Eternal Spear

Varatha, the Eternal Spear is an Infernal Arm that can be unlocked for 4 Chthonic Keys.

Codex entry[ | ]

'...It must have been a sight when Lord Hades wielded Varatha the Eternal Spear versus the Titans, driving back those fiends into the depths, together with the help of his Olympian brothers and sisters. The Master has since traded in that terrifying weapon for an even larger two-pronged fork he likes to brandish in threat, noting sometimes its superiority to the trident of Lord Poseidon, which he insists is a mere copy. Varatha, meanwhile, has seen better days -- but, it is a weapon built for war. And war shall always find it, I suspect. After all, it now lies in the hands of the Lord Hades' heir, in whose command it much resembles the two-pronged fork Lord Hades came to favor since that time. Father and son are much alike at least in this. Something troubles me about it, though, this Varatha. As I transported it, I felt as though it once were mine! Absurd, yet there it was: the touch of a familiar friend. The thought is barely worth making a note of, but it made me wonder whether there are aspects of the weapon well beyond my understanding.'

Fighting style[ | ]

The spear delivers repeated long-range stab attacks that can be charged to unleash a spin attack dealing high damage in a wide radius. The special throws the spear, which will damage enemies along its path until it stops. Activating the special again recalls the spear, which will deal damage on the way back. It can also be picked up manually by running over it, and will automatically return if leaving the room.

Charging Spin Attack[ | ]

The Spin Attack of the spear needs to be charged before released to deal damage. It has three stages of charges:

Stage	Required charging time	Damage	Damage Radius	Damage Radius with Aspect of Hades
First	0.26 sec. There are no visual indications.	30	210	309
Second	0.33 sec. When Zagreus flashes white light	50	350	481
Third (also max charge)	0.66 sec. When Zagreus flashes white light again, with the word MAX! appears on his head	100	500	637

Statistics[ | ]

Attack	Description	Damage	Notes
Strike	Press Attack button to Strike.	25 Damage
Combo	Press Attack > Attack > Attack for Combo.	1st Strike: 25 Damage 2nd / 3rd Strike: 30 Damage
Dash Attack	Press Attack button quickly after dash	Dash Attack: 20 Damage
Spin Attack	Hold Attack to charge; release to Spin Attack.	1st Charge: 30 Damage 2nd Charge: 50 Damage Max Charge: 100 Damage	Area of Effect Cannot Backstab
Throw	Press Special to Throw. After thrown, press Special or Attack to recall.	Throw: 25 Damage Return: 25 Damage	Range of throw: 850 Zagreus cannot Attack before the spear is recalled

Aspects[ | ]

The Eternal Spear has 4 Aspects: Zagreus, Achilles, Hades, and Guan Yu. Like all other weapons, each Aspect has 5 levels that can be unlocked by spending Titan Blood. The higher the level of the Aspect, the more effective its improvement is. Reaching the highest level in all Aspects requires 51 Titan Blood. An Aspect will not only change the appearance of the Eternal Spear, but will also improve its attacks. The Aspect of Guan Yu has a unique move set which changes the fighting style of the Eternal Spear.

Aspect	Description	Upgrades	Cost	Notes
Aspect of Zagreus	The form in which the eternal spear first revealed itself. Its shape reflects its bearer's true self, hiding its own all the while.	Special Damage, Range, & Speed: +10% / +14% / +18% / +22% / +25%	1 / 1 / 1 / 1 / 1 (Total: 5)
Aspect of Achilles	After your Special, you can retrieve your Spear with Raging Rush. Raging Rush: Press Special button to dash to your spear, damaging foes. Next 4 Attacks or Casts are stronger. The greatest of the Greeks was peerless in battle, up close and from afar.	Post-Rush Bonus Damage: +50% / +75% / +100% / +125% / +150% for the next 4 Attacks / Casts	1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 (Total: 15)	Decreases Special's range by 10% Special is charged; the longer it is held, the farther it will go.
Aspect of Hades	Your Spin Attack becomes Punishing Sweep. Punishing Sweep: A huge Spin Attack that makes foes take more Attack and Special damage for 10 Sec. The god of the dead discarded the eternal spear for a larger counterpart.*	Punishing Bonus Damage: +30% / +60% / +90% / +120% / +150% for Attack / Special for 10 Sec.	2 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 (Total: 16)	Increases Spin Attack's radius Punishing Bonus Damage does NOT apply to Spin Attack/Punishing Sweep.
Aspect of Guan Yu	You have the Frost Fair Blade*, but your life and healing are reduced. A mighty general shall battle with unmatched ferocity to unite his people.*	Life Total & Life Gain: -70% / -65% / -60% / -55% / -50%	3 / 3 / 3 / 3 / 3 (Total: 15)

*Curiously, this Aspect is a trident, even though the trident is Poseidon's weapon; in Greek mythology, Hades carried a Bident, i.e. the Zagreus and Achilles forms of this weapon.

**See below for Frost Fair Blade's alternate move set.

Revealing the Aspect of Guan Yu[ | ]

Reveal the Aspect of Guan Yu by meeting the following requirements:

Purchase the Fated List of Minor Prophecies from the House Contractor.
Reach the final boss (defeating the boss is not required). You don't have to have the spear equipped when you're fighting the boss, i.e. you can use any other weapon instead.
Unlock any 5 non-Zagreus aspects for any weapon using Titan Blood.
Talk to Achilles (with any weapon equipped) until he gives you the waking-phrase ("I see you through the eyes of the crimson phoenix").
Equip the Spear at the House and then interact with its placeholder to reveal the Aspect of Guan Yu.

To meet the Titan Blood requirement while spending the minimal amount, invest 5 into 5 different weapons with 1 each in non-Zagreus aspects (eg. Nemesis Sword, Achilles Spear, Chaos Shield, Chiron Bow, and Talos Fists). It's also possible to reveal Guan Yu with 3 or 4 weapons but this involves spending more Titan Blood (minimum of 7 for 3 weapons or 6 for 4 weapons).

Why is Achilles taking so long to talk about Guan Yu?

Achilles has a "dialogue pool" containing the conversation about Guan Yu and everything else he has a comment about but you haven't heard yet. His dialogue about Guan Yu will happen randomly from that pool, so if you have large dialogue pool it could take a while for Guan Yu to come up. If you've exhausted his dialogue options (you visit him and he has no "!") before meeting Guan Yu's requirements, he will very likely talk to you about it after the very next run.

Is it possible to trigger this conversation faster?

If you don't mind doing suicide runs (letting yourself die in the first or second rooms and talking to Achilles afterwards), you can quickly cycle through his available dialogue options so Guan Yu comes up faster. To do this quickly, reset your mirror and in the Pact of Punishment put a point into Heightened Security and max Hard Labor.

If you play normally, keep in mind that you will add to his dialogue pool if you do things that he has something to say about (like beating the final boss and advancing the storyline).

Aspect of Guan Yu's move set[ | ]

Attack	Description	Damage	Notes
Strike	Press Attack button to strike.	40 Damage
Combo	Press Attack > Attack > Attack for Combo.	1st strike: 40 Damage 2nd strike: 60 Damage 3rd strike: 100 Damage	There is a brief pause before each strike; the pause before each third strike is longer. Dashes can be performed between the Attack inputs without interrupting the combo.
Dash Attack	Press Attack button quickly after dash.	30 Damage
Serpent Slash	Hold Attack to charge; release Attack to send out a spinning blade that moves forward.	1st charge: 20 Damage / 0.5s 2nd charge: 30 Damage / 0.5s Max charge: 50 Damage / 0.5s	Heals Zagreus 1 / hit Spinning blade bounces off walls and pillars Has Pierce
Crackling Skewer	Press Special button to throw an irretrievable firework in a straight line.	45 Damage	Has Pierce

Upgrades[ | ]


Upgrade	Description	Notes
Extending Jab	Your Attack has more range and deals +40% damage to distant foes.	Increases attack range by 40% (430 => 602) Increases damage to foes farther than 475 away The damage bonus is additive.
Chain Skewer	Your Special bounces to up to 7 foes, dealing +30% damage for each.	Cannot be combined with Exploding Launcher Incompatible with Aspect of Guan Yu and Aspect of Achilles
Breaching Skewer	Your Special deals +400% damage to Armor.
Vicious Skewer	Your Special deals +50% damage; +50% Critical chance on recovery.	Cannot be combined with Exploding Launcher Incompatible with Aspect of Guan Yu The damage bonus is additive.
Exploding Launcher	Your Special is replaced with a shot that deals 50 damage in an area.	Cannot be combined with Chain Skewer or Vicious Skewer Incompatible with Aspect of Achilles and Aspect of Guan Yu Disables Special backstab bonuses
Massive Spin	Your Spin Attack deals +125% damage and hits a larger area.	Increases damage radius of Spin Attack by 30% Cannot be combined with Flurry Jab
Quick Spin	Your Spin Attack charges and recovers much faster.	Cannot be combined with Flurry Jab New charge timing: 1st stage removed 2nd stage: 0.15s 3rd stage: 0.30s
Flurry Jab	Hold Attack to strike rapidly, but you cannot Spin Attack.	Cannot be combined with Flaring Spin, Massive Spin or Quick Spin Incompatible with Aspect of Hades and Aspect of Guan Yu
Charged Skewer	Hold Special to charge your skewer for up to +200% base damage. Minimum range reduced*.	Incompatible with Aspect of Achilles Causes the spear to stop at a much closer distance than usual when the Special button is simply tapped
Serrated Point	Your Dash-Strike hits 3 times, but your dash has -25% range.
Flaring Spin	Charging your Spin Attack makes you Sturdy and pulse 40 damage.
Triple Jab	Your Attack strikes 3 times in a spread pattern.
Winged Serpent	Your Frost Fair Blade Spin Attack travels for +80% longer.	Exclusive to Aspect of Guan Yu