I cannot relate to this comment at all. I want to love the spear, but I kind of hate it instead. It and the sword are the only weapons I haven’t beat the game with. I consider the fists the friendliest, probably, followed by the railgun.
I thought so too because of my bad experience with roguelite or platformers like Spelunky, Hollow Knight, etc. nor I have the dexterity to be competent in any fighting games. Supergiant Games are clever in Hades game design where expert players would find a decent challenge in the game while average players like us have a decent chance in winning as well because the Boon system allows different player profiles and play style to flourish.
Possibly the reason why I finally won the game after almost 40 attempts? Hahaha, I enjoyed it a lot though and felt very confident with it in clearing the first two levels almost unscathed.
Also, I was TERRIBLE at Transistor, though sounds like others here though the combat was goofy. I will probably end up using my EGS coupon for this next time it is on sale, not because it isn’t worth every penny, but I just don’t know how much I will play it.
The Spear gets a lot more user-friendly if you get the Daedalus Hammer upgrade that lets the Special bounce between several enemies. Combined with boons from Zeus, Poseidon, or Dionysusl, this is really nice for tackling crowds.
As for the Call, several Gods offers boons that let you charge faster. E.g., one increase the charge upon getting hit by an enemy, one will result in the Call being charged to a certain amount already as you enter a new room, one will auto-charge the Call over time up to a certain percentage once it’s depleted and so on.
Never hesitate to use your Call - charging all four bars basically never happens outside boss battles.
Does this mean it will replenish the death defiance the moment I pick the boon or will it be done later, the moment the death defiance is triggered?
Only valid when you have an empty slot of Death Defiance. It will not replenish in the future if you haven’t used Death Defiance in your current run.
I was failing until I got the Aegis Shield, then got it first try. Did you get the shield yet?
Edit: Just saw that you don’t have it yet.
Yeah, this is my understanding as well, most projectiles can be destroyed with any old attack. The three that comes to mind as exceptions are the Gorgon stones and Theseus spears and Hades’ skulls
However, every projectile can be deflected, which is why the deflect dash is godly. Actually you can deflect melee attacks as well, I’m not sure if it does damage but it seems the deflect duration comes with iframes of its own (in the case of the dash, it seems to me that it’s longer than the iframes of the dash, which is why I can dash out of the last boss’ AoEs more reliably).
(athena fist attack with speed boosts will let you face tank a lot of attacks just by virtue of the deflect)
Personally, railgun ~ shield > bow > sword > fist > spear
Man I put the fist at the top. Interesting.
Shield is one of the best ones imo, as it’s very versatile. You have the normal melee attack that have a bit of aoe, the shield bash that protects you from damage while charging and does damage in a line, and the shield throw for longer range damage.
Fist is superb fun - especially if you upgrade the Special. But it’s not the ideal weapon for people who are still trying to get the hang of the game since it opens you up to melee attacks more than any other weapon.
I’d consider the shield the most beginner-friendly because it gives you both, melee and range options - and the Bull Rush is just so incredibly helpful when it comes to traversing through a room, be it to attack a group, , dodge something or do both at the same time. Once you upgrade the Aspect that multiplies the Special after using Bull Rush, it gets even better,
What is an aspect?
In Hades lingo, it’s the different weapon bonus characteristics you can choose between and upgrade.
For the Shield that would be:
@soondifferent This is why I thought the game is brilliant. Each of the weapon appeals to us in different ways.
@JD where do I upgrade the Aspects? I assume this would be after my first New Game+ since titan blood is used for the weapon upgrade?
You get a Titan blood for your first fury win with each weapon so you don’t even need to have beaten the game, just unlocked all the weapons.
As I had the game since day 1, I have no idea if the Pact of Punishment is available from the get-go or if you need to beat the game once before that one unlocks, but for each condition/difficulty level you add, you also earn Titan Blood, Ambrosia and Diamonds when you beat a boss for the first time in that difficulty level.
This is also on a per-weapon base.
23 runs in - 4 of them reached Elysium, 2 of them the boss of Elsyium. I wonder how hard will be the last level, after Elysium.
Right now I’m playing my best run so far. I finished the first level with the full hp, first time I get to do that. 173 hp, in fact!
edit: reached the boss still at full health!
edit 2: ok I beat this stupid duo now or never. First time I get to here without using up death defiances
edit 3: Theseus killed me when he was at 2% health :( :( :(
The PoP is only available after your first victory.