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Make it through the damp chambers of Oceanus and you’ll eventually come to Scylla and the Sirens, the second major boss in Hades 2. But, unlike Hecate, this isn’t a lone boss, but instead Scylla, a nymph–turned-sea monster, sided by bandmates Roxy and Jetty – a 3-in-1 boss special. Though mythology paints her as a mariner’s worst nightmare, she’s more than happy to turn her musically-themed attacks on Melinoe to stall her hunt for Chronos.
As boss skill checks go, Scylla is a major step up from Hecate. As we found out for our Hades 2 Early Access review, there are massive AoE attacks to deal with, projectiles aplenty, three opponents to track, and a blaring tune courtesy of the trio to dull your already overwhelmed senses.
Scylla and the Sirens move list
Below, we’ve put together a table with all of Scylla and the Sirens’ moveset. As the game doesn’t offer any definitive names for each of the attacks, we’ve assigned some descriptive names ourselves for clarity. Though at first Scylla’s moveset can feel chaotic and unpredictable, there are patterns in there and winning the fight is all about learning to spot them and capitalising on any openings.
Shrieking Shards. Captured by VideoGamer.
Small AoE Rings. Captured by VideoGamer.
Jetty Dash. Captured by VideoGamer.
Staff Attack. Captured by VideoGamer.
Circling Beams. Captured by VideoGamer.
Spiky Rocks. Captured by VideoGamer.
Tracking Orbs. Captured by VideoGamer.
Jetty Stun. Captured by VideoGamer.
Safe Circle. Captured by VideoGamer.
Featured Artist. Captured by VideoGamer.
| Move | Description | Strategy |
|---|---|---|
| Shrieking Shards | Scylla’s screeches and casts short range pink shards from her clam while slowly following Melinoe’s movement. Scylla will gather energy into a small purple orb in her hand before unleashing the attack. | Stay out of range of the shards by sprinting away or dashing. |
| Small AoE Rings | Starting from the top-left of the arena moving down to the bottom-right, the trio lay down a succession of small, pink AoE rings that explode after a short time. | Sprint or dodge out of the rings before they explode. |
| Jetty Dash | Jetty the guitarist will charge up then charge Melinoe, triggering a short-range ring that expands causing damage. If the charge hits, Melinoe is stunned momentarily and booted a short distance away. Jetty glows white for a short period before unleashing the attack. | Dodge out of the way as soon as Jetty starts glowing. |
| Staff Attack | Scylla throws out a short range attack from her staff when Melinoe is in melee range. You’ll hear a short burst of guitar feedback just before the attack. | Dash away to avoid the hit. |
| Spiky Rocks | Scylla casts out an arc or lines of spiky grey and pink rocks that expand outwards. Scylla will shelter into her clam blocking all attacks and glow white before firing off the attack. | Dodge through the rocks or to the side of the arc to avoid them. |
| Tracking Orbs | Scylla throws out one or several orbs with a musical note inside that track Melinoe, causing damage when they land. The move is telegraphed by Scylla emitting upwards moving light shards above her head. | Avoid coming into contact with orbs by dodging and sprinting when they get close. |
| Jetty Stun | The guitarist casts a stream of yellow soundwaves that stun Melinoe in place, preventing her from moving for a short period. Jetty pulls her keytar to her side just before the waves start firing. | Dodge or dash out of the stream to avoid getting stunned. |
| Circling Beams | Scylla emits four red beams that move clockwise around her. The beams appear before they start moving, giving you a short window to sprint out of their range. | Sprint out of range of the beams or through them. |
| Safe Circle | A small safe zone circle appears while the rest of the arena turns red causing damage after a short time. The move has three stages: the first safe zone is around the drummer, the second away from the drummer, and the third near the drummer. | Keep Melinoe near the border of the red zone and dash into the safe zone as it changes position to avoid damage. |
| Featured Artist | Once you whittle down the boss’ health to below 50% and immobilise two of the musicians, one of the trio will turn into a Featured Artist, boosting their attacks. | Unavoidable. |
| Flying Fish Swarm | At low health, Scylla summons a swarm of darting fish similar to the ones found throughout Oceanus. | Use Cast to immobilise the fish and take them out. |
Hades 2 Scylla boss fight strategy
The general strategy when taking on Scylla is to divide and conquer. The boss relies heavily on strength in numbers, so the best tactic is to take the band members out one by one. Once a band member has taken on enough damage, they are out of the fight for a period. This means you won’t have to track the attacks of three enemies at the same time and it also cuts down on the amount of projectiles and AoE red casts you need to constantly dodge, drastically scaling down the chaotic nature of the fight.
Whenever you take out a band member, their instrument or voice is removed from the boss music theme playing throughout the fight.
You’ll want to start off by focusing on Roxy the drummer. They are fixed in place and don’t move, which makes them an easy target to lay into to get some major damage down quickly. Taking out Roxy first also gets rid of the Small AoE Rings and Circling Beams attacks, cutting down on the need to constantly be sprinting and dodging to avoid damage.
With Roxy out of the picture, shift focus to Jetty. Their move set is limited but they are the most mobile of the three and quick to close any gaps to Melinoe so be wary of this while also avoiding Scylla’s attacks. Use Cast to keep Jetty immobilised as much as possible and get in easy hits until they’re down. A strong tactic here is to lure Jetty to the exploding tanks at the top and bottom of the arena, use Cast then trigger the explosions for big damage.
This leaves you one-on-one with Scylla, the lead singer. She’s only susceptible to attacks from the front because her clam shell blocks all attacks from the back, so keep this in mind. Like Jetty, Scylla suffers most when using Cast and because of her move set, using a ranged Special from a weapon like the Witch’s Staff works well here. Once you’ve got her health low enough, Roxy and Jetty will jump back into the fight and one of the trio will become a Featured Artist, increasing the speed and frequency of their attacks.
From here the same tactic applies: take out Roxy, then Jetty, and finally Scylla using the same strategy. Once you’re down to Scylla, the end of the fight shouldn’t be too far off, just watch out for her Flying Fish Swarm. A strong counter here is to use Cast to prevent the fish from getting too close to Melinoe.
Scylla phases
Though a little less clear compared to a boss like Hecate because of the trio of enemies, Scylla and the Sirens has three phases. The main differentiator between them is more variety and frequency to the attacks. For example, in Phase 2 Scylla Spiky Rocks attack will switch to lines rather than an arc. Phase 3 is also where Featured Artist is triggered and Scylla casts Flying Fish Swarm.
- Phase 1 – Above 66%. Typical attacks are Shrieking Shards, Small AoE Rings, Circling Beams, Jetty Dash, Jetty Stun, Staff Attack, Safe Circle, and Tracking Orbs.
- Phase 2 – Between 33% and 66%. Attacks evolve to include more projectiles.
- Phase 3 – Below 33%. Featured Artist comes into play, as does Flying Fish Swarm, along with variations on all the attacks in Phase 1 and Phase 2.
Best weapons and Boons to beat Scylla in Hades 2
As reaching Scylla involves getting through Erebus and Oceanus, you’ll have a decent selection of Boons to choose from by the time you find the band. With Cast playing a big role in the fight, Boons that boost the attack are a solid option. In runs I’ve had a lot of success with Boons like Hephaestus’ Anvil Ring, which dishes out 70 damage three times over 3 seconds, and Hestia’s Smoulder Ring that inflicts scorch damage to enemies inside Cast.
As for the best weapons to take on Scylla, the Witch’s Staff works well given it offers a balanced mix of melee and ranged attacks. Umbral Flames is a solid pick as well as it allows you to keep a distance from Scylla while still inflicting sustained damage.
Scylla boss fight rewards
After beating Scylla and the Sirens, you’ll get a Pearl as a reward for vanquishing the Guardian of the Ocean. Pearl is used to unlock the Abyssal Insight incantation and Moonstone Axe, and Witch’s Staff Weapon Aspects. Much like Reagents like Cinder and the Hecate boss fight, defeating Scylla is the only way to get Pearl in Hades 2.
