Vartha, or more commonly known as the Eternal Spear, was one of my favourite weapons to use when playing Hades.
Admittedly the Eternal Spear is a very strong Weapon choices for players, however, the play style tends to be a bit more tricky than other Weapons.
The Eternal Spear has five attacks at it’s base, being a Strike, Combo, Dash-Strike, Spin Attack and Throw which are outlined on my Infernal Weapon’s Guide, though in this post I’m going to be focusing on more of the technical Aspects of the Eternal Spear, so players are aware of the hidden Aspects for each other the upgrades in order to make a good decision of which ones they upgrade and which one they will want to use or avoid depending on how much Titan’s Blood they have.
Due to the functionality of the Eternal Spear, players should have both high close ranged damage as well as a good amount of damage from afar, simply because they can throw their Eternal Spear and catch it as they please, essentially meaning that players will be able to finish off enemies before they reach a player after they’ve dodged them.
Unfortunately, but understandably, players will not be able to deal enough damage using their ranged attack, however, should be able to successfully finish off enemies as long as they have low enough health.
Players can also utilize their Special, the Throw, to apply Status Curses in order to bring down an enemy’s Health overtime.
As is with most things in Hades, such as the Mirror of Night, it’s going to be a good idea to upgrade all of your Aspects so you can freely rotate between them all, however, this isn’t always a possibility, especially for players who are struggling to collect enough resources.
As for the upgrades provided by the Daedalus Hammer, you can read more here.
The following guide will take you through everything you need to know in particular to the Aspects of the Eternal Spear so you can make an educated decision of whether to upgrade certain Aspects or avoid them completely.
A BIT ABOUT ASPECTS
There are a total of 4 Aspects for the Eternal Spear being Zagreus, Achilles, Hades, and Guan Yu.
Each Aspect requires players to spend Titan Blood to power them up, however, players will not need to upgrade them all in order to move on to the next.
Essentially, players can be picky right from the get go and choose which Aspect they prefer and level that one up as if players want to unlock and upgrade all the Aspects of the Eternal Spear they will need to fork over 51 Titan Blood.
Each Aspect of the Eternal Spear will change the look of it and will add to the functionality of the Weapon. It should be noted that all the Aspects simply add to the base of the Eternal Spear, other than the Aspect of Guan Yu which will completely change the way that the Eternal Spear functions.
ASPECT OF ZAGREUS
The Aspect of Zagreus when it comes to the Eternal Spear isn’t the best upgrade, though it can be useful to unlock when players don’t have much Titan’s Blood.
With the Aspect of Zagreus players will gain Special Damage, Range and Speed, making it quite a bit more powerful than it’s base form.
Admittedly, the Aspect of Zagreus can be used effectively be used throughout the mid-game, though it falls off by the end game, meaning that a player will want to either switch to another one of the Aspects or will simply want to rush the best Aspect, Guan Yu.
The most notable upgrade to the Aspect of Zagreus is the Speed that it provides players, simply due to the fact that with extra speed players will be dealing damage a lot faster, essentially raising the DPS of their basic attack.
While Range and Special Damage is nice to have, they are still fairly unreliable in comparison.
The following is all the information you need to know about the upgrades for the Aspect of Zagreus:
TIER 1 ASPECT OF ZAGREUS
Titan Blood Cost: 1 Titan Blood
Special Damage, Range & Speed: +10%
TIER 2 ASPECT OF ZAGREUS
Titan Blood Cost: 1 Titan Blood
Special Damage, Range & Speed: +14%
TIER 3 ASPECT OF ZAGREUS
Titan Blood Cost: 1 Titan Blood
Special Damage, Range & Speed: +18%
TIER 4 ASPECT OF ZAGREUS
Titan Blood Cost: 1 Titan Blood
Special Damage, Range & Speed: +22%
TIER 5 ASPECT OF ZAGREUS
Titan Blood Cost: 1 Titan Blood
Special Damage, Range & Speed: +25%
ASPECT OF ACHILLES
While players will notice the biggest change in the way the Eternal Spear functions when using the Aspect of Guan Yu, players will see a slight change when they are running the Aspect of Achilles.
With the Aspect of Achilles players will be able to retrieve their spear with Raging Rush, which essentially makes it so a player can dash towards the Eternal Spear to retrieve it.
I’ll be honest, the Aspect of Achilles is one of my favourite upgrades and sometimes I’ll choose to use it instead of the Aspect of Guan Yu, simply because I love the ability to be able to the fact that you’re going to be able to dodge even more damage and will be able to jump around the map with no problems.
I will say, there is a good amount of use for the for the Raging Rush, whether it’s simply to dodge enemies or quickly get to a different location on the map.
Players should note that their Special will actually decrease in range by 10% when they are running the Aspect of Achilles, though this isn’t the worst. Players should also note that they will need to charge their Special in order to decide where they land, the longer they change the Special the further they will go.
As for the stat boost the Aspect of Achilles provides, players will receive a Bonus in damage for the next four Attacks or Casts that take place. Admittedly, this is one of the best parts of this Weapon as it will help players who like to rotate their damage and will also give a very good boost in damage.
TIER 1 ASPECT OF ACHILLES
Titan Blood Cost: 1 Titan Blood
Post-Rush Bonus Damage (Attack & Cast): +50%
TIER 2 ASPECT OF ACHILLES
Titan Blood Cost: 2 Titan Blood
Post-Rush Bonus Damage (Attack & Cast): +75%
TIER 3 ASPECT OF ACHILLES
Titan Blood Cost: 3 Titan Blood
Post-Rush Bonus Damage (Attack & Cast): +100%
TIER 4 ASPECT OF ACHILLES
Titan Blood Cost: 4 Titan Blood
Post-Rush Bonus Damage (Attack & Cast): +125%
TIER 5 ASPECT OF ACHILLES
Titan Blood Cost: 5 Titan Blood
Post-Rush Bonus Damage (Attack & Cast) +150%
ASPECT OF HADES
The Aspect of Hades is another very strong Weapon, though admittedly simply due to it’s play style, I’m not a huge fan of it.
The Aspect of Hades essentially adds a new way to interact with your Spin Attack, being Punishing Sweep. With Punishing Sweep players will have a larger AoE which will also increase the damage players deal to enemies for 10 seconds.
If it’s not already clear by now from other posts that I’ve written about Hades, I’m not the biggest fan of the Spin Attack, simply because I personally find it difficult to use, but it’s undeniable that the increase in damage it provides is very nice, especially in tandem with the boost in range.
It should be noted that players will not receive an increase in damage for their Spin Attack and it will only boost their Attack
The following is all the information you need to know about the upgrades for the Aspect of Hades:
TIER 1 ASPECT OF HADES
Titan Blood Cost: 2 Titan Blood
Punishing Bonus Damage: +30%
TIER 2 ASPECT OF HADES
Titan Blood Cost: 2 Titan Blood
Punishing Bonus Damage: +60%
TIER 3 ASPECT OF HADES
Titan Blood Cost: 3 Titan Blood
Punishing Bonus Damage: +90%
TIER 4 ASPECT OF HADES
Titan Blood Cost: 4 Titan Blood
Punishing Bonus Damage: +120%
TIER 5 ASPECT OF HADES
Titan Blood Cost: 5 Titan Blood
Punishing Bonus Damage: +150%
ASPECT OF GUAN YU
The Aspect of Guan Yu is by far the most powerful Aspect a player can use on the Eternal Spear and is actually the only time I admittedly use the Eternal Spear correctly.
The Aspect of Guan Yu makes it fairly easy to progress through the harder Heats of Hades and while more difficult to use with the lower ranks, players will be seeing just how powerful it can be when they get it to rank 5.
Essentially, the Aspect of Guan Yu comes with some disadvantages at first, lowering a player’s Life Total and Life Gan, but providing players with the ability to regain Health any time they use their Special.
Players can either deal damage like normal or will be able to charge their attack to send out a spinning blade that deals damage and heals the player for every hit.
A player’s Special will also change, becoming an irretrievable firework that shoots in a straight line being a great addition to the Special.
HOW TO UNLOCK THE ASPECT OF GUAN YU
Players will not be able to use the Aspect of Guan Yu at first and must follow these steps to do so:
First, players must purchase the Fated List of Minor Prophecies from the House Contractor.
Players must then reach the end of a run, though they will not be required to actually defeat Hades.
Players must then unlock 5 non-Zagreus aspects of any Weapons using Titan Blood, though they all do not need to be on the same Weapon.
Players must then talk to Achilles until he speaks the phrase “I see you through the eyes of the crimson phoenix”
Upon seeing this dialogue players will be able to interact with the Eternal Spear in order to activate the Guan Yu Aspecct.
WHAT IS THE APECT OF GUAN YU’S MOVESET?
As mentioned, players running with Guan Yu Aspect will have a different set of skills and damage than all other Aspects. The following are the changes:
STRIKE
With the Aspect of Guan Yu players will be looking forward to dealing 40 damage per hit if they are not using a Combo on their attacks.
Players will want to make sure they secure Combos in order to maximize their damage as they will get progressively higher damage per hit.
COMBO
As is with most Combos in Hades players will need to attack 3 times in a row and will be able to dash in between as long as they don’t attack while they dash.
There are a few intervals in between the three strikes, becoming a bit longer before the third strike, though players can button mash anyways as this won’t cause anything negative to happen.
The first strike of the with the Eternal Spear will deal 40 damage, the second one will deal 60 damage and the third will deal 100 damage.
While the Combo deals the most damage, given the fact that the Aspect of Guan Yu cuts your health will make you want to rotate between this and the Serpent Slash to ensure you have enough Health.
DASH ATTACK
As is with most Dash Attacks, players are going to want to avoid using a Dash Attack with the Aspect of Guan Yu.
The Dash Attack will deal a maximum of 30 Damage even if players try to “Combo” which is not possible while Dash Attacking.
SERPENT SLASH
Serpent Slash is going to be the best way for players to keep their Health up. As I’ve said so many times before, usually I’m not a huge fan of the spinning aspect of the Eternal Blade, it’s undeniable how good it is when using the Aspect of Guan Yu, especially because it becomes a ranged attack.
In order to use Serpent Slash players will have to hold down their Attack Button to charge it.
Similar to all other Spin Attacks with the Eternal Spear, players will have three states that deal different damage, though all will Heal the player by the same amount.
For every hit that the spinning blade deals, players will gain 1 Health and the spinning blade will be able to bounce off walls, pillars and will also be able to pierce.
It’s a good idea to send the spinning blade through multiple enemies if you can as this will heal the players by the most, but if not possible hitting even a single enemy will help a player.
The following is the damage players will deal for each charge tier of the Serpent Slash:
The first charge state will deal 20 damage every 0.5 seconds.
The second charge state will deal 30 damage every 0.5 seconds.
The third charge state will deal 50 damage every 0.5 seconds.
If players are simply trying to heal, the charge amount doesn’t really matter as long as players are able to hit enemies given the range they are in, however, it’s still a great idea to deal the most damage you can at a time.
CRACKLING SKEWER
The Crackling Skewer is a great way to finish off enemies or hit them for the first attack if players have a boost on undamaged enemies.
While Crackling Skewer doesn’t provide a very high amount of damage, it is higher than a single basic attack. so it will gain a higher boost in damage.
I wouldn’t recommend trying to get your combo off if you’re trying to get the bonus on undamaged enemies as it can be unreliable, but I would switch into your combo and Serpent Slash as soon as you have damaged foes a single time.
The following is all the information you need to know about the upgrades for the Aspect of Guan Yu:
TIER 1 ASPECT OF GUAN YU
Titan Blood Cost: 3 Titan Blood
Life Total & Life Gain: -70%
TIER 2 ASPECT OF GUAN YU
Titan Blood Cost: 3 Titan Blood
Life Total & Life Gain: -65%
TIER 3 ASPECT OF GUAN YU
Titan Blood Cost: 3 Titan Blood
Life Total & Life Gain: -60%
TIER 4 ASPECT OF GUAN YU
Titan Blood Cost: 3 Titan Blood
Life Total & Life Gain: -55%
TIER 5 ASPECT OF GUAN YU
Titan Blood Cost: 3 Titan Blood
Life Total & Life Gain: -50%
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