Hades

I use dash-strike a LOT in Styx if I'm not ranged. And always pick something with bonus damage to armour if it's offered. Once the rats aren't yellow any more, you can stun-lock them pretty easily.

I switched on God Mode the other day- it got so I was escaping more often than not anyway, and now I just want to clear up the remaining story threads quickly and efficiently. Didn't realise God Mode levels up too, getting it up to 80% damage reduction will really tip the balance.

Finally got to Hades, twice. Managed to get him down to about 50% life both times too. Suffering with shit weapons and need more blood. Not helped by the fact that I wasted two vials of it on the sword's first aspect Got the fishing rod, but not had any luck yet.

Managed to fuck myself over royally on my last run. Using the Sword, I took the Daedalus Boon which reduces overall life but recharges it with every attack. Combined with Demeter's laser crystals I was smashing the place up. Then for my second Daedalus Boon, like a complete donkey, I choose to swap my attack combo for a slow overhead strike. In Elysium, with the chariots and the regenerating fuckers. Obviously I didn't last long.

I'n now at a point where I will always reach the end of Elysium, and about a 50% chance I'll get past, depending on if I picked boons to win or picked them just to cross them of the list of prophecies...

Managed to defeat the big guy once so far (twin fists and a bunch of Poseidon boons), but got really close two more times...

I see people mention God mode? What's that all about?

Surprised to see people hating on the sword, I think it's my main weapon alongside the fists...

Yeah I've done stuff like that, some weapon upgrades really don't go well together, especially in the hidden aspects. I almost never take the "lose one random Deadalus upgrade and gain two" thing from the Styx shop for that reason.

For what it's worth, I have the sword's first aspect fully uograded and love it. The later aspects are more interesting in how they change movesets or whatever, but 15% move and attack speed boost is decent

Try making friends with various characters. Give them gifts and such.

EDIT: in response to the second question. See Geoff's answer for the first question.

I've given all characters at least one jar of nectar, not found anyone who will take ambrosia as of yet...
I'm progressing some story lines for side characters. I'll just keep at it and see where it takes me...

hedben:
Cheers, I thought it would've only been for achievements or something, giving them more than one bottle.
I tried by giving Achilles a bunch but he just said he wants to be friends, nothing more. Which wasn't what I was going for but that made me think it didn't have any use.

That's a ton of nectar I'd need to find though...

Yes, and I end up with quite a few keys because I like having a re-roll when I don't like the boons on offer. Keys to nectar and nectar to diamonds is a good way of using the vendor to get all the diamond unlocks you want.

Finally got the end credits (proabably ~130-150) runs. I still struggle to beat Hades, I can get to Styx pretty much every time but if the build is not right I can soon burn through all my death defiance. I've turned god mode on now so hopefully I can burn through some of the quests a bit quicker. It's amazing how different it plays depending on what weapons/boons you pick up.

At first I hated the fists, seemed like going close up was a suicide run waiting to happen.

Now they are my favourite weapon by far and super fun to use.

Finally got the platinum \o/

Bit of a grind towards the end to max the keepsakes, but there were plenty of prophecies and relationships left to keep things interesting away from the trophies. I still have a few to do before I move on, including a couple of Daedalus hammer enhancements that elude me, and I'm still waiting for Orpheus to help me out with something!

Yes, for me Elysium is where runs go to die. It's a combination of a lot of things, but those fucking chariots are the worst part.

In most cases, if I can beat that then I go on to win the whole run.

I tended to stay away from it because it’s not that useful for bosses but something with bonus armour damage is useful for that stage.

It does actually help with mobs bosses so spawn, so I was wrong on that front, too.

My son, about to turn 9, likes Minecraft dungeons and want's to get the expansion pack for it.
But, being a parent I thought that maybe I should try and upgrade him to better games.

So, is Hades a hack and slash that can be played by someone who skips all dialog?