Looking to get some help from Ares in Hades II? In the second major patch since the game launched in early access, the Warsong Update, Supergiant has added this new Olympian, and you can get him on your side. However, you’ll have to impress him before you can earn any of his boons—here’s what you need to do to unlock Ares in Hades II.
Where to Find Ares in Hades 2
To find Ares, you’ll first need to make a long run up to the surface. You’ll need to fight the boss that’s waiting at the top of the summit. Whether you win or lose, on your next run you’ll find Ares’ signature blood-red symbol. When you see him, make sure you give him Nectar if possible. As a thank you, you’ll get a Keepsake from the god to guarantee one of his boons on a night you want it!
Like most of the other Olympians in this iteration, Ares functions a bit differently from the first game. Instead of using Doom, many of the boons from Ares inflict wounds which do extra damage on a cooldown of three seconds. Other blessings from the war god can synergize with wounds even better, including a particularly powerful one that gives your strikes a chance to deal double damage to wounded enemies.
In addition, many of his other boons create blades, whether it be on your sprint path or the area of your cast. These blades are at their best when combined with the Apollo duo boon, which makes the blades do damage in a large area rather than their small default hitbox. The classic blade rifts from the first game also make a return as a possible Omega Cast boon, and the rifts remain long after your cast expires.
The best new mechanic that Ares offers, though, is Blood Drops. Boons like Profuse Bleeding and Visceral Impact will make either enemies or you drop Blood Drops. When collected, these increase your attack speed by one percent for each drop, stacking for the rest of the encounter. You can see your current progress in a percentage indicator that appears over Melinoë in a red font when you collect each drop. In longer encounters, namely boss fights, this effect becomes incredibly noticeable.
With the war god now by your side, there’s even more ways to kill Time—and the monstrous beast that you’ve now seen at the summit of Mount Olympus.
Hades II is available in early access on Steam and the Epic Games Store.
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