Arcana Cards

Thr Altar of Ashes's interface.

“	Melinoë: I'm beginning to see the cards in a new light... each depicts a significant choice made in the past. Such knowledge may help make better choices in the future. Hecate: Indeed. We choose as wisely as we can, using what knowledge we have. So, you now clearer see into the cards, as you call them...	„
	~ Melinoë and Hecate

The Arcana Cards, located in the training grounds at the Crossroads, are lent to Melinoë by Hecate to aid her in her quest to slay Chronos. They can be accessed through the Training Grounds via Melinoë's Altar of Ashes. Arcana Cards are one of the main meta-progression systems in Hades II, serving as the spiritual successor to the Mirror of Night from Hades.

At first, only 9 cards are visible at the Altar of Ashes. However, once a card is obtained, it will reveal any adjacent cards, making them available for unlocking. A total of 25 Arcana Cards can be revealed and unlocked over time.

Each Arcana Card must first be unlocked, typically by spending Ashes. Once unlocked, a card can be activated by allocating a portion of Melinoë’s available Grasp—the resource that determines how many cards can be equipped at once.

Grasp is represented by the number in the upper-right corner of each card and ranges from 0 to 5. Cards with a Grasp cost of 0 cannot be activated in the usual way and instead require a special awakening method to become active.

There's a limit to the number of Grasp points. This means that some Arcana Cards may have to be deactivated if they exceed the limit. The limit starts at 10, however, it can be increased through the reagent of Psyche up to a total of 29. In order to reach 30, the highest amount, you need 500, 2 and 2. However, this still will not let you start a run with every card active, as there is a total of 62 worth of cards available, so you will need to prep accordingly typically based around which of the Nocturnal Arms you intend to use for a run.

The Altar currently allows up to six pre-set Arcana builds, enabling Melinoë to quickly swap between different combinations of cards for various playstyles.

With the Consecration of Ashes incantation, Arcana can be upgraded up to Epic rarity by using Moon Dust and other materials. This has no effect on their cost. Circe's Lapis Lazuli Insight offering can upgrade an Arcana to Heroic for the current night if the randomly selected Arcana is Epic.

Cards

No.	Arcana Card	Effect				Grasp Cost	Awakening	Quote
I	The Sorceress	Your Ω Moves are 20/25/30/35% faster.	1	1	3 1	1		Left to her own devices, she learned to confront the world on her own terms
II	The Wayward Son	After you exit a Location, restore 3/4/5/6.	3	2	3 3	1		Even the Underworld itself struggled to contain him, such was his lust for life.
III	The Huntress	While you have less than 100%, your Attack and Special deal +30%/+40%/+50%/+60% damage.	15	2	3 2	2		Through discipline and instinct comes sustaining skill both in shadow and the light of the moon.
IV	Eternity	While you Channel your Ω Moves, everything moves slower for 0.8/1.0/1.2/1.5 Sec.	30 1	3	6 4	3		The inevitable cannot be prevented, though perhaps can be forestalled
V	The Moon	Your Hex also charges up automatically as though you used 1/2/3/4 every 1 Sec.	20 1	3	6 3	0	Activate any surrounding card.	Even as she races across the fathomless sky, she bears witness to all
VI	The Furies	You deal +20%/+25%/+30%/+35% damage to foes in your Casts.	3	2	3 3	2		In the deepest reaches of the Underworld, three are as feared as the god of the dead himself
VII	Persistence	You have +20/+30/+40/+50 and +20/+30/+40/+50.	10	2	4 1	2		He stole from the gods the gift of fire, for mortals; thus he suffered, but grew strong
VIII	The Messenger	You Casts momentarily make you Impervious and move 50%/60%/70%/80% faster.	20	1	3 1	1		With incomparable swiftness can he travel from the highest peaks to the lowest depths
IX	The Unseen	You restore 4/5/6/7 every 1 Sec.	30	5	10 3	5		Upon their ancient oath, in shadow, they serve; and to shadow, they return
X	Night	You have +9%/+12%/+15%/+18% chance to deal Critical damage with each move in an Ω Combo.	35	3	5 1	2		She sprang from Chaos, and formed much of the natural world, above the surface and below
XI	The Swift Runner	Your Sprint is 5%/7%/10%/13% faster and lets you pass right through most dangers in your way.	15	1	3 1	1		Those who attempted to confront the greatest of the Greeks merely met his spear
XII	Death	You have +1/+2/+3/+4 Death Defiance.	25	6	12 1	4		Some mortals would sense his soft approach, others taken by surprise
XIII	The Centaur	You gain +3/+4/+5/+6 and +3/+4/+5/+6 whenever you pass through 5 Locations.	30 1	2	4 3	0	Activate Cards that use 1 through 5.	Many of the greatest heroes mortalkind has to offer have in common his patient instructions
XIV	Origination	You deal +25%/+38%/+50%/+63% damage to foes afflicted with at least 2 Curses from different Olympians.	35	5	10 3	5		From the infinite void emerged all that exists, and back to that void it all may yet return
XV	The Lovers	You take 0 damage the first 1/2/3/4 time(s) you are hit in Guardian Encounter.	40	3	5 2	3		Their music brought them together, and not even Death could keep them apart for long
XVI	The Enchantress	You have +1/+2/+3/+4, and can alter Location Rewards.	25	3	5 3	3		In mastering metamorphosis, she discovered that only the true nature of a thing cannot be changed
XVII	The Boatman	You have +200/+250/+300/+350.	30	5	10 1	5		Vast riches lie hidden in the realm of the dead; but only a modest fee is needed to get in
XVIII	The Artificer	You have 1/2/3/4 chance(s) this night to turn any Minor Find into a random Major Find.	35	3	5 3	3		Few can turn raw materials into works into work of extraordinary genius; none as can he
XIX	Excellence	Any Boons you are offered have +30%/+40%/+50%/+60% chance to be improved to Rare.	40	4	6 3	5		Not even gods can live to their fullest purpose; yet mortals all must strive
XX	The Queen	Any Boons you are offered have +6%/+8%/+10%/+12% chance to be a Duo (whenever possible).	45 1	2	4 3	0	Activate no more than 2 Cards that use the same amount of .	From Olympus she descends to reign in Underworld as the surface land grows cold
XXI	The Fates	You have +2/+3/+4/+5.	30 1	3	6 3	0	Activate all surrounding Cards.	Having been stricken blind, she saw much more than any mortal could
XXII	The Champions	You have +1/+2/+3/+4, and can alter Boons and certain other choices.	35	5	10 3	4		Once mortal foes, they found each other once again in death, and were exalted to Elysium
XXIII	Strength	While you have no Death Defiance, you take -30%/-40%/-50%/-60% damage and deal +25%.	40	5	10 3	4		The power to surpass the might of the gods is one that must always be held in check
XXIV	Divinity	Any Boons you are offered have +10%/+15%/+20%/+25% chance to be improved to Epic.	45 1	2	4 1	0	Activate all 5 Cards in any other row or column.	The privilege of godhood is bestowed at birth, save for the rarest cases, when it is earned instead
XXV	Judgement	After you vanquish a Guardian, activate 3/4/5/6 random inactive Arcana Cards.	50 1	10	20 2	0	Activate no more than 3 cards total.	The Underworld King is to decide what shall become of each and every mortal life

Layout

The Sorceress	The Wayward Son	The Huntress	Eternity	The Moon
The Furies	Persistence	The Messenger	The Unseen	Night
The Swift Runner	Death	The Centaur	Origination	The Lovers
The Enchantress	The Boatman	The Artificer	Excellence	The Queen
The Fates	The Champions	Strength	Divinity	Judgement

Additional Notes

Arcana Cards

• The Wayward Son is classified as a Healing effect, meaning it benefits from Old Herbal Remedy, and is affected by Vow of Scars.
• The Huntress does not activate if your has been reduced to 0/0 due to Prime.
• Temporal Fluctuation Incantation is required for Eternity to work against Chronos
• The Messengers' Impervious effect only applies during the Cast animation from initiation to appearance. It does not cover the recovery animation, which is instead affected by The Messengers' movement speed increase effect.
• The Unseen’s passive regeneration is disabled while channeling an Ω Move.
• Night requires alternating between different Ω Moves to trigger, such as Ω Attack > Ω Cast (triggers Night) > Ω Attack (triggers Night) > Ω Special (triggers Night). However, its effects are limited with certain weapons:
  • For the Aspect of Momus, Night only applies to the initial hit of its Ω Moves and does not affect the Ω Move pulse orb ability.
  • Umbral Flames
    • For Aspect of Melinoë and Moros, Night only affects the first hit of the Ω Attack and does not extend to subsequent hits.
    • For Aspect of Eos, both Daybreaker and its Specials copy ability fully benefit from Night throughout their entire duration.
  • Cleave-Cast ability from the Aspect of Charon is not affected by Night, as Night requires two Ω Moves to activate its effect. Cleave-Cast, instead, relies on Cast and Ω Special for its effect.
• Origination requires curses from two different Olympians to activate. Applying multiple curses from the same god does not trigger Origination (e.g., Demeter’s Freeze and Gust, or Aphrodite’s Weak and Charm).
  • The powered-up strike from Wounds does not benefit from the damage bonus provided by Origination; however, subsequent hits do. To apply Origination’s bonus to the powered-up strike from Wounds, you must activate Origination beforehand by applying curses from two different Olympians onto the target.
  • Origination applies to Freeze both when the Freeze effect is initially inflicted and during its cooldown period.
• The Artificer cannot upgrade rewards from Buried Treasure, or and rewards from Eris after bestowing her "Blessing" of Strife into Major Finds.
• Strength only activates when Melinoë does not have the Death Defiance effect. To maintain Strength's effect, avoid using Death, Toula, Luckier Tooth, Engraved Pin, or acquiring Athena's Stalwart Stand or Chaos' Defiance.
  • Currently Bugged: Although Engraved Pin is treated as a Death Defiance, it inconsistently interacts with Strength. You still receive the +25% damage bonus, but the damage reduction effect does not apply.
• Judgement does not require the Grasp to activate its effect, making it particularly effective under limited Grasp availability—especially while under the Vow of Void from Rank I through III.
  • The Arcana Cards activation effect of Judgement stacks with the Crystal Figurine.

Related Effects

• Circe’s Lapis Lazuli Insight only increases resource-providing effects (e.g., and from Persistence, from The Boatman, from The Enchantress, The Champions, and The Fates, or from Death) by the difference between the current rank and the upgraded rank. (Example: Upgrading The Boatman from Rank III to Rank IV grants +50 , not the full Rank IV value (+350)).
  • The sole exception is The Artificer, whose upgrade both increases the maximum number of uses and fully replenishes them. (Example: If the effect was at 0/3 uses before the upgrade, it becomes 4/4 upon reaching Rank IV).
• After Chaos's Barren curse wears off, The Artificer will also be fully replenished.
• Hermes' Success Rate only affects Night and does not affect Boon Rarity effects such as Excellence, The Queen, and Divinity.

Upgrade Costs

Starting on Level 10, you are upgrading in +2 Level steps until Level 20. From there on Upgrades will only give +1 Level.

Total Level is currently Level 30.
Total Costs from Level 10 to Level 30:

• 2,595
• 2
• 2

Grasp Level	Upgrade Costs
10	Starting Level
12	30
14	45
16	60
18	100
20	120
21	140
22	150
23	160
24	170
25	180
26	190
27	200
28	250
29	300
30	500 2x 2x

Trivia

• The Arcanas are based in the real-life Major Arcana, the set of occult Cartomantic cards composed of 22 cards from The Fool to The World.
• Several characters from the games are featured in the Arcana Card art:
  • I The Sorceress - Medea
  • II The Wayward Son - Zagreus
  • III The Huntress - Artemis
  • IV Eternity - Chronos
  • V The Moon - Selene
  • VI The Furies - Megaera, Alecto, & Tisiphone
  • VII Persistence - Prometheus
  • VIII The Messenger - Hermes
  • IX The Unseen - Hecate
  • X Night - Nyx
  • XI The Swift Runner - Achilles
  • XII Death - Thanatos
  • XIII The Centaur - Chiron (with Achilles as a child and Asclepius)
  • XIV Origination - Chaos
  • XV The Lover Orpheus & Eurydice
  • XVI The Enchantress - Circe (with Scylla's non-monstrous form)
  • XVII The Boatman - Charon
  • XVII The Artificer - Daedalus (with Icarus as a child)
  • XIX Excellence - Patroclus
  • XX The Queen - Persephone
  • XXI The Fates - Fates
  • XXII The Champions - Theseus & Asterius
  • XXIII Strength - Heracles
  • XXIV Divinity - Zeus & Hera
  • XXV Judgement - Hades (with Cerberus)
• Some of the cards have mythological references:
  • The Wayward Son references Zagreus parental heritages as well as his role as the god of life and blood.
  • The Huntress has a more historically accurately dressed Artemis with references to both her domains as the goddess of the hunt and the moon.
  • Eternity makes multiple nods to Chronos as the god of time and his prior fate being scattered to pieces.
  • The Moon alludes to Selene's role as being the moon itself.
  • Persistence references Prometheus giving fire to mortals and his subsequent punishment for it.
  • Night depicts a more mythically accurate Nyx with the way she was thought to bring her darkness to the world.
  • The Swift Runner references Achille's rampage after Patroclus's death where he ended up filling a river with the blood of his enemies.
  • Death depicts a more mythically accurate Thanatos claiming a soul with his sword, accompanied by an upside down torch, a symbol of death.
  • The Centaur references the centaur Chiron's role as a trainer of heroes.
    • It also depicts heroes like Achilles and Asclepius.
  • The Lovers makes a reference to the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, with Orpheus' eyes open and Eurydice's closed.
  • The Enchantress references Circe cursing Scylla.
  • The Artificer references Daedalus's role in building the labyrinth and the wax wings he and his son Icarus used to escape.
  • Excellence possibly depicts Patroclus wearing Achilles's armor after the latter had refused to fight.
  • The Queen references Persephone's combined role as the goddess of spring and queen of the underworld while the three pomegranate seeds references the common number some myths said she ate.
    • It might also reference the number of children she has in myth and her pregnancy with them, with the third seed possibly foreshadowing a third child.
  • The Fates references each of the Fates roles, Clotho the Spinner (Blue), Lachesis the Allotter (Red) and Atropos the Cutter (Yellow).
  • Strength references Heracles's battle and slaying of the Nemean Lion, as well as some of his other Labors, like the Hydra, the Erymanthian Boar, the Stymphalian Birds, the belt of Hippolyta and the golden apples of the Hesperides.