Cerberus, the hellhound and gatekeeper of Tartarus (and all-around good boy) is back in Hades 2, but not in the way you'd expect. It turns out that, when Chronos took over the House of Hades and imprisoned Hades himself, he cast Hades' most faithful servant (AKA Cerberus) out into the Mourning Fields. Out there, the spirits and residual negative emotions stuck to Cerberus like glue, and he's become sort of 'corrupted'. It's up to Melinoë to save him from this fate the only way she seems to know how, and that's by beating the problem up until it's fixed.
Hades 2: Hecate Boss Guide
Hecate is far from the most difficult fight Hades 2 has, but she's not exactly a pushover. Here are some tips to help you get past her.
All that said, Cerberus in his Infernal Beast 'form' isn't just going to take a beating lying down, he's going to fight back and will absolutely burn through your Death Defiances if you're not careful. So, let's go over exactly how you're meant to beat the Infernal Cerberus in Hades 2, what moves he has at his disposal, and the overall design of the boss fight itself.
The Infernal Beast: Cerberus
Just An Absolute Meatsponge
In all honesty, fighting Cerberus is actually pretty simple, especially compared to some of the other bosses in this game. While he does have a decent number of different attacks, a lot of them boil down to just avoiding the bright red telegraph on the ground or creating some distance between you and Cerberus since the arena for this fight is so gigantic. In general, unless you're using the Umbral Flames (Ygnium) or the Argent Skull (Raaval), the main 'loop' for this fight will involve getting incredibly close to Cerberus, putting down an Ω Cast, laying into him with as many Attacks as possible, and then dodging out of the way before he slams either of his paws down, as they create massive shockwaves around them.
Of course, there's more to it than that as Cerberus does have 2 different sections where he goes underground and summons mobs, a section that restricts you to fighting him in a much smaller area, and more, but in the most general sense that's the sort of gameplan you can keep in mind while fighting him.
All The Moves Cerberus Has
Big Red Telegraphs & Paw Slams
- Video above is courtesy of FoolJuice on Twitch
To reiterate, Cerberus does have a decently wide 'kit' of moves, but a lot of them are minor variations of each other, so it'll feel a lot less complex when you've actually fought him a couple of times.
Disclaimer: There aren't any 'official' attack names in the game, so we came up with our own.
Still, it's worth covering them all so you know what exactly to look for when trying to cleanse this gigantic three-headed upper of his corruption, so here are all the attacks Cerberus can use:
Move Name | Description | Strategy |
|---|---|---|
Paw Slam(s) | Cerberus will lift one (or both) of his gigantic bright orange paws up into the air before quickly slamming it down in front of him. This will send out a medium-sized shockwave around the point of impact that quickly expands and disappears. | Just get about two Dash lengths away and you'll be safe, or Dash towards Cerberus right after his paw touches the ground to Dash through the shockwave. |
Infernal Head Summons | This is the attack that there are a lot of different variations of, but essentially Cerberus will bark and these gigantic red almost sun-shaped telegraphs will appear on the ground and slowly start to 'fill' with orange. When filled, a gigantic spectral head of Cerberus pops out of the ground and attacks. | Very simple, just don't be standing in the telegraph when the orange 'veins' are about to reach the border of the shape. |
Flame Swipe | Cerberus will briefly wind up before swiping in front of him with one of his paws, sending out a wave of flame that expands outward all the way to the edge of the arena. | Again, this is another simple attack, just don't be near the flame wave or Dash through it at worst. |
Bite Bombs | Cerberus will spit out these oddly toothy flame balls with teeth that slowly float forward in the direction they were spit. After floating a certain distance or making contact with something (usually Melinoë, your projectiles also count), they'll explode and send out a gigantic shockwave of flame. Cerberus usually spits three of these at a time, all in different directions. | There are two 'best' responses to this attack: One, don't let it touch you, and two, stay far away from them or be ready to Dash towards them as soon as they explode, the shockwave really is gigantic. |
Phase Transition | At around half health, Cerberus will summon mobs before submerging himself underground until you clear them all out. The mobs summoned pulls from all of the possible enemies that appear in the Mourning Fields. | Clear out all the enemies that Cerberus summoned, and he'll come back up into the arena (there's no time limit for this). |
Infernal Head Summon (Circle Variant) | This basically works the same as the default one but the telegraphs appear in a different formation. This time, these sun-like telegraphs on the ground will appear in a circle, with Cerberus at the center. | You can either focus on fighting Cerberus in the small arena of safe space or quickly escape to the outer edge of the arena to wait out the attack as a whole. |
Area Isolation | Cerberus essentially creates the same sort of sun shape as his telegraphs around himself, marking that area as the 'safe area' while the rest of the arena is covered in shadowy tendrils. | You'll just want to make sure you get inside the safe area as fast as possible, as you'll take constant damage if you stand anywhere else. |
Fire Breath | Cerberus briefly winds up before spewing a stream of flame from his middle head in front of him. He'll constantly be turning towards your location while spewing this fire, and will do so for about 8-10 seconds before he stops. | The best option is to just Dash through Cerberus when he starts this and lay into him from behind as he tries to (unsuccessful) turn completely around to attack you. |
Paw Slam Tantrum | Basically, Cerberus just starts chasing you, slamming his paw every step of the way and creating a shockwave each time. | Honestly, it's usually better to just completely keep your distance during this attack. |
Infernal Head Summon (Rotating Variant) | The final variation of the Infernal Head Summon worth mentioning, Cerberus spawns 3 lines of these red sun-shaped telegraphs in three different directions, and they'll then rotate at a brisk speed while the orange veins slowly creep towards the border. | This is just meant to throw you off and get you caught in the attack, you'll have plenty of time to get out of the way before it goes off, just don't panic. |
Charging Bite | Lastly, Cerberus has an attack where he briefly prepares and then lunges forward toward your current location in a straight line, attempting to take a huge bite out of you. | Very easy to dodge, but if you're not ready for it this attack can very easily take you be surprise. |
Overall, it really just boils down to avoiding his Paw Slams, staying away from any red telegraphs on the ground, and Dashing away from any and all fire and you'll have Cerberus beat. The real challenge of this fight is just how much health Cerberus has, so it'll require you to dodge his attacks a good number more than most other bosses, simply because it'll take you longer to defeat him. Still, if we were to rank Hades 2's bosses in terms of complexity, Cerberus would be near the bottom of the list (though he's still more complicated than most of the bosses from the first game).
