Resources and Economy

In-run Obols versus the permanent resources, what each one buys, and how the Wretched Broker converts one into another.

Hades runs on two kinds of currency, and keeping them straight is the difference between spending efficiently and hoarding the wrong thing. In-run currency is spent and lost every attempt, so you use it freely while the run is live. Permanent resources are carried between runs and poured into meta-progression, so they are what a “failed” run actually banks. This page covers what each resource is, what it buys, and the one NPC who lets you trade between them.

In-run currency

There is only one in-run currency: Charon’s Obols, the gold of the Underworld. You earn Obols by clearing rooms and challenges, and you spend them at Charon’s Shop and the Wells on boons, Poms, healing, and consumables. Obols are wiped at the end of every run, win or lose, so there is no reason to end a run sitting on a pile of them. Spend down toward the end of a region, especially on a Pom for your anchor boon or a Centaur Heart for survival.

Permanent resources

Everything in this table survives the run and feeds a meta-progression system:

Resource	Main use	Typical source
Darkness	Buy and rank up Mirror of Night talents	Most chambers, fishing, the Broker
Chthonic Keys	Unlock Mirror slots and new weapons	Chamber rewards, story unlocks
Gemstones	Pay the House Contractor for renovations	Chamber rewards, some bosses
Diamonds	Higher-tier Contractor renovations	Temple of Styx, prophecies, the Broker
Titan Blood	Unlock and level weapon Aspects	First clears, Bounties, Styx, the Broker
Nectar	Gift characters for their Keepsake and a bond	Chamber rewards, Charon
Ambrosia	Gift deeply-bonded characters, unlock Companions	Late rewards, the Broker

The short version: Darkness and Keys feed the Mirror of Night, Titan Blood feeds weapon Aspects, Gemstones and Diamonds feed the Contractor, and Nectar then Ambrosia feed Keepsakes and relationships. Early on, Darkness and Keys are the bottleneck because they drive both the Mirror and new weapons at once.

The Wretched Broker

The Wretched Broker stands in the House lounge and converts one resource into another. His repeatable trades only flow one direction along a fixed sequence: Gemstones to Chthonic Keys to Nectar to Diamonds to Ambrosia to Titan Blood. So a surplus of an early resource like Gemstones can be walked all the way down the chain into Titan Blood if you are patient about it.

The Broker also offers one rotating limited deal per run. These can beat his standard rates, reverse the sequence, or involve Darkness, and the good ones are how dedicated players generate surplus Titan Blood and Keys over many runs. Check his limited deal every time you are in the House.

Spending priorities

When resources are tight, fund survival and reach before anything cosmetic. Darkness goes into the Mirror’s revive, healing, and dash talents first. Keys go to unlocking those Mirror slots and a second weapon to break up the grind. Titan Blood goes into the Aspect of whatever weapon you are actually clearing with, not spread thin across all six. Save Nectar for the Keepsakes that matter early, the Lucky Tooth and the Evergreen Acorn, before pouring it into deeper bonds.