Hades 2: Descura's Daughter Build

Introduction to the Early Game Build

Hades 2, the highly anticipated sequel to Supergiant Games’ successful rogue-like game, offers players a variety of powerful boons from the pantheon of gods on Olympus. This article will explore some of the combinations of boons and buffs that can help you maximize your potential in your early runs. The focus of this guide is an “early game” build that can be easily assembled during the initial stages of the game when not all features have been unlocked yet.

Arcana Cards for Early Runs

In Hades 2, players can meditate at the Altar of Ashes each night before heading out to increase their strength and upgrade themselves. However, the number of arcana cards that can be used is limited by the amount of grasp available, which can be upgraded using the Psyche resource. For this specific build aimed at early runs, we will focus on the early arcana cards available to make the most out of the tools at our disposal.

The first arcana card we will use is The Sorceress, which costs 1 grasp to equip and increases the charge speed of omega versions of attacking moves. Next, the Wayward Son arcana allows us to recover health points after each encounter, regaining 3 HP at base level. This card helps with sustain on runs and is one of the more valuable arcana to use.

The Huntress card increases the damage of attacks and specials when magick is not at full capacity. Since we will be using charged omega attacks frequently, this card will provide significant benefits. Persistence is another useful arcana that increases max life and max magick by 20 when equipped. Finally, the Death arcana provides a Death Defiance, acting as an extra life that allows us to return with 40% of our max life and magick upon dying.

Keepsakes for Early Game Survival

For this early game build, it's essential to prolong our life and grant more chances to complete a run. The perfect keepsake for this is the Luckier Tooth, obtained from Schelemeus in the training ground. This item allows us to return with a higher amount of hit points after using up all of our Death Defiance from other sources once per night, making it invaluable during early runs.

Boons for Enhanced Gameplay

Among the many boons offered by the gods, there are five main slots that will affect and upgrade our moves. For regular attacks, we will take Apollo’s Nova Strike, which increases the area of our attacks, adding to the range and attack damage. For our special attack, we will use Hestia’s Flame Flourish, allowing our ranged attack to inflict Scorch on enemies.

With our cast, we will choose Demeter’s Arctic Ring, enabling our casting sigil circle to freeze enemies within the circle while dealing damage. To enhance our mobility, we will use Apollo’s Blinding Rush, increasing sprint speed and allowing us to daze surrounding foes. For our special buff slot, we will take Poseidon’s Flood Gain, helping with resource management during long runs.

These five boons will occupy our core slots, but they don’t need to be the only ones used. After receiving the Arctic Ring, we can supplement our cast with Super Nova from Apollo to expand our crowd control area. Additionally, we can take Arctic Gale from Demeter to create a Gust that damages enemies and slows projectiles around our binding circle.

Another boon that will help immensely is Lucid Gain from Apollo, allowing us to restore a huge amount of magick if we are in our binding circle when our cast expires. Steady Growth from Demeter will also upgrade the rarity of our boons after clearing a set number of encounters, providing further benefits.

Weapon Upgrades for Special Attacks

Regarding upgrades from the Daedalus Hammer, we will focus on enhancing our special attack the most. Shimmering Moonshot allows our special throws to bounce to additional targets, applying Scorch to more enemies. Aetheric Moonburst enhances our omega charged special to deal additional damage and restore some magick.

Playstyle and General Tips

This build leans towards a balanced approach between offense and defense. The staff allows us to damage enemies from a respectable range without needing to get too close. While the attack speed may not be the fastest, it is agile enough to prevent being locked in an attack animation.

When swarmed by multiple small enemies, the freeze from our cast provides a great crowd-controlling option. The increased area of attack of our regular attacks makes short work of enemies caught in the sigil. Omega charged attacks send damaging waves in a line, great for dealing with enemies at a longer range.

The charged attack of the staff sends out a magick ball, and with Flame Flourish, it becomes a powerful fireball that scorches enemies. We can use these omega attacks from range to deal consistent damage to bosses while escaping their large close-range attacks and moving in with agile regular attacks and specials when the opportunity arises.

During early runs, it is generally useful to go for Ashes instead of Bones, as this unlocks more arcana cards for later runs. When faced with choices between an upgrade and gold coins, it is better to go for the coin route, as it gives access to more options at the Boatman, Charon. Poms of Power can also be used to level up boons, increasing damage, and I recommend upgrading Nova Strike as much as possible on the run.

Conclusion

This build, while not specialized in either offense or defense, provides a solid foundation for early runs. The Descura Staff is the best weapon for early runs, as we are still learning the various moves and capabilities of different types of enemies. This concludes my article on the Descura Staff early build of Hades 2. I hope you find this helpful on your conquest against Chronos, the Titan of Time, and may you find success in all your runs. If you have any tips, feel free to leave them in the comment section below!