One Hades 2 Enemy Brings Back an Annoying Feature, But There’s a Silver Lining

Hades 2‘s The Unseen Update brings in new challenges through the Vow of Rivals, a new feature that makes boss battles more difficult. When it is activated via the Oath of the Unseen, Melinoe will encounter renewed battles that either give bosses a different set of attacks or an additional guardian to aid them. The latter is what Hades 2 players encounter when they reach Polyphemus’ lair in the City of Ephyra.

The Vow of Rivals’ effect on the Polyphemus battle is that it adds Medea into the mix. The dark witch, who’s usually stationed in Ephyra to give out Curses, appears to help the fearsome cyclops in hindering Melinoe in the overworld. As an enemy, Medea splashes debilitating poison around the field, which makes it extra difficult to move around while avoiding Polyphemus’ lumbering attacks. The poison is also the same feature from the first Hades game, and it can be just as annoying as before.

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Hades 2 Brings Back Poison, But It’s Not As Bad As the First Game

Both Hades games see Zagreus and Melinoe battling hordes of enemies in various dungeons to achieve their respective goals. In the first game, Zagreus passes through the Temple of Styx on his way to the surface, which has a total of 33 chambers, with only one housing the sack to feed Cerberus. The Temple of Styx is also the penultimate area before reaching the Hades boss battle, so players must be cautious of Zagreus’ HP and Death Defiance while navigating it.

What makes the Temple of Styx extra challenging is not just the enemies nor the number of chambers that players may need to enter, but the poison damage that Zagreus can sustain from Satyr Cultists and rats. Whenever he is poisoned, his HP goes down unless he finds a cure well around the map. They are depicted as shiny green wells, making them easy to find in certain corners of the chambers. However, when fights get too chaotic, players may find themselves struggling to cure the poison, dealing significant damage to Zagreus that can potentially kill him before reaching Hades‘ final boss battle.

As mentioned, Hades 2 brought back the poison feature through the Polyphemus and Medea boss battle in Ephyra. Similar to the first game, Melinoe must use the cure wells around the area to remove the poison that’s chipping away at her HP. It can be tough at first, since players must figure out how to balance both fighting Polyphemus and avoiding Medea’s poison, but it’s a manageable encounter once they’ve gotten used to the bosses’ patterns. Likewise, it will only get tougher if multiple Oath of the Unseen vows are activated during players’ runs.

How to Encounter Polyphemus and Medea in Hades 2

Unlock the first tier of the Vow of Rivals by clearing a certain number of runs while Oath of the Unseen vows are active.
During the boss battle against Hecate in Erebus, she will tell Melinoe that she can access the Vow of Rivals via the Oath of the Unseen.
Once the first tier is unlocked, Melinoe must go to the overworld headed to Olympus in order to encounter Polyphemus and Medea in the City of Ephyra.

On the bright side, dealing with poison in Hades 2 is less of a hassle compared to the first game. While Zagreus has to deal with it while traversing multiple Temple of Styx chambers, Melinoe only has to experience it in one area during the Polyphemus and Medea fight. Once players beat the duo, they only have to worry about the rest of Hades 2‘s challenging bosses in the overworld area, like Eris, Prometheus, and Typhon. Of course, it still helps to not get too complacent and make sure that Melinoe has enough HP and Death Defiance to last her until the end of the run.