How to Get Nightmare in Hades 2 (and How to Use It)

If you have played Hades previously and have now dived into Hades 2, you must have noticed that the sequel has more content to explore. There’s no shortage of content in Hades 2, no matter what stage you are currently at. From boss fights to learning incantations, the game has tons of activities to perform throughout the journey, and the most important among them is finding essential materials, including Nightmare. 

Nightmares are the hardest to find in Hades 2. Fortunately, even if you don’t have it, the main gameplay won’t be affected. However, if you want to take down the hardest bosses faster, Nightmares can’t be avoided, but the trick is that they can’t be found easily. If you are reading this guide, you must have been looking for help, and here’s what you need to do to get Nightmare. 

What Is Nightmare in Hades 2?

Nightmares are probably concepts taken from Greek mythology. If you are not sure about the reference, let me clarify: Nightmare is one of the two domains that goddess Melinoë used to control. However, we are not sure whether the concept is taken from here or how much it is related to the core gameplay, as the early access doesn’t really give much hints of Nightmares, except that it is one of the items to be found in the game, which our protagonist requires for some specific reasons. 

SUGGESTED: How to Defeat Deep Serpent in Hades 2

Currently, Nightmares are late-game items, and they can be unlocked after players have completed the early access for the first time. Once you have defeated Chronos, Titan of Time, head into Zag’s room to get the notification that this is the end of early access, and you will immediately teleport back to the Crossroads. With this second-time return to the game, Melinoë will unlock a new system that features a new resource called Nightmare. 

With this concept and unlocking process in mind, let’s check out the next step, which is, of course, the acquiring process of the material.

How to Get Nightmare in Hades 2

Nightmares are a little different from other in-game materials that you have collected during your journey. These are the rarest things to find, and the game features only two ways to acquire Nightmares. The first is the most convenient way, as the game initially pushes you toward this method to get nightmares. This method includes unlocking The Oath of the Unseen and Testaments platform. 

This above-mentioned platform can only be accessed after players beat Chronos. There’s no alternative to this process. This essentially means that unlocking this platform will be available after completing the game for the first time. After that, when you are taken back to the Crossroads, you will eventually find a new interactable next to the stairs. Interacting with it will unlock the platform, which is going to give you access to the different modifiers or Vows for your runs that make the game harder. 

With every modifier you enable, add Fear to your runs to make them more challenging. The activities should be found on the table’s left-hand side. This table shows which boss to beat with the weapons you have currently equipped. Each boss has a specific weapon requirement, and fighting them with that specific weapon is the only way to complete the challenge. The more challenges you complete, the more you will get Nightmares. Remember, each run will give you only one Nightmare.

The more Fear levels you enable and switch between weapons, the more the game will take you to twisted routes to heighten the challenge level. If you want to get more Nightmares, the only way is to activate different modifiers. For example, take any weapon and add a modifier to it to check which boss fight is assigned against it. Slay the boss at the given location and get back to the platform to turn on another +1 modifier. Repeat this process to get lots of Nightmares. 

SUGGESTED: How to Defeat Phantom in Hades 2

That’s the most common way to get Nightmare, but that’s not the only way. If you fail to farm Nightmares following the giveaway, players have another option to acquire them: purchase Nightmares from the Wretched Broker or Charon. Both NPCs will start selling Nightmares once you have unlocked The Oath of the Unseen and Testaments platform.

Each Nightmare costs you more than 1000 Bones if you purchase them from the Wretched Broker. The price is too high to afford. Charon is not behind. He will ask for 1300 Gold for Nightmares. 

Although purchasing these items reduces your efforts to a great extent, the developers haven’t added it as the primary way to have them. The price of the item clearly states that part. So, the best thing you can do is to follow the first method we have discussed and beat bosses to get Nightmares. 

Now that we have almost all the necessary information about Nightmares, it is time to check their purpose in the game.

How to Use Nightmare in Hades 2

Currently, Nightmares are used to strengthen Melinoë’s arsenal. After beating the game for the first time (in early access), players can use Nightmares to upgrade Nocturnal Arms Aspects. Except for Melinoë’s Aspects, most of the others require one or more Nightmares to reach their highest effectiveness. Generally, reaching levels 2 and 3 requires one Nightmare. For level 4, it becomes two Nightmares. In this way, if you want to upgrade all Weapon Aspects to the fullest, you need to collect 70 Nightmares.

However, this process is not as simple as it seems. To unlock the weapon variation of Nocturnal Arms and Aspect Awakenings for them, players need to unlock and perform the Aspects of Night and Darkness incantation. Once they are unlocked, use Nightmares to upgrade them to the next level. Remember, Nightmares are not used for any other upgrade. 

That’s everything players need to know about how to get and use Nightmares in Hades 2. However, at every step, some enemies are ready to block your path. If you have been struggling to beat Charybdis or Root Stalker during your journey, go through our walkthroughs to get help. Additionally, for further issues, go through our Hades 2 guides for the required information to resolve them.