The Hades 2 Arcana guide covers unlocking Arcana cards, enhancing them with Insight and activating them using your Grasp. Collect all 25 Arcana cards to supercharge your progression through the Underworld and on your journey to Olympus. This replaces the Mirror of Night meta-progression system from the original Hades.
Note: Hades 2 is currently in early access, as development continues expect new content and balance changes. This guide was last updated for Early Access Patch 3.
Altar of Ashes
Meditate at the Altar of Ashes before you set out for the night. This is where you activate the Arcana cards which provide passive bonuses for your Hades 2 run.
There are several resources which contribute to your meta-progression at the Altar of Ashes.
- Ashes unlock Arcana cards.
- Psyche increases your Grasp so you can activate more cards.
- Moon Dust enhances the effects of an Arcana card via Insights.
- Star Dust is a more powerful version of Moon Dust and is required for some Arcana card upgrades.
To fully unlock the potential of the Arcana system you need 2 Incantations. Consecration of Ashes unlocks Insights which enhance the effects of your Arcana. Abyssal Insight unlocks the Trials of Chaos where you farm Star Dust.
Arcana
The Arcana cards are your main source of character-focused meta progression, they act similarly to the Mirror of Night from the original Hades. Spend Ashes to unlock the Arcana cards, then Activate them using Grasp. You increase your Grasp by collecting Psyche from shades.
Key Information
- On the left you see the unlocked Arcana cards. There are 25 total cards, you begin in the top left and more cards are revealed as you unlock things.
- Activating an Arcana uses 0 to 6 Grasp, usually the more powerful cards use more Grasp. Active Arcana cards have a highlighted border.
- A blue arrow indicates a card with 1 Insight enhancement whereas a pink arrow indicates 2 Insight enhancements.
- 0 cost Arcana cards activate when special conditions are met, for example The Centaur requires you to activate cards which use 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 Grasp.
- Finally on the right you see your Grasp. In this example 26 Grasp is used out of a maximum of 27. To increase your grasp and activate more Arcana cards collect Psyche from Shades.
After completing the Consecration of Ashes Incantation, you gain Insight into your Arcanas. This allows you to spend Moon Dust to further enhance the bonuses they offer. Unlocking all of the Arcanas, raising your Grasp and powering them up via Insight is a key step on the road to defeat Chronos.
For example, the 4 cost card Eternity gives 1 Death Defiance when active. The first Insight enhancement costs Moon Dust and the second costs Moon Dust, Star Dust. Each Insight level adds an additional Death Defiance greatly increasing your chance of success.
List of Arcana
| Arcana | Grasp | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| I - The Sorceress | 1 | While you channel your Omega Moves everything moves slower for 2/3/4 seconds. |
| II - The Wayward Son | 1 | After you exit a location restore 2/3/4 Health, or twice that amount when below 30% max Life. |
| III - The Huntress | 2 | While you have less than 100% Magick your Attack and Special deal +30/40/50% damage. |
| IV - Night | 2 | Your Omega Cast has +50/75/100 Power when it detonates. |
| V - The Moon Activate any surrounding card | 0 | Your Hex charges automatically as if you spent 1/2/3 Magick every second. |
| VI - The Furies | 2 | Deal +10/20/30% damage to foes in your Cast. |
| VII - The Titan | 2 | Gain +20/30/40 max Life and max Magick. |
| VIII - The Messenger | 1 | You have a +3/4/5% chance to Dodge. |
| IX - The Unseen | 5 | Restore 4/5/6 Magick every 1 second. |
| X - Death | 3 | Your Omega Moves have a +12/15/18% chance to deal Critical Damage if your last one was different. |
| XI - The Swift Runner | 1 | Your Dash is Immediate and your Sprint is 5/7/10% Faster. |
| XII - Eternity | 4 | Set forth each night with 1/2/3 Death Defiance. |
| XIII - The Centaur Activate cards using 1-5 Grasp | 0 | After every 5 locations gain 3/4/5 max Life and Magick. |
| XIV - Origination | 5 | Deal +30/40/50% damage to enemies afflicted by 2 Curse effects from the Olympians. |
| XV - The Lovers | 3 | In Guardian Encounters you take 0 damage the first 2/3/4 times you are hit. |
| XVI - The Fates | 3 | Set forth each night with 1/2/3 Change of Fate used to alter Location Rewards. |
| XVII - The Boatman | 5 | Set forth each night with 200/250/300 Crowns. |
| XVIII - The Artificer | 3 | Set forth each night with 1/2/3 chances to turn any Minor Find into a Major Find. |
| XIX - Excellence | 5 | Any Boons you are offered have a +30/40/50% chance to be Rare. |
| XX - The Queen No more than 2 Active cards can have the same Grasp cost | 0 | Any Boons you are offered have a 6/8/10% chance to be a Duo Boon (whenever possible). |
| XXI - The Seer Activate all surrounding cards | 0 | Set forth each night with 2/3/4 Change of Fate |
| XXII - The Champions | 4 | Set forth each night with 1/2/3 Change of Fate used to alter Boon Rewards. |
| XXIII - Strength | 4 | While you have no more than 30% max Life, you take -30/40/50% damage and deal +30/40/50% damage. |
| XXIV - Divinity Activate all 5 cards in a row or column | 0 | Any Boons offered have a +10/15/20% chance to be Epic. |
| XXV - Judgment Activate no more than 3 cards | 0 | After you vanquish a Guardian activate 3/4/5 random Arcana Cards. |
Arcana to Prioritize
All of the Arcana cards in Hades 2 have their place, but some are more important to activate early on in your journey. Because you start in the top left, cards like I, II, VI and VII are easier to activate than cards towards the outer edges. Here are our recommendations for an early Arcana setup using 15 Grasp. This is a starting point but experimentation is key, try different Arcana combinations to find something which best suits you.
General Use Deck
- The Wayward Son (1 Grasp)
- This provides a reliable trickle of healing which ensures you remain healthy for the challenges ahead.
- Alternatively, use The Swift Runner here to enhance your Sprint speed and make your Dash instant!
- The Titan (2 Grasp)
- Getting an additional +20 Maximum Life and +20 Maximum Magick significantly improves your baseline survivability.
- The Huntress (2 Grasp)
- This card provides a reliable damage bonus for your Attack and Special. Simply cast an Omega Move at the start of each fight to ensure you aren't on full Magick.
- The Furies (2 Grasp)
- Drop your Cast on enemies to give an additional damage bonus. As long as you remember to refresh your Cast this bonus is very reliable.
- Eternity (4 Grasp)
- Death's Defiance restores you to 40% Health and Magick when you would otherwise die, giving you a second chance to persevere.
- Strength (4 Grasp)
- This Arcana activates when you drop to 30% health, providing a significant damage bonus and damage reduction.
- The Boatman is a strong alternative, you start each run with 200-300 Gold, opening up a variety of options at Charon's Shop or the Wells of Charon within each region.
Note: If you have Magick recovery, use the Spellcaster Deck instead as your bonus from the Huntress won't activate.
Spellcaster Deck
- The Sorceress (1 Grasp)
- Being able to safely channel Omega Moves during the time slow gives you a lot more flexibility to use these powerful moves during combat.
- The Titan (2 Grasp)
- Getting an additional +20 Maximum Life and +20 Maximum Magick significantly improves your baseline survivability.
- Death (3 Grasp)
- Rotate between different Omega Moves to gain an increased chance to deal Critical Strike Damage.
- Alternatively, if you aren't playing an Omega Move build, use The Artificer to transform Minor finds like Ashes into Major find like Boons.
- Eternity (4 Grasp)
- Death's Defiance restores you to 40% Health and Magick when you would otherwise die, giving you a second chance to persevere.
- The Unseen (5 Grasp)
- Use this card to ensure a consistent trickle of Magick, you recover 3/second which gives you plenty of opportunity to spam Omega Moves in combat.
- If you're comfortable getting Magick recovery from a Boon, use Strength instead.
- The Centaur (0, activate cards using 1 through 5 Grasp).
- Slowly gaining maximum Life and Magic throughout the run better prepares you for end boss encounters.
Pro Tip: If you only need Magick Recovery for one or two areas, consider using Hecate's Keepsake instead.
Trials of Chaos
The Trials of Chaos are a special series of challenges. You use a unique loadout and clear one zone under the conditions imposed by the Trial. If you complete the Trial you are rewarded with Star Dust, used to enhance your Arcana. The Trial of Origin is easy, but later trials are increasingly more difficult.
Summary
Use the Altar of Ashes to activate Arcana cards in Hades 2, then enhance them with Insights. This is one of the main meta-progression systems in Hades 2 offering special effects like a time slow, Death Defiance or additional gold for your run. Prioritize high impact Arcana in the early game to get the most out of your Grasp. Then in the endgame, farm Trials of Chaos to obtain Star dust and max out your Insights.
Written by: Tenkiei
