Once you reach Tartarus and are getting ready to fight Chronos, make sure you visit Hades if you can via the Tartarus NPC chamber. Besides learning some juicy lore, Hades will give you his own personal Boons to take down Chronos. So, what’s the best Hades boon in Hades 2?
Best Hades Boons to Take in Tartarus
The best Boons of Hades offered by the chained God of the Underworld himself in Tartarus are usually those that give you benefits for both phases of the Chronos fight. There are six total, and you get to choose from three random ones. Some are better than others, so let’s rank them from best to situational.
1. Howling Soul
Howling Soul makes your Cast a ranged attack that deals 200 damage and then does all of your Cast effects. I really like it because it gives you a powerful ranged crowd-control option that you might not otherwise have with the Moonstone Axe and the Sister Blades. Even if you’re a full-ranged build with something like the Witch’s Staff or Argent Skull, you’ll benefit from having your Cast be something that you can deploy at range without having to get in close.
Keeping away from the Satyrs and eliminating them while they’re snared is a surefire way to save yourself HP from stray hits, take them out more easily, and then focus on Chronos. Best of all, you get to keep this one in the second phase of the fight, unlike other Hades Boons.
2. Last Gasp
We’re not perfect, even experienced players die several times to Chronos as Fear runs for Nightmare get more aggressive. Therefore, you’ll likely be spending Death’s Defiance during the final fight and sometimes even before. Last Gasp offers you a +10% damage increase per DD spent this run. This is an effect that persists through both phases of the Chronos fight.
If I died before reaching Echo in the Mourning Fields, I really like to pick up her DD restoration if available since this stacks, providing you a heftier bonus once you spend the new charges. That said, this Boon becomes better as you upgrade the Eternity Arcana Card and get more DD charges.
3. Unseen Ire
While I wasn’t sure about it at first, I’ve grown to like Unseen Ire. Yes, you generally don’t want to pick up effects that trigger when you get damaged since enemies and bosses do an absurd amount of damage, especially on high Fear. That said, Unseen Ire allows you to safely reposition with its invisibility effect that lasts 10 seconds once you get hit.
Furthermore, you then get to launch a surprise attack with your best Omega ability and get to do +100% more damage with that attack. This is perfect for taking out Satyrs with a powerful AOE ability in the first phase or just racking up DPS numbers in the second phase. Combining it with the Total Eclipse Hex is hilarious.
4. Life Tax
Life Tax gives you the ability to restore HP on a hit equal to 1% of the damage you deal. However, the maximum amount of HP you can restore is 100. Still, this is a decent effect to get some HP back throughout Erebus or during the Chronos fight, so it’s not a bad pick-up. I would still generally prefer the three options above, but I’d recommend Life Tax if you’re low on HP when visiting Hades.
5. Deep Dissent
There are two Hades Boons aimed to make the first phase of the Chronos fight easier: Deep Dissent and Old Grudge. The first one makes it so that Chronos spawns fewer Satyrs for you to deal with. Now, this can be an incredibly useful bonus for new players who are still getting used to Chronos’ moveset. That said, once you learn the first phase by heart or have a powerful AOE damage build that doesn’t care how many enemies it’s facing, this Boon becomes subpar. You do still benefit from it in phase two as he’ll spawn fewer hourglass enemies but they’re not that big of a deal.
6. Old Grudge
The second first phase-oriented Boon is Old Grudge. With it, Chronos will get hit for 20% of his HP at the beginning of the fight. Essentially, this expedites the first phase so you can finish it more quickly and safely and then focus on the second phase.
It’s a decent Hades Boon for beginners, but similarly to Deep Dissent, once you learn Chronos’ moveset you won’t need that 20% less since you’ll be taking it down yourself quite efficiently. Plus, you don’t benefit from this Boon in the second phase.
That’s it for my guide on the best Hades Boons to take in Hades 2. For more Hades 2 guides, check out our best weapons tier list.
