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Hades 2 - Chaos Boons Guide

You can obtain some powerful rewards from Primordial Chaos in Hades 2, but it's going to be very risky.

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While many deities want Melinoe to succeed in Hades 2, there's one entity that lurks in the shadows. But if you can manage to survive, you might acquire their powerful blessings. Here's our guide on the best Chaos boons in Hades 2.

Hades 2 Chaos boons guide: How to unlock Primordial Chaos skills and perks

Primordial Chaos' goal in the game remains unclear, but they're eagerly watching and waiting to see how you fare in your journey. Similar to Artemis, encountering Primordial Chaos during your runs is more than just general randomness.

Where to find the Realm of Chaos

The Realm of Chaos is unlikely to be available during your first few runs. You'll probably see it after you've played for a while. Basically, there's a chance that an ornate plate (i.e. one with eerie eyes) spawns in a room with a non-boss encounter. Once you've defeated the enemies, you can unseal this doorway at the cost of some of Melinoe's HP. This takes you to the Realm of Chaos where you can get Chaos boons in Hades 2.

Note that the Realm of Chaos has some important materials and reagents. Some of these are needed for Incantations, and others allow you to reach the surface world.

Look for the eerie-looking plate if you want to enter the Realm of Chaos.
Look for the eerie-looking plate if you want to enter the Realm of Chaos.

Primordial Chaos Keepsake: Transcendent Embryo

Make sure you give Nectar to Primordial Chaos by pressing the Gift button when standing in front of the sigil. The first time you do this, you'll receive the Transcendent Embryo. This grants you a random Chaos blessing one for each run, and it's replaced every eight encounters. You can learn more about other accessories in our Keepsakes guide.

Acquire the Transcendent Embryo by giving a gift to Primordial Chaos.
Acquire the Transcendent Embryo by giving a gift to Primordial Chaos.

Primordial Chaos negative modifiers

Primordial Chaos boons in Hades 2 are vastly different from what you've come to expect from the Olympians. The blessings that are supposed to benefit you also have a curse. This debilitating modifier lasts for a number of encounters. Once it's gone, you'll gain the full effect from the blessing.

Note that Chaos boons tend to have a prefix (i.e. curse) and suffix (i.e. blessing), and these combinations tend to be random, too. Lastly, encounters refer to battles where you receive distinct rewards (not just rooms). For example, there are large areas in the Fields of Mourning with multiple encounters/rewards, and each one you clear lowers the duration.

  • Maimed - Lose -6 HP whenever you use attacks; lasts for five encounters.
  • Flayed - Lose -3 HP whenever you use specials; lasts for three encounters.
  • Addled - Lose -5 HP whenever you cast; lasts for five encounters.
  • Gagged - Each time you use omega abilities, you lose -8 HP; lasts for four encounters.
  • Excruciating - Take +21% more damage for the next four encounters.
  • Hobbled - For the next four encounters, your dash is slower and consumes -4 magick.
  • Slothful - You move and sprint -52% slower for the next four encounters.
  • Caustic - For the next three encounters, slain enemies will toss an inferno bomb at your location.
  • Athropic - You have -27 HP for the next five encounters.
  • Paralyzing - Whenever you take damage, you also get stunned for one second; lasts for three encounters.
  • Enshrouded - For the next four locations, all reward previews (i.e. symbols on exits) are disabled.
  • Fixated - For the next four encounters, magick will be primed whenever you use it (i.e. temporarily lowers your maximum mana by that amount).
  • Barren - All Arcana Cards have no effect; lasts for 10 encounters.
  • Pauper's - You do not earn any gold for the next four encounters.
  • Ordinary - The next two boons are limited to common blessings.
  • Rejected - The next three boons you discover will have one less option that you can choose from.
  • Doomed - You have 120 seconds to clear three encounters. If you fail, you get hit for 500 damage.
Be prepared to manage debilitating effects.
Be prepared to manage debilitating effects.

Primordial Chaos boons: Which ones are ideal

As cited earlier, the Hades 2 Chaos boons have a blessing that comes into effect after you've cleared the required number of encounters/the debilitating modifiers have expired. Below, you can see some of the blessings that you can gain, but note that the values here may change depending on certain modifiers or mechanics:

  • Strike - Attacks deal +26% damage.
  • Flourish - Specials deal +56% damage.
  • Chasm - Your casts deal +34% damage.
  • Celerity - Move and sprint 30% faster.
  • Chant - Omega abilities deal +30% more damage for every boon you have that has the void element stone.
  • Revelation - Channel your omega abilities +13% faster.
  • Will - Restore 4.5 magick every second.
  • Talent - Consume -25% less magick when using related abilities/procs.
  • Soul - Gain +28 HP.
  • Blood - Restore +4 HP whenever you exit a location.
  • Mind - Gain +36 magick.
  • Favor - Boons have a 50% chance to be rare or better.
  • Discovery - Gain a +66% chance to find +100% resources with Gathering Tools.
  • Affluence - Any gold you find is worth +50% more.
  • Creation - Gain +1 of each elemental stone.
  • Legendary: Defiance - Gain +1 Death's Defiance during your current run.

Among these options, we feel that Will, Blood, Favor, and Creation are the four best Chaos boons in Hades 2. The first one, Will, grants nigh-unrivaled mana regeneration, allowing you to happily spam your omega abilities without issues. Blood, meanwhile, is an awesome way to heal yourself as you progress. As for Favor, it's pretty good if you get it early, since it ensures that you'll find a lot of higher-tier blessings. Lastly, there's Creation, which is primarily for those who want to more benefits from Infusion-type boons.

Reap the benefits if you're able to survive the ordeal.
Reap the benefits if you're able to survive the ordeal.

That does it for our Hades 2 Chaos boons guide. If you want to learn about the powers granted by the gods, you can check our best boons/skills guide.

Hades 2 stars Melinoe, the Princess of the Underworld. This roguelike game promises challenging encounters as you keep retrying until you can have the perfect run. If you want more tips and tactics, you can head over to our guides hub.

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