Poseidon Pan Build

The Aspect of Pan causes standard and Ω Specials to automatically track foes inside your Cast's AoE. This mechanic opens up some interesting playstyles that vary greatly from the rest of Lim and Oros's Aspects.

For this guide, I'm going to build around the on-hit effect of Poseidon's Wave Flourish. Melinoë charges up the Ω Special to fire more knives, each one will deal it's on instance of Splash damage.

At this point it almost goes without saying, but Trick Knives is giga-busted on Aspect of Pan. On runs where you manage to be offered this Hammer, this Aspect instantly transforms into one of the best in game.

Because getting Trick Knives is entirely RNG dependent, this build works great without it, then gets even better with it. You could always die or reset and reroll if you really, really, want Trick Knives, but I don't recommend it, as it'll likely waste a ton of irl time.

The entire build centers around Slash and Froth damage from Wave Flourish and Slippery Slope - these are your top priorities.

• For Attack, you won't use it too much without Trick Knives, so putting a boon on it is not a priority. Same goes for a Rush Boon, it's not very important here.
• We mostly want Zeus in the God pool for Static Shock. Also, if we pull Trick Knives, then Heaven Strike is super good.

Volcanic Strike is another great choice for this very reason. Whenever the blast charge is available, use an Attack, when its not, use Specials.

Other than Vivid Sea the other Keepsakes are open to your preference. See what your run needs and go with whatever you feel is best for the situation.

Arcana

Eternity (IV) will help with your ability to reactively dodge cancel your Ω Move channeling. It slows time which gives you a longer window to to see an enemy attack, and dodge away.

Eternity (IV) does not slow enemies relative to Melinoë like Phase Shift does. Instead, it slows all time (except IGT). You can channel faster, but everything does move slower.

• When using Jeweled Pom start instead of Vivid Sea, it's even easier to allocate 3 Grasp to this Arcana.

The Messenger (VIII) seems to be an underrated Arcana by much of the Hades 2 player base. Try it with Pan, and you'll find -Dashing in, Cast-dodge out, Channel Ω Special- is far easier. The Messenger (VIII) makes aggressively dropping Casts right on foes notably safer for just 1 Grasp.

The Huntress (III) is great when you have Trick Knives, but doesn't do much when you're mostly using Ω Specials. Only put it on when high rolling, or when feel comfortable sacrificing a defensive arcana like The Lovers (XV).

Combat Tips

Cast Usage

Aim at a foe not in your Cast. The Specials will pierce through all foes on their way to the targeted foe within your Cast. By aiming at a different foe, you're guaranteed to hit multiple enemies with each use, thereby increased your dps.

When possible, try to Sprint to get near to enemy, not Dash. Sprinting will allow you to Drop Cast and immediately Dash away to safety without taking damage.

If you are using The Messenger (VIII), this is way easier. You can actually Dash in, then use the invulnerability and move speed of the Arcana to get out.

• For universal tips on optimizing your Cast usage, refer to the Complete Guide to Casts.

Combat Loop

Without Trick Knives

1. Sprint towards foes
2. Drop Cast, Dodge out
3. Channel Ω Special at safe distance
4. Repeat

With Trick Knives

1. Sprint towards foes
2. Drop Cast, Dodge out
3. Dash-strike
4. Brief pause to reset
5. 1. (x4 Dash-Strike per Cast)

You can also Dash-Strike, Special, Dash-Strike xRepeat, to get in an extra Special. However, this movement locks you more often, and is a more dangerous combat loop. But good to keep in mind as an option. The Special animation recovery animation can be cancelled by Dash.

Cast Boon

As you need to keep foes inside your Cast AoE to activate Aspect of Pan's unique mechanic, your Cast Boon is very important.

Arctic Ring and Rapture Ring are the best Casts to pair with Pan Knives because their effects add extra stun on top of the usual Cast CC.

Freezing enemies makes Channeling Ω Specials very safe. Rapture Ring pulling enemies into the center enables your Specials to hit more foes on average, and is very effective for keeping foes inside the Cast.

Super Nova increases the AoE of your Cast, and that can help on occasions where you misplace your cast, or by chance to get more foes inside. Not particularly powerful, but worth mentioning.

• Winner's Circle is TERRIBLE. Do not take it while using Aspect of Pan. You do not want your Cast expiring early. WIth Winner's Circle, you can't even full charge an Ω Special.

Magick Regen

Your gonna use a ton of Magick, therefore you need a good Gain Boon. Since you have Poseidon and are targeting King Tide, you should take Flood Gain. It'll cover you Magick needs, and fulfill a requirement fo rthe legendary Boon.

Vows and Fear

For Aspect of Pan, I feel the most punishing fears are Vow of Hubris 2, Vow of Denial, & Vow of Frenzy 2.

Vow of Frenzy 1 is pretty manageable, but the long recovery animation of Aspect of Pan Ω Specials makes it nearly impossible to avoid damage with Vow of Frenzy 2 activated.

Vow of Denial is difficult because you're gonna want multiple Poseidon Boons, and may need multiple tries at getting King Tide. Vow of Denial can brick your build and crew you over really easy.

The other Worse scenario is being forced to Core Boon swap late in a run.

Vow of Hubris is the least punishing of these 3, but it can be difficult to stay ahead of the primed Magick if you get a lot of high rarity Boons.

Hammers

Every "Knives" Hammer is good with Aspect of Pan.

100% you are hoping for Trick Knives, but if you are not offered it, Dancing Knives,Reaper Knives are the next best options.

Hidden Knives is good too, but you have to channel even longer.

Hermes Boons

Hard Target reduces the headache of getting hit by random projectile spam while Channeling Ω Specials. I recommend it as a powerful defensive option.

Stutter Step is the best Boon you can add to a Trick Knives set up. In general, it's just a great Boon.

Travel Deal will help you get more Boons, and increase your chances for getting King Tide and other great Boons.

Racing Thoughts is a fine choice as well to reduce channel time.