u/Wrong-Secret-5275

So blademasters get a sick heron engraved on their swords, but I don’t believe it’s ever addressed why exactly a heron. I have an old WOT companion and it’s been a while since I’ve read it, but I don’t remember it addressed in there. Why not a cobra? Or a penguin-marked blade? A cute little cat jumpin’ all namby pamby from tree to tree-marked blade? Did RJ ever explain? And if you were a blademaster what would you get engraved on your steel? I’d go with a frog.

Specifically when he spawns from the War Plan perk. I’ve seen him take longer to kill than nearly any other enemy, including when taken on by groups that just dropped world bosses in half a second. I’ve also seen him damn near one shot people, including me when he showed up in a Horde.

Does he get bugged? Have a kill timer before he drops a one-shot? Or do I need to get gud?

TLDR: BIG story spoiler, don’t read it if fate hasn’t decided that you should yet. Is >!Hecate!< actually >!Melinoë!< from >!an alternate timeline!<???

>!I just completed a big story arc and if I’m following right, it looks like Hecate is either alternate-timeline Melinoë, or like an alternate-timeline other child of Hades? I’m pretty sure it’s Melinoë but I was a bit confused by a few lines of dialogue that I already can’t remember, and Chronos has said several times that one can’t travel back in time—though now that I’m thinking back, Hecate might have addressed that with like a “well, Chronos doesn’t know everything about time travel” kind of statement? I’m not sure what my question here is other than I got to this part at like 3:00 AM and want to make sure my brain processed this correctly. Also what a great twist, if so. Really would make Hecate a more sympathetic and tragic character.!<

As a side note, hi, I’m the guy who posted a few weeks ago feeling like some of the fights might be a bit over-tuned and imbalanced, and you were all correct: your tips helped massively, and the better I got the quicker the turnaround time before I got back to the fights, speeding up the repetition factor in my practice. I’m lighting these suckas UP now—multiple runs with no deaths, some close-to No-Hit fights, and even the pairing of >!Scylla and Charybdis!< has stopped being too chaotic for me, and >!Prometheus with Hercules!< has become my skill showcase. I had one run where >!Prometheus said something like “So…Very…Swift”!< after one death which I guessed was due to how quickly I wrecked stomped them that run.

It also helps that I’m much better understanding the keepsakes and skill combinations now, leading to some runs where I do so much damage so quickly that it’s absurd. I guess it had been so long since I was bad at Hades 1 that I forgot what skill progression really feels like when you’re still new.

Thanks, absolutely in love with this game.

TLDR: Why are the Nightmare Rival (edit, my mistake) versions of the Scylla, Cerberus, and Zagreus (Nightmare or not, haven’t found if he has a Nightmare version yet). fights so chaotic/punishing?

I’ve been playing for about a few weeks now and like Hades 1 this game is 10/10 perfect to me, except this time with one minor caveat: Nightmare Rival Guardians, specifically Scylla, Cerberus, and any version of Zagreus. I felt that the Pact fights in Hades 1 were difficult but fair, and I could master them with practice, but these 2 of these 3 fights involve so much screen chaos and projectiles and hazards all piled up—not to mention your own boon and attack effects—and the 3rd hits so hard with stabs and throws that I lose a Death Defiance almost any time I make a minor mistake. They’re the only times in either Hades game that I’ve actually felt the game was tuned to the level of unfair and unenjoyable. I’ve beaten all of them but not without them really wrecking my run, and I only beat Zagreus once, ironically on my first attempt.

Am I alone in this? The only real reliable strategy I’ve come up with is taking down Scylla and Charybdis with Hera’s Sprint and just running the perimeter like a madman. Are there any bonafide strategy for dealing with any of these 3?

Other than that, I can’t believe how good both of these games are.

UPDATE: Thank you all for the tips and strategies. I'll say these fights are over-tuned FOR ME, not necessarily over-tuned in general. They require patience, dexterity, and visual recognition, all things I have in short supply. But they're still fair, and I'll still get to the point where I've got em mastered; just might take a bit longer than the rest.