Keepsakes are items that give various buffs to the player.
To acquire Keepsakes, you need to give Nectar to various characters, and then these characters give you the Keepsakes. Supporting characters and Gods have some Keepsakes to give, but only if you give Nectar to them. Nectars can be obtained during your runs by going through the Nectar-specific doors or by trading with the Wretched Broker at the house of Hades.
The best Keepsakes in Hades consist of Pom Blossom, Sigil of the Dead, Spiked Collar, Myrmidon Bracer, Black Shawl, Pierced Butterfly, Bone Hourglass, ChthonicCoin Purse, Skull Earring, and many more.
There are 25 Keepsakes in Hades, and players can only equip one at a time. Here are the best 16 Keepsakes in Hades, ranked from the best to the worst.
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1. Pom Blossom
The Persephone Keepsake Pom Blossom is one of the strongest Keepsakes in the game. After every 4/5/6 encounter, the Pom Blossom gives one of your random Boons 1+ level, making it more robust. The Pom Blossom is one of the strongest Keepsakes because it directly influences your damage or utility potential.
2. Sigil of the Dead
The final Keepsake comes from Hades, called the Sigil of the Dead. This Keepsake transforms your call into Hades’ aid which briefly makes you invisible and fills up your God Gauge for a certain amount at every encounter.
You can only unlock this Keepsake by giving Nectar to Hades, which is not an option often available. It is worth keeping an eye on to ensure you give your Nectar to Hades when presented with the opportunity.
3. Spiked Collar
Consider the old Spiked Collar from Cerberus if you want a rock-solid Keepsake. When it’s maxed out at level, you’ll gain 50 life points to your maximum life force, and this is an excellent Keepsake if you are a beginner player.
4. Myrmidon Bracer
You obtain the Myrmidon Bracer from Achilles, and it reduces the damage you take from enemy hits from the front but increases the damage you take from the back.
The damage reduction is much more significant than the amplifier, making this Keepsake one of the best defensive items in the game.
5. Black Shawl
The Black Shawl comes from Nyx and is only rewarding for certain players. This Keepsake increases your damage when you strike undamaged foes from behind. Black Shawl is a fantastic Keepsake if you are good at backstabbing.
6. Pierced Butterfly
The Pierced Butterfly is given by Thanatos and gives you a +2% damage each time you clear an encounter without taking damage.
This Keepsake is the optimal choice for a ranged player but could prove worthy to a melee player if they are careful.
7. Bone Hourglass
The Bone Hourglass is obtained from Charon, and this Keepsake extends the effect of the Well of Charon items by a certain number of encounters based on the rank of Keepsake. This Keepsake is perfect for a player who relies on Charon items.
8. ChthonicCoin Purse
The ChthonicCoin Purse Keepsake comes from Hypnos, and this Keepsake is pretty straightforward. You receive 125 Obols which you can spend however you like.
Players can buy stuff from the Obols, but there is no pure gameplay benefit from using ChthonicCoin Purse.
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9. Skull Earring
The Skull Earring is from Megaera, which deals +20% damage while at 30% or less health. The problem with Skull Earrings is that you don’t have a practical way to control your health.
This Keepsake would be perfect if players could keep their health at 30% or around it.
10. Distant Memory
The Orpheus’s Keepsake Distant Memory, which increases your damage to distant foes by 10%, is good but comes with a warning. You would like to use ranged weapons when using this Keepsake, but that “distant foes” part in the tooltip is crucial.
Enemies that are even remotely closed or mid-range to your character will not gain the additional damage from this Keepsake.
11. Harpy Feather Duster
This Keepsake comes from Dusa, and it’s the Harpy Feather Duster. The Harpy Feather Duster is great because broken urns have a 5% chance of including a healing item. Many players have problems while fighting and want to heal up, and for those, this Keepsake is perfect.
12. Lucky Tooth
Players get the Lucky Tooth from Skelly, which automatically restores up to 50% of life when your life total is depleted, and it’s only used once per escape attempt.
This Keepsake is another death defiance; instead of wasting death defiance, you’ll use Lucky Tooth. The Lucky Tooth is helpful if you don’t have all the death defiance unlocked.
13. Broken Spearpoint
The Broken Spearpoint from Patroclus offers the ability to become impervious to damage for 1 second after taking damage, and it refreshes every 1 second. This Keepsake is fabulous because you’re unlikely to get hit multiple times in quick succession.
14. Evergreen Acorn
Eurydice Keepsake Evergreen Acorn is fantastic if you’re struggling with boss fights. In the final encounter in each underworld region, you take 0 damage for the first three times a foe hits you.
This Keepsake is excellent for a fight like Hades, but remember it is only active for the last encounter in an underworld region which means most of the time it doesn’t do anything.
15. Shattered Shackle
Sisyphus’s Keepsake, the Shattered Shackle, gives your attacks special and casts an extra 40% damage while not empowered by any Boons. As you imagine, this is very situational.
Going into a run with zero Boons is not recommended. But when looking for a challenge, this can get the job done.
16. Cosmic Egg
Primordial Chaos’s Keepsake, the Cosmic Egg, allows you to go into Chaos Gate without losing any health and having Chaos blessings have a 20% to be rare or better.
Chaos Boons are fantastic, but you’ll sacrifice that little bit of health, so using this Keepsake is a waste. Though this Keepsake is okay if you want a rare or better Boon, which is very good, there are still better options.
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Final Thoughts
Keepsakes are perfect, and a player must take advantage of them. These Keepsakes are the best ones from the list of 25. But which Keepsake is best depends on the player’s preference and what they want from these Keepsakes.
The best Keepsakes in the game are only sometimes available, so choosing the best won’t help you. It is always better to choose the one which suits your playstyle. Since Hades is a competitive game, the player’s style matters the most. Most of the Keepsakes in the game are made for a specific task, so choose which one you require and grind for it.