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There are a couple of things helping Zag run away from home like Boons from Gods on Olympus, Weapons of Ancient Heroes (if they’ve been upgraded with enough Titan’s Blood), and even Gifts from Chaos itself. But, one of the most crucial aspects of Hades is the Keepsake system. It’s one of the many systems that has, quite frankly, contributed to Hades’ overall impact on the roguelike genre overall. There are a ton of Keepsakes in the game, and it takes a long time to unlock them all, but here’s how we think they stack up comparatively from worst to best

Updated August 18th, 2021, by Jacob Buchalter: Finally, Sony and Microsoft dedicated gamers can experience the bliss that is Supergiant’s iconic game, Hades, and without even having to wait for a sequel. That’s not all, soon enough, players will even be able to get their very own Hades-themed controller!

To be more specific, the “buried-in-awards” roguelike sensation of 2020-2021 is now on all mainline consoles, not just the Nintendo Switch. And, even better, it’s part of Xbox Game Pass as well, though there have been a few issues reported so far. In any case, with so many new players flooding in, it seemed like a good time to take a look back at this list of Keepsakes and touch it up a tad. Disclaimer: Some of the Keepsakes on this include pretty big story spoilers, so those who don’t have every single Keepsake slot unlocked, be careful reading further.

18 Orpheus: The Distant Memory

Starting things off with a controversial pick, it’s the gift from the minstrel of House Hades, Orpheus himself. Here’s the thing about Distant Memory and why it’s on the bottom of this list despite it seemingly having a good ability; Zagreus does more damage to “distant” enemies with this thing equipped, which is nice, but how exactly far away is “distant?” How can players tell how distant they are to each and every enemy, and why isn’t there some indicator on the screen when Zagreus is “distant” enough from the enemy he’s aiming at.

Just put a mostly transparent circle beneath Zagreus to show that anything outside of it qualifies as distant, and the Keepsake immediately becomes way better, but as of now, it’s just so massively outclassed.

17 Megara: The Skull Earring

The Skull Earring is the equivalent of the Red Tearstone Ring from the Dark Souls games. Basically, at low health, Zag will do a bunch more damage. Specifically, at 30% or below, Zag will do up to 40% more damage total based on the level of the Keepsake.

This gift from Megara is actually pretty insane when paired with certain builds or Boons like Dionysus’ “Positive Outlook” Boon that reduces damage taken at 40% health or lower. But, otherwise, it’s just a slight buff for the moments right before players end up using a Death Defiance or for speedrunners running through the game on Hell Mode.

16 Dusa: The Harpy Feather Duster

This is another Keepsake that players likely relied upon heavily in the early game, as it’s pretty useful before a lot of the other Keepsakes are unlock. The duster from Dusa the Gorgon essentially makes it so that every Urn Zag breaks has a chance to contain a healing item. But, the healing in these urns is the “Food” item that only restores like 10 health, and even at max level, it’s only a 6% chance. Granted, there are quite a lot of Urns to break in each run, but not quite enough to make up for that low number.

Like previously mentioned, when Zag only has like 50 max health in the early game, finding a 10 HP healing item randomly can make a big difference. But, once Zag has 100+ starting health, this is way less noticeable and a lot of the other Keepsakes become more viable options.

15 Achilles: The Myrmidon Bracer

The Myrmidon Bracer is a generous gift from Zagreus’ teacher, close friend, and legendary warrior, Achilles. It’s another fantastic Keepsake for the early game when players haven’t unlocked/invested enough into the Mirror of Night to give themselves some survivability.

This bracer reduces the damage Zag takes from the front by up to 30%, but it increases damage taken from the back by 10%. So, as long as the Prince faces problems head-on, he’ll be a bit tanker, which is pretty crucial for heavy damage and slow Aspects, such as the Aspect of Gilgamesh. It’s not even bad once all the other Keepsakes are unlocked either, but why waste the one Keepsake slot Zagreus has when there are Boons that he can find to reduce overall damage taken instead?

14 Sisyphus & Bouldy: The Shattered Shackle

The Shattered Shackle is a bit of an odd case. From the description alone, it seems like an incredibly powerful Keepsake, but it’s very difficult to use to its fullest potential.

This gift from Sisyphus empowers Zag’s Attack, Special, and Cast by a large percentage as long as these abilities aren’t at all empowered by a God Boon. Once Zagreus gets a Boon that adds an extra effect to his attack, this Keepsake no longer buffs his Attack, but still buffs his Special and Cast.

Now, an 80% damage increase at max rank is pretty substantial, but it’s just so rare to go through the game without buffing your Attack, Special, or Cast in some way with Boons. Essentially, it feels like the intended purpose of this Keepsake is to help players get through the early parts of Tartarus quicker until they get Boons and switch over to a different Keepsake at the next checkpoint between Underworld realms.

13 Hypnos: The Chthonic Coin Purse

Ah, the Coin Purse full of Obol given to the Prince of the Underworld by Hypnos, the incarnation of sleep. Remember, though, that it only gives Zag a chunk of cash once per run, so re-equipping it at a rest point or keeping it equipped from Tartarus to Asphodel does nothing.

That said, using it for the first level then switching off of it, similar to the Shattered Shackle isn’t a bad tactic at all, as it allows players to buy most everything from Charon’s shop whenever it pops up. Or, they can use it after losing a Death Defiance so they can afford another one from the Well of Charon.

12 Patroclus: The Broken Spearpoint

The Broken Spearpoint is a perfect example of a niche Keepsake, as it seems pretty useful at first, but is really only incredible in super-specific situations. The Spearpoint is in Zag’s care thanks to Patroclus in Elysium, and it simply extends the time players are invulnerable after taking damage.

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This Keepsake-enhanced invulnerability maxes out at 1.5 seconds, but the refresh time is the real downside. A 7-second cooldown is pretty harsh. Still, it’s a Keepsake that can be a lifesaver during the final boss fight or some of the Extreme Measures Pact of Punishment runs. encounters.

11 Chaos: The Cosmic Egg

The Cosmic Egg might as well be considered one of the God Keepsakes that this list will be touching on later, but since it works a tad differently and Chaos isn’t an Olympus God, it gets a separate entry. The two main differences between this egg and the God Keepsakes are:

It usually costs a chunk of health to enter Chaos Gates, but, with this equipped, it’s free. What’s more, the God Keepsakes at max rank increase the chance of Rare boons being offered by 20%, but the Cosmic Egg increases the chance of Rare Chaos Blessings by a whopping 40% at Max Rank.

So, if it wasn’t clear by now, this egg absolutely has a ton of worth.

10 Charon: The Bone Hourglass

Charon is one of the fan-favorite characters of Hades, and it’s easy to see why. Charon does it all, he’s a boss fight, a merchant, a Keepsake Companion, an integral story character, and he even has Wells of Charon placed all over Tartarus that Zagreus can buy temporary buffs from.

These buffs range from attack increases, spawning more fishing spots, to even absurdly useful stuff like replenishing a Death Defiance. Needless to say, this Well is useful, and the Bone Hourglass simply increases the duration of all items purchased from said Well by 8 encounters at max level.

9 Nyx: The Black Shawl

The Black Shawl is a gift from Night itself—Mother Night, to be exact. Nyx (a real fan-favorite “God”-type being) was the original entity in charge of Tartarus, but, once Hades arrived, he took over, and they worked out a partnership in cohabitation. Oh, and she also raised Zag in lew of Persephone

Basically, using this Shawl causes Zagreus to do deal additional damage to undamaged foes and enemies he attacks from behind. This happens a lot more than players might think it does, and it absolutely comes in handy, especially at the 20% extra Rank 3 provides.

8 Hades: The Sigil Of The Dead

Disclaimer: Slight late-game Hades spoiler

This Sigil, which is given to Zagreus by his own father Hades, is a unique Keepsake as it actually lets Zagreus start off with a Boon—a Call, to be exact. Calls are abilities from Gods gained from Boons that are similar to “Supers” in a fighting game.

The Call itself that Sigil provides isn’t amazing, as it turns Zagreus invisible very briefly, but its Greater Call that turns him “Unseen” for sure is, since it lasts longer, lets Zag move faster, and even gives him bonus damage while it’s active. That said, it does sort of restrict players from getting some of the better Olympic God Call Aid Boons, so it couldn’t go too high on this list.

7 Thanatos: The Pierced Butterfly

The Pierced Butterfly is actually incredibly similar to the Lambent Plume (which is just a bit higher up on this list); both Keepsakes slowly give the player extra stats depending on how their run goes, and, while clearing a room quickly for the Plume is a tad difficult, it’s not exceedingly so.

But, clearing a room without taking a single bit of damage? That’s way tougher. Yet, if players manage to do this, they’ll get an additional buff to their total damage depending on the Pierced Butterfly’s Rank. This gift from Thanatos is obviously meant for those elite players who know the game in and out, the type of people who can basically play the game with their eyes closed.

6 Persephone: The Pom Blossom

Disclaimer: Slight late-game Hades spoiler

Alright, it’s been long enough since Hades came out, and the game’s story is based on one of the most well-known Greek Mythos, so let’s just say it, the Pom Blossom Keepsake is given to Zagreus by his very own mother, Persephone.

But, this isn’t a Keepsake Zag gets the first time he makes it up to the surface and talks to his mother, no, he only gets it after she comes down to the Underworld. With so much effort to unlock, it only makes sense that this Keepsake is insanely useful. To better explain how it works, after clearing a certain amount of encounters, the Pom Blossom will level up a random Boon Zagreus currently has, and it will keep doing this every time that threshold is crossed. At first, this occurs every six encounters, but, by max level, it’s every four.

And, when combined with certain other Boons that either increase the rarity or level of future Boons, this becomes one of the strongest Keepsakes in the game.

5 Eurydice: The Evergreen Acorn

The Evergreen Acorn was the bread-and-butter Keepsake for most players when trying to take on papa Hades for the first couple of times. It’s gifted to Zagreus from Eurydice, the immaculately designed oak nymph trapped in Asphodel.

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And, once it activates during every boss fight for an Underworld Realm, such as the Megara or Lernie encounters, this Acorn absorbs the first couple of hits Zag takes completely free-of-charge. Even at level 1, this thing is useful, as it blocks three entire hits, ramping up to 5 at level three.

4 The Keepsakes Of Olympus

This might seem odd since this entry is sort of bunching a ton of different Keepsakes into one, but the reason for that is they all essentially do the same thing. Every God that Zagreus ranks his Bond up enough (by showering them with Nectar) with will give him a Keepsake that forces their Boon to be the next one they encounter when equipped, as well as passively increases the chances of that specific God’s Boons being of higher rarity.

These Keepsakes, such as the Frostbitten Horn or Blood-Filled Vial, all need to be leveled up individually. But, players can basically pick the one tied to their favorite God’s Boons and just use that one exclusively, or instead switch between them at the checkpoints in between realms to try and get specific Boons to appear that synergize with their current build.

But be wary, as they can only “force” a specific God’s Boon to appear next once per run, and, after that, keeping it equipped only gives the passive rarity bonus.

3 Skelly: The Lucky Tooth

Anyone who has played Hades for at least a few hours immediately likely knows just how insanely useful the Lucky Tooth is. This Keepsake is a present from Skelly, the Training Dummy (and hilarious compatriot) that hangs out near the Infernal Arms.

Basically, this hunk of enamel gives Zagreus one additional “Death Defiance” that saves him from dying and ending a run.

2 Hermes: The Lambent Plume

The Lambent Plume is the only Keepsake given to Zagreus by an Olympus God that isn’t in the “Keepsakes of Olympus” category. Instead of forcing Boons to appear or buffing rarity, this feather gives Zag both Dodge Chance and Move Speed for every encounter cleared within a certain time limit. If a player uses it all the way until the end of a run, they can net an astounding 30%+ Move Speed and Dodge Chance, which is mind-boggling.

It’s the epitome of low-risk, high-reward, so tossing Hermes some of that sweet nectar as soon as possible to unlock this quicker is highly recommended. Hermes is a surprising character overall, as he’s a lot more mysterious than his jovial personality would make him seem.

1 Cerberus: The Old Spiked Collar

Ending things right at the tippy top is man’s best friend—well, immortal man’s best friend with three heads. That’s right, this is the Keepsake Zag gets from Cerberus, and it’s useful in literally every situation.

The Old Spiked Collar does one thing and one thing extremely well: gives bonus max health. While this Keepsake is equipped, Zag’s Max Health will increase by 25, 38, and finally 50 at max level. It’s perfect for runs where players get a ton of damage boons but no Centaur Hearts.

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