Supergiant Games has released early access patch 2 for Hades II. The recent update is the game’s second thus far.
At The Game Awards 2022, Supergiant Games announced Hades II, following the major success of Hades in years prior. Following the show, the developers confirmed that Hades II would release sometime in Q2 2024 for Steam and Epic Games Store on PC only. Similarly to the original Hades, Hades II will launch first in early access, and the technical test allowed players to test out an early portion of the game. Check out our early impressions of the game here.
Hades II Early Access Patch 2 Notes
Supergiant Games has officially dropped the very first post-launch update for Hades II. The patch adjusts several issues within the game based on critiques and early impressions from fans. It also includes new additions to general gameplay, audio and sound effects, weapon upgrades, and more. This is the second patch for the early access release so far. More will likely release soon. The patch notes for Update 2 are as follows:
General Gameplay
You now can encounter up to one additional Olympian each night (as in the previous game)
You now are likely to find one more Boon or other major reward while in Erebus
Increased invulnerability duration after your Death Defiance effects activate
Improved rewards of Ash and Psyche can now be found in Oceanus and Rift of Thessaly
You now can press-and-hold to harvest repeatedly from Crescent Pick Outcroppings
Toula should now stay closer to you in Encounters, especially in the Fields of Mourning
Nemesis no longer offers Death Defiance items if you do not need to refill the effect
Reduced Gold cost of Selene’s Boon when available in Charon’s Shop
Minor adjustments to the order in which Olympians may first appear early on
Normalized chances of finding Fishing Points in various regions
Nocturnal Arms and Abilities
Witch’s Staff
Special knocks foes away, but is slightly slower; Omega Special is faster.
Sister Blades
Special staggers standard foes longer; Attack visual FX better match the hitbox.
Umbral Flames
Attacks are stronger and faster; Omega Attack channels faster and uses less magick; Special gives a speed boost, but has reduced damage; Omega Special can be channeled while moving.
Moonstone Axe
reworked Special provides a lingering barrier; Omega Attack channels slightly faster; Omega Special channels faster.
Argent Skull
Omega Attack channels faster and hits a larger area.
Aspects of the Nocturnal Arms
Witch’s Staff (Circe)
adjusted activation and duration of Serenity effect; Serenity now adds Omega bonus damage that scales with this Aspect’s rank.
Witch’s Staff (Momus)
reworked; each of your Omega Moves automatically fires several times in succession from where you use them.
Sister Blades (Artemis)
you will Block again if the effect recharges while you are channeling; Block now takes priority over Dodge and similar effects.
Umbral Flames (Eos)
reworked; Omega Attack now fires a slow shot that occasionally creates damage blasts and also copies your Specials.
Moonstone Axe (Melinoë)
reworked; now adds Power and Max Life.
Moonstone Axe (Thanatos)
reworked; faster Attack adds Critical chance to Omega moves.
Argent Skull (Persephone)
you now earn Glory much faster, but only by using your Omega Cast; improved control responsiveness during Omega Special.
Keepsakes
Moon Beam (Selene)
increased bonus to Path of Stars upgrades.
Daedalus Hammer Upgrades
Marauder Wallop (Staff)
cut from game; replaced with…
Rapid Thrasher (Staff): new!
All your Attacks become faster
Double Wallop (Staff)
cut from game; replaced with…
Wicked Thrasher (Staff): new!
All your Attacks gain bonus Power
Double Cataclysm (Staff)
cut from game; replaced with…
Mirrored Thrasher (Staff): new!
All your Attacks hit twice, but you take more damage
Rapid Moonshot (Staff)
also affects Omega Special
Dual Moonshot (Staff)
also affects Omega Special; reduced range; renamed from Double Moonshot
Shimmering Moonshot (Staff)
also affects Omega Special
Aetheric Moonburst (Staff)
increased Magick restoration from Power Shots
Concentrated Flurry (Blades)
cut from game; replaced with…
Melting Dart (Blades): new!
Your Special destroys a large percentage of a foe’s Armor
Flick Knives (Blades): new!
Your Dash-Strike also fires several Special knives in a fan pattern
Rapid Onslaught (Blades)
reworked to also affect Omega Attack; renamed from Marauder Slice
Hook Knives (Blades)
slightly reduced speed of knives returning to you
Furious Fire (Flames)
cut from game; replaced with…
Mega Spark (Flames): new!
All your Attacks travel farther and deal more damage
Inverted Spark (Flames): new!
Dash to make shots from Attacks reverse direction and hit foes again
Leaden Spark (Flames): new!
Your Attacks knock foes away and have bonus Power
Sustained Spark (Flames)
also increases move speed, instead of reducing; formerly Sustained Fire
Melting Coil (Flames)
no longer fires straight; also affects Omega Special; formerly Melting Comet
Origin Coil (Flames)
also affects Omega Special
Rapid Slash (Axe)
reworked to also affect Omega Attack; renamed from Marauder Slash
Giga Cleaver (Axe)
removed two-stage channeling (it always double-fires but uses more Magick)
Dashing Heave (Axe)
removed damage bonus; instead, it now hits twice
Sidelong Crash (Skull)
cut from game; replaced with…
Mega Driver (Skull): new!
Your Specials travel farther and you take less damage while using them
Colossus Driver (Skull)
also affects Omega Special
Hexes of Selene
Wolf Howl
reduced Magick-spend requirement
Twilight Curse
greatly reduced Magick-spend requirement; reduced foes afflicted; reduced cast time
Night Bloom
reduced Magick-spend requirement, effect duration, bonus damage, and cast time
Lunar Ray
greatly reduced Magick-spend requirement; reduced damage; reduced cast time
Moon Water
slightly increased Magick-spend requirement; slightly reduced healing
Dark Side
slightly increased Magick-spend requirement
Foes & Encounters
Chronos
various fixes and adjustments; there should be fewer cases where he’s patently unfair
Infernal Cerberus
minor adjustments to some attack patterns in the first phase
Eris
grenade attacks no longer wildly bounce around
Polyphemus
reduced effectiveness of Mutant Sheep
Goldwrath
reduced accuracy and tracking of beam attack
Queen Lamia
slightly increased Armor; increased speed; other minor changes
Reed-Stalker
increased projectile speed and target distance; reduced rotation speed
Mourner
slightly increased rotation speed; slightly increased speed while attacking
Lamia
slightly increased life and Elite armor
Dire Shambler
reduced tracking speed between attacks
Hippo
self-destruct area should more closely match the visuals
Level Design & Environments
Driftwood resources are more common in the Rift of Thessaly (a further increase since last patch)
Burning Oil Slicks in the Rift of Thessaly will extinguish after Encounters, though may be reignited
Adjusted Oil Slicks in some locations in the Rift of Thessaly
Minor fixes to several locations
Fated List of Minor Prophecies
Clearing Original Sins no longer requires choosing the very rare Barren curse from Chaos.
Chaos Trials
Trial of Heartache
reduced difficulty and adjusted based on Aspect changes
Trial of Haste
reduced difficulty and adjusted based on Aspect changes
Oath of the Unseen
Vow of Forsaking
no longer helps ensure you quickly get Duo and Legendary Boons.
Menus & UI
Added many new UI icons for Keepsakes, Weapons, Well of Charon offerings, and more.
Insight Into Offerings (Cauldron) now also lets you check each Olympian’s list of offerings in the Book of Shadows while choosing their Boons (or the equivalent with other characters).
[/]With the prior change, adjusted default key binding for Rarify; some custom bindings have been reset.
Added a warning when you are down to your last use of Death Defiance.
Opening the Book of Shadows should show entries for nearby characters more reliably.
Removed the Unused Grasp notification when exiting the Altar of Ashes while at a high Grasp limit.
Updated Pitch-Black Stone screen to use Aspect-specific icons.
Adjusted input action bar layout at the bottom of the Boon Screen and similar.
Added borders to icons for Selene Hexes on the Gifts of the Moon screen.
Added informational pop-up when using F10 to report bugs.
Other minor changes.
Art & Visual FX
Reduced some full-screen flashing or strobing, such as from time-slow effects.
Music & SFX
Added SFX for when certain active abilities such as Serenity are ready to use.
Updated placeholder SFX for various Keepsakes.
Updated SFX for projectile collisions with Umbral Flames (Moros).
Voice & Narrative
Unique voice lines should play more reliably when certain incantations are revealed in the Cauldron.
Added voice lines when using Phase Shift (Selene) vs. Chronos (or trying to…)
More voice lines should play when confiding in Frinos in certain contexts.
Miscellaneous
While brooding over the family portrait in the Crossroads, you may now snap out of it sooner.
You now can fully control the game using keyboard only if you rebind Attack and Special.
All timers now pause while in the presence of Charon.
An Anvil of Fates will no longer be offered in Tartarus if you have not found a Daedalus Hammer.
In the Hades Flashback, adjusted timing of hint for players who don’t realize they are in control
Reduced requirements for the incantation Power to Pause and Reflect to be revealed.
Melinoë now respawns in the center of her magick circle near her tent (she was a bit off before…)
Improved compatibility with more types of controllers.
Updated text for various upgrades and abilities.
Bug Fixes
Fixed Double Up (Poseidon) sometimes doubling Mystery Boons; clarified description.
Fixed Nightmare resources dropping unexpectedly in Chaos Trials.
Fixed Omega moves occasionally becoming unresponsive after being chomped on by Polyphemus.
Fixed deadliest attack of Chronos occasionally hitting when Melinoë was in a supposedly safe point.
Fixed Umbral Flames Attack preventing Magick regeneration before channeling Omega Attack.
Fixed The Queen and Judgment (Arcana) appearing active while no others Arcana are active.
Fixed Hearth Gain (Hestia) no longer restoring Magick if chosen as a Sacrifice Boon.
Fixed certain later Oath Testaments for the Sister Blades sometimes not appearing as expected.
Fixed cases where you could go out of bounds using the Argent Skull in the battle vs. Chronos.
Fixed more cases of some visual effects vs. Chronos lingering between phases or after the fight
Fixed Toula unceremoniously vanishing after you vanquish Chronos.
Fixed additional issues with Sun Worshiper (Apollo).
Fixed additional issues with Dark Side (Selene).
Fixed additional issues with Twilight Curse (Selene).
Fixed a visual issue where Headmistress Hecate could appear to slide after snared by your Cast.
Fixed Spark of Ixion (Charon) causing a Chaos Gate to appear in “Asphodel?”
Fixed Golden Boughs sometimes not marking all available rewards in the Field of Mourning.
Fixed several narrative events that could play out of sequence.
Fixed Odysseus rather rudely walking away while in conversation with Nemesis.
Fixed Heracles sometimes leaping away forever.
Fixed Melinoë’s voice reverting during her return sequence despite certain Circe enchantments.
Fixed incorrect Echo portrait in the Book of Shadows.
Fixed incorrect music playing in some Chaos Trials, or not playing as intended in some instances.
Fixed rare cases of a looping sound playing indefinitely.
Fixed a rare instance when objectives in the Training Grounds could overlap.
Fixed several minor issues on the Victory Screen that shows when you prevail.
Fixed additional miscellaneous issues when playing in ultrawide resolutions.
Fixed a rare crash in which the effect of Winter Harvest (Demeter) could repeat forever.
Fixed various other rare crashes.
Fixed several text errors.
Other minor fixes.
Lastly, Hades II is available now on PC via Steam through early access. Supergiant Games will likely reveal more patches for the game in the coming weeks and months.
