Hello all! I've been trying to speedrun this game for a couple of weeks, it's really fun. I just wanted to hear some opinions on a strat I thought about that I haven't seen anyone use in runs. It's not super original so it's very much possible that it have been tried and tested before.

The only weapon I've played around with is Fist. The current strat is that you take Ares keepsake first, switch to Athena in Asphodel (if you haven't got Merciful combo at that point) and then take Hades keepsake for the rest of the run.

Hades keepsake gives you a nice damage boost when it's full, but for most rooms you won't get it full, so it's wasted on pretty much every room except boss rooms.

So what I was thinking is that instead of Hades you go for Skull Earring which will give you a permanent 40% damage boost (which I assume also applies to Doom?). In the best of worlds; if you get full Merciful combo before Asphodel you could switch to it before Asphodel, walk into lava to get below 35% hp and then deal a permanent 40% more damage for the rest of the run. In order to keep staying below 35% you would need to use Stubborn Defiance and also max Lasting Consequences so that fountains won't heal you.

So my question is, will this be significantly faster than current strats? This strat will for sure be more risky, but I don't see the low hp as any trouble except for Hades (maybe Lernie too?). I don't have any experience with other weapons than fist, but it might be used for other weapons too if it's any good.

With the High Confidence mirror option you get a 25% bonus without needing to use your keepsake slot as long as you keep your HP above 80%, so it's not quite a full 40% you're gaining. It's been done a few times especially in High Heat where Stubborn Defiance and LC4 are much more common, though I'm not sure about Fists specifically. Also keep in mind that Hades keepsake at half charge gives you a full 1.5s of the damage buff, the wording on the boon is pretty misleading.

Love that you're trying to come up with ideas to shake things up! The bulk of the community doesn't check these forums, so if you want more discussion about this or other strategies the Hades Speedrunning Discord is the place to be: https://discord.gg/zN7cc8Z

Well, that does make the Hades Keepsake quite a bit better. From what I understood it was only your first attack at half bar that gets the buff. Thanks for the reply!