Hades 2 – How To Unlock Animal Familiars And Pets

You don’t have your entire journey in Hades 2 all by your lonesome. That’s because a few cute critters can tag along to help you in battles. Here’s our guide on how to unlock Animal Familiars in Hades 2.

Hades 2 Animal Familiars guide: How to unlock Frinos and Toula as pets

Currently, there are two unlockable Animal Familiars in Hades 2. These are Frinos the Frog and Toula the Cat. The way to tame them, however, can be somewhat complicated, as it involves an Incantation called Faith of Familiar Spirits.

Incantation: Faith of Familiar Spirits – Animal Famliars unlock requirements

It seems there are a few requirements if you want to get the Faith of Familiar Spirits Incantation. Here’s what we know based on our playthrough:

Hecate boss – We had already defeated Hecate several times.Woodsy Lifespring Incantation – The Woodsy Lifespring Incantation was already completed: This particular Incantation is notable since it can cause one chamber in Erebus to have a healing fountain. This happens randomly, and isn’t always guaranteed in every run.It seems that the fountain chamber is more likely to appear in rooms that don’t have the following: (a) miniboss battle, (b) Charon Shop, and (c) Arachne’s chamber.Upon entering this fountain chamber, you should see a spotted orange cat you can pet.Gathering Tools – We had unlocked all Gathering Tools: It appears that another hidden requirement is that you have to equip/bring each Gathering Tool to two runs (at least). This advice comes from Reddit user Teatotalandbored.In our playthrough, we had often used the Crescent Pick, Silver Spade, and Tablet of Peace. Unfortunately, we rarely ever used the Rod of Fishing. When we finally equipped it for a couple of runs, we could trigger Hecate’s hidden dialogue.

If you meet the above requirements, then Hecate should have the following dialogue the next time you encounter her in Erebus:

Hecate before the battle: “You jest, yet a familiar may be of considerable benefit given all that you have to do. A possibility to think upon once you are rid of me.”Hecate after you defeat her: “Do bring an Animal Familiar along next time, if but to keep things livelier for me! We can keep them safe, even in scuffles such as these.”

Incantation: Faith of Familiar Spirits materials

After beating Hecate, you’ll get the Hades 2 Faith of Familiar Spirits Incantation. Return to the Crossroads and check the cauldron. You may now complete the spell by using the following materials:

2x Nectar – Refer to our Nectar sources guide if you need more of this material.1x Lotus – A pink flower gathered by hand in the Oceanus zone (i.e. second zone in the Underworld).

Witch’s Delight, Beast-Loved Morsel, and new recipes

Completing the Faith of Familiar Spirits Incantation nets you 1x Witch’s Delight. This treat is a special item that can be given to creatures (similar to a gift):

The first time you give this to a valid creature, they become an Animal Familiar in Hades 2.If a creature is already your familiar, giving extra treats lets you choose/upgrade their skills.

There are also some additional recipes that you can check out:

Recipe: Moonlit Essence from the Stars – Available upon completing the Incantation.
Effect: Brew +3 Moon Dust.Required materials: 1x Star Dust.Required encounters: Completed after four encounters.Recipe: Beast-Loved Morsel – Available once you’ve given your first Witch’s Delight and made a creature your familiar.
Effect: Creates +2 Witch’s Delight (i.e. treats for your familiars)Required materials: 2x Lotus and 1x Star Dust.Required encounters: Completed after 14 encounters.Incantation: Attending a Faithful Beast – Available once you’ve obtained a familiar’s skill using Witch’s Delight.
Effect: Allows your Animal Familiar to rest at the training grounds so they can have a +2 harvest action bonus.Required materials: 1x Tears, 1x Wool, and 4x Wheat.Required encounters: N/A – Instant.

Note that Star Dust is a rare, late-game material. You can take a look at our Chaos Trials/Star Dust guide if you need more help obtaining this resource.

Where to find Frinos the Frog

Anyway, it’s time to tame an Animal Familiar in Hades 2. One option that’s currently available is Frinos the Frog. You can find this green fella in the spawning area (i.e. where Melinoe reappears after perishing in a dungeon).

Approach Frinos and click on the Tame button. Then, select the Witch’s Delight to gift it to him, which turns him into your pet/animal companion.

Frinos skills

If you give Frinos additional Witch’s Delight, you can select/upgrade his abilities:

Life Bond – You gain +10 max HP.Soul Bond – Frinos gains +1 Tablet of Peace activation.Strength Bond – Frinos deals +10 damage when leaping onto enemies.

Where to find Toula the Cat

Remember that orange cat from the fountain chamber? Well, there’s a good chance she’s not there anymore. Apparently, this is due to the Permeation of Witching-Wards Incantation, which allows you to head up to the surface.

Don’t worry because you’ll meet up with the kitty soon enough. Here’s what you need to do:

Craft an extra Witch’s Delight using the Beast-Loved Morsel recipe.Complete the necessary steps to reach and survive on the Surface World. You can refer to our Surface World wards/areas guide for all the details.Clear the required number of encounters in the City of Ephyra. Then, defeat the Cyclops Polyphemus.There’s a dockyard transition zone just after the City of Ephyra. If you go to the left-hand side of the docks, you’ll see a sleeping cat. Yes, she’s the same one from the fountain chamber.

Normally, you can only pet this cat before she despawns. However, if you have a Witch’s Delight, you should be able to tame her. This allows you to turn Toula into a Hades 2 Animal Familiar.

Toula skills

Toula’s abilities include the following:

Heart Bond – Gain an extra Death’s Defiance. Instead of perishing when her HP reaches zero, Melinoe will heal for +10 HP.Soul Bond – While together, Toula gains +1 fishing action.Claw Bond – Strike +1 more time before losing interest. Note that Toula spends most of the time sleeping, and she attacks once per encounter if you dash while next to her. Upgrading this skill further allows her to attack more often in battle.

In any case, that does it for our Hades 2 Animal Familiars guide. Both pets should remain idle in the training area/ Melinoe’s room when you’re at the Crossroads. Simply walk up to either one and press the Invite button to have that pet accompany you.

Please note that these are the only pets available at the moment. We might see additional critters added in the future, so stay tuned.