Summary

With different weapons, arcana cards, boons, and keepsakes to choose from,Hades 2gives you a lot of diversity when it comes to builds that are best suited to your playstyle. Throughout your runs, you will be able to pick up a lot of power-ups and blessings that can significantly improve your damage-dealing capabilities.

However, with so many varieties of upgrades, it is important to pick the best one if you want to defeat the sturdy enemies, including the final boss, Chronos. Choosing weapons and boons that synergize with each other can help deal with enemies in a more effective way.

Hades 2, an image of Demeter, Melinoe from the Olympic Update cover art in the Black Coat, and Hestia.

Updated on Jun 26, 2025, by Tallis Spalding:With the release of the Olympic Update came more challenges up on Olympus, a new weapon (the Black Coat), and many other wonderful things that made Hades 2 all the more challenging and exciting. Of course, with a new weapon comes the need to reconsider what some of the best builds you can aim for are. You’re beholden to the RNG a lot with the Hades 2 builds, but that doesn’t mean you can’t pick and choose a little bit to get the best outcome possible. Any Hades 2 build can be good, but that doesn’t mean it’ll be the best.

Metallic Droplet

Boons

Ice Strike, Cold Storage, Arctic Ring, Flame Flourish, Flammable Coating, Fire Extinguisher, Freezer Burn

This build relies on you utilizing the speed of the Black Coat to dart in and out of the fight. You’ll utilizeDemeter’s boons to trigger the freeze effecton as many enemies as possible, and then you’ll useyour boons from Hestia to trigger the scorch effect.

Hades 2, Zeus’s portrait, Melinoe in the Black Coat from the Olympic Update Cover Art, and Apollo’s portrait.

Once you have their duo boon, Freezer Burn, they’ll take extra damage from scorch, which makes your job pretty easy. Just make sure that you’re constantly on the move and fast on the attack because without Demeter’s Cold Storage, her freeze effect is going to wear off pretty quickly.

Concave Stone

Heaven Strike, Heaven Flourish, Electric Overloard, Lucid Gain, Solar Ring, Extra Dose

The Black Coat’s special is absurdly good, which means that you should really take advantage of that, especially byutilizing the Omega Special. Of course, you’re going to end up draining quite a bit of magick that way, but with this build,you can constantly replenish your magick while regularly triggering Zeus’s blitzand chain lightning effects.

Hades 2, the portrait of Hestia, the Sister Blades journal entry image, and Hephaestus' portrait.

For the most part, this will be a ranged fight, but if you find yourself in the thick of the enemies, throwing up your cast with Apollo’s Solar Ring and using your Heaven Strike boon to attack will keep you alive.

Silken Sash

Flame Strike, Hearth Gain, Volcanic Flourish, Furnace Blast, Smithy Spring, Chain Reaction

This build heavily relies on you being willing to dart in and out of the fray as you can. While using the Sister Blades, you’re going to beapplying scorch, darting around, and regularly throwing out your specialto trigger Hephaestus’s blast damage.

Hades 2, the portrait of Hestia, the Sister Blades journal entry image, and the portrait for Selene.

By joining him up with Hestia and using theFlick Knives upgrade, gained through the Daedelus Hammer,you’re going to be triggering that blast damage a lot. Plus, although not necessarily for this high-damage explosive build, you can get any of Hephaestus’ defense builds, which will help you to be a bit more tanky if you find yourself often struggling to stay alive.

Everlasting Amber or Moon Beam

Hades 2, the portrait of Zeus, the Umbral Flames image from the journal, and Hephaestus' portrait.

Hook Knives, Twilight Curse, Burnt Offering, Flame Strike, Flame Flourish, Smithy Sprint

This build uses Sister Blades and is the best fire-based build in Hades 2, so you will have to choose Hestia’s boons along with specific Daedalus Hammer upgrades for your runs. This is one of the best mid- to late-game builds, and it works like a charm against guardians and major bosses. Smithy Sprint will allow you to use ten Magick to blast nearby enemies when sprinting.

Hades 2, Poseidon’s portrait, the Witch’s Staff image from the journal, and Hestia’s Portrait.

With Hook Knives, your specials will return to you and deal 50 percent increased damage to enemies. Don’t forget to pick up Selene’s Twilight Curse, which will inflict Morph on up to ten enemies, perfect for clearing crowds. Arcana cards, includingThe Unseen, The Titan, Eternity, and The Furies, are best for this build.

Cloud Bangle or The Adamant Shard

Hades 2, Apollo’s portrait, the Moonstone Axe image from the journal, and Aphrodite.

Heaven Flourish, Electric Overload, Heaven Strike, Volcanic Strike, Volcanic Flourish, Melting Comet, and Split Fire

For Umbral Flames,boons from either Zeus or Hephaestus can prove to be great in mid-game runs. If you’re looking to use Umbral Flames for the end-game, then boons from Hephaestus can give your normal and special attacks a blast effect and enhance your base damage while targeting nearby enemies.

Hades 2, Poseidon’s portrait, the Moonstone Axe image from the journal, and Demeter’s portrait.

You can greatly increase your AOE with these boons, but don’t expect a high single-target damage output. If you want to deal more damage,then Zeus’ boons are a decent option, as they can inflict Blitz as well for additional damage.

Vivid Sea or The Luckier Tooth

Hades 2, Poseidon’s portrait, the Argent Skull journal image, and Apollo’s portrait.

Hearth Gain, Double Cataclysm, Vampiric Cataclysm, Fleeting Target, Wave Flourish, Slippery Slope, and Smolder Ring

Witch’s Staff is an early-game weapon, but it could easily carry you to the end of the game with proper upgrades. It has decent range, and you can deal high DPS through its attacks and specials. The build requires higher magick, so using Hearth Gain from Hestia can allow you to gain magick at the cost of your health. For this build, it isrecommended to pick the Vampiric Cataclysm Daedalus Hammer upgrade,as it restores your HP every time you kill enemies with Omega attacks.

Hades 2, Zeus' portrait, the Argent Skull journal image, and Hestia’s portrait.

You canprioritize boons from Hestia and Poseidonfor the build. Wave deals Splash damage, while Smolder Ring inflicts Scorch damage on your enemies. If you get a chance, don’t forget to pick the Scalding Vapor duo boon, as it deals 25 Steam Damage every 0.2 seconds, making the Witch’s Staff a powerful weapon.

Moon Beam or Beautiful Mirror

Glamour Gain, Sweet Surrender, Healthy Rebound, Empowering Guard, Hell Splitter, Super Nova, Nova Strike, and Moon Water

If you want to dish out serious damage fast, then using the blessings from Aphrodite paired with the boons of Selene or Apollo can help you clear out crowds of enemies easily. This particular build focuses entirely onprioritizing Aphrodite’s boons, especially Glamour Gain and Healthy Rebound.

Make sure to pick up Moon Water from Selene and boons from Apollo, including Blinding Sprint, Nova Strike, or Solar Ring. If you get a chance,don’t forget to get the Emerald Dress from Arachne, which will grant you 50 armor and restore two HP whenever you exit a location. This build will entirely focus on keeping health intact while dealing great damage.

Vivid Sea

Flood Control, Wave Flourish, Fluid Gain, Double Cataclysm, Arctic Ring and Wave Strike

This build focuses on dealing high damage with fewer hits.Most of these boons tend to consume a lot of magick, so you will have to carefully time your attacks if you don’t want to run out of mana completely. Arcana Cards like The Unseen that help you restore two magick every second can prove to be quite useful for this build.

Daedalus hammer upgrades Double Cataclysm and Double Wallop allow your attack to hit two times and deal double the damage. Equipping Poseidon’s keepsake will summon him more often during your runs.

Silver Wheel or Silken Sash

Lucid Gain, Flutter Flourish, Colossus Tackle, Twisting Crash, Smolder Ring, and Self Healing

Argent Skull’s Omega attack is extremely powerful, and if you choose boons that buff it up even more, you may destroy the strongest of enemies. Therefore, you should focus on using upgrades that help you with high magick restoration.Apollo’s Lucid Gain or Poseidon’s fluid gainis best for the Argent skull.

Another boon you should keep a look out for is the Smolder Ring from Hestia, which casts 40 damage per second to the inflicted enemies. Daedalus hammer upgrades, including the Colossus Tackle, Bolstered Array, and Twisting Crash, are the best for the build. You can also pick up Sidelong Crash to increase the range and damage output of your specials.

Cloud Bangle or Everlasting Amber

Flame Flourish, Flame Strike, Heaven Strike, Electric Overload Smolder Ring, Rocket Bombard, Fetching Array, and Bolstered Array

If Argent Skull is your main weapon, and you love the offensive playstyle, then enhancing your attacks and specials is the most suitable choice. The Fetching Array Daedalus hammer upgrades make the skulls return to you instantly, so you won’t have to worry about reloading the weapon. You can also considerusing the Aspect Of Medea,which greatly boosts your attack and special damage.

Through the Bolstered Array upgrade, you get two additional skulls that allow you to target more enemies. But, if you have to choose between the Fetching Array and the Bolstered Array, it is better to choose the latter to get additional skulls. Hestia and Zeus’s boons are best for this building as you can inflict scorch and deal chain lightning damage, which helps you deal with hordes of enemies.