Cavalcadence plays Hades 26 – Crystal Clarity, Stygian Blade, Aspect 3 (Poseidon)

Hades (PC(W,M)/Steam) (Supergiant Games)
Crystal Clarity run (using only Crystal Beam to attack)
Stygian Blade (Stygius), Aspect 3 (Aspect of Poseidon)

So, although some players seem to like Crystal Beam a lot… honestly, I’ve never been too big a fan of it. ^^; Mainly because the aim adjust is really slow… so when it misses, it tends to miss a lot… and unlike most of the other Casts, if you miss, you can’t just immediately pick it up and try again. ^^;

Of course Crystal Clarity can be a big help, since it makes the aim adjust a LOT faster… but since it’s a Duo, it’s not as easily acquired as the Cast… Anyway, on some recent Pom Blossom runs, I decided to try experimenting with Crystal Beam a bit… eventually figuring out that proper positioning (of enemies, bloodstones, and Zag) can actually help a lot, even without the Duo. =)

Crystal Beam got strong enough on a couple of those runs that I started thinking about the possibility of trying a “Crystal Beam only” run… so that’s basically how this run came about. ^_^

Interestingly, although Zag getting the Duo definitely helped out on this run… in retrospect, the Crystal Beam was strong enough by the end, that I think(?) he might’ve been okay, even without the Duo. ^^

Anyway, I definitely still prefer True Shot… but I kind of wanted to see just how powerful Crystal Beam could get… and yeah, it can get pretty powerful. =)

So anyway, here it is… my first ever “Crystal Beam only” win… hope you enjoy!

Some quick notes on the strategy I used:
– The basic priority order for Keepsakes I used was: Demeter, Artemis, Persephone.
– The specific Boons I tended to prioritize were:
* Demeter: Crystal Beam
* Artemis: Attack/Special/Call
* Duo: Crystal Clarity
* Chaos: +1 bloodstone, cast damage

0:01 Mirror of Night
– Talents: a a a a a a a a b b a b
0:10 Keepsakes – Companion Shady, Frostbitten Horn (Demeter)
0:13 Stygian Blade (Stygius), Aspect 3: Aspect of Poseidon
– Cast damage bonus should be useful, even if the “dislodge” benefit is not. =)
0:19 Pact of Punishment – (none)
0:22 Begin Escape

0:25 Tartarus
0:30 Reroll (Fated Persuasion) -1 (3), Crystal Beam (Common)
1:32 Divine Strike (Epic)
2:15 Crystal Beam: Lv.2
3:35 Artemis’ Aid (Epic)
4:34 +1 Reroll (4)
6:20 +1 Reroll (5)
6:31 Chaos – Roiling Shot (Common) (3: +75% enemies, +37% cast)
7:58 Crystal Beam: Lv.3
8:16 Crystal Beam: Lv.4
8:20 Boss Battle – Fury: Tisiphone
9:25 Fury Vanquished
9:43 Purged: Divine Strike (+155); Pom Blossom (Persephone)

10:03 Asphodel
11:16 Quick Favor (Common)
13:03 Chaos Boon (Roiling Shot) transformed
13:04 Crystal Beam: Lv.5
13:28 Centaur Heart
14:06 Lightning Strike (Epic)
15:19 Crystal Beam: Lv.6 (P)
16:58 Crystal Beam: Lv.7
17:06 Boss Battle – Lernie, the Bone Hydra (Lernaean Hydra)
18:47 Lernie Vanquished
19:08 Purged: Quick Favor (+35) & Lightning Strike (+155); Well Reroll -1 (4)
– Was hoping for a Light of Ixion, but…

19:22 Elysium
20:46 Hoarding Slash
22:42 Artemis’ Aid: Lv.2 (P)
24:43 Crystal Beam: Lv.8
24:58 Crystal Beam: Lv.9
25:05 Mid-boss battle: Asterius, Bull of Minos
26:36 Reroll -1 (3), Crystal Clarity (Duo)
– Nice, finally got it! ^_^
29:25 Crystal Beam: Lv.10
29:30 Eye of Lamia, Reroll -1 (2), Eye of Lamia
– Again, was hoping for a Light of Ixion, but…
31:39 Crystal Beam: Lv.11, food (+88 life)
31:49 Boss Battle – Theseus & Asterius
32:37 Theseus defeated
33:14 Heroes Vanquished
33:35 Purged: Artemis’ Aid (+180)

33:47 The Temple of Styx
34:23 Crystal Beam: Lv.13, Crystal Beam: Lv.15, Crystal Beam: Lv.16
34:36 (hmm, 3 of 5 are non-Olympians… so we’ll probably be able to make it to the final Boss without picking up another Boon ^^)
35:16 Crystal Beam: Lv.17 (P)
36:48 Crystal Beam: Lv.18
37:14 Crystal Beam: Lv.19 (P)
38:34 Crystal Beam: Lv.20 (P)
39:48 Crystal Beam: Lv.21 (P)
40:21 Life Essence (+83 life), Reroll -1 (1)
– Was hoping for an extra bloodstone, but… ^^
40:49 Satyr Sack, Athena’s Aid (Epic)
– Alas, no way to get rid of it, but… we can just refrain from using it. ^^
41:14 Cerberus Stuffed (with food)
41:25 (hmm, 29/0.2s, not including damage bonuses… that might be the most I’ve ever gotten for the Crystal Beam! ^^)
– [Let’s see… 29/0.2s = 145/1s… 3 bloodstones means 145*3 = 435/s… +50% from the Aspect, +10% from the Duo, +37% from Roiling Shot, +10% from Family Favorite… so, 435*2.07 means… up to 900.45 damage per second, I think! ^.^]
41:30 Boss Battle – Hades, God of the Dead
32:23 Boss Battle – Hades (Phase 2)
44:30 Hades Vanquished
44:49 Victory! * Big Shopping Trip, Too *

45:01 Fungus? – Taken by the Styx
45:25 The House of Hades
45:51 Rank Up: Gamma Wraith
– Slowly working towards maxing out Zag’s Rank… ^^

More Hades videos:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlu6OXit_2afLo6IgqBMY1bXMKNsmC8zl

https://www.supergiantgames.com/games/hades/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1145360/Hades/

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