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
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
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.