After taking the world by storm last year, indie megahit Hades is finally available on PS5 and Xbox Series X. Those playing for the first time will immediately be dropped in a trial by fire - and Ares' blades, and Dionysus' hangover fumes, and Artemis' flurries of arrows... look, you get the gist. Escaping the Underworld requires patience, dedication, and a lot of practice. However, there are certain Hades builds that are remarkably overpowered, making the Chthonic-gods-forsaken odyssey to Greece a whole lot easier.

Although upgrades in Hades are randomized across runs, there are certain precautions you can take that don’t rely on luck. Here are the best Hades builds for all six weapons in the game, taking Boons, power-ups, and more into account. If you're looking for a more comprehensive overview of the game after reading through this, be sure to check out our complete Hades guide and walkthrough.

Updated December 31, 2023, by Sean Murray: As we're waiting for Hades 2 to arrive, keep your wits and blades sharp in the original Hades with this refreshed guide, now with more links to other helpful Hades topics.

Hades: Best Stygian Blade Builds

The Stygian Blade is the first weapon you unlock in Hades. It’s pretty reliable, dealing consistent damage and having a decent amount of control in terms of how you want to engage your opponent, but two of its forms stand high above the rest.

The first is its Aspect of Poseidon, which allows you to dislodge Cast shards from your opponents by attacking them. If you combine this with Artemis’ Boons - specifically Exit Wounds, which deals 100 damage per dislodged shard - you can rack up astronomical amounts of damage, with bosses becoming far easier to handle.

However, the Stygian Blade’s strongest form is Aspect of Arthur, which provides you with a heavy attack designed to increase damage output within a certain radius.

Combined with Poseidon’s knockback Boons and Zeus’ Lightning ones - and, if you’re lucky enough, their Duo Boon, Sea Storm - you should be able to deal incredible area-of-effect and environmental damage, making even Hades a disappointingly futile challenger.

Hades: Best Heart-Seeking Bow Builds

The Heart-Seeking Bow’s hidden Aspect, Rama, has massive offensive potential. However, it's recommended to equip Aspect of Hera, which allows you to load your Cast shards into your Bow.

Increasing this Aspect’s rank makes the Bow’s reload time faster, which, when combined with the aforementioned Exit Wounds Boon from Artemis, allows you to deal triple Cast damage on top of almost every single attack. If you get Hermes’ Quick Reload, this becomes even faster, while area-of-effect Boons like Dionysus’ Trippy Shot allow you to target multiple enemies at once.

If you’re lucky enough to find a Daedalus Hammer with Explosive Shot or Triple Shot - which increase damage and the number of projectiles fired, respectively - every single mob in the Underworld becomes an absolute breeze.

Shield of Chaos

The Shield of Chaos is one of the bulkier weapons in Hades, and as a result doesn’t necessarily click with everyone. However, it’s the most viable choice for anybody interested in playing defensively.

The Shield’s hidden Aspect, Aspect of Beowulf, is similar to Hera in that you can load your Cast into your attacks. Its ordinary charged attack is Bull Rush, which allows you to charge at enemies and deal massive damage, but Beowulf turns this ability into the far more powerful Dragon Rush.

You’ve got a lot of options for Boons here, but if you can get Poseidon knockback Boons with Ares’ Doom buffs, you’ll be able to mitigate incoming attacks while relying on ongoing Doom damage to slowly incapacitate your enemies.

It’s not the fastest way to play, but it’s definitely the safest, and if you get overwhelmed by a mob you can easily Dragon Rush your way to safety.

Eternal Spear

The Eternal Spear is an excellent hybrid weapon, but one of Hades’ most difficult Infernal Arms to master. To be honest, all of its Aspects are good, but if you want to be an expert you’ll need the hidden Aspect of Guan Yu.

This Aspect reduces your base health and the effect of all subsequent health buffs by 70 percent. That means even at max starting health - 100 - you’ll begin your runs with just 30HP.

However, if you can get Boons from Demeter and Dionysus you’ll increase your healing potential and overall survivability, meaning that as long as you balance aggression with evasion, you’ll be able to put down enough damage to annihilate mobs before they can touch you.

Twin Fists of Malphon

The Twin Fists is a fan favorite weapon in Hades. Although their Aspect of Talos offers you the remarkable Magnetic Cutter heavy attack, Aspect of Demeter is the best option for anyone who plays aggressively - and if you’re using the Twin Fists, you should be playing very aggressively.

After landing 12 consecutive attacks with the Aspect of Demeter, you’ll be able to unleash a Giga Cutter that deals more heavy attacks. This can be upgraded so that every time you Special, you deal damage for your normal heavy attack plus five more - instantly.

Combined with Poseidon’s knockback Boons - and Rupture effects - you’ll be able to one-shot most enemies by uppercutting them into walls. You’ll also want to upgrade your Dash as much as possible - anything that deals lingering damage like Dionysus’ Hangover Dash or Zeus’ Thunder Dash is ideal. This is because you’ll constantly be dashing, attacking, and then dashing away.

If you’re lucky, you’ll be able to apply the Breaching Cross upgrade to the Twin Fists, which deals a whopping 900% extra damage to armor - something that makes Elysium a walk in the park.

Adamant Rail

The Adamant Rail with the hidden Aspect of Lucifer is one of the most broken weapons in Hades. It launches a stream of lava called Hellfire that melts anything it comes into contact with.

Boons hardly matter with this weapon, but Athena’s buffs are solid - they basically mean you can melt or deflect every projectile that comes your way, allowing you to be offensive and defensive at the same time.

The only thing you need to remember is to play it safe when you’re reloading - although if you get the Infinity Chamber weapon upgrade, you’ll have infinite ammo with slightly less damage potential.

These are some of the best Hades builds for every weapon. Try them out, experiment with them, and see what suits you. Different things work for different people - just remember to choose your Boons based on your weapon, and to concentrate on designing a coherent build as you progress through the Underworld.