Hades II Hex Guide: Selene's Powers, Builds, and Tips

How Selene’s Hexes Fit Your Build

A well-timed Hades II hex can turn a dangerous encounter into a damage window, a recovery opportunity, or a fight with an ally at your side. Your Hades II hex choice matters because its charging requirements and upgrades need to work with the way you already spend Magick. Start by considering your combat rhythm, then inspect the available Path of Stars before committing to an upgrade plan.

Selene’s Gifts of the Moon offer three Hexes, and you normally choose one for the night. Spending Magick fulfills your selected Hex’s charging requirement, allowing you to activate it. Subsequent Selene rewards improve that ability through the Path of Stars.

This system follows the role of Calls from the original game, but adds a dedicated upgrade tree.

Ask whether your build regularly spends Magick. A powerful Hex has limited practical value if your usual attacks leave it waiting to charge. Conversely, an Omega-focused setup gives you a reason to consider abilities that reward repeated Magick spending.

For game information from the developer, visit Supergiant Games’ Hades II page.

Understand Path of Stars Before Spending Upgrades

Your Hades II hex develops through a randomized skill tree. Path of Stars has four possible layouts, with available nodes and their positions changing each night. You can preview the layout by inspecting Boon Info and selecting the Hex.

That preview matters more than a favorite upgrade remembered from another run. Check which effects are actually available, then plan a route toward an upgrade that supports your current build.

Upgrade source	Upgrades provided	Upgrade details
Regular Path of Stars	3	Standard upgrade reward
Faint Path of Stars	1	Found in the Fields of Mourning
Gleaming Path of Stars	5	Found in Tartarus, The Summit, and Nemesis’ Fair Trade
Selene’s Moon Beam	+3/+4/+5/+7	Adds upgrades to your next Path of Stars

Each offered Hex also has a Moonglow that determines its starting upgrade allotment. Those offerings change each night. Sky Fall is an exception: it does not participate in Moonglow or receive its bonuses.

Some nodes affect charging directly. Growth adds automatic charge as though you spent 1 Magick every second. Preparation starts a Hex at 40% charge when you enter a Location; where two Preparation nodes appear, selecting both raises that starting charge to 80%.

Consider charging assistance when your normal combat routine spends little Magick. For a setup already spending frequently, inspect damage, defensive, or behavior-changing nodes alongside those charging options.

Also read stacking rules carefully. Purpose, which grants +5% damage after using the Hex for that encounter, does not stack with repeated uses on the listed Hexes. Repeated activations should not be treated as an endlessly growing damage bonus.

Godsent Effects Require More Than the Right God

Godsent Hexes add an Olympian-specific effect. You must meet two eligibility requirements: the corresponding Hex and a boon or equipped Keepsake from the associated Olympian.

Meeting those requirements makes the Godsent talent available; you still need to select it in the Path of Stars.

Godsent effects normally have one use per encounter. Lineage adds another use in Guardian encounters, while Athena’s Task Force can grant additional uses. Keep the ordinary Hex and its Godsent effect separate when planning repeated activations.

Hades II Hex Rankings

For these rankings, prioritize damage output and consider several abilities with supporting Olympian effects. These are build-dependent preferences. These rankings may vary with your build.

Night Bloom may rank below Lunar Ray when an encounter lacks summon opportunities.

Hex	Tier	Reason
Lunar Ray	S	Strong damage windows and an especially powerful Apollo interaction
Night Bloom	S	Summoned enemies contribute damage and distract opponents
Wolf Howl	A	Fast charging, repositioning, and improved damage with Hephaestus
Moon Water	B	Healing becomes especially valuable with suitable charge-related upgrades
Twilight Curse	B	Useful against ordinary enemies, but limited against bosses
Sky Fall	B	Strong results, balanced against its weapon and Aspect restriction
Total Eclipse*	B	Delayed damage requires sufficient Magick spending and careful targeting
Phase Shift	C	Defensive utility receives less credit in this damage-focused ranking
Dark Side	C	The player finds its transformed damage disappointing

“Moonfall” refers to the delayed moon attack listed as Total Eclipse. Keep that naming difference in mind.

Lunar Ray: Plan Around an Opening

Lunar Ray can be particularly effective during boss recovery windows. Consider Apollo’s contribution and upgrades that provide armor or change how the beam fires.

Dashing cancels Lunar Ray’s firing animation, but the Hex still counts as used and its charge resets. Prominence mitigates that drawback by allowing the beam to fire automatically.

Activate the standard beam when you have room to remain in position. If an incoming attack makes that unsafe, prioritize the dodge while recognizing that the activation is spent.

Night Bloom: Check for a Summon Opportunity

Night Bloom turns a defeated enemy into an ally. The affected enemy receives 80% damage reduction, reducing the risk of accidentally killing it.

The resulting damage and distraction can be useful, but some encounters may offer no suitable summon, including Charybdis and Talos.

Treat Night Bloom as an encounter-dependent contribution. Keep your weapon damage functional so the build can handle fights where the summon offers little help.

Build Around the Effects You Can Actually Obtain

A Hades II hex build benefits from matching an ability’s behavior to the rest of your setup. The following pairings use supporting effects; results may vary.

Hex	Olympian discussed	Interaction
Lunar Ray	Apollo	Substantially stronger beam damage
Night Bloom	Hera	A critical-hit benefit for the first summon
Wolf Howl	Hephaestus	Additional damage that improves the player’s assessment
Moon Water	Poseidon	Increased healing
Twilight Curse	Zeus	Added damage beyond the transformation effect
Sky Fall	Ares	Additional offensive effects
Dark Side	Aphrodite	Heartthrobs improve damage during the transformation
Phase Shift	Demeter	An added Squall effect
Total Eclipse	Hestia	Added burning damage for the delayed “Moonfall” attack

Pursue a pairing only after checking both your existing Olympian access and the actual Path of Stars layout. A successful combination does not guarantee that its desired upgrade will appear in your run.

Moon Water: Evaluate the Healing Plan

Moon Water can be much more valuable when an upgrade allows fountain replenishment while charges remain, enabling a reserve of healing for later encounters.

That recommendation depends on obtaining the relevant upgrade early enough to benefit from subsequent fountains. Neither the upgrade’s availability nor its timing is guaranteed.

Vigor adds 10 Health restored, while Fortune grants 15 Gold whenever you use the Hex. Compare those effects against your immediate needs rather than treating every Moon Water node as equally valuable.

Sky Fall: Account for the Aspect Commitment

Sky Fall is available only with the Aspect of Selene for the Black Coat. It also notes that Shine, despite being a Status Curse, does not qualify for Origination because Selene is not an Olympian.

Sky Fall can work well alongside the Black Coat’s Omega attacks, but the Aspect restriction is a meaningful cost.

Evaluate that entire weapon setup together. Sky Fall belongs in a Black Coat Aspect decision, rather than a general plan that assumes access with any weapon.

Wolf Howl: Practice the Landing

Wolf Howl can be useful for repositioning, but aiming difficulties can lead to missed attacks.

Practice choosing a landing point quickly before depending on it for damage. Its movement component can influence your decision even when another Hex offers a more straightforward offensive effect.

Avoid These Hex Planning Mistakes

Choosing a Hades II hex by its headline effect alone overlooks encounter restrictions and upgrade details. Several limitations should influence how you approach a fight.

Mechanic	Documented limitation	Practical implication
Phase Shift	Requires Temporal Fluctuation to work against Chronos	Check that requirement before planning around the slowdown
Phase Shift	You remain susceptible to damage	Continue watching incoming attacks
Twilight Curse	Does not transform Guardians or certain Wardens	Do not rely on Morph against those enemies
Twilight Curse	Its projectile can disappear against an impassable wall	Favor an unobstructed firing path
Morph and Shine	Neither qualifies for Origination	Build that synergy around qualifying Olympian curses
Lunar Ray	Dashing cancels normal firing and resets charge	Choose a firing window with room to react

Twilight Curse deserves particular attention. Erymanthian Boar and Charybdis are among unaffected Wardens, but Exposure remains effective against those foes. Transformation immunity therefore does not mean every upgraded component is useless.

For delayed damage, mobile bosses may escape the moon-blast area. Wait for a more predictable position instead of activating solely because the Hex is ready.

For Dark Side, judging when invulnerability ends can be difficult. Resume defensive movement conservatively rather than stretching the transformation to its perceived final moment.

Your Hades II hex should support a functioning build throughout the route. Inspect the tree, distinguish guaranteed mechanics from conditional upgrades, and choose activation windows that let the ability do its work.

FAQ

What is a Hades II hex, and how does it charge?

A Hex is an ability offered through Selene’s Gifts of the Moon. Spending Magick fulfills its charging requirement. Certain Path of Stars upgrades also provide automatic charge or starting charge when entering a Location.

Can you choose more than one Hex per night?

Normally, Selene offers three choices and you select one. A bug involving Hermes’ Travel Deal or Nemesis’ Fair Trade can allow two. Treat that as a reported bug, rather than a dependable build mechanic.

Which Hexes are the highest-ranked choices here?

Night Bloom and Lunar Ray both occupy S tier in this ranking. Lunar Ray may take the higher position because some encounters lack Night Bloom summon opportunities.

Does Phase Shift make you invulnerable against Chronos?

No. You remain susceptible to damage during Phase Shift. It also states that Temporal Fluctuation is required for the Hex to work against Chronos.