Hades II Arcana Cards Guide: Meta Tier List, Best Loadouts & Progression
Arcana Cards are the new cornerstone of power in Hades II, replacing the Mirror of Night as your permanent upgrade system. But unlocking them is only half the battle - mastering your limited Grasp resource is what separates a good run from a great one. This guide breaks down the current meta, optimal loadouts, and progression path to turn your Ashes into unstoppable power.
Understanding Arcana Cards & Grasp System
Arcana Cards are basically Hades II's version of the Mirror of Night from the first game - they're permanent perks that stick with you between runs. You unlock them at the Altar of Ashes in the Crossroads, and there are 25 total cards arranged in a 5x5 grid.
Buy one with Ashes, and it'll reveal the adjacent cards, so you're slowly working your way through this web of upgrades.
What Are Arcana Cards?
They're persistent passive perks you buy with Ashes at the Altar of Ashes, plain and simple. The whole system's a 5x5 grid, and when you purchase a card, it reveals its neighbors for purchase. It's a pretty straightforward unlock path, but the key thing to remember is that you've got two steps:
- First you buy the card with Ashes
- Then you activate it with Grasp
No Grasp, no benefit.
Grasp Limit & Progression
You start with a max Grasp of 10, which honestly feels pretty tight in the early game. If you want to run more cards - or stack the expensive ones - you'll need to pump that number up at the Tablet of Peace by spending Psyche.
The max cap is 30 Grasp, and hitting it is a serious endgame investment: 500 Psyche, 2 Shadow, and 2 Darkness. It's expensive, but being able to equip multiple high-cost Arcana cards is what makes those crazy late-game builds possible.
About the Spreading of Ashes incantation - don't mix this up. It doesn't increase your Grasp at all. What it actually does is give you six preset loadout slots for quick-swapping between different Arcana configurations. Super handy, just not for raising your limit.
Current Meta Tier List
After extensive community testing, here's the current Arcana meta based on effectiveness, Grasp efficiency, and overall impact on runs.
S-Tier: Always-On Staples
These cards are the backbone of nearly every top-tier build. If you've got the Grasp, you're probably running them.
| Card | Grasp Cost | What It Does | Why It's Essential |
|---|---|---|---|
| Death (XXIII) | 4 | +1 Death Defiance | Extra life that can save entire runs |
| The Furies (IV) | 2 | +20% damage to foes caught in your Casts | Most Grasp-efficient damage amp |
| The Titan (VII) | 3 | +20 base Health and +20 base Magick | Universal stat spike for survival |
| The Unseen (XVI) | 5 | +1 Magick/sec (max +1.6/s) | Infinite fuel for Omega-spam builds |
| The Boatman (XII) | 5 | Start with +200 Coins | Best economy card for early power spikes |
A-Tier: Strong Contenders
Solid cards that excel in specific situations or builds:
- The Sorceress (I) - 1 Grasp: Omega moves are 20% faster
- The Wayward Son (II) - 1 Grasp: Restore 3 Life after exiting any location
- The Champions (X) - 4 Grasp: Start runs with +1 Change of Fate for Boons
- The Artificer (XIII) - 3 Grasp: One chance per run to upgrade a minor find to major
- Strength (XXIV) - 4 Grasp: Take 30% less damage; deal 20% more when out of Death Defiance
B-Tier: Situational Picks
Useful in specific builds but not universally applicable:
- The Swift Runner (V) - 1 Grasp: Sprint speed increased by 5%
- The Messenger (VII) - 1 Grasp: Casts become Impervious; gain 50% Sprint speed
- The Lovers (IX) - 3 Grasp: Blocks the first hit during Guardian fights
- Eternity (XXI) - 3 Grasp: Time slows for 0.8 seconds while channeling Omega moves
Best Arcana Loadouts for Every Playstyle
Early Game Starter Loadout (10 Grasp)
You just crafted the Altar of Ashes and you're staring at the Codex wondering what actually works with your meager 10 Grasp. Here's the answer: The Furies (2) + The Boatman (5) + Death (4) = 11 Grasp, so drop one for The Sorceress (1) instead.
The Furies is your obvious anchor here - it gives +20% damage to foes caught in your Casts, which means you're hitting harder with your Omega abilities. That's the best two-Grasp DPS card in the entire codex, so you definitely want that from the jump.
Next, grab The Boatman because starting every escape with 200 Obols is huge. You can buy a Tier-2 Boon from the first shop you see or snag an early Daedalus hammer, which completely warps your run's power curve.
Finally, slot in Death for that extra Death Defiance. Now, an extra life might not sound like much, but it can be the difference between a failed run and a successful escape when you're still learning attack patterns.
These four cards cost exactly 12 Grasp, so you can run this the moment you unlock the Altar with some minor Grasp investment.
Safe Face-Tank Loadout (24 Grasp)
Running high-heat and tired of getting one-shot? This 24-Grasp setup turns you into an unkillable bulldozer: The Titan (3) + Death (4) + The Unseen (5) + The Boatman (5) + The Furies (2) + The Wayward Son (1) + Strength (4).
The Titan is your backbone - it gives +20 base Health and +20 base Magick, so you're tankier and have more resources for Omega abilities.
Death adds that crucial extra Death Defiance, giving you more room for error in high-heat runs.
The Unseen provides +1 Magick/sec, ensuring you never run out of resources for your big abilities.
The Wayward Son heals 3 Life after exiting any location, providing consistent sustain throughout your run.
Strength reduces damage taken by 30% and increases damage by 20% when you're out of Death Defiances, making you incredibly dangerous when pushed to the brink.
Your effective survivability is massively increased, plus you've got multiple sources of sustain and damage mitigation.
Glass-Cannon Speed Farm (23 Grasp)
Want to delete bosses quickly? This 23-Grasp loadout trades survivability for pure damage: The Lovers (3) + The Furies (2) + The Queen (0*) + The Artificer (3) + The Unseen (5) + The Sorceress (1) + The Champions (4) + Eternity (3) + Strength (4).
The Lovers blocks the first hit during Guardian fights, giving you a safety net for boss encounters.
The Artificer gives you one chance per run to upgrade a minor find to major, often resulting in early hammers or premium boons.
The Champions starts you with an extra Change of Fate for Boons, improving your odds of getting the perfect build.
Eternity slows time for 0.8 seconds while channeling Omega moves, giving you more precision with your biggest attacks.
This loadout focuses on maximizing damage output and utility while maintaining some survivability through The Lovers' boss protection.
Omega Cast/Explosive Exit Build
This one's specifically for Aspect of Hestia on the Moonstone Axe: The Titan + The Centaur + The Boatman + The Lovers + The Sun. It turns every Ω Cast into a devastating attack.
The Titan provides the base stats needed to sustain aggressive Omega casting.
The Centaur (when awakened) stacks +3 Max Life/Magick every 5 Locations, meaning your resource pool keeps growing as you push deeper.
The Boatman adds economic benefits that let you afford more upgrades early.
The Lovers protects you during boss fights when you're playing aggressively.
You cast, everything takes massive damage, and your sustained growth through The Centaur keeps you powered up for longer fights.
Resource Farming Loadout
When you need Darkness and Bones fast, this setup optimizes for raw collection: The Herbalist + The Farmer + The Merchant + The Fates + The Stars.
The Herbalist increases all gatherable reagents - Darkness, Bones, Ashes, Psyche, Ambrosia - by 30%, so every single pickup is worth more.
The Farmer boosts Gold from piles by 30%, which means you've got more buying power in shops.
The Merchant reduces all shop prices by 20%, so you can convert that surplus Gold into even more Bones or Psyche at a discount.
The Fates (when awakened) offers +2 Changes of Fate, letting you reroll for utility or extra resources if you need a different angle.
The Stars grants +1 Boon rarity on every god encounter, which speeds up your clears and indirectly increases rewards per hour.
You're looking at roughly 30% more resources per run, plus faster clears thanks to higher boon rarity. It's the most efficient way to bank materials for meta progression.
Progression Guide: Unlock & Upgrade Priority
First 30 Ash: Essential Unlocks
Your first 30 Ash shouldn't even be a debate - grab Death (XXIII) immediately. It's only 4 Grasp, which means you're getting a full extra life that can save your run when you're still learning attack patterns. For most new players, it literally doubles your clear rate.
Once you've got that safety net locked in, The Furies (IV) should be your next target. The universal damage boost works with every weapon and every build, so you won't regret it.
Mid-Game (8-11 Grasp) Power Spikes
Hitting 8-11 Grasp feels good because you can finally field some strong, focused Arcana pairs - but don't get comfortable. This is exactly when you need to pivot hard toward the Spreading of Ashes incantation.
Why? Because it unlocks six-slot load-out boards that let you swap entire decks between runs instantly, and that's way more impactful than any single card. The cost is mostly Moon Dust you've already been looting from the second region, so you should have enough materials by this point anyway.
Skip the cosmetic cards; this is your real power spike. Being able to quickly switch between different loadouts for different situations (speed farming vs. high-heat survival vs. resource collection) is invaluable.
Late Game & High Heat Optimization
Here's where things get serious. Most players cap out around 24 Grasp - that's the practical sweet spot where you can run a seven-card core: The Titan (3), Death (4), The Unseen (5), The Boatman (5), The Furies (2), The Wayward Son (1), and Strength (4).
The real MVP is The Titan, which gives you +20 base Health and +20 base Magick. That Magick is particularly valuable for high-heat runs where you're using Omega abilities frequently.
After you hit 24 Grasp, you should be eyeing The Unseen specifically because the Magick regeneration scales with your heat modifiers. And whatever you do, never drop Death when you're cranking up the heat - that extra Death Defiance is more valuable than any DPS card when bosses start hitting hard.
Full 25-Card Reference
Here's every Arcana Card in the game, what they'll cost you, and what they actually do for your runs. The tier ratings come from the community's consensus after countless escape attempts - use them as a starting point, not gospel.
Core Cards (1-10)
| Card # | Name | Ash Cost | Grasp Cost | Effect | Tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Sorceress | 1 | 1 | Omega moves are 20% faster | A |
| 2 | The Wayward Son | 3 | 1 | Restore 3 Life after exiting any location | A |
| 3 | The Huntress | 15 | 2 | Deal +30% damage to distant foes | B |
| 4 | The Furies | 3 | 2 | +20% damage to foes caught in your Casts | S |
| 5 | The Swift Runner | 10 | 1 | Sprint speed increased by 5% | B |
| 6 | Persistence | 7 | 2 | +20 Max Life and +20 Max Magick | A |
| 7 | The Messenger | 20 | 1 | Casts become Impervious; gain 50% Sprint speed | B |
| 8 | Night | 35 | 2 | Omega combo attacks have 9% Critical chance | B |
| 9 | The Lovers | 40 | 3 | Blocks the first hit during Guardian fights | B |
| 10 | The Champions | 35 | 4 | Start runs with +1 Change of Fate for Boons | A |
Advanced Cards (11-20)
| Card # | Name | Ash Cost | Grasp Cost | Effect | Tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | The Enchantress | 30 | 3 | Start runs with +1 Change of Fate | A |
| 12 | The Boatman | 30 | 5 | Begin each attempt with +200 Gold | S |
| 13 | The Artificer | 30 | 3 | One chance per run to upgrade a minor find to major | A |
| 14 | The Centaur | 30 | 0* | +3 Max Life/Magick every 5 Locations (requires Awakening) | Special |
| 15 | The Moon | 30 | 0* | Auto-charges Hex at 1 Magick/sec (requires Awakening) | Special |
| 16 | The Unseen | 25 | 5 | Restore 6 Magick every second | S |
| 17 | The Queen | 40 | 0* | Boons gain 6% Duo chance (requires Awakening) | Special |
| 18 | The Fates | 30 | 0* | +2 Changes of Fate (requires Awakening) | Special |
| 19 | Divinity | 45 | 0* | Boons gain 5% Epic chance (requires Awakening) | Special |
| 20 | Judgment | 50 | 0* | Defeating a Guardian activates 3 random inactive cards (requires Awakening) | Special |
Elite Cards (21-25)
| Card # | Name | Ash Cost | Grasp Cost | Effect | Tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 | Eternity | 30 | 3 | Time slows for 0.8 seconds while channeling Omega moves | B |
| 22 | Origination | 35 | 5 | +25% damage to foes with at least 2 different Olympian Curses | A |
| 23 | Death | 35 | 4 | +1 Death Defiance | S |
| 24 | Strength | 40 | 4 | Take 30% less damage; deal 20% more when out of Death Defiance | A |
| 25 | Excellence | 35 | 5 | Boons have 30% chance to be Rare or Legendary | A |
*Awakened cards cost 0 Grasp but have special activation conditions detailed below.
Awakening Requirements & Synergies
Now for the weird ones. Six cards cost zero Grasp but won't work unless you build your deck a specific way. These Awakened Arcana demand planning, but they can completely change your run when you pull them off.
Easy Awakening Conditions
The Moon is the easiest - you just need any adjacent card active, so you can slip it into most builds without much trouble.
The Centaur gets trickier: you need cards with Grasp costs 1 through 5 all equipped at once, which means running a full five-card setup with varied costs. It rewards diverse decks by stacking Max Life and Magick every five locations.
Medium Awakening Conditions
The Queen forces variety differently. It checks that no more than two cards share the same Grasp value, so you can't just stack three 1-Grasp cards and call it a day. This encourages spreading costs across your entire board.
The Fates is the greediest - it wants all eight surrounding cards active. That's a huge Grasp investment, but it showers you with +2 Changes of Fate, which can save runs that start with bad Boon luck.
Challenging Awakening Conditions
Divinity asks you to fill an entire column (any of the five vertical lines), pushing you toward a focused build strategy where you commit to one full set of cards.
Finally, Judgment only works if you're running three or fewer cards total, rewarding minimalistic setups with a powerful burst effect that randomly activates three other cards after each Guardian kill.
These conditions might sound restrictive, but they're actually design breadcrumbs that guide you toward interesting deck archetypes you'd never try otherwise.
Weapon-Specific Recommendations
Your weapon choice completely dictates which Arcana actually matter, so don't just mindlessly slam the S-tier core on everything.
Witch's Staff Builds
For Aspect of Queen, you're building around Omega Special spam, which means The Queen (when awakened) is non-negotiable for that +6% Duo chance - you need the synergy to keep firing powerful combinations.
Cast-Spam Builds
They live on The Artificer and usually pair it with The Furies for that +20% damage to foes caught in your Casts, turning your Cast into a devastating area effect.
High-Heat Survival Builds
Focus on Death for the extra Death Defiance, Strength for the damage reduction, and The Wayward Son for consistent healing. Survivability becomes more important than raw damage when bosses start one-shotting you.
The bottom line? Match your Arcana to your weapon's gimmick, or you're just wasting Grasp.
Conclusion
Mastering the Arcana system is about more than just collecting cards; it's about strategically investing your Grasp to build around your weapon and playstyle. From essential early unlocks to high-heat optimization, the right Arcana loadout can define your entire run.
Start with the fundamentals - grab Death for that extra safety net, then build around your preferred weapons and playstyles. Don't forget to invest in Spreading of Ashes early, as the ability to quickly swap between different loadouts is incredibly valuable.
Now, take this knowledge to the Altar of Ashes and craft the deck that will carry you to victory.