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Hades: The Superstar Update Patch Notes

By Supergiant Games August 13th, 2019

Hades is in Early Access, which means we're actively working on it based on our plans and your feedback. We expect to keep adding features, characters, weapons, foes, powers, environments, and more, while expanding the story and fine-tuning all aspects of the experience.

Note: ๐Ÿ“ข indicates a change inspired by community feedback! Our latest patch notes are below:

Early Access Patch 031 - October 17, 2019

This patch ties up some loose ends in the Superstar Update as we set our sights on our next Major Update, coming in December. It'll cap off a full year of updates, and we plan to make it a big one. Until then!


Boons & Blessings

๐Ÿ“ข Support Fire (Artemis): now upgradeable using Poms


Daedalus Hammer Upgrades

๐Ÿ“ข Rapid Shot (Bow): you now can hold the attack command to autofire; now called Flurry Shot


Foes & Encounters

๐Ÿ“ข Reduced how many Crawlers can appear in tougher encounters in the Temple of Styx


Level Design & Environments

Minor fixes and improvements to some chambers


Art & Visual FX

Visual touch-ups for the Bone Hydra
Additional visual touches to Asphodel chamber enter-and-exit sequence
Improvements to the Shield's Throw special recovery animation while using alternate Aspects
Updated textures for the Blade's Nemesis Aspect
Added passive visual effect to the Music Stand


Menus & UI

Improved feedback for some states of the Pact screen


Music & SFX

Added some sound effects to the Bone Hydra encounter
Updated some sound effects for the Weapon Aspects screen
Other minor additions, fixes, and improvements


Voice & Narrative

Added a narrative event for Eurydice
Added some new Zagreus voice lines for certain Pact, Daedalus Hammer, and Bounty interactions
Additional minor fixes and improvements to some narrative events and contextual voice lines


Miscellaneous

๐Ÿ“ข Recovered the missing Infernal Contract that Lord Hades is always holding in his portrait
Persuaded an occasional pack of Shades in the House of Hades to move away from the Music Stand
Unified text descriptions for Boons and upgrades with Flurry effects
Other minor text changes


Bug Fixes

๐Ÿ“ข Fixed interaction between Athena's Holy Shield and Blinding Flash
๐Ÿ“ข Fixed Divine Dash (Athena) not always applying critical damage correctly
๐Ÿ“ข Fixed an issue where a Splitter's projectile attack could vanish after she was slain
๐Ÿ“ข Fixed some attack interactions with the Final Boss
Fixed Brimstone satellite crystals sometimes leaving orbit
Fixed a visual issue with Rocket Bomb (Daedaulus - Rail) and the weapon's alternate Aspects
Other minor fixes


Quote of the Patch

"...while Orpheus thoughtlessly looked back, all unbelieving his Eurydice restored to him and following, he lost his singing's recompense; and she had come to the verge of life only to die once more."
~Hercules Oetaeus (Lucius Annaeus Seneca; F. Justus Miller translation)



Early Access Patch 030 - October 15, 2019

This patch makes additional improvements and fixes to last week's Superstar Update based on what we've been seeing. Expect one more smaller patch before we switch to working on our next Major Update.


Weapons, Aspects, & Powers

๐Ÿ“ข Heart-Seeking Bow: reduced disable duration while loading Bloodstone ammo
๐Ÿ“ข Shield of Chaos: improved Bull Rush input buffering after the Throw special
๐Ÿ“ข Heart-Seeking Bow (Zagreus): now adds chance of critical attack (instead of power-shot window)
๐Ÿ“ข Heart-Seeking Bow (Hera): reduced disable duration while loading Bloodstone ammo
๐Ÿ“ข Eternal Spear (Achilles): you now can retrieve the thrown spear normally, or with Raging Rush
Adamant Rail (Hestia): increased damage for empowered shot


Boons & Blessings

Double Strike (Zeus): reduced bonus chance of effect after using Poms
Tempest Flourish (Poseidon): reduced knock-away effect from the Bow's Volley special
Exit Wounds (Artemis): now requires one additional related Artemis Boon before it is offered
Lightning Rod (Zeus x Artemis): no longer upgradeable using Poms
Heart Rend (Aphrodite x Artemis): no longer upgradeable using Poms


Daedalus Hammer Upgrades

Super Nova (Blade): reduced damage
Cruel Thrust (Blade): increased damage and critical chance
๐Ÿ“ข Flurry Blade (Blade): you now can hold the attack command to strike repeatedly
Relentless Barrage (Bow): reduced number of bonus projectiles
Explosive Return (Shield): no longer applies Flourish Boon or similar effects during the blast
Extending Jab (Spear): increased damage
๐Ÿ“ข Inescapable Blast (Rail): increased slowing effect on foes


Foes & Encounters

Slightly increased frequency of Thanatos encounters in Asphodel
๐Ÿ“ข Voidstone: no longer appears in Erebus challenge chambers
๐Ÿ“ข The Minotaur: fixed some instances where he was dealing more damage than expected


Keepsakes & Items

Bone Hourglass (Charon): increased Well of Charon effect durations for each rank
Shattered Shackle (Sisyphus): increased bonus damage from rubble at ranks 2 and 3
Evergreen Acorn (Eurydice): reduced instances of damage absorption for each rank; no longer loses charges to attacks that would have caused no damage


Level Design & Environments

Minor fixes and improvements to some chambers


Art & Visual FX

Further visual improvements to some Asphodel chambers
Further presentation improvements when leaving or entering Asphodel chambers
Updated visual FX for Zagreus run-stop animations for the Blade, Bow, Shield, and Spear
Updated animation for Chthonic Keys
Updated visual FX for Exit Wounds (Artemis)
Updated art for Pact Exit in the Courtyard
Other minor visual fixes and improvements


Menus & UI

Game screen now is dimmed while the game is paused
When unlocking Weapon Aspects, always auto-equip the new Aspect
Music track names for the Music Stand can now appear hidden before the track is unlocked
Improved legibility of repeated 'Backstab!' combat notifications
Slightly reduced size of standard damage numbers
Several text clarifications and other minor changes


Music & SFX

Minor fixes and mix improvements


Voice & Narrative

Additional scripting fixes to Eurydice & Orpheus story subplot
Added several miscellaneous narrative events for Eurydice & Orpheus
๐Ÿ“ข Fixes and updated requirements for some narrative events
Fixes and tuning to some contextual voice events


Miscellaneous

Minor improvements to some Shades milling about the House of Hades
Skelly no longer rudely talks over Zagreus when starting a new escape attempt


Bug Fixes

Fixed the Rail's Hestia Aspect empowered shot applying damage twice from one Dash Attack
๐Ÿ“ข Fixed an issue causing Support Fire (Artemis) to never be offered
๐Ÿ“ข Fixed Hermes Boons unintentionally being affected by Eurydice's treats
๐Ÿ“ข Fixed Exalted Brightswords sometimes being able to destroy the Rail's Bombard projectiles
๐Ÿ“ข Fixed Final Boss not canceling out of certain attacks upon defeat
๐Ÿ“ข Fixed some conversation alert icons not clearing as expected
Fixed certain Eurydice narrative events unintentionally being able to play more than once
Fixed 'Bounty Earned' messages showing current total Heat, rather than target Heat for Bounties
๐Ÿ“ข Fixed an issue causing 'Death and I' to never be offered for the Music Stand
Other minor fixes


Quote of the Patch

"'One sole condition yet
Upon the boon is set:
Let him not turn his eyes
To view his hard-won prize,
Till they securely pass
The gates of Hell.' Alas!"
~The Consolation of Philosophy (Boethius; H.R. James translation)



Early Access Patch 029 - October 10, 2019

We're thrilled by the rousing response to the Superstar Update!! We're following up with some improvements and fixes based on initial observations and feedback. We'll patch again in the coming days.


Weapons, Aspects, & Powers

Raised the max level of the Zagreus Aspect for each weapon to 5
๐Ÿ“ข Stygian Blade: you can move a bit during the Nova special preattack sequence
Heart-Seeking Bow (Hera): reduced spread of Bloodstones from loaded shots
Adamant Rail (Eris): reduced damage bonus after absorbing a Bombard blast
Adamant Rail (Hestia): empowered shot now activates only from a manual reload


Boons & Blessings

Quick Reload (Artemis): reduced effectiveness
Nasty Dash (Dionysus): removed minor damage this was doing on impact
๐Ÿ“ข Eclipse (Chaos): now also boosts Darkness drops from boss foes


Foes & Encounters

๐Ÿ“ข Soul Catcher: projectiles should be slightly easier to hit
The Minotaur: updated some attack timings (he should be slightly more effective)
๐Ÿ“ข Final Boss: beam attacks should interact with obstacles more reliably; skull ammo objects can now be targeted by more abilities


Level Design & Environments

Minor fixes and improvements to some chambers


Art & Visual FX

Added unique visuals for each weapon equip spot in the Courtyard to go with each Weapon Aspect
Updated textures and visual FX for some Weapon Aspects
Added unique menu images for each Weapon Aspect
Added visual FX for when your current weapon phases out in some Zagreus animations
Additional visual improvements to some Asphodel chambers
Additional presentation improvements when leaving or entering Asphodel chambers
Other minor visual fixes and improvements


Menus & UI

Added presentation when collecting Bounties
In the Pact screen, current Heat is no longer shown in two different places
๐Ÿ“ข Ambrosia now shown in addition to other resources during escape attempts
The 'Slay to Retrieve' hint for lodged Ammo will no longer display on bosses
Added custom hint about retrieving ammo while using the Blade's Poseidon Aspect
Added unique tutorial objectives in the Courtyard while using certain Weapon Aspects
Minor text changes; other minor fixes and improvements


Music & SFX

Updated sound effects for certain Weapon Aspects
Minor fixes with the new Music Stand


Voice & Narrative

Added narrative events with certain characters (including Hades, Orpheus, and Skelly)
Added new Zagreus, Hades, and Skelly voice events for various gameplay contexts
Added new Storyteller events for successfully clearing runs
Updated requirements for some narrative events
Fixes and tuning to some contextual voice events


Bug Fixes

Fixed several issues causing the Eurydice & Orpheus story subplot to not advance correctly
๐Ÿ“ข Fixed collision and blocking issues with the Chaos Shield while using Charged Shot (Daedalus)
๐Ÿ“ข Fixed instances where the Spear's Achilles Aspect could be used to escape map boundaries
Fixed an issue preventing manual recovery of the Spear's Achilles Aspect Throw special
Fixed an issue causing the Rail's Hestia Aspect empowered-shot ability to transfer to other Aspects
Fixed interactions between the Rail's Hestia Aspect and Spread Fire (Daedalus)
Fixed interactions between the Rail's Hestia Aspect and Explosive Fire (Daedalus)
Fixed some visual issues with the Rail's Aspect animations
๐Ÿ“ข Fixed Tisiphone's Extreme Measures (Pact) support attacks being active during chamber changes
๐Ÿ“ข Fixed lava being blockable with the Chaos Shield
๐Ÿ“ข Fixed Final Boss encounter not ending when expected if summoned urns were still present
๐Ÿ“ข Fixed a rare crash in the Final Boss encounter
๐Ÿ“ข Heat difficulty will reset in older saves that previously could get stuck at high difficulty
๐Ÿ“ข Fixed an issue where the Tight Deadline (Pact) timer would expire prematurely in Elysium
Fixed an issue causing the Tight Deadline (Pact) timer to remain visible after defeat
๐Ÿ“ข Fixed an unbreakable urn in the final chamber of Asphodel
Fixed some visual issues with the effect for Evergreen Acorn (Keepsake)
Fixed rare performance issues in the Pact screen
Fixed various other minor UI issues with the Pact screen
Fixed Duo Boons showing up as Legendary in the Pool of Purging
Fixed an issue where Infernal Troves requiring Skeleton Keys were not showing a lock indicator
Fixed some menu title text being off center
Other minor fixes


Quote of the Patch

'[Orpheus] became so adept at music that his playing and singing charmed wild animals and caused stones and trees to follow him when he wished.'
~Crowell's Handbook of Classical Mythology (E. Tripp)



Early Access Patch 028: The SUPERSTAR Update - October 8, 2019

Welcome to our seventh Major Update, which we think is our most game-changing one yet! Due to the number of new systems and features here, we're expecting to follow up on this initial launch with several smaller patches. We'll be watching your feedback closely as we go. Hope you enjoy it!


Highlights

Weapon Aspects: unlock specially-enchanted alternate forms for each of your different weapons
Pact of Punishment, 2nd Edition: an overhauled Pact is central to a newly revised endgame
Eurydice: the muse of Orpheus is out there, somewhere; can you find her?
New Resources: look for Gemstones, Diamonds, & Chthonic Keys as you make your escape
House Contractor: unlock a variety of new cosmetic items for the House of Hades, such as the...
Music Stand: unlock music pieces heard throughout the game, & change the music in the House
Underworld Renovations: look for new & improved visuals in the House of Hades & all of Asphodel
New Song: listen for the melodious voice of our longtime musical collaborator, Ashley Barrett!


General Gameplay

Added Weapon Aspects, revised Pact of Punishment, and House Contractor systems
Heat: removed as a collectible resource (part of the Pact rework; you will receive 5 Darkness for each Heat lost)
Gemstones and Diamonds: newly added resource used with House Contractor and Wretched Broker
Chthonic Keys: newly added resource used with Weapon Aspects and some other interactions
Your first boss clear with each weapon earns you a Bounty, i.e. a Chthonic Key or Diamond
๐Ÿ“ข Your Death Defiance effects remove any poison effects


Weapons & Powers

Each weapon can now be permanently upgraded in the Courtyard, once you reach a certain point
Stygian Blade: reworked Nova special; updated Dash Attack (new timing and animation)
๐Ÿ“ข Shield of Chaos: updated Dash attack (new animation); improvements to input buffering
๐Ÿ“ข Eternal Spear: adjusted Attack combo timing and damage; updated Dash attack (new timing and animation); Throw special now staggers foes


Boons & Blessings

Zeus' Aid: reduced damage
๐Ÿ“ข Athena's Aid: increased duration; Greater Call duration multiplier reduced to compensate
๐Ÿ“ข True Shot (Artemis): added a chance to deal Critical damage
Hunter's Mark (Artemis): dealing Critical damage to foes with the 'Marked' Status Curse clears the effect
Exit Wounds (Artemis): reduced power scaling from improved rarity
Fully Loaded (Artemis): rarity set to Legendary
Support Fire (Artemis): no longer Legendary; effect now scales with rarity
Lightning Phalanx (Zeus x Athena): reduced max. number of bounces and bounce range
Shatter Shot (Aphrodite): reduced power scaling from improved rarity
Life Affirmation (Aphrodite): slightly reduced power level
๐Ÿ“ข Rapid Cast (Hermes): now also increases Cast homing effects to compensate for the speed boost
๐Ÿ“ข Stabbing (Chaos): cut from game (Master Chaos has decided not to punish you simply for dashing)
๐Ÿ“ข Boons with 'Revenge' effects now trigger when your Death Defiance effects activate


Daedalus Hammer Upgrades

The following upgrades are no longer offered: Empowering Nova (Blade), Mirage Flight (Shield), Heavy Slug (Rail), and Invigorating Blast (Rail); their spirits live on in some of the new Weapon Aspects
Piercing Wave (Blade): newly added! A long-range wave with every slash
Charged Shot (Shield): newly added! Your Bull Rush fires a projectile instead
๐Ÿ“ข Multi Skewer (Spear): now pierces through the last foe it hits
Rocket Bomb (Rail): newly added! Fire a rocket instead of bombarding
Inescapable Blast (Rail): newly added! Foes are slowed while targeted for bombardment


Foes & Encounters

You can no longer run into multiple mini-boss encounters in a region in a single run
Increased the size of Elysium by one chamber
๐Ÿ“ข Trial of the Gods encounters can now take place in Elysium
๐Ÿ“ข Reduced max. types of Elite foes that can appear in Thanatos encounters
๐Ÿ“ข Erebus challenge chambers now contain Champion foes (tougher than Elite foes)
Champion foes no longer drop money
Megaera and the Furies: learned some new tricks via the Pact...
Bone Hydra: slightly reduced health; updated ranged flurry attack; learned some new tricks via the Pact...
Exalted Longspear: now leap off impassable terrain
๐Ÿ“ข Flame Wheels: groups spawn in quicker succession
๐Ÿ“ข Soul Catcher: reduced appearance rate in Elysium; reduced Elite health; no longer completely immobile and now susceptible to knock-away effects
๐Ÿ“ข The Minotaur: updated some animations and attack timings
๐Ÿ“ข Theseus: updated some animations and attack timings
๐Ÿ“ข Gigantic Vermin: poison puddles expire faster
๐Ÿ“ข Final Boss: reduced damage; reduced health; reduced tracking of homing attack; reduced health of some Champion summons; summoned urns now invulnerable while spawning; overall, still a pain


Keepsakes & Items

Wells of Charon no longer offer Bedroom Decor items; the House Contractor has a monopoly on them
Evergreen Acorn (Eurydice): newly added! Take no damage from boss attacks for some number of hits
Old Spiked Collar (Cerberus): slightly reduced power level
๐Ÿ“ข Black Shawl (Nyx): increased power level
๐Ÿ“ข Lucky Tooth (Skelly): increased power level
๐Ÿ“ข Lambent Plume (Hermes): tuned fast-clear durations for some encounter types
Charon now offers one of the two new rare resources for sale in the Temple of Styx


Pact of Punishment

Overhauled the system; now linked to Bounties (look for more details when you first get to it)
Rescaled Heat as a measure of difficulty (1 unit now is equivalent to about 5 units before)
Reworked and renamed the various Conditions
Middle Management: newly added! Raises number of Elite foes in mini-boss encounters
Tight Deadline: newly added! Gives you a limited amount of time to clear each region
Heightened Security: newly added! Boosts damage from traps
Underworld Customs: newly added! Forces you to purge a Boon as you leave each region
Extreme Measures: newly added! Influences the final battle in Tartarus
Snake Oil: newly added! Influences the final battle in Asphodel


Level Design & Environments

Added two new chambers in Asphodel
๐Ÿ“ข Added a Pool of Purging to the final chamber in each region
๐Ÿ“ข Added several new Erebus challenge chamber variants
Made some renovations to the House of Hades (others are ongoing)
Other minor fixes and improvements to various chambers


Art & Visual FX

Updated visuals all throughout Asphodel
Updated visuals in the House of Hades
Updated portrait for Orpheus
Updated visuals for the Wretched Broker
Updated visuals for wretched shades and spirits in various environments
Updated visuals in first chamber of Elysium
Added unique Zagreus run animations with the Blade, Spear, and Bow, and other weapon details
Added some animations for Megaera and the Furies to accompany their aforementioned new tricks
Updated textures for Alecto and Tisiphone
Updated some of the visuals for the Bone Hydra
Updated some animations for Theseus and The Minotaur
Updated various visual FX in Final Boss encounter, including the Status Curse effect
Improvements to the look of the Exalted once separated from their weapons
๐Ÿ“ข Updated UI and visuals for Death Defiance effects
๐Ÿ“ข Increased transparency of Dionysus' Festive Fog effects
๐Ÿ“ข Improved feedback for the deactivated state of the Mandragora Cure Pools in the Temple of Styx
Removed slight animation from Dionysus and Ares portraits (due to various issues; they still blink, though)
Unified the look of Elite foes' armor outline
Updated main menu based on new Major Update (including our studio logo, for our 10th anniversary!)
Other minor visual changes, fixes, and improvements


Menus & UI

Updated Health Bar UI for foes
Updated visual FX for Boon selection
Underworld Map presentation when traveling between regions now shows earned Bounties
Added new Death Defiance UI indicators based on the source of the effect
The backing for interact prompts now scales with the prompt
Added alternate dialogue prompt for key early-game character conversations that unlock new systems (specifically, the Codex from Achilles and Mirror respeccing from Nyx)
๐Ÿ“ข The Fallen Warrior's HydraLite Gold premium good now shows your life total in the tooltip
๐Ÿ“ข The warning pop-up for deleting save data defaults to Cancel instead of OK
๐Ÿ“ข Text clarifications to some Boons and upgrades
Other minor fixes, changes, and improvements


Music & SFX

'Good Riddance': added new music track, featuring the voice of Ashley Barrett!
Added various new sound effects for the new resources, systems, and other contexts
๐Ÿ“ข Adamant Rail now has a distinct fire sound while low on ammo
๐Ÿ“ข Battle emotes from Zagreus and others now affected by SFX Volume rather than Voice Volume
Minor fixes and mix improvements


Voice & Narrative

Added many narrative events with characters (including Eurydice, Orpheus, Hades, and Achilles)
Added many new Zagreus voice events for various gameplay contexts
Added Codex entries for Eurydice, Gemstones, Diamonds, and Chthonic Keys
Added to Codex entries for each of the Infernal Arms
๐Ÿ“ข Added specific captions for ambient voice lines from the Fallen Warrior
Updated requirements for some narrative events
Fixes and tuning to some contextual voice events


Miscellaneous

Updated Development Roadmap to reflect our plans for our next Major Update, and beyond
The Wretched Broker now offers additional resource trades, and has fixed all his prices...
Some later Mirror of Night upgrades now require Chthonic Keys
Skelly: increased health (stationary jumping can be an effective form of cardiovascular exercise)
Rescaled Heat requirements to earn Skelly's unlockables
Credits: Eurydice added to voice cast; other updates, including new Community Contributors!


Bug Fixes

๐Ÿ“ข Fixed issues with some Zeus lightning effects not taking upgrades correctly
๐Ÿ“ข Fixed an issue causing Vicious Cycle (Ares) to ramp up damage more than expected
Fixed Positive Outlook (Dionysus) not gaining benefits from more than one Pom of Power
๐Ÿ“ข Fixed Spent Spirit (Athena x Aphrodite) not affecting accelerating projectiles
Fixed Heart Rend (Artemis x Aphrodite) unintentionally applying additional chance for Critical damage
๐Ÿ“ข Fixed an issue sometimes causing Chaos Gates and Infernal Gates to be invisible
๐Ÿ“ข Fixed an issue sometimes causing parts of the Health UI to not show correctly
Fixed Skull-Crushers being susceptible to Backstab damage from the front
๐Ÿ“ข Fixed issues related to vanquishing Theseus and the Minotaur in close succession
๐Ÿ“ข Fixed an issue causing Gigantic Vermin poison puddles to not always clear after encounters
Fixed an issue where you could build up your God Gauge by hitting pillars while fighting the Final Boss
๐Ÿ“ข Many other minor fixes


Quote of the Patch

'There remained but little more to climb till they would touch earth's surface, when in fear he might again lose her, and anxious for another look at her, he turned his eyes so he could gaze upon her.'
~Metamorphoses, Book 10: Orpheus & Eurydice (Ovid; B. Moore translation)



Patch Notes Archive

For patch notes from the previous Major Update, check out The Big Bad Update Patch Notes (August, 2019).