Every Hades run is decided by about a dozen boon choices, and most of them are made in a few seconds between rooms. This guide is built for that moment: the ranking first, then the reasoning.
Two rules frame everything. Zagreus has five slots — Attack, Special, Cast, Dash and Call — and each holds one boon from one god. And the boons that make a build great (support boons, Duo Boons, Legendaries) are only offered once you hold the right slot boons. So the first three or four boons you take decide which build you can reach. This is about the first Hades; Hades II has different gods and boons.
Numbers below are the Common-rarity values from the game data; Rare, Epic and Heroic versions are stronger.
Best boons at a glance
Ranked by how much they improve a typical run, across weapons. Slot boons are ranked against the other options for the same slot.
When two offers are close, prefer the one that adds a second status curse. The Mirror of Night talent Privileged Status gives +20% damage per rank (+40% at rank 2) against foes with two or more curses, so a cheap curse in a spare slot is often worth more than a slightly bigger number.
Best boon for each slot
Each slot holds one god. A god can later offer to exchange another god's slot boon; an exchange raises the slot's rarity by one and keeps its level, which is why late swaps are rarely as bad as they look.
| Slot | Best pick | Strong alternatives | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Attack | Heartbreak Strike (Aphrodite) +50%, Weak | Divine Strike +40% & Deflect; Frost Strike +40% & Chill; Curse of Agony (Doom 50) | Highest percentage, and Weak lowers damage you take. Zeus' Lightning Strike (chain 10) suits very fast weapons |
| Special | Heartbreak Flourish (Aphrodite) +80%, Weak | Tempest Flourish +70%; Divine Flourish +60%; Frost Flourish +60% | Special boons carry bigger numbers than Attack ones, so Special-led weapons scale fast |
| Cast | Depends on build — Crush Shot 90 (Aphrodite) or Phalanx Shot 85 (Athena) | True Shot 70, seeks and can crit; Electric Shot 60 with 5 bounces; Slicing Shot (Blade Rift, 20 per hit) | Crush Shot is a wide, short blast that applies Weak; Phalanx Shot can Deflect. Slicing Shot is a build of its own (see below) |
| Dash | Divine Dash (Athena), Deflect | Tidal Dash 35 with knockback; Passion Dash 20 & Weak; Blade Dash (Blade Rift) | Defence beats damage on the Dash slot. Hunter Dash (Artemis) only boosts the Dash-Strike, +50% |
| Call | Athena's Aid, 1.5 s Invulnerable & Deflect | Zeus' Aid (lightning, 50 per strike, 1.5 s); Aphrodite's Aid (Charm 5 s; 2,500 damage at full gauge); Poseidon's Aid (250 impact) | The Call is an emergency button first. Zeus' and Aphrodite's are the damage options |
Why Divine Dash so often outranks damage. Most damage in Hades comes from projectiles and telegraphed attacks you are already dashing through. Deflect turns those dashes into zero-damage moments and returns the projectile to its sender. On weapons where you dash constantly, it is the single biggest defensive upgrade in the game.
Cast is the flexible slot. It is the slot most often given to a second god to add a status curse or a Duo prerequisite rather than raw damage. Several Duo Boons are tied to a specific Cast (Crystal Beam for Cold Embrace and Crystal Clarity, Phalanx Shot for Lightning Phalanx, Slicing Shot for Hunting Blades, Flood Shot for Curse of Drowning and Blizzard Shot, Trippy Shot for Ice Wine and Scintillating Feast).
The best boon from each god
What to take first when a god's door comes up, and the follow-up that makes that god pay off.
| God | Status curse | Take first | Key follow-up | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Athena | Exposed (backstab bonus) | Divine Dash | Athena's Aid; Bronze Skin; Brilliant Riposte → Divine Protection (Legendary barrier, 20 s cooldown) | Her Attack/Special numbers are lower than Aphrodite's |
| Aphrodite | Weak (foe deals at least 30% less damage) | Heartbreak Flourish or Strike | Sweet Surrender (+10% vs Weak); Broken Resolve; Empty Inside | Weak on a slot you rarely use does little |
| Ares | Doom (burst after 1.1 s) | Curse of Agony / Pain | Impending Doom (+60% Doom damage); Urge to Kill (+10% Attack, Special, Cast) | Doom is one burst per application; very fast weapons get less from it |
| Zeus | Jolted (foe hurts itself when it attacks) | Lightning Strike (fast weapons) or Thunder Flourish | Static Discharge; Storm Lightning or Double Strike → Splitting Bolt (Legendary) | Low base damage until two or three Zeus boons stack |
| Poseidon | Ruptured (damage while moving) | Tempest Flourish | Typhoon's Fury (+200% slam damage); Breaking Wave; Hydraulic Might (+50% for the first 10 s) | Knockback pushes foes out of melee range |
| Artemis | Marked (crit target) | Deadly Flourish or True Shot | Pressure Points (+2% crit on everything); Clean Kill (+15% crit damage) | Critical chance needs several boons before it feels strong |
| Dionysus | Hangover (damage every 0.5 s, up to 5 stacks) | Drunken Strike | Bad Influence (+50% damage while 3 foes have Hangover); Peer Pressure | Weak against single bosses with few adds |
| Demeter | Chill (slow, up to 10 stacks) | Frost Strike or Frost Flourish | Arctic Blast (blast at 10 stacks); Killing Freeze → Winter Harvest (Legendary) | Crystal Beam is strong but stationary |
| Hermes | None | Greatest Reflex (+1 dash) | Greater Haste (+20% move speed); Quick Recovery; Second Wind | No Duo Boons; his boons cannot be levelled with Poms |
| Chaos | None | Whatever boosts your main slot (e.g. Flourish +30–60% Special) | Chaos boons can be taken more than once and stack | Each comes with a curse for the next 3–4 encounters first |
Strongest build archetypes and the Duo Boons that complete them
A build is two or three gods that feed each other. The Duo Boon is usually the piece that turns a good run into an easy one, so plan the pair from your second god onward.
| Build | Core boons | Completing Duo / Legendary | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weak + Doom | Heartbreak on main slot, Curse of Agony/Pain on the other | Curse of Longing: Doom keeps striking Weak foes, each hit 50% of the last | Slower, heavy-hitting weapons; boss damage |
| Deflect + Doom | Divine Strike/Flourish + Curse of Agony/Pain | Merciful End: attacks that can Deflect trigger Doom instantly (+40 combo damage) | Melee weapons that hit in bursts |
| Critical + Weak | Deadly Strike/Flourish or True Shot, Heartbreak, Pressure Points, Clean Kill | Heart Rend: +150% Critical damage against Weak foes | Single big hits and boss fights |
| Lightning | Lightning Strike or Thunder Flourish, Static Discharge, Storm Lightning / Double Strike | Splitting Bolt (Legendary); Sea Storm with Poseidon (knockback calls lightning, 40) | Rooms full of weak enemies |
| Hangover | Drunken Strike, Bad Influence, Peer Pressure | Low Tolerance (+3 Hangover stacks vs Weak, with Aphrodite); Curse of Nausea (ticks every 0.35 s instead of 0.5, with Ares) | Very fast weapons that hit many times a second |
| Blade Rift Cast | Slicing Shot + Black Metal (+20% area) / Engulfing Vortex (longer, pulls foes) | Vicious Cycle (Legendary, +2 damage per consecutive hit); Hunting Blades (seeking rift, with Artemis) | Any weapon — the Cast does the work |
| Frost + Jolt | Frost Strike/Flourish + Zeus with Static Discharge | Cold Fusion: Jolted no longer expires when foes attack (lasts 10 s) | Rooms with many attacking enemies |
| Rarity engine | Any Poseidon slot boon + any Dionysus slot boon | Exclusive Access: all later boons at least Epic | Any build — take it early, then build normally |
Why the curse pairs matter
The pairs above are not arbitrary. Weak protects you, Doom and Hangover add damage, and holding two curses on the same foe switches on Privileged Status. Aphrodite appears in so many good pairs because Weak is both a defensive layer and the condition for Curse of Longing, Heart Rend, Low Tolerance and Sweet Surrender.
Defensive Duo Boons worth taking in any build
- Unshakable Mettle (Athena + Poseidon): you cannot be stunned, and take 10% less damage from bosses.
- Calculated Risk (Athena + Dionysus): foes' projectiles are 50% slower.
- Stubborn Roots (Athena + Demeter): your health slowly regenerates while you have no Death Defiance left.
- Smoldering Air (Aphrodite + Zeus): your Call charges itself, capped at 25%. Strong with Athena's Aid.
Legendary Boons
Each Olympian has at least one Legendary (twelve in total; Poseidon and Hermes have two). They require boons from that one god, like Divine Protection (needs Brilliant Riposte) or Winter Harvest (needs two of Ravenous Will, Arctic Blast and Killing Freeze). The most impactful in normal play are Divine Protection (a barrier that negates a hit, recharging every 20 seconds) and Vicious Cycle for Blade Rift Casts. Hermes' two Legendaries also require specific Mirror talents to be active.
How to steer boon offers
Hades does not let you pick gods directly, but it gives you several levers. Used together, they make most runs reach the build you planned.
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1
Equip the keepsake of the god you need first
Olympian keepsakes (Thunder Signet, Conch Shell, Owl Pendant, Eternal Rose, Blood-Filled Vial, Adamant Arrowhead, Overflowing Cup, Frostbitten Horn) make the next boon you find come from that god, and give their boons +10/15/20% chance to be Rare or better. The guarantee is once per run; the rarity bonus lasts while equipped. Keepsakes rank up after 25 and 50 encounters.
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2
Swap keepsakes between regions
After buying the regional keepsake upgrade from the House Contractor (10 Gemstones), you can change keepsakes between regions. Start with your main god's keepsake, then switch to your Duo partner's to pull their first boon in the next region.
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3
Read the door symbols and plan the route
Every reward door shows the god before you enter. Take boon doors from your planned gods and use other rooms (Poms, Obols, Hammers) when the wrong god is on offer. Erebus gates and mini-boss rooms give higher rarity.
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4
Use the Mirror's boon talents
Gods' Legacy (+1% per rank, up to +10%) raises Duo and Legendary chances. Fated Persuasion gives dice to reroll boon choices. Olympian Favor and Gods' Pride raise Rare and Epic odds.
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5
Buy the missing piece from Charon
Charon sells boons for 150 Obols. If a Duo is one prerequisite away, the shop is often the fastest route. Poms of Power (100 Obols) raise slot boons but never Duo or Legendary boons.
Hermes and Chaos are separate from this. Hermes' boons and Chaos Gates can appear before your keepsake god even when the keepsake is equipped, and neither god offers Duo Boons.
Which slot to build on each weapon
Your weapon decides which slot is the damage slot. This is a general guide to the base weapons; some Aspects change it (Aspect of Beowulf on the Shield, for example, turns every Cast boon into a "Flare" version). For the weapons and Aspects themselves, see the Weapons and Aspects guide.
| Weapon | Usual damage slot | Good fits |
|---|---|---|
| Stygius (Sword) | Attack | Heartbreak or Divine Strike; Ares Doom for a slower, heavier rhythm |
| Varatha (Spear) | Attack or Special | Big Special percentages (Aphrodite, Poseidon) for the throw |
| Aegis (Shield) | Special or Cast | Special percentages for the throw; Cast boons for Beowulf |
| Coronacht (Bow) | Special or Attack | Special percentages and Artemis crits |
| Malphon (Fists) | Attack | On-hit effects that scale with hit count: Zeus, Dionysus, Aphrodite |
| Exagryph (Rail) | Attack | On-hit effects and percentage Attack boosts; Doom is weaker on rapid fire |
Common boon mistakes
- Spreading damage across Attack and Special. Two small percentage boosts are weaker than one large one. Put the big boon on the slot you actually press, and use the other slot for a curse.
- Taking a damage Dash over Divine Dash. Dash damage boons hit for 10–35 at Common. Deflecting an attack is worth more than that on almost every weapon.
- Ignoring the Call. A Call boon you never use is a wasted slot. If you take one, take Athena's Aid or Aphrodite's Aid and learn when to fire it.
- Picking a fourth or fifth god with no plan. A new god often offers slot boons that would overwrite a slot you need. More gods also spreads support boons thin. Family Favorite (+2.5% damage per Olympian per rank) rewards variety slightly, but rarely more than a focused pair does.
- Skipping the Duo prerequisite. A Duo needs a slot boon from both gods. If your planned Duo partner offers a slot boon in a slot you were not using, take it.
- Spending Poms on boons that cannot use them. Duo, Legendary, Hermes and Chaos boons cannot be levelled. Put Poms on your main damage boon.
Related guides
For your first runs and what to unlock first, start with the Beginner Guide. Boons decide one run; the Mirror of Night decides all of them — Privileged Status and Gods' Legacy above come from there, and the Mirror of Night and Heat guide covers which talents to buy and how Heat changes what a build needs. For whether the game is worth your time at all, read the Hades review.
★Honest Take: plan two gods, not five slots
The boon system is the best part of Hades, and also the part new players overthink. You do not need the perfect boon in every slot. You need one strong damage slot, Divine Dash if Athena shows up, and two gods whose curses work together — then the Duo that ties them. Runs that reach that shape usually win; runs that take the biggest number on every screen usually stall at the third or fourth region with five unrelated boons. The honest downside is randomness: some runs simply never offer the god you want, and keepsakes only fix the first boon. Treat those runs as practice and move on.
