The best wave weapon and a bad boss weapon, at the same time
The Black Coat, Xinth, is the most versatile Nocturnal Arm in Hades 2 and the one with the clearest split personality.
Aspect of Nyx is the fastest room-clear in the game, and it has a HookieDookie-verified 65-Fear Underworld clear behind it.
The very same guide that says that also says: boss damage trails Medea and Charon. Not “is lower” — it tells you to pick a different weapon for Chronos pushes.
That is the whole shape of this weapon. Rooms melt. Bosses do not. Build for the thing it is good at.
How the kit works
| Input | What it does |
|---|---|
| Attack | A moderate-speed, short-range punch |
| Special | Fires a pair of unguided energy missiles |
| Omega Attack | First projects a force-field in front of you that blocks during the charge, then ends in a single powerful short-range blast |
| Omega Special | Emits a forward targeting cone with up to six locks; Melinoe can spin in place to rotate the cone; on release it fires one guided missile per lock |
The Omega Attack is the piece most players never use. It is a shield and an attack in the same input: hold it into a telegraphed hit, absorb it, and punish with the blast that follows.
The Omega Special’s trick: all six missiles can be locked onto a single target. Sweep the cone until every lock is on the boss and release, and you get one of the strongest single-target bursts in the game. Sweep it across a pack instead and you get a room-clear. Aim the cone deliberately — the default spread is the weaker option against a boss.
The four aspects
| Aspect | What it does | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Melinoe (default) | Faster attacks, sprint and movement | Learning the parry-retaliate rhythm |
| Selene | Starts each run with the Sky Fall hidden Hex, which applies Shine | Low-effort all-round; Hex builds |
| Nyx | Boost produces Nightspawn; at max rank Nightspawn deals doubled damage | Wave-heavy Fear vows |
| Shiva (hidden) | Purifying Grace absorbs your Special blasts to stack Destructive | Sustained ramp; the highest ceiling |
The disagreement you should know about
Three sources, three different verdicts on the best Coat aspect. They are not reconcilable, so here they are:
| Source | Verdict |
|---|---|
| RogueRanker | Selene is the strongest — a free Hex with no setup |
| HowToPlayHub | Nyx A-tier, recommended. Selene C-tier |
| BrokenBuilds | Nyx S-tier with a 65-Fear clear. Selene is low-tier on its own but S-tier when you build around the Hex column |
The useful synthesis: Selene is the aspect that works without you doing anything, because Sky Fall arrives pre-equipped. Nyx is the aspect that wins when you play the Coat properly, because the room-clear is unmatched. Selene’s Hex also loses value as Fear rises, since Hex cooldowns limit its impact at higher difficulty.
Aspect of Nyx: why it clears so fast
Nyx’s secret is that its boons fire twice.
Wave Strike and Flame Strike both proc on hits AND on duplicates, so a single boon roll fires twice on every split projectile. The Nightspawn mirrors damage for 2x effective output once Omega Boost is active, and the multiplied projectiles land simultaneously across the Coat’s already-wide arc.
| Slot | Pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Scaline spine | Zeus Static Shock | Procs on every mirror hit. A 200-damage shock stacks four to six times per enemy in any pack. |
| Boss control | Hera Hitch | Pulls bosses into the cloak’s hit cone |
| Survival | Hephaestus damage reduction | Extends the run when Fear vows tax your HP pool |
| Hammers | Shimmering Rockets, then Siege Frame | Shimmering Rockets gives the off-screen clear; Siege Frame is defensive padding on high-vow runs |
The movement rule: sprint between packs, build Omega Boost, let the cloak do the work. Standing still kills the loop.
Aspect of Selene: the free Hex
Selene starts every run with Sky Fall already equipped, which strikes multiple foes and applies Shine. Shine builds and triggers area damage, and every Hex upgrade you find makes the pre-equipped Hex stronger rather than gating it behind a drop.
The Sky Fall upgrade pool:
| Upgrade | Rarity | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Sting | Common | +10 Power |
| Omen | Common | Enemies affected by Shine take +5% Omega damage |
| Growth | Common | The Hex costs 1 Magick per second |
| Shine | Common | The curse deals +1 damage |
| Scorn | Rare | Each hit on the same enemy deals +50% more, stacking |
| Calm | Rare | You take 20% less damage while the curse is active |
| Ferocity | Rare | Your Hex gains your Attack boon’s properties |
| Prism | Epic | The curse hits three nearby enemies instead of one |
The Hex-centric version of this aspect is what BrokenBuilds rates S-tier — so if you take Selene, commit to the Hex column rather than treating Sky Fall as a free bonus.
Unlock cost: 4 Silver + 4 Moon Dust.
Aspect of Shiva: the hidden ramp
Shiva turns your own missiles into fuel.
Purifying Grace absorbs your Special blasts and converts them into Destructive stacks. The aspect dictates how many ranks you can hold:
| Rank | Max Destructive Ranks |
|---|---|
| I | 2 |
| II | 3 |
| III | 4 |
| IV | 5 |
| V | 6 |
| VI | 8 |
Ranks II through V each cost Nightmare. The rank VI jump to 8 is unlocked through Hephaestus’s Legendary boon, Premium Service.
The rule for playing it: keep the Special firing constantly. Destructive only climbs while you feed Purifying Grace, so a Shiva build that neglects its Special never reaches the ranks where the aspect pays off. Treat the Special as the engine, not a side button — and do not slow-roll it to conserve Magick, because every blast you skip is a Destructive rank you never gain.
| Slot | Pick |
|---|---|
| Special | Zeus — lightning on the missile blasts |
| Attack | Apollo — damage and Daze on the punch |
| Magick | Any regen source, to keep the blasts flowing |
| Blast | Hephaestus, for more Special damage to absorb |
| Defense | Ares or armour, to survive the early ramp |
The reveal chain — and this is always the last Coat aspect you get:
- Unlock all three other Black Coat aspects.
- Get Selene or Nyx to rank 5.
- Talk to Selene with any weapon equipped until she gives her waking phrase.
- Activate the Silver Pool at the Crossroads.
The waking phrase only triggers in conversation, so visit the Crossroads often.
The Flux problem
If you want Nyx, you need 4 Flux and 1 Darkness — and Flux is one of the rarest materials in the game.
One tester logged 56 runs to obtain 2 Flux without dedicated farming.
If you are going after it deliberately:
- Bring Raki, the raven familiar, found in Erebus.
- Raise his Stone Bond ability with snacks.
- Use Charon’s Well boons to summon Chaos gates; if the resource is not in the Chaos domain, take Chaos boons that raise your resource find rate or the amount you gain.
- Look for Chaos again in the same run — the odds improve slightly.
The hammers
| Hammer | What it does |
|---|---|
| Launcher Frame | When your Attacks strike foes, your Special has a chance to fire automatically |
| Shimmering Rockets | Specials bounce toward extra foes, multiplying the missile spread |
| Furious Rockets | Launches Specials faster |
| Reaper Frame | Adds Power and area to your Attacks |
| Siege Frame | Extends your Attacks’ reach |
| World Collider | Boosts the fully charged Omega Attack blast |
Launcher Frame is the glue hammer on this weapon. Auto-firing your Special off your Attacks means you deal melee and missile damage simultaneously, which suits the Coat’s hybrid identity far better than committing to one half of the kit.
Match the rest to your plan: rocket hammers for missile builds, frame hammers for punch builds.
When to pick the Black Coat
| Take it | Skip it |
|---|---|
| Wave-heavy Fear vows | Chronos pushes — boss damage trails Medea and Charon |
| You want the fastest room-clear in the game | You want a simple one-button weapon |
| You like juggling melee, missiles and a shield | You have not got Flux and do not want to farm it |
The short version
Xinth is a wave weapon that happens to have a blocking Omega Attack. Clear rooms with Nyx or a Hex-loaded Selene, sweep all six locks onto a boss when you have to, and take a different weapon when you are pushing Chronos.