Hades 2 Early Access Patch 2 Adds More Night Time Encounters, Refreshed UI, and More

Supergiant Games has released Patch 2 for the Early Access version of Hades 2, which adds more night time encounters, refreshes the UI, and more.Outlined in a Steam post, Supergiant first thanked fans for playing this early version of Hades 2 and for providing feedback which influences patches. This second update arrives less than three weeks after Patch 1 but features dozens of changes, improvements, and bug fixes.Balance changes take up a large part of the spoiler heavy patch notes, available below, but Supergiant has also made larger gameplay changes including the ability to encounter up to one additional Olympain each night, increased the invulnerability duration after Death Defiance, and the option to press and hold to continuously harvest Crescent Pick outcroppings.Hades 2 Early Access Review ScreenshotsHades 2’s menus and UI were also updated to include several new icons, the Chaos Trials have been reduced in difficulty, and some resources are now easier to come across in certain areas. As for weapon and ability buffs and nerfs, Nocturnal Arms, Keepsakes, Daedalus Hammers, Hexes of Selene, and more are all affected.Hades 2 arrived on Steam in Early Access on May 6, 2024 (delaying fellow roguelite The Rogue Prince of Persia as a result) and immediately proved a hit after doubling the original game’s peak concurrent player count in a single day.As a sequel to the critically acclaimed Greek mythology themed action roguelite, Hades 2 returns players to that world as they meet legendary figures like Odysseus, Nemesis, and Dora through a blend of storytelling, action gameplay, and dungeon crawling.In our 9/10 review, IGN said: “Even in its Early Access state, Hades 2 is just about everything one could ask for in a sequel to one of the best roguelites of all time. Featuring excellent refinements to its roguelite progression, a fantastic new main character in Melinoe, and two unique sets of levels that have you fighting foes on the surface and in the underworld.”Hades 2 Early Access Patch 2 NotesGeneral GameplayYou now can encounter up to one additional Olympian each night (as in the previous game)You now are likely to find one more Boon or other major reward while in ErebusIncreased invulnerability duration after your Death Defiance effects activateImproved rewards of Ash and Psyche can now be found in Oceanus and the Rift of ThessalyYou now can press-and-hold to harvest repeatedly from Crescent Pick OutcroppingsToula should now stay closer to you in Encounters, especially in the Fields MourningNemesis no longer offers Death Defiance items if you do not need to refill the effectReduced Gold cost of Selene’s Boon and Path of Stars in Charon’s ShopMinor adjustments to the order in which Olympians may first appear early onNormalized chances of finding Fishing Points in various regionsNocturnal Arms & AbilitiesWitch’s Staff: Special knocks foes away, but is slightly slower; Omega Special is fasterSister Blades: Special staggers standard foes longer; Attack visual FX better match the hitboxUmbral Flames: Attacks are stronger and faster; Omega Attack channels faster and uses less magick; Special gives a speed boost, but has reduced damage; Omega Special can be channeled while moving Moonstone Axe: reworked Special provides a lingering barrier; Omega Attack channels slightly faster; Omega Special channels fasterArgent Skull: Omega Attack channels faster and hits a larger areaAspects of the Nocturnal ArmsWitch’s Staff (Circe): adjusted activation and duration of Serenity effect; Serenity now adds Omega bonus damage that scales with this Aspect’s rankWitch’s Staff (Momus): reworked; each of your Omega Moves automatically fires several times in succession from where you use themSister Blades (Artemis): you will Block again if the effect recharges while you are channeling; Block now takes priority over Dodge and similar effectsUmbral Flames (Eos): reworked; Omega Attack now fires a slow shot that occasionally creates damage blasts and also copies your SpecialsMoonstone Axe (Melinoë): reworked; now adds Power and Max LifeMoonstone Axe (Thanatos): reworked; faster Attack adds Critical chance to Omega movesArgent Skull (Medea): improved hit detection on foes near impassable obstaclesArgent Skull (Persephone): you now earn Glory much faster, but only by using your Omega Cast; improved control responsiveness during Omega SpecialKeepsakesMoon Beam (Selene): increased bonus to Path of Stars upgradesDaedalus Hammer UpgradesMarauder Wallop (Staff): cut from game; replaced with…Rapid Thrasher (Staff): new! All your Attacks become fasterDouble Wallop (Staff): cut from game; replaced with…Wicked Thrasher (Staff): new! All your Attacks gain bonus PowerDouble Cataclysm (Staff): cut from game; replaced with…Mirrored Thrasher (Staff): new! All your Attacks hit twice, but you take more damageRapid Moonshot (Staff): also affects Omega SpecialDual Moonshot (Staff): also affects Omega Special; reduced range; renamed from Double Moonshot Shimmering Moonshot (Staff): also affects Omega SpecialAetheric Moonburst (Staff): increased Magick restoration from Power ShotConcentrated Flurry (Blades): cut from game; replaced with…Melting Dart (Blades): new! Your Special destroys a large percentage of a foe’s ArmorFlick Knives (Blades): new! Your Dash-Strike also fires several Special knives in a fan patternRapid Onslaught (Blades): reworked to also affect Omega Attack; renamed from Marauder SliceHook Knives (Blades): removed damage bonus; slightly reduced speed of knives returning to youFurious Fire (Flames): cut from game; replaced with…Mega Spark (Flames): new! All your Attacks travel farther and deal more damageInverted Spark (Flames): new! Dash to make shots from Attacks reverse direction and hit foes againLeaden Spark (Flames): new! Your Attacks knock foes away and have bonus PowerSustained Spark (Flames): also increases move speed, instead of reducing; formerly Sustained FireMelting Coil (Flames): no longer fires straight; also affects Omega Special; formerly Melting CometOrigin Coil (Flames): also affects SpecialRapid Slash (Axe): reworked to also affect Omega Attack; renamed from Marauder SlashGiga Cleaver (Axe): removed two-stage channeling (it always double-fires but uses more Magick)Dashing Heave (Axe): removed damage bonus; instead, it now hits twiceSidelong Crash (Skull): cut from game; replaced with…Mega Driver (Skull): new! Your Specials travel farther and deal more damageColossus Driver (Skull): also affects Omega SpecialHexes of SeleneWolf Howl: reduced Magick-spend requirementTwilight Curse: greatly reduced Magick-spend requirement; reduced foes afflicted; reduced cast timeNight Bloom: reduced Magick-spend requirement, effect duration, bonus damage, and cast timeLunar Ray: greatly reduced Magick-spend requirement; reduced damage; reduced cast timeMoon Water: slightly increased Magick-spend requirement; slightly reduced healingDark Side: slightly increased Magick-spend requirement; slightly reduced cast timeFoes & EncountersChronos: various fixes and adjustments; there should be fewer cases where he’s patently unfairInfernal Cerberus: minor adjustments to some attack patterns in the first phaseEris: grenade attacks no longer wildly bounce aroundPolyphemus: reduced effectiveness of Mutant SheepGoldwrath: reduced accuracy and tracking of beam attackQueen Lamia: slightly increased Armor; increased speed; other minor changesReed-Stalker: increased projectile speed and target distance; reduced rotation speedMourner: slightly increased rotation speed; slightly increased speed while attackingLamia: slightly increased life and Elite armorDire Shambler: reduced tracking speed between attacksHippo: self-destruct area should more closely match the visualsLevel Design & EnvironmentsDriftwood resources are more common in the Rift of Thessaly (a further increase since last patch)Burning Oil Slicks in the Rift of Thessaly will extinguish after Encounters, though may be reignitedAdjusted Oil Slicks in some locations in the Rift of ThessalyMinor fixes to several locationsFated List of Minor PropheciesClearing Original Sins no longer requires choosing the very rare Barren curse from ChaosChaos TrialsTrial of Heartache: reduced difficulty and adjusted based on Aspect changesTrial of Haste: reduced difficulty and adjusted based on Aspect changesOath of the UnseenVow of Forsaking: no longer helps ensure you quickly get Duo and Legendary BoonsMenus & UIAdded many new UI icons for Keepsakes, Weapons, Well of Charon offerings, and moreInsight Into Offerings (Cauldron) now also lets you check each Olympian’s list of offerings in the Book of Shadows while choosing their Boons (or the equivalent with other characters)With the prior change, adjusted default key binding for Rarify; some custom bindings have been resetAdded a warning when you are down to your last use of Death DefianceOpening the Book of Shadows should show entries for nearby characters more reliablyRemoved the Unused Grasp notification when exiting the Altar of Ashes while at a high Grasp limitUpdated Pitch-Black Stone screen to use Aspect-specific iconsAdjusted input action bar layout at the bottom of the Boon Screen and similarAdded borders to icons for Selene Hexes on the Gifts of the Moon screenAdded informational pop-up when using F10 to report bugsOther minor changesArt & Visual FXReduced some full-screen flashing or strobing, such as from time-slow effectsMusic & SFXAdded SFX for when certain active abilities such as Serenity are ready to useUpdated placeholder SFX for various KeepsakesUpdated SFX for projectile collisions with Umbral Flames (Moros)Voice & NarrativeUnique voice lines should play more reliably when certain incantations are revealed in the CauldronAdded voice lines when using Phase Shift (Selene) vs. Chronos (or trying to…)More voice lines should play when confiding in Frinos in certain contextsMiscellaneousWhile brooding over the family portrait in the Crossroads, you may now snap out of it soonerYou now can fully control the game using keyboard only if you rebind Attack and SpecialAll timers now pause while in the presence of CharonAn Anvil of Fates will no longer be offered in Tartarus if you have not found a Daedalus HammerIn the Hades Flashback, adjusted timing of hint for players who don’t realize they are in controlReduced requirements for the incantation Power to Pause and Reflect to be revealedMelinoë now respawns in the center of her magick circle near her tent (she was a bit off before…)Improved compatibility with more types of controllersUpdated text for various upgrades and abilitiesBug FixesFixed Double Up (Poseidon) sometimes doubling Mystery Boons; clarified descriptionFixed Nightmare resources dropping unexpectedly in Chaos TrialsFixed Omega moves occasionally becoming unresponsive after being chomped on by PolyphemusFixed deadliest attack of Chronos occasionally hitting when Melinoë was in a supposedly safe pointFixed Umbral Flames Attack preventing Magick regeneration before channeling Omega AttackFixed The Queen and Judgment (Arcana) appearing active while no others Arcana are activeFixed Hearth Gain (Hestia) no longer restoring Magick if chosen as a Sacrifice BoonFixed certain later Oath Testaments for the Sister Blades sometimes not appearing as expectedFixed cases where you could go out of bounds using the Argent Skull in the battle vs. ChronosFixed more cases of some visual effects vs. Chronos lingering between phases or after the fightFixed Toula unceremoniously vanishing after you vanquish ChronosFixed additional issues with Sun Worshiper (Apollo)Fixed additional issues with Dark Side (Selene)Fixed additional issues with Twilight Curse (Selene)Fixed a visual issue where Headmistress Hecate could appear to slide after snared by your CastFixed Spark of Ixion (Charon) causing a Chaos Gate to appear in AsphodelFixed Golden Boughs sometimes not marking all available rewards in the Fields of MourningFixed several narrative events that could play out of sequenceFixed Odysseus rather rudely walking away while in conversation with NemesisFixed Heracles sometimes leaping away foreverFixed Melinoë’s voice reverting during her return sequence despite certain Circe enchantmentsFixed incorrect Echo portrait in the Book of ShadowsFixed incorrect music playing in some Chaos Trials, or not playing as intended in some instancesFixed rare cases of a looping sound playing indefinitelyFixed a rare instance when objectives in the Training Grounds could overlapFixed several minor issues on the Victory Screen that shows when you prevailFixed additional miscellaneous issues when playing in ultrawide resolutionsFixed a rare crash in which the effect of Winter Harvest (Demeter) could repeat foreverFixed various other rare crashesFixed several text errorsOther minor fixesRyan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.



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