Just in case you didn’t notice, tarot cards in video games are a trend on the rise at the minute. We have seen them feature heavily in games likeCult of the Lamb,The Cosmic Wheel SisterhoodandBalatro, to name a few. This has obviously prompted Supergiant Games to follow suit and make Tarot cards a primary part of upgrading Melinoe’s powers in Hades 2.
Hades 2: How to Find All Resources and Materials
Hades 2 introduces an expansive world where collecting various resources and materials is crucial for progressing through the game.
Unlocking and selecting which Arcana Cards you take on each run is pivotal when it comes to going deep into the underworld, and with that in mind, I want to highlight which of these Arcana Cards are the best of the bunch!
1The Furies
Grasp Cost:
Deal +20 damage to enemies in your cast.
We begin proceedings with one that many may feel isn’t fitting of the top ten Hades 2 Arcana Cards, but to play a card of my own. My bias card. This one is an Arcana Card that suits my playstyle, which revolves around using Detonating Bind Casts.
The Moon has great synergy with this Arcana Card, as its effect ensures that your Omega cast has +50 power when it detonates. So, if you rely on these as much as I do, pair these two!
This Arcana Card allows you to increase the damage of each of your casts and synergizes with another Arcana Card called ‘The Moon’. It’s brilliant for those who rely on Magick, and it’s a low-cost option too, so you would do well to consider this one for your next run.
2The Centaur
For every five locations that you clear, you gain +3 HP and magick. To awaken this card automatically, you must activate cards that have Grasp point values from 1 to 5.
Next up, we have The Centaur, an Arcana Card that is one that seems lackluster at first blush, but if you sprinkle some Moon Dust on this bad boy, this card can buff you up as you delve deeper into the underworld. It’s a slow burn, but considering the low cost, this one is well worth the Grasp you’ll pay to equip it.
Moon Dust is a commodity within Hades 2 that allows you to engage in the Chaos Trials and, by extension, allows you to upgrade the effect of the various Arcana Cards in your possession.
With the aforementionedMoon Dust upgrades, you can gain 8HP and 8 Magick every time you push forward to a new location. I know that doesn’t seem like a lot, but believe me, it all begins to add up fast.
Start each run with +1 Death’s Defiance (i.e. extra life that lets you restore a portion of your health and magick instead of perishing outright).
Getting access to awesome Boons is great. Nabbing essential resources and checking off prophecies is wonderful. But if you boil down the overall Hades experience, the most important thing from run to run is staying alive, and of all the cards listed, Eternity is the one most likely to help you keep pushing forward.
This Arcana Card grants you one Death Defiance, which means that when you drop to 0HP and would otherwise die, this card triggers and restores your health completely, effectively giving you a second bite at the cherry. So for a little safety net when out in the Underworld, use Eternity.
4Excellence
All boons you’re offered have a 30% chance to be a rare boon.
After a few runs in Hades 2, you’ll begin to understand that, without aset of great rewards and boonsbehind you, you’ll struggle to get anywhere near whereChronosis hiding out. Regular Boons are better than nothing, but without a few Rare, Epic and Duo Boons, you’ll have your work cut out for you.
So, with that in mind, you can employ the Excellence Arcana Card, which will give you an additional 30% chance to have a Rare Boon to choose from during each encounter with a god of Olympus. If luck goes your way, this can set you up nicely, and negate the need to take unwanted, ineffective Boons.
5The Titan
Gain +30% HP and magick
In the same vein as Eternity, the Titan Arcana Card is centered around making you harder to kill; only this card focuses on giving you more Health and Magick to play around with. On the defensive front, you have 20HP more at the start of every run, making you more of a tank from the get-go, and then in terms of offense, you’ll have access to more Magick, which means more Omega Attacks or Primed Abilities.
Considering the generous boost of HP and Magick on offer here, the overall Grasp Cost is reasonable here, so I would consider this a card that is an absolute non-negotiable for those looking to go far.
Start each run with +2 Reroll Dice. To awaken this card automatically, you must activate the three cards that surround it (i.e. Fates, Boatman, and Champions).
Even with an Arcana Card like Excellence or Divinity (which we will get to in a minute) equipped, luck still plays a huge role in your Hades 2 experience, and sometimes the RPG gods just aren’t in your corner. Well, that’s where The Seer comes in. This card gives you the option to re-roll any Boon or Reward screens twice per run.
Hades II: Beginner’s Guide
As you guide Melinoe through the underworld, these tips will help you navigate the game effectively.
This means that if you get some lackluster Boons, or you know that the god in question has the potential to give you a standout Boon that would turn the tide, you can take your chances and see what another roll of the dice brings. The downside is that this will only activate if you also equip the Fates, Boatman and Champions Arcana Cards, but if you can work those into your setup, this serves as a very welcome reward for doing so.
Any boons you are offered have a 10% chance to become an epic. To awaken this automatically, you must activate all five cards in any row.
I told you we were getting to this one, and here it is. Divinity is the natural upgrade to Excellence, which grants the player a 10% chance to uncover an Epic Boon during each encounter with the Gods of Olympus. Rare Boons are great and all, but anyone who has used an Epic Boon will know that even one of these in your arsenal is enough to carry you through most of what Hades 2 has in store.
Then, to further heap praises on this card, unlike some of the 0 Grasp options in your deck, this one isn’t all that difficult to activate, as you only need to have a full row of cards active, which is doable if you enough grasp to equip the top row without missing out on tastier morsels down below. It’ll take you some time to get the Golden Apple needed to unlock this one, as Eris is a tricky customer, but it’s well worth pursuing!
While you have less than 30% HP, you take -30% damage and deal +30% damage in return.
I feel like this one is underrated within the Hades 2 community, but to be my usual, self-indulgent self, I think that Strength is a brilliant Arcana Card within Hades 2, not just for rookies, but veteran players too. On the beginner front, this card will serve you brilliantly in Boss Fights, as in a lot of cases, you will fall below 30% health and this ability will allow you to wrap up the fight a lot quicker, and make you more spongy, which can aid you to keep your Death Defiance count intact for longer.
Then, as for more experienced players, this can be a fantastic aid when speedrunning through the Underworld, because if you are content with always having 30% health or lower, you can maintain a 30% damage boost throughout your entire run, which can shave vital seconds off your runtime. It’s a multifaceted one and an Arcana Card that needs more love!
9The Queen
All boons you’re offered have a 6% chance to be a duo boon when possible. To awaken this card automatically, you must activate no more than two cards that have the same Grasp point value.
Our penultimate Arcana Card is The Queen, a card that will allow you to up your chances of pulling a Duo Boon during each encounter with the Gods of Olympus. Duo Boons are rare within the game without this 6% buff, but with this card active, you can get your hands on powerful blends like Scalding Vapor, Master Conductor and Golden Rule, to name a few.
Having a Duo Boon such as this all but guarantees a good run, so it will come as no surprise that to take your chances in the hope of getting one, you’ll need to meet this 0 Grasp card’s criteria, which only allows you to have 2x Cards with the same Grasp Cost, which can be restrictive, but considering what’s on offer here, if you like messing around with Duo builds, this is well worth the trade-off.
10Judgment
After defeating a Guardian-type boss, activate three random inactive Arcana Cards. To awaken this automatically, you must activate no more than three cards.
Then, finally, we have the card that pretty much all players will unlock to complete their set. Judgment is the card that only becomes available after you have beaten Chronos at least once, so you’ll need to beat the game to get your hands on this one. As soon as you do, however, all manner of possibilities open up.
Initially, you will only have 3x active Arcana Cards as you take on Erebus, but as you slay Guardians, you’ll begin to unlock more and more inactive Arcana Cards, and before long, you’ll be working with a full set, and all the wonders that brings. It’s basically the card that makes replaying at this moment in time rewarding and fun, as the New Game Plus aspect of Hades 2 is still not quite the finished article, so if you want to keep playing Hades 2 after the credits roll and keep honing your skills, this is the card that will make that most enjoyable.
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