The Surface makes up an entire second half of Hades 2, wherein Melinoë attempts to make it through the city of Ephyra and the Rift of Thessaly to make it to Olympus and repel Chronos' forces. Down below, your goal is to kill Chronos himself. Up above, Melinoë's goal is to save her family from being crushed by his armies.
Best Boons in Hades 2, Ranked
New and returning Gods in Hades 2 will offer Melinoë boons to help her accomplish her task – these are the best Boons for any build.
To get to the Surface and unlock the Olympus route in Hades 2, you need to find a way through the Wards in the crossroads. But even once you make it there, a Curse takes hold on Melinoë.
The Fates cursed Hades and his children never to set foot outside of the Underworld, which is why Zagreus could never last long once he made it out in the first Hades. But to save her family, Melinoë must find a way to survive the Life-draining aura that suffocates her up top.
How To Get To The Surface in Hades 2
To unlock the Surface in Hades 2, you must cast the incantation Permutation of Witching Wards. This requires that you have already spoken with and summoned Moros, the God of Doom, to the Crossroads. After he appears, you must made several attempts at Chronos directly. You do not need to kill Chronos, though you may need to get to his second phase.
Once the incantation has unlocked at the Cauldron, complete it to unlock the Olympus path in Hades 2. This requires 1x Cinder, 3x Moly, and 1x Shadow. Shadow can only be earned once you have unlocked the Shadow Extraction incantation, granted after fighting Hecate at the end of Erebus a few times.
How To Survive The Surface Curse
Once you are able to get past the ward and ascend to the surface, something strange starts happening – Melinoë starts losing Life rapidly. This prevents you from being able to make it very far into the City of Ephyra, but there is a way to get rid of this curse.
The Fates are in a bit of a bind, after all, and what harm is there in nullifying one of their curses?
Hades 2: All Echo Rewards, Ranked
In Hades 2, you may encounter Echo in the Mourning Fields, where you must choose your words carefully... Carefully... Carefully...
To survive surface damage Hades 2 players must complete another incantation, called Unraveling A Fateful Bond. This unlocks after you have entered the surface, and died, for the first time, but requires some items that can only be found on the surface.
- 2x Lotus: Acquired from harvesting in Oceanus
- 2x Moss: Acquired from harvesting in Ephyra, which requires going to the surface
- 2x Nightshade: Grown from Nightshade Seeds found in Erebus
- 2x Thalamus: Grown from Origin Seeds found in Chaos Rooms
Three of the four materials needed can be found in the Underworld route, and are relatively easy to get. Bring along a Shovel to harvest Nightshade Seeds from Erebus and Origin Seeds from Chaos Rooms, but you don't need one to gather Lotus. Moss, on the other hand, is only found on the surface.
You will need to repeatedly run into Ephyra, rapidly dispatch of enemies in each room, and look for green mossy piles on the ground. You do not need a Shovel to harvest these, and thankfully, they typically spawn in the first "room" of the surface.
Complete the incantation once you have gathered all reagents, then head back outside to find that the Life-draining curse has been lifted – and you are free to find your way to Mount Olympus.
Hades 2
- Released
- September 25, 2025
WHERE TO PLAY
- Developer(s)
- Supergiant Games
- Franchise
- Hades
- Platform(s)
- Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, PC
