How to beat Scylla in Hades 2 and the Sirens
Scylla and the Sirens make great music but also make for a tough boss battle in Hades 2
Fighting the Hades 2 Scylla and the Sirens band makes for a fun but challenging battle that tests your skills with three bosses at once. The Sirens, led by singer Scylla, block the path out of Oceanus and into the third Region of the Underworld in Hades 2, which means you'll be facing them a lot as you try to reach Chronos. Knowing exactly how their varied attacks come together and how best to deal with them is therefore crucial to ensuring Melinoe doesn't meet a watery end, so these tips for the Scylla boss fight in Hades 2 will help, including which Boons and weapons are best.
Best weapons and Boons for beating Scylla in Hades 2
Because the Scylla boss fight sees you facing three individual enemies, each with their own attacks and movesets, you need a bit of everything in the fight. Regarding weapons, there's no one-knife-fits-all that'll make taking down all three Sirens easy, though I found the sweeping attacks of the Moonstone Axe and explosive power of the Argent Skull to be quite effective. With that said, there's no optimal choice for beating Scylla and her bandmates, so you should use whichever of the Hades 2 weapons you feel most comfortable with.
When it comes to Boons, there aren't many that are outright essential for this boss fight. Since you're fighting three very different enemies, you need a jack-of-all trades approach to make up for any weapon shortcomings, whether that's with added speed, burst damage, or a few debuffs. The only important Boons you should consider are ones that improve your Cast and Omega Cast – singer Scylla moves very slowly, and drummer Roxy doesn't move at all so your Omega Cast offers easy damage against these two:
- Apollo – Blinding Sprint: Sprinting fast will help you get around the arena quickly to avoid attacks and manoeuvre around the Sirens.
- Apollo – Solar Ring: When your Omega Cast expires, the area is hit with lots of damage for a couple of seconds. This is really useful against Scylla and Roxy due to their poor movement.
- Hephaestus – Volcanic Strike or Volcanic Flourish: Massively empowering your Attack or Special respectively will help you deal chunks of damage to each Siren as you zip around the arena.
- Hera – Nexus Sprint: Hera's Boons are pretty rare, but this is a good one to have since applying Hitch to all Sirens will mean you can chip away at them while only attacking one.
- Hermes – Saved Breath: Your Omega Cast uses less Magick with this Boon, helping you spam it.
- Hestia – Soot Sprint: Scylla and Jetty fire many projectiles, so destroying those to apply Scorch adds both protection and extra damage.
- Zeus – Lightning Lance: Lets you aim where you place your Cast and adds extra damage to it in the form of lightning strikes. Get Storm Ring too and empower your Omega Cast with even more lightning.
Hades 2 Scylla tips
Having beaten the decoys in the Hades 2 Hecate boss fight, this battle is a real test of your ability to manage multiple boss enemies at the same time. None of the Sirens in the Hades 2 Scylla fight are especially dangerous on their own, but their attacks work together to trap you, limiting your damage opportunities. While the three Sirens share a health bar, each one can only take so much damage before becoming invulnerable or dying, so by focusing on particular ones to get them out the fight, you can make the battle easier. Here are some tips to help you get through this fight and understand how Scylla and the Sirens play:
- Scylla is very slow but well protected: While she's a large target her back is completely protected thanks to her clamshell. Scylla normally plods around either screaming out her speakers, trying to hit you with her microphone, or firing various projectiles, including a bubble that also moves slowly but constantly tracks towards Melinoe. Scylla will always be the last Siren left to kill.
- Roxy is an easy target, but her attacks cover the whole arena: As the band's drummer, Roxy is doesn't move away from her kit to attack. To compensate, she uses massive area-of-effect attacks that take up the entire arena – basically if you see red on the arena floor, make sure you get out the way.
- Jetty is fast and annoying but deals little damage: Guitarist Jetty shreds on the strings but acts as more as a nuisance enemy to help Scylla and Roxy. She rapidly fires stunning blasts from her guitar and is also the most manoeuvrable of the Sirens.
- Use all the space in the arena: The arena for the Hades 2 Scylla boss fight is quite big, so make sure you use all the space to lure the Sirens away from each other, limiting the number of threats at any one time.
- Focus on Roxy, then Jetty, then Scylla: Since Roxy is the easiest target and uses dangerous arena-spanning attacks, she should be your first target. Start by luring Jetty and Scylla away from her, then rush in and pummel her with your weapon, Omega Cast, and Hex if you've got one until she becomes invulnerable. Next lure Jetty away from Scylla and stop the guitarist, then focus purely on Scylla.
- Watch out for the Featured Artist: Once their health bar is down to 50%, one Siren will become the Featured Artist, becoming empowered with new attacks and extra aggression. Focus on bringing down the Featured Artist first as they can be really dangerous, then get the last two Sirens.
- Run circles around Scylla when she summons reinforcements at the end: When only Scylla is left, she will summon a frightening number of Pinhead fish enemies that spawn almost constantly, making those last few hits on Scylla really difficult. As you run circles around her, try to deal damage with your Omega Cast and any are-of-effect weapon strikes to finish her off.
With Scylla and the Sirens defeated in Hades 2, you can move onto the next Region where you can mine for Hades 2 G Rock, or Glassrock.
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Will Sawyer is a guides writer at 12DOVE who works with the rest of the guides team to give readers great information and advice on the best items, how to complete a particular challenge, or where to go in some of the biggest video games. Will joined the GameRadar+ team in August 2021 and has written about service titles, including Fortnite, Destiny 2, and Warzone, as well as some of the biggest releases like Halo Infinite, Elden Ring, and God of War Ragnarok.