Demeter

Natural Selection is the only duo that improves your run rather than your damage. Because it multiplies the rarity of everything you find afterwards, its value depends entirely on how early you get it — taking it in the final region is close to worthless, while taking it in Erebos can raise the entire run's power ceiling.

Thrown blades home in on enemies inside your Cast

Hold Special to parry; a successful parry guarantees a crit

Each enemy hit grants crit chance; taking damage resets it

Spirit motes linger longer and pierce more often

Higher crit damage and a stronger shield

Dashing turns you invisible; breaking stealth guarantees a crit

The Moonstone Axe's Special shockwave detonates your own Cast for screen-wide damage. The strongest room-clearing build in the game and safe, because the axe can block.

Aspect of Medea turns the Argent Skull from a lobber into a melee weapon: Attack loads skulls into Melinoë and the dash detonates them all at once. Enormous burst, high risk.