(DISCLAIMER: Any build is purely supplementary to good gameplay, these are just helpful synergy lists, as all weapons can perform well if you have enough experience with it. You can beat the game with any weapon with any build, and these builds are nothing more than paths on the way to getting better at the game)

I don't claim to be good at the game, I'm just posting builds that work for me cause some weapons (shield, gun) are pains in the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ ass to finish a run with if you don't know how to build it properly. There's probably gonna be minor spoilers so be ready for that.

Also, Athena's call and dash are the best in the game in my opinion, so if you're stuck on options and they pop up, take them. The call is especially useful for the last boss (Full gauge is excellent survivability)

If you have suggestions, questions or otherwise want to talk to me, feel free to shoot me a message on the guide or just add me and ask.

Finally, keep in mind that you will rarely get all Boons described in any build, as well as the Daedalus hammer upgrades, and these are just general outlines for powerful builds.

This guide is still a WIP, so please let me know any ideas you have, as they would be greatly appreciated. I have nearly 100%'d Hades, and as a result, will most likely not be spending much more time on it, so I would love for the community to share their ideas for others to read here (Credit will obviously be applied for each build suggested)

I've pretty much lost all interest in Hades so what you see here is what you get, apologies on the off chance that someone actually wanted this to be finished, best of luck lads

Finally, please remember to check the terminology section below.

Chip Build: Basically this means the build focuses on doing small chips of damage (Generally DoT like Dionysus, Ares or Demeter's decay) a lot.

Damage Build: Self explanatory, the build focuses on doing huge amounts of damage in singular hits.

Baby Build: Baby's first Hades run, builds that focus on defense, particularly for weapons that are well suited to it, or just plain annoying and you want to get the prophecies done as soon as possible.

The first weapon Zagreus is capable of using, it is well suited towards heavy damage builds, with the best offensive aspect (in my opinion) being Nemesis, which gives you crit % chance on all damage for 3 seconds after using your special. Most builds will focus around this because crits are absolutely busted.

The Stygian Blade is, in my opinion, more suited for tearing up mobs than it is for boss fights, as it offers only a single defensive option in the form of Daedalus upgrades, Cursed Slash, and we're ignoring Dash Nova cause it's ♥♥♥♥♥♥ garbage.

The Stygian Nuke (Damage build)

Gods to focus:

Aphrodite (Attack, highest % that I know of, weak time + and weak damage bonus +)
Artemis (More crit chance, more crit damage, Aphrodite duo boon, crit damage against armour)

Secondary focuses:

If you're confident in winning the run, or just straight up haven't seen much of Artemis,

Ares (Doom on something other than your attack, more doom damage as you restack doom, Aphrodite duo boon)
Athena (Deflect cast / special, exposed for the extra damage from your mirror if you have that, Call)

Daedalus Hammer focuses:

You definitely want World Splitter for a massive increase in base damage, which is incompatible with Flurry Slash and Cruel Thrust so don't touch either of those if you still have a chance of getting World Splitter. Your second focus should be either Shadow Slash if you have Artemis' crit damage against armour boon, or Breaching Slash if you don't.

Terragrim (Chip build)

Gods to focus:

Hermes (Attack speed, extra Dashes, movement speed, movement speed damage bonus)

Dionysus (Attack, Dash, Call)

Secondary focuses:

Aphrodite (Special or Cast)

Daedalus Hammer focuses:

Your Daedalus Hammer focuses are Flurry Slash, because that makes you attack way faster, and Breaching Slash, because let's face it, as fun as Hangover damage is, Armor is a gigantic counter to it.

Remember Arkhalis from Terraria? It's now basically Terragrim. That's what this build is. You essentially want to be smacking the enemy as fast as humanly possible, and as a result, you'll stack a whole bunch of Hangover damage onto the enemy. You want Aphrodite's Special/Cast for Weak so that you can get the Duo Boon that lets you stack even more Hangover on Weak afflicted enemies.

The Eternal Spear is quite a unique weapon, as it is essentially a Jack of all trades, master of none (Much like Hermes, who is unfortunately not featured in many Eternal Spear builds). It is capable of ranged combat, close combat and even AoE damage, but it does not particularly excel in any of these. What I find to be most useful, however, is the Eternal Spear's Special, which can deal devastating ranged damage when built properly.

My favourite Aspect for the Eternal Spear is the Zagreus Aspect, which heightens the Special attack's range, speed and damage, and many of the builds will be focused on this.

Jihad Javelins (Damage build)

Aspect of Zagreus

Gods to focus:

Artemis (Special, crit damage, crit damage to armour)

Aphrodite (Attack, weak enemies take more damage, longer weak effects, Duo Boon with Artemis)

Secondary focuses:

Hermes (Faster Special, faster movement speed)

Dionysus (If you can't find Aphrodite, Attack, faster Hangover damage, Duo Boon with Artemis)

Daedalus Hammer focuses:

Exploding Launcher is a must for this build, as it replaces your Special attack with an exploding spear that deals damage in an area around the target. Breaching Skewer is also a good option if you can't find Artemis' damage against armour Boon, or Charged Skewer for even fatter damage.

The one problem with this build is the fact that that shield-bearing enemies (I'm looking at you, Elysium) become even more of a pain in the ass, since you're generally gonna be attacking from the front thanks to the AI of enemies with shields.

Spin2Win (Chip build)

Aspect of Guanyu

Gods to focus:

Dionysus (Attack, health from Ambrosia, more damage when more enemies are Hungover)

Demeter (Not sure, will check this out later, but I think Demeter may be a solid choice assuming "increases all healing effects" counts for Guanyu's spin)

You wanna focus on Guanyu's healing factor + getting more max health as it is a pain in the ass otherwise. Will update this when I confirm what Demeter's healing boon affects

As you may have read previously, I absolutely despise the Shield. It is, in my opinion, built around slow, safe gameplay unless you build hyper aggressively. However, with the inbuilt Knockback with attacks, Poseidon is a smart choice. Keep in mind however that Poseidon's "Knockback effects" are only effects that a Boon provides, so if you're using the shield and don't have Poseidon's Attack Boon, you're not getting any benefit from Rupture Boons.

Baby mode (Baby build)

Gods to focus:

Athena (Basically anything with deflect, it's an excellent defensive choice and this is a build for just playing as safe as humanly possible)

Demeter (Preferably you want to get Rare Crop early to proc on Athena's Call, as it extends the duration of invincibility by a multiplicative factor. You also want the Duo Boon with Athena as it is another excellent bit of survivability.)

Secondary focuses:

Hermes (More dashes to move faster, attack speed to bring your shield guard up faster)

Dionysus (Extra health when you pick up an Ambrosia, damage resistance at lower health)

Daedalus Hammer focuses:

Honestly it doesn't really matter what you pick, but if you want to make your run faster you should probably pick up Breaching Rush to deal with armoured enemies, or Ferocious Guard as you will naturally be blocking a whole bunch with this build. Do not expect fast gameplay, this is purely a safe build and is slow as ♥♥♥♥, and boring as ♥♥♥♥.

Poseidon's Kiss

Gods to focus:

WIP, it's basically just a rupture build cause you have so much inbuilt knockback with the shield, it works well with Poseidon

Unnamed cause I don't have the energy to play more shield right now

WIP build that focuses on either Special or Bull Rush, depending what does more damage (will be tested later)

The Heart-Seeking Bow is one of the easier weapons to use in Hades. Many players will find their early victories being attributed to the range and speed of this weapon. While the Bow is a very safe pick, you may find that its damage is a bit lacking, and you're likely to make mistakes with how much you have to jump around the enemy before they finally die.

With these builds I hope to circumvent this issue, allowing Varatha to output the damage it deserves, and to change this safe choice into a good choice.

600 Rupees (Damage build)

Aspect of Zagreus

Gods to focus:

Artemis (Crit against armour, bonus crit chance, Cast to deal with shielded enemies)

Aphrodite (Attack, bonus damage against Weak, longer Weak, duo boon with Artemis)

Secondary focuses:

Hermes (Attack speed is so crucial here, dashes)

Dionysus (Special, extra damage against Hangover, Duo Boon with Aphrodite/Artemis)

Daedalus Hammer focuses:

You absolutely want Twin Shot and Explosive Shot, the damage stacks and, although your range is decreased, it's 100% worth it for the sheer destruction your arrows will provide.

Aphrodite's Duo Boon is incredible, but so is Dionysus' Duo Boon with both Aphrodite and Athena, providing bonus Critical chance per Hangover stack, and more Hangover stacks against Weak enemies.

The Twin Fists of Malphon, my favourite weapon in the game, focus on smacking the ♥♥♥♥ out of the enemy as fast as humanly possible. Expect many anime references in the build names, as the weapon's play style and design make it way too easy for me.

The Twin Fists of Malphon, when built correctly, absolutely devastate any mob it may come across, but you may find some difficulties against bosses due to the short range of the basic attack. Some builds, however, can easily circumvent this issue. I will label each build with either Mob or Boss, indicating which type of enemy the build is centered around annihilating.

Fist of the North Star (Damage build) (Mob)

Aspect of Demeter

Gods to focus:

Poseidon (Special, Rupture, Barriers)

Ares (Attack, Doom stacks, Duo Boon)

Secondary focuses:

Hermes (Attack speed, dashes)

Daedalus Hammer focuses:

You want Breaching Cross to penetrate the enemies armour, and Long Knuckle for extra damage and range.

Much like the titular anime, your focus on this build is to destroy the enemy from within, and your Doom effects are, of course, the classic Omae wa mou shindeiru. The only difference is the fact that the enemy is dead before they're capable of speaking.

All fun aside, your main source of damage will be your Specials, smashing enemies into walls for bonus destruction, and your basic attack is just for the meme.

The Adamant Rail is a real pain in the ass pre-aspects, as the stars have to align for you to get a decent run. However, once you unlock the Adamant Rail's hidden aspect, the Aspect of Lucifer, your life becomes infinitely easier.

As a ranged weapon, the Adamant Rail provides a decent amount of safety, provided you pay attention to where you're moving (and are almost always on the move). Additionally, while typically a single target damage dealer, it can be built around AoE damage with certain Boons and Daedalus upgrades.

Rage of the Elements (Chip/Damage build)

Aspect of Lucifer

Gods to focus:

Poseidon (Attack, Rupture, anything relating to barriers)

Zeus (Passives that improve lightning damage, Poseidon duo boon)

Secondary focuses:

Hermes (Faster attack speed, bonus dashes)

Daedalus Hammer focuses:

Your main focus for this build is to get Eternal Chamber, as the knockback provided by Poseidon's boons will still deal damage (and proc other boons) for each tick of damage. Flash Fire is also a good choice, but at the point that you have Eternal Chamber and Poseidon's attack boon, you've probably already won the run anyway.

This build can't really be classified as either chip or damage, considering the fact that it does a lot of damage a lot of times per second, it's pretty much both.

When Hell froze over

Aspect of Lucifer

Gods to focus:

Demeter (Attack, 10 stacks remove Chilled, Legendary boon to shatter at 10%)

Zeus (Cast, Jolted, Duo Boon with Demeter, Legendary boon for more lightning attacks)

Secondary focuses:

Hermes (Faster attack speed)

Daedalus Hammer focuses:

Again, your main focus for this build is Eternal Chamber, because you want to be dealing as many Chilled-infused attacks as possible in the shortest amount of time. I You may also want to consider Triple Beam if you have Athena's Call, I will update this guide when I find out if all three beams deal damage and inflict Chill.

I personally don't find much use in the Special attack of the Aspect of Lucifer, as it is too slow and is annoying to hit when enemies are surrounding it.