Hades 2 Early Access Patch Notes 3

On June 26, 2024 Supergiant Games dropped Patch 3 for the Hades 2 early access period. This time they focused on balance changes to tune Boons and Gods. Expect nerfs, buffs and fun new builds to emerge from this patch. Check out our key takeaways or read more from the official Hades 2 Early Access Patch 3 announcement below.

Key Takeaways

Here are our key takeaways from the Hades 2 Patch 3 early access update which focused on Boon and God balance changes.

• Gameplay Changes - Aspect of Persephone now builds Glory based on any Cast damage.
  • the Altar of Ashes has been reworked with multiple changes to Arcana Cards and their Grasp.
  • Divinity is easier to activate.
  • Origination's text now clarifies which curses apply to the effect.
  • The Moon now costs 0 Grasp and awakens when you activate any surrounding card.
  • Several new Incantations give you stat buffs when you acquire Ashes, Psyche and Nectar.
• Boons & Gods - Significant reworks buffs, and boon replacements for the gods.
  • Hestia is a big winner getting a lot of buffs and quality of life improvements.
  • Zeus's Storm Ring Cast now triggers without needing to use the Omega Cast.
  • Hephaestus Boons got significant buffs.
  • There are sweeping changes to Duo Boons, check out the full notes for details.
• Lots of general bugfixes!

This patch improves numerous Olympian Boons to further enhance core combat and related choices. It also adds new UI icons, Cauldron incantations, and more. Though we'll continue monitoring your feedback, we're now focusing on our first Major Update slated for later this year. Thank you for playing!

Note: * indicates changes inspired by community feedback!

General Gameplay

• *Many Duo Boons and some Legendary Boons should be offered more frequently.
• *Charon's Gold Rewards now include Nightmare after a certain point.
• Reworked Gathering Tool upgrades; now let you find +1 Elemental Essence for your Infusion Boons.
• · Entering Chaos while in the Mourning Fields no longer causes you to skip a Location in that region.
• Slightly increased the minimum number of Boons and similar rewards you can find past Erebus.
• Warding Circles in Erebus now stagger foes that touch them.

Aspects of the Nocturnal Arms

• Witch's Staff (Circe): indirect damage from Omega Moves now contributes to activating Serenity.
• Sister Blades (Artemis): you now are immune to hit-stun effects during Riposte.
• Umbral Flames (Eos): improved Omega Attack tracking, though slightly increased Magick cost and reduced max damage from upgrade path; Attack sequence now continues after using it.
• Argent Skull (Persephone): now any Cast damage (not just Omega Cast) extends your Omega Special.

Altar of Ashes

• Rearranged Grasp costs and positions of several Cards; you may need to reset your Arcana loadout
• Swapped the names and theming of The Moon and Night.
• Death: reworked; Omega moves have a chance to deal Critical damage if the last one used was different.
• The Moon: now costs 0 Grasp but has an Awakening requirement to activate any surrounding Card.
• The Unseen: improved Magick restoration.
• Divinity: Awakening requirement expanded to include activating a column of Cards (not just a row).
• Origination: now specifies that Curses from different Olympians are required; this is relevant with Demeter, whose Cyclone now is considered a Curse (along with her Freeze).

Crossroads Cauldron

• Temporal Fluctuation: new! Lets time-slow effects such as Phase Shift (Selene) work vs. Chronos. 
• Circles of the Moon: new! Activating Warding Circles in Erebus fully charges your Hex.
• Ashen Memories of Life: new! Whenever you claim rewards of Ash, slightly raise your Life limit.
• Psychic Slivers of Clarity: new! Whenever you claim rewards of Psyche, slightly raise your Magick limit.
• Bones of Burnished Bronze: new! Whenever you claim rewards of Bones, gain some Armor.
• Nectar of Godly Savor: new! Whenever you claim rewards of Nectar, gain +1 Lv. for a random Boon,

Keepsakes

• White Antler (Artemis): reworked; now provides Critical bonus for one Region, but reduces Life limit,
• *Silken Sash (Arachne): you no longer lose your Armor from this if you switch to a different Keepsake,
• *Moon Beam (Selene): now also causes Selene or a Path of Stars to be offered soon,
• * Olympian Keepsakes are now even more likely to make their respective Olympian Boons appear.

Boons & Blessings

• Heaven Strike (Zeus): increased bonus from Poms of Power.
• Heaven Flourish (Zeus): increased bonus from Poms of Power.
• Storm Ring (Zeus): now deals damage from all Casts (not just Omega Cast).
• Ionic Gain (Zeus): reworked; now spawns an Aether Font nearby that fully restores Magick when used.
• Spirit Surge (Zeus): increased bonus from Poms of Power.
• Double Strike (Zeus): increased effect chance and bonus from Poms; renamed from Second Strike.
• Shocking Loss (Zeus): increased effect chance; now activates when foes first take damage.
• Glorious Disaster (Zeus x Apollo): reduced damage; fixed Magick not deducting correctly.
• Apocalyptic Storm (Zeus x Demeter): cut from game; replaced with...
• Hail Storm (Zeus x Demeter): new! Your Freeze effects also cause lightning bolts to strike afflicted foes.
• Master Conductor (Zeus x Hephaestus): increased damage.
• Hera: Slaying a foe now can afflict them with the Hitch Curse and spread that damage accordingly.
• Sworn Strike (Hera): increased bonus from Poms of Power.
• Sworn Flourish (Hera): increased bonus from Poms of Power.
• Engagement Ring (Hera): now also inflicts Hitch when dealing damage, though reduced direct damage to compensate; no longer increases Cast duration.
• Nexus Sprint (Hera): now damages and inflicts Hitch on unafflicted foes.
• Born Gain (Hera): increased Primed Magick cost.
• Keen Intuition (Hera): cut from game; replaced with...
• Blood Line (Hera): new! Your Omega Moves also create a damaging rift for an added Magick cost.
• Bridal Glow (Hera): Boons that are already Heroic can no longer be chosen for this.
• Soul Mate (Hera x Aphrodite): cut from game; replaced with...
• Ecstatic Obsession (Hera x Aphrodite): one foe always has Charm (formerly Aphrodite's Legendary).
• Cherished Heirloom (Hera x Demeter): increased power level when upgrading max-rank Keepsakes.
• Funeral Pyre (Hera x Hestia): cut from game; replaced with...
• Elementary Particles (Hera x Hestia): new! Gain +1 each Elemental Essence and an Infusion Boon for it.
• Wave Strike (Poseidon): increased bonus from Poms of Power.
• Tidal Ring (Poseidon): new! Your Casts also immediately hit foes in front of you with a splash.
• Geyser Spout (Poseidon): now a second-tier Cast Boon; renamed from Geyser Ring.
• Crashing Wave (Poseidon): cut from game; replaced with...
• Splash Fount (Poseidon): new! Your Omega Moves also create a watery blast near the first damaged foe
• Ocean's Bounty (Poseidon): merged with Sunken Treasure, which was removed as a stand-alone Boon.
• Water Fitness (Poseidon): effect now scales with each Water Essence.
• King Tide (Poseidon): increased size bonus and damage bonus.
• Beach Ball (Poseidon x Apollo): increased damage.
• Natural Selection (Poseidon x Demeter): increased chance of improved Rarity.
• Scalding Vapor (Poseidon x Hestia): increased damage.
• Nova Strike (Apollo): increased bonus from Rarity and Poms of Power.
• Solar Ring (Apollo): reworked; now inflicts Daze and deals a burst of damage.
• Prominence Flare (Apollo): now a second-tier Cast Boon; renamed from the earlier Solar Ring.
• Lucid Gain (Apollo): reworked; now restores Magick if you are standing in your Casts when they expire.
• Perfect Image (Apollo): reworked; damage bonus now resets if you avoid taking damage for a duration.
• Torrential Downpour (Apollo x Demeter): cut from game; replaced with...
• Boreal Gust (Apollo x Demeter): new! While standing in Cyclones, you randomly fire damaging gales.
• Stellar Slam (Apollo x Hephaestus): cut from game; replaced with...
• Rude Awakening (Apollo x Hephaestus): new! Hephaestus blasts clear Daze and deal more damage.
• Tranquil Gain (Demeter): now restores Magick based on a percentage of your current total.
• Gale Force (Demeter): your Cast's Cyclone now can follow you if you also have Local Climate.
• Frosty Veneer (Demeter): now scales with Water Essence rather than Earth; renamed from Coarse Grit.
• Freezer Burn (Demeter x Hestia): reworked; inflicting Freeze on a foe with Scorch deals damage and removes Scorch.
• Aphrodite: Increased power and duration of her Weak Curse.
• Rapture Ring (Aphrodite): now deals damage as it drags foes in.
• Passion Rush (Aphrodite): reworked; now deals damage when you press Dash and again when you stop pressing Dash; renamed from Passion Dash.
• Glamour Gain (Aphrodite): now makes all nearby foes Weak, rather than one randomly.
• Shameless Attitude (Aphrodite): reworked; the damage bonus doubles if you haven't lost much Life.
• Wispy Wiles (Aphrodite): effect now scales with each Air Essence.
• Heartthrobs from Aphrodite now spawn behind Melinoë and no longer detonate on obstacles.
• Nervous Wreck (Aphrodite): new Legendary! Inflicting Weak inflicts other random Curses.
• Soft Caress (Aphrodite x Hephaestus): cut from game; replaced with...
• Love Handles (Aphrodite x Hephaestus): new! Hephaestus blasts also create Heartthrobs.
• Burning Desire (Aphrodite x Hestia): cut from game; replaced with...
• Hot Flash (Aphrodite x Hestia): new! Scorch does not diminish as it deals damage to Weak foes.
• Hephaestus: Improved activation speed of the Vent Curse.
• Volcanic Flourish (Hephaestus): improved blast recharge time.
• Anvil Ring (Hephaestus): no longer reduces Cast size.
• Fine Tuning (Hephaestus): significantly increased bonus to upgraded Aspects.
• Tough Trade (Hephaestus): cut from game; replaced with...
• Grand Caldera (Hephaestus): new! Hephaestus blasts become even bigger and stronger.
• Chain Reaction (Hephaestus x Hestia): timing to activate the multi-blast effect now less restrictive.
• Hestia: Increased damage rate of the Scorch Curse.
• Flame Strike (Hestia): increased Scorch damage.
• Flame Flourish (Hestia): increased bonus from Poms of Power.
• Smolder Ring (Hestia): increased Scorch damage.
• Controlled Burn (Hestia): increased damage.
• Glowing Coal (Hestia): increased damage.
• Hearth Gain (Hestia): reworked; now restores Magick when you hit with your Attack or Special.
• Pyro Technique (Hestia): no longer a Legendary Boon; now can scale with Rarity and Poms of Power.
• Fire Extinguisher (Hestia): cut from game; replaced with...
• Highly Flammable (Hestia): new! Inflicting Scorch on a foe for the first time inflicts more.
• Spontaneous Combustion (Hestia): cut from game; replaced with...
• Fire Walk (Hestia): new Legendary! You take minimal fire damage, and leave flames where you Sprint.
• Swift Strike (Hermes): cut from game; replaced with...
• Nimble Limbs (Hermes): new! Your Attack, Special, and Cast are faster
• Swift Flourish (Hermes): cut from game; replaced with...
• Nimble Mind (Hermes): new! Your Omega Moves are faster.
• Silver Streak (Artemis): increased damage.
• Easy Shot (Artemis): increased damage.
• First Blood (Artemis): increased Critical chance.
• Lethal Snare (Artemis): increased Critical chance.

Other Gameplay Adjustments

Daedalus Hammer Upgrades

• *Executioner's Chop (Axe): no longer prevents you from striking if you have insufficient Magick.
• Possessed Array (Skull): blast-on-retrieval effect now automatically uses some Magick

Hexes of Selene

• Phase Shift: reduced Magick-spend requirement; slightly reduced effect duration; fixed text incorrectly stating this duration; now works vs. , after a certain point...
• Total Eclipse: greatly reduced Magick-spend requirement.
• Dark Side: increased ability damage; slightly reduced Magick-spend requirement.
• Lunar Ray: greatly reduced Magick-spend requirement; improved targeting using gamepad controls.
• Moon Water: slightly reduced Magick-spend requirement.
• As part of these changes, you can no longer recharge Hexes while their effects are still ongoing.

Path of Stars

• Growth (Dark Side): new! Makes your Hex passively recharge over time.
• Preparation (Total Eclipse): new! Start Encounters with your Hex partially charged.
• Extinction (Twilight Curse): reduced effectiveness.
• Upgrades of Sublime quality now also raise your Hex's recharge cost (to compensate for many recharge costs having been reduced; Hexes should now be more usable throughout each night).

Well of Charon

• Breath of Eros: New! Similar to the now-cut Soft Caress (Aphrodite x Hephaestus), this causes the next instance of damage you would take to instead restore that much Life.

Foes & Encounters

• Infernal Cerberus: various adjustments to better align how scary he is with how scary he looks.
• *Charybdis: improved visibility in this encounter.
• *Hippo: reduced how long they tend to retreat after attacking.
• *Harpy Talon: reduced frequency of wind vortex attack.
• Heracles: reduced average number of foes you'll face in this Encounter.
• Icarus: reduced average number of foes you'll face in this Encounter.

Level Design & Environments

• *You now can use Change of Fate to alter the reward vs. Charybdis in the Rifts of Thessaly.
• A certain Location in Tartarus no longer immediately fires a trap at Melinoë as soon as she enters.

Menus, Art & More

Fated List of Minor Prophecies

• Updated some Prophecy fulfillment requirements based on above changes to Boons.

Oath of the Unseen

• Vow of Panic: reduced penalty to Magick at the start of Encounters

Menus & UI

• Added UI icons for Boons of Artemis
• Added UI icons for Blessings and Curses of Chaos
• Added UI icons for Gifts of Narcissus
• Added UI icons for Blessings of Echo
• Added UI icons for Boons of Hades
• Added UI icons for Curses of Medea
• Added UI icons for Enchantments of Circe
• Added UI icons for Offerings of Icarus
• Added UI icons for effects such as Grave Thirst, Chthonic Fate, and Special Order.
• Added borders to upgrade icons on the Path of Stars screen.
• Damage preview from Hestia's Scorch Curse now appears on Guardian Life Bars.
• *In the Past Deeds screen, cleared Chaos Trials no longer appear as failures.
• *Improved legibility of damage numbers on the Victory Screen that shows when you prevail.
• *Clarified when clear conditions for certain Fated List Prophecies are listed on more than one page.
• *You now can press Esc to exit the map view while using City of Ephyra Bat Cages.
• Updated content of Grasp Upgrade Tutorial in the Altar of Ashes in cases where it repeats.

Art & Visual FX

• New visuals for Solar Ring (Apollo).

Music & SFX

• Added SFX for when the benefit from Mint Condition (Hephaestus) is about to expire.

Miscellaneous

• Improved performance in the Rifts of Thessaly on systems close to the minimum system requirement.
• *All timers now pause while using the City of Ephyra Bat Cages.
• *Improved visibility of visual FX when Demeter is spurned in Trial of the Gods encounters.
• Adjusted names of several Boons.
• Made some optimizations to save files.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed Daedalus Hammers sometimes being offered on the very first night, introduced in Patch 2.
• Fixed the deadliest attack of  being easier to evade than intended, introduced in Patch 2.
• Fixed Vow of Abandon not deactivating The Swift Runner (Arcana).
• Fixed certain Moonstone Axe moves not playing their correct animations if queued up.
• Fixed cases where Moonstone Axe Omega Special could be used repeatedly after a Dash.
• *Fixed incorrect damage in some cases using Witch's Staff (Circe) and Silver Streak (Artemis).
• *Fixed interaction between Witch's Staff (Momus) and Exceptional Talent (Apollo).
• *Fixed Sister Blades (Artemis) Parry effect not activating as expected after choosing a Boon.
• *Fixed Sister Blades (Artemis) visual FX not syncing with when it recharges.
• *Fixed interaction between Umbral Flames (Eos) and Split Spark (Daedalus).
• *Fixed interaction between Frosty Veneer (Demeter) and Engraved Pin (Moros).
• *Fixed interaction between Howling Soul (Hades) and Orchestration (Night Curse - Selene).
• *Fixed Blitz effects from Zeus not reliably activating Origination (Arcana).
• *Fixed interaction between Storm Ring (Zeus) and time-slowing effects such as Phase Shift (Selene).
• *Fixed Air Quality (Zeus) not affecting [b]Suffering on Sight (Medea)
• Fixed Double Up (Poseidon) sometimes doubling unique valuables from early encounters with Eris.
• *Fixed Rarify not working on Quick Buck (Hermes).
• *Fixed Scalding Vapor (Poseidon x Hestia) not showing Hestia's symbol in the Offerings list.
• *Fixed Magick regeneration effects from Chaos not working together as expected.
• *Fixed Lunar Ray (Selene) sometimes not dealing damage at very close range.
• *Fixed Night Bloom (Selene) preventing certain moves from working; fixed error in the description.
• *Fixed Gold Purse (Charon) not displaying as having Expired when expected.
• *Fixed Change of Fate unexpectedly becoming unavailable after using Hexes near exits.
• *Fixed cases where using Change of Fate on a Boon near an exit also unexpectedly altered the exit.
• *Fixed Sea-Serpents sometimes becoming invisible.
• *Fixed Headmistress Hecate's Lunar Ray attack becoming invisible if blocked.
• *Fixed Headmistress Hecate's Lunar Ray attack sometimes tracking Melinoë unexpectedly.
• *Fixed an issue activating Engraved Pin (Moros) during the phase change in the battle vs. Chronos.
• *Fixed Heracles sometimes rudely vanishing during Gift interactions.
• *Fixed Chronos likewise sometimes rudely vanishing in the middle of conversations.
• *Fixed Chronos also sometimes rudely chiding you on successive Encounters in Tartarus.
• *Fixed an extra reward sometimes appearing unexpectedly in Charon's Shop in Tartarus.
• *Fixed an issue where Nemesis could drop rewards too far away in the Mourning Fields.
• *Fixed Eris sometimes leaving Rubbish in the Crossroads even while absent.
• *Fixed Odysseus commenting on the Garden while preoccupied in the Taverna.
• *Fixed cases where Omega Moves could be used in the Training Grounds without enough Magick.
• *Fixed instances where you could not Sprint after using Dash to interrupt certain moves.
• *Fixed Frinos Strength Bonds not scaling properly.
• *Fixed Frinos overreacting after clearing all the witches summoned by Headmistress Hecate.
• *Fixed Toula dozing peacefully amid Burning Oil Slicks in the Rifts of Thessaly.
• *Fixed Shrines of Hermes sometimes offering fewer items than expected.
• *Fixed quitting the game unexpectedly negating Spark of Ixion (Charon) damage protection.
• *Fixed an issue in the Altar of Ashes trying to navigate to the Grasp gauge from the bottom row.
• *Fixed control mapping overlap between Rarify and Offerings commands on the Boon Choice menu.
• *Fixed discrepancies in how seconds and milliseconds displayed in certain timers.
• *Fixed background artwork appearing unexpectedly during Fishing Pier scenes in the Crossroads.
• *Fixed Rod of Fishing indicator sometimes remaining visible after you miss your mark.
• *Fixed Olympian portrait positions if you spurned them and fail in a Trial of the Gods encounter.
• *Fixed Reagent Sensing (Cauldron) not detecting Darkness.
• *Fixed cases where Melinoë did not appear to switch weapons as expected in the Training Grounds.
• *Fixed an issue where you could senselessly squander your Rarify effect on the Spare Wealth offering.
• *Fixed text overlap issue when a Hex's recharge cost was reduced.
• *Fixed further miscellaneous issues when playing in ultrawide resolutions.
• *Fixed several text and voiceover errors.
• *Fixed various rare crashes.
• *Other minor fixes.

Quote of the Patch

~Crowell's Handbook of Classical Mythology (E. Tripp)

Video

See Tenkiei's thoughts on the Hades 2 Early Access Patch 3 notes.

Early Access Updates

That's it for the Hades 2 early access patch 3. As early access continues, Supergiant plans to move on to their first major update. The last 2 patch notes have been significant so "major update" probably indicates new content! Now is a great time to play around with underused Gods like Hestia and Hephaestus as both got significant buffs. Stay tuned for more updates in the future!

Written by: Tenkiei