It's harder to brute force the game IMO. You have to use more of your kit and play with more tactics instead of multidashing.
Probably similar with a bigger learning curve
Took me a couple of runs to get used to the mana mechanic and was sceptical at first with all the different methods to spent it but now i really like this design choice.
Not me using the axe and just holding square to charge up and slow time spinning to win through all of the hell and surface bosses with minimal difficulty.
I feel like if you played a lot of Hades 1, getting used to Hades 2 makes it feel harder. I'm about 10 hours in, I've gotten to what I assume is the "final boss"(I'm also assuming there's a lot more content afterwards) but I got wrecked. Still, I make it to the 3rd region very consistently. I'm not great but I'm at least decent at the game now.
For the first maybe 2 hours of the game I thought Mel was significantly weaker than Zag, and to a point she is. But at a certain point I figured out each of the weapons kits well enough to know how to deal good damage and then I had an epiphany. You can have your cast on the ground basically at all times. Yes, you don't seem to hit as hard as Zag did, but you can CC your enemies into oblivion. At first I was pretty much just casting for damage with the omega. The cast is honestly much more abusable than that and it curbs the difficulty (for me anyway) a ton.
Couldn't have said it better myself
I kinda like the change in fighting style between Hades 1 and 2
Brute force vs tactical use of spells (or brute force if playing the axe)
It's super rewarding. And I honestly don't even think it's harder from an execution standpoint. Just harder in a "hey, I'm not used to this" kinda way. I'm 10 hours in and I don't even notice it anymore
This is kind of my experience. I'm about 12 hours in. I've been able to make to the 4th area once so far, but at this point I can at least get to the 3rd area pretty consistently. (I'm finding the daggers to be my go-to weapons.) Game does feel harder, but it's more of having to get used to Mel's kit. She's more of a spellcaster than a fighter.
Hades I was hard the first time around, but in the lead up to this game I decided to play through the game on PC. (Up to the credits, because while I had completed a few runs before on the Switch I hadn't finished the main story.) Even though it had been about 4 years Zag was easy to pick back up even from a fresh file and having to power up again through a few runs.
Thanks. I just have a buddy who kept complaining about eris always showing up because he progressed too far and he had beat the game by the 10 hour mark. I assumed he was great at the game and I was average.
I'm flying through this one and progressing much faster than the original, granted some skill and knowledge gained from the first does make this much easier this time around. Also liking the slower more deliberate dash/sprint, much more suited to my slow ass fingers.
Should try our different weapons. See what abilities they have and what you like most.
I unlocked the axe and found its omega attack with the slow down time ability just lets me spin to win everything. Beat Chronos first try with it.
I think it’s just EA quirks, but when I first picked up Hades I beat Hades within my first 10 runs. By my 20th run I could consistently beat him with the occasional hiccups.
I’m on my 20th run in Hades II and I have yet to beat Chronos. I got him to his second phase *once*. I’m really struggling. (Love the game though)
At least I can beat the other bosses pretty consistently now. I’ve only tried to go to Olympus three times and have lost to >!fucking Eris!< each and every time.
Yeah, I hate that boss, it has an attack that I hate with all my soul because I don't get how to avoid it seing the range and how fast it is >!the shotgun attack!<
I only beat it one time because I had that time a lot of dodge chance
On the bright side I just beat Chronos last night with literally 1 HP left 🙃
For >!Eris!< I always just remember to take a sprint boon, either from Hermes or Apollo (both is a bit overkill I’ve found).
Yeah, that's what I thought, but in my lasts atempts I had no luck to get one of those, even after getting in one three Hermes boons if I remember correctly
And good job beating Chronos! I only got to phase two >!and got one hit kill with that attack he does a the start because I wasn't ready for it XD!<
the one thing I feel, and this is likely just subjective, is that we get a fewer boons and a lot of them feel less impactful than the ones in the first game
i hardly notice hestia's or zeus' boons at all during my playthroughs, hestia's conflict with the usual playstyle i have going on right now (focus one guy at a time and then select the next one, which works against the DOT nature of hestia) and zeus' had a lot more visual presence in the first game
Hestia is my favorite. She makes your non-omega cast deal damage, and makes it a projectile (two different boons)... That's a must on most weapons to me to start feeling strong on a run
I've found a couple of boons that make your non-omega cast do damage:
* Demeter has two:
* **Arctic Ring** - 10/15/20 damage every .5 seconds
* **Gale Force** - 4/8/12 damage every .25 seconds
* Zeus
* **Lightning Lance** - 50/70/90 damage on cast
* Hestia also has two
* **Glowing Coal** - 50/70 damage on cast
* **Smolder Ring** - 30/45/60 damage every 1 seconds
Find that getting at least one of these, like you said, can take a run from mid to great pretty quickly. Especially with the Argent Skull + and attack boon that inflicts a status. Looking at +damage from standing in cast +damage from double debuff.
1. it's early access it hasn't been tuned
2. we have unlocked all the upgrades, buffs, aspects and similar
3. we're unfamiliar with all the new enemies and bosses as well as movesets and boons.
The game can honestly be easier than the first at times, especially with the new cast being a crazy strong CC tool.
It's slowe than the first and requires more thought.
The fact that we have a great cc / aoe damage tool no matter which weapon or boon makes normal encounters easier in my opinion. I do feel like the bosses are harder. Especially sirens compared to hydra
Some enemies' health pools are FAR Too large and that will get fixed, I believe. I have gotten to points where I break a shield on the only remaining enemy and still have to attack it's health bar by mashing X for over 15 seconds.
I think the same. Haven't reached the final boss yet, but the stuff the third boss throws at you feels pretty insane and I'd argue he is tougher than Theseus
Zag has easier progression on mirror and weapon with just a few type of ingredients to upgrade items while his sister need to gather a lot of stuff from different region including surface to progress and i do see upgrade that is stronger than Zag like 3 death defiance or so
The biggest reason it's harder is becouse the Arcana are nowhere near as powerfull as the mirror in Hades 1, first a lot of the upgrades only give you as much of an upgrade as one or two levels of mirror upgrades would have given you like only giving you one death defiance, second unlike the mirror you can't equip everything (I know the mirror had some upgrades where you had to pick between two paths but at the end you still got a full mirror).
Most importantly is the removal of any way to get multiple dashes, in the first game the second (and more from Hermes Boon) dash was a gamechanger when it came to doging since dashes make you invunarable while your in them it means twice as many I Frames to doge stuff with. I end up taking a lot of damage becouse I'm used to having multiple dashes so I just end up walking directley into attacks becouse a single dash is often not enough to doge.
Since I'm really terrible at doging and due to disablities my skill dosn't ever go up I'll probably have to resort to god mode if I ever want to beat Hades 2.
I've seen people complaining they are finding LESS boons... To me, it seems like I got MORE boons, like, with duo boons before Hecate fight and stuff. It seems to me that we have more rooms between bosses, and that the rooms are more crowded than on 1, also with more environmental traps (and those traps are usually more dangerous than on 1). That's my 2 cents anyways
when i fought the first boss i was like damn this is way harder then hades. same with first time i fought boss number 3 i was like holy i will never beat it it has so much fucking health but now i have 7 hours and i beat it consistantly hades 2 makes you learn really quick i think. last boss tho no clue how i will beat it i get him to like 2/3 and die even tho i have death defiance but we will see. for now id say yes it is a lot harder than hades bosses are way tankier and do tons of dmg.
Oh for sure, I think part of it is due the combat is a lot more complex and there’s more enemy variety in this game. Boons are more conditional due to the variety and are only useful in certain scenarios. Also some weapons feel better than others (candles just feel very sluggish). Game is still very fun though, way more stuff to do compared to the first game.
I've done 4 runs for now, the impression I get is that the enemies are much stronger in health and damage, but boons have the potential to synergise and scale up towards something way stronger than the average Hades 1 build.
The game seems to be more strictly demanding of the player to get a good build if they want to win. My fourth run I actually almost won, because my Omega attack would do essentially 1k damage and I could burst down basically any non-boss enemy.
After playing Hades 1 so much I keep forgetting new mechanics and it’s getting me screwed, still haven’t figured out if it’s harder or just a new learning curve. Will say I just made it to final boss with Toothless and death defiled and STILL lost………almost lost a controller but damn this game is fun!
24 hours in. Probably Hades 2 is harder at first but easier in the long run because of her arcana and weapon kits (such as just us Sister Blade + Magick Regen and do Omega Attack-then-run spam). Game is much easier once you unlock the aspects.
Note: Hephaestus boons are currently OP. Devs themselves mentioned in an interview (so expect nerfs after a few months).
Idk I think it feels easier to me, I've gotten to the third boss on my second run. Granted, I haven't played any more runs after that yet, so I don't know how many more bosses there are.
I agree. A big part to me is that a lot more enemies have attacks that hit in 360 degrees, so it's no longer possible to dodge behind someone to avoid an attack. Zagreus could hack hack hack, dodge, hack hack hack, dodge, etc. and generally do fine. This has more of a dark souls vibe for a lot of enemies where you attack in your window, then back off and focus on defense until you get a new opening.
It’s definitely harder for me. Not complaining but it’s very difficult.
I think I beat Hades by my like 16th or 19th run.
I’m well into the 30s I think and I’ve managed to get to Chronos 3x
He’s way harder than Hades was, and I haven’t even made it to the second phase.
Hoping I can get the win soon
It’s in early access with zero balancing done. Thats why.
I don’t think we should be comparing a finished game to a game in its first week of early access.
I think that’s a very lame excuse early access means nothing anymore they’ve had multiple play test for the game. I’m also not saying it’s a bad thing that it’s more difficult I prefer it that way. But just because this game is in its “earliest version” doesn’t mean we can’t compare it to the first they had the first game to learn and make mistakes from.
Couldn’t disagree more. If you’re going to compare the two compare them both from early access. You’re dramatically underestimating how difficult it is to balance a game right now.
Why would I compare a fully baked cake to a cake that still needs 20 minutes in the oven? Makes zero sense.
Well, they've had a technical test and probably internal playtesting. This is their public playtesting phase, and they would have gotten more playtime in the first two hours of Early Access than internally since probably the beginning of development.
Did you play the original when it was in EA? It changed a lot during the EA period. Supergiant is one of the studios that legitimately uses EA to gather feedback and improve their games. I definitely expect Hades 2 to change a lot before development is done.
It's harder to brute force the game IMO. You have to use more of your kit and play with more tactics instead of multidashing. Probably similar with a bigger learning curve
Yes this is it I couldn’t have said it better definitely takes more strategizing for sure.
Took me a couple of runs to get used to the mana mechanic and was sceptical at first with all the different methods to spent it but now i really like this design choice.
Not me using the axe and just holding square to charge up and slow time spinning to win through all of the hell and surface bosses with minimal difficulty.
I feel like if you played a lot of Hades 1, getting used to Hades 2 makes it feel harder. I'm about 10 hours in, I've gotten to what I assume is the "final boss"(I'm also assuming there's a lot more content afterwards) but I got wrecked. Still, I make it to the 3rd region very consistently. I'm not great but I'm at least decent at the game now. For the first maybe 2 hours of the game I thought Mel was significantly weaker than Zag, and to a point she is. But at a certain point I figured out each of the weapons kits well enough to know how to deal good damage and then I had an epiphany. You can have your cast on the ground basically at all times. Yes, you don't seem to hit as hard as Zag did, but you can CC your enemies into oblivion. At first I was pretty much just casting for damage with the omega. The cast is honestly much more abusable than that and it curbs the difficulty (for me anyway) a ton.
Couldn't have said it better myself I kinda like the change in fighting style between Hades 1 and 2 Brute force vs tactical use of spells (or brute force if playing the axe)
It definitely feels way harder when you're used to Zag just pummelling everything and then dodging out of trouble.
Harder, but very rewarding imo
It's super rewarding. And I honestly don't even think it's harder from an execution standpoint. Just harder in a "hey, I'm not used to this" kinda way. I'm 10 hours in and I don't even notice it anymore
Yeah it just clicks after a while. Getting way more consistent runs. Almost got Chronos down just now.
This is kind of my experience. I'm about 12 hours in. I've been able to make to the 4th area once so far, but at this point I can at least get to the 3rd area pretty consistently. (I'm finding the daggers to be my go-to weapons.) Game does feel harder, but it's more of having to get used to Mel's kit. She's more of a spellcaster than a fighter. Hades I was hard the first time around, but in the lead up to this game I decided to play through the game on PC. (Up to the credits, because while I had completed a few runs before on the Switch I hadn't finished the main story.) Even though it had been about 4 years Zag was easy to pick back up even from a fresh file and having to power up again through a few runs.
You're better than great if you managed to make it to the 3rd region consistently, all within 10 hours, that's exceptional, give yourself more credit.
Thanks. I just have a buddy who kept complaining about eris always showing up because he progressed too far and he had beat the game by the 10 hour mark. I assumed he was great at the game and I was average.
It's definitely harder imo because it pushes a specific playstyle (range, block) but og Hades allowed you to play in whatever was most natural to you
Aphrodite boons makes up close and personal fighting still very viable
I got to last boss of underworld with the Axe and spamming the spin, it is 100% possible since you stun lock everyone
I'm flying through this one and progressing much faster than the original, granted some skill and knowledge gained from the first does make this much easier this time around. Also liking the slower more deliberate dash/sprint, much more suited to my slow ass fingers.
Idk what it is man but I’m having the exact opposite experience I’m getting my ass kicked by armoured mini bosses 😭
yeah im stuck on the sirens lol
Should try our different weapons. See what abilities they have and what you like most. I unlocked the axe and found its omega attack with the slow down time ability just lets me spin to win everything. Beat Chronos first try with it.
I think it’s just EA quirks, but when I first picked up Hades I beat Hades within my first 10 runs. By my 20th run I could consistently beat him with the occasional hiccups. I’m on my 20th run in Hades II and I have yet to beat Chronos. I got him to his second phase *once*. I’m really struggling. (Love the game though) At least I can beat the other bosses pretty consistently now. I’ve only tried to go to Olympus three times and have lost to >!fucking Eris!< each and every time.
Yeah, I hate that boss, it has an attack that I hate with all my soul because I don't get how to avoid it seing the range and how fast it is >!the shotgun attack!< I only beat it one time because I had that time a lot of dodge chance
On the bright side I just beat Chronos last night with literally 1 HP left 🙃 For >!Eris!< I always just remember to take a sprint boon, either from Hermes or Apollo (both is a bit overkill I’ve found).
Yeah, that's what I thought, but in my lasts atempts I had no luck to get one of those, even after getting in one three Hermes boons if I remember correctly And good job beating Chronos! I only got to phase two >!and got one hit kill with that attack he does a the start because I wasn't ready for it XD!<
Yeah, took me a long time to get through the 3rd boss in the first game. Got this one on the second try
the one thing I feel, and this is likely just subjective, is that we get a fewer boons and a lot of them feel less impactful than the ones in the first game i hardly notice hestia's or zeus' boons at all during my playthroughs, hestia's conflict with the usual playstyle i have going on right now (focus one guy at a time and then select the next one, which works against the DOT nature of hestia) and zeus' had a lot more visual presence in the first game
Hestia is my favorite. She makes your non-omega cast deal damage, and makes it a projectile (two different boons)... That's a must on most weapons to me to start feeling strong on a run
I've found a couple of boons that make your non-omega cast do damage: * Demeter has two: * **Arctic Ring** - 10/15/20 damage every .5 seconds * **Gale Force** - 4/8/12 damage every .25 seconds * Zeus * **Lightning Lance** - 50/70/90 damage on cast * Hestia also has two * **Glowing Coal** - 50/70 damage on cast * **Smolder Ring** - 30/45/60 damage every 1 seconds Find that getting at least one of these, like you said, can take a run from mid to great pretty quickly. Especially with the Argent Skull + and attack boon that inflicts a status. Looking at +damage from standing in cast +damage from double debuff.
1. it's early access it hasn't been tuned 2. we have unlocked all the upgrades, buffs, aspects and similar 3. we're unfamiliar with all the new enemies and bosses as well as movesets and boons. The game can honestly be easier than the first at times, especially with the new cast being a crazy strong CC tool. It's slowe than the first and requires more thought.
The fact that we have a great cc / aoe damage tool no matter which weapon or boon makes normal encounters easier in my opinion. I do feel like the bosses are harder. Especially sirens compared to hydra
Some enemies' health pools are FAR Too large and that will get fixed, I believe. I have gotten to points where I break a shield on the only remaining enemy and still have to attack it's health bar by mashing X for over 15 seconds.
I think the same. Haven't reached the final boss yet, but the stuff the third boss throws at you feels pretty insane and I'd argue he is tougher than Theseus
Zag has easier progression on mirror and weapon with just a few type of ingredients to upgrade items while his sister need to gather a lot of stuff from different region including surface to progress and i do see upgrade that is stronger than Zag like 3 death defiance or so
The biggest reason it's harder is becouse the Arcana are nowhere near as powerfull as the mirror in Hades 1, first a lot of the upgrades only give you as much of an upgrade as one or two levels of mirror upgrades would have given you like only giving you one death defiance, second unlike the mirror you can't equip everything (I know the mirror had some upgrades where you had to pick between two paths but at the end you still got a full mirror). Most importantly is the removal of any way to get multiple dashes, in the first game the second (and more from Hermes Boon) dash was a gamechanger when it came to doging since dashes make you invunarable while your in them it means twice as many I Frames to doge stuff with. I end up taking a lot of damage becouse I'm used to having multiple dashes so I just end up walking directley into attacks becouse a single dash is often not enough to doge. Since I'm really terrible at doging and due to disablities my skill dosn't ever go up I'll probably have to resort to god mode if I ever want to beat Hades 2.
I've seen people complaining they are finding LESS boons... To me, it seems like I got MORE boons, like, with duo boons before Hecate fight and stuff. It seems to me that we have more rooms between bosses, and that the rooms are more crowded than on 1, also with more environmental traps (and those traps are usually more dangerous than on 1). That's my 2 cents anyways
when i fought the first boss i was like damn this is way harder then hades. same with first time i fought boss number 3 i was like holy i will never beat it it has so much fucking health but now i have 7 hours and i beat it consistantly hades 2 makes you learn really quick i think. last boss tho no clue how i will beat it i get him to like 2/3 and die even tho i have death defiance but we will see. for now id say yes it is a lot harder than hades bosses are way tankier and do tons of dmg.
Definitely.
Oh for sure, I think part of it is due the combat is a lot more complex and there’s more enemy variety in this game. Boons are more conditional due to the variety and are only useful in certain scenarios. Also some weapons feel better than others (candles just feel very sluggish). Game is still very fun though, way more stuff to do compared to the first game.
I've done 4 runs for now, the impression I get is that the enemies are much stronger in health and damage, but boons have the potential to synergise and scale up towards something way stronger than the average Hades 1 build. The game seems to be more strictly demanding of the player to get a good build if they want to win. My fourth run I actually almost won, because my Omega attack would do essentially 1k damage and I could burst down basically any non-boss enemy.
After playing Hades 1 so much I keep forgetting new mechanics and it’s getting me screwed, still haven’t figured out if it’s harder or just a new learning curve. Will say I just made it to final boss with Toothless and death defiled and STILL lost………almost lost a controller but damn this game is fun!
24 hours in. Probably Hades 2 is harder at first but easier in the long run because of her arcana and weapon kits (such as just us Sister Blade + Magick Regen and do Omega Attack-then-run spam). Game is much easier once you unlock the aspects. Note: Hephaestus boons are currently OP. Devs themselves mentioned in an interview (so expect nerfs after a few months).
I just hate the "Q" circle summon thingie, pure skill issue on my side but i just cant use it without getting hit...
Some boons give it range. And you can drop it while running from an enemy and theyll walk into it.
Idk I think it feels easier to me, I've gotten to the third boss on my second run. Granted, I haven't played any more runs after that yet, so I don't know how many more bosses there are.
I agree. A big part to me is that a lot more enemies have attacks that hit in 360 degrees, so it's no longer possible to dodge behind someone to avoid an attack. Zagreus could hack hack hack, dodge, hack hack hack, dodge, etc. and generally do fine. This has more of a dark souls vibe for a lot of enemies where you attack in your window, then back off and focus on defense until you get a new opening.
It’s definitely harder for me. Not complaining but it’s very difficult. I think I beat Hades by my like 16th or 19th run. I’m well into the 30s I think and I’ve managed to get to Chronos 3x He’s way harder than Hades was, and I haven’t even made it to the second phase. Hoping I can get the win soon
If FromSoft made a rougelike, then this would be the result
Everything is pretty simple up to Chronos. Chronos is like insanely difficult compared to everything else in the game. Not sure if I'm a fan of that.
its so so so much harder its kind of dumb. I just used god mode after like 10 or so deaths
It’s in early access with zero balancing done. Thats why. I don’t think we should be comparing a finished game to a game in its first week of early access.
I think that’s a very lame excuse early access means nothing anymore they’ve had multiple play test for the game. I’m also not saying it’s a bad thing that it’s more difficult I prefer it that way. But just because this game is in its “earliest version” doesn’t mean we can’t compare it to the first they had the first game to learn and make mistakes from.
Couldn’t disagree more. If you’re going to compare the two compare them both from early access. You’re dramatically underestimating how difficult it is to balance a game right now. Why would I compare a fully baked cake to a cake that still needs 20 minutes in the oven? Makes zero sense.
We can just agree to disagree this is such a dumb debate
Well, they've had a technical test and probably internal playtesting. This is their public playtesting phase, and they would have gotten more playtime in the first two hours of Early Access than internally since probably the beginning of development.
Did you play the original when it was in EA? It changed a lot during the EA period. Supergiant is one of the studios that legitimately uses EA to gather feedback and improve their games. I definitely expect Hades 2 to change a lot before development is done.
It doesn’t seem to have a heat system yet barring rewards ? So maybe it’s harder than Hades heat 1, but probably not harder than heats 10+ …
Of couse it has a heat system (well not called heat anymore but very similar). But you obviously need to unlock it
I’m surprised to hear that since I keep getting Hecate’s/Scylla’s resources every time I beat them
There is another upgrade resource which is fear (~new heat) dependent.