How To Get More Lives (Death Defiances) In Hades 2

Death Defiance in Hades 2 acts as an extra life that can extend your run whenever Melinoe otherwise would have died. Instead of returning to the Crossroads, Melinoe expends her Death Defiance charge and restores a set amount of health before jumping back into the fray. Thankfully, there are a couple of ways to acquire Death Defiance in Hades 2.

Death Defiance is undoubtedly one of the best tools in Hades 2. Given that this is a rogue-like, whenever Melinoe dies, the player's progress is completely reset. All Daedalus upgrades, boons, and other assets completely reset and players are forced to start again from scratch. Death Defiance is an incredible tool where you can preserve your run, if nothing else for just a little bit longer to get further than before. Even though it is incredibly useful, Death Defiance is actually a fairly common buff to find in Hades 2 if you know where to look.

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How To Get Death Defiances In Hades 2

There are quite a few methods to acquire Death Defiance in Hades 2. Arcana Cards, Keepsakes, familiars, boons, and even random NPCs can all grant Melinoe a second chance. It is important to note that Death Defiance does stack. This means that you can hold onto multiple Death Defiances from the various sources around the Underworld. If you’re a player who finds themselves taking damage quite often, then you should check out all the sources listed below.

Arcana Card - Eternity

This is likely the first method through which you will acquire Death Defiance in Hades 2. Eternity is among the first Arcana Cards that you can pick up from the Stone Slab and it only costs a couple ashes, which is a fairly common currency in Erebus. This Arcana Card costs four Grasp and gives one Death Defiance. If upgraded with Moon Dust from successfully completed Chaos Trials, this amount can increase up to three total Death Defiances.

Keepsakes - Luckier Tooth And Moros’ Engraved Pen

Both Schelemeus and Moros give Keepsakes which also grant Death Defiance. To get a Keepsake from any NPC in Hades 2, all you need to do is gift them Nectar of the Gods. Out of the two Luckier Tooth is a significantly better version of the same relative Keepsake.

Schelemeus’ gift heals you 51 health at its base level, then 76 and 101 at higher levels. Moro’s Engraved Pen allows you to become impervious to all damage for 10 seconds after reviving, but maxes out at 60 total health returned.

Familiar - Toula The Cat

Familiars are a new addition to the Witch Melinoe in Hades 2. These are animal companions that can be unlocked after acquiring the Tablet of Peace and defeating Headmistress Hecate at least three times. Once you have acquired the proper Incantation, you find and recruit Toula the Cat on the surface.

Survive - Echo’s Gift

Echo is a mysterious NPC that you can come across in the Fields of Mourning. This is the third layer of the Underworld that Melinoe can visit after defeating Scylla and the Sirens in Oceanus. She randomly appears under the same sigil that you find Arachne, and only repeats what Melinoe says.

Her reward, titled Survive Survive Survive, replenishes all spent uses of Death Defiance and restores Melinoe to 50% health and Magick. If you have more than one Death Defiance, each time healing decreases by 10%. Although this won’t give you new stacks of the buff, it is a great way to recharge ahead of the Infernal Beast.

Hermes’ Boon - Close Call

Finally, Hermes has one legendary boon that grants a free Death Defiance. Not only does this restore Melinoe’s health to full whenever you otherwise would have died, but it also slows down time for eight seconds. If you die in the middle of a fight, this is a great way to get to a much more advantageous position before the encounter resumes. Naturally, this is a very rare boon and one that you aren’t likely to see often. Thankfully, Hermes has plenty of other useful boons as well.