Hades

Dionysus, Drunken Strike

Dionysus' Drunken Strike inflicts Hangover (4 damage / 0.5 seconds, for 4 Seconds) with a stack limit of 5. This boon is in a difficult spot: high-frequency attacks can waste stacks, while low-frequency attacks have better alternatives. While a hit-and-run dash strike with Stygius could work early on, other weapons and boons offer more immediate benefits.

Aphrodite, Heartbreak Strike

Aphrodite's Heartbreak Strike offers a +50% damage increase and applies Weak, the game's best debuff, reducing incoming damage by 30%. It's viable on nearly any weapon, especially the Heart-Seeking Bow, Stygian Blade, Eternal Spear, and Shield of Chaos. It's a favorite for the Stygius Aspect of Arthur, Coronacht Aspect of Chiron, and Coronacht Aspect of Hera. The Weak effect's 3-second duration and inability to stack multiple times on one enemy make it 'low-frequency,' but its strength makes it excellent for spamming attacks. Securing Sweet Surrender and Broken boons enhances its effectiveness. Aphrodite's Legendary boon, Unhealthy Fixation, adds a 15% chance for a Charm effect, synergizing well with high-frequency attacks by increasing Charm activation chances. Heartbreak Strike is viable on any weapon, but its suitability depends on whether it's the best boon for your specific build.

Ares, Curse of Agony

Ares' Curse of Agony deals 50 damage after 1 second via Doom. It's a viable option for the Heart-Seeking Bow (unless using Flurry Shot) for players prioritizing pure damage over Weak. However, it's difficult to justify on weapons with repeating or combination attacks due to poor stacking without supplementary boons. This limits its viability primarily to the Bow and Shield of Chaos, where it competes with the superior Heartbreak Strike. Curse of Agony struggles to be a primary damage source against sturdy bosses and lacks utility beyond damage.

Artemis, Deadly Strike

Artemis' Deadly Strike provides +20% damage with a 15% chance for a critical hit. It's generally adequate for any weapon or situation but not exceptional for any. It increases damage output without stack limit concerns but lacks specialized benefits for broader strategies or shoring up build weaknesses. Deadly Strike is a suitable choice if your current run has boon options that don't synergize well with your weapon.

Athena, Divine Strike

Athena's Divine Strike offers +40% damage and Deflects projectiles. Deflection is valuable for projectile defense, but Divine Strike isn't always the best method. It's theoretically best on a melee weapon with a broad-sweeping attack, making the Shield of Chaos the most compatible weapon for its knockback and projectile deflection capabilities. It's also usable on Stygius and the Eternal Spear's sweeping dash-strike. While rarely bad, it's often a fourth-best option. Divine Strike is particularly viable, though not the best, for the Stygius hidden Aspect of Arthur and the Twin Fists hidden Aspect of Gilgamesh, allowing comfortable close-quarters combat without projectile fear.

Poseidon, Tempest Strike

Poseidon's Tempest Strike provides +30% damage and Knockback. Knockback skills are generally not useful in boss fights, complicate aiming for ranged weapons, and push enemies out of melee range. The Wave Pounding boon can add extra boss damage to knockback attacks, but the core mechanic is often seen as less useful.

Zeus, Thunder Flourish

This boon adds a lightning bolt dealing 30 damage to your Special attack. It concentrates area-of-effect damage on primary targets and synergizes well with the Shield of Chaos, especially the Aspect of Zeus. You can place a lightning bolt dispenser in the middle of chambers or at choke points and then focus on your Attack and Cast techniques. The flat damage also works well with most aspects of the Heart-Seeking Bow (except Aspect of Chiron), providing damage in early-game encounters when durability is low.

Demeter, Frost Flourish

Frost Flourish adds +60% damage and the Chill status effect to your Special. It spreads Chill across wide areas and is a key part of the Heart-Seeking Bow's Aspect of Chiron combined with Aphrodite's Attack. This combination can slow opponents and quickly dispatch foes, and is also effective against bosses, especially when incorporating Heat. It's a strong alternative if Thunder Flourish is unavailable for Heart-Seeking Bow or Shield of Chaos builds.

Dionysus, Drunken Flourish

Drunken Flourish applies Hangover (5 damage per 0.5 seconds for 4 seconds) to your Special. The stack limit of 5 significantly limits its viability compared to Zeus and Demeter for high-frequency Special attacks. While Hangover is not a bad effect, it generally fits into another slot with greater impact and is rarely the best option for maximizing Special impact.

Aphrodite, Heartbreak Flourish

Heartbreak Flourish offers +80% damage and the Weak status effect. It is a top choice for the Twin Fists' Aspect of Gilgamesh, facilitating the Maim debuff while mitigating return damage. It's also reliable for the Adamant Rail, providing damage and a useful status after adjusting to the delayed detonation. For Stygius, it offers immediate damage and reduces damage taken when engaging enemies. Weak is almost always useful for avoiding damage, and Heartbreak Flourish provides a strong iteration for various weapons.

Ares, Curse of Pain

Curse of Pain applies Doom (60 damage after 1 second) to your Special. Spreading Doom across multiple enemies with area-of-effect or bouncing Specials makes it more viable for crowd control if your build lacks it. You will still need other methods for boss encounters or excellent dodging skills. It can be applied to most weapons, with exceptions including Stygius (unless using Aspect of Arthur), Eternal Spear (unless upgraded with Exploding Launcher), Shield of Chaos (unless using Aspect of Zeus), Heart-Seeking Bow (unless using Aspect of Chiron), Adamant Rail (unless upgraded with Triple Bomb), and Twin Fists (tolerable but not ideal, except arguably on Aspect of Gilgamesh). It can be a tolerable early-game strategy for dealing damage while retreating due to low vitality.

Artemis, Deadly Flourish

Deadly Flourish provides +40% damage with a 20% chance for a critical hit. It is similar to Deadly Strike, offering improved damage output.