Hephaestus is one of the many new Olympians that can help out the player on their runs in Hades 2 with a variety of powerful boons. Though some of Hephaestus' boons aren't worth picking up, some of the best Hephaestus boons are up there with the best boons in the game.
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New and returning Gods in Hades 2 will offer Melinoë boons to help her accomplish her task – these are the best for any build.
Hephaestus' main status effect is Blast, which deals enormous damage in an area on a recharge, and can be triggered in a variety of ways. This guide does not include Duo boons that require the God of the Forge – just the best boons that Hephaestus himself offers.
Because Hades 2 is only available in Early Access, this list of all Hephaestus boons in Hades 2 may be incomplete, and will likely expand over time. This guide to the best Hades 2 Hephaestus boons will be updated to reflect patches and balance changes as the game approaches its 1.0 version.
Situational: Furnace Blast
Furnace Blast is one of those Hades 2 boons that requires players to already have acquired other boons from the God that offers it, in this case, Hephaestus. With Furnace Blast, when Blasts happen, enemies also get the Vent debuff, which essentially repeats the Blast damage after a few seconds.
Though this is a must-pick boon if you do have a way to generate Blast with one of Hephaestus' other boons, it's not usable unless you are lucky enough to run into him twice, and lucky enough to pick up one of the Blast boons. Which does happen – but it's not guaranteed, and thus not worth prioritizing.
10 Tough Trade
Taking Damage During Attacks & Specials Makes Them Stronger
Most of Hephaestus' boons aren't bad, but they aren't necessarily the most impressive or game-changing. Tough Trade simply increases the damage of your Attacks and Specials if you are hit in the middle of them.
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The problem with the Tough Trade boon is that it requires you to take damage to take effect, and the amount that your damage is increased by is not worth being hit.
9 Molten Touch
Attacks & Specials Deal Extra Damage to Armor
Molten Touch is a boon that seems good on the surface, but could really use an improvement in terms of raw effectiveness. This ability simply makes it so that your Specials and Attacks deal more damage against Armor.
The downside is that the boost is really not that much and not altogether too noticeable, especially at low rarities. If you can snag an Epic or Heroic version of this, though, it's actually great for mowing down mini-bosses and endgame areas full of Armored enemies.
8 Mint Condition
Become Impervious At The Start Of Every Encounter
Mint Condition simply gives you a brief period at the start of every combat encounter in which you cannot take any damage. This begins at 8 seconds and goes up as you increase its rarity and level.
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The thing is, most encounters go on way longer than the period of invulnerability, and unless you are trying to speedrun Hades 2, it will run out before the first wave is gone.
7 Trusty Shield
Prime Magick To Create Armor In Each Location
The Trusty Shield boon is one of the most useful Hephaestus boons if you are going for a build based on Armor as your primary way to mitigate damage. You sacrifice a bit of Magick, but will always have a small barrier against Damage for each encounter.
There is a Keepsake that increases your Armor when you leave a location, but only if you have Armor upon leaving, which can be good to get one of these builds going from the start. Hephaestus' other boons can be more generally useful, but don't sleep on this one – especially if you have an Arachne armor to maintain.
6 Fixed Gain
Take Less Damage & Restore Magick When You Are Hit
Fixed Gain is a simple Hephaestus boon, but far from the worst. This boon simply reduces the damage you take by a small percentage, and grants instant Magick recovery upon being hit.
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Like Tough Trade, this requires you to take damage to proc its special effect. Unlike Tough Trade, that damage will actually be mitigated by at least 10%, depending on the rarity and level of the boon.
5 Heavy Metal
Gain Armor & Negate All Crowd Control Effects From Enemies
Heavy Metal is a slightly misleading boon, one that's better than meets the eye. Melinoë will gain a huge chunk of Armor after picking this powerful boon, and will no longer be able to be "pushed" by enemies.
The reality of the ability is actually much better. You won't just not get pushed – you will hardly feel the effects of enemy CC that attempts to change your location. Boss pull-in abilities, the hydrants in Oceanus, and more will not be able to change your position, which can be incredibly powerful when facing Cerberus and Chronos.
4 Smithy Sprint
After Sprinting For 1 Sec, Blast Nearby Foes With Magick
One of the weakest ways to generate Blast, Smithy Sprint uses Magick to damage the area around Melinoë after one second. The damage starts at 200 and increases with rarity and level, but compared to other Blast abilities Hephaestus offers, it can be harder to proc, even if it doesn't have a recharge time.
It uses Magick, which will run out fast if this is your main way to generate Blast, and it also requires you to position yourself right next to enemies to damage them.
Both Volcanic Flourish and Volcanic Strike are better options for generating this effect, but Smithy Sprint is worth picking up if you don't have access to Blast (or another Sprint skill) yet.
3 Uncanny Fortitude
Gain Bonus Life Based On Your Max Magick
Uncanny Fortitude is a sleeper hit of a Hephaestus boon. His other options might be more flashy – or, in this case, more explosive – but Uncanny Fortitude is arguably one of his more useful.
This simply increases your Life value based on your Max Magick amount, at about 30% of your Magicka converted to Max Life. This isn't a one-time thing, though, and Life will continue to increase as you increase your Magick. Pick this boon to increase both of your primary resources whenever you increase one of them (Magick).
2 Anvil Ring
Casts Deal Damage 3x In The Area, But Are Smaller
Anvil Ring is an extremely powerful Cast boon that deals 50 or more damage (based on Rarity) in your Cast three times. This applies to both versions of the Cast, and thus doesn't require any Magick. However, the size of your cast is reduced by roughly 1/3.
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Anvil Ring and Volcanic Flourish/Strike are virtually tied for the top spot for the best Hephaestus boon in Hades 2. Anvil Ring just barely loses out because it is most effective in a Cast-focused build, while Volcanic Flourish and Strike can be useful in just about any run.
1 Volcanic Flourish & Volcanic Strike
Specials & Attacks Generate Blast On A Cooldown
Volcanic Flourish and Volcanic Strike are two effects that can generate Blast, either from Specials or Attacks. These procs can only occur after a brief recharge period, which can be reduced by raising the boon levels or by increasing their rarity.
- Volcanic Flourish affects Specials, and creates a Blast for 400 damage in the area around your special every 20 seconds (base/common)
- Volcanic Strike affects Attacks, and creates a Blast for 200 damage in the area around your Attack every 12 seconds (base/common)
Either of these options can be powerful in any build, but Volcanic Strike is arguably the stronger of the two. At higher rarities, and when leveled up, you can get the cooldown all the way down to 4 seconds, which means you will be striking for an extra 200 Damage (and generating Blast/Vent) constantly.
In a Special-oriented build, though, Volcanic Flourish can really shine – and it's not a bad idea to use in an Attack build, either, as you can sprinkle in Specials for the damage burst on cooldown.
Hades 2
- Franchise
- Hades
- Platform(s)
- PC
- Released
- 2023-00-00
- Developer(s)
- Supergiant Games
- Genre(s)
- Action , Roguelite
