All Animal Familiar in Hades 2 – How to get and upgrade

Melinoë may be a goddess and Princess of the Underworld, but she’s also a witch in Hades 2. And what kind of witch does their witchy business without an animal familiar by their side? Well, in Hades 2 you can get an Animal Familiar to join you on your journey.

You can get an Animal Familiar in Hades 2 after unlocking the proper Incantation. The issue here, sadly, is that the Incantation won’t come your way for quite some time. It took me around 20 hours before the game began hinting I could have an animal friend join me on my adventure. Of course, the moment I figured it out I set out to get a familiar as fast as I could. Wouldn’t anyone?

Hades 2: How to unlock Animal Familiars – Incantation and more

Getting the Incantation for an Animal Familiar in Hades 2 requires some steps. The game isn’t very open in telling you the correct path to follow, but I will share what I accomplished leading up to unlock the feature.

Follow these steps to unlock familiars:

• Unlock and cast the Incantation Woodsy Lifespring to create a hidden glade in Erebus.
  • Gather the materials Silver and Moly and keep playing until the incantation in the Cauldron’s menu.
• Gather both Nectar and Lotus at least once.
• Discover the hidden glade in Erebus. If you’ve made the right progress, Raki the raven should appear near the exit. Greet the raven before going to the next Location.
• Next, fight Headmistress Hecate in Erebus until the topic of animal familiars arises. After you win the fight, Hecate will give you the incantation Faith of Familiar Spirits.

If any listed situations haven’t happened yet, keep playing the game and making progress while keeping the steps in mind.

Once you’ve received the Faith of Familiar Spirits Incantation, you’ll need to cast it at the Cauldron. To cast Faith of Familiar Spirits, go to the Cauldron in the Crossroads and complete it using 2 Nectar and 1 Lotus. You can gather Lotus by hand in the Oceanus region.

Casting the Incantation gives you one Witch’s Delight, food used to convince an animal to become your familiar. After choosing a familiar, you get the incantation Beast-Loved Morsel which lets you make +2 Witch’s Delight. It costs 1 Star Dust and 2 Lotus to create.

Now, it’s time to pick your first companion.

All Animal Familiars in Hades 2

There are four animal familiars in Hades 2. Each takes different steps to unlock, but they can all be yours in time.

• Frinos
  • Likely your first familiar, Frinos the frog is available for you to bond with as soon as you have Witch’s Delight. You’ll find Frinos in Melinoë’s tent.
• Raki
  • Raki the raven appears in the Erebus rest area after it becomes available. During your second meeting with Raki, you can bond by offering a Witch’s Delight.
• Toula
  • Toula the cat reappears on the dock at the start of the Rift of Thessaly after greeting her once. During your second meeting, you can bond with Toula using a Witch’s Delight.
• Hecuba
  • Hecuba can be found standing guard in the NPC Room of the Mourning Fields. Bonding with her, however, takes some dedication.

How to bond with Hecuba the dog familiar in Hades 2

Hecuba is the Animal Familiar of Headmistress Hecate, and her loyalty isn’t easily won. To unlock Hecuba as a companion, you’ll need to finish a set of requirements that the game isn’t keen on explaining (as per the norm). In my efforts to get Hecuba, I completed these tasks:

• Bonded with Frinos, Raki, and Toula.
• Brought all familiars on journeys above and below while using their gathering abilities at least once.
• Upgraded each familiar at least once.
• Spoke with Hecate about her Familiars after meeting Hecuba at least once.
• Met with Hecuba twice in the Fields of Mourning.

After following these steps, Hecate eventually invited me for a chat in the Crossroads in which she discussed how Melinoë “ensured the safety” of her Familiars. Hecate brings up her Familiars, Hecuba the dog and Gale the polecat, and mentions they “are willing to watch over you.” Once the conversation finishes, you’ll earn Hecate’s permission to bond with Hecuba and Gale.

Return to the NPC Room in the Mourning Fields. If Hecuba is there, you should have the option to bond with her. Hecuba will appear with the other Familiars in the Crossroads.

How to equip an Animal Familiar, and what they do

Once bonded to Melinoë, Animal Familiars appear in the Training Grounds at the Crossroads near the Gathering Tools. To bring one on your journey, get close to them and press the Invite button (RB on an Xbox pad and the E key on a keyboard) when you see it above their head.

Animal Familiars are incredibly useful to have by your side. They provide Melinoë with a “bond” abilities that can consist of a small passive buff, a defensive or offensive move, and a free use of a particular Gathering Tool.

Frinos

• +10 bonus max Life.
• 1 use of the Tablet of Peace.
• Occasionally absorbs a ranged shot that would have struck Melinoë.

Raki

• Pecks foes for 5 damage and Marks them for a curse. A marked enemy has a +15% chance to take critical damage for one hit. Mark disappears after six seconds.
• Bonus critical chance: +1%
• 1 use of the Crescent Pick.

Toula

• +1 bonus Death Defiance that resurrects Melinoë and restores 10 health.
• 1 use of the Rod of Fishing.
• Sprinting near Toula will cause her to attack the nearest foe for 99 damage, but there is a cooldown.

Hecuba

• +15 Bonus Max Magic.
• 1 use of the Silver Spade.
• On occasion: Stun an enemy for one second, digs up Healing and Magic items.

How to upgrade Animal Familiars in Hades 2

Animal Familiar abilities and buffs can be upgraded after completing the Bravery of Familiar Spirits incantation. The Incantation should come available not long after you start bonding with your first familiar companion. It costs one Wool and three Wheat to cast the Incantation, which gives you a Witch’s Delight and the ability to power up your pals.

To upgrade Animal Familiars in Hades 2, approach the familiar you wish to power up and pick the Treat option. Keep in mind that you can only upgrade Animal Familiars in the Crossroads.

Each familiar has three bond abilities you can upgrade three times.

• Frinos: Add +10 more Max Life, +25% bonus to Lost Shade gathering, or +10 damage when leaping onto foes.
• Raki: Add +1% Critical damage chance for each upgrade, a +25% increase bonus to Outcropping gathering, or +25% increase toward pecking foes to Mark them.
• Toula: Restore an additional +10 Life after using her Death Defiance, increase +25% bonus at Fishing Spots, or strike an enemy +1 times.
• Hecuba: Gain an additional +15 Max Magick, increase bonus +25% with Digging Spots, or stun foes 15% more often.

Later, you’ll get a new incantation called ‘Attending a Faithful Beast’. The incantation upgrades the familiar’s harvest ability, letting you a +2 bonus to Tool uses. Attending a Faithful Beast requires 1 Tears, 1 Wool, and 4 Wheat to complete.