Supergiant Games' recent launch of their beautifully macabre Greek mythos-based RougelikeHadeshas already been incredibly successful. Everyone is glad to see a lot of groundswell for a game that has been in early access and killing it for over two years now, and, in fact,it just recently crossed over a million sales! But, to get into the narrative a bit, inHades, players take the role of Zagreus, son of the eponymous God of Death himself.
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There are a couple of things helping Zag run away from home like Boons from Gods on Olympus, Weapons of Ancient Heroes (if they’ve been upgraded with enough Titan’s Blood), and even Gifts from Chaos itself. But, one of the most crucial aspects ofHadesis the Keepsake system. It’s one of the many systems that has, quite frankly,contributed toHades’overall impact on the roguelike genre overall. There are a ton of Keepsakes in the game, and it takes a long time to unlock them all, but here’s how we think they stack up comparatively from worst to best
Updated August 18th, 2021, by Jacob Buchalter:Finally, Sony and Microsoft dedicated gamers can experience the bliss that is Supergiant’s iconic game, Hades,and without even having to wait for a sequel. That’s not all, soon enough, players will even be ableto get their very own Hades-themed controller!
To be more specific, the “buried-in-awards"roguelike sensationof 2020-2021 is now on all mainline consoles,not just the Nintendo Switch. And, even better, it’s part ofXbox Game Passas well, though therehave been a few issues reported so far.In any case, with so many new players flooding in, it seemed like a good time to take a look back at this list of Keepsakes and touch it up a tad.Disclaimer: Some of the Keepsakes on this include pretty big story spoilers, so those who don’t have every single Keepsake slot unlocked, be careful reading further.
18Orpheus: The Distant Memory
Starting things off with a controversial pick, it’s the gift from the minstrel of House Hades, Orpheus himself. Here’s the thing about Distant Memory and why it’s on the bottom of this list despite it seemingly having a good ability; Zagreus does more damage to “distant” enemies with this thing equipped, which is nice, but how exactly far away is “distant?” How can players tell how distant they are to each and every enemy, and why isn’t there some indicator on the screen when Zagreus is “distant” enough from the enemy he’s aiming at.
Just put a mostly transparent circle beneath Zagreus to show that anything outside of it qualifies as distant, and the Keepsake immediately becomes way better, but as of now, it’s just so massively outclassed.
17Megara: The Skull Earring
The Skull Earring is the equivalent of the Red Tearstone Ring from theDark Soulsgames. Basically, at low health, Zag will do a bunch more damage. Specifically, at 30% or below, Zag will do up to 40% more damage total based on the level of the Keepsake.
This gift from Megara is actually pretty insanewhen paired with certain buildsor Boons like Dionysus' “Positive Outlook” Boon that reduces damage taken at 40% health or lower. But, otherwise, it’s just a slight buff for the moments right before players end up using a Death Defiance or forspeedrunners running through the game on Hell Mode.
16Dusa: The Harpy Feather Duster
This is another Keepsake that players likely relied upon heavily in the early game, as it’s pretty useful before a lot of the other Keepsakes are unlock. The duster from Dusa the Gorgon essentially makes it so that every Urn Zag breaks has a chance to contain a healing item. But, the healing in these urns is the “Food” item that only restores like 10 health, and even at max level, it’s only a 6% chance. Granted, there are quite a lot of Urns to break in each run, but not quite enough to make up for that low number.
Like previously mentioned, when Zag only has like 50 max health in the early game, finding a 10 HP healing item randomly can make a big difference. But, once Zag has 100+ starting health, this is way less noticeable and a lot of the other Keepsakes become more viable options.
15Achilles: The Myrmidon Bracer
The Myrmidon Bracer is a generous gift from Zagreus' teacher, close friend, and legendary warrior, Achilles. It’s another fantastic Keepsake for the early game when players haven’t unlocked/invested enough into the Mirror of Night to give themselves some survivability.
This bracer reduces the damage Zag takes from the front by up to 30%, but it increases damage taken from the back by 10%. So, as long as the Prince faces problems head-on, he’ll be a bit tanker, which is pretty crucial for heavy damage and slow Aspects,such as the Aspect of Gilgamesh. It’s not even bad once all the other Keepsakes are unlocked either, but why waste the one Keepsake slot Zagreus has when there are Boons that he can find to reduce overall damage taken instead?
14Sisyphus & Bouldy: The Shattered Shackle
The Shattered Shackle is a bit of an odd case. From the description alone, it seems like an incredibly powerful Keepsake, but it’s very difficult to use to its fullest potential.
This gift from Sisyphus empowers Zag’s Attack, Special, and Cast by a large percentage as long as these abilities aren’t at all empowered by a God Boon. Once Zagreus gets a Boon that adds an extra effect to his attack, this Keepsake no longer buffs his Attack, but still buffs his Special and Cast.
Now, an 80% damage increase at max rank is pretty substantial, but it’s just so rare to go through the game without buffing your Attack, Special, or Cast in some way with Boons. Essentially, it feels like the intended purpose of this Keepsake is to help players get through the early parts of Tartarus quicker until they get Boons and switch over to a different Keepsake at the next checkpoint between Underworld realms.
13Hypnos: The Chthonic Coin Purse
Ah, the Coin Purse full of Obol given to the Prince of the Underworld by Hypnos, the incarnation of sleep. Remember, though, that it only gives Zag a chunk of cash once per run, so re-equipping it at a rest point or keeping it equipped from Tartarus to Asphodel does nothing.
That said, using it for the first level then switching off of it, similar to the Shattered Shackle isn’t a bad tactic at all, as it allows players to buy most everything from Charon’s shop whenever it pops up. Or, they can use it after losing a Death Defiance so they can afford another one from the Well of Charon.
12Patroclus: The Broken Spearpoint
The Broken Spearpoint is a perfect example of a niche Keepsake, as it seems pretty useful at first, but is really only incredible in super-specific situations. The Spearpoint is in Zag’s care thanks to Patroclus in Elysium, and it simply extends the time players are invulnerable after taking damage.
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This Keepsake-enhanced invulnerability maxes out at 1.5 seconds, but the refresh time is the real downside. A 7-second cooldown is pretty harsh. Still, it’s a Keepsake that can be a lifesaver during the final boss fight or some of the Extreme Measures Pact of Punishment runs. encounters.
11Chaos: The Cosmic Egg
The Cosmic Egg might as well be considered one of the God Keepsakes that this list will be touching on later, but since it works a tad differently and Chaos isn’t an Olympus God, it gets a separate entry. The two main differences between this egg and the God Keepsakes are:
So, if it wasn’t clear by now, this egg absolutely has a ton of worth.
10Charon: The Bone Hourglass
Charon is one of the fan-favorite characters ofHades,and it’s easy to see why. Charon does it all, he’s a boss fight, a merchant, a Keepsake Companion, an integral story character, and he even has Wells of Charon placed all over Tartarus that Zagreus can buy temporary buffs from.
These buffs range from attack increases, spawning more fishing spots, to even absurdly useful stuff like replenishing a Death Defiance. Needless to say, this Well is useful, and the Bone Hourglass simply increases the duration of all items purchased from said Well by 8 encounters at max level.
9Nyx: The Black Shawl
The Black Shawl is a gift from Night itself—Mother Night, to be exact. Nyx (a real fan-favorite “God”-type being) was the original entity in charge of Tartarus, but, once Hades arrived, he took over, and they worked out a partnership in cohabitation. Oh, and she also raised Zag in lew of Persephone
Basically, using this Shawl causes Zagreus to do deal additional damage to undamaged foes and enemies he attacks from behind. This happens a lot more than players might think it does, and it absolutely comes in handy, especially at the 20% extra Rank 3 provides.
