How to get garlic in Hades 2

Grow garlic in your garden to unlock essential progression elements

In Hades 2, garlic serves as a crucial resource for multiple significant upgrades, particularly for crafting powerful incantations at the cauldron. Beyond basic progression, garlic becomes essential for restoring key locations like the Crossroads Taverna, which provides valuable buffs and interactions. Many players overlook this ingredient initially because garlic cloves exclusively appear in a specialized surface area that requires specific conditions to access.

This comprehensive guide details optimal strategies for locating garlic cloves and establishing sustainable garlic cultivation in Hades 2, including advanced techniques most players discover only after multiple playthroughs.

To acquire garlic, you must first establish garlic cultivation by planting cloves in Melinoë’s garden at the Crossroads. The initial garlic cloves can only be sourced from the City of Ephyra, the primary surface region accessible after meeting specific progression milestones.

Gaining Surface access in Hades 2 demands completing several sequential objectives: first defeat Hecate in combat, then encounter Hermes through random meeting opportunities, and finally brew the “Permeation of Witching-Wards” incantation. This essential incantation requires gathering three moly flowers, one cinder, and one shadow resource before cauldron activation.

Important warning: Melinoë faces severe limitations on the Surface due to the Chthonic Fate curse, dramatically reducing exploration time before automatic recall. This time constraint makes locating garlic nearly impossible within initial surface visits. Fortunately, players can neutralize this restriction by creating the “Unraveling a Fateful Bond” incantation at the cauldron. This advanced recipe demands two complete stacks of each component: nightshade, lotus, moss, and thalamus. While moss also appears exclusively on surface levels, it typically generates in areas preceding the City of Ephyra, making acquisition more feasible while the Chthonic Curse remains active compared to garlic hunting.

After securing City of Ephyra access, systematically search for digging spots (distinctive soil mounds) and interact with them to collect garlic cloves. Critical awareness: digging spots generate through random placement algorithms, requiring both persistence and strategic route planning to encounter consistently. For significantly improved discovery rates, unlock the “Bravery of Familiar Spirits” incantation to gain Hecuba the hound as a exploration companion. Enhance Hecuba’s “Earth Bond” capability using accumulated witch’s delights and include her in your surface expeditions to substantially increase digging spot frequency throughout your runs.

Graphic: Marloes Valentina Stella/Polygon | Source images: Supergiant Games via Polygon

Successfully obtained garlic cloves? During your subsequent return to the Crossroads, immediately plant them in the garden plots. The cultivation process requires five complete growth cycles (equivalent to finishing five room encounters during any expedition type) before garlic becomes harvestable.

Pro Farming Strategy: Experienced players recommend focusing initial surface runs exclusively on digging spot identification rather than combat completion. The random nature of spawn locations means multiple quick attempts often yield better results than prolonged exploration. Common mistakes include wasting limited surface time on unnecessary combat when priority should be resource gathering.

Optimization Tip: Always combine garlic hunting with other surface resource collection to maximize expedition efficiency. The companion Hecuba provides the most value when her Earth Bond skill reaches at least level 3, which typically requires 12-15 Witch’s Delight investments. For players struggling with resource management strategies, similar principles apply across different game systems.

Time investment for complete garlic acquisition typically ranges between 3-5 successful surface runs depending on RNG factors and companion upgrades. Advanced players can reduce this to 2-3 runs with proper progression planning and strategic resource allocation from earlier game stages.

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