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Scylla boss guide - Hades 2

Hades 2's Scylla boss fight is a big step up from what you've encountered so far.

Josh Broadwell

May 13, 2024 10:59 PM

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The Hades 2 Scylla boss fight is one of the biggest challenges you’ll face early in Supergiant’s roguelike game. This triple-act boss battle demands careful attention and a good grasp of how Melinoe’s skills work together.

Our Hades 2 Scylla boss guide explains how to beat Scylla and the Sirens, with a detailed breakdown of their moves and which Boons are your best chance of victory.

Hades 2 Scylla boss guide

Hades 2’s Scylla fight pits you against three characters with distinct attack patterns who share a health bar. A single target will, seemingly at random, become invulnerable at points throughout the fight, and Scylla has one last trick up her sleeve once she’s left solo on the stage. It’s a tough battle and a steep step up compared to the Hecate fight, but knowing what’s in store is almost literally half the battle.

Hades 2 Scylla first phase

The Scylla battle has two vaguely defined phases. The first one lasts for most of it, until you reduce the Sirens’ shared HP bar to about two-thirds its maximum value. You’ll face Scylla, Roxy the drummer, and Jetty the guitarist and then after reducing their HP bar by one-third of its maximum value, either Jetty or Roxy will drop out permanently.

Movement is more important than ever during this fight, as you can probably guess, and that means your cast plays an essential role. Use it to halt Scylla and Jetty’s movement, and if you have Boons that make enemies take greater damage in your cast, make sure to strike foes standing in your cast as often as possible.

If you're feeling particularly brave, you could lure Scylla and Jetty to the back of the arena near Roxy, use your omega cast, and then unleash as many powerful attacks as you can. The Moonfire Axe is a solid choice for that kind of strategy, though if you'd rather play it safe, stick to attacking a single Siren at a time and keeping your distance from the others.

Roxy’s attacks are the most dangerous and the most difficult to dodge, so I recommend attacking her any time she isn’t invulnerable. Jetty’s attacks are a nuisance, but they usually won’t be a deciding factor in whether you win the battle.

Scylla’s attacks

• Wail: Scylla uses a wail attack similar to the Wailers in Erebus, though it reaches further and wider.
• Crossbeam: Scylla fires four beams of light in a cross pattern, and they rotate. Stay far away from them, or move with them to avoid damage.
• Music note: Scylla launches a single orb of music at Melinoe. Make sure to outrun it.
• Ball wave: Scylla hurls an arc of sea urchins out in front of her. They spread as the arc progresses, so you can either dash through them or just walk through the gaps

Roxy’s attacks

Explosions: Roxy calls down explosive energy bolts that strike in circular areas of effect. They land in horizontally or vertically aligned lines that cover most of the arena, so the only way to dodge is by sprinting out of their area and continuing to do so until Roxy stops.

Jetty’s attacks

• Soundwave: Jetty fires sonic blasts at Melinoe. These deal no damage, but they immobilize you, which is, naturally, not a good thing if Scylla is nearby or Roxy is doing her thing.

Hades 2 Scylla second phase

The second phase starts when Roxy and Jetty both take a bow, so to speak, and are no longer active in the fight. Scylla’s attacks remain the same, with one exception: She’ll summon large schools of small fish that swarm you and attack. Omega casts are the easiest way to deal with them.

Otherwise, keep up your attack on Scylla, and you’ll see the curtain fall on her soon enough.

Best weapons for Scylla fight

The short answer is “whichever weapon you can beat them with.” With three enemies after you, all using different attack patterns, the important thing is to just choose a weapon you’re comfortable with. I managed my first two victories with Melinoe’s starting weapon, the staff, thanks to a combination of strong casts, Hecate’s Keepsake, and frequent use of the staff’s omega attack – a move that damages all foes in a straight line.

Your Boon choices will matter much more than your weapon for the Scylla boss fight. That said, the one I’ve almost never stood a chance with is the Umbral Flames. Their attack speed is pretty different from Melinoe’s other weapons, so it’s easier to mistime your attacks and miss or take damage instead. 

Best Boons for Scylla fight

Taking damage in the Scylla fight is the easiest thing to do, so any of Aphrodite’s weakness-causing Boons are essential. Demeter’s freeze Boons also make your task a bit easier, as the status slows affected foes down – handy, when you’re dealing with three fast-moving enemies at once. 

Artemis’ marking Boons make foes take more damage, and Hephaestus’ Volcanic boons add explosion damage to your weapons. Get any of those that you can. Apollo’s Super Nova boon makes your cast area bigger, so that’s another one to keep an eye out for. The usefulness of Hestia’s boons depends on who you ask, but given the number of times you’ll be whacking foes in this fight, it’s pretty easy to build scorch stacks and deal a fair amount of damage. Soot Sprint also made the fight a bit less hectic for me. This Boon destroys nearby projectiles when you sprint, and there’s no shortage of projectiles here.

Whatever you choose, make sure to upgrade your cast if you can. It’s incredibly useful in this fight, so any Boons that increase its attack power or speed the omega cast’s charge time are essential.

Hera’s Hitch boon is also a popular choice, since it tags enemies with a curse effect that distributes damage to all cursed foes when you hit just one of them. The process of unlocking Hera is, well, a process. It’s not something you can do until Hecate gives you access to the overworld, an event that only happens after several runs through the underworld. 

Still, Hera’s Boon is worth bearing in mind when you head back into the depths later for future runs.

Best Keepsakes for Scylla fight

Scylla’s positioning as the second boss makes picking keepsakes a bit tricky, but there are a few that stand out for this boss fight. Odysseus’ Bone Knuckles is as useful here as it is in the Hecate fight, since it reduces any Guardian foe’s HP and reduces the damage you take from them.

Schelemeus’ Lucky Tooth is another easy-to-recommend Keepsake. The Lucky Tooth acts like a super-powered Death Defiance and restores 51 HP when Melinoe’s health reaches 0. It doesn’t interfere with Death Defiance either, so assuming you have that tarot card activated, you’ll have a second burst of life after Melinoe falls in battle.

Hecate’s Silver Wheel is useful in early runs, since it lets you use magic pretty much as much as you want. I don’t recommend it once you have more experience under your belt, though, as you’ll need its restorative effects later. Instead, make sure to have the Unseen tarot card activated, so you restore magic naturally.

For more help in the Underworld, check out our Hades 2 beginner guide with some tips you might've missed and our list of every Hades 2 arcana card plus what they do.

Josh Broadwell

Contributing Editor

Josh is a freelance writer and reporter who specializes in guides, reviews, and whatever else he can convince someone to commission. You may have seen him on NPR, IGN, Polygon, or VG 24/7 or on Twitter, shouting about Trails. When he isn’t working, you’ll likely find him outside with his Belgian Malinois and Australian Shepherd or curled up with an RPG of some description.