Keepsakes Tier List

These Keepsakes are the undisputed best in the game, offering unparalleled power or utility that can single-handedly save a run and guarantee a significant advantage.

Jeweled Pom

Jeweled Pom has completely overhauled Arcana and Keepsake meta. Gaining +Pom levels every time you are offered a Boon for the entire run is the most game changing effect in Hades 2. Moreover, you start with one of Hades' Boons, and while some won't impact your run very much, others like Gigaros Dash will carry your run.

Once you have it unlocked, the strongest runs are essentially always going to be a Jeweled Pom start.

Time Piece

Time Piece is the final Fates Whim, post credit Keepsake. While it's not as strong as the other two, it can be used alongside them, and more Gold is never a bad thing. It sometimes feels like overkill, however, and you may end runs with a huge surplus of left over Gold.

Travel Deal from Hermes makes Time Piece OP.

For extremely high fear runs, Time Piece would likely bring you considerably more value than Calling Card and most other Keepsakes. A common use for farming gold is to take Time Piece in either the second or third region, Purge the Vow of Forfeit Onion, then purge the minor rewards and whatever Major ones you don't need.

Gorgon Amulet

Athena's boons are some of the best defensive boons in Hades 2. Depending on your build and preference, you're going to either want to take a Deflect or Death Defiance boon.

Divine Dash makes dashing even safer as the Deflect lasts longer than your dodge invulnerability frames. Therefore, even if you slightly miss dodging a projectile, you still won't take any damage since they'll be Deflected. Depending on what you get offered, any of her Deflect boons will feel like a great addition to your build.

The ultimate power of equipping the Gorgon Amulet is grabbing either the Stalwart Stand or Renewed Faith. Death Defiances are among the most valuable mechanics when it comes to surviving and clearing a run. Consider that you could have 3 DD from the Death (XII), one from Toula, and occasionally an extra from Chaos's Legendary Defiance. Even if all have been used beating the previous region's boss, Renewed Faith will replace all of them and each will grant more health than before!

• Deactivates Fates' Whim. Once you unlock the post-credit Keepsakes, you'll likely only want to equip Gorgon Amulet if you absolutely need to try for one of her Death Defiance Keepsakes.

Engraved Pin

Engraved Pin has two incredible effects. First, if you lose all your health you'll become invulnerable for 10 seconds. During this time, you can inflict an immense amount of damage on enemies or bosses. Then, if you clear the encounter during the ten second window, you won't die or use a Death Defiance. Instead, you'll recover life based on the rank of the Keepsake.

Because Engraved Pin can be activated once per encounter an endless number of times, it can provide more sustain than any other Keepsake. Even on the Ship of Thessaly or in the Fields where there are multiple encounters per location, the Pin can be used to save yourself during each individual encounter: multiple times per location. Furthermore, you can equip Engraved Pin in the 1st or 2nd Region and leave it equipped for the rest of the run.

10 seconds of invulnerability will make the difference between victory and defeat when you get really close to winning. Stand in the enemy's face and blast 'em!

• (SPOILER) Pro tip: In the fight against Chronos, if the Engraved Pin gets activated towards the end of a phase and you clear it, (get him to 0 health), that will count as an encounter and you'll enter the next phase without having used a DD or died.
• • This tech does not work with Typhon or any other Guardian.

These Keepsakes are great options when you don't need a God's Keepsake and want to save the S-tier Keepsakes for more difficult regions. They aren't as universally impactful as those in higher tiers, and each has potential weaknesses to equipping.

Luckier Tooth

Almost as good as the top two, Luckier Tooth grants a one-time use Death Defiance that restores up to 151 health based on the rank. Since it can only be used once per run, it's not as strong as the top two Keepsakes. However, Luckier Tooth's benefit is guaranteed and not limited by RNG offerings or a limited 10-second window to clear the encounter.

Remember that if you are running Strength (XXIII), you'll only activate its damage reduction and boost AFTER you've used Luckier Tooth.

White Antler

A favorite of speedrunners, White Antler transforms Melinoë into a glass cannon. If you plan on taking White Antler into the final region, look for Success Rate or Cherished Heirloom to increase the Crit chance.

Although your damage increases to truly insane levels, the trade-off of being limited to 30 health, no matter how much you previously had, is very punishing. Sometimes it works out because with high enough dps you can phase out bosses before they get a chance to unleash their attacks.

Unless you absolutely cracked, you should only every use White Antler in standard runs, and not in regions where you have Vow of Rivals activated.

Metallic Droplet

A common use for Metallic Droplet is the Underworld's third region when the timer is a concern. The large locations in the Fields can burn away precious time, so the increased movement and attack speed help to make up that.

Unfortunately, many players will find it difficult to make it to the region's Guardian before the Metallic Droplet's benefits expire, so it may not be helping you against the hardest foe.

In Magick builds, the increased channeling speed is very impactful. Consider trying out Metallic Droplet next time you're spamming Omega Moves.

Experimental Hammer

Every Aspect has 1 or 2 Hammers that massively increase its power level. Some, like the Zorephet's Psychic Whirlwind, alter base properties of the Weapon, while others, like the Descura's Rapid Thrasher, simply increase Attack Speed stats.

The best time to equip Experimental Hammer is the 3rd region. Once you've ranked it all the way up, the temporary Hammer Upgrade will last through the 3rd Region and into the final Boss, even after you've swapped to a new Keepsake.

If you haven't managed to grab the Hammer you were hoping for yet, the Experimental Hammer is worth taking. Even if you don't get the one you want, on the next Hammer you find, you'll have one less upgrade in the RNG pool.

Be careful with Weapons like the Axe that have mechanic-altering Hammers like Hell Splitter. Getting that from Experimental Hammer may completely disrupt your build and ruin your run!

Transcendent Embryo

The best part about Transcendent Embryo is that even after unequipping it, you still get to keep your current Chaos Boon! This makes Transcendent Embryo an ideal 2nd or 3rd region Keepsake to equip.

Especially once you rank up the Keepsake to 3 stars, the Epic Chaos Boons can be game-changing. The only reason we aren't placing it in S-tier is because of the randomness of Chaos' boons. You may be hoping for increased Magick, and get stuck with increased resource farming.

Calling Card

Together with the other two Fates' Whim Keepsakes, Calling Card is be very strong. You can either upgrade the rarity of a bunch of different Boons, or take two Boons from Common to Heroic!

Increasing Pom and rarity levels is worth getting rid of all Fates Arcana and God's Keepsakes. Even though you give up a lot of control over your build, the trade of off basically every Boon offered being upgraded means new rng builds are viable that would normally be bad builds.

Aromatic Phial

The 20% increased health recovery from fountains is just ok. The power to turn a common boon Heroic has huge potential in your runs. When you only have one common Boon, for example, a common Heaven Flourish, turning it Heroic is well worth the use of a Keepsake because you almost double the Blitz damage.

The only reason we don't consider this to be a better Keepsake is that the selected common Boon is completely random, so you're taking a big gamble by sacrificing the use of another Keepsake by taking Aromatic Phial instead.

The equipped God's Keepsakes guarantees that they will offer you a Boon and that you can rarify the one chosen. You're going to use at least one of these in 99% of your runs. (until post credits Keepsakes)

The ordering of the God's Keepsakes is partly based on the overall power of each God's Boons as a primary God in your build, but also reflects the value they can bring in later regions.

• Once you unlock the post-credits Keepsakes, equipping any of these God Keepsakes will deactivate Fates' Whim. Generally, that is going to be a poor trade off.

Adamant Shard

Adamant Shard

Hephaestus' Keepsake is the most universally useful God Keepsake to equip midway through a run. Regardless of your build, or if you already have every core boon slot filled, Heph's defensive non-core Boons can greatly increase your odds of surviving the night.

When planning for a Blast build, you 100% need to start with his Keepsake and upgrade the rarity of the selected Volcanic Strike or Volcanic Flourish. The viability and offensive power of Heph is directly tied to rarity and Boon level, so you'll need to start investing in the Attack or Special immediately.

Cloud Bangle

Cloud Bangle

Zeus's Keepsake is likely the most commonly used god Keepsake in Hades II. All of his core boons are powerful, and his non-core boons, such as Static Shock, may be his most desired boon on fast-hitting Aspects.

Iridescent Fan

Iridescent Fan

Starting with Hera helps clear through standard encounters quickly thanks to Hitch on Attack or Special. Hitch is also one of the easiest ways to quickly get Origination (XIV) activated in a run.

Barley Sheaf

Barley Sheaf

Freeze is another one of those Curses that will be good in virtually every build. Especially with Cold Storage to prolong the effect, Freeze makes clearing chambers a cool breeze.

When you don't need any more Core Boons, Barley Sheaf is still useful to get Weed Killer, Local Climate, or Snow Queen depending on your build's needs.

Beautiful Mirror

Beautiful Mirror

Whether you're looking for Glamour Gain for its automatic Magick regen and constant Weak infliction, or need a high-damage Attack/Special, Beautiful Mirror is equally good as a first or second region Keepsake.

If you already have a Blitz or Scorch build going, consider equipping Aphrodite's Keepsake to force her into your god pool and open up the option for their incredible Duo Boons.

Everlasting Ember

Everlasting Ember

Generally, you'll only equip Everlasting Ember as your starting Keepsake because Hestia's non-core Boons are rather lackluster on non-Scorch builds. If you coincidentally rolled a high rarity Scorch in the first Region, it's worth using Everlasting Ember to guarantee Hestia again and rarify Pyro Technique.

Sword Hilt

Sword Hilt

Out of all the god Keepsakes, Ares' Sword Ring will likely be your least used. Wounds needs a buff or slight rework to synergize better with more Aspects.

The only scenario you may consider adding him past the first region would be to hope to add Grievous Blow to Vicious Strike or Vicious Flourish.

Falling Nail builds are just a weaker version of Fine Line builds at the moment. If you're using Sword Hilt, you're likely going for Wounds /Grevious Blow build. His Duos Fourth Degree with Hestia and Hostile Environment with Demeter are lethal in the right build, so don't count Ares out.

Vivid Sea

Vivid Sea

If you're going to do a Poseidon Wave run, you're going to want to start with Vivid Sea and rarify either Wave Strike or Wave Flourish.

On Omega Cast builds, Geyser Spout will bring you the highest damage potential. After you already have a Cast build going, equip Vivid Sea to force Poseidon into your god pool and try to rarify Geyser Spout.

Harmonic Photon

Harmonic Photon

Daze is great for defense and for the Sprint speed increase on his Rush boon. Generally, if you're using Apollo's Keepsakes, you're looking to increase your Attack's AoE and damage. Many Aspects also massively benefit from his double Omega Legendary Boon, Exceptional Talent.

Niche Keepsakes have good potential, but in limited circumstances. They will only be subbed in for the higher-ranked Keepsakes when your specific build and circumstance call for it, and are not considered go-to items.

Moon Beam

If you start a run with Moon Beam, you're likely going to max out your Selene Path of Stars options by the end of the run. Other than for the fun of it, you'll never need to accomplish this.

Therefore, Moon Beam is best used when you already have a strong Hex with a high Magick Build, but need the extra Paths to get to a desired Sublime, Bright, or Godsent upgrade.

• Example: You already have Dark Side and a Aphrodite Core Boon, but haven't been able to upgrade path to the Godsent Allure of Aphrodite. Equip Moon Beam next region so you can you benefit from the upgrades.

Blackened Fleece

Blackened Fleece is a niche Keepsake specific to Omega Move-focused builds. You need to have taken a total of 250 damage throughout this night to activate its effect, meaning you'll likely only be able to use it in the 3rd or 4th regions.

For builds where you spam Omega Moves, and extra 40% damage can go a long way. Typically, Blackened Fleece is saved for the final Region where your damage and Magick is at their highest, and you need the extra damage to help with the final boss.

Always check if you have passed the damage threshold because the accumulated total is calculated before any damage reduction (such as Weak Curse's 30% reduction).

Fig Leaf

When you're pressed for time, there is no better Keepsake than Fig Leaf. At max rank, you'll skip 3 total encounters during your run. Encounters can't be final bosses, but they can be mini bosses.

Every speedrun will include Fig Leaf as the 2nd region's Keepsake. Besides trying to achieve victory as quickly as possible, Fig Leaf is not as beneficial to your run as many other Keepsakes.

Ghost Onion

The best hidden quality of Ghost Onion is that it is unaffected by the Vow of Scars. Even at rank 3, where you can't be healed, Ghost Onion will still heal Melinoë for the full amount. Additionally, when playing at super high Fear and while using the "At Fates Whim" Keepsakes, Ghost Onion will find much more use.

Outside of these unique scenarios, you'd be better off equipping Luckier Tooth for a Death Defiance that grants an equal amount of health plus the benefit of +1 hit. Even taking Gold Purse and buying more than 100 healing with your Gold Crowns feels more worth it. At least Ghost Onion is guaranteed healing.

Knuckle Bones

Knuckle Bones is another Keepsake you'll primarily see used for the final boss fight. The bit of auto damage inflicted to the region's boss is nice to have, and the 10% damage reduction ain't bad either.

Considering you also only benefit from Knuckle Bones in a single fight, and that most other Keepsakes have more universal benefits, using Knuckle Bones is not highly recommended.

Silver Wheel

Instantly gaining a considerable chunk of Magick is useful on runs where you keep running out of Magick. Even with Vow of Hubris 2, which primes Magick with every Boon, you'll not often feel the need to equip the Silver Wheel.

The best function of the Silver Wheel is that you keep the bonus Magick even after unequipping the Keepsake. If you have multiple Boons like Static Shock, Stalwart Stand, and Snow Queen that prime large amounts of Magick, then you may want to consider throwing on Silver Wheel in the 3rd Region.

Lion Fang

Unless you get lucky and hit Cherished Heirloom, Lion Fang shouldn't be your first consideration. By the time you get to the region's boss, you'll have lost over half of Lion Fang's bonus damage! If you need to clear rooms faster, Metallic Droplet, Blackened Fleece or Fig Leaf would be better choices.

At rank IV with Cherished Heirloom, you start at +70% damage and will end with up to +45% going into the final boss. Otherwise, +25% damage will be less helpful than Keepsakes like Knuckle Bones or Luckier Tooth against the boss.

Technically, no Keepsake in Hades II is useless, but these ones come close. They are underperforming with minimal benefit, and are generally not worth equipping unless you are attempting to complete a specific challenge.

Concave Stone

A 2-for-1 Boon sounds like a great deal, but using Concave Stone has some significant drawbacks. First off, the 2nd Boon is chosen randomly, so it likely won't be the Boon you want. Also, taking an extra Boon only occurs based on the rank % of the Keepsake, meaning that Concave Stone may not activate on the desired god offering.

Moreover, the worst-case scenario is when the 2nd chosen Boon messes up your build by forcing a sacrifice Boon to a suboptimal choice. Imagine you have Heaven Strike with Double Strike and Arc Flash to buff it, then Concave Stone makes you sacrifice it for Volcanic Strike! You have lost your best Boon and now have two completely useless Boons in your build.

Silken Sash

You should only consider taking Silken Sash if you have a Silken Armor from Arachne that you feel is crucial to your build. Fuchsia Dress, for example, makes your Cast deal +100% damage, so if you're using an Weapon like Aspect of Circe that favors Cast builds, the +100% Cast damage has a massive impact on your overall damage output.

Remember that Silken Sash loses its effect if you lose all your armor at any point. Therefore, you must play safely and defensively to avoid losing your armor.

Crystal Figurine

If you really need an Arcana Card for your build, you would've already activated it in your loadout. Furthermore, the RNG usually means the two Arcana cards that get activated tend not to make a significant difference to your build.

However, there are no "bad" Arcana Cards, so Crystal Figurine has some usefulness. Being limited to only 4 Keepsakes per run means you need to be very picky, and two random Arcana are unlikely to be worth it.

Evil Eye

Evil Eye only works on the last foe you died to. Sometimes that will be a Guardian, so in that specific scenario, 30% global damage increase to that Guardian is pretty good. You just won't be in that scenario very often, and unless you do a whole run and die on purpose, you can't control who the selected for is.

Gold Purse

Gold Pursegrants you 150 Gold Crowns at max rank, which is the base cost of 1 Boon from Charon's shop if you do not have any Vow of Debt. Therefore, its max potential is being traded for one extra Boon. You can also buy one Centaur Heart and have 25 Crowns left over, or buy some healing.

Don't use Gold Purse to buy Magick, as it ironically becomes uneconomical. Silver Wheel grants 100 Magick, but the 150 Gold crowns from Gold Purse will only afford you 30 Magick.

Discordant Bell

Truly, the worst Keepsakes in Hades II. There is no scenario where you want to increase the damage you suffer from enemies.

To literally add insult to injury, the damage scales up way too slowly. Having Discordant Bell equipped for a whole region typically grants a measly +8% damage at max rank. You won't even notice the damage increase, and it comes at the cost of making the enemies that much stronger.

Your damage and enemy damage do not scale in a 1:1 ratio regarding difficulty. Melinoë can easily get a +100% Special Damage increase with a common Flutter Flourish, and while it's good, it doesn't make the game feel like it's in easy mode. Try out rank 3 Vow of Pain for +100% enemy damage, and the difficulty of achieving victory goes way up.