Image courtesy of Super Giant Gaming
It can be overwhelming to parse through every Keepsake, so we made a handy Tier list to help you select only the most powerful and deadly Keepsake in your quest to kill your dad.
Tier S
Lambent Plume
The Lambent Plume is acquired from Hermes and is one of the best Keepsakes in the game if you run it throughout your entire run. It will give you 1.2% dodge chance and movement speed for every encounter you “clear quickly” during your run. That means this Keepsake is most useful once you acclimate more to the game. The dodge and speed bonuses add up over the course of an entire run, so that at the end you are able to dodge and speed your way around Hades in the final fight.
This Keepsake is probably not the best option for ranged weapons. But if you are playing with the Fists or the Shield, the Lambent Plum can add a ton of value and survivability to your kit. Just be aware, you will want to leave the plume on throughout your whole run. So other Keepsakes will be off the table if you want to make the most of the Plumes S-Tier advantages.
Evergreen Acorn
Evergreen Acorn is obtained from Eurydice and is the ultimate Keepsake for anyone who is struggling to beat the four bosses in the game. Defeating bosses the first few times is a seriously daunting task. The task only gets harder as you move to higher heats and increase the boss challenge levels. Whether you are struggling to beat the Furies, Lernie, Theseus, or Hades, the 3rd level Evergreen Acorn will protect you from damage for the first five times you get hit.
If you aren’t running the Lambent Plume or another Keepsake that levels up over the run, the Evergreen Acorn is a useful tool in the late boss fights. Even if you know the game already and just want to speed run it, the Evergreen Acorn gives you five free hits where you can just be going as hard as possible against the boss before you have to back off. This is definitely an S-Tier Keepsake in Hades.
Shattered Shackle
Shattered Shackle is obtained from Sisyphus and makes mastering Tarturas a breeze. At the highest level, Shattered Shackle increases your attack, special, and cast by +100% damage when not empowered with a Boon. This is a great option for those who are frustrated with how little damage you do at the start of the run. This Keepsake will give you a higher baseline. Then you can eventually replace it as you pick up boons and it becomes less useful.
Shattered Shackle is one of the best starting Keepsakes, regardless of which weapon you choose.
Conch Shell
This one is probably based on personal preference, and which weapon you use. The Conch Shell comes from Poseidon and it guarantees your next boon will be from the god of the sea. Personally, I find that Poseidan’s Dash is super useful to have early in runs, regardless of which weapon I choose. So I often will run this in Tarturas in hopes of getting the Tidal dash. Tidal Dash is a, forgive the pun, god-tier power when combined with short-range weapons and extra dashes from Hermes.
Which god Keepsakes are considered S-Tier will likely depend on your personal preferred loadout.
Tier A
Chthonic Coin Purse
You can acquire the Chthonic Coin Purse from Hypnos. At the third level, the purse gives you 150 gold once per escape attempt. While this isn’t the sexiest Keepsake, it is situationally essential. There are times when you can’t quite afford to buy back a death defiance that you really need in between levels. If you equip Chthonic Coin Purse, you can instantly get paid and buy that death defiance from the Well of Charon.
This is a nice utility-focused Keepsake that can get you out of some pretty tough spots.
Pierced Butterfly
Pierced Butterfly, which is obtained from Thanatos, gives you 2% extra total damage for each encounter you clear without taking damage. Like the Lampent Plume, you are going to want to equip it early in a run and leave it on. If you can play cleanly even in the first couple of levels of Hades, you can build up some serious firepower by equipping the Pierced Butterfly.
Distant Memory
Distant Memory is gifted to Zagareus by Orpheus. While Distant Memory is equipped you deal 30% extra damage to foes that are far away from you. It is a solid option if you are playing with the bow or adamant rail, both of which rely on ranged damage.
Distant Memory isn’t great in every build. However, if you manage to combine it with the right god Boons during your run, it can help make a deadly long distant build even more dangerous. So like many Keepsakes in Hades, this one is situationally useful.
Cosmic Egg
The Cosmic Egg comes from Chaos Incarnate and lets you enter the gates of Chaos without taking the health penalty. At the third level, the Cosmic Egg will also boost the chance that you receive a rare or better Chaos boon by 40%. If you are betting on your Chaos gate, or want to take a Chaos gate at a very high heat where you can’t afford the health penalty, then the Cosmic Egg might be a good Keepsake to slot into your run.
Eternal Rose
Eternal Rose is Aphrodite’s god Keepsake. Like the other god Keepsakes, it will ensure that your next Boon comes from the goddess. I put Aphrodite’s Keepsake this high on the list because I often find that later in runs when I am looking to fill a weapon boon slot, I look to Aphrodite. She offers some of the biggest percentage improvements and the Weak curse, all in the same boon.
Owl Pendant
The Owl Pendant can be acquired by befriending Athena. It will guarantee that Athena is your next boon. Athena has some useful upgrades for your kit. Her call and dash are both good defensive abilities, and she offers pretty good base percentage improvements for your weapons. Plus, Athena’s weapon abilities deflect enemy projectiles, which can be pretty useful at all stages of the game.
Adamant Arrowhead
Adamant Arrowhead can be acquired from Artemis and will make your next boon be from the divine hunter herself. Artemis gives your weapons and abilities a critical hit chance. This can be useful depending on what boons and weapon aspects you choose to run with. Personally, I find her call and her cast to be really useful long-range options, and I even sometimes take her Hunters Dash if I can’t find Tidal Dash.
Tier B
Bone Hourglass
This item will increase the duration of your items from Well of Charon by 8 at its highest level. This is a great Keepsake, but it is specific to a particular playstyle. It is useful if you are planning on investing all of your money into Well of Charon upgrades. I don’t find those upgrades to be that essential, at least not while I am speedrunning (which is most of the time). I would prefer to save my money to buy hammer upgrades and Boons.
Black Shawl
You can get the Black Shawl from Nyx. This Keepsake will increase your damage to undamaged foes by 20%. In addition, it will increase your damage when striking foes from behind by 20% as well. This is useful if you are running something like the Adamant Rail with the Aspect of Hestia, since that build is all about getting one-shot kills with a single super-powered shot. Other than that, however, this Keepsake isn’t very useful in a lot of scenarios.
Broken Spearpoint
The Broken Spearpoint comes from Patroclus and is really only useful to people who take damage a lot. This Keepsake will make you invulnerable for 1.5 seconds after taking a hit and recharges after 7 seconds. It might be helpful for beginners who are trying to learn the ropes of the game, but to a veteran player, the Broken Spearpoint is pretty mediocre.
Sigil of the Dead
Sigil of the Dead gives you Hades’ Aid, a call that makes you invisible for a few moments, just like you see from Hades in the final fight (spoiler). This call can definitely get you out of a bind if you often find yourself getting overwhelmed in the underworld. At the highest level, this Keepsake also starts you at 30% God Gauge, so it’s a little easier to charge your God Gauge while using Sigil of the Dead.
Blood-filled Vial
Blood-filled Vial is Ares’ god Keepsake, so it will guarantee that your next boon is Ares. I put this in B tier because I don’t find myself looking for Ares Boons too often. The Doom curse effect Ares assigns only lasts a few moments, so I don’t think his abilities offer much utility if you are looking to take advantage of privileged status. I do think his curse ability is pretty good on the Shield special throw, however, so once again this will all depend on your personal playstyle.
Overflowing cup
Overflowing Cup is Dionysus’s god Keepsake. Dionysus can assign Hangover, a curse that can stack and deals damage over time. This can be a really useful curse to set up your privileged status, especially compared to the short curse of Ares. I also think that Dionysus’s call is one of the best in the game for burst damage.
Frostbitten Horn
Frostbitten Horn is Demeter’s god Keepsake. Demeter’s icy curse effects are really solid, but some of her other Boons powerups that you can get stuck with are not great. I often take freezing effects on at least one of my weapon abilities, since it will slow enemies and be a very consistent source for assigning privileged status if you can find another curse (like Dionysus or Aphrodite) to go with it.
Tier C
Skull Earring
You can get the Skull Earring from Megaera the Fury. This Keepsake will let you deal 40% extra damage if you are below 35% of your total health pool. I never plan to be that low, and if I am that low an extra 40% damage is only marginally useful. I could see someone using this as part of a speed run strategy perhaps, but it isn’t optimal for most runs.
Myrmidon Bracer
You can pick up this Keepsake from Achilles. It blocks 30% of the damage that is dealt from the front, but you take 10% extra from the back. So it gives you a literal Achilles Heel. While it is a fun Keepsake conceptually, it isn’t all that useful in practice. That is unless you are accustomed to tanking damage with your face, in which case use it?
Harpy Feather Duster
This is Dusa’s Keepsake and it makes it so that there is a 6% chance you will find small amounts of health in Broken earns. While it is from the cutest character in the game, this Keepsake isn’t super useful. If you are new, I could see it being useful as a little extra health, but even then there are probably better options like the Acorn.
Pom Blossom
Pom Blossom comes from Persephone and upgrades a random boon every 4 encounters. This has situational value, so Tier C doesn’t quite describe its uses. It’s just really specific in use. The best time to use this is when you are going to be running through the Satyr tunnels since you end up going through a bunch of quick and dirty encounters. Beyond that, I am sure some builds could benefit from it, but there are better Keepsakes.
Time to replace your old controllers? Discover our guide to the best gaming controllers today!
Tier D
Old Spiked Collar
The Old Spiked Collar can be obtained by giving nectar to the goodest three-headed hell hound in the underworld, Cerberus. Not only is he a very good boy, (yes he is, a very very good boy) but his old collar can also give you 50 extra health in your health pool. Honestly, it’s just not that great compared to most of the other options. If an extra 50 health in your health pool is going to be the difference between winning and losing, you were probably in a bad spot to begin with.
Lucky Tooth
You can get the Lucky Tooth from Skelly, your undead punching bag. This Keepsake will automatically restore up to 100 health when you die, once per escape attempt. It’s basically an extra death defiance, and if you are running low on death defiance’s I could see using this as a hail mary attempt to beat Hades. Overall though, this is one of the least commonly used Keepsakes in my arsenal.
