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[Hades] is King of the Scythe and the Sword

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  • TofystedethTofystedeth Registered User regular
    Fearghaill wrote: »
    I still haven't found out how to use ambrosia yet. Achilles had a conversation about it once, but that's it. I've got a couple people at locked hearts.
    For instance Megaera has a locked heart and says i need to deepen my relationship with her. Usually that means give more nectar, as opposed to the ones that say X more convos or whatever , but i can't give her anything.

    I believe there's a specific pact of punishment you need to use to advance the storyline with Meg - it's the only one she mentions by name after you unlock the pact.
    Extreme Measures

    Oh yeah, I remember that conversation now. In my defense, like 12 hours after having that interaction I went to PAX South and drank regrettable amounts of regrettable liquors.

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  • godmodegodmode Southeast JapanRegistered User regular
    I've been hitting some roadblocks that are initially a little frustrating, but I'm trying to keep in mind it's a game that isn't intended to be blown through in a single run and I'll probably enjoy it more if I take my time achieving everything.

    With that said, the Atreus and Minotaur fight still reliably kills off my Death Defiance every time, because they sometimes have really jerky attacks that don't give much warning, and also that fight takes fucking forever

  • TallahasseerielTallahasseeriel Registered User regular
    I've still never beaten the hydra.

    Game is too hard.

  • UnbrokenEvaUnbrokenEva HIGH ON THE WIRE BUT I WON'T TRIP ITRegistered User regular
    I remember when the Hydra was a brick wall for me, and when Theseus and the Minotaur were

    a lot of it is just practice, getting a feel for timings and when to dodge, and having those timings become reflex. The one time I tried a run with the 10% enemy speed boost pact of punishment it was *awful*, because everything was attacking juuuust before I'd learned to dodge them.

    For Theseus and the Minotaur specifically, my main tactic is to try to kite the Minotaur away from Theseus and focus him down as fast as I can. Dodge like crazy when he gets close, I find his horizontal swipes are pretty easy to avoid if you dodge through/behind him, and then you can get a couple swipes in, but don't get too greedy because a leaping chop is coming in hot. Just try to stay to the outside of the pillars and keep one between you and Theseus as much as possible, but still try to dodge when you see his crosshair on you.

    Once the Minotaur is down I try to cheese Theseus using the pillars. Stand out in the open a good distance away to bait out a throw, as soon as you see the crosshairs, put a pillar between you and him, and immediately after his throw clangs uselessly against the pillar, jump out and get a few swings in. He always turns his back and walks away a few steps after throwing. Granted, this is easier with a ranged weapon, but if you're using the sword you can try dashing in to hit and then hiding behind a nearby pillar, or throwing your cast.

  • UnbrokenEvaUnbrokenEva HIGH ON THE WIRE BUT I WON'T TRIP ITRegistered User regular
    For the Hydra, especially now that there's only two small-head phases, try to save your Call for that, and build up a big one. Depending on which God's Call you have, you should be able to delete a head or two that way. I usually start on one side of the island and work my way left-right or vice versa, to give myself some breathing room/dodge space as I go. For the big head. his projectiles are very dodgeable - if you're melee/up close, try dodging through the head when he starts spitting, though you may need to go back and forth in this way.

  • WyvernWyvern Registered User regular
    Oh god, I finally did it. I beat Hades for the first time. With zero ranks of Death Defiance. Because that's what heroes do.
    ta95xgiacl4h.png
    It was run number 18. I had the Chaos Shield with all of the lightnings on special, so in the last fight I mostly just spammed that and blocked occasionally. It was way too close; I thought for sure I was gonna blow it right at the end.

    Switch: SW-2431-2728-9604 || 3DS: 0817-4948-1650
  • TofystedethTofystedeth Registered User regular
    Can you not use summons in the last fight? That's the place I need them most.

    I still haven't managed a win with the sword. I've gotten close a couple times with the cursed blade upgrade. I was a hair's breadth away last night with a build where I had 7 casts and Artemis' cast boons.

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  • UnbrokenEvaUnbrokenEva HIGH ON THE WIRE BUT I WON'T TRIP ITRegistered User regular
    edited January 2020
    Can you not use summons in the last fight? That's the place I need them most.

    I still haven't managed a win with the sword. I've gotten close a couple times with the cursed blade upgrade. I was a hair's breadth away last night with a build where I had 7 casts and Artemis' cast boons.

    nope on the summons, burn them on the temple rooms if you've got them.

    Sword has consistently been the hardest for me, it's the one where you most need to be up in the last boss' face and that is a rough place to be. I have been trying to win once with each weapon before turning the heat up another level and was stuck on the sword for a half dozen runs or so before managing last night. Aphrodite's attack, Ares' special, and the duo boon between them, and a whole lot of dash strikes back and forth. Won with 19 health and no death defies left.

    UnbrokenEva on
  • Evil MultifariousEvil Multifarious Registered User regular
    edited January 2020
    If you're stuck in early game, just focus on improving your power and survivability with darkness and weapon upgrades, in classic roguelike fashion

    I found the Hydra fight unbeatable early in the beta, before there were more boons, as well. Now that there are synergies, and with the survivability buffs you can invest in, it's rarely where my run ends

    Sword seems like the hardest weapon because of that point blank damage output

    Evil Multifarious on
  • UnbrokenEvaUnbrokenEva HIGH ON THE WIRE BUT I WON'T TRIP ITRegistered User regular
    When in doubt, provided you have the titan blood available to unlock/upgrade it, you can always go with the Poseidon aspect on the sword and just go for a cast-based run.

    Also, there's only minimal shame in gaming the Give Up/restart system to get an optimal start to a run. If you Give Up rather than Quit from the menu (the option is usually available as soon as you take damage in a room, or while you're on a boon choice screen), the next run you start will have the same starting boon/first chamber as before. You can use this to switch to a different weapon you'd rather use with the initially offered boon (Dionysus offering epic +poison on Attack? Fetch ye Adamant Rail), or if you want a different god, you can grab their keepsake when you restart. You'll get the same boon slots offered, so in the previous example if you wanted to try a Zeus run you could grab his keepsake and the sword (or whatever) and get epic + chain lighting on attack instead. If the first offered boon is a Daedalus Hammer, equipping a god keepsake won't change that, but you can still try a different weapon and see what you're offered for that. None of the spear upgrades appealing? Give Up, switch to Shield, and hope for the +bounces special or whatever you're in the mood for.

  • UnbrokenEvaUnbrokenEva HIGH ON THE WIRE BUT I WON'T TRIP ITRegistered User regular
    What's everyone's favourite builds to try for by weapon?

    Sword: Nemesis Aspect. Aphrodite Attack, Ares Special.
    Open with the special to put Doom on enemies, and then start hitting. Even with just those two boons, 2 debuffs = Privileged Status on the enemy for a damage boost if you have that mirror upgrade, and if you can get the Duo boon then Doom keeps on Dooming while they're Weak.

    Spear: Zagreus Aspect, + bounces hammer upgrade, and either Poseidon or Ares Special
    Bouncy spear hurts lots.

    Shield: Zagreus Aspect + bounces hammer upgrade, Ares Special or Chaos Aspect + bounces hammer upgrade, Dionysus special
    Can you tell I like spreading damage effects to multiple enemies at once?

    Bow: Chiron Aspect, Aphrodite attack, Dionysus special
    Insane single-target damage. Shoot them once, then hit the special for an immediate 5-stack of poison. Even better if you can get the hammer upgrade that adds additional special arrows, and the duo boon that lets poison stack to 8 on Weak enemies.

    I also really like the Chiron aspect with Aphrodite's attack and Artemis' special, and the duo boon that increases crit chance on Weak enemies.

    Adamant Rail: Eris aspect, Dionysus attack, Aphrodite Special.
    see above: stack poison, laugh.

  • StraightziStraightzi Here we may reign secure, and in my choice, To reign is worth ambition though in HellRegistered User regular
    It's amazing hearing people talk about this game when you haven't played in six months. I can barely understand a word y'all are saying at this point.

  • milskimilski Poyo! Registered User regular
    I suggest playing more then!

    I ate an engineer
  • StraightziStraightzi Here we may reign secure, and in my choice, To reign is worth ambition though in HellRegistered User regular
    I'm pretty much waiting for final release at this point. This is never going to be a game I'm good at, hell, it probably won't be a game I ever beat, based on last time I played. I'm primarily into it for its takes on mythology, and I'd just rather the story get fully completed before I dive back in, rather than get burned out on the gameplay.

  • TofystedethTofystedeth Registered User regular
    Let's see. Not sure if it's because I'm smarter now since I last played (sectoral months ago, before Hermes and the 4th zone existed) or due to updates but I find going deep with 2 gods works better than broad. Gotta get those bonuses that stack onto your existing stuff.

    I'm still trying to shake out a sword build I can actually win with. I've had a few that worked pretty well that I feel I could have won with if I sucked less.
    My best so far was:
    Nemesis aspect for the crit buff.
    Artemis cast + artemis extra half damage shot on cast + 4 extra casts from Artemis and chaos, and 5 second cast return from Hermes.
    Chill on special and dash, for slowness. Pop special in middle of nowhere for the crit buff then spam casts. I also ended up with fast special from Hermes, and double special from Daedalus, so if I was surrounded (happens a lot in those small temple rooms) I could spam special to stunlock most enemies.

    Shield:
    I don't remember a specific build, but I think my clear was poison on bouncy special with some poison boosters. It works real good. I think I might also have had the chill = decay boon.

    Bow:
    The seeking special aspect is murder on bosses, especially when paired the +special daedalus upgrade. Take that and add basically anything that improves special damage and does stacks or attacks for each special hit. Upgrades and boons that increase your special and attack speeds so you can quickly remark targets and get more specials off are good.

    Spear:
    I had a great run the other day with the hammer upgrade that turns your dash attack into a triple hit, and then a bunch of Ares boons. Namely, Special does Doom, Doom has a delayed effect for more damage, add Doom stacks for more damage. Just used dash to add as many stacks as possible. It was hitting for up to 700.

    Rail:
    Admittedly my recorded "clear" is from months ago and I'm now less good with it than the other weapons. I need to figure this guy out again.

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  • UnbrokenEvaUnbrokenEva HIGH ON THE WIRE BUT I WON'T TRIP ITRegistered User regular
    oh yeah, picking 2-3 gods is best. If you can get 3 gods that each have duo boons with each other things can get nuts fast.

    unlocking the ability to reroll room rewards was a big boost to my clears, even if it's just the contractor upgrade that gives you 1 reroll every time you get a key reward.

    I had a run that was a sword run where I went all Artemis/Aphrodite/Athena, had all three duo boons between them (+20% crit chance after Deflect, +50% crit damage vs. Weak, -60% enemy projectile speed). I think I lost less than 100 health total against the final boss.

    Most absurd combo I've done in terms of damage output was the Hera bow that lets you load your cast into your next bow shot. Except you can load multiple, as long as you have the bloodstones.

    That bow, Poseidon's cast (AoE, but still embeds in the primary target), Artemis' Legendary for + 3 ammo, and the boons that make them drop from enemies faster, and that makes it hurt when they do pop out. Without crits it was 6x108 for the initial shot, and then 6x140 when the stones popped out.

  • TofystedethTofystedeth Registered User regular
    I had a weird interaction last night where I had Festive Fog cast and Dionysus/Demeter duo boon that makes an exploding ice aoe. Some rooms it was one, some rooms it was the other, and I did not like that. I asked on the discord and someone said the duo should count as festive fog for the purposes of the DR boon, but couldn't confirm that if purged the fog cast boon for money so that it would consistently use the duo it would remain that way.

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  • TofystedethTofystedeth Registered User regular
    Do we know yet what the main weapon they are adding in the next update will be?

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  • PoorochondriacPoorochondriac Ah, man Ah, jeezRegistered User regular
    Do we know yet what the main weapon they are adding in the next update will be?

    Ice cream truck that shoots napalm

  • TofystedethTofystedeth Registered User regular
    edited January 2020
    Do we know yet what the main weapon they are adding in the next update will be?

    Ice cream truck that shoots napalm

    That doesn't seem like it would fit thematically.

    Ice cream is cold but napalm is hot.

    Tofystedeth on
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  • StraightziStraightzi Here we may reign secure, and in my choice, To reign is worth ambition though in HellRegistered User regular
    I wouldn't be surprised by a scythe turning up, given, y'know, everything.

    We've already moved away from the sorts of weapons that I would considered essential to the whole heroic Greek genre. I guess maybe a club, a la Heracles? Or take in the grand tradition of the Iliad and have the final weapon just be picking up a big rock and bashing someone with it.

  • azith28azith28 Registered User regular
    Straightzi wrote: »
    I wouldn't be surprised by a scythe turning up, given, y'know, everything.

    We've already moved away from the sorts of weapons that I would considered essential to the whole heroic Greek genre. I guess maybe a club, a la Heracles? Or take in the grand tradition of the Iliad and have the final weapon just be picking up a big rock and bashing someone with it.

    I was thinking a scythe as well, but thats not really part of greek mythos, and since they gave life steal to the spear aspect (which would go pretty well on a scythe), now i think its something else. We have 4 pretty much full on ranged weapons (shield,bow,gun,spear), and the sword as the only fully meele weapon so I'm thinking maybe a pair of gloves /brass knuckles for another meele aspect. Didn't Heracles have a pair of gloves somewhere in his mythos? either that of a hammer/club type.

    Unless it turns out to be a joke weapon.

    Stercus, Stercus, Stercus, Morituri Sum
  • StraightziStraightzi Here we may reign secure, and in my choice, To reign is worth ambition though in HellRegistered User regular
    Hmm, yeah, there is an ancient Greek boxing tradition, that'd be pretty good. Leather straps to protect the knuckles and forearms, more than like, big puffy modern boxing gloves.

    I'd love it if having those opened up the world of like, grappling and wrestling moves, as Greek wrestling is also a big thing.

  • Evil MultifariousEvil Multifarious Registered User regular
    My favourite boon for the Rail by far is Artemis' arrows that fire on hit. It basically doubles your rate of fire and acts as crowd control. I got that with the infinite ammo Daedalus upgrade and, hoo boy.

  • cursedkingcursedking Registered User regular
    I still haven't found out how to use ambrosia yet. Achilles had a conversation about it once, but that's it. I've got a couple people at locked hearts.
    For instance Megaera has a locked heart and says i need to deepen my relationship with her. Usually that means give more nectar, as opposed to the ones that say X more convos or whatever , but i can't give her anything.

    I gave her ambrosia

    Types: Boom + Robo | Food: Sweet | Habitat: Plains
  • UnbrokenEvaUnbrokenEva HIGH ON THE WIRE BUT I WON'T TRIP ITRegistered User regular
    I feel like there's room for big slow melee with wide arcing swings, like an axe

    and there's already an axe wielder in the game so it's not without precedent

  • StraightziStraightzi Here we may reign secure, and in my choice, To reign is worth ambition though in HellRegistered User regular
    Fearghaill wrote: »
    I feel like there's room for big slow melee with wide arcing swings, like an axe

    and there's already an axe wielder in the game so it's not without precedent

    Yeah this is what I was thinking the scythe would feel like

  • WyvernWyvern Registered User regular
    Bow:
    The seeking special aspect is murder on bosses, especially when paired the +special daedalus upgrade. Take that and add basically anything that improves special damage and does stacks or attacks for each special hit. Upgrades and boons that increase your special and attack speeds so you can quickly remark targets and get more specials off are good.
    Unless something changed very recently, boons that trigger on hit don't work the way you'd hope with Hera bow specials. It seems to be one trigger per target per activation. I've had Zeus's lightning strike on special for both the bow and the Chaos shield and you only get one bolt per volley no matter how many projectiles hit the same target.

    Switch: SW-2431-2728-9604 || 3DS: 0817-4948-1650
  • UnbrokenEvaUnbrokenEva HIGH ON THE WIRE BUT I WON'T TRIP ITRegistered User regular
    also I want to have a conversation with Asterius where you defeat him in the miniboss fight with an axe using techniques you learned from fighting him

  • TofystedethTofystedeth Registered User regular
    Wyvern wrote: »
    Bow:
    The seeking special aspect is murder on bosses, especially when paired the +special daedalus upgrade. Take that and add basically anything that improves special damage and does stacks or attacks for each special hit. Upgrades and boons that increase your special and attack speeds so you can quickly remark targets and get more specials off are good.
    Unless something changed very recently, boons that trigger on hit don't work the way you'd hope with Hera bow specials. It seems to be one trigger per target per activation. I've had Zeus's lightning strike on special for both the bow and the Chaos shield and you only get one bolt per volley no matter how many projectiles hit the same target.

    Things like poison stacks are definitely per arrow. I think seeking bolt is too. I could swear I've seen multiple come out per use, but they're grouped close together so it's hard to see usually. Chain lightning might not be, but assume doom stacks work similar to poison logic based on how it did with the spear dash build.

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  • UnbrokenEvaUnbrokenEva HIGH ON THE WIRE BUT I WON'T TRIP ITRegistered User regular
    Artemis' Support Fire seeking arrow is 1 arrow per attack/special/cast button press, not per arrow in the bow volley, sadly

    Poison stacks are per arrow, that is a core tactic of mine.

  • Raijin QuickfootRaijin Quickfoot I'm your Huckleberry YOU'RE NO DAISYRegistered User, ClubPA regular
    This thread title just made me think of

    "to be king of your kitchen. Use Crestfield Wax Paper."

  • TofystedethTofystedeth Registered User regular
    Finally got my first sword clear.
    7rfyq3m8go55.png
    Also had Rupture on knockbacked foes for the extra DoT and the mirror buff. My chop crits were hitting for like 900 sometimes. It felt good.

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  • godmodegodmode Southeast JapanRegistered User regular
    How do I get more titan blood and diamonds? Cause it seems like you only get them once per clear per weapon and don’t get them back after they’re spent...It’s the reason I haven’t been upgrading any of my weapons yet - I don’t want to burn the special items and then wish I had them later.

  • Grey GhostGrey Ghost Registered User regular
    *pounding on table* CONSOLE RELEASE
    CONSOLE RELEASE
    CONSOLE RELEASE

  • milskimilski Poyo! Registered User regular
    godmode wrote: »
    How do I get more titan blood and diamonds? Cause it seems like you only get them once per clear per weapon and don’t get them back after they’re spent...It’s the reason I haven’t been upgrading any of my weapons yet - I don’t want to burn the special items and then wish I had them later.

    You get one ambrosia, one diamond, and two titan blood per clear with a weapon per heat level up to 20. So up the Pact of Punishment a little bit each clear, basically

    I ate an engineer
  • godmodegodmode Southeast JapanRegistered User regular
    Oh, I don't even have that anymore :-1: I guess now it doesn't unlock until you kill the final boss so, probably gonna be a long-ass time before I get it.

  • TofystedethTofystedeth Registered User regular
    milski wrote: »
    godmode wrote: »
    How do I get more titan blood and diamonds? Cause it seems like you only get them once per clear per weapon and don’t get them back after they’re spent...It’s the reason I haven’t been upgrading any of my weapons yet - I don’t want to burn the special items and then wish I had them later.

    You get one ambrosia, one diamond, and two titan blood per clear with a weapon per heat level up to 20. So up the Pact of Punishment a little bit each clear, basically

    Additionally, the currency swapping guy in the lounge will occasionally have deals to turn like 10 nectar into an ambrosia, so you can turn unneeded low level stuff into that.

    Also, once per run if you've saved up like 1500 obols you can buy 1.

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  • UnbrokenEvaUnbrokenEva HIGH ON THE WIRE BUT I WON'T TRIP ITRegistered User regular
    Also check the list of minor prophesies, some of those give blood/diamonds/ambrosia

  • godmodegodmode Southeast JapanRegistered User regular
    Is that the scroll list in the bedroom? I did spot a couple with diamonds I'm working on, yeah.

    I've still been holding off on upgrading weapons though. Seems like a huge commitment to start spending titan blood on them - I don't know which one is my main yet.

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