Argent Skull Starter Build

The Argent Skull's Aspect of Melinoë adds base Power to standard and Omega Attacks. Players can opt to build around rapid-firing the standard Attacks or beefing up the Omega Attack damage.

This build invests all Boons, Hammers, and Poms into making every Omega Attack deal insane damage in a massive area. You'll have the AoE damage necessary to quickly clear standard encounters, while also maintaining the high single-target damage required to defeat Guardians and bosses.

Mel Skulls are a great Weapon Aspect for players who enjoy using long-ranged abilities and playing keepaway with the enemy. You'll spend most of your time positioned outside enemy attack range, which makes the Aspect of Melinoë one of the easier Weapons to earn your first victory with.

Weapon Aspect

The higher you've ranked up your Aspect of Melinoë, the more important managing ammo will be. At ranks 1-3, don't worry too much about it and allow the increased base damage to be a passive benefit.

When ranked all the way up, save Magick usage to Omega Attack when you only have 1 or 2 shells left. Once you've acquired Wide Grin, the base effect will not matter anyway.

The most vital upgrades for your Aspect of Melinoë are Wide Grin and Exceptional Talent. If you manage to get either or both of these at any point during the run, you are set up with a great kit.

Retrieving Shells

Anytime you run out of shells, perform a Special move to retrieve them automatically. When it is safe to do so, or if you have an important Boon's Status effect to inflict, Special as an attack. Otherwise, Special away from the enemies to avoid taking damage.

Animal Familiar

Start with Hecuba for the increased starting Magick and her ability to dig up more Magick during each encounter. Then you will be able to utilize Omega Attacks early in the run. Once you get Exceptional Talent, you'll be burning through Magick very quickly.

Listen for Hecuba's "Bark" and try to hit the stunned enemies with your giant Omega Attack.

Arcana

Priority: The Sorceress (I), The Furies (VI), Persistence (VII), The Swift Runner (XI), Origination (XIV), Death (XII)

Secondary and Substitutes: The Wayward Son (II), The Huntress (III), The Boatman (XVII), The Artificer (XVIII), The Lovers (XV), Excellence (XIX)

Free: The Centaur (XIII), The Fates (XXI), Divinity (XXIV)

We're going with our standard Arcana loudout for this build. Save Rerolls for after you've fulfilled Exceptional Talent prerequisites because your endgame damage heavily relies on acquiring this Legendary Boon.

Earlier in the run, The Huntress (III) greatly helps bring up your standard Attack damage because of the increased base Attack Power of Aspect of Melinoë. Just make sure to never leave your Magick meter full. The Fates (XXI) is also important for increasing the damage of your Omega Attacks. Drop Cast, dodge and charge an Omega.

Keepsakes

1. Harmonic Photon
2. 1. Apollo is the foundation of this build. We must start with his Attack, Nova Strike, and work towards getting his Legendary, Exceptional Talent, as soon as possible.
2. Barely
3. 1. If Demeter gets added to your God Pool in the 1st Region, try to get Arctic Ring. In the 2nd region we're going to take Barely either way because we want to rarify Weed Killer to maximize our Omega Attacks damage potential.
3. Experimental Hammer
4. 1. Wide Grin quadruples the damage of Omega Attacks without increasing the Magick Cost. The Skulls have a lot of other good Attack upgrades like, Looming Ignition, Possessed Array, Boosted Ignition, so almost any random Hammer will be useful.
4. Luckier Tooth
5. 1. Going into the final Region, we need all the help we can get for the final boss. Luckier Tooth is the best Keepsake for the job. Ensure you don't let it activate before getting to the final chamber.

Primary God

Starting out, aim to take Nova Strike as your first Boon. If you don't have rerolls yet, and aren't offered Apollo's Attack, Blinding Rush is an acceptable secondary choice because we want it later anyway. We are building towards Exceptional Talent to double your Omega Attack Damage, so you'll need to fulfill its three requirements unlocking the chance to have it offered to you.

Blinding Rush is more desirable than Solar Ring becuase we'd prefer a CC Cast (Arctic Ring or Rapture Ring) and it also unlocks Back Burner as a tier 2 Boon. Omega Aspect of Melinoë Attacks can easily be aimed to land just behind most targets to trigger the increased Backstab damage.

Lucid Gain can work for your Magick Boon if you aren't presented with Blinding Rush have no other option. Lucid Gain and Tropical Cyclone synergize well (assuming you have Arctic Gale) since you'll need to be standing inside your Cast to activate both of their effects.

God Pool

Demeter

From Demeter, we want both of her Cast Boons (Arctic Ring & Arctic Gale) plus Weed Killer. Having Arctic Ring makes hitting Frozen enemies in your Cast extremely easy and lethal. Arctic Gale is great for additional damage and will make it possible to get Tropical Cyclone. Their Duo deals mega damage and slows enemy projectiles.

Weed Killer is the cherry on top of this build. An Epic variation literally doubles all damage from your Omega Attack and is the main non-core Boon we'll be looking for.

Hera

While there are several good Magick Boons you could take, Born Gain is preferred here. As long as you have a decently high amount of max Magick, you won't need to worry about priming out. The passive nature of Born Gain makes it the best Magick Boon for the Aspect of Melinoë Omega build.

Hephaestus

Volcanic Flourish is perfect for the Special Boon because we won't be striking with Specials very often. The infrequent yet powerful Blasts can be used whenever you see it recharged. The Special Boon is the one Core Boon slot that we don't necessarily need filled for this build, so put this low on your priority list.

Any of his defensive Boons will benefit you, especially Uncanny Fortitude since you'll have a high amount of max Magick.

Poms of Power

Try to use every Pom to increase your damage. Nova Strike is your first priority for increasing Boon levels. Weed Killer and Back Burner are also excellent choices when Nova Strike is not offered or if you've already raised the Attack more than a few levels since Pom's effectiveness lessens with each level.

Hammers

Nothing will boost your damage more than the Wide Grin Hammer. The power of literally quadrupling the damage of each Omega Attack cannot be overstated. The time it takes a skull to fire into the air, then launch down at an enemy, increases the damage and AoE thanks to Looming Ignition.

If you don't have either of these options, Boosted Ignition, Bolstered Array, Volatile Array, Looming Ignition, or Possessed Array, would be the next best choice.

You may want to note that Wide Grin doesn't technically synergize with Aspect of Melinoë base +Power effect, but it's worth the trade off. All other Hammers benefit from shell managemant.

Hermes

From Hermes, the best first Boon you can get is Travel Deal for this build. You'll need to be offered Apollo a minimum of four times in order to get Exceptional Talent. Having the chance to buy an extra Boon at every Charon's Shop will make this task much more consistent.

Because you'll be spamming Omega Attacks, the increased channel speed from Racing Thoughts would be our 2nd choice.

Magick and Health Requirements

Take a balanced approach to increasing max HP and Magick. If you don't manage to get Wide Grin, you'll need to have more Magick than if you do since the Hammer lets you fire all four skulls for the price of one Omega Attack. As long as you're not in danger of running out of Magick, prioritize increasing max Health over max Magick.

Hex (Selene's Path of Stars)

Thanks to our high Magick use, we'll be activating our Hex frequently. Grabbing, Phase Shift makes Guardian encounters so much easier. Assuming you managed to add Weed Killer and Exceptional Talent to your arsenal, every Omega Attack will cost 40 Magick. Therefore, every four Omega Attacks will have Phase Shift ready to slow the Guardian. Prepare to annihilate every foe with endless explosions!

When offered additional Path of Star upgrades, try to path towards Alacrity, Patience, and Preparation. If your Magick usage is really high, you should also try to unlock Precision for the critical damage.

Demeter's Godsent will also be available and can add a bit of extra damage.

NPC Offerings

NPC offerings suffer from RNG more than any other Boon category. First, you must hope to encounter the NPC ally, then get lucky enough to be presented with the desired Boon. On the occasions where you do run into these comrades, their Boons can have a profound impact on the potency of your build.

Lethal Snare grants the chance to deal critical damage with your standard and Omega Attacks to any foe within your Cast. Even a common 10% chance of dealing 200% damage significantly reduces the amount of time and number of Omega Attacks it will take for you to clear encounters and bosses.

As long as you have the health to afford it, we recommend entering Chaos Gates. Look for Strike or Revelation and take them as long as the Curse doesn't prevent you from using Attacks or Omega Moves.

Combat Loop

Gamplay Loop (Without Wide Grin)

• Shoot one skull to hit stun your target
• Dash (towards target) → Cast → Attack
• Dash away, and channel an Omega Attack.
• • 2nd Omega Attack (if safe)
• Special to retrieve shells.
• repeat

Gameplay Loop (with Wide Grin)

• Walk/Sprint in
• Cast → Dash away → Omega Attack
• Special to retrieve shells
• Omega Attack
• Special to retrieve shells
• repeat

Watch for enemies with projectiles and Dash cancel out of channeling your Omega Attack if you are about to be hit.

Don't collect Skulls right away. An Omega Attack with 3 unretrieved Shells deals +27 base Power (at max rank), multiplied by an extra 50% from a rare Nova Strike, plus an extra 75% from a rare Weed Killer.

Early Game Strategy

In the first Region, you need to grab Nova Strike and Curse effects from two different gods to activate Orgination. Only 10 Magick is required to perform a base-level Omega Attack, so don't worry about increasing max Magick just yet.