‘Hades’ Mistakes You’ll Never Be Able to Unsee

The first ‘Hades’ hides a handful of quirks that come from how its systems are wired rather than anything players do wrong. Some of these show up in enemy behavior while others live in tooltips and UI that do not spell things out. Knowing where the edges are makes the rules feel clearer and helps every choice land the way you expect. Here are the game side hiccups that often trip people up even after dozens of escape attempts.

Backstab bonuses do not work on armor

The game awards bonus damage for hitting an enemy from behind, yet that bonus turns off when a target still has yellow armor. The UI never calls out that backstab math ignores armored health until the armor is gone. This leads to normal numbers even when your build is built around positioning. Once the armor breaks the backstab bonus starts applying again as expected.

Armor blocks stagger with little explanation

Enemies with yellow armor keep their actions and do not flinch from most hits, which is different from how red health targets behave. The tutorial never clearly states that armor prevents stagger and many control effects. This is why certain combos do not interrupt big windups until the armor is stripped. Breaking armor restores normal hit reactions and makes crowd control behave the way the boon text suggests.

Status effects for Privileged Status are not labeled

The Mirror perk that boosts damage when two status curses are active does not mark which boons actually count as a status. Boon cards list their effects but they do not consistently tag them as qualifying statuses. This leaves you guessing whether something like Weak plus Doom will trigger the bonus. The Codex helps after the fact, but the decision point is often the boon screen where the label would matter most.

God Keepsake guarantees end after one boon without a reminder

God Keepsakes force your next boon to come from that deity, then the effect quietly ends. The Keepsake description does not remind you mid run that the guarantee is single use. Players often keep the trinket on for multiple chambers thinking it is still steering doors. Swapping Keepsakes after you get the first boon restores control, but the game never nudges you to do it.

Erebus Gate requirements are opaque

Red Erebus challenge gates only open if your Heat meets a threshold for that biome and you took no damage in the previous chamber. The door itself does not tell you which condition failed when it refuses to open. This makes it easy to miss a gate even when you are running plenty of Heat. A small prompt would clarify whether you need more Heat or a clean room to qualify.

Elysium chariot explosions remain dangerous offscreen

Suicide chariots in Elysium can detonate even after leaving your view and the blast still reaches you. The visual telegraph is small and audio cues can be drowned out by other effects. Bodies can also pop if they were primed before you dashed away. This makes stray chip damage feel like it came from nowhere when the actual trigger happened just out of frame.

Theseus shield facing and invulnerability windows are under signposted

Theseus blocks ranged attacks with his shield while facing you and becomes invulnerable during his god call sequence. The fight does not clearly signal the exact frames where damage is ignored, especially for projectiles that were already in flight. This can turn clean hits into zeros with little feedback beyond a clink. Learning to circle his shield side fixes it, but the game gives minimal real time guidance.

Duo boon prerequisites vanish when you sell a key boon

Some Duo and Legendary boons require very specific base boons, yet the Purging Pool does not warn you when selling one will shut a door. The boon list tracks what you own but the sell screen offers no prerequisite check. It is easy to remove a cornerstone and unknowingly disable a powerful Duo for the rest of the run. A simple flag on the purge menu would prevent accidental lockouts.

Chaos health costs bypass most safety nets

Entering a Chaos Gate takes a fixed chunk of life and applies temporary restrictions that cannot be blocked by common defenses. The health payment does not trigger Death Defiance and does not care about damage reduction effects. The game also allows the cost to bring you very low with little fanfare if you are already hurt. Without a clear warning, that payment can set up a surprise death in the next chamber.

Extreme Measures changes are not previewed in detail

The Pact term that upgrades bosses lists the idea but not the specific new patterns you will face. Lernie head layouts, Theseus arena tweaks, and other changes appear only once you pull the lever. This can turn a comfortable build into a rough matchup with no chance to adjust beforehand. A short preview of pattern changes would help players plan their boon and hammer choices around the new fights.

Share the game quirks you have noticed in the first ‘Hades’ so everyone can spot them sooner in the comments.