Selene offers Gifts of the Moon — Hexes that activate once their Magick cost has been fulfilled by spending Magick. Each night Selene offers three Hexes, and you may choose only one. Everything after that choice feeds the Path of Stars, a skill tree tied to the selected Hex that enhances and modifies it. The wiki describes the system as the spiritual successor to Calls from the first game.
All effects below come from the Hades Wiki’s Selene page.
All 9 Hexes, with their Godsent god
| Hex | Effect | Godsent god |
|---|---|---|
| Phase Shift | Makes everything else move 50% slower for 4 sec | Demeter |
| Twilight Curse | Launches a seeking projectile that inflicts Morph on up to 5 susceptible foes | Zeus |
| Lunar Ray | Fires a beam that deals damage over 2 sec | Apollo |
| Wolf Howl | Rise up then crash down in the target area for damage | Hephaestus |
| Moon Water | Restores health up to 3 times, resetting whenever you use Fountains | Poseidon |
| Night Bloom | Raises the last susceptible foe slain this Encounter to fight for you for 12 sec | Hera |
| Total Eclipse | Blasts a large target area for damage after 4 sec | Hestia |
| Dark Side | Turns you into an Impervious living nightmare with her own abilities for 5 sec | Aphrodite |
| Sky Fall | Inflicts Shine and deals 50 damage to a random surrounding foe, 8 times | Ares |
Which Hex to pick
Dark Side is the strongest defensive Hex and the only one that grants Impervious status outright. It lasts 5 seconds and completely changes Melinoë’s appearance and moveset for the duration. Its Attack fires a single Dark Flame (holding the button releases a rapid wave), and its Special summons an expanding magic circle that retracts — dealing damage up to 7 times, though only large enemies and certain Guardians take the full count. Average-sized foes are typically hit 2 to 4 times.
Phase Shift is the strongest utility Hex. A 50% slow on everything else for 4 seconds is a massive window for repositioning or bursting. Two caveats from the wiki: the Temporal Fluctuation incantation is required for it to work against Chronos, and you remain susceptible to damage while it is active — it slows the world, it does not protect you.
Twilight Curse has the largest hidden restriction. It does not affect any Guardian, and certain Wardens are unaffected too: Erymanthian Boar, Charybdis, Mega-Dragon (including its Shadow Servant) and Talos. That makes it a crowd-control tool for regular encounters rather than a boss answer.
Night Bloom is the most synergistic Hex — and the most dangerous under Vows. The revived enemy receives 80% damage reduction, which stops you accidentally killing it, and remains targetable so it can be hit with status curses like Hitch and Wounds. Critically, the wiki notes that the revived enemy also comes under the effects of Vow of Pain, Vow of Grit, Vow of Wards and Vow of Frenzy, which significantly amplify its abilities. Under those Vows, Night Bloom gets much stronger. It can also run alongside Sun Worshiper.
Moon Water is the healing option, restoring up to 3 times with resets at Fountains. Because it is classified as a Healing effect, it benefits from Old Herbal Remedy — but it is also affected by Vow of Scars, which at its highest rank makes healing 0% effective. That makes Moon Water one of the Hexes whose value swings hardest with your Vow selection.
Sky Fall is locked behind a weapon. It can only be used when equipping the Aspect of Selene for the Black Coat, and it does not interact with the Moonglow system at all. Its Shine status is also incompatible with Origination, because Selene is not considered an Olympian god.
Vulnerability windows matter
Two Hexes leave you exposed during their animation: Wolf Howl (you are vulnerable while charging and aiming, but take no damage while rising up and stomping) and Total Eclipse (vulnerable during charging and aiming). Lunar Ray’s firing animation can be cancelled by dashing — but the Hex still counts as used and its counter resets, which makes dashing out of it a real loss. The Prominence upgrade mitigates this by firing the beam automatically.
Moonglow decides your starting upgrades
Each Hex is paired with a Moonglow that determines how many upgrades your next Path of Stars provides:
| Moonglow | Bonus |
|---|---|
| Full | +2 upgrades |
| Half | +1 upgrade |
| Crescent | No bonus |
Sky Fall is the exception — it does not interact with Moonglow and receives no bonus. Additionally, Selene’s Moon Beam keepsake contributes +3 / +4 / +5 / +7 upgrades to your next Path of Stars.
Path of Stars comes in three sizes
| Path of Stars variant | Upgrades provided | Where it appears |
|---|---|---|
| Regular | 3 | Standard |
| Faint | 1 | Fields of Mourning |
| Gleaming | 5 | Tartarus, The Summit, and Nemesis’ Fair Trade |
The gap between Faint (1) and Gleaming (5) is the largest decision point after choosing the Hex itself. A Gleaming Path found in Tartarus or The Summit is worth routing for.
Godsent Hexes are the Duo equivalent
A Godsent Hex provides a unique effect based on one Olympian god. To make a Hex Godsent you need the corresponding Hex and a Boon or Keepsake of the matching Olympian equipped. The pairings are fixed and listed above — Phase Shift with Demeter, Twilight Curse with Zeus, Lunar Ray with Apollo, Wolf Howl with Hephaestus, Moon Water with Poseidon, Night Bloom with Hera, Total Eclipse with Hestia, Dark Side with Aphrodite, Sky Fall with Ares.
Godsent Hexes can be used once per Encounter, with two ways to add uses: the Lineage talent in the Path of Stars grants one extra use in Guardian encounters, and Athena’s Task Force boon grants an additional +1 to +4 uses.
Two quirks worth knowing
The wiki records that it is currently possible to accept two Gifts of the Moon in one night, via Hermes’ Travel Deal in the Shrine of Hermes or Nemesis’ Fair Trade, letting Melinoë hold two Hexes. The behaviour is specific: Path of Stars upgrades apply only to the second Hex, and the Magick counter also only applies to the second. When casting, the second Hex takes priority, and once it activates the first can be cast without consuming Magick — effectively a free second cast.
Separately, the Path of Stars layout is not tied to the run’s random seed, so it can be rerolled without the Acceptance of Another Fate incantation. Equipping the Moon Beam keepsake prioritises Selene’s appearance, letting you restart for a better layout.
Planning a Hex into a run
Because you choose one of three and then invest upgrades into it, the Hex decision is effectively made at the first Selene offering. A practical order:
- Prioritise Selene early — the Moon Beam keepsake makes her appear sooner and adds Path of Stars upgrades.
- Check your Vows before picking Moon Water — Vow of Scars can nullify it.
- Check your weapon before picking Sky Fall — it needs the Aspect of Selene on the Black Coat.
- Match the Godsent god to the boons you already have, since you need that god’s Boon or Keepsake equipped.
For Vow interactions that change Hex value, see best Vows. Magick management is tied to Arcana — see the Arcana cards guide — and the incantations that gate effects like Phase Shift against Chronos are in the incantations guide. God pairings are covered in gods overview, keepsake choice in the keepsakes guide, and weapon aspects in the weapons guide.