Beginner guide

Check 5 things before leaving

1. Check Greater Reflex and revives at the bedroom Mirror. Each row uses either its red or green talent: Death Defiance and Stubborn Defiance cannot be active together.
2. Equip a weapon in the courtyard, then inspect that weapon again to check Aspects. If the Aspect screen is unavailable, work toward unlocking all 6 weapons.
3. Choose 1 Keepsake from the cabinet. Pick the collar for maximum Life, the tooth for a revive or a god's Keepsake to steer boon offers.
4. Test your chosen attack and Dash on Skelly. Check the bow's charge, the shield's facing direction and the rail's reload.
5. Check House conversations and gifts before leaving. Related dialogue does not always progress immediately; a conversation is not guaranteed every visit.

Give the 5 actions separate roles

Dashing to dodge and dashing to attack

1. When an enemy winds up, stop attacking and Dash sideways or behind its attack direction.
2. When you only need to evade, avoid mashing Dash and Attack together. A Dash-Strike includes an attack and does not offer the same safe movement.
3. Fit an Attack or Special into the brief opening after an enemy finishes, then leave when the next wind-up begins.
4. Even a shield cannot keep blocking attacks from behind. Group enemies in front and check the restrictions while your thrown shield is returning.

• Invulnerability, Deflect and blocking are separate effects. Athena's Divine Dash does not make lava or every attack safe to cross.

Do not keep attacking armored enemies

1. Enemies with yellow Armor remaining resist interruption. Do not try to overwhelm them by mashing as you might against ordinary enemies.
2. Wear down Armor first and disengage when the enemy starts attacking. Concentrate damage on the enemy after breaking its Armor.
3. For Hammers or boons that add Armor damage, use the attack specified in the description. A Special-only effect does not trigger from Attack.

Choose room rewards for a purpose

• For an escape attempt, compare main-attack boons, Life and Hammers. For an unlock-focused run, check your shortage of Keys or Darkness.

How to read the 3 boon choices

1. Identify which slot changes: Attack, Special, Cast, Dash or Call. If replacing an occupied slot, check the effect you will lose.
2. Upgrade the attack you use most. Match triggering behavior: flat lightning damage or Hangover can suit frequent hits, while percentage bonuses can suit heavy individual hits.
3. If a supporting attack applies another Status Curse, choose one you can naturally weave into your main attack. Privileged Status cannot activate in a setup that does not apply 2 curses.
4. Check prerequisites in the Codex when targeting a Duo. Rule out mistaken assumptions such as owning any boon from a god, or only that god's Dash.

Recover at the stairway after a boss

1. Use the fountain. Before entering the next region, check remaining Life and revive charges.
2. If the Well of Charon offers a Death Defiance refill, compare your remaining charges and Obols before buying. The item is not guaranteed to appear.
3. With the regional Keepsake cabinet unlocked, you can change Keepsakes. Once removed, a Keepsake cannot be re-equipped during the same run: plan when to use a late-run tooth or acorn.
4. Bonuses accumulated through the butterfly or plume apply while equipped. Do not count on keeping them after changing Keepsakes.

God Mode effects and switching

1. On a normal save, enable God Mode in Settings. Damage resistance starts at 20%.
2. Dying while it is enabled adds 2 percentage points of resistance. For example, after 3 such deaths it is 26%, up to a maximum of 80%.
3. You can disable it later. Re-enabling it uses the resistance already earned; deaths while it was disabled are not added retrospectively.
4. Hell Mode is a separate choice when creating a new save and does not allow switching to God Mode.

• Damage resistance does not prevent achievement or story progress. Numerical examples in this guide keep God Mode separate from other effects.

Fix one shortage when progress stalls