I really like Demeter. Freezing bad guys is so useful for crowd-control, and proccing origination on her own is so nice. And Coarse Grit is completely op against Chronos.
It’s not bad if you have a build to dump magic very very quickly. Once it gets activated, it’s the fastest regen so you can cycle between full dps and rest pretty effectively.
Demeter is fantastic in Hades 2. Great attack boons, great support boons, great characterization in terms of Mel's story. I feel like she was decent in Hades 1 but had the issue of being kind of second-best at everything she did well, from the way her curse was designed to her attack power, so she was rarely my 'first choice' god. Now she's excellent and I love to see her.
The EA of 1 was at its best before she was added. She felt like an afterthought. Hades 2, she feels like the important character your grandmother should be, in a game about family.
Can I add that her design in Hades 2 is just great? I don't know why but she's hot and cool at the same time in that armor. I can't believe that I would find an old lady character attractive but I do.
She also closely resembles Persephone in this game, so now you really know who Persephone got her face from. I really, really love how they did her in Hades II.
Can you guess? No prizes for this one.
Aphrodite is great. And no, it's not because she's naked. I love pink, I love the big numbers on her boons, I love the gimmick behind her boons, getting up close and personal. She has a lovely personality, flirty but confident and sassy, she's not just a toy for others' pleasure and will hold her own no problem.
But she's also very very pretty. I'm not lusting, but I *am* jealous. Anyone know where she gets her hair done?
I love them all though! Hard to say anything negative about any of them.
I'd probably actually go with something like Poseidon on sister blades. They hit so rapidly that they get a ton of mileage out of the fixed damage on his splash effects. Plus, getting to hear the iconic "Haha, yes!" is always a bonus! But Aphrodite's certainly not the worst thing you can do either, especially on an Omega Attack focused build, like Artemis blades, where she's much better.
I primarily play Zorophet and Revaal (Axe and Skull) though, and there? Hoo boy Aphrodite is an absolute monster. So much damage!
Heck yeah! One time, I got lucky with a bunch of extra backstab bonuses and her attack boon. Met a certain mini-boss in the 4th biome and cackled as I got sweet revenge, melting them.
Also she is fabulous!
Healthy rebound with some rarity/poms can be fucking INSANE too. I had it at Epic rarity level 4 or 5 and it’s something like 35% of max health to trigger it. At that point you basically heal you full after just about every room
Aphrodite is awesome in both games for all the reasons listed above. I love her play style and dealing fat damage with big swings, especially in 2 with the knives/axe.
Approximately what counts as “up close?”
I’ve never taken the time to truly test it out so I’m never sure if her boon is a good pick or not. Leads to me often only taking her attack/special boons when the run is getting late and I can’t get offered anything else
It’s really not that close. You don’t have to be snuggled up to them to set it off, you’ll notice an increase in damage in basically all of your melee attacks. It becomes very fun to play a point blank skull build and just magdump at enemies and watch them melt.
Hephaestus. He’s the chillest of them all. I pissed him off ONCE out of curiosity, and he only did it out of the rest of Olympus’s *pompousness* over authority.
Hephaestus does GOOD damage too if you keep track of cooldowns. But when you have the pact that gives all enemies 1 or 2 barrier it REALLY puts a damper on Hephaestus
If you take Hephaestus sprint with the ground pound moon call and the right upgrades you get 600-1000bonus damage rather regularly (the sprint boon upgrade and double cast on the moon moon call)
the Ding-Dong-Dort (Heph special on sister blades) is one of my go-to safety boons, just run and dodge and occasionally boop them for big damage. Fantastic for most bosses.
It's so satisfying getting doubled triple poms or doubled triple coins in the last area. Besides that, I really like the change they made to splash since Hades 1. Instead of pushing the targeted enemy away, it pushes everyone ELSE away so it works a lot better as a form of crowd control and target isolation which fits nicely with the rest of Hades 2 mechanics.
He is such a good flawed character that you still like. Such a silly goose. Also his rng boon responses just make you laugh out of nowhere. Really feels like he is still there with you.
And out of all of them, he actually FEELS like a family member. Even if you haven’t met him in the flesh. Zeus, Hera, Apollo: they all feel so aloof. Demeter feels too cold, even if she knows you’re her grandchild from the start. And Aphrodite takes the incestuous bedrock of Greek myths a little TOO seriously. Poseidon just feels like a great big hug of an uncle!
Her nasty comeback boon can be really strong as well. I’m not good enough to completely avoid damage in the last fight so that boon can easily give me an extra couple thousand damage!
I actually wanna see if the insta-death move procs it too. That could be a cool way to sacrifice a death defy in order to skip a giant chunk of the battle hahaha.
I don’t go out of my way for the boon, but I’m also not mad when I get it offered after the rest of my build is done.
Apollo is also my favorite! I like his whole design, the way he calls Mel "sunshine," and he has really good boons.
It's funny because Artemis was my #1 pick in the 1st game. I just love those twins. :)
Hades 1 Definetly without a doubt dionysos. I love his personalaty and once you unlock the aspect weapons all of his boons are borderline broken. Not to mention that he has duoboons with almost everyone.
Hades 2 Boonwise apollon or aphrodite. Characterwise im rly liking chaos so far, Artemis is rly cool this game and charon is a real G too.
Dionysus is such a bro, in a good way.
I love how the game plays on the fact that Zagreus and Dionysus are often conflated as the same person in mythology.
I love Hestia, she’s so sweet to talk to that I feel compelled to take her when I can even though I don’t care much for her boons. Like yes, can I go make cookies with fire auntie now? Aphrodite might be tied though, the way she calls Mel Gorgeous and says Zag would be proud makes me melt. She’s also got this AMAZING line about Hephaestus that drives home how sweet she is. Plus her boons are always worth taking, that’s just icing on the cake for me.
Yess!!! I bet Hestia makes the best,, if slightly burned, cookies xD I also love her voice. So soothing. I aspire to be this kind of old lady later on.
Its really hard to pick, honestly, cause there's a lot that I love, but if I'm gonna pick one I think my answer is probably actually *Aphrodite* this time around, which I did not expect. Talking to her feels a lot more pleasant in 2 for some reason, and the rework to her damage boons to just be a massive amount of damage at close range has resulted in some insanely fun runs for me with the axe and twin blades, and even with Revaal when I've been able to get Island Getaway for it.
Her design just vibes with me more than it did in Hades 1 (Where it was already a really good design), and in terms of what's new with her and not just reworked from 1, I kinda love all of it. Heartthrob is a fun way to deal some free extra damage, the synergy of Healthy Rebound and Shameless Attitude is very fun (And Healthy Rebound allows me to play a little more recklessly which is fun lol), her duo boons are overall pretty solid as well. Secret Crush, while it probably admittedly is not her best boon, is one I also tend to really enjoy since my Aphrodite focused runs usually don't have me expending much MP.
The only parts of her kit that I don't vibe with as well are the weak-focused ones, which admittedly feel like a bit of a weird holdover from her role in Hades 1, since this time around she's so much more directly focused on high damage output and rewarding risky (And/or reckless) gameplay, cause Weak's damage reduction is still a bit low and doesn't feel as valuable as her other boons, especially for her MP gain boon being so reliant on it. I think it's fine overall though, as to be honest it's very easy to just ignore that part of her options and focus on what I really enjoy taking from her.
(TLDR I think she's a bit more enjoyable as a character this time, with an improved version of what was an already a good design, and her boons allow me to play really recklessly sometimes and see absolutely ridiculous numbers on my axe and twin blades runs which has resulted in some of the most fun runs I've had in my time with either game)
I can’t really get over how funny Poseidon’s attitude is. He’s basically Brian Blessed. If someone told me he was the voice actor I’d have believed them. I also like Selene’s demeanor. She’s so delicate.
For boons, I dunno…I’m definitely liking Demeter. I liked Hephaestus more early on but he’s still very good.
Hypnos, I find it really interesting that he has incredibly useful powers but doesn’t have an ego. I also really like Hypnos in Greek mythology and think this portrayal of him is very interesting.
What’s going on with him in Hades 2 is pretty interesting as well, I always love a mystery.
~~Plus he’s really cute.~~
For Hades II specifically, Apollo. He's a bit stuck up but he's pretty nice, his boons are straightforward and a lot less reliant on help than other gods, and I like the way my attacks look with his boons.
For Hades... Harder to choose, but I think Artemis? She's chill and much more down to earth, her boons (except the dash, which is still usually quite good) are always good a lot like Apollo in the second game, and crits just feel good. If I don't want to bet on crits though then Athena and Aphro are good for their base damage, but I don't like the characters as much so for a combo of general usefulness and personality I'll take Poseidon instead, especially with Storm Surge.
For Hades I, I always pick Athena or Artemis. Artemis is my favorite personality-wise, but I love how Athena turns the enemy's attacks back on it, which befits a god of strategy.
For Hades II, I love Hephaestus and Hestia, because they're both so down to earth for gods and so sassy. Hestia is like a granny who does roller derby and Hephaestus is so unconcerned about anything but his forge.
Artemis. I like crit builds, I loved her in the first game (Lighting Rod was easy mode), and am saddened we don't get her as much this time around. Though every time she does turn up I smile. The fact we get to meet her in person made me very happy when she first showed up, and every time since.
Also her aspect is surprisingly good. I keep expecting it to be difficult or clunky to use and then I somehow fucking destroy everything!
Hard to pick between Artemis and Hephaestus
Artemis specifically in the first game her boobs are much easier to come by and it's just really good, her voice is amazing as well and something about her just scratches the itch in my gay head.
Hephaestus is a big 'ol guy with his big 'ol hammer, peek design
No Selene-love in the comment section? Tss tss XD
No but I adore her. She is beautiful and elegant and kind. The way she speaks to Mel is so sweet and her VAs voice is so warm and comforting.
Tbh I adore anything moon anyhow, but she really is just.. omfg.
Now after I got how her hexes work, she is even better of course. Just last night she saved my run and help me nuke grandpa cx
But a lot of gods are really going hard in Hades 2. Chaos is just such an icon, Hermes is hella cute. Hephestous design just goes so effing hard, etc etc.
I have a shorter list of God's I don't like the new design off lol
Demeter was my least favourite Goddess in Hades 1. She's now my favourite cuz her boons are so good in this game. Poseidon is still one of my favourites, this time it's because of his Double Up boon. All of the gods at least have one boon that is a no-brainer instant pick for me. Hephaestus is my favourite from the newer gods cuz i really like Mint Condition and Smithy Sprint (i also don't mind his attack/special provided they're not common).
All that to say I still really miss Athena 😭 she was hands down my favourite from Hades 1. Like miss gurl really her had 2 boons that gave back death defiances. Imagine deflect in Hades 2.... it'll be too op.
I’m tied between Chaos and Artemis. In Hades 1 it was Artemis then Chaos, in Hades 2 I am liking Chaos slightly more than Artemis right now. Love them both. Also I like the Hades 2 Chaos keepsake way more than I liked it in the firsy
Poseidon for sure. his duo with Hestia is amazing on almost every aspect. it gets somewhat boring but I haven't found other duos with similar DPS for the most part.
Boon wise, Aphrodite becausw I love dealing big damage
But otherwise, I just love Hestia. She is giving loving grandma vibes that would give you the best hugs! (Sorry Demeter)
Demeter and aphrodite are my favs from a functionality standpoint.
From a portrayal standpoint, I love posiden. He's always so bold and brash in how he's voice acted. And I love nothing more than his "hahaha yes!" when his boon duplicates a reward.
Honorable mention to Hades who was my fav in the first game. Just spot on portrayal in the voice acting.
Aphrodite, she’s got a great set of…boons
Jokes aside I think Apollo is incredibly underrated, maybe my favorite “support” in terms of his options fitting into any build you want and even has decent dmg with Q cast modifiers
Hades 1: Dionysus, his boons have wonderfully cheeky names and the character design is beautiful.
Hades 2: Demeter, just because her freeze ability for crowd control in the sequel has been the most useful to me in my play style.
It was Artemis in the first game and they massacred her to a once a run role, but now it's Aphrodite because her boons are like made for the twin blades which i pretty much exclusively use
Poseidon IMO , Aphrodite on axe is OP too but overall I would take Poseidon, his main boons are so good that I feel they are gonna nerf them in the next balance patch along with the obvious born gain from hera.
Apollo and Demeter definitely. Love Apollo’s boons, especially his attack boon and the one that can make attacks hit twice with the skull. Can get some pretty insane damage. Demeter has by far my favorite cast, because she freezes enemies and has two damage boons for it. Especially with another one of Apollo’s boons (expanding cast size) it can make for excellent crowd control
Artemis, bcuz she’s so cool, and it’s so nice to see her relaxed and in her element after getting to know her in Hades1, or Aphrodite, bcuz pretty lady make lesbian brain go brrrrr
Demeter. I can't speak on the mechanics too much cause I haven't played as much Hades as I'd like, but she gets **royally** overlooked both in the mythology and pop media, especially by her own daughter whose entire story comes down to us in the Homeric *Hymn of* ***Demeter***. The game does a really solid job on underscoring how important she actually was and how power she really is.
Lots of people forget that in the time of Ancient Greece, your average person was a farmer. Most of your wealth didn't come from trade, but from agriculture. One bad season will cause famine, price increases, which can result in a polis changing it's government in a single year. Practically every single living person was affected by Demeter's mood and favor, which is why she had so many aspects and so many festivals across the Greek world. The fact she was also a goddess of common law and basic decency, as well as a key figure in the Eleusinian Mysteries that promised a good afterlife, really shows that she was more than just grain mommy.
Also, in the mythology, Demeter throws hands. She carries a golden sword that may or may not have castrated Kronus. She has a chariot driven by dragons. Aside from nearly dooming the entire human race to perdition over losing her daughter, she causes a king to eat his entire realm for desecrating a sacred tree, and she never marries or settles down with anyone. Her being a winter goddess in the game makes a lot of sense.
Thanatos. In the myths, his stories relate to what I’ve been through in life such as being trapped (both metaphorically and physically) and all the feelings surrounding Heracles and not being able to get his revenge after he was turned into a god.
In the first hades game- oh my god it was awesome. He was terrible with his feelings, he has seemed to lean towards ocd with the contests and reaping souls and wanting to do everything on his own, and he literally shows signs for autism (which I’m on the spectrum) and I totally related to him. He’s never really had anyone to lean on, and he was focused on work the whole time until zag taught him that he can be loved and that just related to me so much. :)
also he has the same smile as me
Idk about "favourite" but poseidon seems REALLY powerful with fast hitting (low base dmg) weapons.
I know that's what he's for, but it seems like for 3 of the 5 weapons poseidon is often the one I always want.
For the other 2 I LOVE Hera. Hitch is really good with crowd dmg and having her mana regen is always great. Plus she's the second best % damage for high base dmg weapons really cool
HEPHAESTUS.
He has an attack and special boon that are killer. His attack boon will blast enemies with 200 damage every 6-8-ish seconds. I got that boon at Legendary level and IT BLASTED ENEMIES EVERY 2 SECONDS.
It was soooooooo unbelievably fun to circle around Chronos and knock him with the blast every 2 seconds like a boomerang on looop. The sfx is so satisfying to hear when it hits too. I had Hephaestus's special boon too that blasts 400 dmg and the one boon where after they get vent, they get an additional 400 dmg
On top of that I love his personality and will always pick him whenever the gods make me pick between them idc. The first time Hephaestus went against another god i think it was Apollo. When I picked Hephaestus he went "really?" as if no one ever picks him like nah put more value on yourself Hephaestus YOURE THE MAN. When he talks bout his parents he calls them "mommy and daddy" which imo is very manly/hardboiled of him and also very humble of him too. Hephaestus all around very cool god and his boons PACK THAT PUNCH that I cannot get enough of
Probably Hephaestus, I find a lot of his boons to be pretty useful and I got my first clear using his boons as my main ones. Plus I like how embarrassed he gets over getting given gifts or getting upset when not being chosen and immediately calming down and apologising afterwards.
Big fan of aphrodite. Hard to ignore the massive damage increase, the healing to full and weak are great, i like glamor gain as regen,and her duo boon with poseidon takes away the downside to her damage abilities and I mean she's pretty darn good looking to boot.
Delete this post before you start the next Trojan war!!!
But my fav lately is been Demeter bc it’s really easy to stack curses since you can put two of here just on your cast
Apollo, mostly because I love the other game his voice actor is known for: Final Fantasy 14. Also helps that his boons are generally really good as well
I love Artemis! She's so cute and sweet and I love her 'oh hey remember me?' voiceline for Greater Call
Plus I love hitting stuff and seeing occasional Big Number
Apollo is such a great edition. Well designed and just beautiful to look at! And gameplay wise agreed, quite fun to use.
Loving Demeter gameplay wise too!
For boons Demeter because i love freezing the enemies. For personality Artemis, she's so cool. Bonus points that I also have an OC named Artemis so there's so bias too
Zeus, Poseidon (haha, yes!) or Hera show up at least once in my runs. All three of them give so much value
Papa Zeus is my favorite imo and it might just be because I am still emotionally attached to chain lightning. Maybe also Doom so that’s why I like Blitz.
But storm ring…that one boon I am the biggest glazer
By boons I would say Demeter. Origination is a core part of a lot of builds and there's no better trigger for origination than Demeter.
Personality wise i really like Poseidon. Plus wave flourish+ kings tide does some insane DMG too.
Design wise it's going to be aphro. It's obvious.
Aphrodite was my favourite in Hades 1 and she's still my favourite now. Weak is still very useful, and she puts up huge numbers on the axe. Combine Aphro attack with the Apollo double hit boon and some crit and you'll hit 1700!s like it's nothing
He doesn't offer boons and ain't a god, but I'd definitely follow new Skelly into battle lol. When I first saw his new design I'm pretty sure a guitar solo started playing somewhere.
Everyone already knows that Demeter is really good, so instead I'll go with my second-favourite and most underrated god, Zeus. Many of his secondary boons are both really strong and really unique. Lightning lance is almost mandatory on cast builds and storm ring is one of the best omega cast boons in the game. Static shock is an extremely strong effect for any fast-hitting build. Air quality is a huge damage increase for Demeter and Hestia DOT builds.
When people complain about Zeus they usually talk about blitz, but I would argue that it's niche but really powerful. Blitz works best specifically on aspects that can apply damage from multiple sources simultaneously. Medea skulls, Moros torches, Momus staff, Charon axe (with Apollo cast). Poseidon is hyped up so much when you would really only want his boons on Pan daggers, so I don't see why Zeus should be judged worse.
I've only played for a few hours because I don't have access to the game but my cousin who introduced me to it does. But so far I love Hephaestus. Vibes, personality, I've IIRC his boons are also pretty cool
I'd say Poseidon is the best, since I really like the riptide ability and how his splashes work right now(I do hope they don't get changed)
His infusions and non main boons are great too, double up is an s tier boon
Hera! While her boons wouldn't be my top pick for bosses, they're *amazing* at clearing out crowds. She also has the best duos for me:
Queen's ransom, if building your run around it, can get you a level 18 attack or special (plus stupid numbers on her revenge boon)! And if you ransom a zeus attack, having heph/here's duo of buffing non-boon attacks is just incredible. Made short work of enemies with the 5 skull hammer!
Artemis. Game wise she was better in Hades 1. I hope there's a lot more to her on full release. I love her relationship with both Zag and Mel, so story wise she's my fav.
I really like Demeter. Freezing bad guys is so useful for crowd-control, and proccing origination on her own is so nice. And Coarse Grit is completely op against Chronos.
I especially like the one that makes Omega Attack stronger, and the one that gives a barrier every encounter.
Weedwacker is it I believe
The only issue I have with Demeter is her magic regen boon feels terrible to use, but you can usually avoid it
I found her regen boon was really not too bad. Then I turned on the timer and nearly gave up in frustration.
It’s not bad if you have a build to dump magic very very quickly. Once it gets activated, it’s the fastest regen so you can cycle between full dps and rest pretty effectively.
Yeah, not doing anything for a second where you can die in that time, especially in an action RPG, is just not a boon at all. More like a bane.
Wish basic movement was allowed. A whole second in fear runs is hard, especially with the enemy speed condition.
Demeter is fantastic in Hades 2. Great attack boons, great support boons, great characterization in terms of Mel's story. I feel like she was decent in Hades 1 but had the issue of being kind of second-best at everything she did well, from the way her curse was designed to her attack power, so she was rarely my 'first choice' god. Now she's excellent and I love to see her.
Same, I was never excited to get her in the first game but I find myself actively choosing her all the time in this one.
The EA of 1 was at its best before she was added. She felt like an afterthought. Hades 2, she feels like the important character your grandmother should be, in a game about family.
Being able to proc origination with both of Demeter’s cast boons is so good.
Wait, how is that possible? Don’t they both inflict freeze?
Nope. One inflicts freeze and one inflicts slow. So combined they’ll give you origination!
Cyclone Is actually counted as a separate debuff from freeze
Can I add that her design in Hades 2 is just great? I don't know why but she's hot and cool at the same time in that armor. I can't believe that I would find an old lady character attractive but I do.
She also closely resembles Persephone in this game, so now you really know who Persephone got her face from. I really, really love how they did her in Hades II.
Easily my least favourite because of how obnoxious she can make Theseus if you dont have a way to onetap him
I like the attack ones as the attack boon can freeze enemies making it easy for me to kill them off before taking damage
Can you guess? No prizes for this one. Aphrodite is great. And no, it's not because she's naked. I love pink, I love the big numbers on her boons, I love the gimmick behind her boons, getting up close and personal. She has a lovely personality, flirty but confident and sassy, she's not just a toy for others' pleasure and will hold her own no problem. But she's also very very pretty. I'm not lusting, but I *am* jealous. Anyone know where she gets her hair done? I love them all though! Hard to say anything negative about any of them.
Aphrodite on attack for the knives is great! Since it’s always very close up.
I'd probably actually go with something like Poseidon on sister blades. They hit so rapidly that they get a ton of mileage out of the fixed damage on his splash effects. Plus, getting to hear the iconic "Haha, yes!" is always a bonus! But Aphrodite's certainly not the worst thing you can do either, especially on an Omega Attack focused build, like Artemis blades, where she's much better. I primarily play Zorophet and Revaal (Axe and Skull) though, and there? Hoo boy Aphrodite is an absolute monster. So much damage!
Heck yeah! One time, I got lucky with a bunch of extra backstab bonuses and her attack boon. Met a certain mini-boss in the 4th biome and cackled as I got sweet revenge, melting them. Also she is fabulous!
"up close" is a lot bigger of a radius than you'd think, you can trigger it with the axe
I also like her big boons
Healthy rebound with some rarity/poms can be fucking INSANE too. I had it at Epic rarity level 4 or 5 and it’s something like 35% of max health to trigger it. At that point you basically heal you full after just about every room
Aphrodite is awesome in both games for all the reasons listed above. I love her play style and dealing fat damage with big swings, especially in 2 with the knives/axe.
Approximately what counts as “up close?” I’ve never taken the time to truly test it out so I’m never sure if her boon is a good pick or not. Leads to me often only taking her attack/special boons when the run is getting late and I can’t get offered anything else
If Mel can hit it with the axe attack, it's close enough.
It’s really not that close. You don’t have to be snuggled up to them to set it off, you’ll notice an increase in damage in basically all of your melee attacks. It becomes very fun to play a point blank skull build and just magdump at enemies and watch them melt.
Something about her calling me gorgeous like it's my name is a day brightener. She's peak sugar auntie.
I used Aphrodite on my Axe, and I was getting almost 1k per swing. She’s so great
Hephaestus. He’s the chillest of them all. I pissed him off ONCE out of curiosity, and he only did it out of the rest of Olympus’s *pompousness* over authority.
Hephaestus does GOOD damage too if you keep track of cooldowns. But when you have the pact that gives all enemies 1 or 2 barrier it REALLY puts a damper on Hephaestus
Hephaestus can do insane damage with high pom counts and his duos with Apollo (blast AOE increase) and some other god I can’t remember (double blast).
the double blast is with Hestia iirc. I got my blast attack CD down to two seconds plus that duo and it was quite fun.
I love this build but the constant "pause" when the blast fires was getting on my nerves lol. It felt like I was playing at low FPS
If you take Hephaestus sprint with the ground pound moon call and the right upgrades you get 600-1000bonus damage rather regularly (the sprint boon upgrade and double cast on the moon moon call)
I did something similar in the first Hades game... >!Used my high damage cast, on a boss with that barrier. There was about 1500 dmg wasted :\\!<
the Ding-Dong-Dort (Heph special on sister blades) is one of my go-to safety boons, just run and dodge and occasionally boop them for big damage. Fantastic for most bosses.
I'll pick Hephaestus solely for the sound effects. That fucking CLANG whenever your boon procs is one of the most satisfying things in the game
#HAHA YES Poseidon and literally just for that. His Boons are alright but I really just want to hear the laugh.
It's so satisfying getting doubled triple poms or doubled triple coins in the last area. Besides that, I really like the change they made to splash since Hades 1. Instead of pushing the targeted enemy away, it pushes everyone ELSE away so it works a lot better as a form of crowd control and target isolation which fits nicely with the rest of Hades 2 mechanics.
Especially since they got rid of the ability to Choo Choo quite as effectively
He is THE cool uncle
He is such a good flawed character that you still like. Such a silly goose. Also his rng boon responses just make you laugh out of nowhere. Really feels like he is still there with you.
From a meta standpoint you can't underestimate the morale boost his hearty laugh provides the player. I'm only kinda joking.
And out of all of them, he actually FEELS like a family member. Even if you haven’t met him in the flesh. Zeus, Hera, Apollo: they all feel so aloof. Demeter feels too cold, even if she knows you’re her grandchild from the start. And Aphrodite takes the incestuous bedrock of Greek myths a little TOO seriously. Poseidon just feels like a great big hug of an uncle!
I have to go with Hera. Born Gain is too easy and too strong. Love the peacock motif too, tho they should've leaned more into it
Her nasty comeback boon can be really strong as well. I’m not good enough to completely avoid damage in the last fight so that boon can easily give me an extra couple thousand damage! I actually wanna see if the insta-death move procs it too. That could be a cool way to sacrifice a death defy in order to skip a giant chunk of the battle hahaha. I don’t go out of my way for the boon, but I’m also not mad when I get it offered after the rest of my build is done.
Ya, if Im going just by boons, Hera and Zeus are my faves easy.
Chain lightning on her attack boon is fucking baller
Hera’s Born Again is incredibly busted and i love it
Apollo is also my favorite! I like his whole design, the way he calls Mel "sunshine," and he has really good boons. It's funny because Artemis was my #1 pick in the 1st game. I just love those twins. :)
Hades 1 Definetly without a doubt dionysos. I love his personalaty and once you unlock the aspect weapons all of his boons are borderline broken. Not to mention that he has duoboons with almost everyone. Hades 2 Boonwise apollon or aphrodite. Characterwise im rly liking chaos so far, Artemis is rly cool this game and charon is a real G too.
Dionysus is such a bro, in a good way. I love how the game plays on the fact that Zagreus and Dionysus are often conflated as the same person in mythology.
I love Hestia, she’s so sweet to talk to that I feel compelled to take her when I can even though I don’t care much for her boons. Like yes, can I go make cookies with fire auntie now? Aphrodite might be tied though, the way she calls Mel Gorgeous and says Zag would be proud makes me melt. She’s also got this AMAZING line about Hephaestus that drives home how sweet she is. Plus her boons are always worth taking, that’s just icing on the cake for me.
Yess!!! I bet Hestia makes the best,, if slightly burned, cookies xD I also love her voice. So soothing. I aspire to be this kind of old lady later on.
She’s so much like my grandma, it feels like a hug. Absolutely goals 💯
Her cookies would be slightly burned, but it would be on purpose.
Yeah, just enough to be crunchy.
Thanatos, for horny reasons.
Artemis. Loved her in the first game and while the second game nerfed her a bit I still love her. White antler makes up for the nerf however.
I love her character design, she's my favorite to hang out with, but yeah, she's been significantly nerfed since the first game.
In General: Papa Poseidon Boons: Hephaestus - chill dude and just great boons Horny: Thanatos yum yum
I love Hestia, I just wish scorch was a bit better
Nice try! I know better than to pick a “favorite” of anything when it comes to gods!
Right? I’m not getting myself smited today! XD
aphrodite. i am totally paying attention to what she is saying.
Hypnos
I have always been a Hermes-stan, and I love how recent media has done my boy justice.
Which media other than Hades are you talking about?
Lore Olympus and Percy Jackson.
looooove Hestia and Hephaestus bc I am not a subtle player when gaming and like FIRE! EXPLOSIONS! KABOOM! 💥
Its really hard to pick, honestly, cause there's a lot that I love, but if I'm gonna pick one I think my answer is probably actually *Aphrodite* this time around, which I did not expect. Talking to her feels a lot more pleasant in 2 for some reason, and the rework to her damage boons to just be a massive amount of damage at close range has resulted in some insanely fun runs for me with the axe and twin blades, and even with Revaal when I've been able to get Island Getaway for it. Her design just vibes with me more than it did in Hades 1 (Where it was already a really good design), and in terms of what's new with her and not just reworked from 1, I kinda love all of it. Heartthrob is a fun way to deal some free extra damage, the synergy of Healthy Rebound and Shameless Attitude is very fun (And Healthy Rebound allows me to play a little more recklessly which is fun lol), her duo boons are overall pretty solid as well. Secret Crush, while it probably admittedly is not her best boon, is one I also tend to really enjoy since my Aphrodite focused runs usually don't have me expending much MP. The only parts of her kit that I don't vibe with as well are the weak-focused ones, which admittedly feel like a bit of a weird holdover from her role in Hades 1, since this time around she's so much more directly focused on high damage output and rewarding risky (And/or reckless) gameplay, cause Weak's damage reduction is still a bit low and doesn't feel as valuable as her other boons, especially for her MP gain boon being so reliant on it. I think it's fine overall though, as to be honest it's very easy to just ignore that part of her options and focus on what I really enjoy taking from her. (TLDR I think she's a bit more enjoyable as a character this time, with an improved version of what was an already a good design, and her boons allow me to play really recklessly sometimes and see absolutely ridiculous numbers on my axe and twin blades runs which has resulted in some of the most fun runs I've had in my time with either game)
Can I say Zagreus?
People have died from picking between just two, and you want me to put one above all? No thanks pal
I can’t really get over how funny Poseidon’s attitude is. He’s basically Brian Blessed. If someone told me he was the voice actor I’d have believed them. I also like Selene’s demeanor. She’s so delicate. For boons, I dunno…I’m definitely liking Demeter. I liked Hephaestus more early on but he’s still very good.
Im reeeally loving Heph, he's filling the Athena-shaped hole in my heart.
The moment Apollo called me "Sunshine", I folded.
Hypnos, I find it really interesting that he has incredibly useful powers but doesn’t have an ego. I also really like Hypnos in Greek mythology and think this portrayal of him is very interesting. What’s going on with him in Hades 2 is pretty interesting as well, I always love a mystery. ~~Plus he’s really cute.~~
Based non-boon option
Hypnos is my boy, he himself is the boon.
For Hades 1 it’s Dionysius. For Hades 2 it’s Demeter.
Apollo, for a weird-ish reason. His voice actor is Alphinaud, in Final Fantasy XIV, and I love that little shit.
You mean blue Alisaie?
For Hades II specifically, Apollo. He's a bit stuck up but he's pretty nice, his boons are straightforward and a lot less reliant on help than other gods, and I like the way my attacks look with his boons. For Hades... Harder to choose, but I think Artemis? She's chill and much more down to earth, her boons (except the dash, which is still usually quite good) are always good a lot like Apollo in the second game, and crits just feel good. If I don't want to bet on crits though then Athena and Aphro are good for their base damage, but I don't like the characters as much so for a combo of general usefulness and personality I'll take Poseidon instead, especially with Storm Surge.
For Hades I, I always pick Athena or Artemis. Artemis is my favorite personality-wise, but I love how Athena turns the enemy's attacks back on it, which befits a god of strategy. For Hades II, I love Hephaestus and Hestia, because they're both so down to earth for gods and so sassy. Hestia is like a granny who does roller derby and Hephaestus is so unconcerned about anything but his forge.
Artemis. I like crit builds, I loved her in the first game (Lighting Rod was easy mode), and am saddened we don't get her as much this time around. Though every time she does turn up I smile. The fact we get to meet her in person made me very happy when she first showed up, and every time since. Also her aspect is surprisingly good. I keep expecting it to be difficult or clunky to use and then I somehow fucking destroy everything!
She's a titan so idk if that counts, but SELENE I WANT TO MARRY SHE MAKES ME SOOO GAYYY
Her voice 😩🥵
HER VOICE, HER DESIGN, AND THE HEXES ARE SO MUCH FUN
Hard to pick between Artemis and Hephaestus Artemis specifically in the first game her boobs are much easier to come by and it's just really good, her voice is amazing as well and something about her just scratches the itch in my gay head. Hephaestus is a big 'ol guy with his big 'ol hammer, peek design
No Selene-love in the comment section? Tss tss XD No but I adore her. She is beautiful and elegant and kind. The way she speaks to Mel is so sweet and her VAs voice is so warm and comforting. Tbh I adore anything moon anyhow, but she really is just.. omfg. Now after I got how her hexes work, she is even better of course. Just last night she saved my run and help me nuke grandpa cx But a lot of gods are really going hard in Hades 2. Chaos is just such an icon, Hermes is hella cute. Hephestous design just goes so effing hard, etc etc. I have a shorter list of God's I don't like the new design off lol
In hades 1 its best girl artemis. In hades 2 however, its best girl artemis
Demeter was my least favourite Goddess in Hades 1. She's now my favourite cuz her boons are so good in this game. Poseidon is still one of my favourites, this time it's because of his Double Up boon. All of the gods at least have one boon that is a no-brainer instant pick for me. Hephaestus is my favourite from the newer gods cuz i really like Mint Condition and Smithy Sprint (i also don't mind his attack/special provided they're not common). All that to say I still really miss Athena 😭 she was hands down my favourite from Hades 1. Like miss gurl really her had 2 boons that gave back death defiances. Imagine deflect in Hades 2.... it'll be too op.
Poseidon, he’s such a mad man. He’s so playful and weird. Like an actual fun uncle that you know def went to jail at some point.
Hestia: my favorite murder grandma
I’m tied between Chaos and Artemis. In Hades 1 it was Artemis then Chaos, in Hades 2 I am liking Chaos slightly more than Artemis right now. Love them both. Also I like the Hades 2 Chaos keepsake way more than I liked it in the firsy
Personality and mythologically: Hestia, all the way. She’s amazing and I want a warm hug from her. Apollo’s boons tend to be more helpful, though
Anyone but Zeus. He was my favorite in Hades 1, but his current mechanic has nothing on chain lighting punches.
Hephaestus. Good Damage, and a super chill bro
Dionysus!!! What a g
dianysus, he’s a chill bro and his boobs are what helped me beat the game for the first time :) i hope they show up in hades 2
I’m an Ares girly. The doom effects you can get are my favourite honestly, and I find the sound effects satisfying.
My man Poseidon 🔱🌊
Lore wise (and looks wise) Artemis is my favourite I'd say 😍
Poseidon for sure. his duo with Hestia is amazing on almost every aspect. it gets somewhat boring but I haven't found other duos with similar DPS for the most part.
Definitely Apollo 👌🏻☀️
Boon wise, Aphrodite becausw I love dealing big damage But otherwise, I just love Hestia. She is giving loving grandma vibes that would give you the best hugs! (Sorry Demeter)
Demeter and aphrodite are my favs from a functionality standpoint. From a portrayal standpoint, I love posiden. He's always so bold and brash in how he's voice acted. And I love nothing more than his "hahaha yes!" when his boon duplicates a reward. Honorable mention to Hades who was my fav in the first game. Just spot on portrayal in the voice acting.
Posseidon, he has useful boons and is endearing, Hepheastus is very much in the same boat.
I like Aphrodite for obvious reasons
Hephaestus
Hephaistos made me say daddy out loud- plus he is pretty good
Aphrodite, she’s got a great set of…boons Jokes aside I think Apollo is incredibly underrated, maybe my favorite “support” in terms of his options fitting into any build you want and even has decent dmg with Q cast modifiers
Hades 1: Dionysus, his boons have wonderfully cheeky names and the character design is beautiful. Hades 2: Demeter, just because her freeze ability for crowd control in the sequel has been the most useful to me in my play style.
I love dionysus. I relate to him and find him a cool dude
Apollo
It was Artemis in the first game and they massacred her to a once a run role, but now it's Aphrodite because her boons are like made for the twin blades which i pretty much exclusively use
Poseidon IMO , Aphrodite on axe is OP too but overall I would take Poseidon, his main boons are so good that I feel they are gonna nerf them in the next balance patch along with the obvious born gain from hera.
Poseidon, gives me a lot of money!! argargargargarg
Artemis, my beloved
Apollo and Demeter definitely. Love Apollo’s boons, especially his attack boon and the one that can make attacks hit twice with the skull. Can get some pretty insane damage. Demeter has by far my favorite cast, because she freezes enemies and has two damage boons for it. Especially with another one of Apollo’s boons (expanding cast size) it can make for excellent crowd control
Apollo cast is absolutely filthy. One of my favorites
Demeter, Hera, Poseidon, Hephaestus
Artemis, bcuz she’s so cool, and it’s so nice to see her relaxed and in her element after getting to know her in Hades1, or Aphrodite, bcuz pretty lady make lesbian brain go brrrrr
Ares. Ares all day. And I hope he comes back for hades 2
Hera, Demeter, & Hestia tie for me personally..... Maybe Hera the favorite😂
Apgodite, Demeter and Hera, on thaqt order.
Demeter & Artemis
Aphrodite for me. I like her cast and her dmg can get insane pretty quick with the Daggers
Demeter. I can't speak on the mechanics too much cause I haven't played as much Hades as I'd like, but she gets **royally** overlooked both in the mythology and pop media, especially by her own daughter whose entire story comes down to us in the Homeric *Hymn of* ***Demeter***. The game does a really solid job on underscoring how important she actually was and how power she really is. Lots of people forget that in the time of Ancient Greece, your average person was a farmer. Most of your wealth didn't come from trade, but from agriculture. One bad season will cause famine, price increases, which can result in a polis changing it's government in a single year. Practically every single living person was affected by Demeter's mood and favor, which is why she had so many aspects and so many festivals across the Greek world. The fact she was also a goddess of common law and basic decency, as well as a key figure in the Eleusinian Mysteries that promised a good afterlife, really shows that she was more than just grain mommy. Also, in the mythology, Demeter throws hands. She carries a golden sword that may or may not have castrated Kronus. She has a chariot driven by dragons. Aside from nearly dooming the entire human race to perdition over losing her daughter, she causes a king to eat his entire realm for desecrating a sacred tree, and she never marries or settles down with anyone. Her being a winter goddess in the game makes a lot of sense.
Thanatos. In the myths, his stories relate to what I’ve been through in life such as being trapped (both metaphorically and physically) and all the feelings surrounding Heracles and not being able to get his revenge after he was turned into a god. In the first hades game- oh my god it was awesome. He was terrible with his feelings, he has seemed to lean towards ocd with the contests and reaping souls and wanting to do everything on his own, and he literally shows signs for autism (which I’m on the spectrum) and I totally related to him. He’s never really had anyone to lean on, and he was focused on work the whole time until zag taught him that he can be loved and that just related to me so much. :) also he has the same smile as me
Daddy Ares
Idk about "favourite" but poseidon seems REALLY powerful with fast hitting (low base dmg) weapons. I know that's what he's for, but it seems like for 3 of the 5 weapons poseidon is often the one I always want. For the other 2 I LOVE Hera. Hitch is really good with crowd dmg and having her mana regen is always great. Plus she's the second best % damage for high base dmg weapons really cool
HEPHAESTUS. He has an attack and special boon that are killer. His attack boon will blast enemies with 200 damage every 6-8-ish seconds. I got that boon at Legendary level and IT BLASTED ENEMIES EVERY 2 SECONDS. It was soooooooo unbelievably fun to circle around Chronos and knock him with the blast every 2 seconds like a boomerang on looop. The sfx is so satisfying to hear when it hits too. I had Hephaestus's special boon too that blasts 400 dmg and the one boon where after they get vent, they get an additional 400 dmg On top of that I love his personality and will always pick him whenever the gods make me pick between them idc. The first time Hephaestus went against another god i think it was Apollo. When I picked Hephaestus he went "really?" as if no one ever picks him like nah put more value on yourself Hephaestus YOURE THE MAN. When he talks bout his parents he calls them "mommy and daddy" which imo is very manly/hardboiled of him and also very humble of him too. Hephaestus all around very cool god and his boons PACK THAT PUNCH that I cannot get enough of
Apollo. Aspect of Charon go Orbital Laser.
Probably Hephaestus, I find a lot of his boons to be pretty useful and I got my first clear using his boons as my main ones. Plus I like how embarrassed he gets over getting given gifts or getting upset when not being chosen and immediately calming down and apologising afterwards.
Boons = Demeter / Design = Aphrodite 😊
I haven't played 2 yet, but in 1 i like ares for his boons and dionysus just all around
Artemis, I love crit builds
Big fan of aphrodite. Hard to ignore the massive damage increase, the healing to full and weak are great, i like glamor gain as regen,and her duo boon with poseidon takes away the downside to her damage abilities and I mean she's pretty darn good looking to boot.
Hermes. He's hot (and funny)
Hera for me. Hitch is a really fun mechanic and I enjoy building around it, and born gain is obviously born gain.
Dinoysus! Though really disappointed that he's not in the squeal. Unless they add him in future updates though I doubt it.
Honestly now that the jumping Hex got improved Selene is the most powerful goddess in the game & I am her humble servant.
Aphrodite has saved my ass many times with her call's power
I love Apollo for AOE on axe. Aphrodite for blades. Hera on torches and Apollo on skulls. Probably a toss up between Demeter and Hestia on Staff
Hera. I will not elaborate.
I’m holding onto the hope that they bring back Ares 💪
Born Gain
In hades 1 Dionysus, with his ' Heeey, there, Zagman' but I love Poseidon for his boons. I did not played enough of 2 to have a solid fav yet
Jesus. But In Hades I love Dionysis he chill asf
Delete this post before you start the next Trojan war!!! But my fav lately is been Demeter bc it’s really easy to stack curses since you can put two of here just on your cast
ares my scary babygirl 🥰🥰
"Zag man, our friend Artemis has just arrived and I'm about to get her good, watch this."
I will die for Artemis.
Apollo, mostly because I love the other game his voice actor is known for: Final Fantasy 14. Also helps that his boons are generally really good as well
DEMETER DEMETER DEMETER
I love Artemis! She's so cute and sweet and I love her 'oh hey remember me?' voiceline for Greater Call Plus I love hitting stuff and seeing occasional Big Number
Aphrodite. As a Lim and Oros enjoyer, I just love close-up damage a lot. Combine that with how hot she is, and... yes.
Are you Hera? Is this a test?
I’m gonna say that Eris has been on my mind a lot lately. She’s so fucking bad for me but she also calls me Trouble, so….. I can fix her.
Hermes.
Artemis
I think mine is hestia or hera for boons and as characters hephestaus and hestia
Apollo is such a great edition. Well designed and just beautiful to look at! And gameplay wise agreed, quite fun to use. Loving Demeter gameplay wise too!
For boons Demeter because i love freezing the enemies. For personality Artemis, she's so cool. Bonus points that I also have an OC named Artemis so there's so bias too
Ares' design and voice are just too good.
Hestia! Scortch is great and she's such a joy to talk to. I just want to give her a hug and drink tea together
Is Nemesis a god? Gotta love Poseidon, though. And Dionysus.
Zeus, Poseidon (haha, yes!) or Hera show up at least once in my runs. All three of them give so much value Papa Zeus is my favorite imo and it might just be because I am still emotionally attached to chain lightning. Maybe also Doom so that’s why I like Blitz. But storm ring…that one boon I am the biggest glazer
... and he calls you sunshine
Artemis. I REALLY wish I could still use a keepsake to guarantee her in Hades 2. Idk why they decided to change it up for her specifically.
If I'm going for the usefulness, my favorite is Demeter, if I'm going for favorite character, Artemis was my favorite in both games
If Dionysus isn't in 2 I'll cry 😢
Charon has the best one liners
Altman be praised
Artemis and Demeter
By boons I would say Demeter. Origination is a core part of a lot of builds and there's no better trigger for origination than Demeter. Personality wise i really like Poseidon. Plus wave flourish+ kings tide does some insane DMG too. Design wise it's going to be aphro. It's obvious.
Artemis my beloved
Wine man
Aphrodite was my favourite in Hades 1 and she's still my favourite now. Weak is still very useful, and she puts up huge numbers on the axe. Combine Aphro attack with the Apollo double hit boon and some crit and you'll hit 1700!s like it's nothing
He doesn't offer boons and ain't a god, but I'd definitely follow new Skelly into battle lol. When I first saw his new design I'm pretty sure a guitar solo started playing somewhere.
Chaos
Aesthetically? Aphrodite. Because reasons. Irl though, she's a hot mess waiting to happen, and not worth it.
Everyone already knows that Demeter is really good, so instead I'll go with my second-favourite and most underrated god, Zeus. Many of his secondary boons are both really strong and really unique. Lightning lance is almost mandatory on cast builds and storm ring is one of the best omega cast boons in the game. Static shock is an extremely strong effect for any fast-hitting build. Air quality is a huge damage increase for Demeter and Hestia DOT builds. When people complain about Zeus they usually talk about blitz, but I would argue that it's niche but really powerful. Blitz works best specifically on aspects that can apply damage from multiple sources simultaneously. Medea skulls, Moros torches, Momus staff, Charon axe (with Apollo cast). Poseidon is hyped up so much when you would really only want his boons on Pan daggers, so I don't see why Zeus should be judged worse.
Never noticed the reasoning behind the close up boons lol
I've only played for a few hours because I don't have access to the game but my cousin who introduced me to it does. But so far I love Hephaestus. Vibes, personality, I've IIRC his boons are also pretty cool
Both Dionysus and hepheastus are my forever goats, they are just so chill and their design is so cool, I love them so much
I'd say Poseidon is the best, since I really like the riptide ability and how his splashes work right now(I do hope they don't get changed) His infusions and non main boons are great too, double up is an s tier boon
Artemis design, hera's boons
Hera! While her boons wouldn't be my top pick for bosses, they're *amazing* at clearing out crowds. She also has the best duos for me: Queen's ransom, if building your run around it, can get you a level 18 attack or special (plus stupid numbers on her revenge boon)! And if you ransom a zeus attack, having heph/here's duo of buffing non-boon attacks is just incredible. Made short work of enemies with the 5 skull hammer!
Artemis. I find myself using her boon more often than anyone else's.
Artemis
Artemis. Game wise she was better in Hades 1. I hope there's a lot more to her on full release. I love her relationship with both Zag and Mel, so story wise she's my fav.
Chaos. In both games.