Keep Dying at Cerberus

[OldManBanjo]

Okay, so playing on god-mod like the newb I am I now get to Cerberus every run without much trouble. However, the minute - and I mean the minute - I take any of the paths for the sack I die. Like, I die in the first room. I die to poison immediately each time.

Am doing something really obviously wrong? I know you can heal the poison, I know to avoid it. But it feels like a single mistake with the poison is enough to lose you your entire health bar immediately. But at the same time, given how fine my runs are up until that point I'm worried I might be missing something? Is it just a natural difficulty spike?

[Suzaku]

You just need to be aware of where the poison-curing wells are and get to them the instant you get poisoned. The rooms are tiny, so it's never more than a couple dashes away, but taking even a couple seconds to react can result in a lot of lost hp. You've just got to be quick.

[Cpt-Flank]

The satyr cultists will poison you via their pipe which you can easily dodge and the rats will bleed the poison which can get annoying.
You just have to quickly dash towards the wells to avoid taking a ton of damage.
Also you can focus more on increasing your Max health and buffing your AOE boons so that you are hitting multiple enemies at the same time.

[RecoveringOrbit]

I also found that the difficulty curve gets really steep in those final chambers. a couple things I do:
- taking a lot of/pomming up chain effects is really helpful for just clearing the room really quickly, hopefully before ever getting poisoned in the first place. Athena and Zeus' duo boon is really really good for this, but Zeus has a few chain effects on his own that are also really helpful. there are also some Daedalus upgrades that give chain effects to projectile weapons.
- smth that sounds obvious but took me awhile to get is that health management is something that can be set up really early in a run. prioritising centaur hearts VS anything except the Daedalus is helpful. Wells of Charon also offer some one-time items like Centaur Souls and Kiss of Styx. in Elysium specifically bringing in Charon's Keepsake the Bone Hourglass which increases the duration of items you buy thru the Well and grabbing Eyes of Lamia, Hydralites, and Touch of Styx can be helpful in prepping for the chambers.
- edit: this entire things a spoiler but also in Elysium finding Patroclus was extremely helpful for me as well. Kiss of Styx Premium/Touch of Styx Dark were my two favourite items for a long time lol
there are other things that make the chambers easier as the game progresses (unlocking more of the mirror being a big one, honestly) so I hope you're able to get thru soon! best of luck!

[TommyEV]

One simple answer: broken spearpoint. It's a compulsory keepsake for the tunnels+Hades.

[Nibbie]

You shouldn't take much more than single digits of poison damage from a single instance, given how tiny most rooms are and how close the clearing wells usually are. I don't think the poison even has any front-loaded damage, so double dashing and clearing right away almost nullifies the attack, or at least make it less than getting hit by many other attacks at that stage.

The only ways to get poisoned is by satyr dart, rat spread, or floor wells. The satyr darts can be blocked by terrain or dodged due to their windup and travel time. The rat spread can be outranged, waited out, or lured away from. The floor wells are visible ahead of time, so try to avoid staying in those areas. Of course, this all gets complicated by other enemies or the design of the room, and sometimes a combination of the two can be quite overwhelming, but as long as you stay mobile it is usually managable.

[OldManBanjo]

Thanks for the tips guys. I think i'll definitely try and get the spearpoint. But for now I'll have an attempt just focusing on staying near the wells. I think I also tend to panic now as this place keeps ruining my runs.

[WumpasTamer]

I initially got really flustered with those rooms... its true you have to be able to get to a well asap, but for me the main thing was to listen and use cover. Satyrs make a hocking noise before they attack, so if you hear it get behind cover. You could also try for athenas dash, which will deflect and poison them back. Above all take your time at first... if you run into a mass of satyrs and snake stones guns blazing you WILL get melted

[smreyno]

This is probably a newb tip but Divine Dash, in addition to its many other positive qualities, is real real helpful in Styx for just making poison bounce away. Take that Athena boon at the beginning and let it take care of you.

[Burnin' Hay Bale]

Those rooms want you to panic and dash like a headless chicken, you gotta stay strong and cool down. Abuse cover when possible and let the enemies get close to you, pelting them with cast and ranged specials when availble.
My favourite tactic in the Temple of Styx includes Poseidon's boons and lots of wall slamming, given how small the rooms are. With the right couple, you literally pin enemies to the wall long enough to slay them without a chance at hitting back. I just had a run where one sword's special would get rid of Bothers entirely and leave Satyrs with <10% health that way, can't be poisoned if the enemy is already dead :P

[moonami]

i like to build tank so i dont lose half a health bar every time i enter a chamber lmao; just every time u have the option to get more maximum health do it!

[OldManBanjo]

Originally posted by dxnghk:

i like to build tank so i dont lose half a health bar every time i enter a chamber lmao; just every time u have the option to get more maximum health do it!

Just died again here. 300 HP full. Lost it all on one room. Think my reflexes are just too slow for this game given the damage near the end. If you can't dodge the darts - you will just die.

[Suzaku]

Maybe you can focus on using the shield for now. Block the darts, then charge and stunlock the dart spitting enemy. Or turn on God mode to add some damage reduction, then turn it back off once you're more comfortable.

[Clebardman]

Originally posted by OldManBanjo:

Originally posted by dxnghk:

i like to build tank so i dont lose half a health bar every time i enter a chamber lmao; just every time u have the option to get more maximum health do it!

Just died again here. 300 HP full. Lost it all on one room. Think my reflexes are just too slow for this game given the damage near the end. If you can't dodge the darts - you will just die.

You're probably panicking, going into tunnel vision, and not noticing you got poisoned fast enough. Hades is kinda unforgiving for that, you really need to mind your peripheral vision and keep a part of your attention on that lower left corner of the screen. For poison, Hemolites and Call charges, mostly.

The only advice I can give you is to take a deep breath. If you panic you won't notice anything going on, and you won't make progress. It's not a problem if you die again next time, but you should aim to learn something from it. Don't bother about trying to win at all cost under stress the next time, but instead look at the enemies. Pay attention to the attack animations of the satyrs and plague rats. Try to locate the antidote wells of the rooms and remember them. Keep your eyes somewhere between the action and the lower left corner to get used to having both in your vision.

I wouldn't suggest getting super high HP. Some decent hp is needed, but the poison's gonna melt you no matter your max health if you don't notice it in time anyway. Some of Hermes' mobility boons (+X dash, +% movement speed, or +100% movement speed on dash) and the dodge boon are probably more interesting, to get hit less and rush to the wells faster.

[Major Disarray]

try to do some progress without the godmode and you'll actually learn some of the game mechanics and those things will become trivial... not the answer youre looking for im sure but i assume you never learned anything