Hades 2 doesn’t hold your hand the way most roguelikes do. You wake up in the Crossroads, get a brief explanation of who Melinoë is, and then you’re expected to figure out the rest through trial and error. The game assumes you understand how resources work, why certain upgrades matter, and what dying actually costs you. If you played the first game, some of this feels familiar. If you didn’t, the first few hours can feel like you’re missing context.
The early game is about building momentum without wasting resources on things that don’t scale. You’ll gather materials like psyche, cinder, and moly, but the game doesn’t tell you which ones unlock critical upgrades and which ones just add flavor. You’ll meet NPCs who offer quests, but some of those quests open new mechanics while others just fill in story beats. Learning the difference saves time.
Understanding Death and Progression
Death in Hades 2 works the same way it did in the first game. You lose your run progress, keep your permanent upgrades, and start fresh from the Crossroads. The difference is that Melinoë’s meta-progression is slower. You won’t unlock game-changing abilities in the first five runs. You’ll spend more time grinding resources, completing incantations, and slowly expanding what’s available to you.
This isn’t a flaw. It’s intentional. The game wants you to feel like you’re building something over time instead of rushing toward a single clear. Early runs are about learning enemy patterns, testing weapons, and figuring out which gods fit your playstyle. If you’re coming from other roguelikes that front-load power, Hades 2 will feel slower. That’s fine. The pacing evens out once you unlock key incantations.
Resource Systems Explained
Hades 2 has more resources than the first game, and they all serve different purposes. Psyche unlocks new abilities at the altar. Cinder fuels incantations that expand the world. Moly is used for specific NPC interactions. Seeds, ash, and lotus grow in your garden, which ties into crafting and long-term upgrades.
The mistake most players make is hoarding resources without spending them. You can’t break the game by choosing the wrong upgrade early. Most incantations are designed to unlock mechanics, not power spikes. If you’re sitting on 200 psyche because you’re afraid to commit, you’re just slowing yourself down. Spend it. Test things. See what opens up.
Cinder is the exception. Some incantations require large amounts of it, and gathering cinder takes time. Prioritize unlocks that expand your options first. Adding new gods to the boon pool matters more than cosmetic upgrades or lore entries. You want variety before depth.
Weapon Basics and Early Choices
You start with the Sister Blades, and they’re fine. Fast attacks, decent range, decent damage. Nothing special, but nothing that punishes you for using them poorly. The game adds more weapons as you progress, but don’t wait around for them. Learning the Sister Blades well makes early runs smoother, and that smoothness translates into more resources per attempt.
Each weapon has a special attack, a sprint attack, and a charged omega move. The omega moves are slow, telegraphed, and easy to mess up if you’re not paying attention to positioning. Early on, ignore them unless you have a clear opening. Fast attacks and mobility keep you alive longer than big damage plays that leave you vulnerable.
Weapons also have aspects, but those come later. For now, focus on learning base movesets and figuring out which tool feels natural. If the Sister Blades don’t click, try the Moonstone Axe once it unlocks. If that feels too slow, wait for the Umbral Flames. Every weapon works, but not every weapon works for you.
Boon Selection in Early Runs
Boons are where runs start to differentiate. You’ll meet gods like Hestia, Apollo, Demeter, and Hephaestus, and each one offers a different combat style. Hestia adds scorch damage over time. Apollo rewards precision with crit bonuses. Demeter slows enemies and stacks chill effects. Hephaestus buffs your omega moves.
In early runs, take what’s offered. You don’t have enough game knowledge yet to force specific builds, and trying to hunt for synergies you read about online usually backfires. The game’s RNG doesn’t always cooperate, and forcing a build that never materializes wastes chambers.
Instead, focus on learning what each god does. If you take a Hestia boon, pay attention to how scorch stacks. If you take Apollo, notice how crits change your damage output. The goal isn’t to win yet. It’s to understand how boons shape combat so that when you do start building intentionally, you know what you’re aiming for.
One thing that helps: prioritize attack and special boons over cast or dash boons early. Your attack and special are your primary damage sources, and buffing them makes every fight faster. Cast and dash boons add utility, but utility doesn’t matter if you’re not surviving long enough to use it.
Using the Crossroads Effectively
The Crossroads is where long-term progression happens. After each run, you’ll return here to spend resources, talk to NPCs, and unlock new mechanics through incantations. The altar is your main upgrade hub, and it’s where you’ll spend most of your psyche.
Early incantations should focus on expanding your options. Unlocking new gods, adding more boon choices per chamber, and increasing resource drops all make future runs easier. Don’t spend resources on things that only add story content unless you’re already hitting walls in combat.
NPC interactions matter too. Some characters offer quests that unlock mechanics like weapon aspects or new areas. Others just give lore. It’s not always obvious which is which, so talk to everyone after each run. The game gates progression behind specific conversations, and missing those conversations means missing unlocks.
Your garden is also here, and it’s easy to ignore. Don’t. Planting seeds takes seconds, and the resources they produce feed into crafting systems that unlock permanent buffs. It’s passive progression that costs almost nothing to maintain.
Combat Pacing and Survival
Hades 2 is faster than the first game. Enemies move quicker, attacks come in tighter windows, and you’ll take damage if you’re not actively thinking about positioning. The dash has invincibility frames, but they’re shorter than you’d expect. You can’t panic-dash through everything.
Early combat is about spacing. Stay at the edge of enemy range, punish openings, and don’t commit to full combos unless you know you won’t get hit mid-animation. Greed kills you more than bad builds do. If you’re constantly dying in the third or fourth biome, it’s not because your boons are weak. It’s because you’re overstaying in bad positions.
Rooms with traps or environmental hazards are the worst early on. Lava pits, spike floors, and curse zones all punish movement mistakes, and you’re still learning how far your dash carries you. Take these rooms slow. Kill ranged enemies first, manage spacing around hazards, and don’t rush.
Health management also matters more here. You won’t always find centaur hearts, and healing wells are rare. If you’re entering a boss fight with half health, that’s a resource problem that started ten chambers ago. Learn when to take health over boons in reward rooms.
What to Prioritize in the First Ten Runs
Your first ten runs should focus on three things: learning enemy patterns, testing weapons, and unlocking key incantations. You’re not trying to reach the final boss yet. You’re building the foundation that makes later runs possible.
Spend psyche on altar upgrades that increase survivability. More death defiances, better healing options, and stronger starting stats all reduce the learning curve. Once you’ve got a comfortable baseline, start unlocking gods and expanding your boon pool.
Don’t worry about perfect runs. You’re going to die, and that’s fine. Every death teaches you something, whether it’s an attack pattern you didn’t recognize or a boon combo that didn’t work the way you expected. The game rewards repetition, and early mistakes are cheaper than late ones.
If you’re hitting a wall, step back and check your incantations. Some unlocks completely change how the game feels, and you might be one upgrade away from breaking through. A complete hades 2 guide covers everything in detail, but the early game is about momentum. Keep moving, keep testing, and let the systems reveal themselves over time.
