might be the biggest example of this.

Finally, exactly one run after the last post, the thing I was waiting for happened and I managed to do this:

I'd say that I'll actually take a break after this, but honestly they're still a lot to do, and I'm still enjoying doing it. Adding heat to each weapon feels like it will take a while, their are a ton of aspects still to power up for all the weapons, several prophecies still to complete, and I still, after over 100 runs, get a new conversation here and there every time I get back. I can't think of the last time I was able to play a roguelike this long and still have new runs feel fresh and different.

 

[karzac]

In fact, I believe that all of Hermes' boons are un-Pommable and can only scale with Rarity.

I got credits tonight! Similarly, I still feel like there is a ton more to do. It's amazing how into this game I still am, giving that just 10 months ago I was feeling burned out. It's a testament to how much the game has improved over the course of early access.

 

[MCBanjoMike]

Got my first win last night, on my first run using the Adamant Rail. I found a hammer upgrade that allowed me to add +300% damage to the mortar shot, with the downside that my shots could hurt me, too. Added on some bonus damage to my special and the ability that gives you a bonus against undamaged enemies and I was hitting folks for over 1000 damage at times, it was rad. I put Demeter's chill on my main attack, which I would use to slow enemies down so they couldn't move out of the impact zone for the mortar shots. And I used Charon's trinket, which I secretly think might be one of the better ones? I'd clear out the little wells whenever I saw them and I'd have bonuses that would last for 12 encounters at a time, it was great. I still have a lot to learn about the last boss fight, but I think it went fairly well, all things considered. Also, I like that the story seems to be far from complete after my victory. I was already interested in trying to clear the game using the other weapons, but it'll help keep me motivated if there are more plot points along the way. Certainly doesn't seem like I'm close to exhausting the dialogue in this game...

 

[Sarcasmorator]

I got close to clearing last night, twice. Not long now.

 

[aturtledoesbite]

Certainly doesn't seem like I'm close to exhausting the dialogue in this game...

you have only scratched the surface

 

[Adrenaline]

I hadn't gotten past the Furies with the fists before, but I just cleared the game with them and a pretty fun build where I was using various boons to strengthen myself and weaken my enemies and healing every time I killed one with my special.

 

[ShakeWell]

I fought a different Fury last night? That was weird, but cool. Finally beat the Bone Hydra (not a euphemism). Chipping away at this, but have really only been doing 1-2 attempts per day, since I'm working on my 2nd (and bigger) Halloween video right now.

 

[Falselogic]

I got to say seeing the credits roll, put a damper on my playing. There is still lots of story to unfold, but if I don't step away now I'm not going to have any other games completed for 2020 (and the backlog never rests!)

 

[Falselogic]

I fought a different Fury last night? That was weird, but cool. Finally beat the Bone Hydra (not a euphemism). Chipping away at this, but have really only been doing 1-2 attempts per day, since I'm working on my 2nd (and bigger) Halloween video right now.

She came as a surprise to me! If you know some of your Greek mythology you can make a guess at how many you might eventually face.

 

[Destil]

Credits get!

Aspect of Zeus is my new favorite weapon.

 

[Sarcasmorator]

OK, there we go. Took 30 tries but I cleared it for the first time. In addition to what's highlighted I got a LOT of use out of the Demeter dash that projects a little frost cloud ahead of you.

 

[Destil]

I think I hate the way the way the heat system rewards stuff?

Unless I'm misunderstanding you're required to play with each weapon at each distinct heat value? Like I can't just go to 5 heat to open gates and still then get rewards for 1-2-3-4 at that level on successive games. Just the rewards for 5?

It's clear that eventually all the relevant rewards will be maxed out with nothing left to buy, but it's pretty annoying right now.

 

[karzac]

I believe you can go back down to lower levels and earn the rewards for that heat level, even if you skipped past it before. But I don't think you can just stick at say, 5 heat, and keep earning the 1-2-3-4 rewards, if that's what you're asking?

 

[Egarwaen]

I completed a run! Using the shield; wound up with the four bounce special upgrade and the Ares boon that Dooms on special; it turns out that being able to mash Y and Doom every enemy is really good.

 

[Mogri]

I believe you can go back down to lower levels and earn the rewards for that heat level, even if you skipped past it before. But I don't think you can just stick at say, 5 heat, and keep earning the 1-2-3-4 rewards, if that's what you're asking?

You can absolutely do this. If you only play at 5 heat, you'll keep getting rewards until you've gotten rewards for heats 1 through 5.

Also, playing at higher heat will allow you to use the Erebus portals, so it's not all downsides.