Jump Links
In a lot of popular fantasy media, witch characters and similar spellcasters are often portrayed with some manner of animal familiar. I’m sure there’s some historical/mythological precedent for it, but I just think it makes for good optics. What’s more magical than a cute little critter that does your bidding for you? Well, maybe a cute little critter that also provides practical services, like the Animal Familiars in Hades 2.
After you progress a decent ways into Hades 2’s story, you’ll be able to unlock Animal Familiars for Melinoe, allowing her to take a little critter into the fray with her. There are five different animal familiars to unlock, each with generally useful abilities and little perks to your stats. You can also upgrade each familiar to improve one of their abilities, and those little boosts might just make all the difference on an otherwise scuffed run.
Also, before you ask, yes, you can pet them.
Unlocking Familiars
Before you can start unlocking and using Animal Familiars, you’ll first need to unlock the actual feature itself, which you accomplish via a particular incantation. To add this incantation, Faith of Familiar Spirits, to your cauldron, you need to meet two requirements: you need to have defeated Hecate in Erebus at least five times, and you need to have performed 2 gatherings with the Crescent Pick, 2 with the Silver Shovel, and 1 with the Tablet of Peace, which naturally requires having unlocked all three of these tools as well.
Once the incantation appears in your cauldron menu, you can perform it with 1 Lotus from Oceanus and 2 bottles of Nectar. The first time you perform this incantation, you’ll also receive a Witch’s Delight, a little cookie necessary for both recruiting and upgrading familiars.
After you’ve spent at least two Witch’s Delights, you’ll unlock another incantation, Attending a Faithful Beast. For a Tear from Infernal Cerberus and 3 Olives grown from Olive Branches, you rest with familiars in the Training Grounds to harvest resources. After three Witch’s Delights are spent, you’ll unlock the third incantation, Bravery of Familiar Spirits.
For 1 piece of Wool from Polyphemus and 3 Wheat grown from Wheat Seeds, you can spend additional Witch’s Delights to upgrade your familiars’ abilities. Each familiar can receive up to 9 extra Witch’s Delights to unlock and improve special abilities. You can obtain more Witch’s Delights by performing the Alchemy incantation Beast-Loved Morsel, which costs 1 Star Dust and 1 Nectar.
Finding And Upgrading Frinos The Toad
Your first Animal Familiar will be your good friend, Frinos the toad, who’s always there to greet you in Melinoe’s tent after a run. Once you make your first Witch’s Delight from Faith of Familiar Spirits, just mosey on over to Frinos’ perch and feed it to him, and he’ll be ready for action. He’s always got your back; that’s why Frinos is certified best boy.
When you bring Frinos into a run with you, your max health increases by 10, you’re 10% more likely to find Lost Shades out and about, and he’ll jump around and deal minor damage to any enemy he lands on. In addition to those little perks, Frinos has two vital abilities: first, he’ll automatically absorb most enemy projectiles, allowing him to focus as a mobile shield. Second, if you find any Lost Shades, he can automatically compel them for you, netting you Psyche without needing to do the little mini-game.
Upgrading Frinos with additional Witch’s Delights will unlock and improve the following three abilities:
|
Life Bond |
Gain 20/30/40/80 more max health. |
|---|---|
|
Soul Bond |
Lost Shades are 13/16/19% more likely to appear. |
|
Drive Bond |
Frinos deals 10/20/30 extra damage when leaping onto enemies. |
Finding And Upgrading Toula The Cat
Our second animal companion is Toula the cat, an important staple of any self-respecting witch’s magical menagerie. Before you can find Toula, you need to progress the game in a couple of specific ways. First, you’ll need to have caught at least one fish using the Rod of Fishing.
Second, you need to cast the incantation Woodsy Lifespring, which unlocks the fountain room in Erebus. In this fountain room, you have a chance of meeting Toula for the first time, though you won’t be able to recruit her just yet. After this, venture to the surface and fight your way past Polyphemus to the Rift of Thessaly. Before starting the area, look for Toula on the pier to the left, and you’ll be able to recruit her with a Witch’s Delight.
With Toula in your corner, you’ll receive an extra instance of Death Defiance, and all Death Defiances will restore 10 more health than usual. Toula’s presence also increases the likelihood of fishing spots appearing, which she can handle for you in the same way Frinos handles Lost Shades, and if you sprint near her, Toula will strike at nearby enemies several times, though she’ll swiftly lose interest afterward.
Upgrading Toula with additional Witch’s Delights will unlock and improve the following three abilities:
|
Heart Bond |
Death Defiance restores 20/30/40 more health than usual. |
|---|---|
|
Sense Bond |
Fishing spots are 20/25/30% more likely to appear. |
|
Claw Bond |
Toula slashes at nearby enemies 4/5/6 times. |
Finding And Upgrading Raki The Raven
Third up on the docket is Raki the Raven, another classic piece of witchy iconography. No matter the time or place, nothing says “mysterious spellcaster” like a raven perched on your shoulder. If you’ve already opened up the fountain room in Erebus for Toula, then you’re on the right track for finding Raki.
When you enter the Erebus fountain room, there’s a chance Raki will appear. The first time you talk to him, he’ll fly away, and you’ll have to find him again in a subsequent run. He’ll fly away again, but if you can find him in one more run, you’ll finally be able to recruit him with a Witch’s Delight.
Raki’s abilities are great for those who like to build up critical hits. While he’s your wingman, all damage you do will have a passive 1% chance to be critical, and he’ll also swoop down on enemies to peck at them, dealing minor damage and inflicting Marked, increasing their chances of taking critical damage for a short time. As an added perk, Raki’s presence increases the likelihood of material Outcroppings like silver veins appearing, and he’ll harvest them for you instead of making you do the mini-game.
Upgrading Raki with additional Witch’s Delights will unlock and improve the following three abilities:
|
Vision Bond |
All damage you deal is 2/3/4/8% more likely to be critical. |
|---|---|
|
Stone Bond |
Outcroppings are 13/16/19% more likely to appear. |
|
Wing Bond |
Raki will attack and Mark foes every 7-8/5-6/3-4 seconds. |
Finding And Upgrading Hecuba The Hound
Our penultimate Animal Familiar is another familiar face: Hecuba the Hound, one of Hecate’s own faithful companions. You’ve probably seen her and her buddy Gale in the Crossroads, but since she’s Hecate’s, you’ll need to get her permission before you can actually recruit her.
Before that, you’ll need to meet some progression requirements: you need to have attempted at least 12 runs, you need to have spent at least three Witch’s Delights, and you need to have unlocked Bravery of Familiar Spirits. With those settled, Hecuba will start appearing in Echo’s room in the Fields of Mourning, though only if Nemesis isn’t present.
To actually get Hecate’s permission, you’ll need to meet a few more requirements: you need to talk to Hecuba at least twice in the Fields of Mourning and talk to Hecate about it, you need to have recruited all three previous familiars and used each of their abilities in a run at least once, and you need to have upgraded all three familiars at least once each. With all that settled, Hecate will give her blessing, and the next time you encounter Hecuba, you can recruit her with a Witch’s Delight.
Hecuba’s presence on a run will increase your maximum Magick by 10%, as well as increase the likelihood of Digging Spots appearing, which she can dig up for you. Hecuba will also periodically stun all enemies in her radius for a moment. Arguably her most useful ability is that, when you have less than 51% health or 70% Magick, she’ll dig up a small health or Magick-restoring item for you. This ability does have a cooldown, though, so don’t take it for granted.
Upgrading Hecuba with additional Witch’s Delights will unlock and improve the following three abilities:
|
Spirit Bond |
Increases your max Magick by 30/45/60/120. |
|---|---|
|
Earth Bond |
Digging Spots are 13/16/19% more likely to appear. |
|
Guard Bond |
Hecuba stuns nearby enemies every 7-8/6-7/5-6 seconds. |
Finding And Upgrading Gale The Polecat
Our final Animal Familiar is another critter you’ve met before, Hecate’s other minion, Gale the Polecat. Like with Hecuba, you’re going to need Hecate’s permission for Gale to join up. The good news is that if you’ve already jumped through the hoops to recruit Hecuba, you’re already most of the way there toward getting permission for Gale, as the requirements are largely the same.
The only difference is that you’ll need to encounter and talk to Gale a couple of times in Charon’s Shop on Mount Olympus on the surface, right before fighting Prometheus. After you’ve interacted with Gale twice, talk to Hecate in the Crossroads, and she’ll give you the go-ahead. Next time you encounter Gale, give her a Witch’s Delight, and she’s on board.
With Gale on your side, both your movement speed and your chance to automatically dodge attacks passively increases by a small percentage. Gale also increases the chances of Flora spawns like Moss and Shaderot. If you’re in danger of taking fatal damage, Gale will take the hit for you up to 3 times per region, dealing 250 damage to whoever swung at you. This ability is on a 30-second cooldown, so try not to die too fast.
Upgrading Gale with additional Witch’s Delights will unlock and improve the following three abilities:
|
Veil Bond |
Dodge chance and movement speed are increased by 4/5/6/12%. |
|---|---|
|
Nature Bond |
Flora is 13/16/19% more likely to appear. |
|
Wild Bond |
Gale’s counter move deals 300/350/400 damage to the attacker. |
- Security Camera Installation – indoor/outdoor IP CCTV systems & video analytics
- Access Control Installation – key card, fob, biometric & cloud‑based door entry
- Business Security Systems – integrated alarms, surveillance & access control
- Structured Cabling Services – voice, data & fiber infrastructure for new or existing builds
- Video Monitoring Services – 24/7 remote surveillance and analytics monitoring
Author: 360 Technology Group
