How to Beat Polyphemus in Hades 2

After fighting through the barrier in Ephyra, Hades 2 players will face the Cyclops Polyphemus. Greek mythology fans will recognize the now-blind Cyclops from Homer’s Odyssey, but even without his eye, Polyphemus is a formidable foe. Here are our tips to defeat Polyphemus so you can keep exploring the Surface.

How to Defeat the Cyclops Polyphemus in Hades 2

Polyphemus is a formidable foe, whose leaps create a powerful area-of-effect attack that radiates from where he steps. He deals massive damage and summons plenty of minions that you’ll need to contend with while avoiding his attacks.

As if that wasn’t enough, even though he attacks you for scaring his sheep, Polyphemus will ironically eat his own flock to restore HP if you let the little guys get too close. Beware — he’ll also happily munch on you if you wind up directly in front of him, something I learned the hard way during an early attempt at this boss.

I won’t say this fight is easy with the right strategy, but there are a few ways you can make this Surface boss fight a bit more manageable.

Phase 1

Much like the fight against Cerberus, battling Polyphemus is a sprint and dodge game. When he leaps into the air, which he’ll do often, you need to avoid the path of the wide shockwave that appears.

Ideally, you’ll want to focus on using ranged attacks against Polyphemus so that you can stay away from his area-of-effect attacks and avoid getting close enough to become a tasty snack. The Witch’s Staff, especially with improved range and damage from Weapon Aspects, is a good choice, as is the Argent Skull.

When attempting to do closer-range damage, I found it helpful to snag a boon that renders you temporarily impervious when you sprint, which helps you run right through the shockwave to deal damage.

This phase is really about patience, choosing when to strike carefully while avoiding those massive damage moves. Don’t get hasty and try to deal damage at the expense of keeping yourself safe, and you’ll be able to make it through to phase 2.

Phase 2

Once you’ve dealt enough damage, Polyphemus will summon some friends to the battlefield, beginning the second phase of the fight. Things get crowded at this point, with undead minions and fiery explosions that you’ll need to dodge. Some of the creatures Polyphemus summons have higher HP, meaning they’ll take some time to dispatch, and this can be tricky while avoiding the Cyclops’ attacks and all those flames.

Continue to focus on dodging and use your Cast to take out large swaths of minions if you can. You’ll also want to keep an eye on those cute little sheep darting around the battlefield, as this is when Polyphemus will seek out a snack to restore HP. If you hit the sheep, they’ll bounce away, so try to keep them away from the Cyclops if you can.

During this phase, Polyphemus pretty much continues on as usual, with the addition of all those creatures he’s summoned. Dodge and sprint away from his powerful leap and kick attacks while taking out the crowd as best you can. I like to have a damaging Cast boon for this to help clear things up and ideally hit the Cyclops with the ring as well.

If you’re patient and keep sprinting your way out of his attacks, you’ll be able to defeat Polyphemus and earn that coveted Wool reward, as well as a clear path ahead to explore the Surface.

Hades 2 is now available as Early Access on PC through Steam and Epic Games Store.