Boons are upgrades given by the gods to help Zagreus in his attempts to escape the underworld. They can be obtained as rewards for clearing a room marked with the respective god's symbol or purchased for 150 from Charon's shop. Boons only last for the duration of a run; they disappear when Zagreus dies and is sent back to the House of Hades.
Gods
Aphrodite gives boons that inflict Weak and Charmed on opponents, as well as improve survivability.
Ares gives boons that inflict Doom, create Blade Rifts, or increase the damage of your attacks.
Artemis gives boons that grant Critical hits and improve Cast abilities.
Athena gives boons that allow abilities to Deflect projectiles and improve Calls and defensive options.
Chaos gives boons that grant a variety of bonuses after inflicting a debuff for multiple encounters.
Demeter gives boons that add Chill to abilities, improve healing, and various debuffs.
Dionysus gives boons that inflict Hangover, create Festive Fog, and improve survivability.
Hermes gives boons that increase your mobility, ability speed, evasion and dash capability.
Poseidon gives boons that add Knockback to abilities and improve room rewards.
Zeus gives boons that add chain lightning to abilities, or cause lightning to strike nearby enemies.
More information on specific boons from each god can be found on their respective pages.
Equipping a keepsake given by one of the gods (except Hermes or Chaos) ensures that the next time a boon is offered, it will be from that specific god. It does not guarantee that the very next reward will be a god boon - only that, the first time one appears, it will be from that god. Chaos and Hermes boons can appear before any other god boon regardless of the keepsake you are using.
Slots
Zagreus' Attack, Special, Cast, Dash, and Call abilities have one boon slot, and cannot hold multiple ability boons.
For example, you cannot have both Cast from Aphrodite (Crush Shot) and Dionysus (Trippy Shot). However, a god may offer to replace another god's exclusive Boon slot with their own. Exchanges increase rarity of the slot by one, keeping the level the same. In the above example, Dionysus may offer to replace your Epic Crush Shot (Rank 2) with Heroic Trippy Shot (Rank 2).
This core ability slots follow the same nomenclature:
- "Strike" for the Attack boons.
- "Flourish" for the Special boons.
- "Shot" for the Cast boons.
- "Dash" for the Dash boons.
- "Aid" for the Call boons.
Here follow the Boons design for all gods that offer Attack, Special, Cast, Dash, and Call Boons.
Boon Rarity
There are four 'standard' rarities of boon available, each more powerful than the last:
- Common
- Rare
- Epic
- Heroic
"More powerful" has a similar meaning as leveling the boon up (i.e. the same numbers get bigger), but +1 rarity and +1 level will have different results. The exact formula is currently unsolved.
Heroic rarity is available through exchanging an Epic-rarity boon, choosing Ambrosia Delight from Eurydice, or from cultivating boons with Rare Crop from Demeter. Note that the Yarn of Ariadne from the Well of Charon, and the Refreshing Nectar from Eurydice, cannot offer a heroic boon, even with the Exclusive Access duo boon from Poseidon and Dionysus, which makes every future boon to be at least an Epic-rarity boon.
Boons that are rewarded from Erebus encounters, mini-boss encounters (both types are denoted with a small skull on the chamber preview) or bought at a higher price from Charon in the Temple of Styx are more likely to have higher rarities.
Gods' Boons
Boon | Effect |
---|---|
![]() Curse of Agony |
Your Attack inflicts Doom. |
![]() Curse of Pain |
Your Special inflicts Doom. |
![]() Slicing Shot |
Your Cast sends a Blade Rift hurling ahead. |
![]() Slicing Flare |
Your Cast sends a large Blade Rift hurling ahead for a brief time. |
![]() Blade Dash |
Your Dash creates a Blade Rift where you started. |
![]() Ares' Aid |
Your Call turns you into an Impervious Blade Rift for a short time. |
![]() Curse of Vengeance |
After you take damage, inflict Doom on surrounding foes. |
![]() Urge to Kill |
Your Attack, Special, and Cast deal more damage. |
![]() Battle Rage |
After slaying a foe, your next Attack or Special deals more damage. |
![]() Blood Frenzy |
After using Death Defiance, deal more damage that encounter. |
![]() Black Metal |
Your Blade Rift powers deal damage in a wider area. |
![]() Engulfing Vortex |
Your Blade Rift effects last longer and pull foes in. |
![]() Dire Misfortune |
Your Doom effects deal more damage when applied multiple times. |
![]() Impending Doom |
Your Doom effects deal more damage, after a slightly longer time. |
![]() Vicious Cycle |
Your Blade Rift effects deal more damage for each consecutive hit. |
Boon | Effect |
---|---|
![]() Divine Strike |
Your Attack is stronger, and can Deflect. |
![]() Divine Flourish |
Your Special is stronger, and can Deflect. |
![]() Phalanx Shot |
Your Cast damages foes in a small area, and can Deflect. |
![]() Phalanx Flare |
Your Cast damages foes around you, and can Deflect. |
![]() Divine Dash |
Your Dash deals damage and can Deflect. |
![]() Athena's Aid |
Your Call briefly makes you Invulnerable and Deflect all attacks. |
![]() Holy Shield |
After you take damage, damage nearby foes and briefly Deflect. |
![]() Bronze Skin |
Resist damage from foes' attacks. |
![]() Sure Footing |
Resist damage from Traps. |
![]() Proud Bearing |
You begin each Encounter with your God Gauge partly full. |
![]() Blinding Flash |
Your abilities that can Deflect also make foes Exposed. |
![]() Brilliant Riposte |
When you Deflect attacks, they deal more damage. |
![]() Deathless Stand |
Death Defiance makes you Impervious longer. Replenish a charge immediately. |
![]() Last Stand |
Death Defiance restores more ![]() |
![]() Divine Protection |
You have a barrier that negates incoming damage. |
Boon | Effect |
---|---|
![]() Drunken Strike |
Your Attack inflicts Hangover. |
![]() Drunken Flourish |
Your Special inflicts Hangover. |
![]() Trippy Shot |
Your Cast lobs a projectile that bursts into Festive Fog. |
![]() Trippy Flare |
Your Cast damages foes around you, leaving behind Festive Fog. |
![]() Drunken Dash |
Your Dash inflicts foes near you with Hangover. |
![]() Dionysus' Aid |
Your Call inflicts Hangover to foes all around you for a few seconds. |
![]() After Party |
If your ![]() |
![]() Positive Outlook |
Take less damage while at low ![]() |
![]() Premium Vintage |
Gain ![]() |
![]() Strong Drink |
Using a Fountain restores all ![]() |
![]() Bad Influence |
Deal more damage while multiple foes are Hangover-afflicted. |
![]() Numbing Sensation |
Your Hangover effects also make foes move slower. |
![]() Peer Pressure |
Hangover-afflicted foes contaminate other nearby foes. |
![]() High Tolerance |
Take less damage while standing in Festive Fog. |
![]() Black Out |
Hangover-afflicted foes take bonus damage in Festive Fog. |
Boon | Effect |
---|---|
![]() Lightning Strike |
Your Attack emits chain-lightning when you damage a foe. |
![]() Thunder Flourish |
Your Special causes a lightning bolt to strike nearby foes. |
![]() Electric Shot |
Your Cast is a burst of chain-lightning that bounces between foes. |
![]() Thunder Flare |
Your Cast causes a lightning bolt to strike nearby foes. |
![]() Thunder Dash |
Your Dash causes a lightning bolt to strike nearby foes. |
![]() Zeus' Aid |
Your Call makes lightning strike nearby foes repeatedly for a few seconds. |
![]() Heaven's Vengance |
After you take damage, your foe is struck by lightning. |
![]() Lightning Reflexes |
After you Dash just before getting hit, a bolt strikes a nearby foes. |
![]() Storm Lightning |
Your chain-lightning effects bounce more times before expiring. |
![]() High Voltage |
Your lightning bolt effects deal damage in a larger area. |
![]() Double Strike |
Your lightning bolt effects have a chance to strike twice. |
![]() Static Discharge |
Your lightning effects also make foes Jolted. |
![]() Clouded Judgement |
Your God Gauge charges faster when you deal or take damage. |
![]() Billowing Strength |
After using Call, you deal more damage for a short time. |
![]() Splitting Bolt |
All your lightning effects create an additional burst. |
Special Boons
There are four types of special boons that are only offered after meeting certain requirements:
- Duo
- Legendary
- Chaos
- Bouldy
Special boon requirements include clearing a curse or acquiring specific standard boons. Special boons cannot be upgraded with Pom of Power.
- Duo Boons combine the powers of a pair of gods, and require Zagreus possess certain boons from both gods. They can be offered by either god, and trigger dialogue between the pair when obtained. These cannot be obtained in a Trial of the Gods room, even if the requirements have been met, though one god may offer to exchange already obtained boons from the other god.
- Legendary Boons are top-tier blessings offering unique skills, and require Zagreus possess certain boons from one god. Each god has at least one.
- Chaos Boons require the player enter a Chaos Gate and overcome a curse before the boon activates. Unlike other boons, Chaos blessings can be taken more than once in a run, and effects stack. Chaos boons cannot be sold.
- Bouldy Boons require the player to converse with Sisyphus a number of times until he can 'speak' with Bouldy and gift him Nectar. Bouldy boons cannot be sold.
Notes
- Before Patch 037, the price for a boon in Charon's shop was 200
.