Hades 2 is a rougelite, which means that while you're expected to confront great dangers and tough challenges during your excursions into the unde♔rworld, you're not expected to stay the weakling that you are at the beginning of the game. As you make attempt after attempt at Chronos, you'll acquire plenty of resources that you can spend at the Crossroads to give Melineo an edge.

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Many of these are spent at the cauldron in the centre of the Crossroa🦹ds. Here, you can obtain permanent upgrades to your game, whether they be alterations to the dangerous regions, new characters to meet, or simply story progression.
Hades 2 is currently in Early Access, the details below may change over the course of development. This is also an article in progress - we will add every incantation and alchemy recipe we find here once we🍰 have them.
Updated May 11, 2024: We've updated the tables in this guide to include more incantations and alchemy recipes that we have since unlocked.
How To Unlock Incantations
The cauldron at the Crossroads will become available for use after your second attempt at the underworld. Theཧ first att🐭empt is where the game begins, and the second is the first time you enter it yourself.
From then on, incantations will be unlocked after hitting certain progress benchmarks, whether they be reaching a certain area, casting previous incantations, or defeating certain bosses a number of time🦂s.
These requirements will feel quite random, so the only advice we can provide is to keep playing the game and unlocking the incantations you have - the new ones will show up eventu𓃲ally.
We've listed the incantations below in the order we unlocked them, based on the type of incantation they are. You can expect a similar, 🍌but probably not 𝓀identical order, based on the way you play.
Every Feature Unlock Incantation
These incantations will unlock new features, be they more w🌞ays to spend or earn resources, a new character to meet, or a power that stays with Melin♓oe.
Incantation |
Recipe |
Description |
---|---|---|
Fated Intervention |
1 Silver, 2 Ash, 2 Moly |
Unlocks the Fated List, which will provide you with rewards for your achievements. This gives you your f🔜irst meeting with Moros. |
Summoning of the Mercantile Fortune |
10 Bones |
Unlocks the Wretched Br🌊oker, who will sell you items in exchanღge for Bones. |
Night's Craftwork |
1 Moly |
Unlocks Gathering Tools, which allow you to gather resources in the𝓰 underworld. |
Reagent Sensing |
1 Moly |
Activates a visual notifier that there are resources to claim after clea♉ring an encounter. |
Kinship Fortune |
60 Bones |
Unlockཧs Exotic goods at the Wretched Br🐈oker. At first, you can only buy Nectar, but more will become available as you upgrade the Crossroads. Also grants one Nectar for free. |
Gathering of Ancient Bones |
2 Limestone |
Blesses one of your weapons per night. This🐭 blessed weapon will give you a bonus of 2 Bones per room you clear. |
Doomed Beckoning |
3 Fate Fabric, 1 Nightshade |
Summons Moros a second time, after whi𝔉ch he will start regularly appearing at the Crossroads near the Fated List. |
Divination of the Elements |
5 Psyche |
Allows you to see the Elements of the god Boons you acquire, and lets you use Infus♉ions. |
Flourishing Soil |
1 Moly |
Adds two Soil Plot🍌s to the Crossroads, unlocking Gardening.🔯 Also grants you one Nightshade Seed. |
Forget-Me-Not |
1 Moly |
Unlocks the ability to track recipes, giving you visual reminders whenever you ꦺhav♒e a choice between resources/tools. |
Floral Fortune |
1 Ash, 1 Nightshade |
Unlocks the ability to sell plants to♍ th🐼e Wretched Broker for Bones. |
Rich Soil |
3 Lotus |
Adds two more Soil Plots to the Crossroads. |
Permeation of Witching-Wards |
1 Cinder, 1 Shadow, 3 Moly |
Unlocks the Ward to the surface path, which gives you an altern♑ate path. |
Rite of Vapor-Cleansing |
2 Moly, 2 Lotus, 2 Nightshade |
Adds a Hot Spring to the Crossroads, where you can take baths with certain characters. Gives you one free portion of Bath Salts and unlocks th🍨e purchase of Bath Salts from the Wretched Broker. |
Rite of Social Solidarity |
2 Nectar, 2 Garlic |
Adds a Taverna to the Crossroads, 🔯where you can socialise with certain characters. Gives you ꦐa free Ambrosia and unlocks the purchase of Ambrosia from the Wretched Broker. |
Faith of Familiar Spirits |
2 Nectar, 1 Lotus |
Grants a Witch꧋'s Delight, which in turn unlocks Familiars. |
Consecration of Ashes |
6 Ash, 1 Cinder, 6 Fate Fabric |
Enhances th꧙e Altar of 𝐆Ashes and allows you to upgrade your Arcana cards. Also grants you 3 Moon Dust for free. |
Unraveling a Fateful Bond |
2 Lotus, 2 Moss, 2 Nightshade, 2 Thalamus |
Al🧜lows Melinoe to breathe on the surface, re🉐moving the constant damage. |
Verdant Soil |
1 Wheat, 1 Garlic |
Unlocks two more Soil Plots. This is the final ൲Garden up꧒grade. |
Abyssal Insight |
2 Fate Fabric, 2 Pearl, 2 Moly, 2 Nightshade |
Activates the꧟ Pitch-Black Stone and unlocks Trials w🦩hich you can attempt for Star Dust. |
Rite of River-Fording |
4 Driftwood, 2 Cattail |
Adds a Fishing Pier to the Cross♎roads, allowing you t👍o fish with certain characters. Also grants you a Twin Lure for free. |
Aspects of Night and Darkness |
5 Bronze, 1 Nightshade |
Unlocks Weapon Aspects and Weapon Upgrades. |
Attending a Faithful Beast |
1 Tears, 1 Wool, 4 Wheat |
A🐓llow🍒s your Animal Familiars to work for you when left at the Crossroads. |
Greater Favor of Gaia |
2 Marble, 4 Bronze, 4 Iron |
Allows you to upgrade your Gathering Tools |
Empath's Intuition |
1 Fate Fabric, 3 Myrtle |
Upgrades the Book of Shadows to relay relationship pr💦ogress informat💎ion with each character. |
Observance of Gaia's Secrets |
7 Moly, 7 Lotus, 7 Moss |
Gain a 20% chance to gain one extra resource whenever𓆏 you pick one 💜up. |
Insight Into Offerings |
2 Ambrosia, 2 Poppy, 1 Golden Apple |
Reveals a complete list of Olympian Boon💞s in the Book of Sha🙈dows. |
Power to Pause and Reflect |
3 Zodiac Sand, 3 Moly |
Allo🐓ws you to pause the game during the Chronos fight.🍨 Requires an attempt to pause the game during the fight to unlock. |
Dissolution of Time |
??? Zodiac Sand, ??? Entropy |
Stops Chronos being immortal. |
It is not currently possible to acquire Entropy, so t🌺he Dissolutꦿion of Time incantation is impossible to cast.
Every Run Upgrade Incantation
These upgrades will affect the underworld and surface paths, rather than the Crossroads or Melinoe herself.
Incantation |
Recipe |
Description |
---|---|---|
Rise of Stygian Wells |
1 Moly, 1 Nightshade |
Enables the spawning of Wells of Charon during a run, allowing you to 🐭buy minor boons. |
Woodsy Lifespring |
3 Silver, 1 Moly |
Unlocks rest ar⛄eas in Erebus where you can restore life. |
Briny Lifespring |
3 Limestone, 3 Lotus |
Unlocks resꦫt areas in Oceanus where you can restore life. |
Cleansing of Fountain-Waters |
1 Moly, 1 Lotus |
Improves fountain healing by 10%. |
Kindred Keepsakes |
4 Limestone, 2 Moly, 1 Lotus |
Enables you to switch K🅠eepsakes in the transition areas after bosses. |
Surge of Stygian Wells |
3 Moly, 3 Cattail |
Wells of Charon also now appe💯ar in the transit🌱ion areas after bosses. |
Purification of Fountain-Waters |
1 Nightshade, 1 Cattail |
Improves fountain healing by 10%. |
Propensity Toward Gold |
1 Lime, 1 Fate Fabric |
Unlocks golden urns, which drop gold wh❀e🦩n destroyed. |
Reviving a Mournful Husk |
1 Myrtle |
Allows you to ꦅrevive Golden Boughs in the Mourning Fields, which will point you towards the goals of the curren🅘t room. |
Necromantic Influence |
5 Psyche, 5 Nightshade |
Melinoe will summon shade allies to atta💫ck enemies automatically if she sprints through Lone Shades during a run. |
Unearthed Troves |
5 Limestone, 1 Nightshade |
Unlocks Infernal Troves, which allow you to fig🐷ht extra enemies underꦍ a time limit to gain gold. |
Summoning a Colony of Bats |
3 Moss, 3 Rubbish |
Unlocks the꧅ cages of All-Seeing Bats in the City of Ephyra, which provides a map to the city. |
Circles of Protection |
1 Moly, 1 Lotus, 1 Mandrake |
Unlocks Warding Circles throughout Erebus. |
Rush of Fresh Air |
3 Fate Fabric, 1 Wool, 2 Driftwood |
Unlocks Shrines of Hermes on the surface route. |
Golden Lifespring |
3 Marble, 3 Shaderoot |
Unlocks ꦐrest areas in Tartarus where you can r꧋estore life. |
Sandy Lifespring |
3 Iron, 3 Driftwoof |
Unlocks rest areas in the Rift of Thessaly w💟here you can restore life. |
Surge of Fresh Air |
2 Fate Fabric, 2 Garlic, 2 Mandrake |
Makes Shrines of Hermes appear in the♛ transitional areas between regions on t🀅he surface. |
Every Alchemy Recipe
Eventually, you'll unlock the ability to create items at the cauldron. These work a little differently to incantations - after paying the requisite amount of resources, the cauldrꦓon will shut for a certain number of time units. While the cauldron is creating your requested item, you will be unable to cas𒀰t incantations.
Time units are spent either by socialisingꦆ with characters using exotic items (such as Bath Salts) or by clearing rooms in the underworld or on the surface.
Incantation |
Item |
Recipe |
Time |
---|---|---|---|
Shadow Extraction |
Shadow x1 |
30 Ash, 30 Psyche, 3 Fate Fabric |
12 |
Beast-Loved Morsel |
Witch's Delight x2 |
1 Star Dust, 2 Lotus |
14 |
Moonlit Essence from Shadow |
Moon Dust x5 |
1 Cinder, 1 Shadow |
8 |
Moonlit Essence from Stars |
Moon Dust x3 |
1 Star Dust |
4 |
Sweet Nectar |
Nectar x3 |
1 Golden Apple |
8 |

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