How to unlock and upgrade Familiars in Hades 2
May. 13, 2024Invite a Familiar along with you in Hades 2 to get some passive buffs and tool uses
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Befriending Hades 2 Familiars allows you to bring them along with you on your nightly runs, with each Familiar offering unique benefits for Melinoe. These passive buffs range from extra health and free tool uses to Death Defiance uses and blocking attacks, and some of them can be improved with treats! That means having a Familiar with you inHades 2is incredibly helpful, but you need to perform a particular Incantation to even unlock them in the first place. Here’s what you need to know about getting Familiars in Hades 2 and how to upgrade them with Witch’s Delights.
How to unlock Hades 2 Familiars
You can unlock the ability to befriend Familiars in Hades 2 bycasting the Faith of Familiar Spirits Incantation. However, revealing this Incantation at the Cauldron can be a real sticking point to getting Familiars as it seems to have two hidden requirements: you need touse the Tablet of Peace tool to compel a Lone Shade on at least two different runs,and you mustbeat Hecate with the Tablet equipped.
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Speaking from experience, I did not get the Faith of Familiar Spirits Incantation after about 60 runs, but after using the Tablet of Peace a couple of times and beating theHades 2 Hecateboss fight, she gave me the Incantation. I can’t confirm that the Tablet of Peace was definitely the cause of this, but it seems highly likely – thanks to the various users in the Supergiant Games Discord! Once Hecate has given you the Incantation, you can end your run and head to the Cauldron to cast it. It’s an easy Incantation, requiring only:
With the Incantation cast and a Witch’s Delight treat in your inventory, you can hand it over to Frinos the Frog and take him on a run with you. When you return to the Crossroads, theBeast-Loved Morsel alchemy recipe for crafting Witch’s Delights(which I’ve explained further down) will be revealed, letting you craft more of them to unlock more Familiars and upgrade them. Note that you can haveonly one Familiar follower at a time,all Familiars are completely invincibleand do not get attacked by enemies, and thatyou receive a Familiar’s benefits only when it is your active Familiar.
Currently, there are only two Familiars in Hades 2. While it hasn’t been specified in theHades 2 roadmap, it’s possible that more Familiars will be added in future updates to round out the pet selection:
You can find all your Familiars at the training area of the Crossroads (though Frinos can also be found in his usual spot near Melinoe’s tent) where you can also change yourHades 2 weaponsand even apply weapon Aspects. While in the training area, you can invite a Familiar to join you and upgrade the buffs they provide to Melinoe.
Once you’ve got a Familiar on your side, you can boost some of the benefits they provide by giving them more Witch’s Delights. You cancraft two Witch’s Delight treats at a time with the Beast-Loved Morsel alchemy recipe from the Crossroads Cauldron, which takes 14 Encounter’s worth of time to brew with the following ingredients:
If you’ve got one or more Witch’s Delights in your inventory, go over to a Familiar,follow the ‘Treat’ button prompt, and give them another Witch’s Delight. Your pet will gobble the treat and then theFamiliar Bonds upgrade menu will appear with a list of three possible upgrades, letting you pick one to permanently apply to your Familiar. It doesn’t matter which upgrade you pick either, as they all have no additional resource costs, including subsequent Rank II and III upgrades. Here are all the Familiar Bond upgrades available for Frinos and Toula:
Once you’ve picked an upgrade, the menu will close, and you’ll have to attempt another run before you can offer another Witch’s Delight for a Familiar Bond upgrade.© GamesRadar+. Not to be reproduced without permission.
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