[Top 10] Hades 2 Best Starting Keepsakes For Early Game
10. Concave Stone
Concave stone is a keepsake you receive from Echo, after choosing a boon you’ll have 75% chance to receive an additional boon. Having an extra boon early game can be great both for overall power, as well as knowing what direction you can take your build for mid to late game.
It’s only big drawback is the random chance of what boon you’ll get, and the 25% chance you won’t recieve one at all. But there are very few occasions where I haven’t recieved a boon from this keepsake.
Why Concave Stone is Great Early Game:
- High chance of getting an extra boon.
- No additional drawback that can make runs more difficult.
- Can lead to very strong builds early.
9. White Antler
White antler is a keepsake you receive from Artemis, for the next region gain 30% chance to deal critical damage, at the cost of having your health points max out at 30. Crit chance is always a great stat to focus on, as dealing double damage at any point in the game is insanely powerful.
The biggest drawback is having low health, however with the strength arcana giving you -30% damage and +30% damage to enemies at 30% health. It can be a great pick for early game.
Why White Antler is Great Early Game:
- Crit chance is great for early game damage.
- Works fantastic paired with Strength Arcana.
- Most early game enemies are very squishy leading to easy executions.
8. Moon beam
Moon beam is a keepsake you receive from Selene, you are likely to get a reward from Selene, and for the next path of stars you’ll have 5 extra points. This keepsake is particularly good if there’s specific hex abilities you like. There are some hexes that aren’t particularly useful, but those that are, are invaluable in the early and later stages.Using the points also greatly power up your hex.
You might not always get the exact hex you’re looking for, but with three choices you always find one hex you can have a use for.
Why Moon Beam is Great Early Game:
- Gives a powerful hex ability early, allowing for enemies to be cleared out quickly.
- Provides stat bonuses on the next Selene Boon.
- There’s typically always a good hex even if it doesn’t work with your build.
7. All God Keepsakes
These keepsakes are received from the different gods, guarantees you encounter this god in the the next room and increases the rarity of one of the god’s boons. All god keepsakes are good for promoting consistency in the game, since for a lot of runs you rely on chance. Selecting certain god boons can start your builds much earlier, while also excluding certain boons you’d rather not receive.
Of course the drawback is it doesn’t increase the rate you’ll find the god, it only increases the rate of the first encounter.
Why All Good Keepsakes are Great Early Game:
- Allows you to specialize in a specific god on a run.
- Gives a chance to power up a boon early.
- Makes it so you don’t start with a boon not great for your build.
6. Experimental Hammer
Experimental hammer is a keepsake you receive from Icarus, you gain 1 random daedalus hammer which lasts 20 encounters. This keepsake can typically be more useful in the late game, as taking it in the last region allows you to keep the hammer all the way to Chronos. But it can still be a great early pick providing a lot of damage, sustain, or defense depending on what hammer was received.
The drawback is not really being able to control what hammer you might get, and considering some hammers might mess up builds it might not always be the best. But typically if it’s a good upgrade it will only benefit you.
Why Experimental Hammer is Great Early Game:
- Gives a great boost to your current weapon early game.
- The upgrade can last into the mid game or all the way to the boss depending on when it was taken.
- Great for just about any build you’re going for.
5. Metallic Droplet
Metallic Droplet is a keepsake you receive from Hermes, you move, strike, and channel 20% faster for the next 300 seconds. Great for speeding through the early stages, making your movement, attack, special and channel faster. It not only requires you to move fast, it also makes your playstyle fast.
The drawback is that it only lasts 300 seconds, but that will typically last you up to the first boss giving you a phenomenal boost up to that point.
Why Metallic Droplet is Great Early Game:
- Gives the player a great overall boost while it’s active.
- Rewards a fast aggressive gameplay style.
- Pauses when a room is cleared and when checking boons.
4. Engraved Pin
Engraved Pin is a keepsake you receive from Moros, allowing for you to fight 10 more seconds before dying, and even being able to survive if you clear an encounter rewarding you with 60hp. This is a great defensive keepsake if you have trouble surviving early to mid runs. Especially paired with the strength arcana giving you an extra boost of damage when that low.
The drawback is of course only having 10 seconds to clear a room, but 10 seconds in Hades 2 can be a surprising amount of time when finishing off an enemy.
Why Engraved Pin is Great Early Game:
- Pairs great with Strength Arcana builds.
- Great for surviving particularly difficult rooms or bosses.
- A boost of health after a revive for longer runs.
3. Aromatic Phial
Aromatic Phial is a keepsake you receive from Narcissus, fountains restore 20% extra health, and the next fountain makes 1 common boon heroic. This is one of my favorite keepsakes allowing an insane boost to otherwise okay boons you might’ve picked up. Great for strategizing on taking certain common boons and upgrading them later with the phial.
Make sure when you leave a zone don't use the fountain right away, put on the keepsake first then use the fountain in between biomes. The drawback is that the chosen common boon is random, which might require purposefully choosing common boons and forgoing others to get the boost.
Why Aromatic Phial is Great Early Game:
- Great for powering up weak boons.
- Extra health between regions for more sustainability.
- One of the easiest ways to get a heroic boon in the whole game.
2. Transcendent Embryo
Transcendent Embryo is a keepsake you receive from Chaos, gain a random Epic chaos blessing once this night. Every 8 encounters replace it with another. This is another favorite of mine since even after replacing this keepsake with another between regions, you get to keep the blessing. It can be a great boost to magick builds as well as attack builds.
The only drawback is you might have a blessing you want get replaced from the effect, but it still benefits you either way.
Why Transcendent Embryo is Great Early Game:
- Can just about improve any build you plan on using with it.
- Changing this keepsake doesn’t remove the effect making it useful at any part of the game.
- Has no real drawbacks as most blessings help in one way or another.
1. Gorgon Amulet
Gorgon Amulet is a keepsake you receive from Athena, while you hold no death defiances Athena may appear once this night with at least an Epic boon. This keepsake is great,it does depend on you having no death defiances. However you can just pick it up when you're down death defiances, or if you didn't take Eternity there can be no downside to it. Especially since Athena boons are fantastic.
The drawback is it can leave you a bit vulnerable without death defiances, but picking up the strength arcana can offset this.
Why Gorgon Amulet is Great Early Game:
- You get some of the strongest boons in the game from Athena.
- It is very easy to pickup if you use up all your death defiances or choose to do a run without them.
- All of her boons have great early game usage, while also leading into the late game with no drawbacks to the player.
You may also be interested in:
- [Top 10] Hades 2 Best Builds For Each Weapon https://gamersdecide.com/
articles/top-10-hades-2-best- builds-for-each-weapon - Hades 2 Best Gods (Ranked) https://gamersdecide.com/
articles/hades-2-best-gods- ranked
