#and i t just doesn't have a big enough aoe

[yandere-daydreams]

what are your main team(s) !!

djfklsjkldjsffjfdk i have been waiting for this question for MONTHS. i have several.

exploration: either wanderer + barbara + venti + ei or aether + bennett + venti + wanderer. either way ameno renosence is an absolute must.

combat v.1: wanderer + barbara + nahida + yae miko. i'm thinking of pulling for childe and putting together a real hyper-bloom team, but that really depends on the luck of the gacha gods y'know.

combat v.2: eula + diona + xiangling/dehya + ganyu. i have ganyu built as a melt dps, but a freeze build is in the works for her and i'm hoping that'll give eula a physical damage bonus bc she's wonderful and i love her <3

'just get it over with': ei + barbara + nahida + yae miko. i'm absolutely reliant on nahida and yae miko would be on my main team whether or not she actually did damage, but i really cannot overstate how well they work together omg. and the electro damage is just,,,, to die for. i'm a bit too reliant on them tho, and i really want to see if ei would work as a good burst dps on a team with ganyu, so there are plans in-work to free me of my electro-mommy reliance. i hate to break up a married couple but if i don't beat floor 12 of the spiral abyss soon, i think i may actually eat my pc. y'know, for catharsis.

[diaryofamadhealermain]

Piers Plays Pugs: Red Mages are Under-appreciated

Or

Don’t Queue at 6 AM

Log on to do Omicrons before work because I didn't do them yesterday evening. I have some time. 90 roulette heals in need? Aight bet.

Dead ends.

I consider leaving. I make the incorrect decision and stay because godsdamned Godbert Manderville. I want the tomes.

Gunbreaker only uses arms length, until I let them drop to 20%, and *then* I get a rampart. Okay, okay. It's operation bare minimum then, ok ok. The red mage is also continuously ripping aggro, so I have to spot heal them.

First boss, gnb and smn eat it to miasmata. rdm tanks it like a champ while I get a swift raise out. get us healed up enough i can hard raise the smn with a kerachole ticking for some targeted aoes coming. And the aoes come, I'm casting....the tank runs and stands on me.

The joke is on you, potato. I don't want to be here.

I don't move.

At the last second, the potato chickens out and runs. I get my cast off.

The gnb still isn't using cool downs. Just out here in space, taking weird alien busters raw.

Pulls to the second boss go much the same as the first. Arm's length. Rampart near death. Red mage is making friends. Notably, the summoner is not making friends at all. Interesting

Second boss. I try to be very mindful of my positioning here, because it's a big arena, and mechanics make the center a bad place zone and keep the party separated for most of the fight. I try to be on the boss' butt and between the dps if I can be. Nah, the red mage fucks off next to the tank. The smn is following me, which usually isn't the worst idea but we have aoes so I'm running, they're following, the tank still isn't using cool downs, and the red mage is out of range. This goes about as well as you would expect, but I manage it so only the tank dies to not using cool downs on busters, and let the red mage tank for a second while I get the potato un-mashed. This red mage is a fantastic sport. I regret I can only give them one comm for this.

Last set of pulls. The gnb has realized something is wrong, but has determined, Principal Skinner style, that it is the healer who is wrong, and starts to single pull. Ok ok. So they get kardia and soteria, until they literally need a druochole to live. *Now* I see camouflage and aurora.

Still having to watch the red mage like a hawk, because they're still incredibly popular with mobs.

I find it worth mentioning that someone here isn't rolling on loot. I n t e r e s t i n g.

Get to Rala, finally.

Gnb and Smn both stand in overlapping circles of Prance. Predictably, they both hit the floor. Shield the rdm, get the tank up, heal up, hard cast smn up, wash rinse repeat.

I imagine them thinking to themselves, should we move out of these line aoes? Nah, it is the healer who is responsible. The smn eats it again.

Now the rdm helps with a raise. okay. Heal up.

Stack marker. I get out a mit and a shield and the tank doesn't stack.

O. KAY.

Do I need to say how done I am. Super done. So done.

Meteion did nothing wrong.

Tank eats it to prance.

Rala is at 3%.

Kardia. Red mage.

Kill.

Out.

Never again.

[footnotefever]

For a first-time clear, Arthur aspect is fantastic. The health boost and aura give you wiggle room in the two endgame bossfights, and if you manage to grab the Daedalus upgrade for the aura, the bosses become so much more manageable.

The trick with it is that dashing doesn't restart your attack sequence, and the third attack in the chain deals elysium-tier damage at the very start, and only gets better as you add boons. Slap on Artemis on attack for the delicious, delicious crits, or Aphrodite & co. for the big percentile damage boost, and just go to town.

Another good beginner strat is to use Malphon's Talos form, which has the magnet draw. Apart from hitting like two small trucks, it draws enemies in. Combine this with Poseidon's special, and you can yo-yo most regular enemies to death from complete safety. Additionally, idk if this applies to every version, but the switch version slows down for a second when you chain these specials and oh god did that help so much during the final two bosses.

One final piece of advice is just Poseidon. He is a bit ehhh generally, but his boons have amazing synergy and snowball into something incredibly ridiculous. They are also perfect for the final area of the game, with its small corridors and many enemies. Stack enough Poseidon and you can actually use his dash as your main damage source, knocking back, rupturing, causing watery explosions, and if you get Zeus' duo boon, basically nothing can stop you.

If you're not in a place to fully commit to these strategies because it's so early in the game, here's some good base advice:

-give your first two nectars to Cerberus and Skelly, and then use their trinkets.

-unlock a different weapon asap, this triggers Skelly's appearance.

-the mirror has two must-have upgrades: death defiance and max health. I'd save keys to get to these asap, they make the learning process so much more bearable.

-prioritize upgrades which actually help you mechanically, ignore the cosmetic ones untill later.

-every run will contain a pool of about 4 gods + hermes, randomly determined at the start. Other gods won't appear unless you invoke them with a trinket. Every god has boons that only appear after you already have some of their boons, mostly the attack, special and/or cast ones. You can buy a thing in the shop that'll show you all the potential boons. Those later boons can be VERY worth it.

-the bosses are huge pains in the ass untill you learn their attacks, after that they're very manageable.

-Hydra's a dps test, focus on the heads when they show up; first break spawns 3, the second 6. AoE abilities are very useful here. Ranged weapons are a godsend.

-For the Dynamic Duo, use the pillars in the arena to block T's spears - after the throw, he takes several steps backwards during which you can snipe/dash in for 1-3 attacks. If you have a chtonic companion or a damaging call, save it for his second phase to kill him instantly. Bullboy's charges can be stopped by dashing through the pillars (this works in his solo fight too), but he needs to be a certain distance away from them. Learn his strike patterns so you know when it's safe to dash in. And for gods' sake, don't bring them both into critical unless you're REALLY sure you can land that chtonic companion/call.

-Worst Dad has two phases. I know. I'm sorry. Watch out for that faint circle that signifies his spin attack, and don't dash in the direction he's aiming in. Killing the skulls before they explode can be very helpful if you can't get the dodge timing right. Take care of the enemies he summons, they might seem too tanky but they just have high armor & their health is really low. In the second phase, he starts out with an AoE like the ones from the skulls, and likes to summon amphoras (which make AoE poison puddles that stun and damage you) and increasingly anime laser barrages (hide behind the two pillars, dash THROUGH them if needed). He's faster but doesn't summon in this phase.

I would love some advice on how to not suck at Hades, I keep dying lol. And do casts just sort of suck or am I using them wrong?

okay, so if you’re struggling with surviving, Hades has an easy mode, and no, it’s not “God’s mode”. It’s Athena’s dash. Put Athena on the dash and dash a lot, which you should be doing anyway. Like, I cannot overstate how much of a bulletproof vest Athena’a dash is. 

Overall, Hades is a game with a lot of hidden mechanics and a lot of things just straight up suck if you don’t set them up correctly. I’m gonna try to give quick examples of builds that 100% work and are relatively easy to get, so you can try them to see how good the weapon actually can be, and also mention things that do NOT work, so you’re not stuck in a miserable build, trying to make it work and thinking it’s your fault somehow.

General rules of choosing boons:

For attacks that have high base damage (sword main and special, main bow attack, main spear, gun special) you want boons with percentage upgrades, like Artemis, Aphro, Athena (triple A), Demeter. Poseidon is generally not great for melee, bc he knocks enemies away when you want them in range for hits. 

For attacks that have low base damage, but high speed (bow special, fists, AK-47) you do not want percentages, but boons with flat damage, like Zeus, Dionysus, Ares. 

You’re right, casts do kinda suck by themselves, they are normally supplemental damage at best, but you can make a cast build, you have to use specific weapons: Poseidon sword, Hera bow, Achiless spear, Beowulf shield. I’ll explain cast builds later, but generally you want to focus your build on one or two things that do max damage and not try to have everything upgraded at once, bc then everything will be mediocre and miserable. Like, if you’re playing vanilla sword with Artemis attack and Aphrodite special, focus on them, don’t try to upgrade cast or dash or whatever.

There are higher chances for rare boons, duos and legendaries in the rooms with minibosses. You cannot get a Duo boon of two gods in their trial. Use codex to see what exactly you need for legendaries and duos, and what gods are best to choose to compliment the main one you have. Try unlocking Privileged Status in the mirror as soon as possible, it’s +40% damage bonus if you have two curse effects going, which is pretty easy to get. Great Hermes boon combo is Hyper Sprint that gives you 100% bonus move speed after dashing and then Rush Delivery, that gives you damage bonus based on any bonus move speed. Epic Rush delivery is 100% bonus damage, so after dashing with hyper sprint, you’ll do 100% more damage, it’s pretty fucking OP.

Now I’ll go thru the weapon list with easiest best builds:

Shields are generally seen as the best defensive option for first clears. I don’t love them personally, but I agree, they are pretty good for defense. For easy shield build, slap Ares on special, someone from AAA on attack. I don’t think shields need a lot of advice, they are pretty easy. 

Fists: the best build for fists is Merciful End, and it also allows me to show how untransparent game mechanics are. It’s Ares+ Athena duo that allows Doom to trigger every time you deflect and it needs Ares attack\special + Athena attack\special. If you try it just like that, frex, Athena attack + Ares special, it kinda sucks. Ares attack + Athena special also kinda sucks. No, to make it work, you need to put Ares on attack, Athena on special AND Athena on dash. Athena on special is only there to unlock the duo boon, but it only becomes good if you actually activate it with dash instead of special. So the most efficient way to play is quickly applying Doom with attack (take Ares’ Impeding doom and Dire misfortune for bigger doom damage), and quickly dashing so massive Doom damage triggers every time you dash. This shit erases bosses and keeps you pretty safe despite melee range bc of Athena dash. 

Bow: vanilla bow kinda sucks, ngl, but Chiron, Hera and Rama are pretty fun.

Chiron thrives on the power of its special, you just hit someone with attack and spam special without even aiming. Dio is very good on special here, and for attack you can put Ares or Aphro, both of whom have useful duos with Dio and also allow for Privileged Status. if you take Dio’s cast, you can go for his legendary, but it’s not that great to like build for it on purpose.

But also try the Sea Storm build, which is: Poseidon on special, Zeus somewhere (he’s bad at bow attack and his cast and dash are generally garbage, but his call is good) and then get Sea Storm, which is Zeus+Poseidon duo. Good supplimentary boons: Zeus’ Jolted, double strike, Poseidon’s Razor Shoals, wave breaking. Jolted+Razor Shoals allow you to apply Priv Status in one hit. Poseidon’s legendary is garbage, don’t bother, but Zeus’ is decent if you can get it. This build let you do massive damage while staying safely away from the enemies

Sword: vanilla sword is meh, Nemesis is very good, Poseidon is decent for cast builds. Athur is slower than Thanatos, but pretty tanky.

For basic Nemesis build, get like Arty attack, Aphro Special, Athena’s dash to be safe, go for Arty+Aphro and Athena+Arty duos, and Arty’s boons focused on critical damage like Pressure Points, Hunter’s Mark, Clean Kill. Mainly use dash-strikes, you don’t want to stand in one place to finish combos bc you’ll get hit. If you get Athena’s secondary boon with Exposed status effect, you’ll get Priv Status, and also you should be backstabbing a lot with how much you dash. Hermes’ boon with additional dashes is a must have here, but it’s also great in general. 

Gun: Lucy is ok, but Eris rail is the best one, slap Zeus on attack and all of his supplementary boons (Jolted, Storm lighting for legendary, double strike), but most importantly, pray for Cluster bomb and Rocket bomb hammers. If you can get them, this shit becomes insane. With Arty or Aphro on special it’ll do thousands of damage in seconds. Tbh, I don’t really like playing with Eris, bc it’s too easy and also doesn’t even require skill, but I got my highest heat (40) and quickest time (12 min) with it because it’s just that OP. You don’t even need Athena’s dash, Poseidon’s dash is very good here, esp if you get Sea Storm, it makes clearing small rooms in styx very quick and easy. 

Spear unfortunately sucks a lot in Hades, tho it seems fun at first. Achilles is the best aspect and only because it’s for cast builds and you won’t use the spear itself. 

It pains me, because I love Guan Yu, but I gotta admit, it does kinda suck. Healing shit is not really worth it unless you get a Quick Spin hammer, but even then you risk being hit for more than you’ll heal. The only viable option of playing Guan Yu is a no-hit sniper rifle. You have to get Charged Skewer hammer, something heavy hitting like Arty on the special and just spam the special from across the room. I like playing this build, it’s pretty fun and with backstab you can get 1k in one hit, but it is kinda limited and depends on the hammer. They buffed the main attack lately, but it’s still too slow and clunky to be worth it. Poseidon on special is also pretty good here, because you want to knock enemies away, and Sea Storm is good with it too. 

Cast builds: Poseidon is a good cast option with +50% cast damage, but Achilles is the best, because it has +150% damage after special for 4 attacks. Try Achilles with Zeus cast, which normally sucks, but with Achilles becomes very good. Another great option is Athena, with Aphro on something else to get Athena+Aphro duo that allows casts to backstab. 

Casts that need specific builds to work: Ares cast is only good with Arty duo, try it. Also get Ares supplementary boons for his rifts that make them bigger and longer, etc.

Demeter base cast sucks, but if you get a full build, it’s very OP. full build is: Arty+Demeter Duo MUST HAVE, Glacial Glare that makes lasers stay longer also must have, and pom it as high as possible. If you don’t get one of these things, it’s gonna be miserable, if you get them, you don’t have to make a single hit yourself, icy lasers of death will melt everything. Get as many cast stones from Chaos as you can.  

Hera bow is a great cast weapon, try Athena cast, Poseidon that has great AOE and slides nicely into Sea Storm, or Aphro cast. Trippy Shot (Dio cast) with Hera is very fun and both Dio duos with Zeus and Demeter are very good, and you can get them at the same time, tho it’s unlikely. To be safe, focus on Zeus+Dio, if you get Demeter too, it’s a nice OP bonus. 

Beowulf shield works basically like Hera and same shit works for it too.

If you have specific questions, feel free to ask while I still have this fucking database in my head lol