If melee combat isn’t your strong suit in Curse of the Dead Gods, you are not alone. The game is one of the most challenging roguelike games to hit the scene in a long time. With perfect timing required on dodges and parries and attacks getting a very narrow window to land, it’s totally fair to give up on melee combat altogether and do something that keeps your health safe for a long plunge into the dungeon.
While some might fall back to bows, that takes up both hands. Using a thrown weapon can do just as much damage as a two-handed bow and you’ll still be able to reap the benefit of another off-hand item. If you’re wondering why so many guides have thrown weapons at the core, wonder no longer. Find a good one that matches your playstyle and you’ll have a tough time going back to the frontlines.
7 Throwing Knives
It’s not uncommon for tough roguelike games to get mods to make things a little easier. Take a look at the solid Risk of Rain 2 mods for players having a tough time progressing. After five or six runs with swords and maces, it might feel like it’s time to mod Curse of the Dead Gods. Just hold that thought for a moment.
Even the basic Throwing Knives do a good amount of damage to single targets, critically hit with finishers, and hit groups when charged up. So while this initial entry isn’t anything to write home about when compared to the other thrown weaponry, they are certainly an improvement over most of what you’ve been using so far.
6 Chromatic Knives
The Chromatic Knives are a fun and flavorful weapon that deal random elemental damage when charged up. While you can’t control which element is thrown, these will gain the benefits of any enhancement or buff that applies to the effect that happens to go off.
They’d be higher on the list if their base damage wasn’t so bad. They are, by far, the weakest in terms of base damage on this list. To be competitive with these other projectiles, the effect would have to go off every time and not just on charged strikes. These are fun, but experienced Hades players who know about speedruns will tell you that fun doesn’t hack it in terms of functionality.
5 Hunting Axes
The Hunting Axes do double damage against weakened enemies. Weakened is the status enemies get when players perfectly perry a melee attack. So if you’re incredible at blocking these attacks, then you’ve got yourself a double damage thrown weapon for most of the run.
The trouble here is that the weapon does not synergize well with being ranged. In roguelike games, synergies are everything, just ask Loop Hero players. Most of the time, you won’t be getting attacked with melee strikes, so you have to go out of your way to get up close and personal to make this advantage count.
4 Silver Stars
Some enemies just don’t have a weakness; Risk of Rain 2 has many that seem invulnerable and Curse of the Dead Gods isn’t all that different. But when you can’t find a gap in the enemy’s armor, sometimes it’s best to wait for them to attack and make their own gap. With a little patience, that’s where the Silver Stars shine.
As an improvement from the Hunting Axes, dodging an attack at melee or range will trigger this ability. The star will fire out a flurry of stars at the opponent who missed the shot and others next to it. It’s a bit stamina intensive, but if you can stay ranged, it’s a great weapon against clusters of targets.
3 Weighted Blades
Roguelike games have to be consistently adjusted and readjusted. Take a peek at all the changes made to Hades until it got released. Curse of the Dead Gods is tough, but that doesn’t mean it’s immune from exploitation, even with all of the playtesting. Some fans feel this weapon is a bit too beefy.
At maximum range, the Weighted Blades do an additional 50% damage. Even if not at the furthest distance, extra damage will be applied based on the distance to the target. Because throwing weapons are best thrown from long-range anyhow, this is essentially a 50% increase to damage to play the exact same way that you were playing before.
2 Evasive Knives
When selecting weapons, it’s important not to neglect defense. Unlocking a brand new superpower in any video game is great, like when getting a new class in Loop Hero. But with roguelike games, the goal isn’t to kill every single enemy between you and the exit. It’s to kill every enemy between you and the exit and live to talk about it.
The Evasive Knives automatically dodge every incoming attack while charging up an attack. If that sounds too defensive to be exciting, consider that these also have the highest base damage of any throwing weapon in the game. It’s an incomprehensibly good mix of timely defense and strong offense.
1 Heartseekers, Teeth Of Death
How do you lose in roguelikes? You run out of health. That’s why the shrines exist in Risk of Rain 2. There are also intermittent places to heal in Curse of the Dead Gods. What if you no longer needed to heal anymore? What if taking damage was a thing of the past? The Heartseekers are as close as you’ll get to that reality.
The Heartseekers have two advantages, either of which would put it near the top of the charts. With them, your throwing range is increased and your projectiles pierce targets. Put those together and it’s like the enemies never actually stood a chance.
NEXT: 10 Best Roguelike Games, According To Metacritic
