Hades 2 Cerberus boss guide: How to clear the Fields of Mourning

Find out how to free Cerberus from his torment

Supergiant Games

Chronos is an abominable character in any case, but what seals the deal is how he massacred the goodest boy in the Underworld: Cerberus has become a monstrous creature, twisted by the pain and despair inflicted through the titan’s takeover of Tartarus. Tormented by vengeful shades, the three-headed guardian haunts the Fields of Mourning, blocking the way down.

Table of Contents

1. Hades 2: How to beat Cerberus
2. Hades 2: Best boons vs. Cerberus

Painful as it is, Melinoë must defeat Cerberus to make her way down into Tartarus and confront the one responsible for this mess. Here’s the good news: We aren’t really hurting our boy – we are freeing him from the evil shades that have possessed him, relieving him from his sorry state.

Let’s make it quick and painless with this Hades 2 Cerberus boss guide.

Hades 2: How to beat Cerberus

Twisted by despairing shades, Cerberus has become a hulking giant with impactful attacks. The beast uses its massive paws to cause different kinds of shockwaves on the ground – some are expanding as a circle from the point of impact, others appear as a broad wave in one direction.

Most of the time, Cerberus will remain stationary in the center of the map, though later on he can chase you, continuously causing shockwaves as he runs – don’t forget your sprint when fighting him!

He can also spit fiery skulls, which travel slowly – but don’t let that deceive you: They explode after a while, causing damage in a huge area of effect, so stay very clear of them. In addition, Cerberus can spit a stream of flames from his mouth or pull you towards him, like those blobs you can encounter in the Fields of Mourning do. His most prominent attacks are caused by fiery mirror images shooting up from the ground in massive explosions, though these are telegraphed well in advance and can be avoided.

Cerberus has a lot of attacks that make getting close to him hard. / Supergiant Games

As a distraction whenever you’ve taken a chunk of HP off his health bar, Cerberus will bury into the ground and summon some minions and rain down clouds of miasma, which can slow you down. Defeat them to get the hound back into the arena.

Cerberus is more difficult to tackle with melee-centric builds, as his area of effect attacks often force you to leave engagement distance and he’s so large that skills like the Sister Blades’ Ω-Attack don’t give you as much mobility as is usually the case – you must venture well into his attack range to use it. Still, staying glued to Cerberus’ back will allow you to stay relatively safe and deal lots of damage. Just be ready to dash out when he swings his paws or the ground starts glowing. 

Your cast can do a lot of work here and any ranged skills come in handy as well, allowing you to dish out damage while you can’t close the distance between yourself and the boss.

Cerberus is pretty sluggish, but he hits hard whenever he finds his mark, so be careful and don’t get cocky. Once he’s pacified, he leaves behind some of his tears as a valuable crafting material and you can head into the final stretch of your journey – Tartarus itself.

There you go, buddy. / Supergiant Games

Hades 2: Best boons vs. Cerberus

Similar to the fight against Scylla, one of your best weapons against Cerberus is your cast – and options like Apollo, Zeus, or Hephaestus’ boons help forge it into the powerful weapon you need it to be. It’s also great to have an upgrade to your sprint speed at this point, which can be provided by Apollo or Hermes – many of Cerberus’ attacks force you to change position quickly and more speed will be of great help.

Another strong tool against Cerberus is Selene’s Hex allowing you to summon a minion that fell during this encounter – if you get lucky and summon one of those shades with boxing attacks, it will deplete Cerberus’ health faster than you can follow.

You can find additional options among our best Hades 2 builds.