Hades Wiki
Advertisement
PactRoom

The Pact of Punishment in Zagreus' room (former location)

PactInterface

The Pact's interface (old)

Infernal Contract valid for eternity in the Underworld of Hades. For official use only!

The Pact of Punishment is a contract provided by Hades for the purpose of making Zagreus' escape attempts even more difficult while earning valuable rewards. In a regular playthrough (save file), the Pact will only appear after the Final Boss is defeated at least once, and Zagreus has claimed victory. When he inevitably returns to the House of Hades, the Pact of Punishment will block the open window in the Arsenal Room, allowing Zagreus to customize aspects of his run before he leaves. In the Hell Mode, the Pact is available from the start.

Conditions

The Pact of Punishment features a total of 15 (16 in Hell Mode) different conditions which can affect an escape attempt. Most of these have differing levels, allowing Zagreus to further increase how effective one condition is.

Each Condition in the Pact of Punishment is worth an amount of Heat. The amount of Heat displayed in the gauge on the left of the Pact's UI represents the "total difficulty" of the conditions chosen.

Condition Description Ranks Heat
Hard Labor Each rank makes your foes deal +20% damage. 5
(+100% damage)
1 per rank
(Total: 5)
Lasting Consequences Each rank makes any sources of Health restoration less effective by -25%. 4
(-100% recovery)
1 per rank
(Total: 4)
Convenience Fee Each rank raises Obols prices by +40%. 2
(+80% extra cost)
1 per rank

(Total: 2)

Jury Summons Each rank makes you face +20% additional enemies in standard Encounters. 3
(+60% more enemies)
1 per rank
(Total: 3)
Extreme Measures Each rank arms 1 Underworld boss with new techniques (starting in Tartarus). 3
(+1 Boss Change)
1 / 2 / 2
(Total: 5)
Calisthenics Program Each rank gives your foes +15% Health to their Life Total. 2
(+30% Health)
1 per rank
(Total: 2)
Benefits Package Each rank grants most Armored foes +1 Perk (dangerous traits that vary every Encounter). 2

(+2 Perk every Elite)

2 / 3

(Total: 5)

Middle Management Each rank forces you to deal with +1 Elite foe or other problem in mini-boss Encounters. 1
(+1 Elite or Other Problem)
2 per rank
(Total: 2)
Underworld Customs Each rank requires a sacrifice of 1 Boon on leaving each Underworld region. 1
(+1 Forced Sell per Biome)
2 per rank
(Total: 2)
Forced Overtime Each rank makes your foes move and attack +20% faster. 2

(+40% speed)

3 per rank

(Total: 6)

Heightened Security Each rank makes Traps and Magma deal +400% damage. 1

(+400% trap damage)

1 per rank

(Total: 1)

Routine Inspection Each rank deactivates -3 Talents from the Mirror of Night, starting from the bottom. 4

(-12 Talents)

2 per rank

(Total: 8)

Damage Control Each rank gives your foes 1 Shielded Health, which makes them ignore an instance of damage. 2

(2 Shielded Health)

1 per rank

(Total: 2)

Approval Process Each rank reduces your choices by -1 whenever you receive Boons and upgrades. 2

(-2 Choices)

2 / 3

(Total: 5)

Tight Deadline Each rank reduces time to clear each Underworld region by -2:00, starting at 9:00. 2

(7:00 per biome)

2 / 3

(Total: 5)

Additional Information

Extreme Measures affects bosses depending on how many levels you spend on it. At Level 1, it only affects the Furies. At Level 2, it affects the Furies and the Bone Hydra. At Level 3, it affects the Furies, Bone Hydra, and Theseus and Asterius.

BP perks explanation

Benefits Pacakge Perk list and effects:

Middle Management adds a unique effect each mini-boss Encounter. It affects every mini-boss Encounter in a run.

  • The mini-boss room in Tartarus has increased numbers (4 enemies instead of 2) and the chosen enemies are a random mix of Slam Dancers, Inferno Bombers, Burn Flingers, and Wave Makers, instead of 2 of the same enemy.
  • The Barge of Death Encounter in Asphodel has increased enemy spawn counts, including an increased number of Voidstones.
  • The Megagorgon and Elite Skull-Crusher Encounter in Asphodel gives both enemies new abilities. The Megagorgon gains the ability to frequently teleport around the room, and the Skullcrusher's landing creates a shockwave that travels across the entire room, and must be dashed through to avoid.
  • The Elite Soul Catcher Encounter in Elysium gains the ability to dash itself around the room at steady intervals.
  • The Solo Asterius Encounter in Elysium is unaffected by Middle Management. (However, Asterius will gain all of his Extreme Measures abilities in this encounter if Extreme Measures is enabled at Level 3.)
  • Elite Wings in the Temple of Styx will have 2 different Dire enemies in the room, instead of 1.

Tight Deadline's timer will pause:

  • After a region's boss has been defeated, as well as in the transition staircase rooms between biomes.
  • In the first empty room of a region (with the exception of the first room in Tartarus, and the main hub in Styx.)
  • During all Thanatos encounters.
  • While in a non-combat chamber, with Sisyphus, Eurydice, or Patroclus.
  • While fishing.

Rewards

Defeating the Final Boss at certain Heat thresholds (8, 16, and 32) unlocks special rewards - though much to the disappointment of Zagreus (and perhaps also the player), these 'rewards' are merely cosmetic statues of Skelly to display in the House of Hades courtyard.

In addition, powering the Pact up to 5, 10, and 15 Heat will allow Zagreus to access the Infernal Gates that lead to Erebus in Tartarus, Asphodel, and Elysium, respectively.

Bounties

In addition to the rewards above, completing the game with active Heat will award Zagreus with bounties. Each boss slain at (or above) a Target Heat value will drop a Diamond, an Ambrosia or Titan Blood which Zagreus can spend back in the House of Hades. After defeating the Final Boss and achieving victory at the target Heat value, the target will be raised for future bounties.

Bounties and Target Heat are tracked independently per weapon.

The limit for bounties is 20 Heat, with 21 completed runs that need to be completed to collect all bounties. In Hell Mode, the limit is increased to 25 Heat, with 20 completed runs to collect all bounties.

Bounties can only be collected once per weapon, per boss, per Heat level. So for example, once a player has defeated the Furies on 3 Heat with the Sword, they will no longer be able to collect a Bounty from defeating them with the Sword at that Heat level. However, the player can still collect a Bounty for defeating the Furies at a different Heat level, and/or with a different weapon.

If you defeat a boss at a Target Heat greater than required, it will act as completing the bounty for the lower amount Target Heat, not the heat you are actually clearing at. (E.g If you defeat the Furies at 5 Heat and collect a bounty when the Target Heat is 1 Heat, the bounty will act as the 1 Target Heat reward, and not the 5 Target Heat reward.)

Trivia

  • A fully empowered Pact of Punishment has a total of 49 Heat. Prior to the Superstar Update, it required a total of 200 Heat as well as 80 Skeleton Keys to unlock all conditions. Keys are no longer required to unlock conditions, and Heat does not have to be collected to use the Pact.
  • The pact received several reworks in the Superstar Update. Prior to this update:
    • Every point of Heat invested in the pact gave +2% Darkness collected during escape attempts.
    • Bounties did not exist prior to the update.
    • The required Heat to unlock each of the "rewards" was 15, 60, and 120, respectively.
    • The required Heat to access Infernal Gates was 25, 50, and 75.
  • The Pact of Punishment could be considered the equivalent to the difficulty functions in earlier Supergiant games - Bastion's shrines, Transistor's limiters, and Pyre's Titan Stars.
  • When initially introduced, there were no rewards (aside from bragging rights) for completing a run with the Pact enabled.


Advertisement