Hades 2 hotfix patches the final boss and nerfs my least favorite enemy

Hades 2 has been out for a week now, if you don't count the early access period. I was a day one early access player, but curtailed my playtime as we drew closer to release so that the full game still had some surprises. With all that playtime under my belt, I don't think it iterates on its predecessor meaningfully enough for me to call it a better game, but I'm not surprised it's the best-reviewed title this year. However, my tune may soon change, as its first hotfix takes aim at the game's most annoying enemy: the Phantom.

A mini-boss that appears in the Fields of Mourning, the Phantom is unbelievably annoying. Not only do they teleport hither and thither, their melee attacks drain your precious health, undoing all that careful damage you've dealt.

I avoid battling Phantom wherever possible, but if you're using raised servants, the experience gets even worse. Some players like to run through Hades 2 using a hex that lets them summon allies to their cause. The game's roguelike nature means you'll need to upgrade them with boons as you progress, but in general they're a helpful weapon in your arsenal.

However, when fighting Phantom, these summoned allies were more of a hindrance than a helping hand, as the mini-boss could drain their life as well as yours. This made a fairly unassuming mini-boss into my arch-nemesis, giving me all the more reason to skip the fight whenever possible.

However, Hades 2's first hotfix since its full release has, thankfully, changed this. Presumably a bug, this makes the Phantom fight a little easier for all the summoners out there. The patch also solves issues with the Gorgon Amulet, script issues to do with Hecate, and a rare problem that caused your fight with Chronos to end incorrectly. I hadn't encountered that one myself, but I can only imagine how frustrating it must have been.

Hades 2 is available now on Steam. You can read the full patch notes for this hotfix here.

If this has motivated you to kick off another run, make sure you're equipped with the best Hades 2 boons and know which of the Hades 2 Gods you'll be calling upon this time around.

Got a particularly broken combo? Let us know in our community Discord server, where readers and staff compare notes on our Hades 2 runs.