Hades 2 Path of Stars and upgrades, explained

Early during your conquest to take down the titan of time you’ll come across Selene, a Titaness and personification of the moon, who also aids you. In Hades 2, Selene offers you powers called the ‘Gifts of the Moon’, along with upgrades in the Path of Stars.

Unlike the gods you know, Selene’s Hexes don’t quite work the same. She instead lets you choose something like a super move you can unleash, after spending a set amount of magic. These hexes can also be upgraded on the Path of Stars, which is like a tech tree of sorts. The upgrades can make the hex more powerful, or give Melinoë passive buffs.

Gifts of the Moon hexes and what they do in Hades 2

Like most boons, the Gifts of the Moon are optional. Selene’s sigil appears as a silver drop of water with the crescent moon logo within. It’s the same symbol seen on all followers of Selene, including Hecate, Melinoë, and Artemis. Odysseus also rocks some moons, but I think that’s more because he’s a fanboy.

You get three choices on Hexes when you activate Selene’s boon. They mostly offer splashy ways of dishing out even more damage. ‘Wolf Howl’, for example, will cause you to hover in the air before crashing back onto the ground, causing 200 damage. ‘Lunar Ray’ lets you fire a Kamehameha-beam of moonlight for 1,200 damage over three seconds. But you also have more passive options, such as one that heals, or another that can temporarily slow time. Choose the one you feel suits your play style and build.

Each Gift of the Moon will show you how much magic you need to spend before they activate. When they’re ready, you’ll hear a chime and a moon icon will appear above Melinoë’s head. The Gift of the Moon icon will also shimmer on your HUD at the bottom left above your health and magic bars:

The Path of Stars and upgrades in Hades 2, explained

Getting a Gift of the Moon as early as possible is ideal in Hades 2, as that’ll let you get more upgrades on the Path of Stars. Activating Selene’s boon after claiming your gift opens up the Path of Stars upgrade tree.

Each Hex comes with a set amount of upgrade points. But you can get bonus points based on the gift’s Moonglow, shown as crescent, half, and full moon icons, and explained in an information box:

There are three Moonglow bonuses:

• Crescent Moonglow
  • No bonus
• Half Moonglow
  • +1 bonus point
• Full Moonglow
  • +2 bonus points

There are at least two paths to take for each Hex. Hovering over the icons will show you what the upgrade will do. Some may increase the damage that the gift can dish out, increase its activated time, or make it more powerful. But some upgrades give Melinoë passive buffs. For example, one upgrade will allow you to decrease damage taken by 5% while the Hex isn’t ready.

How you follow the path is up to you and your build/play style. Personally, I like upgrades that give me more bonuses to power and speed. I’ve been able to increase Melinoë’s damage by up to 15%, giving me more of an edge during the late stages. That’s not to say I don’t find the powers useful; there’s one that calls down a massive moon laser that leaves a crater in the ground. Are you saying I should just ignore taking a freakin’ Hammer of Dawn? Nah.

Your upgrade points reset every time you use Selene’s boon. After the second time, you should have enough points to make it to the end and activate the rarest upgrade on the Path of Stars. These Sublime-rarity upgrades often make use of your Olympic boons, increasing your power even further.

The Gifts of the Moon and Path of Stars can be affected by other boons. For example, since Selene’s boon counts as an item to pick up, Poseidon’s ‘Double Up’ boon has a small chance to duplicate it, allowing you to go even further down the Path of Stars earlier than usual. Selene’s Keepsake, Moon Beam, gives you +1 bonus upgrade point the next time you activate a Path of Stars. The number of points can be upgraded by increasing the Keepsake’s rank.