Death Defiances in the Hades franchise are equivalent to your 'lives' in most other games. When you run out of health, your character literally 'defies death' to stay in the fight and as such, gets some of their health back. Just like in the first game, when you first start out in Hades 2, you don't have a single Death Defy to your name AKA you only have one Health Bar to use. However, as soon as you begin to understand the Arcana and Grasp systems, you'll have access to the Death Defy mechanic.
6 God Design Changes In Hades 2
Just about every returning God or Goddess character seen in Hades 2 has had their design updated in some way, so let's look in-depth.
The in-game description of what a Death Defiance does, verbatim, says that when you fall to 0 Health, automatically restore 40 percent Health and Magick, limited uses per night. Now that we understand the system as a whole, let's go a bit more into this mechanically specifically as far as how it works, how to unlock and/or obtain it in Hades 2, and all the alternate ways to get more Death Defiances as well.
Method 1
The Eternity Arcana Card
Name | Cost | Effect |
|---|---|---|
Eternity | 4 Grasp of the Arcana | Set forth each night with 1/2/3 (depending on rank) Death Defiance. |
The default method for obtaining Death Defiances in Hades 2 is through the Altar of Ashes. This is the stone pillar/monument with the arcane sigil in the middle of it that you'll pass through when walking to the training area of Crossroad AKA where the Noctural Arms are found and equipped. In this Altar of Ashes menu, you can spend a certain amount of a resource of yours called Grasp of the Arcana to 'activate' different Arcana Cards, giving you different passive abilities and buffs during each Night (AKA each run attempt).
One of these is the Eternity Card which costs 4 Grasp to activate and gives you a single Death Defiance at its base level. One Death Defiance may not seem like it'll have a big impact, but even having a single Death Defiance can truly make all the difference in the world. It can absolutely determine whether you'll make it to Chronos (and maybe even beat him) or if you'll fall short and die in, say, Oceanus. And, once you progress a bit further and unlock the ability to upgrade these Arcana Cards using Moon Dust, you'll be able to upgrade this Arcana Card twice total so that it grants 3 Death Defiances at max rank.
Method 2
Schelemeus' Luckier Tooth
Name | Giver | Effect |
|---|---|---|
Luckier Tooth | Schelemeus | After you fall to 0 Health, automatically restore 51/76/101 (depending on Star-level) Health once this night. |
The second method for gaining more Death Defiances is through equipping a specific Keepsake, such as the one given to you by Schelemeus called the Luckier Tooth. This Keepsake, when equipped onto Melinoë, gives her a burst of healing when she hits 0 HP, basically serving the exact same function as a Death Defiance.
The amount of HP this Keepsake grants is dependent on its level, just like all the other Keepsakes, and it caps out at 101 at 3-Stars. Additionally, it's worth mentioning that you'll probably only want to equip this Keepsake once you enter an area where you feel the most at risk of burning through your Death Defiances since the game will use all of your standard Death Defiances first before triggering this Keepsake. The reasoning behind being so careful when equipping the Luckier tooth is that, if you switch this Keepsake out at any point in a run, you won't be able to re-equip it until the next run.
Method 3
Moros' Engraved Pin
Name | Giver | Effect |
|---|---|---|
Engraved Pin | Moros | After you fall to 0 Health, become Impervious for 10 seconds. If no foes remain, restore 30/45/60 (depending on Star-level) Health. |
For the last Keepsake on here that grants a Death Defiance-like effect, let's take a look at the Keepsake given to Melinoe by Doom Incarnate AKA Moros. This Engraved Pin, when equipped, gives Melinoë a sort of 'last stand' ability when she runs out of health. When it triggers, Melinoë has 10 seconds to clear the room entirely of enemies, and if she's successful in doing so, she'll gain some health back instead of 'Returning to Shadow'.
However, when you use this Keepsake and have a Death Defiance active at the same time, this 10-second countdown actually saves you from using a Death Defiance if you clear the room in time.
Method 4
Toula Familiar Passive
Name | Location | Effect |
|---|---|---|
Toula | Rift of Thessaly | After you Sprint nearby, Toula lunges at the nearest foe for 99 damage. Also, gives 1 Bonus Death Defiance (10/20/30 Health regained) and allows you to use the Fishing Rod for free 3/4/5 times each night. |
At a certain point in Hades 2, AKA when you unlock and complete the Faith of Familiar Spirits Incantation, you'll actually unlock the ability to gain an animal familiar that travels alongside you. There seem to be only 2 of them in the game so far, a cat named Toula (found on the pier just after the Polyphemus fight) and of course there's also the lovable frog in Crossroad named Frinos. Both of these Pets have their own Passive and Active abilities that you can upgrade by using Witch's Delight item (crafted through the Beast-Loving Morsel Incantation) to 'Treat' them.
And, one of Toula's Passives is that she grants additional Death Defiances, though these are basically 'cat lives' she's giving to Melinoe, and as such the health you'll get back when you Defy Death this way is exceedingly small (10 Health at base level). Still, it might just be enough to get through a room you would've otherwise died in, thereby giving you a chance to find a way to heal, which allows you to make it to the next room, and so on and so forth.
Method 5
The 'Survive Survive Survive' Plaintive Echo
Name | Giver | Effect |
|---|---|---|
Survive Survive Survive | Echo | Replace all spent uses of Death Defiance with ones that restore 50 percent Health and Magick, then less and less. |
Quite honestly, out of all the side NPCs in Hades 2 that offer their own unique abilities (Arachne, Narcissus, Madea, etc) Echo probably has the best options. Almost all of her 'Plaintive Echoes' grant effects that are incredible when they first trigger, and then get weaker and weaker with each subsequent trigger, similar to how an echo works.
But one specific Plaintive Echo is probably the best one to grab in just about every run, and it's called Survive (x3). Essentially, this ability will replace any of your spent Death Defiance charges with Echo-unique ones that, when triggered, steadily restore less Health and Magick every time. If you've burnt through all your Death Defiances, this is incredible, even if the last trigger only grants something like 20 percent Health and Magick. But, even with only one Death Defiance charge used, this is still worth grabbing as it basically just replaces that spent charge with one that restores 10 percent more Health and Magick.
Method 6
Hermes' Close Call Legendary Boon
Name | God | Rarity | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
Close Call | Hermes | Legendary | Gain +1 use of Death Defiance that makes everything else move 90 percent slower (Slow duration 8 seconds by default). |
This next method of obtaining more Death Defiances is one that we didn't even know about until we stumbled across it during a run while editing this guide. It turns out that if you're exceedingly lucky and you have already used at least one of your Death Defiances, you have the chance to get the Close Call Boon offered to you by Hermes.
There are a ton of fantastic Boons in Hades 2, and this is absolutely up there with the best of them. It basically just means you get one more Death Defiance total, but when that specific Death Defiance pops you'll have 8 (or more) whole seconds of slowed time to absolutely wail on whatever enemy managed to take your last bit of health.
Method 7
Kiss of Styx at the Well of Charon
Name | Cost | Effect |
|---|---|---|
Kiss of Styx | 200 Gold | Replenish 1 use of Death Defiance. |
The last method isn't exactly a way to gain 'new' Death Defiance charges, but rather a way to refill already used ones. Once you unlock the Wells of Charon and/or Stygian Wells that can be found in all of the areas of Hades 2 (unlocked through completing two different Incantations) you'll have access to all sorts of different Charon Items that function as temporary buffs or one-time purchases.
And, one of these items is called the Kiss of Styx, and it refills a Death Defiance charge if you've already used one as soon as your purchase it. This is a returning item from the first game and it's just as welcome in the sequel since Athena seems to be absent at the moment, which eliminates one of the only other methods of replenishing Death Defiances through her Last Stand Boon. Just keep in mind that this item is usually at least about 200 Gold, so if you use a Death Defiance early on you may want to hold on to about 200 Gold minimum at all times just in case you get lucky and happen to find the Kiss of Styx being offered to you in a Charon Well.
