Hades 2’s First Early Access Patch Makes Sprinting Faster and Gathering Easier

Since Hades II launched in Early Access just over a week ago, developer Supergiant Games has been collecting feedback from players. Now, some of that feedback has been put to use in the game’s first patch, and there are still more adjustments on their way.

Today, Supergiant Games released the first Early Access patch for Hades II, which includes substantial changes to player movement, encounters, and level design as well as a handful of bug fixes. The patch notes are available on Steam.

“Here’s our first patch in Early Access!! We’re very grateful for all the feedback so far, which inspired this first set of targeted improvements and fixes.” the patch notes read.

Most notably, the patch makes sprinting faster, dashing out of attack recovery animations more reliable, and gathering easier (now, players can get resources from any resource point once they unlock the right Gathering Tool, and Tools can be prioritized to make its respective resources appear more often). The design of several areas has also been altered to make dashing and resource gathering easier.

It also fixes a few frustrating bugs, including certain Boons not working as expected and foes spawning out of bounds.

The patch is almost entirely inspired by players, with every item in the notes except for two spurred by community feedback. The patch notes also mention that the next patch will focus on balance changes and other adjustments based on feedback.

First announced during the Game Awards in 2022, Hades II had a short technical test last month before heading into Early Access. Since its launch on May 6, it more than doubled its predecessor’s concurrent player count. We gave it a 9 in our review, saying it “feels impossibly huge and unbelievably polished by any standard, much less an early access game.”

You can see the full patch notes below.

General Gameplay

• Your Sprint is innately faster and turning is more responsive; re-scaled abilities that boost this
• You now can Dash out of many attack recovery animations more reliably
• You now can gather from any resource point once you have unlocked the corresponding Gathering Tool; you now can Prioritize any available Tool in the Training Grounds to make its resources appear as often as before, while resources for Tools you do not Prioritize will appear far less often

Altar of Ashes

• The Swift Runner: now also makes your Dash immediate (note the faster speed means you are invulnerable for very slightly less time); re-scaled Sprint speed bonus since Sprint is innately faster now

Level Design & Environments

• It is easier to Dash across chasms in Oceanus
• Driftwood resources are more common in the Rift of Thessaly

Menus & UI

• Using a Well of Charon displays your current Gold without the need to check your Boon Info
• The Grasp Upgrade Tutorial in the Altar of Ashes will repeat if ignored
• Added Patch Notes option to the Main Menu (where you can read this!)

Miscellaneous

• Early encounters with are less likely to occur; she also drops something of value…
• Related, if this already occurred, look for a one-time bonus in the Crossroads while is present
• Entries in the Book of Shadows are generally easier to reveal
• You can gift without having to wait around as long after conversing
• Adjusted upgrades invalidated by the Gathering Tool changes above
• In the Flashback, a hint will eventually play for players who don’t realize they are in control
• Improved mouse selection in various cases
• Improved support for some additional controllers
• Abilities that boost Sprint speed display more-accurate numbers (generally lower than before)
• Updates and fixes to translations in some languages

Bug Fixes

• Fixed several issues with Dark Side (Selene)
• Fixed Sun Worshiper (Apollo) sometimes preventing new foes from spawning
• Fixed Fire Extinguisher (Hestia) not dealing damage as expected
• Fixed Sister Blades Omega Attack not hitting reliably from certain angles
• Fixed retaining the ability to block while afflicted with Twilight Curse (Selene)
• Fixed various cases of foes sometimes spawning out of bounds
• Fixed camera zoom-in getting stuck vs. in certain situations
• Fixed cases where you could Dash out of bounds in the Crossroads
• Fixed Fishing Pier events in the Crossroads not passing Whiles like other similar events
• Fixed autolock not clearing as expected while using mouse controls
• Fixed keyboard inputs sometimes getting stuck unexpectedly
• Fixed several input issues switching from gamepad to mouse-and-keyboard controls
• Fixed several issues playing in ultrawide resolutions
• Fixed some visual effects vs. lingering between phases or after the fight
• Fixed a Melinoë voice line repeating unexpectedly around the
• Fixed various rare crashes
• Fixed several text errors
• Other minor fixes

Amelia Zollner is a freelance writer at IGN who loves all things indie and Nintendo. Outside of IGN, they’ve contributed to sites like Polygon and Rock Paper Shotgun, and they’re currently developing a game called Garage Sale. Find them on Twitter: @ameliazollner.