Demeter is one of my least favourite gods to select, though the reality is that she can be very useful for players who are trying to get multiple Status Curses on an enemy in order to deal more damage using Talents from the Mirror of Night. particularly Privileged Status.
Now, that isn’t the most fair to say, because the reality is that Demeter does have the second highest raw damage in the game, but why settle for the second best if you can get the best. If you can’t get the best though, Demeter should be good if you can get damage boosting buffs instead of Debuffs.
Demeter is considered to be one of the better gods to perform Debuffs to protect a player, though if you know anything about my play style, I tend to avoid these upgrades and focus on damage dealing upgrades for the most part.
Essentially Demeter comes with her own Status Curse, being Chill, will improve healing and as mentioned has a set amount of debuffs she can give mobs.
Players will not be able to initially obtain Boons from Demeter and will have to reach the surface at least once to unlock.
OLYMPIAN AFFINITY & FAVOUR
Demeter, being one of the many Olympian gods will have the ability to gain Affinity with a player.
Players can gain affinity by trading in Nectar to her and upon providing the first gift, they will provide a player with his Keepsake the Frostbitten Horn.
Players will want to hold off on providing Demeter too much Nectar as they will want to focus on obtaining Companions from other characters first. If characters want to max out Demeter they will need to do so with 6 Nectar and 1 Ambrosia to provide her with 7 hearts.
In regards to Favour, players will have to complete the Epilogue and will simply need to speak to her until she says she wants Zagreus to “be more candid with her” next time.
Players will only be able to forge a bond with Demeter after the Epilogue is completed and if players try to complete Demeter’s hearts before completing the Epilogue they will end up with a locked Heart.
TIER 1 DEMETER BOONS
Demeter’s Tier 1 Boons do not require players to have any other Boons and always have the ability to show up regardless of how many Boons a player has access to.
Players should be cautious of taking too many Tier 1 Boons, especially if they are on the hunt for Legendary Boons, so making yourself aware of which Boons you will need to get the Tier 2 Boons you want is going to be very important, otherwise players may lock themselves out of the Boons they require.
FROST STRIKE
Frost Strike is one of the most basic Boons players can acquire while running a Demeter Boon and quite frankly, while the Boon is quite basic in the way that it is executed it is one of the best Boons to have in my opinion.
Essentially with Frost Strike players will be able to apply Chill with the player’s Attack and will also increase in damage.
I personally really like Frost Strike for it’s capability of applying Status Curses on mobs with ease. I especially like Frost Strike when I’m running Privileged Status because it makes it a lot easier to use and stack damage.
With the different rarities of Frost Strike, players will deal extra damage using their attack. The following are the damage modifiers players will receive for each rarity:
COMMON
The Common Frost Strike will provide players with 40% Attack damage.
RARE
The Rare Frost Strike will provide players with 1.3-1.5x Attack damage.
EPIC
The Epic Frost Strike will provide players with 1.8-2.0x Attack damage.
HEROIC
The Heroic Frost Strike will provide players with 2.3-2.5x Attack damage.
FROST FLOURISH
Frost Flourish is a Boon that I tend to ignore simply because I don’t like applying Chill while using my Special, though it can be really useful for players who are trying to get their damage up on Frost Flourish.
As a player if I’m going to get a Status Curse on my Special I would rather it be damage over time than a Standard Status Curse as the chances of me actually building stacks on it are very rare, just out of pure laziness and how difficult it can feel.
As Chill is not a damage over time and has a fairly long duration, players are going to want to make sure if they are trying to find ways to apply it, they should be rapid, especially if players are able to get a Boon that makes Chill explode to deal damage.
Truthfully, that’s the main reason I love Chill on my attack because I tend to obtain the Boon that allows an explosion when a player stacks ten Chill.
COMMON
The Common Frost Flourish will provide players with 60% more Special Damage.
RARE
The Rare Frost Flourish will provide players with 1.3-1.5x more Special Damage.
EPIC
The Epic Frost Flourish will provide players with 1.8-2.0x more Special Damage.
HEROIC
The Heroic Frost Flourish will provide players with 2.3-2.5x more Special Damage.
CRYSTAL BEAM
Crystal Beam was originally my favourite Cast because I found it’s utility extremely helpful especially when I was still learning how to kite mobs.
As I kept continuing to use Crystal Beam, my fascination with it significantly reduced, especially as I learned what builds I preferred and what methods of damage I found most impactful.
While I wouldn’t say that Crystal Beam is trash, I will say that choosing it can severely lower the amount of damage a player deals, especially if they are running Mirror of Night Talents that require players to lodge their Cast in an enemy.
Unfortunately, players will not be warned about this damage loss and will be able to choose Crystal Beam no matter what, so if players are somehow unaware of what Talents they are running they may, in fact, regret it.
The way that Crystal Beam works is that it will allow players to place their in order to summon a beam that deals continuous damage to the closest enemy.
The Crystal that drops will last 5 seconds and will deal damage every 0.2 seconds.
Admittedly, the Crystal Beam is by far the most useful against Bosses as they will commonly be the only target a player needs to hit, however, Crystal Beam is also very useful against shielded enemies as players will be able to Backstab enemies without the worry of shields deflecting the damage.
It should be noted that players will not be able to use Crystal Beam if they are running the Aspect of Beowulf.
I would strongly recommend using Crystal Beam at first, but then no longer rely on it when you have the ability to deal more damage to enemies with Casts lodged in them.
The different rarities of Crystal Beam will allow players to deal more damage every 0.2 seconds, dealing the following amounts of damage:
COMMON
The Common Crystal Beam will deal 8 damage every 0.2 seconds.
RARE
The Rare Crystal Beam will deal 9.2 damage every 0.2 seconds.
EPIC
The Epic Crystal Beam will deal 10.4 damage every 0.2 seconds.
HEROIC
The Heroic Crystal Beam will deal 11.6 damage every 0.2 seconds.
ICY FLARE
Icy Flare is an Aspect of Beowulf Specific and takes place of Crystal Beam, though in no means reflects the same utility of Crystal Beam.
I’m not the biggest fan of Icy Flare, though admittedly its damage isn’t bad and while it’s utility isn’t as resourceful as Crystal Beam, it’s still better than nothing.
Instead of allowing players to place their Cast on the ground, Icy Flare will essentially curse nearby enemies with Chill anytime a players uses their Cast.
In my opinion, I don’t care about this utility, though it can be useful if players are looking for an easy way to apply a Status Curse on multiple enemies to deal some extra damage.
As mentioned, players get a bonus in damage on their Cast, though admittedly not the largest boost.
Each rarity will raise the damage of the Cast, being:
COMMON
The Common Icy Flare will cause 70 damage for each Cast.
RARE
The Rare Icy Flare will cause 80 damage for each Cast.
EPIC
The Epic Icy Flare will cause 90 damage for each Cast.
HEROIC
The Heroic Icy Flare will cause 100 damage for each Cast.
MISTRAL DASH
Mistral Dash is shockingly one of my favourite upgrades to get on Demeter, but probably not for the reason that you would think.
Essentially, I feel like Mistral Dash is one of the easiest ways to apply Chill as it will only need players to Dash. As a Dash normally doesn’t deal much damage and it can be rare to get Athena’s Dash Deflect, the utility of Mistral Dash is a big selling point for me.
I feel like Mistral Dash makes it very easy to apply Chill on enemies quickly and is a great way to get Privileged Status up, so don’t look past it because of it’s low damage.
Mistral Dash will summon a gust ahead of players every time they dash at a 300 range and the gust will always travel directly in front of the player.
Players will deal more damage using their Gust depending on the rarity of Mistral Dash, being:
COMMON
The Common Mistral Dash will deal 15 damage per each Gust current.
RARE
The Rare Mistral Dash will deal 22.5 damage per each Gust current.
EPIC
The Epic Mistral Dash will deal 30 damage per each Gust current.
HEROIC
The Heroic Mistral Dash will deal 37.5 damage per each Gust current.
DEMETER’S AID
Demeter’s Aid is a hit and a miss God Call for me as admittedly it can be very helpful, however, it isn’t my favourite one to obtain.
Essentially the way Demeter’s Aid works is it will allow players to summon a massive Winter Vortex that applies stacks of Chill for every tick.
The Winter Vortex deals damage every 0.25 seconds and will last 5 second, making it very powerful, however, I cannot really look past Artemis’ God Call as it’s the one I focus on. I’d say, if Artemis is acting elusive and players have located Demeter, take it because it’s very useful.
As players have different tiers of Demeter’s Aid depending on how many tiers of the meter they’ve filled up it’s strongly suggested that players wait until it is at max, though it can be very useful even if players are using lesser tiers. If players are able to charge it fully they will extend the duration to 10 seconds.
Players will deal the following damage every 0.25 seconds depending on the rarity of Demeter’s Aid:
COMMON
The Common Demeter’s Aid will deal 10 damage every 0.25 seconds while using Demeter’s Aid.
RARE
The Rare Demeter’s Aid will deal 11 damage every 0.25 seconds while using Demeter’s Aid.
EPIC
The Epic Demeter’s Aid will deal 12 damage every 0.25 seconds while using Demeter’s Aid.
HEROIC
The Heroic Demeter’s Aid will deal 13 damage every 0.25 seconds while using Demeter’s Aid.
FROZEN TOUCH
Frozen Touch is an interesting Boon to have as it’s most useful when players have the Boon that causes an explosion at 10 stacks.
As much as I’m not a fan of Boons that require players to take damage in order to deal damage, the reality is Frozen Touch is an exception when paired up with Arctic Blast.
On it’s own, Frozen Touch deals a small amount of damage whenever players take damage, however, it will apply 10 stacks of Chill on any enemy that has dealt damage to the player.
I would personally sell Frozen Touch if you don’t get Arctic Blast later, but the choice is yours.
With Frozen Touch players will deal the following damage with the different Rarities of Frozen Touch:
COMMON
The Common Frozen Touch will deal 10 Revenge Damage whenever attacked by an enemy.
RARE
The Rare Frozen Touch will deal 15 Revenge Damage whenever attacked by an enemy.
EPIC
The Epic Frozen Touch will deal 20 Revenge Damage whenever attacked by an enemy.
HEROIC
The Heroic Frozen Touch will deal 25 Revenge Damage whenever attacked by an enemy.
RARE CROP
Rare Crop is by far the most useful Boon a player can have in the whole of Hades and should never be skipped in my opinion, unless very, very late into a run.
Essentially with Rare Crop all of your boons will become Common and will gain Rarity every 3 Encounters, though in many cases it doesn’t actually matter as in the fourth zone each small room, before the reward counts as one encounter, meaning that players can clear extra floors if they are not done with this Boon.
As this Boon is quite different than other Boons it does come with some variation, with Rare Crop being that it cannot be upgraded with Poms and also cannot be sold once players equip it, essentially because it begins it’s work as soon as it is obtained. Players will also not be able to affect Rare Crop with Eurydice, but at the end of the day no matter what rarity they get of Rare Crop, it will be good. I promise.
Rare Crop’s rarities will upgrade more Boons at a time depending on it’s rarity, so if players are late into the game, they’re going to want to hope for a higher rarity, though if they are early on any rarity works. The following are the differences in rarity:
COMMON
With the Common Rare Crop players will be able to upgrade 1 random Boon by 1 rarity every 3 Encounters.
RARE
With the Common Rare Crop players will be able to upgrade 2 random Boon by 1 rarity every 3 Encounters.
EPIC
With the Common Rare Crop players will be able to upgrade 3 random Boon by 1 rarity every 3 Encounters.
HEROIC
There is no Heroic version of Rare Crop.
RAVENOUS WILL
With Ravenous Will players will be able to take more damage and deal more damage when they don’t have any Casts available.
Players will always take 10% less damage, however, the damage they deal depends on the rarity of the Boon.
Honestly, this works very well with Crystal Beam, though any Cast will do as long as people have all of their charges lodged in an enemy.
I strongly would recommend making sure you always use a Cast and not just leave them on the floor because of the loss of damage unless players have a Boon that leaves Casts on the floor to deal damage.
Although Ravenous Will cannot be upgraded using Poms, players will be able to deal more damage when empty on Casts if they have different Rarities of Ravenous Will, being:
COMMON
The Common Ravenous Will will provide players with 10% more damage.
RARE
The Rare Ravenous Will will provide players with 20% more damage.
EPIC
The Epic Ravenous Will will provide players with 30% more damage.
HEROIC
The Heroic Ravenous Will will provide players with 40% more damage.
NOURISHED SOUL
Nourished Soul is a bit of a waste of a Boon in my opinion as it provides players with Health sustain, but doesn’t provide damage.
Admittedly, for players in tougher content it can be a good Boon to have as it will raise the chances of surviving a Heat, but I tend to avoid taking it unless I’m really struggling.
With Nourished Soul players will immediately get 30% of their Health back and then they will receive a bonus for any Health they pick up.
It should be noted that players will not be able to sell Nourished Soul as soon as they pick it up and it will not be upgradeable with Boons.
Players will, however, be able to heal better based on the rarity of Nourished Soul, being:
COMMON
With the Common Nourished Soul players will restore 30% more Health for any restoration.
RARE
With the Rare Nourished Soul players will restore 32.5% more Health for any restoration.
EPIC
With the Epic Nourished Soul players will restore 35% more Health for any restoration.
HEROIC
With the Heroic Nourished Soul players will restore 37.5% more Health for any restoration.
TIER 2 DEMETER BOONS
Tier 2 Boons Demeter Boons will require players to unlock at least one other Boon in order to acquire. Many of these Boons require any of the Tier 1 Boons though some will require a specific Boon in order to obtain.
The following is all the information you need to know about the Tier 2 Demeter Boons.
SNOW BURST
Snow Burst can be very useful for players who are trying to deal more damage and already use their Cast.
It’s one of the only Tier 2 Boons that does not require any pre-requisites.
With Snow Burst players will inflict Chill to all nearby foes while using a Cast and will deal some damage to the enemies. While not the most powerful it is a great addition, especially if players are struggling to get other prerequisites or better Boons.
The different rarities of Snow Burst will provide players with more damage on Snow Burst, being:
COMMON
The Common Snow Burst will provide players with 40 damage.
RARE
The Rare Snow Burst will provide players with 50 damage.
EPIC
The Epic Snow Burst will provide players with 60 damage.
HEROIC
The Heroic Snow Burst will provide players with 70 damage.
ARCTIC BLAST
With Arctic Blast players will cause a blast anytime they apply 10 stacks of Chill.
I would always get Artic Blast if you have a quick way of applying Chill as the extra damage it deals can be quite game changing, especially if players have Boons that immediately apply 10 stacks of Chill.
It should be noted that Artic Blast does not get upgraded with Poms, so the damage you deal based on rarity is the max damage you can deal.
Players will need Frost Strike, Frost Flourish, Mistral Dash, Demeter’s Aid, or Snow Burst to obtain Artic Blast.
Players will deal the following damage based on the rarity of Arctic Blast:
COMMON
With the Common Arctic Blast players will deal 80 damage.
RARE
With the Rare Arctic Blast players will deal 90 damage.
EPIC
With the Epic Arctic Blast players will deal 100 damage.
HEROIC
With the Heroic Arctic Blast players will deal 110 damage.
KILLING FREEZE
Killing Freeze is a very tough Boon to execute, but it admittedly is a very strong one.
Players will need Frost Strike, Frost Flourish, Mistral Dash, Demeter’s Aid, or Snow Burst.
The reason Killing Freeze is a very difficult Boon to actually utilize properly is because it requires players to apply Chill on all mobs in the encounter.
When all enemies are Chilled on the map they will become Slow and gain a Decay status effect.
Decay will provide damage every 0.5 seconds and the slow will simply help protect a player.
The following are the stats players will receive based on the rarity of Killing Freeze:
COMMON
With the Common Killing Freeze enemies will be slowed by 10% and will take 20 decay damage every 0.5 seconds while all enemies have Chill on them.
RARE
With the Common Killing Freeze enemies will be slowed by 15% and will take 30 decay damage every 0.5 seconds while all enemies have Chill on them.
EPIC
With the Common Killing Freeze enemies will be slowed by 20% and will take 40 decay damage every 0.5 seconds while all enemies have Chill on them.
HEROIC
With the Common Killing Freeze enemies will be slowed by 25% and will take 50 decay damage every 0.5 seconds while all enemies have Chill on them.
GLACIAL GLARE
With Glacial Glare players will essentially make the duration of Crystal Beam last longer as this will be the only Cast that can be affected by it.
Players will not be able to use Glacial Glare while they are running the Aspect of Beowulf and different rarities of Glacial Glare will increase the amount of time Crystal Beam lasts for being:
COMMON
With the Common Glacial Glare players will increase the duration of Crystal Beam by 2 seconds.
RARE
With the Rare Glacial Glare players will increase the duration of Crystal Beam by 2.4 seconds.
EPIC
With the Epic Glacial Glare players will increase the duration of Crystal Beam by 2.8 seconds.
HEROIC
With the Heroic Glacial Glare players will increase the duration of Crystal Beam by 3.2 seconds.
TIER 3 DEMETER BOON
Demeter’s Tier 3 Boons are fairly rare to acquire and will only come in a Winter Harvest.
In my opinion, Winter Harvest is a great Boon to have if they are able to acquire it.
Players will need two out of the three Boons to unlock it being Ravenous Will, Arctic Blast and/or Killing Freeze.
WINTER HARVEST
With Winter Harvest players will be able to force enemies with 10% HP or less to shatter, inflicting nearby enemies in with 50 damage and inflicting them with Chill.
DUO BOONS
As I’ve already written a Duo Boons guide, I’m not going to go too deep into this.
Essentially players will want to obtain either Dionysus, Poseidon, Zeus, Athena, Aphrodite, Artemis or Ares Boons in order to acquire a Duo Boon, though I strongly recommend selecting only one or two of these god’s Boons in order to raise your chances of gaining access to a Duo Boon.
The only Duo Boons I really love are between Demeter and Artemis, Athena and Demeter and Zeus and Demeter.
Quite frankly most Demeter Duos are useful as she’s one of the best support gods.
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