Deep within the realm of Hades, Prince Zagreus can encounter the ancient deity Chaos. Much like the Olympians that players encounter, Chaos seeks to aid Zagreus in his escape from his father's realm. To this end, they too will offer Boons whenever Zagreus visits their realm.
Chaos' boons, however, work a little differently than the Olympians' in Hades. Instead of one single effect, Chaos bestows a curse upon Zagreus that lasts for 3-4 encounters, after which it is replaced by a blessing. These curses and blessings can occur in any combination. While some of these negative effects are hard to deal with, some are less egregious — and some of the blessings are well worth it. With that in mind, here are the best boons and least damaging curses Zagreus should pick up when he can.
10 Blessing: Affluence
Considering the useful wares in Charon's shop, it never hurts to have more obol to spend. Chaos' Affluence blessing increases the value of any obol the player finds by 30% to 100%, depending on the rarity.
With the extra coin, Zagreus can buy healing items, extra Boons, Centaur Hearts to buff his max Life, and more. These items can prove invaluable, especially later on in a run when facing more formidable bosses.
9 Curse: Addled
Of the Chaos Curses that deal damage to Zagreus, this is the easiest to avoid activaing. It will deal 3-5 damage to the player every time they use their Cast.
Though this is of course less than ideal, it's far less debilitating than taking damage with every Attack or Special. Zagreus is often capable of making it through a few encounters without using his Cast at all, or at least limiting his use to once or twice per chamber. The damage caused by this curse is negligible, especially if the player has buffed their max health.
8 Blessing: Strike
It's hard to go wrong with an old-fashioned, no-frills damage buff. Simple but highly effective, the Strike Blessing increases the damage that Zag does with his Attack by 30-80%. Not even Theseus and Asterius, champions of Elysium, can stand in Zag's way when he bears this boon.
As the player's main method of dealing damage with most weapons, this Blessing allows them to cut through enemies faster. It's best picked when the player carries a weapon that attacks rapidly, such as the Adamant Rail, Twin Fists, or Shield of Chaos.
7 Curse: Slothful
While this curse can be incredibly irritating, it's one of the few curses that doesn't directly damage Zagreus. Instead, it will cause the player to move 40-60% slower for its duration.
Though the Slothful curse definitely harms mobility, players can still use their Dash to dart quickly around the chamber and dodge enemy attacks. To help mitigate its effects, choose this curse when equipped with the Twin Fists' Aspect of Gilgamesh, the Mirror of Night talent Greater Reflex, or Hermes' boon Greatest Reflex. All of these increase the number of times Zag can dash consecutively.
6 Blessing: Favor
This Blessing increases the player's chances of finding a Rare, Epic, or Legendary boon from the Olympians that they encounter. Depending on the rarity, Chaos may increase the chance of finding a Rare boon by anywhere from 11-40%, while also bumping up the chance of an Epic or Legendary boon by 10%
Higher-rarity Boons mean more powerful effects; thus, this Blessing increases Zag's chances of obtaining more concentrated almighty power. From Aphrodite to Zeus, Zagreus relies on his divine relatives, and this blessing from Chaos amplifies the power he receives from them.
5 Curse: Caustic
At first glance, this curse might sound horrific; however, it's not that bad in practice. With the Caustic curse, slain enemies will throw an Inferno Bomb at Zagreus as revenge for their demise.
Though Inferno Bombs can do some decent damage, they're also relatively easy to dodge, and thus less harmful than other curses. The bombs tend to hang in the air for a few seconds before exploding upon landing, giving Zagreus plenty of time to run or Dash out of the way.
4 Blessing: Soul
Additional maximum Life is always in Zagreus' favor, and that's where this blessing comes in handy. The Soul blessing will increase max Life from anywhere between 30-80 points.
There's really not much to this blessing that isn't already obvious: additional health allows Zag to last longer even in difficult battles. Sometimes, the most useful buffs are the simplest ones.
3 Curse: Pauper's
As useful as it is to collect mounds of coin for Charon, a lack of obol never hurt anyone — unlike most of Chaos' other curses. The Pauper's curse prevents Zagreus from collecting coin from fallen enemies or broken urns.
Though players may not be able to purchase extra Boons or Poms, it's highly preferable to taking massive amounts of extra damage or facing larger swarms of foes. If Zagreus has already saved up a decent amount of wealth at the point in the run where a Boon with this curse is offered to him, it's often worth taking it.
2 Blessing: Defiance
Who could have guessed that Chaos' Legendary boon would be their best? If the player selects a boon with this Blessing, Zagreus will recieve one extra use of Death Defiance once the respective curse is lifted.
Death Defiance, as many players will know, allows Zagreus to come back with half his health upon dropping to zero, instead of dying. The Mirror of Night's talent of the same name can provide him with up to three uses per run, but no more than that. When trying to escape Hades (especially with the Heat cranked up), one extra life never hurts.
1 Curse: Enshrouded
Unlike other Chaos Curses, Enshrouded does not deal damage to Zagreus or prevent him from collecting items. Instead, it simply prevents the player from previewing the next chamber's reward. There are some situations where this curse can be frustrating; for example, if players are looking to encounter a specific god. However, it's by far the least harmful curse Chaos offers.
As an additional bonus, this curse's duration is determined by chambers rather than encounters. Thus, chambers with no enemies will still count towards ending this curse, unlike all others on this list.