The Temple of Styx can be a scary place for any Hades player and can turn even the most promising run into an unremarkable defeat. There are a ton of unique threats standing between you and the showdown with your father. Poison, devastating traps, brutal mini-bosses, and they can spell certain death if you’re not prepared!
In this Hades Temple Of Styx Guide, I’ll be tearing the endmost area in the game apart! I will explain what makes the Temple of Styx tick, how to survive and even how to prepare before you get here. If you’re tired of losing your last Death Defiance to poison, that ends now. Let’s begin!
Bottom Line Up Front
The Temple of Styx is arguably the most critical part of any run as it’s the last chance to ready yourself before you fight the big boss, Hades. You need to tread lightly here because of the dangerous enemies, hard-hitting traps and poison.
Don’t let this area intimidate you; instead, focus on what will make you more powerful. Spend all the Gold you have, as you can’t take it with you and make sure you leave the area fighting fit for the final boss.
Check out our Comprehensive Hades Bosses Guide.
Before You Begin
We’re about to plunge head-first into all the nasties you can expect to run into during your stay in the Temple of Styx. You should prepare a couple of things beforehand, as they will improve your chances of survival!
Theseus and Asterius
These two dangerous foes act as Gatekeepers at the end of Elysium. A lousy fight against these bosses can jeopardise your whole run as there’s little opportunity to get more health in the Temple. With this in mind, I urge you to treat the Theseus and Asterius fight with respect and do everything you can to finish the battle unscathed. If you leave Elysium with plenty of health, you’ll have a much better time in the Temple of Styx!
A Bit of Preparation ‘Little Hades’!
One of the most critical rooms in a Hades run is this one (pictured) just before entering the Temple of Styx. This is the last place where you can change your Keepsake and sell Boons. This room also contains the final guaranteed Well of Charon (the small purple well). Your Gold may be better spent in the Temple of Styx itself, but if you need a ‘Kiss of Styx’ to replenish a Death Defiance, this is the best time to buy one.
Your skill as a player and the power of your build will drastically change what Keepsake will be best for the game’s final section. However, If you’re focusing on survival, all of the following Keepsakes are great options to swap to:
Old Spiked Collar from Cerberus
This Keepsake simply increases the size of your health pool by 50 points (at its maximum rank). This is useful as it lets you take more hits, and if you use a ‘Death Defiance’, the new health bar pool is also increased.
Broken Spearpoint from Patroclus
I like this one because it’s easy to take multiple hits quickly in the Temple of Styx and Hades fight. This Keepsake makes you invulnerable for a very brief period after taking damage. It has a cooldown of 7 seconds, but if this Trinket lets you survive Hades’s most potent attacks, it’s well worth it.
Evergreen Acorn from Eurydice
This Keepsake is a solid choice and one favoured by Speedrunners too. The Evergreen Acorn makes the first five attacks you take in a boss encounter do zero damage. Considering the dangerous attacks Hades can unleash, you can see why this Keepsake is so popular. It’s powerful but only has value in the boss fight. If you know you’re prone to taking little hits here and there (like I am!), its usefulness will dwindle.
Lucky Tooth from Skelly
The Lucky Tooth effectively gives you another Death Defiance, granting you one final health bar after all your others have been spent. It provides 100 health points at the highest rank.
Sigil of the Dead from Hades
Including this Keepsake may be a moot point because you must beat Hades numerous times to get it, but it’s worth mentioning if you’re playing with high ‘Heat’. The Sigil of the Dead grants you a Call that makes you invisible.
This is a powerful ability across the Temple of Styx, and it’s also fantastic against Hades. If you’ve never tried it, it’s worth using against Hades to listen to his quips alone!
Lucky Tooth VS Old Spiked Collar
These Keepsakes give you a decent chunk of health, but which offers more? It all depends on how much health you have already.
If you have 3 Death Defiance remaining, the Old Spiked Collar will give you slightly more. (50hp +25hp for each Death Defiance for a total of 125hp).
If you have 1 or Zero Death Defiance remaining, the 100hp gain from the Lucky Tooth will be worth more. If you’re a strong enough player to reach the Temple of Styx with all your Death Defiance intact, you’ll benefit more from the Acorn or Spearpoint Keepsakes.
How to spend your hard-earned Gold!
Gold is always helpful in the Underworld, and there’s always a big shop in the Temple of Styx. If possible, try to come into this area with at least 200 Gold. If you have spent a Death Defiance on your way here.
200 is the cost of a ‘Kiss of Styx’ from a Well of Charon and will replenish one. It’s not guaranteed to appear but could save your life.
The Temple of Styx
Welcome to the most demanding area of the Underworld! This place will test your preparation and prowess in combat. It can also be a cruel DPS check and if you’re lacking in damage, let’s fix that quick!
Your Goal in the Temple of Styx
Your goals in this area are 2-Fold. Find the Satyr Sack, so Cerberus will allow you to leave the Temple and prepare as much as possible for the final showdown with Hades. Most players will promptly leave the area as soon as Cerberus has been fed, but if you’ve had tough luck with your Boons thus far, you don’t have to right away.
How Does The Temple of Styx Work?
The Temple of Styx is unique because the first room acts as a mini Hub for the entire area. There’s always a big shop to the right with all of Charon’s finest wares (usually overpriced, too!). To the left, there’s the Chambers and dead ahead, the best boy in the whole Underworld!
You cannot leave this area until you’ve found the Satyr Sack. It will always be in one of the Chambers, and if you’re lucky, the Sack can appear as early as the 2nd one you visit. Where the Sack spawns is entirely random. You could get it in the 2nd Chamber, or you may have to wait until you’ve cleared all 5!
Charon’s Mega Shop
Charon has a large shop in the Temple of Styx, and it will be of great use to you if you have the Gold to spare! It would be impossible for me to recommend the best items for every situation, but here are a few pointers to keep in mind:
Poms of Power are always a great purchase but have diminishing returns. Upgrading a Boon from Level 1 to 2 is far more significant than Level 4 to 5, for example. Make sure you check how much a Pom of Power will add to your Boons before you confirm them.
When in doubt, you can’t go wrong with a Hermes Boon. Hermes’ offerings range from simple ‘quality of life’ changes to significant increases in your survivability and damage. If you’re satisfied with your build, Hermes will usually make it just that little bit better.
Here’s a comprehensive guide for all of the items found in Hades.
The Chambers
The door to each Chamber shows what reward lies at the end, and the 2 with skulls above them indicate the final encounter is against a Mini-Boss. I always take the Mini-Bosses first, but there’s no wrong choice here.
Behind each door, there are 5 rooms in a row. 4 small ones followed by a final and much larger arena. After you reach the last area, you’ll find either the Satyr Sack or a teleporter back to the main room.
The Temple of Styx is home to the unique ‘Poison’ status, and it’s horrible! If an enemy hits you with a poison attack, your health will slowly drain until you cure yourself at one of the Healing Wells (pictured below). The poison will eventually expire on its own or after you defeat every enemy. Just remember that if you leave the poison to pass through time, you will lose a lot of health in the process.
If you’re dealing decent damage, play through this area as aggressively as possible, as each small room can be cleared in seconds. If your damage is lacking, you’ll prefer a more methodical approach. Try to avoid the poison but don’t panic if you get caught by it.
The Enemies
There are 3 enemies to pay close attention to down here that can inflict the poison debuff.
Crawlers
Crawlers are small rats that will succumb to a single hit. They can be a little scary as they are swift and will head straight for you, but the only threat these pose is sheer numbers. You’ll be fine if you keep them in check and stop them from overflowing the rooms.
Gigantic Vermin
Gigantic Vermin are surprisingly tanky and cover the nearby ground with poison. Deal with them from afar if you can. If you need to get close, throw everything you have at them and be ready to dash straight for the Healing Well if you get poisoned. If there are two Giant Vermin, take extra care as the Healing Wells take time to refill before you can use them again.
Satyr Cultists
Cultists are the most bothersome enemies in these rooms, taking way more damage to kill than you may think! They carry blow-darts and can inflict the poison debuff at a distance. If you can, prioritise these enemies as soon as you enter the room.
You’ll never see their darts coming if the fight starts to get out of control, so once you’ve committed to attacking them, don’t stop until they are gone. Whilst you’re dashing around recklessly trying to cure yourself, you can end up taking a horrific amount of damage.
There are two other enemies down here that, fortunately, don’t carry poison. They can still be a menace if however, and they are as follows:
Bother
Bother is right! These enemies are pests that throw explosives. The impending explosions are indicated with a bright red circle on the floor, and they can make the rooms feel tiny when you’re trying to avoid them AND everything else.
Bothers also have the annoying habit of running away and attacking from off-screen. If this happens, don’t rush around looking for them, as the chances are you’ll trigger traps. Slowly patrol the area and pay close attention to the edges of the rooms.
Snakestone
I think these are the least threatening enemies you can encounter down here. You were weak when you fought these in Tartarus, but you’ve grown much stronger now! These enemies slowly float about and shoot lasers at you.
The lasers certainly hurt, but you can get up close and just bully these enemies out of existence. If you’re struggling against Snakestones, one fantastic Boon that has a place in almost every build is ‘Tidal Dash’ from Poseidon. You can use this to smash these enemies into the walls.
Traps are ‘Built Different’ in the Temple of Styx!
Poison is a constant threat in the Temple of Styx, but you would be foolish to underestimate the traps. At first glance, they don’t look any more threatening than the traps you’ve seen on the other floors, but these do a LOT of damage.
Quickly identifying these is something that will only come with practice. There is a motley assortment of blades that drop from the ceiling and spinning ‘Blade Rifts’ that will chew through your health bar if you let them. It’s easier said than done with so much going on but stay mobile and use your dash to avoid traps if you see them coming.
The Mini-Bosses
A few mini-bosses can show up in the Temple of Styx. Each are pretty dangerous but manageable, with fewer enemies in each fight. If you have access to any Companion Attacks. These encounters are a fantastic place to use them.
King Vermin
I can’t help but think this encounter is a nod to the white rabbit in Monty Python and the Holy Grail. This tiny rat is like one of the Gigantic Vermin enemies on steroids and then shrunk!
This little pest is a menace and can deal a scary amount of damage in very little time. The King Vermin has a few telegraphed attacks, but it’s so small, and the arena is so busy that you’re not going to see them coming. A Companion Attack works wonders in this encounter (Megaera is widely considered the best if you have it). If you don’t, you’ll want to stay mobile and throw everything you can at it.
Sadly, there’s no easy strategy for this battle. The King Vermin can summon a few Gigantic Vermin which will usually guarantee you’ll get poisoned. It can rush at you from afar, which you can avoid with a well-timed dash, and it can burrow. Focus on your positioning, avoid traps, and deal as much damage as possible!
Snakestone
OK, maybe I was a little harsh calling the Snakestones the least threatening enemies in the Temple of Styx. A bigger, meaner version of this enemy can appear as a mini-boss at the end of an appropriate Chamber. This enemy is a pain as it’s heavily armoured and can float over pits making it difficult to hit.
This enemy can fill the arena with lasers that cascade across the floor. It can feel quite paralysing as you barely have space to move, and you still have small enemies to deal with. If you have a Companion Attack (again, Megaera is fantastic here), now is the time to use it! If you don’t, my best advice is to wait until the Snakestone is over safe ground and just commit to the attack. You will take damage, but it’ll be much less than if you try to avoid everything. There’s simply not enough space to do so.
Bother and Satyr Cultist
If you’re lucky, your mini-bosses will be a boss version of a Bother or a Satyr Cultist. Both of these are functionally the same as their weaker counterparts but with much more health. Companion Attacks make short work of these enemies and you can finish off whatever is left as you would with their standard versions.
If You’re Speedrunning…
Speedrunners should ALWAYS go for the 2 mini-boss Chambers first. Even though there’s a big nasty in the final room of the Chamber, it’s usually quicker to deal with that single powerful target over lots of little ones. I would argue it’s easier as the room won’t get so chaotic.
…And Finally
The Temple of Styx has a unique Fishing Spot! The Gupp, Scuffer and the ever-elusive Stonewhal are all catchable from the Temple of Styx. The Fishing Spot will only ever appear in the Main Room with a mere 10% chance of showing up.
That covers just about everything the final realm of the Underworld can throw at you! All that stands between you and beating the game is a showdown with your father, Hades! Even with all the preparation in the world, Hades is a tough customer! But if you’ve escaped the Temple of Styx in a better shape than you went in, the odds are in your favour, good luck!
Useful Resources
The Wiki has detailed explanations on unlocking all the Keepsakes and the Companion Attack I mentioned in this guide.
If you play on PC and want to play with save data that has everything unlocked already, you can find that on the official Speedrun website. Just beware that you will run into story spoilers.
Frequently Asked Questions
Question: I keep dying to the poison. What can I do?
Answer: Poison can be scary as nobody likes seeing their health bars start ticking down. Rush down the rats, even the big ones, as they will die quickly. Use the Healing Wells if you get poisoned but remember, the poison debuff expires the moment all the enemies do. Play as aggressively as possible because the Temple chambers can spiral out of control.
Question: Do I have to enter every Chamber in the Temple of Styx?
Answer: Not necessarily. Getting the ‘Satyr Sack’ to appear is random, but you will always need to clear at least 2 routes in the Temple. Once you have the Sack, you can choose if you want to head straight into the Hades fight or stick around for more power-ups.
Question: Should I pick the Mini-Bosses or standard routes?
Answer: Your experience may differ, but I’m a firm believer in taking the Mini-Boss routes first 100% of the time. I find the Mini-Boss encounters are faster, less chaotic and easier to control. A ton of enemies spawn in the standard routes; I’d take fewer enemies with one extra strong one any day.
Conclusion
The Temple of Styx can make or break your run. Once you understand it and arrive with a game plan, you can leave this area much more powerful than when you arrived. With practice, you can use this area as a place to patch yourself up before you fight Hades.
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