The best boons in Hades depend on your weapon, your god, and how deep into the escape you are. Boons that answer a real problem rank above flashy effects that need a perfect shell around them.
Every pick below is scored on five things: reliability, damage, defence, curse value, and setup cost. A boon that works with no help climbs the list. A boon that needs three others first drops.
How this tier list is ranked
Ranking starts with how often a boon earns its slot. Reliability means the effect fires in normal play, not only in a build made to carry it.
Damage and defence decide close calls. A boon that ends a boss phase scores high, and so does one that keeps a bad room from killing you.
Curse value covers the stacking effects, like Weak, Chill, Doom, and Hangover. These work with your other picks and open the door to duo boons.
Setup cost is the last check. A strong effect that demands two specific gods ranks lower than a weaker effect that works alone.
S-tier boons
S-tier boons change a run the moment you take them. They need little setup, they stay useful in every biome, and they hold up against the final boss.
Divine Dash sits at the top. Athena’s dash deflects incoming attacks, so your main dodge also answers damage. It rescues Elysium runs on its own.
Tidal Dash and Deadly Strike follow. Poseidon’s dash scatters a crowd, while Artemis’ attack boon plants critical hits on your core move.
A-tier boons
A-tier boons come close to the top, but each carries a small condition. They reward a build that already leans toward their god.
Zeus rewards fast weapons, so Lightning Strike and Thunder Flourish pay off on the fists and the rail. Ares rewards hit-and-run play with his Doom on attack and special.
B-tier boons
B-tier boons are strong in the right shell and forgettable outside it. Take one when the room offers nothing better and your build already fits.
Casts live here for most weapons. Crystal Beam and Trippy Shot control a room, but they ask for aim and spacing that a melee run rarely has.
C-tier boons
C-tier picks have real uses, but the cost often outweighs the payoff. They belong in a plan that covers the downside somewhere else.
Watch for effects that push enemies away from your own damage. Flood Shot and similar knockback casts fight a melee build that wants enemies close.
Where does every boon rank?
| Tier | Boon | God | Why it ranks there |
|---|---|---|---|
| S | Divine Dash | Athena | Deflects attacks on your dash, so your main dodge also deals damage. |
| S | Tidal Dash | Poseidon | Knockback on the dash scatters a crowd and slams foes into walls. |
| S | Deadly Strike | Artemis | Critical hits on your attack lift every later damage boon with them. |
| S | Crush Shot | Aphrodite | A close cast that hits hard and applies Weak for duo setups. |
| S | Lightning Strike | Zeus | Arc damage on the attack spreads through grouped enemies. |
| S | Heartbreak Strike | Aphrodite | Weak on the attack cuts incoming damage while raising your own. |
| A | Thunder Flourish | Zeus | Arc on the special, strong on weapons that fire it often. |
| A | Tempest Strike | Poseidon | Knockback attack with a wall-slam bonus that adds steady damage. |
| A | Curse of Agony | Ares | Doom on the attack, a delayed burst that fits hit-and-run play. |
| A | Drunken Strike | Dionysus | Hangover stacks on the attack and grows through a long fight. |
| A | Frost Flourish | Demeter | Chill on the special slows a group and sets up a freeze. |
| A | Crystal Beam | Demeter | A lingering cast beam that punishes slowed or grouped foes. |
| A | Hunter Dash | Artemis | A dash that adds critical damage to the strike after it. |
| A | Zeus’ Aid | Zeus | A call that dumps a burst of lightning on a boss phase. |
| B | Curse of Pain | Ares | Doom on the special, steady but slower than the attack version. |
| B | Passion Dash | Aphrodite | Weak on the dash, useful but outshone by the deflect dashes. |
| B | Trippy Shot | Dionysus | A lobbed fog that needs closing space to pay off. |
| B | Electric Shot | Zeus | A chain cast, good for rooms and weaker against one target. |
| B | Hunter’s Mark | Artemis | Marks a foe for crits, but only after a crit build is underway. |
| B | Blinding Flash | Athena | Backstab damage, worth it only inside a deflect plan. |
| B | Divine Flourish | Athena | Deflect on the special offers cover for weapons held far away. |
| C | Slicing Shot | Ares | A blade rift cast that drifts slowly and misses mobile foes. |
| C | Flood Shot | Poseidon | Knockback cast that pushes enemies out of your follow-up. |
| C | Mistral Dash | Demeter | Chill on the dash is a weak defensive pick next to deflect. |
| C | Numbing Sensation | Dionysus | Only pays off when you already stack Hangover on the build. |
| C | Rare Crop | Demeter | Gambles on raising a boon’s rarity, and the floor is low. |
Best boons by slot (Attack, Special, Cast, Dash, Call)
Every god offers a boon for each slot. Matching the slot to your weapon matters more than the god’s raw power.
- Attack: Deadly Strike, Heartbreak Strike, or Lightning Strike. Your attack fires most often, so anchor a scaling effect here.
- Special: Thunder Flourish or Frost Flourish. Pick a special boon only when your special carries the weapon.
- Cast: Crush Shot, Crystal Beam, or True Shot. Casts add range and a burst that many attack builds lack.
- Dash: Divine Dash first, then Tidal Dash. A dash boon is the cheapest defence in the game.
- Call: Zeus’ Aid and Artemis’ Aid. The call is your burst button for a boss phase.
Best boons for beginners
New players should take survival first. Divine Dash and Heartbreak Strike cut incoming damage while you learn the room patterns.
Avoid cast-heavy plans at the start. Casts need aim and spacing that arrive with practice, and a dead run teaches nothing.
A build that survives Elysium teaches more than one that dies there.
Best duo boons
Duo boons need two gods on the build before they appear. The strongest ones extend effects you already want.
Merciful End pairs Athena and Ares, letting your deflects trigger Doom. Sea Storm pairs Poseidon and Zeus, turning knockback into lightning.
Hunting Blades pairs Artemis and Ares, sending blade rifts after enemies. Heart Rend pairs Aphrodite and Artemis, lifting crit damage against Weak foes.
Ice Wine and Lightning Rod round out the list. Plan the pair in your opening rooms, or the option never shows up.
Boons to avoid
Some boons sound better than they play. Avoid picks that fight your own weapon, like knockback on a melee build that needs enemies close.
Skip effects that only help in narrow rooms. A boon tied to one hazard or one enemy type rarely pays across a full escape.
Avoid stacking three weak curses for their own sake. One strong curse, backed by your damage, beats a pile that never triggers.
Turning the tier list into a run
A Hades boon tier list only helps if you apply it to the run in front of you. Rank each pick by what the build lacks, then take the boon that fixes it.
For the wider plan, read boon priorities and the boss strategies page.
Next: Duo and legendary boons or Boon priorities.