How to Unlock Arcana Cards in Hades 2

By James On May 6, 2024

Arcana cards are a crucial part of Hades 2which is fitting considering the game literally casts you as a witch.

Like Keepsakes (accessories), Arcana cards give you passive benefits. Some increase your stats. Some are even more useful, even going so far as to bring you back from the dead. However, unlike Keepsakes, you can think of Arcana Cards more as a skill tree. As you unlock more cards, you’ll gain access to even better Cards.

Here is how to unlock arcana cards Hades 2plus a list of every Arcana Card we’ve seen so far and its capabilities.

How to Unlock Arcana Cards in Hades 2

Between runs there is often a yellow exclamation mark on the Arcana Cards tablet.

Image: Supergiant games via Polygon

You can unlock Arcana cards by interacting with the stone slab at the entrance of the room, just before you start running.

The main source for unlocking new Arcana cards is ash, a resource usually found as a reward for completing encounters (the rooms with battles). Look for rooms marked by a gray sand layer.

When you unlock an Arcana card for the first time, its adjacent cards are revealed, expanding the number of cards you can unlock.

How to increase grip and equip more Arcana cards in Hades 2

A Hades 2 menu shows the list of Arcana cards in Hades 2. — The Arcana Card board is on the left; the grip gauge is that green circle on the right.

Your grab meter determines how many Arcana cards you can equip at once. Each Arcana card comes with a grab cost ranging from one to five, with the better cards typically coming with a higher grab cost.

You begin Hades 2 with 10 handle. You can increase your hold limit by spending money Psyche, also a resource earned by completing encounters. Look for the rooms with the small green will-o’-the-wisp as a reward.

Some cards have no grip cost and are instead activated by an “awakening” – whether or not you can equip these depends on whether or not you’ve met a certain set of requirements. We have noted such “awakenings” in the table below.

List of Arcana Card abilities in Hades 2

It contains 25 Arcana cards Hades 2. Each card is associated with a Roman numeral. There are five rows, with five Arcana cards per row; Refer to the image above to see the placement of each card on the Arcana Card board.

So far we’ve discovered twenty Arcana cards, but note that the cards we have yet to discover are marked as ‘TBD’ in the table below.

Arcana card list in Hades 2

Card number	Card name	Effect	Unlock the charges	Understanding costs
Card number	Card name	Effect	Unlock the charges	Understanding costs
I	The sorceress	Slows down time by 2 seconds while channeling Omega moves.	1 Axis	1
II	The wayward son	Recover 2 health when you leave a room, or twice as much if you are below 30% health.	3 As	1
III	The Huntress	If your magic meter is not full, your attacks and specials do +30% damage.	10 As	3
IV	Dead	Your Omega moves have +3% chance to deal critical damage.	15 As	3
V	The messenger	You have +6% chance to dodge.	20 Ashes, 1 Pearl	0, Awakening: Activate at least 3 cards that use the same amount of magic
VI	The Furies	Deal 20% more damage to enemies with your cast.	3 As	2
VII	The Titan	Gain +20 maximum health and +20 maximum magic.	7 As	2
VIII	The unseen	Restore 2 magic every second.	20 As	5
IX	Night	Your Hex will automatically recharge as if you used 2 magic every second.	25 As	4
X	The lovers	In battles against Guardians (area bosses), you take 0 damage the first time you are hit	30 As	2
XI	The fast runner	You sprint 20% faster.	10 As	1
XII	Eternity	Start each run with one Death Defiance (automatic revival).	20 As	4
XIII	The Centaur	Gain +3 maximum health and +3 magic every five rooms.	25 Ashes, 1 Ember	0, Awaken: Activate cards that use 1 grip through 5 grip
XIV	The moon	Your Omega cast has +50 power when it explodes.	30 As	3
XV	power	Even though you don’t have more than 30% health, you take -30% damage and do +30%.	35 As	5
XVI	Fate	Start each run with +1 Change of Fate (which allows you to change each room’s rewards).	15 As	3
XVII	The boatswain	Start each run with 200 gold.	25 As	5
XVIII	Origin	Deal +25% damage to enemies affected by at least 2 curse effects.	30 As	3
XIX	Excellence	All bonuses offered to you have a +30% chance of being rare.	35 As	5
XX	To be determined	To be determined	To be determined	To be determined
XXI	To be determined	To be determined	To be determined	To be determined
XXII	The Champions	Start each run with +1 Change of Fate (which allows you to change favors).	30 As	4
XXIII	To be determined	To be determined	To be determined	To be determined
XXIV	To be determined	To be determined	To be determined	To be determined
XXV	To be determined	To be determined	To be determined	To be determined

We will update this guide as we discover the remaining five Arcana cards.