Hades is a roguelike dungeon crawler game where you play as Zagreus, an immortal deity trying to escape from the Underworld against his father’s will. To leave, you need to clear three levels – Tartarus, Asphodel, and Elysium – each consisting of a series of rooms ending with a boss fight. If you die along the way, you return to Hades’ house and have to start over.

You have probably seen build guides for beating Hades. While offering some solid advice, those usually require you to equip Abilities, Aspects and Keepsakes that you simply can’t afford when you first start playing. This article is your go-to guide for beefing up Zagreus with limited funds so you can get that first clear and enjoy the game’s well-crafted replayability aspect.

For the purpose of easy builds, I have omitted the Twin Fists of Malphon and the Adamant Rail weapons since each of them costs eight Chthonic Keys to unlock. Each remaining weapon in this build uses the most basic Aspect of Hades and only Tiers 1 and 2 Olympian Boons that are available without bending over backwards. It also features the most basic Mirror of Night Abilities and contains no Companions at all since they take time and hard-earned Ambrosia to unlock.

And now, finally, here are the five best builds for the first clear:

5. The Backstabber

Uh-oh, you backstabbed your dad! Awkward.

This build is all about stabbing foes in the back for extra damage. If you are nimble enough, you can sneak up on enemies and kill them before they even know what happened.

Weapon: Stygius, or the Stygian Blade

Best Boons

Best Daedalus Upgrades

Best Mirror of Night Ability: Shadow Presence

Each rank gives you 10% more damage when you strike foes from behind for up to 50% bonus damage.

• To finish off your backstabbing build, this ability will make your Attack even more powerful, especially when combined with Athena’s Exposed ability.

What The Backstabber Excels In:

• Dealing extra damage when striking foes from the back.
• Dealing increased damage to Armored foes.
• Adding lightning damage on top of your normal attacks.

4. Critical Thinking

That's one hell of a crit, no pun intended

This build is crit-oriented, increasing your chances of landing Critical hits with a 300% damage increase.

Weapon: Coronacht, or the Heart-Seeking Bow

Best Boons

Best Daedalus Upgrades

Best Mirror of Night Ability: Fiery Presence

Each rank makes you deal 15% damage when you strike undamaged foes, up to 75% damage at the highest level.

• With this ability on top of increased Attack and Special damage and those Critical chances, you can now truly one-hit your enemies.

What Critical Thinking Excels In:

• One-hitting foes with increased damage and a high chance of Critical attacks.
• Dealing increased damage with Attack or Special, especially to the undamaged foes.

3. Long-Distance Destruction

Swipe right to match your foe with certain death

This build focuses on increasing your reach, allowing you to get the most out of your spear, which has both melee and ranged combat capabilities.

Weapon: Varatha, or the Eternal Spear

Best Boons

Best Daedalus Upgrades

Best Mirror of Night Ability: High Confidence

Each rank gives you 5% more damage while you have 80% Health or greater, up to 25% bonus damage at the highest level.

• By keeping your foes away, you can maintain your Life Total, and this ability will let you deal extra damage for staying healthy.

What Long-Distance Destruction Excels In:

• Increasing your spear’s Attack and Special range.
• Knocking foes away to keep them out of range.
• Stacking Chill status curse to slow enemies down.

2. The Pincushion

Zag, that's some cool moves, but your aim is horrible

This build is all about stacking status effects on your foes to slow them down and force them to take more damage.

Weapon: Coronacht, or the Heart-Seeking Bow

Best Boons

Best Daedalus Upgrades

Best Mirror of Night Ability: Privileged Status

Each rank gives you 20% more damage against foes afflicted by at least two Status Curse effects, up to 40% bonus damage at the highest level.

• This build lets you stack two status curses, so you might as well get some extra damage out of it.

What The Pincushion Excels In:

• Stacking status curses for increased damage.
• Increased number of arrows shot at once while using Special.
• Dealing more damage to Armor and bypassing shields.

1. The Foe-Mower

Blocked and reported for being too mean to Zagreus

This build turns you into an unbreachable tank, letting you mow down your foes while staying defended.

Weapon: Aegis, or the Shield of Chaos

Best Boons

Best Daedalus Upgrades

Best Mirror of Night Ability: Fiery Presence

Each rank makes you deal 15% damage when you strike undamaged foes, up to 75% damage at the highest level.

• With this ability paired increased with Rush damage and damage to Armor, you become an unstoppable force against almost any foe.

What The Foe-Mower Excels In:

• One-hitting foes by using Rush.
• Attacking and Rushing faster.
• Staying defended and Deflecting damage while charging your Rush.

You May Also Be Interested In:

• [Top 5] Hades Best Boon
• [Top 10] Hades Best Keepsakes
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• Hades Best Companions - Which Is Best?
• [Top 5] Hades Best Builds
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• [Top 5] Hades Best Weapons and How To Get Them