Melinoë may be a goddess and Princess of the Underworld, but she’s also a witch inHades 2. And what kind of witch does their witchy business without an animal familiar by their side? Well, inHades 2youcanget an Animal Familiar to join you on your journey.
you’re able to get an Animal Familiar inHades 2after unlocking the proper Incantation. The issue here, sadly, is that the Incantation won’t come your way for quite some time. It took me around 20 hours before the game began hinting I could have an animal friend join me on my adventure. Of course, the moment I figured it out I set out to get a familiar as fast as I could. Wouldn’t anyone?
Hades 2: How to unlock Animal Familiars – Incantation and more
Getting the Incantationfor an Animal Familiar inHades 2requires some steps. The game isn’t very open in telling you the correct path to follow, but I will share what I accomplished leading up to unlock the feature.
Follow these steps to unlock familiars:
If any listed situations haven’t happened yet, keep playing the game and making progress while keeping the steps in mind.
Once you’ve received the Faith of Familiar Spirits Incantation, you’ll need to cast it at the Cauldron. To cast Faith of Familiar Spirits, go to the Cauldron in the Crossroads and complete it using 2 Nectar and 1 Lotus. You can gather Lotus by hand in the Oceanus region.
Casting the Incantation gives you one Witch’s Delight, food used to convince an animal to become your familiar. After choosing a familiar, you get the incantation Beast-Loved Morsel which lets you make +2 Witch’s Delight. It costs 1 Star Dust and 2 Lotus to create.
Now, it’s time to pick your first companion.
All Animal Familiars inHades 2
There arefour animal familiars in Hades 2. Each takes different steps to unlock, but they can all be yours in time.
How to bond with Hecuba the dog familiar inHades 2
Hecuba is the Animal Familiar of Headmistress Hecate, and her loyalty isn’t easily won. To unlock Hecuba as a companion, you’ll need tofinish a set of requirementsthat the game isn’t keen on explaining (as per the norm). In my efforts to get Hecuba, I completed these tasks:
After following these steps, Hecate eventually invited me for a chat in the Crossroads in which she discussed how Melinoë “ensured the safety” of her Familiars. Hecate brings up her Familiars, Hecuba the dog and Gale the polecat, and mentions they “are willing to watch over you.” Once the conversation finishes, you’ll earnHecate’s permissionto bond with Hecuba and Gale.
Return to the NPC Room in the Mourning Fields. If Hecuba is there, you should have the option to bond with her. Hecuba will appear with the other Familiars in the Crossroads.
How to equip an Animal Familiar, and what they do
Once bonded to Melinoë, Animal Familiars appear in the Training Grounds at the Crossroads near the Gathering Tools. To bring one on your journey, get close to them and press theInvite button(RB on an Xbox pad and the E key on a keyboard) when you see it above their head.
Animal Familiars are incredibly useful to have by your side. They provide Melinoë with a “bond” abilities that can consist of a small passive buff, a defensive or offensive move, and a free use of a particularGathering Tool.
Hecuba
How to upgrade Animal Familiars inHades 2
Animal Familiar abilities and buffs can be upgraded after completing theBravery of Familiar Spiritsincantation. The Incantation should come available not long after you start bonding with your first familiar companion. It costs one Wool and three Wheat to cast the Incantation, which gives you a Witch’s Delight and the ability to power up your pals.
To upgrade Animal Familiars inHades 2, approach the familiar you wish to power up and pick theTreatoption. Keep in mind that you can only upgrade Animal Familiars in the Crossroads.
Each familiar has three bond abilities you can upgrade three times.
Later, you’ll get a new incantation called ‘Attending a Faithful Beast’. The incantation upgrades the familiar’s harvest ability, letting you a +2 bonus to Tool uses. Attending a Faithful Beast requires 1 Tears, 1 Wool, and 4 Wheat to complete.
