Part 7

Hades II Part 7 covers Crush Shot, Phalanx Shot, Trippy Shot, Slicing Shot, and Crystal Beam boons. Learn their damage, effects, and best uses.

Curse of Drowning

Curse of Drowning can be useful in boss fights but generates significant visual clutter and less damage than expected for a Duo boon, making it less effective than Blizzard Shot. However, these two Duo combinations offer more utility than many other Casts and Poseidon's primary skill boons.

Aphrodite, Crush Shot

Crush Shot deals 90 damage with a short-range blast that inflicts Weak. Its lack of range makes it function like a melee attack, difficult to use safely and regularly due to the cast time. The Blown Kiss supplementary boon doesn't fully compensate. Crush Shot is situational, best used with weapon Aspects that lack rapid melee damage but can benefit from short-range damage, such as the Adamant Rail's Aspect of Eris (for absorbing Specials and gaining a damage buff) or Aspect of Lucifer (to follow Specials, damage enemies, and trigger Hellfire explosions). Without these, Crush Shot is often wasted, as other boons offer safer melee options or negate the need for close-range combat. Fortunately, Aphrodite offers many superior boon choices.

Athena, Phalanx Shot

Phalanx Shot deals 85 damage and deflects projectiles, damaging a small area on contact. While deflect is useful, Phalanx Shot struggles against fast enemies and obstacles, especially in Elysium, due to its slow ramp-up speed. Its area-of-effect damage is decent, but reliability is an issue. The Duo boon Lightning Phalanx (with Zeus) adds damage to multiple foes but doesn't enhance deflection and lacks the power of top-tier Duo boons. Phalanx Shot can serve as an area-of-effect Cast for Aspects like Lucifer's but isn't the most reliable deflection tool.

3B) Non-Sticking Casts

Dionysus, Trippy Shot

Trippy Shot deals 100 damage with a grenade-style area-of-effect explosion that leaves Festive Fog, stunning unarmored enemies. It allows free aiming over obstacles and provides area-of-effect damage similar to the Adamant Rail Special. Festive Fog can also apply Chill, Lightning Bolts, and damage resistance. Aiming can be tricky, but its range prevents putting you in harm's way. Trippy Shot's immediate transition from damage to fog to retrieval, without sticking to enemies, ensures consistent benefit.

Ares, Slicing Shot

Slicing Shot shoots a blade rift dealing 10 damage per 0.1 seconds for 4 seconds to foes within its radius. On its own, it's ineffective as it passes through enemies quickly, limiting its high damage-per-second and ramp-up potential with the Vicious Cycle Legendary boon. One of its two Duo boons is essential for effective use. The lesser Duo boon, Freezing Vortex (Demeter), shrinks the Cast size, slows it down to prevent passing enemies, and inflicts Chill. The greater Duo boon, Hunting Blades (Artemis), speeds up Slicing Shot and makes it track and stick to the nearest enemy. Combining Hunting Blades (necessary) with Vicious Cycle (luxury) is a powerful combination, though difficult to achieve, even with the Adamant Arrowhead and Blood-Filled Vial to access both Artemis and Ares.

Demeter, Crystal Beam

Crystal Beam plants a structure that slowly seeks and damages foes at range over time. This is useful for players lacking durability, but maximizing its potential requires supplementary boons to enhance its beam. It allows your Probes to warp in Gateways and Photon Cannons and provides enough psi to raise an army of Zealots.