Hades is a repetitive game by design. That might sound odd considering how popular it is now (it's even up for some awards), but grinding is a key aspect to this tale told in the Underworld. Zagreus keeps trying to escape until he reaches the top, that's the core of the game. And, along the way, he unlocks new bonds, skills, weapons, and even new furniture to decorate his room with. But all of that costs varying amounts of the different types of currency in Hades.
So, in order to help players out, here are some lesser-known methods that'll help Zag get the resources he needs just a bit quicker (other than fishing, of course).
Updated August 27th, 2021, by Jacob Buchalter: While Hades is an overall incredible experience, it is still a roguelike, which means it’s repetitive to a certain degree. But, that also means it's a game you can enjoyably play and experience for much longer than you’d probably initially expect.
And, with the game now out on all mainline consoles as well as already reviewing incredibly positively, it’s never been easier to jump into Tartarus and start helping Zag get away from his crusty old Olympian dad. That said, to get to Hades’ ending, the post-ending ending, and the endings for all the separate NPCs, you will have to grind a lot. So, to make that process easier, we’ve gone through and added a few more tips.
12 Grind On Heat Levels That Are Already Completed
The Bounty & Pact of Punishment System is really only meant for people who have completely beaten the game at least once. Sure, with the Hell Mode option, you can use the PoP from the get-go, but people new to Hades are very likely not using that option.
But, to be more specific as to why you want to use the Pact of Punishment system when it, by definition, makes the game harder:
- More difficulty = more fun and more replayability.
- A lot of the Bounties and Prophecies require certain Heat levels.
- You get some fantastic rewards from each Boss and each Biome completing them on individual Heart levels.
But, as far as grinding is concerned, whether it’s grinding Darkness, Titan Blood, Diamonds, Gems, or any of the other currencies, abusing this PoP system is the best way. Once again, escaping from the Underworld on a certain Heat level gives you extra rewards at the end, and after beating each boss, running through the game again on that same Heat level afterward is also a great method for farming Darkness.
Once you beat the game on let’s say five Heat, you’re incentivized to go up another Heat Level, as the clear reward is no longer there for beating it on five, and the bosses only drop big chunks of Darkness instead of Diamonds and other items. But, if your goal is to actually farm Darkness, this is actually a blessing more than it is a curse.
11 Start A Save File On Hell Mode Or God Mode
Disclaimer: This one is only for those of you who are fine with restarting your progress, those who are just starting the game, or those who already started but want more/less of a challenge.
This next tip is a niche recommendation for sure, as there aren’t many Hades players who would give up their 50+ run save file to start a whole new one, just for some better innate grinding potential. However, it is a legitimate strategy so here's how it works.
Essentially, Hades has two extra “modes” that can be enabled when making a new save, God Mode and Hell Mode. So, how do these modes help out with Hades’ grinding? Well, for one, God Mode (which can be enabled at any time and doesn't require a new save) makes the game easier, which also makes it quicker to complete a run. Additionally, if players want the max damage reduction buff from God Mode they just need to intentionally lose a couple of runs in a row.
As for Hell Mode, this difficulty option quite literally has more Heat available in the Pact of Punishment than a default save, and it makes PoP available from the start of the game, drastically reducing the time you need to start grinding out high-Heat runs.
10 Be Versatile Enough For "Darker Thirst"
You’ve likely already noticed by now that there are times in Hades where one of the Infernal Arms on Zag's balcony has this odd purple effect around it.
This is actually a randomly occurring buff called "Darker Thirst" that gives Zag 20 percent extra Darkness for the entirety of a run if he uses that weapon specifically. Even better, this buff applies to the entirety of that weapon, meaning you can use any Aspect and it’ll still work.
Plus, if you’re utilizing what we mentioned in our “Grind On Heat Levels That Are Already Completed” entry above and playing on an already completed Heat Level, that’s a lot of extra Darkness! Sure, this tip only applies to grinding Darkness specifically, but if you really center your run with a Darker Thirst weapon around getting as much Darkness as possible, you can get an astronomically huge amount.
9 Abuse The Fact That Bounty Rewards Are Weapon-Specific
Moving off of Darkness for a second, there are quite a few other currencies/artifacts that you’ll need to grind out to max upgrade everything in Hades, such as:
- Nectar and Ambrosia for NPC Bond levels, Keepsakes, and Chthonic Companions
- Diamonds for big upgrades using the House Contractor
- Chthonic Keys for Mirror of Knight abilities and Infernal Arm Unlocks
- Gemstones for House of Hades renovations
- And of course, Titan Blood to level up each Weapon Aspect’s passive ability.
And, as we’ve already mentioned, a lot of these are earned just for playing on a specific Heat Level for the first time. But, something a lot of players seem to be missing is the fact that these “new” Heat Level rewards only apply to the specific Weapon you’re using. Basically, after getting the “new” Heat Level rewards from a level two Heat Run with the Bow, you can get the same rewards again on Heat Level two just by using any Infernal Arm other than the Bow.
Additionally, if you’re having a hard time getting all the Bounty Rewards from say, Heat Level 15 using the Zagreus Aspect of the Bow, you can use any of the other Bow Aspects instead to see if they’ll work better since the Bounty Rewards are tied to the entire weapon and not each Aspect individually.
It’s an incredibly unique system that makes it easy for players to slowly climb from one Heat to ten or so with their favorite weapon before running into trouble and switching to Heat one with a different weapon. This allows you to give yourself a break without losing out on any grinding potential.
8 Abuse Already Known Overpowered Builds
There are a huge number of different builds for Hades figured out by the community. We’re talking builds centered around Blade Rifts, Casting, specific Weapon Aspects, laser beams, specific status ailments, and more. And, since the game has been out for quite a while now, we also know which builds centered around the best Olympic Gods are the most overpowered to clear rooms the fastest, thanks to this games speed-running community.
So, if you’re looking to get some more materials out of the Underworld with less effort, just look up some of the most overpowered builds and go for those in your grinding runs. Here are a few examples:
- Literally any Aspect of Achilles Spear or Aspect of Eris Adamant Rail Build
- A well-crafted Cast build for the Aspect of Poseidon Stygian Blade
- A Merciful End build with a fast-attacking weapon like the Malphon Fists or Adamant Rail.
- A high-damage Special build for the Aspect of Demeter Twin Fists.
And that’s maybe five percent of all the broken builds out there, readily available for you to imitate.
7 Grab Some Extra Goodies From Sisyphus
This is another obvious one, but it takes some serious strength of will to pick rewards that benefit Zagreus later rather than now. Sisyphus is the NPC chamber encounter in Tartarus, and he's a real sweetheart (contrary to his actual origins in the Greek Mythos) In exchange for just simply making conversation with him and Bouldy, Sisyphus gives Zagreus a reward of his choice:
- Recovering some Health.
- Getting about 50 Darkness.
- Or obtaining 100 Obol.
While the money and health seem like the optimal choices (and they are most of the time)their benefits disappear after the run, but the Darkness? That stays. So, if you’re trying to grind out resources, pick Darkness as a reward every time, In fact, prioritize picking the Darkness reward rooms too. It might be hard to ignore those Centaur Heart and Boon rooms, but it'll be worth it in the long run.
6 Look For Skull Icons
It took us forever to notice this, and we’re sure many of you still don’t know about it, but that there are rare instances where the room rewards are greater than they appear. For example, in the reward previews you can see before picking which door to go through next, sometimes there’s this little skull icon in the bottom right. This skull actually means that the reward in this Encounter is an amplified version of a normal one. But what exactly does “amplified” mean?
Well, look no further than the Temple of Styx (the last biome before the Hades boss fight), as every reward in this biome is an amplified version of common rewards (Boons with a higher chance of rarity, bigger piles of Obol, and Poms of Power that give +2 to a Boon instead of +1. Erebus is like this as well, and so are the boss rooms technically.
5 Find The Right Chaos Boon Early
Chaos Boons are so good by default. Of course, they're a lot better with the Fated Persuasion skill from the Mirror of Night, but even if players can't reroll one of the three options Chaos offers, it’s still usually worth it. And, there's always a Chaos Door early on, sometimes even in the first chamber of Tartarus.
So, for players grinding Darkness especially, go in there with the Fated Persuasion Skill equipped, reroll until there's Boon that offers a percentage buff to reward rooms, and get grinding. And, if there isn't one, just keep restarting the run until it does show up, since Chaos tends to show up early.
4 Use Fated Authority To Manipulate Your Rewards
Speaking of re-roll options, the other version of the Fated Persuasion Skill is called Fated Authority, and it's incredibly good in a different way. Basically, instead of letting players reroll Boon options, it lets them reroll the Room Reward itself before Zag enters.
This means that if a player wants more Gemstones (which they always will), they can simply reroll a room until that's what they get. But, be aware, there are two different "Pools" of potential rooms, with Gemstones, Darkness, and Nectar in one pool and Boons, Hammers, Hearts, and Poms in another.
So, with that knowledge in your arsenal, the Fated Authority ability becomes much more useful instantly since you know exactly what your reroll options are and when the best time to use them is.
3 The Wretched Broker's Limited Deal Changes With Every Escape Attempt
Sure, Charon's Shop is pretty great to run into throughout a run, but what about those insanely good deals the Wretched Broker offers back in the House of Hades? This NPC is always sequestered in the Lounge and offers Zag the opportunity to turn an abundance of one resource into another. Have 50 Chthonic Keys? Thats ten Nectar right there. Don't want your Gemstones but need a way to unlock more of the Infernal Arms? Make a pile of keys!
But, one thing that can't be understated are the limited-time deals it offers. Zag can only redeem this deal once, then it resets to something new after his next run. But, the thing is, your next “run” doesn’t have to be a long or even a moderately successful one. So, if you’re looking for a particular deal or you need to get rid of a bunch of useless resources in the most optimal way, just keep starting runs then intentionally dying to refresh this limited deal offer.
2 Clear Out The Bigger Prophecies On The Fated List
The Fated List is a side mechanic of Hades that should not be ignored. It basically functions as an in-game achievement/challenge system, but instead of just increasing your gamerscore, it also gives Zagreus rewards based on "prophecies" the Fates are sure he'll achieve. That said, a lot of prophecies are relatively complicated and some are honestly pretty hard to figure out, but there are quite a few “big” ones that are easier to obtain and give some gigantic rewards. To name a few:
- Night and Darkness: Help Mother Nyx reunite and reconnect with her father Chaos, gives four whole Ambrosia as the reward.
- Eternal Rest: Listen and follow through with Skelly’s request after unlocking four different Weapon Aspects, gives a whopping 6 Diamonds.
- The Gift Of Son: A neat contextually prophecy involving Orpheus teaching Zagreus to play the lyre.
- The Master Of Arms: A Simple yet tedious one, as you’ll need to beat Hades and escape the Underworld with all six of the Infernal Arms
All three of these prophecies sound involved, but if you just keep playing the game, you’ll naturally unlock and progress through quite a few of them. Basically, just scroll through all of the prophecies and see which ones seem the easiest to achieve for the biggest reward.
1 Save Up For The Final Charon Shop
Lastly, for those who have really mastered Hades and don't need to rely on the "crutch" that is the Well of Charon, the Shop, or anything else that uses Obol, there's always the Shop in Styx. In the Temple of Styx, Zag is forced to go through a series of chambers set up like a labyrinth in search of a "Satyr Sack" to feed to Cerberus and get them to move so he can escape to the outside world.
And, right next to where this giant pup stands guard, is one final Charon Shop that's extra expensive (for good reason). The most expensive item in this shop is always a rare resource such as a Diamond or a Titan Blood. The Diamond costs 1000 obol and the Titan Blood goes for 1200, which sounds like a lot but if you’ve been skipping all the Shops up until this point, ignoring the Wells of Charon, and grinding Obols just a tad, should be relatively easy to gather by this point in a run.