To access the Hades 2 surface, you’ll need to follow a carefully designed progression path that involves dialogue, gathering rare resources, and mastering two incantations to lift the surface wards and survive the curse.

Unlocking the surface with Witching-Wards

Accessing the Surface starts in the Crossroads hub, where you’ll find the warded gateway. Early-game runs encourage you to keep speaking with Hermes, whose appearance usually follows a successful run after beating Hecate, the first major boss. Hermes informs you of the Olympian conflict. Then, after several more runs and additional conversations with Hecate, you’ll receive the recipe for the Permeation of Witching-Wards incantation.

How to reach and survive the surface

Step 1

Defeat Hecate in Erebus at least once. This unlocks critical dialogue opportunities.

Step 2

Speak with Hermes after subsequent runs. Hermes gives clues about the Olympian war and the need to help.

Step 3

Continue conversations with Hecate; she’ll eventually teach Melinoë the Permeation of Witching-Wards incantation.

Step 4

Gather 3 Moly (yellow flowers in Erebus), 1 Cinder (from beating Hecate), and 1 Shadow (extract using Ash, Psyche, and Fated Fabric).

Step 5

Craft Shadow Extraction at the cauldron. This takes time—12 encounters to brew—so start more runs to progress.

Step 6

Cast Permeation of Witching-Wards at the Cauldron in Crossroads to break the warded gateway.

Step 7

Enter the Surface, but immediately notice Melinoë’s HP draining due to the curse.

Step 8

Unlock Unraveling a Fateful Bond via Moros after surface exposure. Gather all the specific plants (Lotus, Moss, Nightshade, Thalamus).

Step 9

Rapidly collect Moss from the surface during a short window; dig up Thalamus from Chaos using special seeds. Bring a shovel for dig spots.

Step 10

Cast Unraveling a Fateful Bond at the cauldron to remove the health-draining curse and freely explore the surface.

Incantation ingredient table

Incantation Effect Ingredients Required
Permeation of Witching-Wards Unlock Surface 1 Cinder, 3 Moly, 1 Shadow
Unraveling a Fateful Bond Remove curse 2 Lotus, 2 Moss, 2 Nightshade, 2 Thalamus
Shadow Extraction Make Shadow 30 Ash, 30 Psyche, 3 Fated Fabric

What happens after you break the wards

Upon access, Melinoë (the protagonist) suffers from a harsh Fate curse—her health rapidly drains due to her chthonic nature. This “surface damage” is not survivable for long, so you must complete a second incantation to remove this effect.

How to survive with Unraveling a Fateful Bond

After reaching the surface and experiencing the curse, the next major milestone is crafting the Unraveling a Fateful Bond incantation. The incantation is unlocked after dialogue with Moros, following some runs on the surface.

Wrap-up: Mastering the surface incantation in Hades 2

Unlocking and surviving on the surface in Hades 2 takes patience, careful runs, and crafting specific incantations. Gathering the right ingredients and progressing through key NPC dialogues makes the difference between succumbing to the curse or mastering new regions for rewarding gameplay.