Hades 2 is a difficult game, even with God Mode enabled. Every attempt to complete the main quest will see you bite the dust time and time again until you are strong enough to defeat each boss. To achieve this, one of the most important things to consider from the beginning is the protagonist Melinoë’s maximum Life and Magick.
Much like Grasp, neither your Life nor Magick gauge will be particularly high at first. Fortunately, you can increase both attributes in several ways. Want to know how? Keep reading this section of our guide to discover all the details.
In Hades 2, each run begins with only 30 Life. However, there are several ways to increase Melinoë’s health. You can improve her maximum Life permanently for the rest of the game, as well as increase it during each run. We explain both methods below.
If you want to increase Melinoë’s maximum Life permanently, you must visit the Altar of Ashes located at the entrance to the training grounds at the Crossroads.
Later in the adventure, once you unlock the Arcana Insights system, you can spend Moon Dust to upgrade your different Arcana Cards. This includes "The Titan," whose effects can be further improved to grant you even more maximum Life and Magick.
This means that you will always begin each run with a larger amount of Life.
During each Underworld run in Hades 2, you can increase your maximum Life by collecting Centaur Hearts. These items look like hearts with a red cross in the middle. Each one increases your maximum Life by 25 points, so make sure you collect them whenever possible.
You can also acquire and activate Arcana Card XIII, known as "The Centaur," to gain additional maximum Life after clearing every 5 chambers.
Do not forget that you can equip certain Keepsakes to improve your chances of survival. Although none of them specifically increase your maximum Life, some will restore Life at crucial moments. One example is the Ghost Onion, which restores some Life whenever you leave a chamber, up to a certain limit.
As with Life, Magick is an attribute in Hades 2 that can be improved both permanently and during each run. We explain both methods below:
To permanently increase Melinoë’s maximum Magick, you can do the following:
This is essentially the same method described above for permanently increasing your maximum Life, since this card improves both core attributes.
If you want to increase your Magick during each Underworld run, you should focus on collecting Soul Tonics. These special items resemble round bottles containing a blue star and increase your maximum Magick by 30 points.
Do not forget that you can also unlock and activate "The Centaur" Arcana Card to gain additional maximum Magick after clearing every 5 chambers. Having plenty of Magick will allow you to use powerful Omega Moves more often, activate the Hex granted by one of Selene’s special Boons and much more.
