There are 24 weapon aspects in Hades II — four on each of the six Nocturnal Arms: a default Melinoë aspect, two forgeable aspects, and one hidden aspect.
The community agrees on the shape of the tier list far more than the details. This guide gives you the real forge costs and effects, then tells you exactly where the sources conflict, because that disagreement is itself the most useful information.
The shape of the roster
| Tier | What it means |
|---|---|
| S | Run-defining, works with whatever boon pool the run gives you |
| A | Matches S-tier performance with the right build |
| B / C | Functional, but needs specific boons or hammers |
| D | Broadly agrees it needs buffs |
The S versus A distinction that matters: S-tier aspects work with whatever the run gives you. A-tier aspects need the run to cooperate.
The three that ended the argument
Aspect of Medea — Argent Skull. The community calls the playstyle “grenade surfing”: you dash through enemies while skull explosions chain behind you, covering the room in overlapping detonation zones. Your Attack stays within reach and explodes after you land your Specials or after 3 seconds, at +30/45/60/75/90/135% attack and special damage. Forge cost: 4 Iron, 1 Nightshade.
Aspect of Circe — Witch’s Staff. Whenever you use Casts, so does your animal familiar, forming a Psychic Leash that deals 10/15/20/25/30/45 damage every 0.2 seconds. It effectively doubles your damage output without changing your rotation. Forge cost: 5 Lotus, 5 Marble.
Aspect of Melinoë — Witch’s Staff. The starting aspect on the starting weapon, and Supergiant’s quiet flex: no gimmick, no mechanic to master, just a fast flexible ranged weapon that handles every boon. It grants +0/10/20/30/40/50 Max Magick and Special Power. Rank I is free.
Later ranks on all three cost Nightmare, with the final rank gated behind the Premium Service legendary.
Every aspect by weapon
Witch’s Staff — the best first investment
| Aspect | Type | Forge cost | Max-rank effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Melinoë | Default | Free (rank I) | +50 Max Magick & Special Power |
| Circe | Forgeable | 5 Lotus, 5 Marble | Psychic Leash 45 damage / 0.2s |
| Momus | Forgeable | 1 Pearl, 2 Limestone | Omega moves fire up to 3x before reset |
| Anubis | Hidden | 5 Tears, 2 Fangs | Ankh Scepter raises Lone Shades on kills; +45% Omega speed & damage |
The Staff is the only weapon holding two aspects that appear in S-tier across multiple lists. Circe is the priority — it is forgiving enough to learn on, and its familiar scales with your boons into an autonomous damage engine.
Argent Skull
| Aspect | Type | Forge cost | Max-rank effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Melinoë | Default | — | +21 Power per Spent Shell |
| Medea | Forgeable | 4 Iron, 1 Nightshade | Attack & Special +135% |
| Persephone | Forgeable | — | Stacks Olympian effects |
| Hel | — | — | Omega-attack weak, omega-special strong but slow |
Medea is the highest-ceiling weapon in the game once you learn its explosion-chaining pattern, and it survived the v1.0 fix that removed its Cast damage interaction — still holding the speedrun record.
Umbral Flames
| Aspect | Type | Forge cost | Max-rank effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Melinoë | Default | — | +8% Critical Chance |
| Moros | Forgeable | 2 Bronze, 2 Tears | Attacks linger 6s; +105% blast damage when hit by Specials |
| Eos | Forgeable | 2 Driftwood, 2 Golden Apples | Daybreaker pulses 175 AoE damage every 2 seconds |
| Supay | Hidden | 15 Marble, 1 Shadow | Devil Sparks; +45% Rush boon damage |
Moros is the best value forge in the entire game — 2 Bronze and 2 Tears, available in your first few Erebus runs, for an aspect whose lingering-attack mechanic works with any on-hit boon and needs no specific build. Forge Moros first, Eos second.
Moonstone Axe
| Aspect | Type | Forge cost | Max-rank effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Melinoë | Default | — | +50 Attack Power & Max Life |
| Charon | Forgeable | 5 Pearl, 1 Obol | Your Cast erupts as an Omega Cast when your Omega Special hits; +45% Cleave-Cast size & damage |
| Thanatos | Forgeable | 4 Glassrock, 4 Nightshade | +45% Attack Speed; Mortality stacks give brief invulnerability on crits |
| Nergal | Hidden | 15 Iron, 5 Serpent Scales | Berserk after 4 strikes; 4% lifesteal per hit |
The Axe is the slowest weapon in the game, and Charon is what fixes it — the double-detonation loop turns cast-focused boon pools into consistent room clearers. The default aspect is C-tier because the slow base moveset constrains build diversity.
Thanatos is a 1.0 success story: the patch raised its Mortality crit chance and rescaled the attack-speed bonus, moving it from a “meme” pick to a legitimate contender.
Sister Blades
| Aspect | Type | Forge cost | Max-rank effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Melinoë | Default | — | +200% Backstab Damage |
| Pan | Forgeable | 2 Shaderot, 2 Wool | Specials home onto foes; +8 Omega Special shots |
| Artemis | Forgeable | 15 Silver, 1 Glassrock | +90% Omega Attack Speed; Parry on channel, Riposte after |
| Morrigan | Hidden | 8 Iron, 2 Feathers | Crow Cutters enable Blood Triad; 999 damage cap |
This is where the community fights. GameSpot called the Blades “might be the best weapon in the game”; Mobalytics ranks the default aspect B-tier. One source puts the default at A (the +200% backstab works naturally with the blades’ speed), another at C. Both are sort of right: the base moveset is excellent, the problem is scaling — fast attacks matter less once enemies survive your combos.
Do not rush Silver into Pan or Artemis. Grind toward Morrigan if you use this weapon often.
Black Coat
| Aspect | Type | Forge cost | Max-rank effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Selene | Hidden | — | Hex scaling with heavy investment |
| Nyx | Forgeable | — | On-hit builds; stacks every percentage-based damage increase |
| Shiva | Forgeable | — | High % attack path, good with Apollo legendary |
The Coat has the weakest base weapon identity. Nyx fixes it; Selene does not — Selene is the one aspect the community broadly agrees needs buffs, alone in D-tier.
The unlock order that works
- Witch’s Staff — for Circe, and because the default is genuinely good. The single best early investment.
- Argent Skull — for Medea, the highest ceiling in the game.
- Umbral Flames — forge Moros the moment you can, because 2 Bronze and 2 Tears is nothing.
- Moonstone Axe — Charon, but only once you have reliable hammer access.
- Sister Blades — skip the forgeables, save Iron for Morrigan.
- Black Coat — Nyx, if you want it.
Materials are scarce, particularly when you are forging your first two or three aspects, so the cheap high-value forges matter more than the expensive ones.
Where the sources genuinely disagree
| Aspect | One source | Another |
|---|---|---|
| Sister Blades (default) | A-tier — backstab fits the kit | C-tier — dull bonuses |
| Moros (Flames) | A-tier | S-tier |
| Morrigan (Blades) | B-tier | S-tier |
| Melinoë (Staff) | B-tier | S-tier |
| Anubis (Staff) | A-tier | S-tier, “most busted hidden aspect” |
Treat the top three (Medea, Circe, and Moros for its cost) as reliable. Everything above that on the list is contested, which usually means it needs the right build rather than that it is bad.
The thing the roster actually teaches
A skilled player with a C-tier aspect will outperform a novice with Medea Skull every single time. The tier list reflects optimal play, not required play — and the margins only start to matter around Fear 40+.
Related guides
- How to Unlock Hidden Aspects — the hidden aspect conditions
- Best Weapons Tier List — the weapons themselves
- Gods and Boons Guide — what to attach to the aspect
- Best Arcana Builds — the per-weapon card leanings