Collecting enough cash in Hades can sometimes make or break a run. If you desperately need some health or a certain boon, but you can’t pay up to Charon, you might be dead in the Styx before you know it.
Luckily, there are a ton of ways to find and collect some Obols to pay the boatman for his various wares. Unfortunately, you lose them all when you die, so you’ll have to work on collecting more on the next run. Such is the nature of Hades and all dungeon-crawlers. Regardless, here are all the ways to earn some cold, hard cash.
10 Room Rewards
The first and easiest way to find Obols is, of course, as a room reward for clearing certain encounters. Players new to the game will probably only have this option available to them at first. Just seek out the doors that have the large, yellow coin on them. These are Charon’s Obols — the main currency within the Underworld. That is, until you die and are reset back to zero.
Room clear rewards, under normal circumstances, give 100 Obols. Erebus challenges will grant double that, however.
9 Drops (Urns and Enemies)
The next most common way to earn Obols is through drops. Enemies naturally drop some Obols on occasion, unless they are enemies spawned by an Infernal Trove, as those enemies don’t drop cash.
Urns can also be made to drop Obols by utilizing the House Contractor. Purchasing the various levels of “Urns of Wealth” from the House Contract can make the random pottery around the Underworld drop money, from five at the lowest level, ten for the second level, and 15 for the final level. The first of these upgrades will become available after purchasing the Tartarus Fountain Chamber.
8 Boons
There are three boons from the Olympian Gods that can affect how much money Zagreus earns in a run.
The first is Sunken Treasure, from Poseidon, which offers a random assortment of goods, including some Obols. Poseidon also offers a boon called Ocean’s Bounty, which increases the number of Obols earned from room clear rewards. Lastly, Hermes offers a boon called Side Hustle that grants Zagreus a few Obols every time he enters a new room.
7 Mirror of Night
A couple of the upgrades from the Mirror of Night can determine the amount of money Zagreus can find as well.
The Deep Pockets talent allows Zagreus to start every escape attempt with some Obols (up to 100 at the max level). Rather than this talent, the player can instead opt for Golden Touch, which gives Zagreus a percentage of currently held Obols each time he enters Stairway Chambers. It maxes at 15%.
6 Chthonic Coin Purse
Giving Nectar to each of the characters around the House of Hades will grant Zagreus various Keepsakes, each of which has a different effect. The Keepsake received from Hypnos is called the Chthonic Coin Purse. When equipped, it gives Zagreus a handful of Obols, no strings attached. It can even be equipped mid-run.
The Keepsake, like all others, has three levels. The first grants 100 Obols, the second grants 125, and the third will give Zagreus a nice 150 Obols.
5 Sisyphus
If you’re lucky enough to encounter Sisyphus and Bouldy in their unique chambers in Tartarus, you can earn some cash. Sisyphus gives Zagreus a choice between a bit of healing, some Darkness, or a handful of Obols after a short conversation.
If you choose Obols, he’ll drop some for you to grab. His chamber does not always occur in a run, though, so it’s not a guarantee that you’ll run into him at all.
4 Chaos
Primordial Chaos offers some powerful boons, at a price. Zagreus will not only need to take some damage to enter a Chaos Gate (unless the Cosmic Egg is equipped), but the boons Chaos offers require Zagreus to complete the effects of a curse first.
However, one of the boons offered by Chaos will increase the amount of Obols earned from most sources. It’s called Affluence, and at the top level, it increases Obols gained by 100%. Even at the lowest level it offers a 30% increase, which is still hefty.
Chaos also has a curse that affects income. The curse called Pauper’s will prevent Zagreus from earning Obols for a few encounters.
3 Gemstones
After a certain point, the player can opt to purchase work orders from the House Contractor that will make certain rewards grant other rewards as well.
If they purchase the Brilliant Gemstones upgrade, all Gemstone room rewards will drop 20 Obols as well, which is a nice little bonus. This upgrade costs three Diamonds, and unlocks when Zagreus upgrades the House Contractor’s desk, which itself has a handful of prerequisites.
2 Infernal Troves
After purchasing the varying levels of “Plunder” at the House Contractor, Infernal Troves can appear in chambers of the Underworld. They will offer Zagreus different rewards that he can earn by defeating a certain number of enemies.
One of these rewards can be Obols. The lowest level of Infernal Trove offers 100 Obols. The greater levels offer 125 and 150 when upgraded.
1 Pool of Purging
A last resort for those looking to make some necessary cash can be the Pool of Purging. This strange contraption allows Zagreus to give up a boon from the Olympian Gods, effectively deleting it from his arsenal.
If he chooses to, the Pool of Purging will exchange the boon for Obols. The higher the boon rarity, the more Obols it can be “sold” for. The Pact of Punishment condition called Underworld Customs requires Zagreus to purge an Olympian boon to exit each Underworld region (or two at the second rank of the condition), so runs with this condition applied can at least be guaranteed a bit of cash.
NEXT: Hades Duo Boons List - All The Combined Boons From The Gods
