“Is It Reasonable? Absolutely Not”
Hades, crowned iGV’s Game of the Year in 2020, has captivated players for years with its challenging roguelite gameplay. The game’s Pact of Punishment system allows players to self-impose additional difficulty by turning up the “Heat Gauge,” offering rewards and extending gameplay for those seeking greater challenges. The “Max Heat Run,” with the Heat Gauge at its maximum, was considered an impossible feat, even by the most seasoned veterans.
AngeL1C, a renowned Hades player, explained why a Max Heat Run seemed so impossible: “Hades’ pact system allows you to personalize the way you want the game to become harder. Pairing certain ones together can lead to extremely difficult runs even at low difficulty totals, so naturally when you turn everything up you’re asking for a bad time.”
The difficulty of a Max Heat Run stems from its numerous disadvantages, including increased enemy health, new boss phases, removal of healing options, and a disabled mirror of night. The odds of achieving a Max Heat Run were calculated to be 0.0147%, or 1 in 6,802 attempts. Even a single plausible run would take approximately 85 hours of attempts, leading many to believe it was unattainable.
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Despite the overwhelming odds, AngeL1C decided to attempt a Max Heat Run. After a mere 20 minutes of optimizing her loadout, she embarked on the run, achieving a seemingly impossible victory just 30 minutes later.
AngeL1C’s accomplishment shocked the Hades community. She described the intensity of the final moments: “I had the timer encroaching, no acorn charges (your 5-hit shield for boss fights), low health (essentially anything kills you in one hit). I got hit down to less than 30 health before barely managing to clear,” she explained. “My only regret is turning off my microphone in the recording software. You have no idea how hard I popped off.”
Haelian, a popular Hades content creator who had previously declared a Max Heat Run impossible, reacted with disbelief: “Of course, it had to be exactly one week after I made a video saying no one would ever do it,” Haelian said with a laugh. “I honestly thought this would never happen, cause I didn’t think you’d have someone out there with the known capability to be able to do it who was going to even bother to attempt it.”
AngeL1C’s triumph has undoubtedly cemented her place in Hades history. While she plans to focus on other speedrunning endeavors, Hades will always hold a special place in her heart. “Honestly, my love for this game knows no bounds. I really just appreciate almost everything about it,” she said.
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