All Animal Companions (and How to Unlock, Upgrade and Use Them)

When Melinoe fights his way into the underworld in Hades 2she will encounter several animal companions who can help her defeat the Titan of Time and save her family. These animals can fight alongside her in battle, farm for better materials, and provide Melinoe herself with passive buffs.

But Melinoe can only bring one familiar with her during each of her runs through the surface or underworld. Players must choose their favorite companion wisely and learn which ones will best compliment their current build or which familiars will help them collect much needed materials.

Updated by Christopher Ng on October 18, 2024: The Olympic update brought two new familiars – Raki the Raven and Hecuba the Hound – to help Melinoe. This guide has been updated to include instructions on how to unlock these two new animal companions and diagrams of their unique skills.

Unlock familiars in Hades 2

A few steps to finish first

Melinoë must cast a spell at the cauldron at the crossroads to unlock familiars. Specifically, the player will need Faith of Familiar Spirit's spell. To unlock this spell, players must prioritize each gathering equipment and use it at least twice. Once that is done, Melinoe must defeat Hecate. If done correctly, Hecate will have a dialogue with Melinoe before the familiar battle.

After returning to the Crossroads, interact with the pot to find the spell. To cast this spell, Melinoe needs 2x nectar and 1x Lotus flower. To find Nectar, look for rooms that have the Nectar symbol on them, or buy it for 50 bones from the Wretched Broker. Lotus flowers can be found in various rooms throughout Oceanus. After casting Faith of familiar spiritsMelinoe will get 1 Witch's Delight. Give this treat to an animal, and they will join Melinoe on her future runs as a familiar.

IN hades 2, players have 4 animal companions to choose from – Frinos, Toula, Raki and Hecuba. Each one represents a different material that Melinoe can collect during his adventures in the underworld or surface. As a result, choosing the best familiar to go after a specific material will not only increase the likelihood of that material appearing, but it will also bypassing the need to play a minigame to collect that material. For example, Toula makes fishing easier and more likely to appear. If Melinoe is fishing while Toula is with her, Toula will automatically catch the fish instead of letting the player go through the minigame.

Frinos the frog

Loves eating projectiles and finding psyche

Frinos can be found near Melinoe's tent. Not only can he increase Melinoe's maximum HP, but he can also be used to block projectiles. This is especially useful against Hecate as Frinos can eat the polymorphing curse.

Toula the cat

An extra life and more fish

After casting the Woodsy Lifespring Incantation, Melinoe will encounter Toula in the Erebus Fountain Room. After interacting with her, Toula will disappear from Erebus and reappear later on the surface.

Start a surface race, defeat Polyphemus in Ephyra and head into the pier area. Before jumping into the exit, look out for Toula on the far left of the pier. Give her a Witch's Delight and she will join Melinoe as a familiar.

Raki Korpen

More hacking, more mining and more chalks

Raki is in fountain room at the crossroads. Go past the fountain, and there will be a white raven to the left of the path just before the exits. The first time Melinoe talks to Raki will make Raki disappear.

After that run, jump into another Underworld run until Melinoe comes over fountain room in Erebus with Raki in. Raki will disappear once more after Melinoe interacts with it. In the next Underworld run, find the fountain room one more time in Erebus, and Raki will have the opportunity to bond with Melinoe. Give the adorable white raven a Witch's Delight, and it will join Melinoe as a familiar.

Hecuba the Dog

Larger magic pool and plenty of digging for seeds

To find Hecuba, go to the underworld and find Echo in the Fields of Mourning. Follow the path towards the exit, and Hecuba will sometimes be waiting near the exit doors. Be sure not to miss the adorable dog – her black fur makes her blend into the floor.

Talk to Hecuba and she will disappear. Repeat this process and level up the other familiars in Crossroads until Hecate has an exclamation point above her head. Talk to the titan, and she will allow the recruitment of her familiars – Hecuba and Gale – by “Shared familiar bonds“condition.

Jump into another Underworld round, find Hecuba again in the Fields of Mourning, and this time Melinoe will have the opportunity to give Hecuba a treat. Give the faithful dog a Witch's Delight, and she will join Melinoe as a familiar.

While the Shared Familiar Bonds state allows Melinoe to recruit both Gale and Hecuba to her side as familiars, at the time of writing this guide, Gale the polecat is currently not in the game.

Upgrade Familiars In Hades 2

Magical cookies for your favorite animal companions

To upgrade a familiar, approach it in Crossroads. To upgrade the familiar ride with Melinoe, go over to the familiar's location in the training area and tell it to rest. From there, give the familiar a Witch's Delight to upgrade one of its skills to the next rank.

To create more Witch's Delight, use Beast-loved morsel alchemy recipe at the cauldron. This recipe can be used when Melinoe has cast the Faith of Familiar Spirits spell. The ingredient that can be a little hard to find is Star Dust. To get it, throw Abyssal Night Incantationwhich can be obtained from Chaos at the Crossroads near the Pitch-Block Stone. Alternatively, Star Dust can be obtained by completing Chaos Trials, or purchased from the broker for 600 Bones.