Hades campaign guide: Regions and encounters

The basics

Laurels, skulls, and reroll dice

As mentioned in our beginner’s guide for Hades, you’ll have a limited number of rooms to clear each run. Not counting the stairwell/transition rooms, Tartarus, Asphodel, and Elysium will have 14, 10, and 11 rooms respectively. The Temple of Styx area, meanwhile, will have a variable number of rooms that can be explored.

Next, take note of the reward symbols that you can earn because they’re also grouped based on the laurel:

• Blue laurel – Darkness Crystals, Chthonic Keys, and Gemstones.
• Gold laurel – Charon’s Obol (gold), Centaur Heart (HP), Nectar, Pom of Power, Daedalus Hammer, and any boons from Olympians.

If you have reroll dice, you can alter the reward but these will be limited to the laurel grouping. For instance, you cannot alter a room that would’ve given Chthonic Keys (blue laurel) into something that would give a blessing from Artemis (gold laurel).

If a room’s reward has a skull symbol, it’ll lead you to an encounter against a miniboss or elite enemies that are heavily armored. On the flip side, the reward here tends to have a higher rarity or value.

Other symbols, transition rooms, and fountains

Rooms marked with a satchel emblazoned with a skull will lead you to Charon’s shop. The Temple of Styx is the only region in Hades that has Charon’s shop in the main area.

Note: This type of room can’t be altered.

Those with an exclamation point with small orbs will lead you to a unique character in that region (ie. Sisyphus, Eurydice, or Patroclus). The Temple of Styx is the only region in Hades without a unique character.

Note: These types of rooms can’t be altered.

In a few cases, the room would be empty save for the reward and a Healing Fountain. The fountains have a chance to spawn if you’ve unlocked certain House Contractor upgrades.

It’s also possible for a room to be completely empty save for the reward. This happens if (a) it’s the room before the boss fight and (b) you chose the room that doesn’t lead to Charon’s shop.

Rooms leading to the region’s main boss will have a symbol denoting the special reward you can obtain (ie. Titan Blood, Diamond, or Ambrosia). For those who’ve already cleared Hades‘ campaign at least once, if you weren’t able to meet the “heat level” requirement on your next run, then the boss will only give you Darkness Crystals.

Note: Rooms leading to a region boss can’t be altered.

The first three boss fights in Hades will be followed by a transition room or stairwell prior to reaching the next area. Here, you’ll find a Healing Fountain, a Keepsake Collection (lets you swap between Keepsakes to get different perks), a Well of Charon (to buy power-ups), and a Pool of Purging (to sell unwanted boons/skills in exchange for gold).

As for other special encounters, you can refer to our mini-guides for the Trial of the Gods, the Infernal Gates of Erebus, the Realm of Chaos, and a meet-up with Thanatos.

Oh, and don’t forget about Trove Trials. These are short encounters that can net you a lot of rewards, but you’ll also need to be fast.