Hades 2 review | PC Gamer

Hades 2 Patch Adds Romance, Boon Buffs, and Sidequest Closure

Supergiant's second post-launch patch for Hades 2 lands on Steam with narrated sidequest endings, expanded romance options, Ares boon buffs, and a new zoom level.

Eliza Crichton-Stuart

Eliza Crichton-Stuart

Updated Apr 15, 2026

Hades 2 review | PC Gamer

Supergiant has dropped the second post-launch patch for Hades 2 on Steam, and it is exactly the kind of update the game needed: not a single massive feature, but a pile of smaller additions that quietly fix the things that were just slightly off.

The headline addition is narrated closure for the Fated Prophecies. Characters like Odysseus and Arachne now have proper conclusion scenes once their prophecies are fulfilled, voiced and presented in the Fated List. Here's the thing: the prophecy system was already one of the more satisfying ways to track character arcs across runs, but those arcs previously just... stopped. No fanfare, no acknowledgment. The new narrated summaries fix that, giving the whole chain of effort an actual ending.

Romance gets a long-overdue tuneup

The romance side of the patch is where most players will feel the change most immediately. The update introduces what the patch notes call "Going Steady," meaning characters Melinoe can have non-platonic relationships with will now occasionally show interest in continuing those relationships on their own. That is a small but meaningful shift from the previous system, where players had to drive every interaction.

Icarus specifically gets called out in the notes as being "less painstakingly reluctant" about forging a bond. Anyone who spent dozens of runs trying to inch that relationship forward will understand exactly how welcome that change is.

Most Crossroads characters also now accept gifts of Bath Salts, Twin Lures, or Ambrosia indefinitely after bonding, rather than capping out. Each gift triggers a brief new scene, so there is actual ongoing content attached to the system rather than a hard wall.

Ares gets buffed, Poseidon gets louder

On the mechanical side, Ares boons received the most attention. The Grisly Gain boon, which grants buffs for collecting plasma dropped by enemies, now has an increased chance of weapon strikes spilling plasma in the first place. That change alone makes the boon considerably more consistent. Other Ares boons have been reworked, and Sword Ring had its damage numbers bumped up directly.

Ares boon selection menu

Ares boon selection menu

The Poseidon change is smaller but arguably more fun. His Sea Star boon, which gives a chance to duplicate future rewards, now makes the sea god "increasingly enthusiastic" the more times it activates in a run. Poseidon already had some of the best voice reactions in the game, his "YES!" and "ANOTHER!" calls landing every time Sea Star fired. Turning up that energy as the boon stacks is the kind of detail that makes a roguelike feel alive.

Quality-of-life additions rounding out the patch

Beyond the narrative and balance changes, the patch adds a new zoom level in the accessibility menu labeled "Recommended for smaller displays." Players on Steam Deck or compact monitors have been asking for this, and it fills a gap between the existing zoom options.

The patch also includes new decorative items for the Crossroads Training Grounds, alternate forms for each Animal Familiar, and additional new dialogue scattered across many characters at various story points. None of those are individually large, but together they add up to a noticeably fuller game.

The console port for Xbox and PlayStation 5 was announced recently alongside a trailer that teased a new scene involving Heracles in a bath. That scene is part of this update, and it turns out Supergiant packed considerably more around it than the trailer suggested.

For anyone who hit the post-epilogue and felt like the game had run out of new things to say, now is a good time to load it back up. You can also browse more guides to sharpen your build before diving back in, and check out the latest reviews if you are still deciding whether Hades 2 belongs in your library.

Game Updates

updated

April 15th 2026

posted

April 15th 2026

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