Duo Boons Guide | Hades

Duo Boons can be a difficult type of Boon to understand as the rarity of them is quite high. Realistically I only got a single Duo Boon while streaming Hades live on Twitch and had to do a good majority of my research on Duo Boons off stream while casually playing the game.

Essentially, Duo Boons are as they sound, crossing two different god’s Boon powers and making them stronger or adding some sort of synergy to the passives that are already there. 

There are a few issues with Duo Boons that make it so difficult to obtain them. First is the RNG of being given the Boons that can be combined together and second is simply the RNG of being given the option to choose the Duo Boon option. 

In short, to get a Duo Boon skill you will have to get at least two of the skills required (one for each god) and then receive another Boon of one of the gods in order to proc the RNG that unlocks the Duo Boon.

If players are hoping to get a Duo Boon they can increase their chances by using the specific god’s Keepsake, Eurydice’s Refreshing Nectar, a Yarn of Ariadne which can be purchased from Charon, or by using the Mirror of the Night’s talent Gods’ Legacy.

While collecting a Duo Boon is not essential, having a Duo Boon can drastically increase a player’s survivability or the player’s damage, which is very ideal for players who are in higher Heats of the game. 

Players may also want to focus on collecting all of the Duo Boons so they can acquire an achievement in the Fated List of Minor Prophecies. Completing the achievement that requires all Duo Boons will provide players with 15 Ambrosia which can be useful for maxing out affinity with other characters, raising the rank of Chthonic Companions, purchasing things from the House Contractor or purchasing ranks from the Resource Director. 

I recognize that speaking about Ambrosia is a bit of a tangent and that’s all I’m going to say on the topic as. I should really get to the different types of Duo Boons that are available to players, how to acquire said Duo Boons and what each Duo Boon will provide a player.

CURSE OF LONGING

The Curse of Longing is a Duo Boon that is connected to the gods Aphrodite and Ares. 

The Curse of Lightning drastically improves the usability of the goddess Aphrodite, which if you’ve read my Boon guide, you know I typically avoid due to her being one of the weaker sub gods out there. 

With Curse of Lightning players will be able to deal continuous damage using Doom if enemies have Weak implemented on them. Essentially each Doom hit after the first one will deal 50% of the previous one instead of only being able to place Doom on an enemy a single time. 

In order to unlock Curse of Lightning players will need two of the following Boons:

APHRODITE

Heartbreak Strike

Heartbreak Flourish

Crush Shot

Passion Dash

ARES

Curse of Agony

Curse of Pain

HEART REND

The Heart Rend is a Duo Boon that is connected to the gods Aphrodite and Artemis. 

The Heart Rend also drastically improves the usability of the goddess Aphrodite, 

With Heart Rend players will be able to deal extra Critical Hit damage to enemies that have the Weak Status Curse, essentially providing players with the ability to deal an extra 150% Critical Damage.

It needs to be noted that a player will still have to wait for the RNG of the Critical Hit to actually land, though 150% extra damage is nothing to scoff at. I will say, however, sometimes this Duo Boon isn’t as powerful as others, simply because of the RNG of the Critical Hit. If it’s ever offered to you I suggest taking it just in case.

In order to unlock Heart Rend players will need two of the following Boons:

APHRODITE

Heartbreak Strike

Heartbreak Flourish

Crush Shot

Passion Dash

ARTEMIS

Deadly Strike 

Deadly Flourish

True Shot

Hunter’s Flare

PARTING SHOT

The Parting Shot is a Duo Boon that is connected to the gods Aphrodite and Athena. 

Parting Shot isn’t the best for newer players, however, it does provide players with a good amount of extra damage when players use the Backstab element of the game.

Essentially with Parting Shot players will deal 25% extra damage whenever players attack enemies from behind, though only when using a player’s Cast. Unfortunately this isn’t the biggest game changer for players, but I would recommend grabbing it at least once for the achievement, otherwise unless there isn’t a better Boon available, this isn’t a priority. 

In order to unlock Curse of Lightning players will need two of the following Boons:

APHRODITE

Heartbreak Strike

Heartbreak Flourish

Aphrodite’s Aid

Passion Dash

ATHENA

Divine Strike

Divine Flourish

Phalanx Shot

Divine Dash

Athena’s Aid

COLD EMBRACE

Cold Embrace is a Duo Boon that is connected to the gods Aphrodite and Demeter. 

Cold Embrace tends to be a pretty tricky Duo Boon to use as it will change the way that your Crystal Beam works if you have the upgrade from Demeter.

Essentially, Demeter has a Boon that allows players to drop a Crystal that deals damage rapidly in the direction of an enemy, following the enemy slowly as it walks. While with Cold Embrace the Crystal remains, the reality is that it is a bit harder to use with the Cold Embrace upgrade.

Instead of following an enemy on it’s own, the Crystal will now deal damage in the direction of the Character, essentially making it so the player has to stand on the other side of an enemy if they hope to deal damage with the Crystal.

Admittedly, Cold Embrace is perfect for situations where an enemy has a shield as the Crystal will deal Backstab damage to an enemy, making it so a player can distract an enemy by using their basic attacks, leaving it open to damage from behind. 

Cold Embrace comes with a bonus of 4 seconds on the field and will also provide players with 30% more damage on their Cast. While 30% extra damage isn’t a whole lot, players can essentially stack this damage with other Boons, making their Cast one of the strongest ways to deal damage for them. 

In order to unlock Cold Embrace players will need two of the following Boons:

APHRODITE

Heartbreak Strike

Heartbreak Flourish

Aphrodite’s Aid

Passion Dash

DEMETER

Crystal Beam

Note: It should be noted that players will not be able to acquire Cold Embrace using the Boon Crystal Clarity. This highly limits the probability of getting Cold Embrace, but I will say that I’ve gotten Crystal Beam extremely often.

LOW TOLERANCE 

Low Tolerance is a Duo Boon that is connected to the gods Aphrodite and Dionysus. 

Low Tolerance is a Duo Boon I really appreciate as it will help players add more stacks of Hangover, essentially meaning that players can deal some extra damage passively without having to deal damage using their basic attacks or special attacks.

While Hangover isn’t going to deal enough damage to fully kill an enemy, having extra stacks of Hangover is going to help a player ensure that they can take down enemies faster and more efficiently than without. 

Low Tolerance, admittedly, only adds the ability to stack Hangover 3 extra times, though due to the fact that stacks add a multiplier on them this is a good amount of extra damage. Players will have to ensure that enemies are already affected by Weak in order to ensure that they can place extra stacks of Hangover on an enemy and if the enemy loses Weak before the Hangover expires, players will be left with only 5 stacks of Hangover on said mob. 

While not the most powerful Duo Boon, I usually take this one no matter what, simply because it pushes out a good amount of damage.

In order to unlock Low Tolerance players will need two of the following Boons:

APHRODITE

Heartbreak Strike

Heartbreak Flourish

Crush Shot

Passion Dash

DIONYSUS

Drunken Strike

Drunken Flourish

Drunken Dash

Dionysus’ Aid

SWEET NECTAR

Sweet Nectar is a Duo Boon that is connected to the gods Aphrodite and Poseidon. 

Sweet Nectar is truly a Duo Boon I don’t care about any only got a single time in order to acquire the achievement for Duo Boons. 

Essentially Sweet Nectar will provide players with an extra Pom of Power level increase for any Poms of Power that players obtain moving forward. 

While Poms of Power can be pretty powerful for players to use and they will provide players with bonus stats on their already located Boons, the reality for me at least is the fact that I ignore a good amount of Poms as I find other rewards to be more rewarding.

That being said, if players have the upgrade from the House Contractor that provides players with Poms of Power for each Nectar that they receive, this can be pretty over powered, though very niche.

In order to unlock Sweet Nectar players will need two of the following Boons:

APHRODITE

Heartbreak Strike

Heartbreak Flourish

Crush Shot

Aphrodite’s Aid

Passion Dash

Passion Flare

POSEIDON

Tempest Strike

Tempest Flourish

Flood Shot

Flood Flare

Tidal Dash

Poseidon’s Aid

SMOLDERING AID

Smoldering Aid is a Duo Boon that is connected to the gods Aphrodite and Zeus. 

Smoldering Aid can be an extremely useful Duo Boon to have, especially if a player has a good God Call that they would like to use more than once in a battle.

Essentially players will begin charging up their God Gauge by 1% every 0.2 seconds up to a maximum of 25%, meaning that players should be able to get 2 yields of their God Call in a boss battle and will be able to use their God Call a few times without a full gauge against tough enemies in regular chambers. 

At first I wasn’t a player who thought about using his God Call when it wasn’t fully charged because I thought it was a waste, but with a number of God Calls players will be able to output a good amount of damage simply by using a single charge of a God Call.

Quite frankly this especially comes in hand with the final two stages of an escape, though if you are in a Boss Battle I strongly encourage you to wait until your God Power is full, especially if you are going to use it defensively.

In order to unlock Smoldering Aid players will need two of the following Boons:

APHRODITE

Heartbreak Strike

Heartbreak Flourish

Crush Shot

Aphrodite’s Aid

Passion Dash

Passion Flare

ZEUS

Lightning Strike

Thunder Flourish

Electric Shot

Thunder Flare

Thunder Dash

Zeus’ Aid

HUNTING BLADES

Hunting Blades is a Duo Boon that is connected to the gods Ares and Artemis. 

Hunting Blades helps ensure that players who have Ares’ Blade Rift can deal more damage using it. Quite frankly, I struggle with Ares’ Blade Rift without it as with the addition of Hunting Blades the Blade Rift will begin seeking out the nearest foe to damage.

Without Hunting Blades, the Cast sent out by Ares would typically summon a Blade Rift that progresses forward and can struggle with keeping mobs inside of it simply due to the fact that mobs tend to dash or walk out of the Blade Rift typically. 

The Hunting Blades will last for 3.3 seconds, dealing progressive damage.

If you’re a player who struggles with using Blade Rifts properly, I strongly recommend trying to aim for this Duo Boon as this Duo Boon is a real big life saver when it comes to damage. 

Note: if players already have the duo boon Freezing Vortex, they will not be able to acquire this Duo Boon.

In order to unlock Hunting Blades players will need two of the following Boons:

ARES

Slicing Shot

ARTEMIS

Deadly Strike

Deadly Flourish

Hunter Dash

Artemis’ Aid

MERCIFUL END

Merciful End is a Duo Boon that is connected to the gods Ares and Athena. 

With Merciful end players will be able to apply Doom by using any attacks that can Deflect. While admittedly not the best Boon, players can essentially inflict more instances of Doom if Doom is not connected to many player’s attacks and they have various ways of causing Deflect.

In my opinion, Merciful End is much more powerful when players have various ways to cause Deflect as Deflect does not deal a whole lot of damage and truthfully the more damage you can deal with Deflect the better. 

When players inflict Doom using Deflect players will deal 40 Combo Damage, essentially adding a good 30 damage in most cases, especially when you can stack Doom frequently.

In order to unlock Merciful End players will need two of the following Boons:

ARES

Curse of Agony

Curse of Pain

ATHENA

Divine Strike

Divine Flourish

FREEZING VORTEX

Freezing Vortex is a Duo Boon that is connected to the gods Ares and Demeter. 

Freezing Vortex is essentially another form of the Cast players can receive, essentially combining Ares’ Blade Rift Casts with a Chill from Demeter.

Freezing Vortex is an interesting Duo Boon to have as while it decreases the size of the Blade Rift cast from players, the Chill that is inflicted on mobs can essentially help ensure that mobs stay in the smaller Blade Rift.

Freezing Vortex is a bit of a hit and miss for me, simply because it doesn’t really add more power to the Cast Blade Rift and I already have difficulty with the Blade RIft when it is not combined with Artemis to create Hunting Blades.

This is a Duo Boon that I would be curious if you like or if you would scrap.

Note: if players already have the duo boon Hunting Blades, they will not be able to acquire this Duo Boon.

In order to unlock Freezing Vortex players will need two of the following Boons:

ARES

Slicing Flare

Slicing Shot

DEMETER

Demeter’s Aid

Frost Flourish

Frost Strike

Mistral Dash

CURSE OF NAUSEA

Curse of Nausea is a Duo Boon that is connected to the gods Ares and Dionysus. 

If you’re someone who loves damage over time, or wants to ensure that they can poison as many side mobs as possible in order to focus on the more powerful mobs, look no further than the Duo boon, Curse of Nausea. 

Essentially with Curse of Nausea players will be able to deal damage using the Hangover effect more consistently, making it so the Hangover effect deals damage every 0.5->0.35 seconds.

While I don’t always think that the Hangover effect is a good one to have on your build, simply because there are much higher damage dealing abilities and Boons out there, players can easily rely on Hangover if they have Curse of Nausea tied to it. 

I strongly recommend trying to get the Curse of Nausea Duo Boon, simply because Ares is a great god for dealing damage and in tandem with Dionysus, players will find themselves deal some good passive damage along the way.

In order to unlock Curse of Nausea players will need two of the following Boons:

ARES

Curse of Agony

Curse of Vengeance

Curse of Pain

DIONYSUS

Drunken Strike

Drunken Flourish

Drunken Dash

CURSE OF DROWNING

Curse of Drowning is a Duo Boon that is connected to the gods Ares and Poseidon. 

Curse of Drowning isn’t anything that shocked me honestly and actually acquiring it the first time, I kind of said to myself “oh yeah, that makes sense.”

Essentially with Curse of Drowning, players will transform their Cast into a pulse that deals damage around them, actually being able to cause 3 pulses for each Cast that they throw.

Pulses have the ability to safeguard players, ensuring that they are not damaged by foes around them and are actually a pretty good option for players to use when trying to deal some heavy AoE damage.

Note: If players already have Mirage Shot, Blizzard Shot or Aspect of Hera, they will not be able to use Curse of Drowning.

In order to unlock Curse of Drowning players will need two of the following Boons:

ARES

Curse of Agony

Curse of Pain

Blade Dash

Are’s Aid

POSEIDON

Flood Shot

Flood Flare

VENGEFUL MOOD

Vengeful Mood is a Duo Boon that is connected to the gods Ares and Zeus. 

Vengeful Mood will help boost the Revenge effect, which would normally happen if a player gets damaged by a mob. Instead, with Vengeful Mood, players will deal “auto-revenge” which will deal damage every 3 seconds without the need to take any damage.

While not that most powerful Duo Boon, simply because revenge damage does not usually deal a whole lot of damage, players can effectively stack different revenge abilities to ensure that they are dealing a good chunk of damage against enemies. which will gratefully improve these defensive talents.

It should be noted that any Revenge god power will work and stacking the effects is possible, meaning that even if the revenge power doesn’t come from Ares or Zeus as long as players have two of required god powers, all will deal “auto-revenge” damage. 

In order to unlock Vengeful Mood players will need two of the following Boons:

ARES

Curse of Agony

Curse of Pain

Slicing Shot

Blade Dash

Are’s Aid

Slicing Flair

ZEUS

Lightning Strike

Thunder Flourish

Electric Shot

Thunder Dash

Zeus’ Aid

Thunder Flare

DEADLY REVERSAL

Deadly Reversal is a Duo Boon that is connected to the gods Artemis and Athena. 

Deadly Reversal is actually a pretty interesting Duo Boon for me because it essentially makes a defensive god, like Athena, and helps make sure that players are able to deal extra damage using her.

With Deadly Reversal, as long as players successfully Deflect damage, they will gain a 20% change to deal Critical Damage to enemies for 2 seconds. 

While 20% doesn’t seem like much, the 20% that players receive is stacked on top of any other critical chance they have from other Boons. 

Quite frankly, if you’re sitting there with a good amount of Deflect and you simply want to output more damage, I would say Deadly Reversal is pretty handy, especially if you’re Deflecting while using your Dash which can essentially be spammed when against enemies that won’t stop throwing projectiles at you.

In order to unlock Deadly Reversal players will need two of the following Boons:

ARTEMIS

Deadly Strike

Deadly Flourish

True Shot

Hunter’s Flare

Artemis’ Aid

ATHENA

Divine Strike

Divine Flourish

CRYSTAL CLARITY

Crystal Clarity is a Duo Boon that is connected to the gods Artemis and Demeter. 

Crystal Clarity helps make the usability of Demeter’s Cast much more effective, not only helping the Crystals track enemies more effectively, but also providing players with a 10% damage bonus when using the Cast.

While I can’t really complain about the tracking of the Crystal’s players receive when using Crystal Beam, my main reason is that “it could be worse.”

Admittedly, players will have some difficulty with mobs that move quickly or Bosses that just refuse to stand still, but I will say that learning the placement in fights or how certain enemies move makes the use of Crystal Beam much easier to manipulate.

Though, throw that all out the window, because the bigger reality is that when Crystal Clarity comes knocking at your window, you take it. There is no reason to say no to this upgrade, as it will speed the way that the Crystal swings around. While there will still be some misses that take place with Crystal Clarity, the precision is genuinely better and not something you’d want to miss out on. 

Note: Players will not be able to acquire Crystal Clarity if they already have Cold Embrace.

In order to unlock Crystal Clarity players will need two of the following Boons:

ARTEMIS

Deadly Strike

Deadly Flourish

Hunter Dash

Artemis’ Aid

DEMETER

Crystal Beam

SPITTING HEADACHE

Spitting Headache is a Duo Boon that is connected to the gods Artemis and Dionysus. 

Spitting Headache is a great Duo Boon to have as it will essentially make sure that you will deal more damage actively while placing stacks of passive damage.

Essentially Spitting Headache will make it so a player has a 1.5% chance to deal Critical Chance for each stack of Hangover, meaning that it will max out at a 7.5% chance.

Okay, okay, that’s realistically not a whole lot, but if you’re farming Artemis Boons, you’re probably going to build yourself a good deal of Critical Chance, essentially adding to that build up passively.

7.5% Critical Chance is not going to make or break a situation, however, if you do have a good amount of other Boons with Critical Chance this may be the rest of the Critical Chance that you need in order to land at least 50% Critical Chance on certain moves, especially those which already have high chances of Critical Chance. 

In order to unlock Spitting Headache players will need two of the following Boons:

DIONYSUS

Dionysus’ Aid

Drunken Dash

Drunken Flourish

Drunken Strike

ARTEMIS

Artemis’ Aid

Deadly Flourish

Deadly Strike

True Shot

MIRAGE SHOT

Mirage Shot is a Duo Boon that is connected to the gods Artemis and Poseidon. 

Quite frankly, I really enjoy the idea of Mirage Shot, though again it’s not a Duo Boon that makes or breaks anything, though I regularly choose it when available since I’m a player who heavily uses their Cast.

With Mirage Shot players will Cast two projectiles every time they use their Cast, being able to deal 30% of their Cast’s damage with the second shot.

30% in a category like this isn’t anything to scoff at, especially if you’re someone who has multiple Casts, has fast Cast speeds and can retrieve Casts quickly.

Realistically, this is even better if you have a Boon that deals extra damage whenever the Cast is removed from an enemy and can be very helpful for players who are planning to avoid taking damage from enemies, which is made possible with a number of Artemis’ Boons as many lead the Cast directly to an enemy.

In order to unlock Mirage Shot players will need two of the following Boons:

ARTEMIS

Deadly Strike

Deadly Flourish

True Shot

Hunter’s Flare

Artemis’ Aid

POSEIDON

Tempest Strike

Tempest Flourish

Flood Shot

Flood Flare

Tidal Dash

Poseidon’s’ Aid

LIGHTNING ROD

Lightning Rod is a Duo Boon that is connected to the gods Artemis and Zeus. 

Lightning Rod makes it so a player’s Bloodstones, the material that is used to Cast, will deal damage to enemies every second if not retrieved.

It is not compatible if players have Stygian Soul, a passive given by Mirror of Night as players will immediately retrieve a Bloodstone instead of having it on the floor.

Realistically, the Lightning Rod really changes gameplay for players as players will have to decide whether or not they will want to pick up their Bloodstones or if it is a better idea to leave them on the ground.

Essentially, if players are up against a group of mobs, leaving a Bloodstone (or a few) on the ground is a great idea because players will be dealing 70 damage per second to all enemies right next to the Bloodstone.

However, if players are only against a single enemy, it is probably a better idea to pick up the Bloodstone and shoot it into another enemy to deal more damage. 

That being said, sometimes it is a good idea to leave the Bloodstone on the floor anyways as players may actually deal more damage to the enemy with the Bloodstone on the floor if they are good at leading the enemy near the Bloodstone, essentially making it so it can damage over time. 

I strongly recommend playing around with this Duo Boon when you have the opportunity to see what playstyle works the best for you. If you deal more damage by shooting an enemy with your Cast and the retrieval time is reduced, that will always be the method you will want to take on single mobs.

In order to unlock Lightning Rod players will need two of the following Boons:

ARTEMIS

Deadly Strike

Deadly Flourish

True Shot

Hunter’s Flare

Hunter Dash

Artemis’ Aid

ZEUS

Lightning Strike

Thunder Flourish

Thunder Dash

Thunder Flare

Electric Shot

Zeus’ Aid

STUBBORN ROOTS

Stubborn Roots is a Duo Boon that is connected to the gods Athena and Demeter. 

Stubborn Roots is a great defensive Duo Boon that players can choose, though I will say that I don’t see myself using it very often as I haven’t struggled very much with ensuring that I have Death Defiance or Stubborn Defiance up.

Essentially, players with no Death Defiance or Stubborn Defiance will regenerate 1 HP every 0.8 seconds, meaning that a player will still have a good amount of time left on their health bar and sustain in the final few battles.

Stubborn Roots is a great Duo Boon to have if a player is struggling with staying up, especially in the late-game, however, it’s pretty rare that a player gets it.

If you have Stubborn Roots, I strongly recommend dodging enemies for a long while if you can in order to gain a good amount of Health before you begin attacking mobs or bosses again. It will change the way that you play, but it will definitely help with that sustain, especially in your battle against Hades.

Although I haven’t had the opportunity, I could see having Stubborn Roots being immensely useful against the final battle with Hades, especially during his second phase. 

In order to unlock Stubborn Roots players will need two of the following Boons:

ATHENA

Divine Strike

Devine Flourish

Phalanx Shot

Phalanx Flare

Divine Dash

Athena’s Aid

DEMETER

Frost Strike

Frost Flourish

Crystal Beam

Icy Flare

Mistral Dash

Demeter’s Aid

CALCULATED RISK

Calculated Risk is a Duo Boon that is connected to the gods Athena and Dionysus. 

Calculated Risk is a very interesting Duo Boon that provides a player protection in a whole new way. I can’t say that I’ve ever been interested in it, but I see it being especially useful when challenging Charon or enemies with a heavy load of projectiles.

With Calculated Risk players will reduce all enemy’s projectiles by 50% making it easier to dodge them or Deflect them using Athena.

The great thing is, many of the Boons that are required for players to obtain Calculated Risk will ensure that players have a Deflect, though admittedly Divine Dash is going to be the most optimal for this situation.

While not always the best option, players will want to make the decision to get Calculated Risk based on how far they are in their escape and whether or not they foresee themselves being up against mobs that deal projectile damage.

In order to unlock Calculated Risk players will need two of the following Boons:

DIONYSUS

Dionysus’ Aid

Drunken Dash

Drunken Flourish

Drunken Strike

ATHENA

Divine Dash

Divine Flourish

Divine Strike

UNSHAKABLE METTLE

Unshakable Mettle is a Duo Boon that is connected to the gods Athena and Poseidon. 

Unshakable Mettle is a great Duo Boon to get at any point of the escape as it ensures that players will no longer be able to be stunned and will resist 10% of the damage from Bosses.

While 10% is not a whole lot, this can come in especially handy against Hades when players already have low health and/or have a good amount of resistance already built up.

By now you should already know that I prioritize damage over anything else, so defensive stats aren’t really my thing, but I will say this is one of the times where I think defense is more important, simply due to the fact that what I have more than anything is getting stunned.

Realistically, players can get stunned up until the final battle, having a few instances where they can be stunned by Hades himself. 

Get. This. Duo. Boon. If not for ease, for the fact that Poseidon doesn’t have that many Boons that are worth choosing instead of it. 

In order to unlock Unshakable Mettle players will need two of the following Boons:

ATHENA

Divine Strike

Divine Flourish

Phalanx Shot

Phalanx Flare

Athena’s Aid

POSEIDON

Tempest Strike

Tempest Flourish

Flood Shot

Flood Flare

Poseidon’s Aid

LIGHTNING PHALANX

Lightning Phalanx is a Duo Boon that is connected to the gods Athena and Zeus. 

Lightning Phalanx is a great Duo Boon to have as it will essentially make it so players deal more damage to all enemies around them when using their Cast.

Essentially with Lightning Phalanx will make it so your Cast bounces a maximum of 3 times to enemies nearby.

While powerful, players will have to note that with Lightning Phalanx players may not be able to successfully put all of their Bloodstones inside of a single enemy, meaning that a player has the chance to reduce their damage if they have Boons and passives that deal more damage to enemies with more Bloodstones trapped in them. 

Now this shouldn’t make or break your decision to choose to use Lightning Phalanx as in many situations the ability to damage multiple enemies with one attack outpowers everything else.

In my opinion a player should always take Lightning Phalanx even if they are worried that it will reduce their damage for other passives. Players should try to find ways of making their Casts land into the enemy that they need to take down by using their Casts on weaker mobs, though if weaker mobs are killed first, they will have the opportunity to place their Casts into the stronger enemy sooner enough.

In order to unlock Lightning Phalanx players will need two of the following Boons:

ATHENA

Phalanx Shot

ZEUS

Lightning Strike

Thunder Flourish

Thunder Dash

Zeus’ Aid

ICE WINE

Ice Wine is a Duo Boon that is connected to the gods Demeter and Dionysus. 

I’ll be honest, Ice Wine isn’t a Duo Boon I take very often or actually can acquire as it uses Festive Fog, which is a passive I don’t really care about. 

With Ice Wine, areas with Festive Fog, caused by Dionysus’ Cast, will also Chill enemies while dealing 30% Blast Damage. 

I personally am not a fan of Festive Fog because I rather situations where a player’s Cast get stuck in an enemy, though admittedly there are some situations where there are no Boons that are worth taking, leaving me to take Festive Fog.

Ice Wine and Festive Fog are going to be chosen based off of a player’s personal preference, though admittedly, Ice Wine makes the effects of Festive Fog a lot more achievable as the Chill severely helps enemies stay in place so you can place multiple stacks of Festive Fog on the same enemy.

If you know anything about me, you know that I am shitty at aiming in Hades, leaving me to like melee damage more than ranged and meaning that I normally take Boons that give me auto targeting over Boons that give me AoE (Area of Effect) damage.

In order to unlock Ice Wine players will need two of the following Boons:

DEMETER

Frost Strike

Frost FLourish

Mistral Dash

Demeter’s Aid

DIONYSUS

Trippy Shot (Trippy Flare)

BLIZZARD SHOT

Blizzard Shot is a Duo Boon that is connected to the gods Demeter and Poseidon. 

I must say that Blizzard Shot is one of the most interesting Duo Boons that players have access to as it completely changes the dynamic of how the Cast works.

Essentially, instead of just dealing damage using the Cast by trying to implant it into an enemy, players will be able to deal damage to enemies while the Cast is in the air.

With Blizzard Shot a player’s Cast will move slower than usual and will pierce mobs as they pass them.

While mobs will not take the full damage from the Cast as it moves past them, any shards that come out of the Blizzard Shot will deal 40 damage.

Quite frankly, this is great when players are up against a hoard of enemies, but becomes less important when players are against bosses, especially those that do not summon ADDs (additional mobs.)

In order to unlock Blizzard Shot players will need two of the following Boons:

DEMETER

Frost Strike

Frost Flourish

Mistral Dash

Demeter’s Aid

POSEIDON

Flood Shot

COLD FUSION

Cold Fusion is a Duo Boon that is connected to the gods Demeter and Zeus. 

Cold Fusion helps makes a player’s Jolted effect stronger. While normally a player’s Jolted effect would expire when an enemy attacks, Cold Fusion makes it so when a player places Jolted on a mob it stays on a mob for a maximum of 10 seconds before expiring.

Quite frankly, Cold Fusion is the best when players have a passive that deals extra damage when players place two Curse Effects on an enemy, essentially prolonging the amount of time players can deal more damage.

Jolted itself deals a good amount of damage over time, meaning that I would strongly recommend using Cold Fusion as often as a player can actually acquire it.

In order to unlock Cold Fusion players will need two of the following Boons:

DEMETER

Frost Strike

Frost Flourish

Mistral Dash

Demeter’s Aid

ZEUS

Static Discharge

EXCLUSIVE ACCESS

Exclusive Access is a Duo Boon that is connected to the gods Dionysus and Poseidon. 

Truly, I wish that I could always get myself Exclusive Access, especially in the early game.

Exclusive Access is one of the most powerful Boons that players can ever acquire, especially if players do not have passives that increase the rarity of their Boons. 

With Exclusive Access players will always find Boons that have a minimum Boon Rarity of Epic, meaning that players also have the chance to find more Duo Boons, Legendary and Heroic Boons.

If players have Exclusive Access in place or have a way to ensure that they can get this Duo Boon early, they can essentially remove all passives that provide them with higher rarity Boons.

Quite frankly, Exclusive Access shouldn’t be too hard to farm as there are a good amount of Boons that can help provide players with acquiring it, though due to how rare Duo Boons can be, especially without ways to boost a player’s effort, you don’t see it in every run. 

In order to unlock Exclusive Access players will need two of the following Boons:

DIONYSUS

Drunken Strike

Drunken Flourish

Trippy Shot

Trippy Flare

Drunken Dash

Dionysus’ Aid

POSEIDON

Tempest Strike

Tempest Flourish

Flood Shot

Flood Flare

Tidal Dash

Poseidon’s Aid

SCINTILLATING FEAST

Lightning Phalanx is a Duo Boon that is connected to the gods Dionysus and Zeus. 

Scintillating Feast is another great Boon that helps boost a player’s Festive Fog.

Again, I probably don’t have to state why I’m not the biggest fan of Festive Fog, but Scintillating Feast is admittedly one of the most powerful ways of empowering your Festive Fog.

With Scintillating Feast players will begin dealing Lightning Damage periodically while mobs are standing in Festive Fog.

As long as players are able to keep enemies in their Festive Fog they will be able to deal this consistent damage, which can be harder for players to do, especially if they don’t want to just tank and spank, which isn’t the best option when playing Hades.

Each time Scintillating Feast deals damage it will strike enemies with 60 Lightning Damage, being able to affect all mobs that are in the Festive Fog.

Quite frankly, this is a truly powerful Boon, especially when up against many mobs. The only issue is attempting to clump enemies together.

In order to unlock Scintillating Feast players will need two of the following Boons:

DIONYSUS

Trippy Shot

ZEUS

Lightning Strike

Thunder Flourish

Thunder Dash

Zeus’ Aid

SEA STORM

Sea Storm is a Duo Boon that is connected to the gods Poseidon and Zeus. 

Sea Storm is a great way to boost your passive damage when you have a Boon that knocks-away enemies. 

With Sea Storm, any time a player knocks-away an enemy it will strike the enemy with a bonus 40 Lightning Damage, also being able to trigger if players have a weapon that knocks-away enemies.

This means that players can use the Shield Attack, Sword Lunge or a Special to knock-away enemies and deal some extra damage, though players will need a Boon as well to do this (that doesn’t have to be bound to these effects.) 

I really like the Sea Storm Duo Boon because it will provide the player with some extra damage, especially when you have two supporting gods like Zeus and Poseidon. 

In order to unlock Sea Storm players will need two of the following Boons:

POSEIDON

Tempest Strike

Tempest Flourish

Flood Shot

Flood Flare

Poseidon’s Aid

ZEUS

Lightning Strike

Thunder Flourish

Electric Shot

Thunder Flare

Thunder Dash

Zeus’ Aid