Hades II Boon Tier List (Post-Launch Patch 2)

This ranks the sixteen god and source pools by post-1.0 build-defining potential, with the standout boons named per god. Tier placements assume 32-Fear and above; lower fear forgives almost any pool.

TL;DR

Zeus and Hera anchor S tier across every meta build. Aphrodite and Hephaestus join them for ceiling and survivability respectively. Hestia and Demeter sit firmly A tier on the right weapons. Apollo lands in B tier for general use, but Lucid Gain makes him a mandatory first pick the moment your aspect leans on omega-casts or omega-specials. Poseidon, Ares, and Hermes round out the middle. The smaller pools (Artemis, Athena, Dionysus, Chaos, Selene, Hecate) handle supportive or niche roles rather than headline damage.

How Boons Stack

Hades II uses four rarity tiers: Common, Rare, Epic, and Heroic. Heroic is the apex; the older "Legendary" label from Hades 1 does not exist in this game. A Pom of Power bumps a single boon up one level, and the rarity ladder maps onto level cleanly: a Lv.2 Common reads roughly as a Lv.1 Rare, a Lv.4 Common as a Lv.1 Heroic. Three Poms turn a fresh Common into near-Heroic output, which is why locking the keystone boon at any rarity and Pomming up beats hunting for a native Heroic offer.

Almost every boon damage bonus folds into a single additive band:

Final = BaseDamage * (1 + sum(percent_bonuses)) * CritMult * (1 - DamageReduction)

The exceptions multiply on top of that band: Crit, Hera Hitch, Zeus Blitz, item:romantic-spark, and the Punished status. These are the only effects in the game with their own multiplicative axis, which is why every damage-tier list starts with the boons that touch them.

Per-God Tier

S Tier

Zeus

Signature boon: Heaven Flourish (Blitz on the special), the only damage source in the game scaling on three independent multiplicative axes. Damage, proc count, and proc frequency all stack.

Why S-tier: Blitz hits flat damage on every individual strike, which means fast-hitting weapons turn it into 600+ damage per proc going off every 0.8 seconds. Hera's item:kings-ransom then multiplies the entire Blitz package. There is no other Olympian whose headline boon plugs into both the additive band and a multiplicative slot.

Top boons in pool: Heaven Strike on the attack for fast weapons, Static Shock for armor breaks, Storm Ring for omega-cast staff builds, Double Strike to multiply Blitz proc count.

Hera

Signature boon: Hitch curse, which propagates 30% chain damage to linked enemies and triggers the Origination arcana instantly through one keepsake roll. Universal Origination enabler.

Why S-tier: Hera spans all four elemental affinities post-Warsong, which means her boons cover every aspect's preferred scaling. Hitch is multiplicative, item:kings-ransom is multiplicative on Blitz, Double Strike, and Arc Flash. Her flat-damage globals carry Anubis fields and Nergal berserker swings without needing a second damage pool.

Top boons in pool: Engagement Ring on the cast, Born Gain for magick sustain, Sworn Strike for Hitch propagation, Glamour Strike on omega builds.

Aphrodite

Signature boon: Flutter Flourish, the close-range special multiplier that reaches +250% scaling at Heroic.

Why S-tier: The percentage stack is the cleanest way to scale slow heavy hitters. On the Moonstone Axe and the Argent Skull, Flutter Flourish applies once per swing and converts a 200-damage strike into a 700-damage strike. Heartthrob is a percentage damage debuff that compounds with every other percent stacker. Aphrodite is also the only god offering item:romantic-spark eligibility on the duo path, which buys back the multiplicative slot for fast-hit weapons that would otherwise leave her at A tier.

Top boons in pool: Heartthrob on the cast, Glamour Gain for magick economy, Crush Strike for opening combos.

Hephaestus

Signature boon: Volcanic Strike, the ramp-up damage attack that pairs with the strongest defensive set in the game.

Why S-tier: Trusty Shield, Uncanny Fortitude, Heavy Metal, and Security System form a survivability stack no other god comes close to. Speedrunners pushing 60+ Fear take Hephaestus purely for the support boons, then layer offensive scaling on top. The new fear vows that punish dodging are precisely what Hephaestus is built to absorb.

Top boons in pool: Trusty Shield, Heavy Metal, Smithy Sprint, Volcanic Flourish on slow weapons.

A Tier

Hestia

Scorch is the highest-DPS persistent flat damage in the game when stacked through fast weapons. Smolder Ring tics 20 DPS on omega-cast staff builds without drawing magick from the keystone Gain boon. On Sister Blades, Aspect of Nyx, or any Witch's Staff omega-cast aspect, Hestia is the second-best damage pool after Zeus. On a slow heavy hitter she falls behind Aphrodite. Top boons: Flame Strike, Smolder Ring, Soot Sprint.

Demeter

Freeze locks packs in place, which makes every cast field, Anubis zone, and Moros omega channel guaranteed to land. Frigid Gain handles the magick economy on Demeter-led runs. Arctic Ring stacks freeze with Aphrodite percentage damage cleanly. Top boons: Arctic Ring, Frigid Gain, Glacial Strike.

B Tier

Apollo

B tier for general use. The headline boons (Solar Ring, Nova Strike) read as merely solid; the pool lacks a multiplicative axis. S tier for omega-cast and omega-special builds. Lucid Gain returns 40 Magick per 30 spent, which structurally funds Aspect of Charon, Aspect of Circe, Aspect of Moros, and Aspect of Nyx. Without it, those four S-tier aspects collapse. Read the tier as conditional: lock Apollo first if your aspect spends magick to deal damage, skip him if it does not.

Poseidon

Splash adds 100 flat damage to every cleave on fast weapons, which scales the Sister Blades and the Black Coat to 32 Fear cleanly. On slow heavy hitters the boon does almost nothing because it triggers once per swing. Geyser Spout and Tidal Ring add minor utility. Pool ceiling is real but narrow.

Ares

The Post-Launch Patch 2 rework lifted Sword Ring damage, restored Grievous Blow Pom scaling, and reworked Profuse Bleeding and Sanguinary Savor around the Plasma economy. Doom multipliers now proc on every Moros ghost detonation, giving Ares a real S-tier slot inside the Umbral Flames build. Outside that build the pool still asks for Grievous Blow to feel impactful. Beating Heart handles magick sustain. Top boons: Doom, Grisly Gain, Sword Ring.

Hermes

The most underrated god in the meta because his boons do not consume the standard Olympian slot. Cash-on-pickup, dodge nullification, sprint speed, and channel speed all work in the first biome with zero opportunity cost. Hermes will not carry damage at high Fear, but starting a run with him is almost free. Top boons: Greater Haste, Hyper Sprint, Lambent Plume.

C Tier

Artemis, Athena, Dionysus, Selene, Hecate, and Chaos cover support and run-shaping rather than damage scaling. Artemis Crit pairs into the Thanatos crit-axe build. Athena Deflect covers projectile bosses. Dionysus Hangover stacks damage-over-time. Selene Hexes are run-defining one-shot tools. Hecate boons reshape the magick pool. Chaos blessings reroll every eight encounters; Favor now also raises duo offer chance per Post-Launch Patch 1. Pick from these pools when the run hands them to you, not when the keystone build asks for them.

How to Pick Boons in a Run

Lock the keepsake first. If the build leans on omega-cast or omega-special spend, equip the Apollo keepsake into the first chamber and take Lucid Gain at any rarity. Pom it twice if the offer comes in low. If the build leans on fast-hit flat damage, equip the item:iridescent-fan to drag a missing Olympian into the next biome.

Prioritize Heroic-rarity Attack, Special, Cast, and Magick boons that match the active mechanic on your aspect. A Heroic boon in the wrong slot is a wasted offer. A Common boon in the right slot is two Poms away from doing the same job as a Heroic. Do not Pom utility boons that were never going to scale; save the Pom for the keystone.

Duo boons require both gods on Melinoe's loadout in slot configurations specific to each duo. The big damage duos to chase are item:kings-ransom (Zeus x Hera, multiplies Blitz across three axes), item:sunny-disposition (Apollo x Aphrodite, omega scaling), and item:freezer-burn (Hestia x Demeter, Scorch on frozen targets). Eligibility checks at offer time, so plan slots before the chamber, not during it.

See Also

Hades II Build Hub. Hades II Weapon Tier List. Hades II Keepsake Tier List. Hades II General Guide.