The boons you get during a run in Hades, an isometric roguelike, can make or break your escape attempt. Owing to Olympian, among others, help these boons buff your weapon damage, increase your speed, heal you, and shower your enemies with a host of different status effects.
Finding the right combination of Boons and making the most of the cards you've been dealt is one of the keys to victory in this game, alongside mechanical efficiency and proper use of resources. However, some Boons are noticeably more useful than others.
10 Demeter: Frost Strike
Demeter is an unlockable Olympian who takes notice of you when you first make it out to the icy tundras outside Nyx's temple and fight Hades. Whether you win the fight or not, Demeter will come knocking on your next run and offer her help.
One of her best boons, Frost Strike, increases the strength of your attack and gives it the ability to inflict Chill. Any enemies debuffed by this ability will move slower. Since this ability stacks, it comes in handy during boss fights and when taking on mobs alike.
9 Chaos: Any
Chaos is another unlockable God in the Hades universe. A Chthonic being, Chaos is the embodiment of the primordial void from which everything else arose. All of his Boons are excellent choices depending on where you want to take your run.
However, it is important to weigh the downsides against the pros of each transaction. If you're near a boss fight, make sure you don't lock away an attacking ability or something similarly important. It's best to ignore the Chaos Gate altogether if you're less than 5 encounters away from a boss.
8 Dionysus: Strong Drink
The Boon Strong Drink lets the player increase their base damage output by drinking from fountains. Even if you don't have any extra fountains installed throughout the underworld, this is worth the slot since you must drink from a fountain at the end of each boss fight.
If you did have the contractor put in fountains, it's definitely worth it to go for this Boon if you get the chance. The extra damage buff is quite nice, and the healing improvement is great as well, especially if you're new to the game.
7 Artemis: Support Fire
Artemis is a fairly underwhelming god whose boons aren't always the best. However, Support Fire is not one of those boons. With each cast fired or damage dealt, Zagreus fires a seeking arrow that deals a fair bit of damage.
Artemis' Boons pair well with one another. Having a chance to do critical damage is only good if the chance is high or if everything you do has that chance. But Support Fire is an overall great Boon that is useful no matter what kind of build you're working with.
6 Ares: Urge to Kill
Any ability that adds a flat bonus to any of your attacking moves is good. This boon increases the damage output of your attack, special, and cast. These numbers might not seem that big (10 - 20%), but the fact that the effect of each damaging move means that they all add up quite nicely.
Barring a Legendary, Duo, or another similarly broken Boon, Urge to Kill is something you just have to get. It helps your run in the long run since it buffs your attack by a percentage. No matter what build you're running or which weapons you prefer using, you will benefit from it since it buffs just about everything.
5 Poseidon: Tidal Dash
One of the most disruptive abilities in the game, Poseidon's Tidal Dash Boon is a spectacle for sure. This Boon adds a knockback effect to your dash. What this means for your gameplay is that you will dominate any non-boss enemy with ease.
If you combine this with Razor Shoals and/or Typhoons Fury, you will become a force to be reckoned with based just on your dash. When factoring in the dash strike, you'll be clearing encounters and climbing out of the Underworld as Houdini's rabbit climbs out of his hat.
4 Dionysus: Afterparty
For a new player, the biggest concern is the damage output, dash speed, or even Boons. It's health. Seeing that bar trickle down slowly but surely is quite anxiety-inducing and is enough to the fear of God(s) in anyone.
That's where Afterparty comes in. This boon always restores your health to a certain threshold after each encounter. If you get lucky on your roll, you can get the Epic rarity with a threshold of 45%.
3 Hermes: Greatest Refllex
The most important ability in the game is the dash. Whether you want to close in for an attack, run away from a lunge, or become invulnerable for a short period of time, the dash is the ability for you.
Greatest Reflex is a simple boon that just adds another dash to your repertoire, letting you dash more times in a row. This is great for any situation. When combined with something like Tidal Dash or Divine Dash, it's downright broken.
2 Artemis: Artemis' Aid
Calls are powerful abilities that can change the tides of battle and take you from barely surviving or losing a fight to annihilating the enemy. Artemis' call is one of the best ones in the game.
This ability fires seeking arrows onto enemies that do a percentage of your critical damage on top of a flat damage number, depending on the rarity of the Boon. It's amazing at clearing out the health bar of bosses and makes those hard fights that much easier.
1 Athena: Divine Dash
Athena is the first god you come across, and for a good reason. Her boons are, without any doubt, the best ones in the game. If you find a Divine Dash, get it, even if you have to replace an Epic Tidal Dash for it (Or maybe not, depending on your build).
This ability lets you deflect any projectiles coming at you by dashing into them. And since you're dashing all the time, you'll be practically invincible. No matter your skill level or mechanical prowess, this Boon is a must-have unless you're actively trying to make a build that centers around a different dash Boon. It's worth it for beginners to equip the Athena keepsake on the first floor to ensure her Boon spawns.