Supergiant Games’ roguelike Hades 2 has been out in early access for a little over a week and a half and it’s been a pretty wonderful (and disgustingly hot) time so far. However, some players have had difficulty adjusting to protagonist Melinoë’s dash, as well as her ability to sprint. Luckily for those folks, Supergiant Games is already on it and Hades 2’s first patch is addressing speed first and foremost.
As of today’s patch, Melinoë’s sprint (which did feel a little too slow) has been sped up to make her “innately faster.” Her sprint is also much more responsive, since some players found it a little difficult to turn while they were running, which I’m sure became a pain in the ass in some late-game areas that are positively swarming with things trying to kill you.
Melinoë’s dash has also been ever so slightly tweaked so that players can dash out of recovery animations faster. It isn’t that she would necessarily get stunlocked by damage, but I did find she was a bit too slow to dash away from enemies after being struck. Now, she should have the same urgency I have as I slam on the dodge button so as to not lose one of my death defiances on an otherwise phenomenal run of the game.
Melinoë’s dash in Hades 2 has been a little controversial since it is markedly slower than Zagreus’ from the first game. Her dash leaves a trail that she must recover before she can dash again, which is a pretty drastic change from Zagreus, who was able to dash again pretty instantaneously. He was even able to collect boons that granted him multiple extra dashes before he tired. While I wouldn’t mind seeing Supergiant tweak Melinoë’s kit, I think this difference especially makes them unique characters that promote different playstyles. I’d hate to see Melinoë’s footprint stamped out of the game because of the studio’s responsiveness to feedback.
Speaking of faster, Hades 2’s first patch is also speeding up resource gathering. The sequel introduces crafting and multiple different gathering tools that must be unlocked in order to obtain the resources to craft what the game refers to as incantations, which often amplify Melinoë’s abilities and add mechanics and features, like farming. However, you can only use one resource gathering tool at a time, meaning you have to pick if you are prioritizing plants, fishes, ores, or other materials for each run. In my experience, a good run culminating in a diabolical showdown against Chronos at the very end could take about 40-50 minutes, meaning that’s a hefty chunk of time to not be gathering other materials.
Now, Hades 2 players will be able to collect from any resource point that they find during a run so long as they have the associated gathering tool unlocked. So if you’ve unlocked the spade or the pickaxe, you don’t need to have them equipped to dig up seeds or mine ore, respectively. Toggling a specific gathering tool will allow you to gain as much from the resource points as you could prior to this patch, while “resources for tools you do not prioritize will appear far less often,” according to the patch notes.
Elsewhere, Supergiant has issued tiny (but consequential) fixes, like showing your currency when you’re at a Well of Charon, or repeating the tutorial for Grasp upgrades at the Altar of Ashes. Anecdotally, a friend of mine made it to the third region of the game without upgrading their Grasp to have more passive buffs because they just didn’t know how to do it. If you’ve been there, you know that region is hard as hell even with upgrades, and players have reported that the game does a poor job of explaining the system. As of this patch, more players will hopefully know how to upgrade their Grasp and get beefed up for their fight with Chronos.
For the entirety of the patch notes, which are mostly directed at feedback the team’s received since launch, check them out here. Supergiant mentions that with this first patch out of the way, it’ll be working on balance changes next, which tells me that I better fit in a win soon before the team nerfs my favorite boons/builds.