Pom Power: How Poms and Boon Levels work

This guide tells you everything there is to know about Poms of Power, what boons they affect, and how much they affect those boons.
Image by @RaptorHoundRune

How Levels (and Rarity) affect Boon Potency

Boons increase in potency with levels by a factor of their base value; that is to say their value when common and at level 1.
The amount of their base value by which they increase follows a diminishing order as they reach higher levels, potentially starting as high as 80%, then 60% next level, then 40%, 30%, 20%, 15%, and finally 10%, with any subsequent levels giving another 10% boost.

For example, a level 1 common Passion Dash has a power of 20. Give it one pom, and its power will increase to 36, since 80% of 20 is 16, 20 + 16 = 36. Give it a second pom and its power will increase to 48, since 60% of 20 is 12, 36 + 12 = 48. And so on and so on, following the above pattern.

Now, I say "potentially starting as high as 80%" because most boons' levelling starts at a later point in the pattern. We'll refer to this as the boon's "starting boost". There are actually very few that start at 80% as Passion Dash does.

For example, most cast boons have a starting boost of 60%, so upon reaching level 2 they'll get a 60% boost, then 40% at level 3, 30% at level 4, and so on. Most attack boons start at 40%. Some boons can start as low as 20%, such as Hunter's Dash. There are some exceptions to this pattern, as noted with the "Other boost progressions" and "Resistance Boons" sections below.


Now you may be asking, "What about Rarity? How do Levels and Rarity interact?" and the answer is, Rarity doesn't care about a boon's level, and vice versa.

Boons increase in potency with rarity by a certain amount per tier, regardless of their level. A rare Crush Shot will always have a power 10 higher than a common Crush Shot of the same level, and a rare Heartbreak Strike will always sport a boost percentage 15-25 higher than a common Heartbreak strike of the same level. Rarity scaling is typically much better for attack/special boons than cast boons. Rarity values are listed on the Hades wiki[hades.fandom.com] on each God's respective page.

It's worth noting that since levels/rarity for Cast Boons directly increase the damage value, rather than provide a % boost, said boosts effectively stack multiplicatively with other effects that increase cast damage, like Chaos cast boons, cast weapons, and Family Favorite/Privileged Status.


It's also worth noting that sometimes the expected value of a leveled boon is off by +/- 1 point and I don't know why. Is this the fabled floating point to integer rounding error?

Listing all Boons' Starting Boosts

There are 85 Pommable boons in the game (counting each gods' Shot and Flare as one boon)
<God Name> <Pommable Boons>/<Standard Boons>
Aphrodite 10/13
Ares 10/13
Artemis 12/12
Athena 10/13
Demeter 8/13
Dionysus 10/13
Poseidon 12/14
Zeus 13/13


80% Starting Boost:
-Passion Dash
-Wave of Despair
-Curse of Vengeance
-Holy Shield
-Frozen Touch
-Thunder Dash
-Heaven's Vengeance

60% Starting Boost:
-Crush Shot
-Dying Lament
-Curse of Agony
-Blade Dash
-True Shot
-Plalanx Shot
-Divine Dash
-Mistral Dash
-Trippy Shot
-Flood Shot
-Tidal Dash
-Poseidon's Aid
-Razor Shoals
-Static Discharge

40% Starting Boost:
-Heartbreak Strike
-Heartbreak Flourish
-Sweet Surrender
-Empty Inside
-Black Metal
-Urge to Kill
-Deadly Strike
-Deadly Flourish
-Artemis' Aid
-Hunter's Mark
-Hunter Instinct
-Hide Breaker
-Exit Wounds
-Divine Strike
-Divine Flourish
-Blinding Flash
-Brilliant Riposte
-Frost Strike
-Frost Flourish
-Demeter's Aid
-Snow Burst
-Drunken Strike
-Dionysus' Aid
-Peer Pressure
-Bad Influence
-Tempest Strike
-Tempest Flourish
-Typhoon's Fury
-Breaking Wave
-Wave Pounding
-Boiling Point
-Lightning Strike
-Thunder Flourish
-Electric Shot
-Zeus' Aid
-High Voltage
-Double Strike
-Clouded Judgement

30% Starting Boost:
-Battle Rage
-Drunken Flourish
-Numbing Sensation
-Billowing Strength

20% Starting Boost:
-Aphrodite's Aid
-Slicing Shot
-Ares' Aid
-Hunter's Dash
-Support Fire
-Crystal Beam
-Hydraulic Might
-Rip Current

1 Point per Pom:
-Pressure Points
-Drunken Dash
-Glacial Glare

Other boost progressions:
-Curse of Pain (60 -> 100 -> 128 -> 147 -> 161 -> 171 -> 178 -> 184 -> 190 -> ...)
-Impending Doom (60 -> 80 -> 95 -> 105 -> 110 -> 115 -> 120 -> ...)
-Clean Kill (15 -> 25 -> 32 -> 37 -> 40 -> 43 -> 46 -> ...)
-Athena's Aid (1.5 -> 1.75 -> 1.92 -> 2.04 -> 2.14 -> 2.24 -> 2.34 -> ...)
-Proud Bearing (20 -> 30 -> 37 -> 42 -> 45 -> 47 -> 49 -> ...)
-Positive Outlook (10 -> 15 -> 17 -> 19 -> 20 -> 21 -> ...)
-Lightning Reflexes (20 -> 30 -> 37 -> 42 -> 45 -> 47 -> 49 -> ...)
-Storm Lightning (2 -> 4 -> 6 -> 8 -> 10 -> ...)

Resistance Boons:
-Different League (10 -> 14 -> 16 -> 18 -> 20 -> 20 -> 21 -> 22 -> 23 -> 23; this pattern will stall more and more frequently as the total boost approaches 100%)
-Bronze Skin (5 -> 6.9 -> 8.8 -> 10.6 -> 12.4 -> 14.1 -> 15.8 -> 17.5 -> 19.2 -> 20.8 -> 22.4; this pattern will continue to slowly diminish as the total boost approaches 100%)
-High Tolerance (15 -> 19 -> 22 -> 23 -> 25 -> 26 -> 26 -> 27 -> 28 -> 28 -> 29 -> 30 -> 31 -> 31; this pattern will stall more and more frequently as the total boost approaches 100%)

Standard Boons that cannot be Pommed
-All Hermes boons
-Life Affirmation
-Broken Resolve
-Blown Kiss
-Blood Frenzy
-Engulfing Vortex
-Dire Misfortune
-Sure Footing
-Deathless Stand
-Last Stand
-Rare Crop
-Ravenous Will
-Nourished Soul
-Arctic Blast
-Killing Freeze
-After Party
-Premium Vintage
-Strong Drink
-Ocean's Bounty
-Sunken Treasure

[All_Hax_No_Skill]

[あなたが頭だというこ]

хмм

[The Sojourner]

Awesome guide. Now to see that this eventually gets ported over to the Hades Wiki....

"Positive Outlook" can be classified as a resistance boon, and "Storm Lightning" can be classified as "1 Point [+2 bounces] per Pom" since its leveling progression is linear.

[NoyKlava]

👍

[PARTY HARD]

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[Berendain]

This is good stuff. It would be nice to have a list of all the boons that can't be upgraded with poms.