There are a few different Artifact currencies in the Underworld that Zagreus must collect in order to level up and eventually escape to the surface. But, few of them are as important as Darkness, a strange purple gem-like substance that he can use to upgrade his talents at the powerful Mirror of Night.
This powerful Mirror, created by the powers of Nyx, uses Darkness collected from the Underworld as a sort of experience-point currency, used to level-up various talents that make Zagreus more powerful, from the amount of health he has to an increase to the number of times he can dash, among many other things. Luckily, there are a few ways to collect Darkness. Here are all of them.
11 Room Rewards
The first and foremost way that most new players will find their first batches of Darkness will be as room rewards. Darkness is one of the primary rewards that Zagreus will earn for completing encounters, and is often the first chamber reward when he starts a run.
New players should seek out the chamber previews that look like a purple teardrop-shaped crystal, as this shows the reward in that room for defeating all the enemies will be Darkness. In normal circumstances, 10 Darkness is awarded as a room reward.
10 Charon
The boatman of the Styx, Charon, is able to grant Zagreus some Darkness — for a price. A small batch of 25 Darkness can usually be found in Charon’s shop for 25 Obols.
However, the Well of Charon can also be a source of Darkness as a sold product. The Tinge of Erebus can sometimes be purchased at Charon’s Well, supplying between 12 and 26 Darkness at random. The price of this also varies.
9 Infernal Troves
After purchasing the correct work orders at the House Contractor, Zagreus can encounter Infernal Troves in some Underworld chambers. Activating these challenges and completing them will award him with the listed Artifact, which can sometimes be Darkness.
For the Lesser Plunder work order, Infernal Troves can grant 50 Darkness. Greater Plunder causes Infernal Troves to award 100 Darkness, and Superior Plunder will give 150. Each of these work orders has a list of prerequisite purchases, however.
8 Boons
Certain boons from the Olympian Gods can affect how much of a certain currency Zagreus can find or just offer a batch of something as a lump sum. There are two boons that can affect the Darkness Zagreus earns, and both of them are from Poseidon.
Sunken Treasure immediately drops several Artifacts, including Darkness. It can range from 50 Darkness to over 200. Poseidon’s other boon, Ocean’s Bounty, increases the amount of Darkness earned from all sources by a certain percentage, depending on the rarity and level of the boon (from 50% to 65%).
7 Dark Thirst
If you’ve entered the courtyard and one of the Infernal Arms is glowing with a strange black and purple mist, that’s because that particular weapon is ready to earn you more Darkness. This effect is called Darker Thirst, and it rotates through the different Infernal Arms with each run.
This buff will increase the amount of Darkness Zagreus earns from every source by 20% for that particular escape attempt. This buff can be upgraded with the Darker Thirst work order at the House Contractor and it will also provide a 20% bonus to Gemstones earned while using that weapon.
6 Wretched Broker
The large shade located on the right-hand side of the lounge is a character this is sometimes helpful, and sometimes a bit of a trap for the desperate player in need. This is the Wretched Broker, who will offer some very unfair trades for various Artifacts. They are typically not worth the value of what you must give up, but the available stock can sometimes be incredibly helpful in a pinch.
Darkness is one of the offerings in the Wretched Broker’s stock. There are some limited-time offers that rotate with each run. One offers 50 Darkness in exchange for one Nectar, while the other offers 500 Darkness in exchange for a bottle of Ambrosia.
5 The Fated List
There are several incredibly valuable rewards from the Fated List of Minor Prophecies, which basically functions as an achievement board for the player. Sadly, there is only one that offers Darkness as a reward — although it is a large amount.
For escaping the Underworld the first time, Zagreus will complete the “Is There No Escape?” prophecy, which awards a whopping 1,000 Darkness.
4 Sisyphus
One of the three helpful encounter chambers throughout the Underworld is Sisyphus, who can appear with his friend Bouldy in Tartarus. After a short conversation, Sisyphus offers Zagreus a choice between some drops.
One of the drops is Darkness, and the other two are health and Obols. If Zagreus chooses Darkness, Sisyphus will grant him 30 Darkness. It’s not much, but it is free.
3 Companion Shady
Sisyphus actually provides some Darkness in a second way, as well. There are five different Companions that can be earned through high-enough friendship levels with certain characters. Sisyphus is one of these characters, offering the Companion Shady when his favor is completed and Zagreus gives him some Ambrosia.
When summoned through Companion Shady, Bouldy and Sisyphus will drop some loot for Zagreus, including 10 Darkness, as well as doing some damage to foes.
2 Fishing
There are few games where a fishing mechanic would be more surprising and hilarious, but Hades has one and it’s amazing. Fish caught in each region of the Underworld will grant different rewards when traded to the Head Chef back in the House of Hades after death.
Those caught in Chaos’ realm will be worth varying amounts of Darkness. The common spawn is the Mati, which is worth 100 Darkness. A Projelly, the rare encounter, is worth 250 Darkness. Finally, a Voidskate, which is the legendary option, will net Zagreus a cool 500 Darkness.
1 Bounties
Typically, the bosses of each Underworld region offer special Artifacts like Titan Blood and Ambrosia. But, if they’ve already been defeated on a certain Heat level, they will drop Darkness instead.
The Furies in Tartarus will drop 40 Darkness, the Bone Hydra will give 60, Theseus and Asterius give 120, and the final boss will grant Zagreus a nice 250 Darkness when defeated. Again, this is only if these bosses have been defeated already on that particular Heat level.
NEXT: Hades: 10 Cool Details You May Have Missed
