Hades 2 offers numerous challenges, and many of them will test your skill and patience. There's one activity, in particular, that's for those who truly want to take more risks. It's part of the endgame loop, and it's bound to cause frustrations. Here's our Hades 2 Nightmare and Oath of the Unseen guide to help you with this activity. Likewise, please be reminded that this article contains minor spoilers.

Hades 2 Nightmare and Oath of the Unseen guide

Our Hades 2 Nightmare and Oath of the Unseen guide is divided into several sections. We start off by discussing how to unlock the activity and various modifiers. We then talk about tips to help you with your runs, as well as the usage of the Nightmare material.

How to unlock the Oath of the Unseen activity

The Oath of the Unseen in Hades 2 is what you'll focus on much later in your playthrough. To unlock the Oath of the Unseen, you need to defeat Chronos at least once. This is a tall order given all the Guardian opponents that you must face along the way, not to mention how the Chronos battle is a bit overtuned. You can learn more about it in our boss guide.

Upon vanquishing your foe, you're told that more challenges await you. Head back to Melinoe's room and you'll notice that a tablet/altar has appeared between the steps leading to the Underworld and the Surface World.

The Testaments of Night system

Think of the Oath of the Unseen activity as the sequel's version of the Pact of Punishment from the first game. Meanwhile, the modifiers known as the Testaments of Night/Fear are akin to the Heat system. Here's what you need to know:

• The left side of the panel shows portraits of Guardian bosses. There's also an icon of a weapon, which is the type of armament that you should equip for your run.
• When planning your run, be sure to check where bosses are located (i.e. Underworld or Surface World).
• Each boss has a "Fear" value denoted by a skull icon. To increase it, you need to activate more modifiers.
• Some modifiers have multiple tiers/levels, which make the run more difficult (up to a maximum of 55 Fear).
• However, you don't need to activate everything. You can just go with the minimum value required when attempting to take out a specific boss.
• If you manage to defeat a boss, you'll receive a Nightmare material, which is used to upgrade your weapon aspects.

Testaments of Night modifiers - Which ones to pick and which ones to avoid

We've listed the Hades 2 Testaments of Night modifiers or vows that are currently available:

• Blood - Enemies +20/60/100% more damage.
• Dominance - Enemies have +10/20/30% more health.
• Rebuke - Enemies have +1/2 barrier defenses.
• Fury - Enemies are +20/40% faster.
• Suffering - In each encounter, the first hit you take deals +100/300% bonus damage.
• Commotion - Encounters have 20/40/60% more enemies.
• Haunting - Most slain foes have a 25/50% chance to become a revenant.
• Wandering - Most foes have a 10/25% chance to be from the next region/zone.
• Scars - Healing effects are 75/50/0% effective.
• Destitution - All items that cost gold are 40/80% more expensive.
• Panic - You enter each location with zero magick.
• Forsaking - After choosing a boon, the two you did not choose will no longer appear for the rest of your run.
• Bitterness - The first boon that appears in each region turns into a red onion (i.e. a useless item that only heals +1 HP).
• Arrogance - Whenever you choose a boon, you prime (i.e. lower) your maximum magick for 5/10 points for each rarity greater than common.
• Desperation - You have nine/seven/five minutes to complete each region, or else...
• Abandon - Nullify the benefits of 100% of your Arcana Cards.

The Hades 2 Oath of the Unseen activity is certainly more manageable if only a few modifiers are active. We suggest choosing the following:

• Rebuke - High-damage attacks, including Hephaestus blasts and Artemis shots/Icarus bombs are nullified by the barriers. However, you can just do a couple of fast attacks (or use multi-hit casts/procs) to remove an enemy's protective ward.
• Haunting - All hostiles (except bosses and those that spawn in boss fights) turn into little skull icons once slain. Just run to collect these so they don't get revived. Note that these hostiles will retain their armor/barrier if they respawn.
• Wandering - Assuming you have a decent build, you won't need to worry about mobs from another region.
• Panic - You can offset the lack of mana through various means, which we talk about in the next section.
• Forsaking - This can be a problem for longer runs, but there's a way to alleviate your first pick via the Concave Stone Keepsake.

These are the ones that we've come to dislike:

• Blood - Melinoe will just get annihilated so fast, so it's not worth the trouble.
• Desperation - The timer will continue counting down even in respite areas, such as fountains, NPC rooms, and Charon shops.
• Abandon - You'll definitely need perks from your Arcana Cards.

Oath of the Unseen: Best Nocturnal Arms, Keepsakes, and Arcana Cards

Best Nocturnal Arms weapons and aspects - This is mostly based on your preference, as well as what you need for a particular target. Just keep your fingers crossed that a boss doesn't require the Umbral Flames, which we consider as the most unwieldy weapon in the game.

Best Keepsakes - The aforementioned Concave Stone from Echo is the most ideal accessory to equip. You can offset the issue from the Vow of Forsaking (at least once), since it grants an extra boon. If you end up with two ideal blessings with synergy, then you're mostly set for the rest of your run. Alternatively, Schelemeus' Luckier Tooth is still viable for the extra Death's Defiance proc.

Best Arcana Cards - The usual picks--i.e. Sorceress, Wayward Son, Huntress, Furies, Titan, Eternity, Centaur, and Excellence. Combine these with Queen and Champions to alleviate issues with RNG.

Oath of the Unseen: Best Boons

We've got all the details in our best boons guide. Ideally, you should have:

• Attacks and specials: High-damage procs - Examples include Hephaestus' blasts or Artemis' Support Fire.
• Casts: Wide-area with crowd-control or nuke capabilities - Examples include Demeter's freeze, Apollo's solar explosion (omega cast), and Hestia's scorch stacking.
• Passive: Mana regeneration - Apollo's Lucid Gain and Poseidon's Fluid Gain are your best bets.
• Passive: Healing - Vampiric Cataclysm from the Daedalus Hammer (if you have the Witch's Staff equipped) or Phoenix Skin (duo boon from Apollo and Hestia) are the most helpful.

How to use the Hades 2 Nightmare material

Once you've defeated a target boss in Oath of the Unseen, you'll receive the Hades 2 Nightmare material. You'll then be able to use it to upgrade your weapon aspects.

At low ranks, aspects (i.e. Circe, Thanatos, Artemis, Pan, and the like) only require 1x Nightmare to be upgraded from level 1 to level 2. However, higher levels require 2x Nightmare or more.

Nightmare drops from bosses

Because you need a lot of Nightmare for weapon upgrades, you're likely to do more Oath of the Unseen runs. Again, just take note of the bosses that are shown on the tablet/altar, as well as the preferred weapon that you should equip. Choose the Fear modifiers that meet the requirements, then try your best with each attempt.

Other sources of Nightmare in Hades 2

You can also find Nightmare in Hades 2 via the following sources:

• Wretched Broker - As soon as you've collected at least one Nightmare material from the Oath of the Unseen, the Wretched Broker should have this for sale. You can buy 1x Nightmare for 1,000x Bones.
• Charon - The Ferryman of the Dead might have this item for sale. However, it's more likely to appear in his shop in Tartarus (i.e. the room just before the Chronos boss fight). It's also fairly expensive.
• Fated List - One objective, called "Melinoe, Help Us," requires you to locate the Three Fates. Your reward is 3x Nightmare.

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That does it for our Hades 2 Oath of the Unseen and Nightmare guide. We hope you're able to complete these challenges. Lastly, don't forget that there's another late-game activity called the Chaos Trials.

Hades 2 stars Melinoe, the Princess of the Underworld. This roguelike game promises challenging encounters as you keep retrying until you can have the perfect run. If you want more tips and tactics, you can head over to our guides hub.