Part 32

Learn how to use Hades II's Aspect of Lucifer, focusing on Hellfire's 100 damage explosion and pulse damage.

The Aspect of Lucifer's primary frustration stems from the delay between launching and detonating its Hellfire orbs, increasing the chance of missing your target with the explosion. While Hellfire pulses 20 damage per second before detonation, the 75%-boosted 60 base damage Special from the Aspect of Eris is more reliable than Lucifer's 100 base damage explosion.

The most viable strategy is to dash around, laying down Hellfire orbs and letting their passive pulse damage work, occasionally catching enemies in an explosion. The Greater Inferno upgrade is crucial, increasing pulse damage from 20 to 70 and expanding its radius. With the right Special boon, you can spread debuffs like Chill or Weak with each pulse, which also boost the 70 base damage.

However, the Aspect of Lucifer is heavily dependent on Greater Inferno. Without it, fights become tediously long, relying on the unreliable explosion. Of the Adamant Rail's standard upgrades, only Triple Bomb, Piercing Fire, and Targeting System are compatible with Lucifer, leaving 8 total eligible upgrade choices. This gives you approximately a 9/14 (~64.3%) chance of seeing Greater Inferno with your first or second Daedalus Hammer, and about a 16/21 (~76.2%) chance via your first two Hammers or an Anvil of Fate.

Hellfire typically detonates on its own after four uses, preventing you from covering the area with undetonated orbs for massive pulse damage. This strategy, while not particularly satisfying, works well, especially with Hermes boons like Hyper Sprint and Quick Recovery. If you can effectively kite bosses and intermittently paint the area with Hellfire pulses, you can succeed.

The Aspect of Lucifer offers an expanded 20-ammo clip for its beam Attack with a ramp-up effect, but this is offset by a significant delay in firing. This delay, combined with immobility while firing, limits your ability to reach full ramped damage without taking hits and minimizes the Attack's utility for debuff stacking or fixed damage effects.

Complementary upgrades: Seeking Fire, Ricochet Fire

Complementary boons: Percentage-based Attack boons (Demeter, Aphrodite, Artemis), Special boons focusing on percentage damage increases and preferably conferring status (Demeter, Aphrodite, Artemis)