Ranting about hidden aspects

[Jitsu]

*Spoilers for the hidden aspects, so stop here if you don't want to know wich they are*

So, after so much effort getting the hidden aspects, i wanted to share my toughts on them and briefly touch on the other aspects while im at it, and generally give my take on them.

Sword:

-Ah, good ol' Excalibur! was quite a surprise to get it, and thankfully it's a good weapon. Extra life, and insane amount of defense with hollowed ground and attacks that hit like a truck definetly make up for the loss of speed that it has. It's definetly a good choice, but sometimes its a better idea to just use Zagreus's style for the amazing speed it has. So both are great options, depending on what you want for your run.

Bow:

-Aspect of Rama, while not terrible, like most hidden aspects loses a lot of speed... on an already slow weapon that requires precision. In exchange you get bigger range and that damage share skill... but its special's damage is practically nothing, and setting up the shared damage is way too much work, especially considering that lining up a power shot after it is very slow. I think there's no way this aspect can compete with the amazing aspect of Chiron, the other 2 aspects aren't bad, but Chiron's definetly shines trough.

Shield:

-Now that's a weapon that has a lot of great aspects, i personally like the Aspect of Zeus, with that great blitz disk, but Zagreus added damage is not bad at all, Chaos may be the less useful one, but MAN, Beowulf is amazing. Maxed out, it's bull charge hits like a friggin truck, and it has some added damage on the combo that are really good. U do lose speed tho, so maybe Zeus aspect is still better. I would have to try more to come to a conclusion, but i'm definetly enjoying Beowulf a lot.

Twin Fists:

-Now we are talking!, aspect of Talos is pretty useful and cool, and all aspects are good overall, but ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥, that aspect of Gilgamesh is just brutal. super fast, wide attacks, a natural debuff... yeah, that's definetly one hidden aspect that i'll always use.

Rail Gun:

-Now, this is one i require more research on. So far, i'm getting the best results with Zagreus's aspect, put dionisius on its attack and some upgrade to the special and that's been my most sucesful weapon so far. I haven't been able to try Eris's aspect too much, but it does seem interesting too, but i hate running out of ammo too much. Now on to Lucifer... it looks pretty good, but after a few runs, i haven't been having as much sucess as Zagreus's style, and i'm not entirely sure why. I think the fact that you have to detonate the bombs is a huge drawback. But i've still to try it out maxed out, maybe its damage makes it worth it. But yeah, i'd say both are good.

Spear:

-AND NOW THE BLACK SHEEP OF THE WEAPONS, and it sucks, because i really like the gameplay of the spear, it was my favorite when just starting the game, and it's important lorewise, its aspects are Achilles, wich is very important in the story and Hades himself, so its a damn shame that the weapon is arguably the worse in the game, since i want to rant about it more than the others, i'll go over each aspect.

*Zagreus: Very basic, you get buffs for the special, wich isn't bad, but isn't great either... you mostly fight melee and the special is just a trow you add into the combo when you want, so its not a huge advantage, but not too bad overall.

*Achilles: Suicide. I haven't tried it after checking it out with Skelly, it just seems like a terrible idea, spear's ideal gameplay is to keep attacking and moving while keeping your distance, so a skill that gets you in the middle of the fray instantly seems like a terrible idea, not to mention accidental traps you can run in... so yeah, i'm not using that one.

*Hades: I guess... this is the best one?, i hate the spin attack, in a game as fast paced as this, just stopping to charge an attack seems like a death sentence, and often times it is. But that debuff is probably the most useful out of these abilities, so in the odd case where doing a spin is safe, at least it helps with its debuff

*guan Yu: AND HERE IT IS, the real reason i made this friggin topic. MY GOD THIS ASPECT IS TERRIBLE, if there was one weapon that needed an amazing hidden aspect, it was the spear, but by god, WHY!?.

For starters, it just cuts your health and health pickups for 70 friggin per cent!!!, its like a super heavy punishing pact item!!!, don't even think about using this thing until its maxed out, but even then, you have half your health and bonus health, its a huge HUGE drawback, so you should get something good in return, right?.... NOPE, you don't.

Guan Yu is slower than the other spears, it has a 3 hit combo that's slow and ruins the best attack of the spear, wich is the dash-strike. My best results with the spear is with serrated blade, wich makes the dash strike hit 3 times, wich is great, since its a very large aoe attack that can keep you moving and doing big damage. But with Gian Yu, if you accidentally do a normal attack, instead of the dash-strike, you'll do the second or third part of its stupid combo.

The spear is slow, but this time instead of having something to make up for that, you have even more drawbacks, making it possibly the worst weapon in the game!, the only, ONLY good aspect of this weapon is the projectile spin attack. But again, it takes a while to charge up, and it's slow moving and without much range, on the upside, it heals you a bit if it hits any enemies, but it definetly dosn't make up for having half health!!!

I maxed this weapon and i REALLY wanted it to work, but it's definetly a bad idea, i'll start leveling the Hades aspect now, since it seems the most usable, but yeah, its a shame the spear sucks so hard =/

Anyway, thanks for reading trough all that, share your toughts if you want too!.

TLDR:

-Aspect of Arthur is good for defense, but you can use Zagreus if you want speed.

-Aspect of Gilgamesh is freaking amazing, definetly use it.

-Aspect of Beowulf is also great, but Zeus's is a great option too.

-Aspect of Rama is too slow, Chiron's is a lot better

-Aspect of Lucifer is odd, needs more testing, but so far Zagreus's style is better

-Aspect of Guan Yu is the worst weapon in the game, nothing makes up for that huge health loss.

[LaChouette]

I have not tried Guan Yu above 9 Heat so I can't speak about its capabilities at high Heat. However, I will say it is a great weapon. The healing is very strong, especially if you get hammers that give you larger spin attack or faster spin attack. I have, quite frequently, with this aspect, beaten the final boss with more health than I had at the beginning of the fight. The special is just as good, if not better, as the regular one (a bit slower, but you don't have to get the spear back) and really useful to apply status effects. The spin attack is ranged, persistent AOE. Maybe you just need to play more carefully? The amount of total health you have shouldn't be important with this aspect, since you can heal to full every time you take damage.

It might be worthless at high Heat though, since you can't heal if enemies one hit kill you.

[Nibbie]

Dismissing Achilles entirely without even using it seems dumb. I don't favor it myself, but +150% cast damage is quite high. Also, you don't have to chase the spear! I believe special twice sends you to the spear, but special-attack pulls the spear back like normal.

For Hades, do you know you can dash while charging the spear to extend its range, the same way Hades and Achilles do? It is fantastic, allowing you to charge safely out of range and still hit, or dodge attacks and land your debuff at the same time. Makes the aspect much more reliable.

Guan Yu I don't favor either, but it (and cursed slash which has the same downside) is the only way to reliably heal in combat, thus the downsides. Also, you can dash while doing the attack combo, letting you get to the bigger hits without getting hit so much.

[Danny DeVito with a Gun]

Achilles and Hades are both great and net a ton of damage. The current top speedrun uses a fully upgraded Achilles

[Jitsu]

Originally posted by LaChouette:

I have not tried Guan Yu above 9 Heat so I can't speak about its capabilities at high Heat. However, I will say it is a great weapon. The healing is very strong, especially if you get hammers that give you larger spin attack or faster spin attack. I have, quite frequently, with this aspect, beaten the final boss with more health than I had at the beginning of the fight. The special is just as good, if not better, as the regular one (a bit slower, but you don't have to get the spear back) and really useful to apply status effects. The spin attack is ranged, persistent AOE. Maybe you just need to play more carefully? The amount of total health you have shouldn't be important with this aspect, since you can heal to full every time you take damage.

It might be worthless at high Heat though, since you can't heal if enemies one hit kill you.

I haven't had those results sadly, maybe if i get the right upgrades, but i have tried pretty hard to use the spin often and it just haven't worked that well for me. But again, that's just me, i think everything in this game can work under the right circumstances.

Originally posted by Nibbie:

Dismissing Achilles entirely without even using it seems dumb. I don't favor it myself, but +150% cast damage is quite high. Also, you don't have to chase the spear! I believe special twice sends you to the spear, but special-attack pulls the spear back like normal.

For Hades, do you know you can dash while charging the spear to extend its range, the same way Hades and Achilles do? It is fantastic, allowing you to charge safely out of range and still hit, or dodge attacks and land your debuff at the same time. Makes the aspect much more reliable.

Guan Yu I don't favor either, but it (and cursed slash which has the same downside) is the only way to reliably heal in combat, thus the downsides. Also, you can dash while doing the attack combo, letting you get to the bigger hits without getting hit so much.

Hmm will have to try that dash thing, i haven't actually used the hades spear yet, but im planning to.

Originally posted by Danny DeVito with a Gun:

Achilles and Hades are both great and net a ton of damage. The current top speedrun uses a fully upgraded Achilles

Hey don't bring speedrunners into this, i'm talking about stuff for us regular humans lol. I can see how achilles is good if you are a superhuman alien that can do all perfect shots, but u know, with a regular level of skill it dosn't seem like a good idea.

[Danny DeVito with a Gun]

Originally posted by Jitsu:

Hey don't bring speedrunners into this, i'm talking about stuff for us regular humans lol. I can see how achilles is good if you are a superhuman alien that can do all perfect shots, but u know, with a regular level of skill it dosn't seem like a good idea.

I mean, I'm no speedrunner but I do 10+ pact runs fine with it. Charging into enemies with Achilles nets big damage on its own and even more with something like Ares boons. The only thing I can say is that it has a bit of a learning curve to it, but I think it's the best of the spear aspects, and Hades is great on its own as well. It's only default and Guan Yu that I find to be mediocre

[Jitsu]

Originally posted by Danny DeVito with a Gun:

Originally posted by Jitsu:

Hey don't bring speedrunners into this, i'm talking about stuff for us regular humans lol. I can see how achilles is good if you are a superhuman alien that can do all perfect shots, but u know, with a regular level of skill it dosn't seem like a good idea.

I mean, I'm no speedrunner but I do 10+ pact runs fine with it. Charging into enemies with Achilles nets big damage on its own and even more with something like Ares boons. The only thing I can say is that it has a bit of a learning curve to it, but I think it's the best of the spear aspects, and Hades is great on its own as well. It's only default and Guan Yu that I find to be mediocre

Hm, gues i'll give it a try later then, its not like im happy with the spears i have anyway.

[NorthernDruid]

Don't underestimate the punch that quan yu packs. Yeah it's main attacks are kinda slow and heavy but the spin attack hits multiple times (which is great with something like Zeus, Dionysus or Demeter, which benefit from multi-hitting attacks), and the special does a chunk of damage and is much more spamable than the standard.

The health cut is not for the heal alone, it's for the entire package. It's a tricky and a bit unwieldy aspect, but that goes for all the hidden aspects. This one just makes it obvious by severely cutting down your health total.

[Xelane]

You can use Achilles to dash past the enimies instead of landing directly on them. I often use it when enemies approach and I want to essentially damage them while maneuvering around or behind them, while also getting a damage boost. It also acts as an extra dash which is very useful.

It is one of my favorite weapons.

[ATalksToSelf]

Side topic but, while I can understand feeling Rama is too slow, you have to approach it differently then the other bow aspects. It's the same idea as with any hidden aspect, you need to know how to adapt your game plan to work with the changes. In Rama's case, think of it as a melee weapon with some range, almost like the spear. You're right, the main shot is too slow to always get off in time, so don't try to use it to pick off targets one by one at a distance. That's how the normal bow works, but Rama is better for groups of enemies, focusing on crowd control.
First off, start with your special whenever you can. Having an effect spread around like jolted, hangover, or doom helps negate the low special damage, while also helping towards crowd control. This also takes care of the heat modifier that gives enemies shielded hearts, allowing you to start dealing damage on a whole group at once. From there, use your attack as enemies get close enough (getting the hammers for triple shot, twin shot, explosive shot, and extra damage up close help a ton), which will not only hurt the target a lot more but also spread that damage around some with shared suffering. Again, even more crowd control.

[Lunchboxx1090]

My dude, the spear of Achilles is one of my favorite spears in the game. it's special makes for a great ranged attack, and the ability to dash to it when thrown makes for AMAZING travel around the map, as well as a great dodger of enemy attacks.

[Hariman]

Guan Yu can be managed, but I want to max out the hidden aspect before I try it again. I got to Hades on the first try.

I found the bow's hidden aspect to be extremely slow and clunky, to the point where I'm hoping for an early Hammer than allows my to fire the regular shot without charging the next time I use it.

I barely got to Elysium with the bow's hidden aspect.

[Virgil]

They definitely require different strategies to work effectively. I'm a big fan of Excalibur/Aries, and I'll occasionally see great success with Lucifer combined with Dionysus/Aphrodite for DoTs and weakness - Artemis with Support Fire can be great here too since Lucifer hits so rapidly... but yeah, I have to admit, the one time I used the spear legendary for the unlock was brutal.

I don't doubt that all the aspects in the game can shine in the right hands and with the right build, but I often use Hades as my default for the spear. Just seems safer and a little more predictable.

[Montenico, Lord of Boxes]

Excalibur is kinda boring, imo.
Guan Yu may seem like it has too many drawbacks, but it's amazing, especially if you get something that makes the spin attack faster.
The aspect of Beowulf ♥♥♥♥♥. We agree on that.
Aspect of Gilgamesh is great, but I personally use Demeter's more.
Aspect of Rama is fine, but I got the exploding arrows upgrade once near the end from an anvil and ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ that was unsufferable.
Aspect of Lucifer is weird indeed.