The longer you play Hades, the more things you discover, including special Duo Boons. At first, encountering them seems random, and it’s not something that happens often given their Rarity.
However, there are ways to increase the odds of getting a Duo Boon as long as you know the requirements, both in terms of Keepsakes and regular Boons you accept.
To explain further, we’ve put together a guide that elaborates upon what Duo Boons are, how to get them, and all of the Duo Boon options available in Hades.
Hades | What are Duo Boons, How to Get Duo Boons
The first question Hades players have in regards to Duo Boons is what they are. Essentially, Duo Boons are Tier 3 Boons (equivalent to Legendary Boons) that combine the special effects of two Gods.
For example, we encountered a Duo Boon that combined the powers of Poseidon and Zeus called Sea Storm. The requirements for this particular Duo Boon include accepting the following Boons from Zeus and Poseidon:
- Zeus: Lightning Strike, Thunder Flourish, Electric Shot, Zeus’ Aid or Thunder Dash
- Poseidon: Tempest Strike, Tempest Flourish, Flood Shot, Poseidon’s Aid or Tidal Dash
It takes time to acquire all of these Boons, so don’t expect to find a Duo Boon pop up at random early into your escape attempt. You have to meet the requirements of the Duo Boon in order to get it as an offer.
Duo Boons can pop up when you accept Boons as you work your way through the underworld. This includes Boons you purchase in Charon’s Shop.
For example, we acquired the Sea Storm Duo Boon by purchasing one of Poseidon’s Boons after we’d already met the necessary requirements for that Duo Boon.
You can increase the likelihood of finding a specific Duo Boon by using a Keepsake from your preferred God like the Thunder Signet from Zeus.
The higher your rank with a particular Keepsake, the greater the odds of encountering a Duo Boon.
You can also improve your chances by spending Darkness on the God’s Legacy talent by interacting with the Mirror of Night in Zagreus’ room. Doing so increases the chance for a Boon to be Legendary or Duo.
In total, there are 28 Duo Boons available in Hades. Below, we’ve listed all of these Duo Boons in alphabetical order, what they do, and what the requirements are to get them in Hades.
Blizzard Shot (Demeter/Poseidon)
- Your Cast moves slowly, piercing foes and firing shards around it.
- Shard Damage: 40
- Demeter: Frost Strike, Frost Flourish, Mistral Dash, or Snow Burst.
- Poseidon: Flood Shot.
Calculated Risk (Dionysus/Athena)
- Your foes’ ranged-attack projectiles are slower.
- Foe Projectile Speed Reduction: +40%
- Dionysus: Dionysus’ Aid, Drunken Dash, Drunken Flourish, or Drunken Strike.
- Athena: Athena’s Aid, Divine Dash, Divine Flourish, or Divine Strike.
Cold Embrace (Aphrodite/Demeter)
- Your Cast crystal fires its beam directly at you for +4 seconds.
- Bonus Cast Damage: +30%
- Aphrodite: Passion Dash, Aphrodite’s Aid.
- Demeter: Crystal Beam.
Cold Fusion (Demeter/Zeus)
- Your Jolted effects do not expire when foes attack.
- Jolted Duration: 10 seconds.
- Demeter: Frost Strike, Frost Flourish, Mistral Dash, or Demeter’s Aid.
- Zeus: Static Discharge.
Crystal Clarity (Demeter/Artemis)
- Your Cast is stronger and tracks foes more effectively.
- Beam Damage: +10%
- Demeter: Crystal Beam.
- Artemis: Deadly Strike, Deadly Flourish, Hunter Dash, or Artemis’ Aid.
Curse of Drowning (Ares/Poseidon)
- Your Cast is a pulse that deals damage to foes around you.
- Pulses Per Cast: 3
- Ares: Curse of Agony, Curse of Pain or Ares’ Aid.
- Poseidon: Flood Shot.
Curse of Nausea (Dionysus/Ares)
- Your Hangover effects deal damage faster.
- Hangover Damage Rate: 0.3 seconds.
- Dionysus: Drunken Strike, Drunken Flourish or Drunken Dash.
- Ares: Curse of Agony, Blade Dash or Curse of Pain.
Curse of Longing (Aphrodite/Ares)
- Your Doom effects continuously strike Weak foes.
- Successive Hit Damage: +50%
- Aphrodite: Heartbreak Strike, Heartbreak Flourish, Crush Shot or Passion Dash.
- Ares: Curse of Agony or Curse of Pain.
Deadly Reversal (Artemis/Athena)
- After you Deflect, briefly gain +20% change to deal Critical damage.
- Critical Duration: 2 seconds.
- Artemis: Deadly Strike, Deadly Flourish, True Shot, Hunter Dash or Artemis’ Aid.
- Athena: Divine Strike, Divine Flourish, or Divine Dash.
Exclusive Access (Dionysus/Poseidon)
- Any Boons you find have superior effects.
- Minimum Boon Rarity: Epic
- Dionysus: Drunken Strike, Drunken Flourish, Trippy Shot, Drunken Dash, or Dionysus’ Aid.
- Poseidon: Tempest Strike, Tempest Flourish, Flood Shot, Tidal Dash, or Poseidon’s Aid.
Freezing Vortex (Ares/Demeter)
- Your Cast inflicts Chill, but is smaller and moves slower.
- Blade Rift Size: +33%
- Ares: Slicing Flare or Slicing Shot.
- Demeter: Demeter’s Aid, Frost Flourish, Frost Strike, or Mistral Dash.
Heart Rend (Aphrodite/Artemis)
- Your Critical hits do more damage to Weak enemies.
- Bonus Critical Damage: +50%
- Aphrodite: Heartbreak Strike, Heartbreak Flourish, Crush Shot, or Passion Dash.
- Artemis: Deadly Strike or Deadly Flourish or True Shot.
Hunting Blades (Ares/Artemis)
- Your Cast creates a faster Blade Rift that seeks the nearest foe.
- Seek Duration: 3.3 Seconds.
- Ares: Slicing Shot.
- Artemis: Deadly Strike, Deadly Flourish, Hunter Dash or Artemis’ Aid.
Ice Wine (Demeter/Dionysus)
- Your Cast blasts an area with freezing Festive Fog that inflicts Chill.
- Blast Damage: +30%
- Demeter: Frost Strike, Frost Flourish, Mistral Dash or Demeter’s Aid.
- Dionysus: Trippy Shot.
Lightning Rod (Artemis/Zeus)
- Your collectible Bloodstone strike nearby foes every 1.5 seconds.
- Lightning Damage: 100
- Artemis: Deadly Strike, Deadly Flourish, True Shot, Hunter Dash or Artemis’ Aid.
- Zeus: Lightning Strike, Thunder Flourish, Thunder Dash, Electric Shot or Zeus’ Aid.
Lightning Phalanx (Athena/Zeus)
- Your Cast bounces between enemies.
- Max Bounces: 3
- Athena: Phalanx Shot.
- Zeus: Lightning Strike, Thunder Flourish, Thunder Dash, or Electric Shot.
Low Tolerance (Aphrodite/Dionysus)
- Your Hangover effects can stack even more times against Weak foes.
- Max Stacks: +3
- Aphrodite: Heartbreak Strike, Heartbreak Flourish, Crush Shot, or Passion Dash.
- Dionysus: Drunken Strike, Drunken Flourish, Drunken Dash or Dionysus’ Aid
Merciful End (Ares/Athena)
- Your attacks that can Deflect immediately activate Doom effects.
- Doom Combo Damage: 50
- Ares: Curse of Agony or Curse of Pain.
- Athena: Divine Strike, Divine Flourish, or Divine Dash.
Mirage Shot (Artemis/Poseidon)
- Your Cast fires a second projectile, though it has reduced damage.
- Secondary Shot Damage: 30%
- Artemis: Deadly Flourish or True Shot.
- Poseidon: Tempest Flourish or Flood Shot.
Parting Shot (Aphrodite/Athena)
- Your Cast gains any bonuses your have for striking foes from behind.
- Bonus Backstab Damage: +25%
- Aphrodite: Heartbreak Strike, Heartbreak Flourish, Crush Shot, Aphrodite’s Aid or Passion Dash.
- Athena: Divine Strike, Divine Flourish, Phalanx Shot, Divine Dash, or Athena’s Aid.
Sea Storm (Poseidon/Zeus)
- Your knock-away effects also cause foes to be struck by lighting.
- Lightning Damage: 40
- Poseidon: Tempest Strike, Tempest Flourish, Flood Shot, Tidal Dash or Poseidon’s Aid.
- Zeus: Lightning Strike, Thunder Flourish, Electric Shot, Thunder Dash or Zeus’ Aid.
Scintillating Feast (Dionysus/Zeus)
- Your Festive Fog effects also deal lightning damage periodically.
- Lightning Damage: 60
- Dionysus: Trippy Shot or High Tolerance.
- Zeus: Lightning Strike, Thunder Flourish, Electric Shot, Thunder Dash or Zeus’ Aid.
Sweet Nectar (Aphrodite/Poseidon)
- All Poms of Power you find are more effective.
- Pom Level Increase: 1
- Aphrodite: Heartbreak Strike, Heartbreak Flourish, Crush Shot, Passion Dash or Aphrodite’s Aid.
- Poseidon: Tempest Strike, Tempest Flourish, Flood Shot, Tidal Dash, or Poseidon’s Aid.
Smoldering Air (Aphrodite/Zeus)
- Your God Gauge charges up automatically, but is capped at 25%.
- Auto Gauge Gain: 1% every 0.2 seconds.
- Aphrodite: Heartbreak Strike, Heartbreak Flourish, Crush Shot, Passion Dash, Aphrodite’s Aid.
- Zeus: Lightning Strike, Thunder Flourish, Electric Shot, Thunder Dash, Zeus’ Aid.
Splitting Headache (Dionysus/Artemis)
- Hangover-afflicted foes are more likely to take Critical damage.
- Bonus Critical Chance Per Hangover Stack: +1.5%
- Dionysus: Dionysus’ Aid, Drunken Dash, Drunken Flourish, or Drunken Strike.
- Artemis: Artemis’ Aid, Deadly Flourish, Deadly Strike, or True Shot.
Stubborn Roots (Athena/Demeter)
- While you have no Stubborn Defiance, your Life slowly recovers.
- Life Regeneration: 1 Life every 0.8 seconds.
- Athena: Divine Strike, Divine Dash, Athena’s Aid.
- Demeter: Frost Strike, Frost Flourish, Demeter’s Aid.
Unshakable Mettle (Athena/Poseidon)
- You cannot be stunned, and you also resist some damage from Bosses.
- Boss Damage Reduction: 5%
- Athena: Divine Strike.
- Poseidon: Tidal Dash or Flood Shot.
Vengeful Mood (Ares/Zeus)
- Your Revenge effects sometimes occur without taking damage. Minimum 1 Revenge effect from any god required for Vengeful Mood.
- Auto-Revenge Rate: 3.5 seconds.
- Ares: Curse of Agony, Curse of Pain, or Curse of Vengeance.
- Zeus: Lightning Strike, Thunder Flourish, Electric Shot, Thunder Dash, or Heaven’s Vengeance.
To quickly recap, Duo Boons are Tier 3 Boons (equivalent to Legendary Boons) that combine the special effects of two Gods. To get a Duo Boon, you’ll need to accept the required Boons for each God.
Adding to this, it’s helpful to have a Keepsake for one God at max rank, then accept Boons consistenly from one other God. For example, using Zeus’ Thunder Signet Keepsake and only accepting Boons from Poseidon.
You can increase the likelihood of you encountering a Duo Boon by spending Darkness on the God’s Legacy talent in the Mirror of Night.
Related: Hades Door Symbols Guide: Boons, Artifacts, and More
Now that you know what Duo Boons are, how to get them, and what they do in Hades, you may want to check out a few of our other guides for the game including:
- Hades Boss Guide: How to Beat Megaera the Fury
- Hades Boss Guide: How to Beat Bone Hydra
- What is Hell Mode in Hades?
Published: Oct 1, 2021 10:53 pm