Unsure about all the mechanics and Boons

[Tucker]

So I've logged about 30 hours now, and I'm really enjoying the game for the most part.

My critiques right now are around the efficacy of some of the Nocturnal Arms alternative forms, and how some of the new game mechanics work with Boons.

First off is the Sprint mechanic. It feels like putting a hat on a hat from the last game's dodge ability and now that there's a "Start" and "End" when it comes to sprinting, I feel that the boons which focus on adjusting how you sprint don't really affect game play. They feel like passive buffs that don't contribute to the run you're part of, and there are too many to keep track of while you're playing, and that makes boons feel less important.

ALSO: some of the boons are worded quite strangely. For example, I couldn't figure out why you'd want Hera's Born Gain ability.

[Fire walk with me]

For born gain when you run out of mana you regain all mana up to a reduced amount. At base if you had say 100 mana and you ran out it would restore up to 80 mana which would be your new cap for that encounter. If you ran out of mana again you would fill up again to 60, etc. That effectively gives you 300 mana for a single room which is pretty reasonable.

[Tucker]

Yeah it took me a second to realize that it AUTOMATICALLY restores all your mana after running out, but it primes what it fills up again.

It didn't immediately make sense the way it's worded. Because when I read it I thought "Why would I want to prime my magic capabilities throughout an encounter?" Not realizing that it'll let you keep using Omega moves without having to stop.

Even then I don't see it as super useful - after a certain point your mana can just recharge automatically OR with a boon that gives you mana back per strike.

In the end it still doesn't make sense to me because you could potentially block out ALL your mana by accident during a particularly long encounter. Why wouldn't I just continue to play around my Omega Moves and wait for mana to recharge; therefore I'd have Infinite mana per encounter?

[Fire walk with me]

For me personally I very often run mana-less builds, so it takes the reliance out of the picture altogether. This strategy works really well for me at zero fear or higher 32 fear runs.

At low fear it is a reasonable gain boon if you are not hyper focusing on omega skills.

If I am using a mana heavy build Hestia is my top, then Aphrodite. Posiedon gain seems really popular, and Apollo is great for some cast centric builds.

Zeus and Hera are definitely more middling imo, but usable in a pinch. Not my personal faves, but I wouldn't call them unusable.

[Tucker]

I guess it just feels like there are more "correct" boons per weapon in this game, where as in the first one it felt like each boon was viable for every weapon.

[Fire walk with me]

Originally posted by Tucker:

I guess it just feels like there are more "correct" boons per weapon in this game, where as in the first one it felt like each boon was viable for every weapon.

Honestly if you give it the time and effort I believe those feelings will pass. I had very different opinions at the 30 hour mark versus the 300 hour mark. I love this game and my playstyle and preferences have changed dramatically over that time.

There are a variety of resources that have opened my eyes to various builds and playstyles I would not have come up with on my own. Steam boards, youtube, reddit, even the in game Chaos trials gave me some really neat ideas I may have pushed back against without just diving in and trying it.

I was a death defiance purist at the start and then I saw the light of the almighty strength arcana and I have not gone back since. Zeus' jolted I used to think was terrible and now it is by far one of my most favored and heavily used boons.

I say simply keep an open mind, have fun with experimentation while keep expectations low and you may be pleasantly surprised.

[esotericist]

the beauty of the design is that without the available tools actually changing, they still manage to grow with you as your skill and understanding does. hades 1 had a fair bit of that, but even though i'm not caught up with it as much as i was with hades 1 when i stopped, i can see that hades 2 has so much more of it.

[Songbird]

Born Gain is the only magic regen boon that works automatically and instantly without relying on number of hits dealt and without a cap to the speed/amount of regen. It's usually the best regen in the game (by a huge margin) unless you are lowering your magic cap enough that it doesn't really function, at which point it becomes one of the worst. Builds that want to spend 40+ magic per second really can't use any other regen boon. (Ionic Gain can get close, but still has some awkward downtime.)

Sprint boons other than the ones that apply status curses tend to be pretty useless, yes. Demeter, Aphrodite, and especially Apollo have strong and impactful sprint boons, though.

[Koala 4peace]

Originally posted by Songbird:

Sprint boons other than the ones that apply status curses tend to be pretty useless, yes. Demeter, Aphrodite, and especially Apollo have strong and impactful sprint boons, though.

I do find Hestia's interesting, given that absolutely everything shoots something in this game.

[Tucker]

Thanks everyone!

[Tucker]

Originally posted by Fire walk with me:

Originally posted by Tucker:

I guess it just feels like there are more "correct" boons per weapon in this game, where as in the first one it felt like each boon was viable for every weapon.

Honestly if you give it the time and effort I believe those feelings will pass. I had very different opinions at the 30 hour mark versus the 300 hour mark. I love this game and my playstyle and preferences have changed dramatically over that time.

There are a variety of resources that have opened my eyes to various builds and playstyles I would not have come up with on my own. Steam boards, youtube, reddit, even the in game Chaos trials gave me some really neat ideas I may have pushed back against without just diving in and trying it.

I was a death defiance purist at the start and then I saw the light of the almighty strength arcana and I have not gone back since. Zeus' jolted I used to think was terrible and now it is by far one of my most favored and heavily used boons.

I say simply keep an open mind, have fun with experimentation while keep expectations low and you may be pleasantly surprised.

Thanks for the advice!

[Fire walk with me]

Happy to help. Enjoy!