Supergiant Games has released a new update for Hades II today and its titled, The Warsong Update.

The Warsong Update, is the second major update to Hades II since its release a little over nine months ago. The update brings in a final confrontation on the surface route of Mount Olympus, one more Olympian, Ares, brings a new set of Boons to discover, and a brand new Animal Familiar to battle alongside. There are also updates to resource gathering, new music, artwork, and more.

The Warsong Update Highlights

  • The Final Confrontation: Battle to the summit of Mount Olympus and discover what awaits...
  • New Olympian: Meet the god of war himself, and choose from his many Boons
  • New Familiar: Find one last animal companion to join your journey and aid you in battle
  • Revamped Boons: Gain many powerful new and improved blessings from various Olympians
  • Revamped Altar of Ashes: Activate several reworked effects, and each Card now has all-new artwork
  • Revamped Resource Gathering: Worry no more about which resources you can collect
  • Revamped Menus: Look for new and improved animations across many menu screens
  • Expanded Story: Discuss the final confrontation and more with many different characters

General Changes

  • You no longer prioritize Gathering Tools in the Training Grounds, though still can harvest any type of resource as long as you have unlocked each Tool; resource appearance rates adjusted as part of this
  • Psyche can no longer be found as a Location Reward; Bones may now be found sooner instead
  • All Guardians and Wardens with Guardian-style Life Bars now are resistant to the slowing effect of your Casts; previously this applied only to some of them
  • Any damage resistance effects you have no longer affect any Armor you have
  • Adjusted requirements for certain key events early on; as a result, it should be possible to reach the surface earlier than before

Big Updates to the Altar of Ashes

We're seeing some major updates, reworking effects and bringing in a ton of new art for each card in the Altar of Ashes.

  • Eternity: theme changed from Night; reworked — now makes everything slower while you channel Omega moves; note this effect is no longer on Silver Wheel (Hecate)
  • The Messenger: reworked — your Casts briefly make you impervious and move faster
  • The Swift Runner: your Sprint now also makes you phase through foes
  • Night: reduced Grasp cost; theme changed from Death
  • The Wayward Son: no longer provides doubled recovery at low Life; base recovery improved
  • Death: theme changed from Eternity
  • Persistence: theme changed from The Titan
  • The Enchantress: theme changed from The Fates
  • The Fates: theme changed from The Seer
  • Grasp upgrade costs re-scaled as part of changes to resource gathering

Boons and Blessings

  • Added Ares, with many of his own blessings, including a new Duo with each other primary Boon-giver
  • Zeus: his Blitz Curse now activates at the end of the duration if not activated by dealing damage
  • Storm Ring (Zeus): slightly reduced rate of lightning strikes
  • Thunder Rush (Zeus): no longer requires Magick to strike foes with lightning; formerly Thunder Sprint
  • Electric Overload (Zeus): reworked — your chain-lightning effects are stronger and bounce to more foes
  • Toasting Fork (Zeus): cut from game; replaced with...
  • Arc Flash (Zeus): new! Your Omega Moves activate your Blitz effects and make them stronger
  • Romantic Spark (Zeus x Aphrodite): reduced damage bonus
  • Hera: the Queen of the Olympians now has Boons of all four elemental affinities, not solely Earth
  • Engagement Ring (Hera): reworked — now deals immediate damage for each foe in the binding circle
  • Bridal Glow (Hera): reworked — upgrades a random Boon to Heroic Rarity and gives it bonus Pom Lv.
  • Nasty Comeback (Hera): cut from game; replaced with...
  • Extended Family (Hera): new! Your Olympian damage is stronger for each Olympian you met this night
  • Proper Upbringing (Hera): increased activation requirement to include all four elements
  • Breaker Rush (Poseidon): reworked — whenever you Sprint, damage and knock away the first foe you run into; formerly Breaker Sprint
  • Geyser Spout (Poseidon): reworked — your Omega Cast gains Power and knocks foes away
  • Buried Treasure (Poseidon): now also drops Bones, not Ashes or Psyche; formerly Ocean's Bounty
  • Flood Control (Poseidon): cut from game; replaced with...
  • High Surf (Poseidon): new! Hit surrounding foes with a splash as they strike, but prime some Magick
  • Phoenix Skin (Apollo x Hestia): cut from game; replaced with...
  • Warm Breeze (Apollo x Hestia): new! Whenever Dodge or Daze makes foes miss, restore some Life
  • Demeter: her Gust effects no longer destroy trees in Erebus or other such obstructions
  • Local Climate (Demeter): reworked — your Omega Cast is stronger; bonus doubled in the binding circle
  • Plentiful Forage (Demeter): now restores Life whenever you gather any resource
  • Rare Crop (Demeter): cut from game; replaced with...
  • Steady Growth (Demeter): new! Whenever you clear enough Encounters, a Boon gains Rarity
  • Secret Crush (Aphrodite): now also affects Omega Attack
  • Tough Gain (Hephaestus): reworked — whenever you take damage, shrug some off and restore Magick
  • Flash Fry (Hestia): no longer requires foes to have Scorch to explode when slain; no longer requires a Scorch-related Boon to be offered; formerly Natural Gas
  • Burnt Offering (Hestia): reworked — gain max Magick whenever you collect Ashes, and gain some now
  • Mean Streak (Hermes): damage bonus no longer automatically ends after Encounters
  • Tall Order (Hermes): updated elemental requirement; slightly increased damage bonus
  • Travel Deal (Hermes): new! Your first purchase each Location costs less; another item appears after
  • Saved Breath (Hermes): cut from game; replaced with...
  • Winner's Circle (Hermes): new! You channel your Casts faster and your Casts expire faster
  • Witty Retort (Hermes): cut from game; replaced with...
  • Hasty Retreat (Hermes): new! Gain more Dodge chance and move speed the more Boons you have
  • Greater Evasion (Hermes): cut from game; replaced with...
  • Stutter Step (Hermes): new! You can Dash more frequently
  • Midnight Oil (Hermes): cut from game; replaced with...
  • Success Rate (Hermes): new! Your chance-based effects are more likely to occur, except Dodge or Daze
  • Close Call (Hermes): cut from game; replaced with...
  • Paid Dues (Hermes): new Legendary! Whenever you take damage, you lose Gold before you lose Life
  • Mental Block (Athena): reduced duration of Impervious effect
  • Righteous Pike (Athena): new! Whenever you use enough Magick, several foes are struck by spears
  • Killing Stroke (Artemis): new! Your Specials may deal Critical damage, but you prime some Magick
  • The Marked Curses inflicted by Artemis and Raki the Raven now will never choose the same target
  • Unseen Ire (Hades): the Dark effect and its damage bonus no longer expire after you strike
  • Barren (Chaos): reduced Curse duration
  • Neurotic (Chaos): no longer slows your Dash but still makes it use Magick; formerly Hobbled
  • Life Savings (Narcissus): now gives Lotus instead of Deathcaps
  • Wealth from the Dead (Medea): you now automatically absorb bonus Gold from slain foes on approach
  • Supply Drop (Icarus): slightly reduced frequency of drops, and provides one fewer Pom Slice

Hades II is currently in Early Access and is available on Steam, and Epic Games, with console releases coming down the line. If you want to see the full patch notes, which you should because there are way too many changes to talk about here, you can find them on the Hades II Steam page.