Gifting the bottles of Nectar you find as you battle through the realms of Hades to your family, rivals, and various other characters grants you Keepsakes. These are special souvenirs of your friendship that give Zagreus powerful buffs as he makes his escape.
Hades Keepsakes - Who to give Nectar to
Unlike coins and Boons, Nectar is kept in Zagreus’ inventory even when he dies - so you can keep hold of as many bottles as you like before splurging on that special someone.
However, you don’t get a Keepsake every single time you give a character Nectar. You can see who’s about to cough up in Achilles’ codex.
The hearts displayed under a character’s name indicate their relationship with Zagreus. Filling up the heart with the pink bow inside will net you a Keepsake.
Often, especially when you’re offering tribute to the gods of Olympus, the resulting trinket will help you to find rarer Boons from a specific god out in the dungeons. This means you can focus on collecting the buffs from a single, complementary branch.
However, there are also plenty of Keepsakes with more general powers that are very useful.
These are great additions to your build, and can really help to push your runs to the next level.
As for who to give your Nectar to early on in the game: Cerberus is a brilliant first choice. His Keepsake increases your starting health and is a solid, basic, pick.
If you find yourself falling at the final hurdle, hit up your ol’ pal Skelly for an extra chance at victory. His Keepsake revives you just like your second chance ability.
Depending on your playstyle, Achilles could be another decent choice. His Keepsake greatly reduces the damage you take from the front, while making you take slightly more from the back.
From there, if there’s a god whose Boons you particularly enjoy, their keepsake is the best way to make them appear consistently. Right at the start - until you’ve got some Keepsakes you like - don’t bother giving Nectar to daddy Hades, because he doesn’t give you one.
Upgrading Keepsakes
Each Keepsake can be upgraded twice into a 3-star Keepsake. Each time you upgrade a Keepsake, its power increases. Generally, Keepsakes give a percentage buff to something beneficial happening. As you upgrade its star level, that percentage increases. To upgrade Keepsakes, simply equip it and complete rooms in the dungeons of the underworld. Eventually, it’ll get better.
Hades - Full Keepsake list
Below is a full list of the Keepsakes you can find in Hades. As you try and fail to escape over and over again, more and more characters will start to appear at the House of Hades or in the dungeon. If you don’t recognise the name of a character you who want the Keepsake of straight away, it’s likely you’ll meet them soon. However - at the same time - be advised of a mild spoiler warning for character names. The Keepsakes are listed in the order they appear in the cabinet.
As well as being another fantastic game from Supergiant, Hades has also been a commercial success. It hit a million sales soon after the 1.0 release.
