Hammer & Boon Guide for Shield /Hades v1.0/

[@nessajeong]

Here's some spicy tech for all you Beowulf enthusiasts: You don't actually need to load the casts before charging the bull rush. You can spam the cast button **during** the bull rush to instantly trigger all the explosions. This opens up some cool plays where you can collect your bloodstones and trigger them all within the same bull rush.

[@BenKLode]

My friends use Zeus with the beyblade playstyle of just outrunning the shield and cleaving everything as you run through it. Worth a shot if anybody is considering giving Zeus a try.

[@holynder3181]

Seems appropriate that aspect of zues is powerful when combined with zues boons

[@bananamanbro6613]

this channel is growing so rapidly since v1.0, wow

[@bananamanbro6613]

Its also growing because of how "quality" your content is ',:)

[@Haelian]

So much quality Banana Man

[@bananamanbro6613]

*sips wine* indeed, sir haelian

[@SuperFlamingTomato]

I’ve beat the game the most with the Aspect of Zeus. Pairing that aspect with Zeus’ special works brilliantly, because it procs on every spin hit, the bolts base damage is basically the same as the original special, the bolts hit past shields and you can knock enemies into the special most of the time. If you can get jolted then getting something like Aphrodite on main will proc the +40% damage, or Demeter (Cold Fusion works excellently too). Someone else said that it’s great to recall and kite enemies, totally true, and bull rushing works well to hit something just after it gets out of the special. It’s weakest aspect is that you need to position yourself well during bossfights as you can’t knock bosses into the special, but you get the hang of the distances quickly and a good cast/call boon can help make up for it. It’s not my favourite build atm, but it’s my most consistently good build

[@mic01851165]

Zeus is so very op with shield yes. I tried to make builds that work well with Zeus Special, and shield throw ended up being the absolute best one. Zeus special on shield with Poseidon dash became my favourite build recently. It is so consistently strong/ OP . One run I'm running a bunch of white special/ key upgrades and I still manage to melt down everything easily by the time I hit stage 3. The dps and tracking is just so absurd it seems to be the most broken build out there. It is relatively safe too when playing this build.

[@teugene]

This is my favourite build and also got me the most clear. It had a good crowd control and pairing with Charged Shot upgrade, I can turtle shield block in a corner, throw my shield and keep spamming Charge Shot at enemies from a distance.

[@AlbanianThrash]

the best control you can get with zeus special is to throw it out and recall it. As it starts coming back to you, dash to out run it and it will just keep following you so you can lead it right into enemies. Pairs really well with ares dash and is maybe one of the only viable uses of ares dash outside of a full ares build

[@Gh0stSh33p]

The first time I beat the game was with this. It's super powerful

[@oliverduffield6422]

That purposely avoiding the fish killed my soul a little bit... Quality content!

[@malenkas3]

It's a shame indeed that fish didn't get murdered

[@lonodel]

Aspect of Zeus is my favorite of the pack. Getting the Zeus special with it and the subsequent upgrades makes it push out consistent damage. The base knockback on the shield's attacks helps you knock enemies into the aoe and I like putting Demeter on the attack if I can to help keep them in it. For bosses it takes a little getting used to, but tossing it out, getting a few hits, then calling it back to 'drag; through is effective.

[@zeratulrus142]

Dude, Zeus on Blitz disc special is crazy, especially when you just unlock the aspect and it tickles them for 8 damage, but then you pick up flourish, and it deals, like, 40/pulse. And then you just get double strike + legendary and it melts everything, especially with privileged status. Did my first 10-heat run with it, with no blood spent on upgrades or much of anything, since it was just my second win.

[@holynder3181]

Yep. My first time using zues aspect I got thunder flourish and it was incredible.

[@xhy9178]

Chaos and Beowulf cost the same amount of titan blood (15). It might be quite deceiving but the blood cost for each weapons' aspect goes: First aspect 1/1/1/1/1; Second aspect 1/2/3/4/5; Third aspect 2/2/3/4/5; Final hidden aspect 3/3/3/3/3.

[@christophvonpezold4699]

Although aspect of beowulf has that 5 titan blood prerequisite

[@jijoalexander5654]

Shield is the one weapon I have not been able to escape with. This is great dude👍🏻

[@malenkas3]

Dread Flight + Doom. First build I was able to beat whole game with. I keep hearing people saying that it's unreliable, but that wasn't the case for me. One of the most reliable builds if I want to beat the game. It's not super fast against boses, but it safely does damage from distance. But more importantly it allows to really farm up before the Hades, because you can take every trove with ease and become really jacked before the boss fight. I now have aspect of chaos as well, but I don't feel like it's better than regular special spam withv4 extra targets.

[@Donovarkhallum]

Only thing I was able to beat the game with before 1.0 when it had the most broken hammer upgrade that was removed.

[@Loalrikowki]

For Zeus shield, I've had good results throwing it out, then recalling it and kiting away to drag it through more enemies. The other strong play is using it as a zoning tool to cut off an angle you can be threatened from.

[@ollieglanvill8379]

Yup same, drag it around like a lightning rod behind with Zeus build

[@sam.k.classic]

zeus shield is my go to weapon aspect if i want a zeus build. zeus special + double strike + high voltage + jolted + his legendary is incredible. that combo alone can get you through 32 heat and up to 45 heat with some skill (assuming no route inspection is taken). zeus shield is basically a semi-autonomous rotating turret. every rotation of the shield procs zeus bolts on top of base damage. ares attack + athena special + athena dash + merciful end duo + impending doom + dire misfortune is another overpowered combo on zeus shield because every rotation deflects and procs doom damage. that's a choice main advanced players use (on zeus shield or eris rail) to beat high heat (re: 40+ heat).

[@Phyyte]

Absolutely agreed. Use it as a boomerang with a strong special. It's incredible how much damage it can turn out.

[@jacobthompson5407]

This is definitely the most comprehensive breakdown out there and I’m so thankful for it

[@andyv2305]

Aspect of Zeus with Athena special boon. You can move around it using it to deflect, kite, and damage. It has so much potential

[@Xendrick]

Holy shit I never thought of that I liked using Zeus Aspect ever since I got it, but damn

[@tohrulol]

I just did a run with Chaos Shield and Dashing Flight, and the speed that your shield goes is hilarious. It zips around the entire rooms lighting fast. It's so fast it might even make Dread Flight viable. It's not even awkward to use (maybe the changed it since this video?), it's more like a buff you get for a short while after dashing. I dunno if I'd say Dashing Flight is a top 4 hammer for Chaos Shield, but it's certainly a lot of fun.

[@spencerdelallo5745]

Then the one where it hits 4 more enemies could be cool with it

[@Tsuroka]

Love these, keep em coming.

[@lomiification]

Empowering flight+chaos makes intuitive sense to me. You need to bull rush to get the benefit for the throw, so youre always doing both

[@Yojizu]

An important point about Minotaur Rush is that it synergizes extremely well with Charged Shot. +500% damage on an 80-damage projectile means that every time you hit the power shot, you're firing a piercing projectile that deals 480 damage *minimum*. And because it's the shield, you're totally invulnerable from the front while you're charging it up. Once you factor in boiling blood, backstabs, crits, and other attack boosts, you can reach some absolutely absurd numbers with an attack that's also very safe and easy to use.

[@the.ledbetter]

I love doing Aspect of Zeus with Explosive Return and Athena special for deflecting and the faster special from Hermes and just keep throwing/catching so that basically nothing can damage you and you deal lots of damage quickly.

[@EllietheBuddha]

the shield’s definitely been my fave since I unlocked it, and like some others in the comments I like to throw and recall it and dash through enemies as it follows me, or otherwise throw it stand next to it and block while enemies congregate on top Thanks for the channel, you’ve definitely helped me be more purposeful about my builds since I first began

[@MacaroniCrayon]

I feel like I should experiment with Zeus aspect but it's barely usable against dad. This comment is to help the algorithm push you to more viewers.

[@mic01851165]

Tell you something funny. Zeus aspect may be bad, but Zeus special on base shield/ chaos shield is broken OP :P

[@brandonjuno]

Zeus aspect is great against dad. He stands / chases you around a pillar a lot.

[@brandonjuno]

@@mic01851165 Agreed; it's very strong, with just about every boon.

[@Caffeine_Addict_2020]

Dionysus on the special is pretty good against him in my experience. You can pretty much always keep him full-stack hungover the whole time

[@collinbeal]

The easiest fight I ever had with Hades was with a Poseidon/Zeus duo build on Aspect of Zeus. I shredded through him like he was a Tartarus goon

[@jamieholmes4391]

0:55 "You don't get no fish" My wife says the same thing when she wants to punish me

[@happy_labs]

Love your work man, these guides are incredibly useful for a relatively new player like myself on 50-100 hours in the game who still haven't figured out a lot of stuff yet

[@theschachter9816]

I'm glad to see these guides continue! I'm at the point in the game where I'm getting pretty good and unlocking all of the aspects and I appreciate some extra perspectives on them all.

[@caladbolg8666]

I had my best clear with Zeus aspect yesterday. Charged shot hammer, Afro on attack, Zeus on special, Dio on dash, Artemis seeking arrows, no cast nor call. Few more passives for durability and damage. I tore through the run barely taking any damage.

[@ANTHONYEVELYNN]

minotaur rush + piercing shot is legit bonkers i got it with artemis boons my ranged shield power shots were critting gor 2.5k dmg it was nuts

[@Mad1Lee]

As many of the comments mentioned, Aspect of Zeus is pretty nutty when paired with Zeus boons. Once you have them on Special with all the additional perks and preferably Zeus' call you can put on your attack whatever (Demeter or Aphro will make you super tanky) and try to get some kind of Duo (my favourite is with spells of Dionisis). The damage output is pretty insane.

[@tubebrocoli]

I've been noticing that Dashing Flight generally makes Chaos aspect more consistent, because it returns my special faster. And since you get a lot of time between bull rushing and throwing the extra shields, you can easily change the usual Bull Rush > Special rotation into Bull Rush > Dash > Special, which allows for better control on shotgunning, and for adding a curse dash / Athena dash exposed in between.

[@paul.d4990]

And did you know that the damage boost also applies to doom damage? I did a 32 heat run with it and it boosted my doom damage to about 300-400 without impending doom so I received it

[@Business_Memo]

I am engaging with you on this video to help improve the likelihood you will make additional content like this. Duo strat guides would be dooooooope...

[@user-yy7is4xq7o]

With aspect of zeus, you throw the shield, then recall it, and start running from it in circles around your enemy.

[@ralphraymundo3256]

I've played aspect of zeus and it feels really good with special boons like dionysus, zeus, ares. You can have it return to you while dashing and fighting, constantly making it hit all the enemies in the path the shield takes going to you

[@ziyautdinsaidov8913]

Dashing flight is top tier hammer for aspect of chaos for me. You go for Artemis boons and get some good numbers while special just flies faster and get back to you faster too. Test it out, it’s fun to use! It might be tricky on your first try but eventually you get used to it. I got my fastest time in-game with Chaos Shield, Artemis special boon and dashing flight hammer.

[@ziyautdinsaidov8913]

Also what’s the theme used for boon overlay?

[@michaele7896]

I'm still somewhat newish to hades. Definitely haven't tried all the combinations of things and I basically play " follow the darker thirst" for variety. When it lands on shield I'm often disappointed because I find it boring, apart from charged flight beowulf. So I've watched this video and the videos for the other weapons when looking for inspiration. When you said chaos goes well with Zeus I thought, "yes! Haven't done that before". Getting into the run I got what seemed to be A disappointing selection of hammers. So I did minotaur rush because at least it can't hurt. In elysium I was offered charged shot. Sadly I forgot all about Zeus or the special in general because Minotaur Rush/Charged shot combo felt like a super charged Rama bow that also blocks. Landed arty on the attack. Had a blast with the last half of that run. I love the bow and especially perfect shot, I only wish I could add sudden rush to this mix but without an impossibley lucky anvil I don't see that happening. To put numbers on it, this Minotaur charged shot was hitting for 606 and critting over 2000 with a level 4 arty attack and no chaos attack buffs.

[@B_Skizzle]

I’ve never had any issues with timing using the Minotaur Rush upgrade. It may take a while to charge up, but unlike the bow, you can block damage while you’re charging it. It should also be noted that it pairs really well with the Zeus aspect since you can use the special to keep other enemies in check while you’re charging your power rush.

[@michaeljhale23]

Just recently found this gem of a game and your channel. Sick content. If you ever decided to branch out into other games and keep the content this quality, you would blow up imo. Food for thought. Keep up the good work!

[@Diablo2g]

Aspect of Zeus is my favorite on the shield. I apply Ares DOOM to the special. My best way to use it is to throw it, then call it back to me, but run around the map so it chases me while dealing doom damage to all the enemies along the way. Very little damage taken!

[@THEAWESOMEGHOST]

I thought I didn’t like the shield playstyle until I started playing with Zeus all the time. It controls so differently

[@aidaneddy9146]

These guides have been super helpful as a new player! Really love the content as well!

[@vidaofficial7483]

Aspect of Zeus+Minotaur Rush+Charged Shot= BIG NAAMBERS

[@amiablereaper]

I think you mean Beowulf, but I agree completely

[@vidaofficial7483]

In fact i dont... xD Arty on attack and afro on the special and you just keep pushing the bad boys into your love blender(ass aphro legendary for even more pleasure xD)

[@vidaofficial7483]

Bro, i just beat 32heat with this combo, lmao

[@rescuestaff5404]

I find that Minotaur Rush is a great second hammer to pick up if you already have Sudden Rush. If you can get into the rhythm of spamming super fast Minotaur Rushes, you can do some silly amounts of damage while staying safe by blocking, and it's super fun.

[@PaddyRoon7]

Minotaur Rush is something I never really take for one reason: it's pretty rare that I want to do max range bull rushes. Generally the combo goes something like: Long range bull rush gap closer > Special > Dash attack behind > Mini bull rush behind again. This means that you're usually only going to get one power rush per enemy. Even then, enemies usually aren't that spread out since they all come to attack you, so often they'll be closer than a max range bull rush. There's just very few situations where it's worth power rushing.

[@IceBen4444]

Get that Zeus-Ares duo, then sit in a corner with the block up, can't go wrong with that.

[@darrent149]

Aspect of Zeus (Blitz Disc) works really well with the Ares / Athena duo (attacks that deflect trigger doom). Get Athena attack and Ares special and you can have the spinning shield adding doom while you're attacking and triggering the doom constantly.

[@Jcheatsludanto]

Came down just for this comment. If it wasn't here I was going to say myself. I think that's the most incredible combo for those two. You can end up with ridiculous chunky damage when you have the doom and attack applying and clearing a bunch of Doom per second.

[@odds3091]

Starting Athena is extremely solid regardless - I pick up Artemis if I see her before Ares because the shield is *constantly* deflecting stuff so it's a free 20% crit chance. On top of support fire going nuts.

[@SkorpioVenom]

I tried this out and found that Area attack and Athena special is way more dmg. Either way you go, the limiting factor is how quickly you attack, and the blitz disk's damage can scale really well with Athena, PP and Hunters mark. Plus Athena special is disgusting in terms of safety, you can just stand on it and nothing hits you.

[@odds3091]

@@SkorpioVenom This is my take as well.

[@Skytuturu]

Recently got the Zeus aspect and for sure the dashing around getting the shield to chase you method is the most fun way to play with it

[@brofenix]

Very very cool guide to the shield ^^ Thanks for the info and tips Haelian.

[@digitalk1llraymon448]

My second win against dad was using Aspect of Zeus and a multy-stacking Doom build. Worked really great against bosses when i got used to spacing myself for the "distance" it has. Was amazing against dad himself every time he laser beamed i just threw the Special at him and held Bull rush while he gets perma doomed for the duration. Great guides dude, i have learned a lot from watching your videos.

[@ElCheezus]

Zeus shield + Explosive return makes for a delightful special-spamming time, since you can recall the disc right away. I used Poseidon special, hoping to get Zeus/Poseidon Duo (which never actually shows up for me). But bosses just melted even without the duo. Knockback pushing enemies out of range was frustrating in, of all places, Styx temple but was manageable. I might do another run of this with Athena special, to see if it lets you face tank. It could also open up Athena/Artemis duo to scale up the damage. Had the thought for Zeus shield special spam after watching this video, thanks for all the ideas!

[@ElCheezus]

It was a fairly successful run. Defense from spamming Athena's special wasn't quite as solid as I would have liked but was still useful. Damage was pretty good, especially against bosses and especially after getting Artemis/Athena duo. Calls built *really* quickly. Support Fire goes off really frequently. I really look forward to finding other combinations with this, seems to have a lot of potential. I'm running at 10-15 heat so far, so these might just be for-fun builds but they're definitely really fun.

[@tunacanoe695]

My favourite way to use Aspect of Zeus is to throw it out and recall it without catching it again. Follows you around dealing damage to foes following you.

[@TC-dh7zi]

Dread flight with a buffed up Ares special clears rooms so fast. I was surprised to hear you say you didn't like it. It even helps with Hades as it helps get rid of all the distractions. I've only used it with Zagreus aspect but I def considered it an easy clear build with a dash and throw focus on Ares.

[@andysabur4966]

Yas, time to update the gdoc guide. Also, don't forget to add this and the 6 build vids to the guide playlist.

[@Haelian]

Thanks andybandy

[@BFedie518]

I beat Hades with Aspect of Zeus 3 times before I beat him with any other weapon/aspect. Get either Zeus or Dionysus on the special, get Artemis' supporting fire, and get either Demeter or Ares cast (w/Artemis duo so they track). Playstyle is now throwing down things that do damage for you while you focus on dodging.

[@Tuen9]

I feel like I'm the only one that likes Aspect of Zeus the best, ha ha. It works incredibly well with Artemis' special, since the frequent hits lead to frequent crits. A build with that, some other boons to boost critical hit chance, chaos boons for special and attack, plus debuffs on attack and dash lead to a 15 second Theseus fight. It also got me through my first Extreme Measures 4 run. I am trying to learn Aspect of Chaos, but I'm not very good at not having my shield. Before reading/watching other's thoughts, I thought Aspect of Zeus was the best because you maintain control during the special. But, as you said, to each their own. Majorly disappointing to hear that Empowering Flight requires you to catch the shield though... I had always thought it was critically overpowered with Zeus, but uh. Guess I didn't pay enough attention to the damage numbers, ha ha.

[@SkorpioVenom]

Just gave this a try. It was an extremely easy fight to say the least lol, Zeus feels stronger than chaos to me just because you can block while the special hits for like almost 1k dps.

[@B_Skizzle]

I’m with you. Zeus aspect is my favorite weapon in the game by far. It works with almost anything. Doom is probably the only effect that doesn’t synergize too well, but even that can work with some additional boons.

[@Tuen9]

@@B_Skizzle Probably the exception is getting Doom Special + Merciful End + Impending Doom + Athena Attack. I haven't managed the combo before, but I'd imagine repeated stacks of delayed doom applied by shield while you repeatedly proc doom damage (via Merciful End) on your Athena attack (and maybe add Athena dash and dash through the enemy repeatedly?). Could be a boss melter, ha ha

[@notjohn100]

So glad these are continuing!

[@mic01851165]

Hey Haelian, I have some real interesting discussion I want to share with you regarding to shield, because it seems like you're missing out some builds that're potentially broken. Yes, I'm talking about Shield Throw in general being arguably one of the best range dps options (NOT the Ares Doom version which is actually pretty ok only). There are 2 versions of throw shield build I found out recently, and I think both of them being extraordinary broken range build in the end. (Very strong early too) The first version of it is more obvious, using the shield throw from Aspect of Beowulf. 45 base damage is actually pretty high considering its speed and tracking capability. (SAME damage as Gwen Yu spear throw) However, what truly make this broken is the hammer Charged Flight, literally TRIPLE its damage. It makes a pretty ok damage shield throw into monstrosity when crit. Some good addition hammer including Dread Flight (which you deem as bad hammer but is extraordinary op in this type of build. Amazing tracking and increasing shield flying speed) Explosive Return is another amazing addition and boost your dps even higher. This version pretty much goes full crit , taking Artemis as much as possible. One interesting fact is Hunter Mark is even more amazing for this build than other crit build due to how Shield automatically track nearby targets, making you trigger Hunter Mark consecutively in one damage rotation. If you manage to get high enough Hunter Mark level, you may have 100% crit on most multi-target encounter, dishing out up to 1300~ damage per shield throw. Since you're not using your main-hand weapon, you can take Athena attack so you may get duo boon that gets 20% crit on deflect. (Use divine dash to trigger reflect) I already tested this build multiple times, and it works very good most of the times. Charged Flight is the key to the whole build, but the game is definitely beatable w/o too. A little rng dependend on this build since hammer is the backbone of the whole build. The second one is even more op than the first which actually surprises me a bit. This build use Aspect of Chaos' (Zagurus works too) faster shield throw special speed to trigger Zeus special as much/ as fast as possible. Shield throw is actually some of the fastest special you can find in this game, and to make it more amazing, it is actually some of the few special which Zeus special can actually "shot-gun" each other. Each target who get hit by it will trigger Zeus lightning aoe independently. If you hit 4 targets, it'd trigger 4 times , and if they overlap , it shotgun into each other. This build is COMPLETELY busted if you manage to get Explosive return. Every screen enemies got fully wiped in seconds in 4th stage. The build can further be boosted to absolutely monstrocity level if you get multiple Zeus and get high level double strike, high voltage (easier to shotgun aoe), and even the legendary lightning. A good pairing with this build is with Poseidon dash due to how nimble/ fast this build really is. Shield throw ignores the knockback drawback because it is auto tracking and also range. You just dash around while spamming special move and everything dies immediately. Bosses melt down in seconds too. Tbh Poseidon dash is busted on its own against mobs with some investment, so pairing with another busted Zeus interaction makes it even more broken. You can even trigger duo and get sea storm for more dash lightning damage. This build is less rng dependent because you can have easy runs with wrong hammer option too because the core mechanic of this build itself is already op. But definitely try to get Explosive return whenever you see it. I highly recommend you to try both of the shield throw builds. Already tested, both of them are some of the most busted shield build I played so far. (I tend to struggle a bit with Shield because it lacks truly op mechanic after the chaos shield nerf. The melee of shield is slightly underwhelming) PS: The 2nd shield throw build is high heat viable because the requirement for this build to start rolling is low, and once it starts rolling it's unstoppable. You can also play it safe too. I'd argue this is STRONGER than Eris Rail build base on my latest run. (Less clunky and risky too becuz you don't need to dash inside your rocket and take hit)

[@teugene]

I made my first clear with the Zeus aspect. I had multiple Zeus boons on the special, with Ares Blade Rift cast, then seeing them rip through enemies was so satisfying.

[@collinbeal]

The most fun I've had wirh Aspect of Zeus is Poseidon dash and attack with Zeus special. Set it up to create a choke point and push enemies into the zappy blender with double strike. Also, another great way to use Aspect of Zeus is if you have quick enemies, such as Asterius. You can dash ahead of the shield as it's returning to you, dragging it across a pursuing enemy

[@chloedance9316]

Came here to see your opinion on Dashing Flight. It's one of my favourite hammers with the Aspect of Chaos. If you take a god that gives %damage upgrade for your special, this hammer makes all your shields hit twice as hard, and hit super fast.

[@NLZ3]

hey haelian, i think dashing flight’s description might be written inconsistently with it’s actual function. if you do a dash special input like the dash upper for fists, you get the +200% dmg for the shield.

[@Haelian]

Those 2 hammers I might have to try out more, I never found an amazing use for them yet. But maybe now!

[@x.kitsune]

love these videos, thanks for all the great info! Just a quick comment though, when you're talking about which shield aspect to put blood into 1st you mention Chaos because it's cheaper than Beowulf.. but aren't they both 15 blood to max out? You can get the 1st couple levels cheaper for Chaos because it's 1/2/3/4/5 per level whereas Beowulf is 3/3/3/3/3, but imo Chaos aspect doesn't really feel too great until you get closer to the max amount of extra shields anyways. I'd honestly just save up to max it before I invested in it, and if you like Beowulf better it's the same amount of blood to max either. Personally, I avoided Chaos until I could max it because it's pretty easy to get blood early on and you don't "need" aspects to get through the 1st few levels of Heat doing just random runs pretty easily. I know a lot of people just love Chaos, but personally I only really find it enjoyable if I can get Sudden Rush or Charged Shot. I find charging around pretty slow for my liking, it's really safe though for people who are having trouble clearing consistently

[@Bomby77]

Controlling the shield with recall on Aspect of Zeus (pressing special again after launching) really cancels what you mentioned with its unpredictability. If you can outrun the recall, you can use it to follow behind you to kill chasing enemies like the exploding wagons and you can also dash around tankier enemies while attacking with special recall and your special will continuously hit your enemy without being recalled if you dash correctly

[@anishshrestha8146]

I love this video. Especially since I usually go for the shields in runs.

[@bendatron6089]

I actually like dashing flight purely for the enhanced speed of the special i think it just makes things with chaos aspect for example a little bit easier and faster

[@FreeWillMind]

Good vid. I may add that Charged Shot is kinda wonky on Chaos, as you will not go forward to your enemy as you charge your shot, and the ability to shotgun your enemies with 5 shields is kinda lost unless you dash in front of them so keep that in mind. Unyielding Defense's Sturdy for Beowolf also makes you unable to be stunned, which is a big deal with how slow your bull rush charge is and how sometimes small projectiles can stun lock you (Witches' Circle, anyone?)

[@stygiansilver9320]

Played this game for ~120 hours before ever even thinking to look up videos on youtube. Its interesting to see that your opinion on the zeus aspect is so vastly different than mine. I find that with proper control and prediction, you can slam god nuetral heat 30~ in your sleep. Theres so many delicious builds you can go for pretty much any god that make it vastly overpowered. Absolutely microwaving bosses and obliterating mob rooms. I love your content keep up the good work and uh, definitely practice with the zeus aspect, i think you could plan out some very, as you say, funny builds.

[@garyroach4942]

How do you play around the shield? I tried it out for the first time last night but it's just not clicking with me. Feels like it takes a lot of effort to do okay ish damage with it

[@stygiansilver9320]

@@garyroach4942 gotta get that apm high, keep jugging the shield through so its almost always on an enemy, make sure to keep your bullrush up at almost all times if you're not slamming people into walls with your shield up their ass. Zeus on secondary usually works well. Idk man the easiest way to play this game is to fuck around and find out, and if you just deadass dont like using something, then dont use if

[@garyroach4942]

@@stygiansilver9320 I really want to like it, seems like it would fit my playstyle really well. Maybe I just need more practice, thanks for the tips tho!

[@mysteriousdonkey4624]

Whaaat minotaur rush is soooo insane against slower enemies and bosses especially dad. Also absolutely insane with charged shot

[@IWantThatKey]

6:08 "could be that there's more potential that we haven't seen with it yet" ends up being the weapon to beat 64 heat.

[@EduardoSouza-qm4cn]

Thanks, Haelian! This guide helped me a lot :)

[@trunghoang6681]

You can actually pair charged shot with minotaur rush for a 400 base dmg atk, had it once and got some pretty chunky hits. Too bad im not used to the shield to efficiently utilize it

[@benro6564]

The bow is going to be very interesting

[@TromboneMachine]

Empowering flight can be pretty interesting with aspect of zeus! You can potentially have 100% uptime on the 80% bonus damage

[@renewalacumen1770]

That twitch clip! That's soo petty, but I understand!

[@thoribbin6293]

i found that Pulverizing Blow with Artemis or Athena makes Aspect of Zagreus just so good and easy to use, it carried me the whole way through my first hades kill

[@mickwarshaw3431]

I am on board with most of your stylistic choices, so I was shocked with your take on chaos and zeus aspects. Chaos aspect ihave a hard time with, zeus I have the most clears of any aspect (which is not many like 5 but still). If I feel like I have had a few rough runs in a row I put on zeus and pom blossom and wreckage right through everything.

[@valadred4220]

Dashing flight would probably pair well with aspect of Zeus I know personally when I use zues shield I like to throw it out and then recast and simply dash around the room having it chase me and activate whatever Boon I have set for my special so dash causing it to speed up and deal more DMG seems like a great pairing for a hardcore kiting sort of gameplay

[@haxmax5352]

I always get the best runs with Zeus Shield. Especially a good Zeus run with demeter on the attack. If you get some Zeus boons to get your bolts going and the jolted duo boon. Just get the shield in a good place, smack 'em with your shield for chill and privilieged status proc your gonna destroy everything around you. A decent pressure points and hunters mark and the only way to lose is if you actively try to die.

[@l2ubberl7ucky23]

With aspect of zues you can do a dash build and kite at is does damage. Leaving you low windows of damage on you while your special and dash abilities do damage.

[@spairus4492]

I can't imagine myself lose a run using bull rush. I feel it's so insanely safe. Like, its only weaknesses are magma (which can be played around), god trials (or theseus call) which you can just wait on, and dad vases (which you can counter with special). Otherwise, you have an 80% uptime on a 180 degree block, that defeats basically every attack in the game, and rewards you for cheating with huge amounts of damage on top of it. How can you even lose? It looks so broken to me, I'm curious about why you value it so low. It never felt difficult to me

[@marcbeaudoin9092]

Man you helped so much in so little time! + great advice!

[@matthewdiehl1929]

Was on a run I thought was dead no death defiance left and and not really that much goin for me, so I hit the anvil at styx and got charged shot and minotaur rush. I then no hit hades by sitting in the corner and shooting him with my shield turned bow while crying laughing at hades struggin tryin to hit me

[@thaddeusanthony1180]

Dread flight works great with the doom curse on your special, then maybe buffing your special with Hermes for faster speed or Dashing Flight

[@ebox147]

The beowulf hammer works wonders with Demeter's cast and the boom that increases defende without a cast

[@Arcamonde]

I just want to point out my first and currently only 32 Heat win was with Beowulf Thunder Flare. It's awkward, for sure, I only chose it because it was the first cast I saw and it was Epic. However, it's pretty good damage, and if you get Double Strike, it's damage actually gets kind of absurd, in all honestly.

[@Sitania]

The shield was originally my least favourite weapon. Now it's the weapon I have the most Hades kills with, and the highest heat kills I have (still not my favourite, but definitely not least favourite anymore)

[@gopnik64]

Empowering flight is really good with zag aspect + athena's attack + ares special and Merciful End. Melting bosses asap.

[@gopnik64]

Also, great guides!

[@darylroetz9053]

Thanks for the hard work great content and amazing guides

[@thatweirdvlogger5787]

Zeus shield with Zeus special is godly

[@t0mmy44h]

Dashing Flight + Dread Flight + Divine Dash + Blinding Flash + Tempest Flourish + Razor Shoals + Typhoon's Fury clears Styx rooms super fast

[@t0mmy44h]

Can also swap Divine Dash and Tempest Flourish for Divine Flourish & Tidal Dash, or swap in Heartbreak Flourish + some supporting Aphrodite boons for extra damage. I like keeping Athena in that combo for deflecting the Satyr spitting

[@barefootalien]

Ummm... so I think you've just misunderstood Dashing Flight. It's very easy to use, and synergizes very well with Zag. It's just a dash-strike for your special. You said "If you throw it and then dash, you'll see it speed up a little bit," but I think that's just confirmation bias. Rather, if you throw it _while you are dashing,_ the shield flight is faster and the damage is higher _for the entire flight,_ whether you're still dashing or not. So you just do it like any other dash-strike build, only for shield. It's not very good for Chaos because the double mechanic of charge - bull strike - dash-throw is tricky and also doesn't put the throw in a very good position much of the time, but Zag is great, and I assume it'd be good with Beowulf.

[@kasane1337]

I just played Aspect of Zeus after a long time, and honestly, I found it very underwhelming. It's too slow, enemies just dance around it, and you can never rely on the special damage. But I thought about a different tactic: instead of throwing it out and using attacks against enemies, what if you throw the shield out and retrieve it while having extra movement speed or dashes? This could easily make you outrun the special and essentially guide the disc into your enemies by dashing through them.

[@sinomirneja771]

(1:00) Danny be like: If you want punishment go to my twitch! Where can I sigh up?

[@WitchDoctor87]

I would think Aspect of Zeus you want to have knockback because then you can keep pushing the enemy into your spin. Wonder if Zeus as well works with Charge flight well.

[@oscar54321]

thanks for these mate

[@ajdaniels]

Artemis on Beowulf is an explosion galore and almost OP (with 4 or 5 casts it is! Hades is easy picking with that!). Festive Fog on Beowulf is terrible IMO. You want your Cast reloaded as quickly as possible but often end up having to wait in fog with no enemies in sight being easy fodder for ranging enemies.

[@Haelian]

I didnt get to mention but Trippy Shot is decent if you wanted to take Stygian Soul, overall probably better off taking Infernal Soul with Beo though huh

[@ajdaniels]

@@Haelian Ah, that makes sense. Totally forgot about Stygian Soul because I always run with the same mirror setup

[@paulroche6969]

Love these guides.

[@ahetzel9054]

First time I used Beowulf, I used it with Zeuss cast thinking it was gonna be an awesome lightning explosion... I was very disappointed

[@tdawgmaster1729]

Charge shot and quick charge on shield are compatible, and getting them both is basically game over, it's that busted

[@doodlecrazydc]

For the algae rhythm

[@joepope5793]

I think Zeus might be my jam. I'm at 15 heat with it and as low as 3 on other weapons.

[@tanewby3861]

@haelian so can you do the rail aspects next they are the ones I can't seem to get the hang of. Also a question on the rail when your firing the rail and dashing around does that count as dash strike.

[@Haelian]

For the most part yes it counts

[@char1194]

Did they change dashing flight? I remember getting it in one of my runs and trying it out for the first time yesterday, and the shield didnt speed up or get bonus damage if i dashed after throwing the shield. What DID work was using the special like a dash strike, so I would dash and special at the same time and it made for some really consistent strong damage. I'm pretty sure the damage boost continued even after my dash was over.

[@ricardodarcangelo2437]

Was poseidon not around at the original launch or something? Not seeing him in any of these discussions, and there's a lot that he does well... so I'm confused. Lol Regardless, great advice for an average player, getting into the game years later. Thank you!

[@Haelian]

I generally didn't/don't advise using Poseidon's attack/special boons so probably why it isn't brought up. Of course there are exceptions but I mostly recommend the dash from him.

[@ricardodarcangelo2437]

​@@Haelian Alright, I understand. Thanks for the clarification, and all your help from the vids

[@risenssbu7344]

Awesome guide! 👍