Hades 2 Is All But Finished After Its Second “Final Patch”
Is it the final final one?
For the second time, developer Supergiant Games has released what’s supposed to be the final patch for Hades 2. Launched in early access in 2024, Hades 2 has been steadily adding updates in the leadup to its 1.0 release. Patch 10, released in early July, was meant to be the final update before the game was complete, but now there’s one more batch of changes to the pre-release version, with Supergiant reminding players that it technically didn’t promise Patch 10 was the last.
“While we said our prior patch would likely be our last before our v1.0 launch, as the Fates would have it, there is indeed this one more, which includes further improvements, balance adjustments, and fixes based on your feedback and what we've observed,” the developer wrote in a Steam update.
Hades 2’s Unseen Update is the last major content patch before 1.0.
Maybe the most notable thing about the patch is just how ordinary most of its changes seem. In June, Supergiant released The Unseen Update, a major patch for Hades 2 with a massive list of changes. Some weapons got new unlockable abilities while others were retooled entirely. New story events were added for a host of NPCs, and additional enemies were added to dungeons. More music, visual effects, and magic spells joined what was already there. It was a transformative update, one that came with Supergiant saying, “we’re now starting to prepare for our v1.0 launch!”
As of the Unseen Update, all planned areas, bosses, and other major content is already in the game. Patch 10 felt more like maintenance of what had already been added, addressing bugs and balance issues rather than throwing more into the pot. The new Patch 11 is much of the same, with tweaks to various attacks, boons, and blessings, as well as adjustments to enemy encounters.
While that means Patch 11 isn’t that exciting on its own, that’s a good thing for anyone ready to hop into the full game. The helpful but not headline-grabbing updates made in the patch have all the marks of Supergiant ironing out the final wrinkles for an imminent launch. Adjustments to the new weapon variants added in June’s update are among the biggest changes in the patch, suggesting that most of the game’s older content is in good shape and it’s only these late additions that still needed a little work. The developer has already said that the big addition to 1.0 will be the ending of Melinoë’s story, meaning in gameplay terms, Hades 2 is already pretty much complete.
A conclusion to Hades 2’s story is the major update still to come in 1.0.
Given that, if you’re looking to get a headstart on what is essentially the final version of Hades 2, you can do that now. Since there’s still end-game story content left to be added, you obviously won’t be able to have the full Hades 2 experience just yet, and in fact one change in the patch is of particular note for anyone diving in for a feature-complete playthrough now.
“In preparation for our v1.0 launch and forthcoming story sequences surrounding the True Ending, please note that any Zodiac Sand or Void Lens resources you have when you load your save progress at that time will automatically be converted to Prestige,” Supergiant writes.
Zodiac Sand and Void Lenses are materials earned for defeating late-game bosses, while Prestige is a currency used to purchase cosmetics. The likely reason for the change is Supergiant wanting to avoid letting players farm the materials needed to unlock the true ending now and heading straight there when version 1.0 is available. On the plus side, if you’ve been spending time racking up wins against some of Hades 2’s final bosses, you’ll at least be able to purchase some fancy new outfits at launch for your trouble.
