How to Defeat Hecate and Get Cinder in Hades 2

Cinder is an important resource in Hades 2 and will be required to unlock certain weapons and Arcana Cards. It may not be immediately obvious how to find it, however, so here’s how to gather Cinder in Hades 2.

How to Obtain Cinder in Hades 2

Cinder can be found after defeating the first Erebus Boss in Hades 2. So, to obtain it, you will need to defeat Hecate. Every time you defeat Melinoe’s mentor, she will leave behind a piece of Cinder that you must pick up before you leave, and as you progress through the game, you should build up a tidy stockpile.

How to Defeat Hecate in Hades 2

Hecate can be an intimidating boss because of the sheer number of projectiles she can throw at you, but stay calm, and you’ll find she’s pretty easy to predict. She will usually start with her ring attack, which will expand outwards from her before contracting and is easily dodged over. She will then split into 3, with only the real Hecate being vulnerable to damage. There are a few different spells these clones can cast: the expanding ring again, a spinning flamethrower, and a stream of projectiles. These are all fairly easy to dodge, but you will want to try and find the real Hecate quickly and get some damage in.

After a few moments, Hecate will dismiss her clones and run into close range with you to send off wide fireblasts, sometimes 2 at a time. If you can manage to keep to her back, these can be avoided entirely while you get some hits in, but be careful not to miss when she turns around under all the flashing effects. Sometimes, however, she will fire a stream of smaller blasts that then return, in which case it’s best to just get distance and go back in when they disappear.

Then comes the “channeling” phase, where Hecate will teleport into the center with an impenetrable shield. She will begin summoning blasts on the ground as well as some small shades, which you will have to kill, after which she will return to her close-range fireblast behavior. From the second round of this, you’ll need to watch out, as Hecate will send out a seeking hex that transforms you into a sheep if it hits. If you dodge through it enough times, you should be able to last until it disappears, but otherwise, you’ll have to dodge bullets and blasts in a slower sheep form. Don’t panic, and keep using your dash. You should be alright until it wears off, after which you can kill the shades as usual.

As for useful boons, the standout is Hestia’s Soot Sprint, which will allow you to destroy projectiles by sprinting through them, damaging the sender at the same time. Her damaging abilities are also useful, especially if you have a fast weapon, as you can stack up scorch to do damage even as you’re dodging in and out.

Since Hecate stands still a lot, damaging Cast boons like Zeus’s can also work, although they are less useful against the little shades. Finally, Hephaestus’ damage boons like Volcanic Strike can help you get a good chunk of damage in short windows.

How to use Cinder in Hades 2

As an ingredient, Cinder is mostly used for Incantations like the “Permeation of Witching Wards” or “Consecration of Ashes,” but it is also needed to unlock the Umbral Flames weapon. Certain Arcana Cards will require it, too, such as the Centaur card, which can grant you slowly increasing maximum health and focus.

If you’re still struggling to defeat Hecate, check out our guides on how to increase Grasp and obtain Ash, which can be used to improve the passive bonuses of your Arcana Cards.

Hades 2 is available in Early Access for PC via Steam and the Epic Game Store.