Surface Guide (How to Unlock and Survive)

When you begin your journey as Melinoë, only the path to the underworld is available to her. The Surface is the second route you can unlock in Hades 2.

Many vital resources are only available on the Surface route, so you'll need to start playing on both routes if you plan to upgrade all of your weapons and complete the game's main story.

In this guide, we will explain how to unlock access to the Surface and then cover all of the incantations and resources required to progress through it.

Overall, the Surface is more challenging and takes longer to clear. Don't stress if you find yourself struggling to make it all the way through at first. If you're looking for help with the difficult surface Guardians, check out our Boss Guides.

• Light spoilers ahead if you haven't played the surface a few times already.

During the first handful of nights, the surface entrance can be found in the Crossroads, but Melinoë does not have access.

The first interaction that needs to happen is that after you've encountered Hermes a few times, he will begin to start talking to you about the surface. After a few runs where he chats with you, Hecate will notify you about a new Incantation available at her cauldron.

At this point, you'll first need to perform the Permeation of Witching-Wards to unseal the gate.

Once you enter the Surface, don't worry about how far you make it. Melinoë slowly takes damage and is to doomed to fail. Speaking of doom, Moros will prompt you to speak with him, and his dialogue is required to get the next Incantation you'll need, Unraveling a Fateful Bond.

Resources Required

Permeation of Witching-Wards

• Molly, Cinder, and Shadow

Unraveling a Fateful Bond

• Lotus, Nightshade, Moss, Thalamus

More than likely, you'll need at least a couple runs on the Surface in order gather the Moss required to perform Unraveling a Fateful bond.

• See our Resources guide, for a complete list of resources and where to find them.

Ephyra Rooms

Six Locations total

Melinoë must destroy 6 Pylons. She must enter 6 rooms, so decide ahead of time which room rewards you want the most.

Side rooms

Within some of the main locations, you'll have the option to enter side rooms. If Vow of Time is not a concern, you should always enter these rooms to collect the extra rewards.

Two Special locations:

NPC room. Always enter the room with the "Hands" icon when available. This NPC will always be located in the same room, and offers Boons that will help the rest of your run.

Mini-boss. There are two mini-bosses. We recommend saving them for last because they are very difficult to beat if you don't have the Major Rewards from the 5 previous rooms.

Fountain

Save the Fountain in the center until you've taken at least 20 damage. The healing is important to your survival and you don't want to waste it.

• Once you enter the main room of Ephyra, you are able to choose up to six locations to enter. After you perform Summoning A Colony of Bats, you can get get a bats-eye view of the entire area to help you chose your path.

• The Underworld has Wells of Charon, but the Surface has Shrines of Hermes. Here you can buy Boons and upgrades to increase the power of your build.

• Although they only appear by random chance, finding a Fountain Room skips one encounter, gives you a free reward and healing. You'll be very happy to find a fountain room after performing theses incantations.