Pretty sure we'll have it. In every chamber in-between bios you can see kind of an empty spot (especially in Tartarus). I'm guessing there will be an incantation later?
I can definitely see them incorporating a trading mechanic to swap out boons with minor rewards, similar to the offers Nemesis can make in some of her encounters
I think the removal of it is jarring but I can absolutely see where its coming from. Gold is way easier to get in 2 than Obols are in 1, which makes that part of selling them less valuable unless there was something different you got in exchange this time around. The entire game does seem to want to make it harder to make consistent ways of getting specific builds, which to my (admitted limited) knowledge the purging pool was a decent part of in 1.
Something I'm surprised I haven't seen talked about more in regards to the lack of purging is that it also makes the act of taking boons a lot more committal. Because you can't purge boons at will, and sacrifice boons only exist for the main 5 boon slots (Strike, Flourish, Ring, Sprint, and Gain), you need to be a LOT more careful about taking boons that don't fuck up your build, and it forces you to be a lot more methodical in your approach.
Just in general, I feel like 2 has a lot more boons that have straight up drawbacks attached to them- things like how Demeter's Weed Killer increases the MP cost of your omega attacks, Haphaestus's Ring boon making your cast smaller, Hestia's gain boon reducing your max HP, Hera's ring boon increasing the duration of your cast (which yes, is a bad thing), Apollo's legendary boon increasing MP cost for everything, not to mention all the boons that prime MP. Being able to just remove these boons if they don't work out would make taking them less committal and allow you to be kinda reckless/careless with which boons you take, which I think the removal of the purging pool is trying to discourage.
It's definitely a hot take (and honestly, if it's an outright bad take please let me know lol), but I think it should stay gone. There are still a handful of methods of removing boons (Sacrifice boons which Hera encourages, that one Hestia boon that gives stats in exchange for a sacrifice, nemesis encounters) but they're all pretty unreliable. It definitely seems to me that the game wants you to be more committal with your builds and a lot more considerate of what you take this time around now that the safety net of the purging pool isn't there, especially with how many boons have risks or drawbacks attached.
No offense, but this feels like post-hoc justification. It's almost guaranteed that the purging pool will return, but you're finding a way to explain why this seeming "decision" is good.
I doubt you'd be asking for its removal if it was part of EA's initial drop, or think removing it was a good idea if someone's feedback was to do so.
You might be right, admittedly, but I think if it was part of the initial drop the balancing of the boons would be different than it is now, and if it gets re-introduced later I think it'll either be alongside some changes to different boons to compensate, or the pool will function a lot differently to how it did in 1.
I wouldn't go as far as to say that it's outright guaranteed it will return, and I stand by my thoughts, but I will admit you might be right about me seeing intentions where there might not actually be any, and I definitely could have better phrased what I was trying to express.
Then maybe these factors are part of the reason why it isn't back _yet_.
It may be readded, but it may be reworked in a drastic way that the devs haven't figured out yet, so it isn't present.
Also that "You wouldn't ask for it to be removed" logic Is kinda dogshit. Like, Game Design isn't always that straightforward. If Hades I didn't have a purging well I wouldn't be going "Man I wish I had a station that I could use inbetween biome transitions and sometimes inbetween rooms that would Let me purge 3 random boons in exchange for Obols", doesn't mean that Hades was Made with the purging well in mind.
I don't find this a fair assessment. The crucial difference is that we don't know what we don't know, but we know as a playerbase the impact of the purging pool coming into the sequel and feel its absence. It's not the same as "missing" a feature that we have no experience with.
I think the pool of purging could be added pretty much as-is with no negative balance implications.
Player feedback would not have made a number of decisions made in Hades 2. Nobody in Hades 1 was asking for Boons to be made to be harder to use and have more specific niches, but that was part of the core design philosophy of the boons in Hades 2.
I think it's entirely possible that the pool of purging was an intentional omission considering that the design of the whole game points toward them wanting boon selection to be more strategic and higher stakes this time round. The pool of purging means that your decisions in the early game become less impactful in the long run, because you can easily correct mistakes and change course on where you want your build to be headed.
I haven't a clue what is making you think it's "almost guaranteed" that the purging pool is coming back.
Why would it not be included now if the intention was to add it?
There are a lot of mysteriously absent features. How come Charon doesn't have a portrait when it could just be re-used from Hades 1, like other assets in the game?
There's an empty spot in each post-biome room that is exactly where the purging pool was in Hades 1. Feedback has been pretty clear on wanting it back as well. Plus, there are assets in the game files for selling.
Boons w drawbacks can straight up brick an entire run given that boon interactions/boon math are not always immediately obvious. This IMO discourages me from wanting to pick new or unfamiliar boons when they pop up, which just feels like the opposite of good design. Resource management is an important of any game, and reducing that to a single irreversible choice feels needlessly punishing, especially in a roguelike
Hades 2 really seems to want to encourage boon 'exchanges' and sacrifices rather than the kind of selling the Pool allowed. Which I'm fine with in theory but those options are frequently pretty unappealing/feel like something you're forced into without really getting anything out of it, even Obols.
Spiteful Strength gives iirc a +200% multiplier on attack/special if you don't have a boon on them, so unless you specifically are using those for something I'd say it's pretty good.
Nope all infusions are programmed to appear after you have so many elements besides Hermes. I have never done a run where didnāt get one infusion.
EDIT:Also solo element and her element is earth which gives you three infusions all strong. Demeter is max 15 damage Heph is % increased attack/defense.
I'm kind of wondering if maybe Dionysus, Ares, and Athena might offer their boons only if you trade in a whole god's worth or something. And they'd offer it only at booths similar to the purging pools.
I sure hope so. I ruined a run by taking that Demeter boon that makes your cast stick to you. Would have loved to have just sold it after Cerberus, but I ended up mercy killing the run.
Also they need to fix that stupid Demeter boon because it sucks lol.
I hope they add it and they give it some synergy with other things in the game, like keepsakes and boons! I can totally see Hera having something like āfor each different godās boons youāve purged or traded, deal 10/15/20% more damageā or Hermes āfor each boon purged, your attack/special/cast is 5/10/15% fasterā (with slashes indicating rarity differences)
I kinda hope they add it back in, but in a different form. Maybe kind of a Shrine of Hermes type thing where you lose a boon and get a new one at a higher rarity after a certain number of encounters or something. Since gold isn't that hard to come by, the pool itself isn't that useful in its Hades I state other than to remove stuff you don't want (which admittedly is quite useful in and of itself).
The design of several boons makes it more interesting not to have it. Otherwise in my opinion Uncommon Grace and similar boons that require you \*not\* having certain other boons get way too good.
Pretty sure we'll have it. In every chamber in-between bios you can see kind of an empty spot (especially in Tartarus). I'm guessing there will be an incantation later?
I suspect they're trying to find a slightly different mechanic. Something more interesting than a little money
I can definitely see them incorporating a trading mechanic to swap out boons with minor rewards, similar to the offers Nemesis can make in some of her encounters
I would rather gamble a boon with other of the same slot from other gods in the pool, maybe that's what you need, maybe it isn't.
please š i need my pool
I think the removal of it is jarring but I can absolutely see where its coming from. Gold is way easier to get in 2 than Obols are in 1, which makes that part of selling them less valuable unless there was something different you got in exchange this time around. The entire game does seem to want to make it harder to make consistent ways of getting specific builds, which to my (admitted limited) knowledge the purging pool was a decent part of in 1. Something I'm surprised I haven't seen talked about more in regards to the lack of purging is that it also makes the act of taking boons a lot more committal. Because you can't purge boons at will, and sacrifice boons only exist for the main 5 boon slots (Strike, Flourish, Ring, Sprint, and Gain), you need to be a LOT more careful about taking boons that don't fuck up your build, and it forces you to be a lot more methodical in your approach. Just in general, I feel like 2 has a lot more boons that have straight up drawbacks attached to them- things like how Demeter's Weed Killer increases the MP cost of your omega attacks, Haphaestus's Ring boon making your cast smaller, Hestia's gain boon reducing your max HP, Hera's ring boon increasing the duration of your cast (which yes, is a bad thing), Apollo's legendary boon increasing MP cost for everything, not to mention all the boons that prime MP. Being able to just remove these boons if they don't work out would make taking them less committal and allow you to be kinda reckless/careless with which boons you take, which I think the removal of the purging pool is trying to discourage. It's definitely a hot take (and honestly, if it's an outright bad take please let me know lol), but I think it should stay gone. There are still a handful of methods of removing boons (Sacrifice boons which Hera encourages, that one Hestia boon that gives stats in exchange for a sacrifice, nemesis encounters) but they're all pretty unreliable. It definitely seems to me that the game wants you to be more committal with your builds and a lot more considerate of what you take this time around now that the safety net of the purging pool isn't there, especially with how many boons have risks or drawbacks attached.
No offense, but this feels like post-hoc justification. It's almost guaranteed that the purging pool will return, but you're finding a way to explain why this seeming "decision" is good. I doubt you'd be asking for its removal if it was part of EA's initial drop, or think removing it was a good idea if someone's feedback was to do so.
You might be right, admittedly, but I think if it was part of the initial drop the balancing of the boons would be different than it is now, and if it gets re-introduced later I think it'll either be alongside some changes to different boons to compensate, or the pool will function a lot differently to how it did in 1. I wouldn't go as far as to say that it's outright guaranteed it will return, and I stand by my thoughts, but I will admit you might be right about me seeing intentions where there might not actually be any, and I definitely could have better phrased what I was trying to express.
Then maybe these factors are part of the reason why it isn't back _yet_. It may be readded, but it may be reworked in a drastic way that the devs haven't figured out yet, so it isn't present. Also that "You wouldn't ask for it to be removed" logic Is kinda dogshit. Like, Game Design isn't always that straightforward. If Hades I didn't have a purging well I wouldn't be going "Man I wish I had a station that I could use inbetween biome transitions and sometimes inbetween rooms that would Let me purge 3 random boons in exchange for Obols", doesn't mean that Hades was Made with the purging well in mind.
I don't find this a fair assessment. The crucial difference is that we don't know what we don't know, but we know as a playerbase the impact of the purging pool coming into the sequel and feel its absence. It's not the same as "missing" a feature that we have no experience with. I think the pool of purging could be added pretty much as-is with no negative balance implications.
Player feedback would not have made a number of decisions made in Hades 2. Nobody in Hades 1 was asking for Boons to be made to be harder to use and have more specific niches, but that was part of the core design philosophy of the boons in Hades 2. I think it's entirely possible that the pool of purging was an intentional omission considering that the design of the whole game points toward them wanting boon selection to be more strategic and higher stakes this time round. The pool of purging means that your decisions in the early game become less impactful in the long run, because you can easily correct mistakes and change course on where you want your build to be headed.
I donāt know, there are less opportunities to replace a boon in 2
I haven't a clue what is making you think it's "almost guaranteed" that the purging pool is coming back. Why would it not be included now if the intention was to add it?
There are a lot of mysteriously absent features. How come Charon doesn't have a portrait when it could just be re-used from Hades 1, like other assets in the game? There's an empty spot in each post-biome room that is exactly where the purging pool was in Hades 1. Feedback has been pretty clear on wanting it back as well. Plus, there are assets in the game files for selling.
Boons w drawbacks can straight up brick an entire run given that boon interactions/boon math are not always immediately obvious. This IMO discourages me from wanting to pick new or unfamiliar boons when they pop up, which just feels like the opposite of good design. Resource management is an important of any game, and reducing that to a single irreversible choice feels needlessly punishing, especially in a roguelike
Hades 2 really seems to want to encourage boon 'exchanges' and sacrifices rather than the kind of selling the Pool allowed. Which I'm fine with in theory but those options are frequently pretty unappealing/feel like something you're forced into without really getting anything out of it, even Obols.
I hope they add it at some point. But I'm not sure you get enough boons to justify it? However it would still be nice to have
I hope so, especially with that duo boon that requires you to have no boon for attack or special (but it's garbage anyways I think)
Spiteful Strength gives iirc a +200% multiplier on attack/special if you don't have a boon on them, so unless you specifically are using those for something I'd say it's pretty good.
I forgot the %, if it's 200 then it kinda alright I guess
200% is amazing for how easy the duo is to set up, especially on higher fear where you won't always get what you want.
Also the hera boon that only works if you have no commom boons is kind of useless if you can't purge any common boons away
Read her infusion
So the only thing that makes a commonly occuring boon useful is an infusion which is rare and unlikely to find on any given run
Nope all infusions are programmed to appear after you have so many elements besides Hermes. I have never done a run where didnāt get one infusion. EDIT:Also solo element and her element is earth which gives you three infusions all strong. Demeter is max 15 damage Heph is % increased attack/defense.
My crazy theory is that Dionysus is somehow going to be tied to the new pool of purging mechanics somehow. I have no proof other than gut instinct
My crazy theory is we'll purge entire gods instead of single boons
Hera/Zeus duos do this to each other.
I'm kind of wondering if maybe Dionysus, Ares, and Athena might offer their boons only if you trade in a whole god's worth or something. And they'd offer it only at booths similar to the purging pools.
there are lots of empty platforms scattered throughout, time will tell if those are for wells of purging or something else.
I sure hope so. I ruined a run by taking that Demeter boon that makes your cast stick to you. Would have loved to have just sold it after Cerberus, but I ended up mercy killing the run. Also they need to fix that stupid Demeter boon because it sucks lol.
I hope they add it and they give it some synergy with other things in the game, like keepsakes and boons! I can totally see Hera having something like āfor each different godās boons youāve purged or traded, deal 10/15/20% more damageā or Hermes āfor each boon purged, your attack/special/cast is 5/10/15% fasterā (with slashes indicating rarity differences)
How useful was that in Hades? I never use it outside of the certain heat.
It is EA so I think with updates they will add it
I kinda hope they add it back in, but in a different form. Maybe kind of a Shrine of Hermes type thing where you lose a boon and get a new one at a higher rarity after a certain number of encounters or something. Since gold isn't that hard to come by, the pool itself isn't that useful in its Hades I state other than to remove stuff you don't want (which admittedly is quite useful in and of itself).
The design of several boons makes it more interesting not to have it. Otherwise in my opinion Uncommon Grace and similar boons that require you \*not\* having certain other boons get way too good.
I agree, sometimes using the concave stone gives me something I don't want