• Welcome to Talking Time's third iteration! If you would like to register for an account, or have already registered but have not yet been confirmed, please read the following:

    1. The CAPTCHA key's answer is "Percy"
    2. Once you've completed the registration process please email us from the email you used for registration at percyreghelper@gmail.com and include the username you used for registration

    Once you have completed these steps, Moderation Staff will be able to get your account approved.

Hades is out now, holy heck

Alixsar

The Shogun of Harlem
(He/him)
I feel like the Reflex skills in general are just kinda not worth it. You'll start learning the combos that work well eventually (I'm a big fan of Weak/Doom). Hammers and Boons change the way you play and basically ARE what makes that run THAT run specifically, so you should kinda always focus on those. Chaos boons are often worth taking too, especially if you can get one early.
 

Paul le Fou

24/7 lofi hip hop man to study/relax to
(He)
Hmm... Are you focusing on any weapons over others, or even-ish use across the board? I have a little over 30 clears now and I still die to Hades with the sword and spear, even the fist sometimes.

Using the "Your next boon is from this Olympian" keepsakes can be really useful for setting up a core build element early on. Like, if you have the gun or fists, with lots of fast hits, Zeus or Dionysus on attack is really powerful, and guaranteeing at least a good chance at it out of the gate can really smooth things out. (The last talent on the mirror does help with this since it allows you to reroll the boons you're offered.)

My first clears, and still my best runs, were all done with the bow. Once you unlock all the weapons and can unlock and upgrade different aspects of them, the aspect of Chiron in particular is extremely good. The bow and the last weapon can both be pretty powerful and, being ranged, can benefit from a safer playstyle than the up-close melee ones.
 

Destil

DestilG
(he/him)
Staff member
The bow is amazing but it's amazing because point blank it's the best backstab weapon in the game.
 

Paul le Fou

24/7 lofi hip hop man to study/relax to
(He)
I mean, that's one reason too, but sending multiple groups of homing arrows into an enemy from across the map is pretty cool
 

Destil

DestilG
(he/him)
Staff member
I'm just messing with you, bow is great all-around. Spread a status across a full room, unload a full quiver with a backstab point blank, snipe with power shots. All good.
 

Paul le Fou

24/7 lofi hip hop man to study/relax to
(He)
Christ I just did an amazing run. Shield, maxed-out aspect of Zeus. Zeus on special. Boon for the chance to double lightning bolts. Legendary Zeus boon for more splitting lightning. Hermes for +speed on special (epic), and...maybe jolted? I honestly don't remember since at that point it was academic.

I also had other boons, like Artemis cast + the duo boon for the secondary arrow + exit wounds, and poseidon+shoals+boss damage on normal attack (great for slamming regular enemies back into the shield where they belong) but they pretty much didn't fucking matter at all because the lightning shield was illegally powerful. Just, disgusting. Not sure why I bother with anything but Chiron Bow and Zeus Shield. And maybe Lucifer rail. And maaaaaaaaaaaaaybe Eris rail and Excalibur. And maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaybe Enkidu fists.
 

R.R. Bigman

Coolest Guy
The first boss kept beating me up, so the game started to feel bad for me and hit me up with a hammer upgrade that simply made my bow shots 50% stronger and easier to time. I got all the way up to the second boss, whom I got to half health before I keeled over. The second area is no joke!
 

Alixsar

The Shogun of Harlem
(He/him)
Christ I just did an amazing run. Shield, maxed-out aspect of Zeus. Zeus on special. Boon for the chance to double lightning bolts. Legendary Zeus boon for more splitting lightning. Hermes for +speed on special (epic), and...maybe jolted? I honestly don't remember since at that point it was academic.

I also had other boons, like Artemis cast + the duo boon for the secondary arrow + exit wounds, and poseidon+shoals+boss damage on normal attack (great for slamming regular enemies back into the shield where they belong) but they pretty much didn't fucking matter at all because the lightning shield was illegally powerful. Just, disgusting. Not sure why I bother with anything but Chiron Bow and Zeus Shield. And maybe Lucifer rail. And maaaaaaaaaaaaaybe Eris rail and Excalibur. And maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaybe Enkidu fists.

If you like the shield, please try the Chaos shield. It is WILD, truly fucking wild
 

Paul le Fou

24/7 lofi hip hop man to study/relax to
(He)
If you like the shield, please try the Chaos shield. It is WILD, truly fucking wild
The multiple shield throw after dash? Yeah, I've tried it. Sucks, miss me with that. (Nah it's fine it's just not as impressive.) You should try Aspect of Zeus. It is far more truly fucking wild.

The third area is even less of a joke!

(The fourth area is somewhat of a joke, meanwhile)
The fourth area is less of a joke than the third! Or at least an equivalent level of joke!
 

Sarcasmorator

Same as I ever was
(He/him)
The fourth area is all fun and games until you forget to notice you stepped in poison and are dying.

Sometimes I breeze through it and sometimes it's a struggle.
 

jpfriction

(He, Him)
The central conceit makes it more literally a joke, but yeah I do not like running into a “little varmint” or whatever that rat miniboss is called.
 
I think I ran into then once during my second time up there and then again 80 runs later. (but because of that boss, I always prioritize boss doors there last)

 

Sarcasmorator

Same as I ever was
(He/him)
There's a giant snakestone boss too, but I've only seen it once! I find the boss rat easier than a bit rat swarm, though.
 

aturtledoesbite

earthquake ace
(any/all)
There's the vermin boss, and miniboss versions of the snakestone, the satyr, and the whatever-it's-called that spits out mines.
 

Paul le Fou

24/7 lofi hip hop man to study/relax to
(He)
I only have 2 duo boons left to check off on my prophect list - Demeter+Ares and Demeter+Aphrodite - and both have been frustratingly difficult to find. I've had like 5 runs where I met the conditions for one of them and they just never ever show up, and I'm kinda tired of running with Ares casts over and over (I mean, they're not bad, just not among my favorites).

Similarly, Artemis's legendary is the last one I need and it's taking foreeeeeever to show up. At least its prerequisites are pretty awesome so I don't feel like I'm taking a weird or bad build to try and get them :/

Question - what happens if you get a duo boon, then sell or replace one of the prerequisite boons?
 

Paul le Fou

24/7 lofi hip hop man to study/relax to
(He)
I sure am! And I've got the legendary/duo talent maxed too. I was getting all sorts of other duos, just not those ones.

It's fine, I finally got one duo and the legendary in one run, and the other duo in the following. All done now - that prophecy list is getting pretty short!

I'm feeling like I miiiiight be winding down on this. I'm at about 35 clears; I have 4/6 companions, and am forging bonds/completing quests for most of the characters I can do so for; the aspects I actually like using are mostly maxed or close to it. I'm at the point where actually dying on a run is more frustrating and aggravating than "part of the process," and heat runs are getting repetitive, so I've actually started switching on God Mode when I'm not using one of my favored weapons/builds just for the hell of it and to make it more fun and relaxing and less stressful (I appreciate that God Mode is an easy toggle, whenever you want, and is also just scaling damage reduction so you're not entirely invincible or anything). That said, tearing through everybody with the Zeus shield, bow (I'm honestly not sure whether I like Chiron or Rama better, they're both so good; I haven't even really tried the Hera one) or the rail, especially the Lucifer rail is a blast. I should really just do more of that.
 

Alixsar

The Shogun of Harlem
(He/him)
It won't let me quote you for some reason Paul, but yeah I'm gonna try the Zeus shield eventually. But right now, when Titan Blood is kinda scarce, I'm really feeling the Chaos shield. The post-rush throw does a ton of damage if you hit them with all of them up close, it does good crowd control on top of that, the rush itself does on-hit attack effects so a rush/shield throw combo can proc attack AND special status effects...it's just really strong overall. And guarding is a part of the equation too, so it's really safe on top of all of that! There's literally nothing but upsides to this dang thing. It's like...stupid good, just completely broken.

I get that you can keep the Zeus shield out indefinitely with proper movement, which is nice, but I kinda don't see how anything can dethrone Chaos shield. I'm taking a break for a bit because this game consumed my life for like 2 weeks, but once I get back into it and have the Chaos shield maxed out I'll give it a go

Uh...if I don't upgrade the gun and spear first (I like the gun a lot too, and I went to the trouble to get the Yuan Gu so may as well check it out...and the Achilles spear is mad good)
 

Destil

DestilG
(he/him)
Staff member
Not sure why I bother with anything but Chiron Bow and Zeus Shield. And maybe Lucifer rail. And maaaaaaaaaaaaaybe Eris rail and Excalibur. And maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaybe Enkidu fists.
Are you me?

Magnet Cutter's good, though. Not a huge fan of Greg fist.
 

Paul le Fou

24/7 lofi hip hop man to study/relax to
(He)
It won't let me quote you for some reason Paul, but yeah I'm gonna try the Zeus shield eventually. But right now, when Titan Blood is kinda scarce, I'm really feeling the Chaos shield. The post-rush throw does a ton of damage if you hit them with all of them up close, it does good crowd control on top of that, the rush itself does on-hit attack effects so a rush/shield throw combo can proc attack AND special status effects...it's just really strong overall. And guarding is a part of the equation too, so it's really safe on top of all of that! There's literally nothing but upsides to this dang thing. It's like...stupid good, just completely broken.

I get that you can keep the Zeus shield out indefinitely with proper movement, which is nice, but I kinda don't see how anything can dethrone Chaos shield. I'm taking a break for a bit because this game consumed my life for like 2 weeks, but once I get back into it and have the Chaos shield maxed out I'll give it a go

Uh...if I don't upgrade the gun and spear first (I like the gun a lot too, and I went to the trouble to get the Yuan Gu so may as well check it out...and the Achilles spear is mad good)
Yeah, before I unlocked Zeus my best shield runs were all where I had an awesome setup on my shield throw - like the hammer for it hitting more people, and hangover or lightning when it hit, etc. And I can definitely see how doing that except a lot more can be really powerful! Heck, even when I did my 4th-aspect run, the shield toss ended up pulling a lot of weight, so multiplying it is Good! (Especially with that hammer for more chaining, or burst when you catch, or more.) Achilles is my fave spear because of the extra mobility. And the gun is just fun.
Are you me?

Magnet Cutter's good, though. Not a huge fan of Greg fist.
I'm actually in the middle of a Magnet Cutter run right now. It's good, definitely the best normal-fist aspect, and I've had a couple neat builds with it. It doesn't click with me quite as much, though. Is Gilgamesh better? I dunno, but it feels cooler. But I'm not reliably great with either of them, so, shrug! :/
 

Destil

DestilG
(he/him)
Staff member
I dislike the extra damage from Gilgamesh and managing mangle is a lot, both mentally and from actually gettin the inputs right
 

Paul le Fou

24/7 lofi hip hop man to study/relax to
(He)
I'm actually in the middle of a Magnet Cutter run right now. It's good, definitely the best normal-fist aspect, and I've had a couple neat builds with it. It doesn't click with me quite as much, though. Is Gilgamesh better? I dunno, but it feels cooler. But I'm not reliably great with either of them, so, shrug! :/
OK so I accidentally made an absurdly good build with this. I had: The magnet cutter's cast-damage boost; Aphrodite cast (already a good match for the magnet cutter, because of the short range and weakness helping melee survivability); duo secondary projectile for 30% duo; Epic hermes auto-cast (60% cast speed); Legendary Hermes for crystals to come back immediately; Weak enemies take extra damage; I feel like there's some other stuff I'm missing but that was basically the power combo. I'd hit them with the magnet cutter, hold the cast button, and 1000+ damage would just kind of happen.

If the enemy died immediately, I got the crystals back and could continue to do the same with 0 downtime. (If not, the boss had the crystals-in debuff, and my attack was pretty brutal itself: cutter boost; two hammers - 10% damage/long range and +5 per successive hit; Artemis on attack for % multiplied damage and nice crit chance; extra crit chance on hangover stacks (w/ hangover special and dash); crits do extra damage; support fire for an extra arrow each time; extra damage on weak enemies; I think that's the main gist of it, but even when I had to sit and attack, I could land some serious crits, I remember seeing 486 once. On the fist! Damn!)
 

jpfriction

(He, Him)
1-33, kids. Surely I’ll clear it 40 times in a row now.

Fists with Magna cutter, Lambent plume and lots of Hermes to get me dodging every other hit. Demeter on attack, Aphrodite on cast/dash, Ares on special, Artemis on call.
 

Sarcasmorator

Same as I ever was
(He/him)
One of the best parts of the game, IMO, is how some runs you DO get absolutely broken combos like that, and others you don't, and you're never sure quite which it'll be.
 

Paul le Fou

24/7 lofi hip hop man to study/relax to
(He)
I had an ABSURD combo last night, with like 6 duo boons or something ridiculous. My cast was festive fog with chill AND lightning, and since it doesn't lob (and the reticle tracks to an enemy) I could just drop 3 insanely powerful AoEs on whomever I wanted. I also had the hammer for my Spear that removed the spin attack (useless, hate it) with "hold to repeatedly jab" (super powerful, fast) and an epic Hermes for 60% attack speed. My attack had poseidon + the lightning-on-pushback duo boon, and an epic "extra damage when thrown into walls" rider. It was naaaaasty.

My prophecy list is getting pretty short, which is coinciding with "time to move on to another game, maybe popping in to do a run here and there" feelings. I'm over 40 clears now? And just about to get the last companion I don't have yet. Not sure if there's an actual endpoint or goal to be looking for, or if I'm just tying up loose ends and settling into the "keep running forever" groove.
 
Top