First Hades II patch changes how sprinting and resource gathering work

Hades II has taken the gaming world by storm, and I’m not just saying that because it’s the subject of our current cover story. But while many have been surprised by the volume of content available so far, it’s still in Early Access, so the Supergiant team will be updating and fixing it for the foreseeable future. The first of these fixes arrived today and adds some small quality of life improvements.

The first change concerns the sprint mechanic, a feature that the original Hades did not have. Holding down the dash button will cause Melinoë to start running, making it easier to avoid enemy attacks or cover greater lengths of the map. Several perks also only activate while sprinting, so this is a crucial mechanic for Supergiant to succeed. After this first patch, sprinting is faster and turning is easier, and the associated perks have been rebalanced accordingly. Additionally, upgrading the Swift Runner at the Altar of Ashes (which increases sprint speed by 20%) now causes your run to start immediately, so you can escape danger more reliably.

The patch also makes a minor overhaul to the resource gathering system. As you progress, you’ll unlock different tools, like the pickaxe and shovel, to harvest different types of materials, like minerals and seeds. Before the patch, choosing a tool before a run meant you could only harvest those specific resources until you returned to the crossroads. If you picked up a shovel and came across a fishing spot, you were out of luck. Now, players can harvest any resource they come across during a game, but selecting a certain tool simply makes the corresponding resource much more likely to appear. Now Melinoë, wielding a shovel, can attempt to catch any fish she encounters, but it is much less likely that she will encounter one in the first place.

The fix also includes a number of other smaller fixes, which you can read in full here. Just be wary of revealing these spoiler tags if you haven’t played through most of the game, as they reveal the existence of some characters or locations you probably haven’t encountered yet.

For more on Hades 2, check out our coverage hub, which includes a quick interview with the developers, a tour of the Supergiant Games studio, and our in-depth cover story detailing the creation of the game.