How to get a Pearl in Hades 2

Hades 2 just dropped, and it already puts the collectible count of the first game to shame. You collect a lot of random stuff in Hades 2, and perhaps none more random than a Pearl. But where can you find them and what do they even do?

Where to find Pearls in Hades 2

The Pearl is the reward for defeating Scylla, the second boss of Hades 2 and the last room of the Oceanus dungeon. There are currently no other known sources of Pearls in the game. But since Scylla is a non-optional boss, you gather quite a few throughout your Hades 2 runs.

As the second boss of the game, Scylla and her band are a common wall for runs. Handling three annoying enemies at the same time is tricky, and they’re all quite relentless during their show. So, if you make it to the end of Oceanus and are having trouble getting the Pearl, the following is recommended:

• Kill the Drummer first. Roxy, the Siren on the drums, is an excellent performer, but the biggest annoyance—she makes the entire fight so much more difficult. With her massive areas of effect, it’s not hard to get lost in red markers and lose a bunch of health. Since she’s stationary, dropping your Cast and wailing on her is a very valid and quick way to tear through her. We even recommend doing this if she isn’t the Featured Performer during Phase Two since Jetty is just too mobile to take out efficiently.
• Watch out for Jetty. Jetty is the striker of the trio, but her only super dangerous move is her power slide. These cause large, creeping circles to form. And, if she tackles you, it’s easy to get combo’d. Focus her down second to keep her from overwhelming you. During Phase Two, keep a close eye on her if she is the Featured Performer, as she produces many more creeping circles and power slides even farther.
• Scylla is best kept at a distance. The vocalist, Scylla, stays alive the longest of the three thanks to her extra invulnerability at the end of Phase Two. That’s a hint to keep her up the longest during the first two phases of the boss fight. Her attacks are dangerous, but her most damaging ones are quite short-range. By baiting her away from her two other performers, you just need to worry about her closed-shell shotgun. If she does get close, focus on the other performers and avoid her quick melee swipe and vacuum attacks.

As you continue to fight your way back towards Tartarus, you will understand the fight more and more. And every time you win, you get a shiny Pearl for your efforts. If you desperately want to farm Pearls, you can end the run here and start a new one. But this isn’t a great idea for the long term. Much of Hades 2 lies beyond Oceanus, so getting that progress locked in is smart.

What are Pearls used for in Hades 2?

Even as you collect Pearls, you might not immediately have access to Incantations to spend them on. That’s because the Pearl only has a single Incantation that uses it, and it’s a few runs in: Abyssal Insight. Pearls are used once you unlock Weapon Aspects, another later Incantation—found after you start climbing to the surface—that changes how your weapons work.

Two Pearls are required to unlock Abyssal Insight, an Incantation that unlocks a Trial mode at Pitch-Black Stones. These are an additional challenge and important farming point for the end game since they’re the main source of a rare resource. You’ll need to talk to a secret NPC to even access this, so don’t worry about missing it. Pearls are also used for two Weapon Aspects—improvements to your Nocturnal Arms that give them new qualities. The Charon Aspect of the Moonstone Axe needs a whopping five Pearls, making it by far the biggest spender of the resource. The only other one that uses Pearls is the Momus Witch’s Staff, which only needs one. That brings you to eight Pearls for Incantation and Weapon Augment purposes in the early access.