I’ve unlocked all the weapons and really enjoy the javelin, but it seems like you really need to fish for the good power ups to be super effective. Maybe I’m playing wrong, but Asphodel really slows down with a jack of all trades build. I imagine the Hydra would be pretty hard with a melee build.
Daedalus Hammer upgrade is key to any build, get that early and build off that.
My tier list:
-Stygian blade: Instant Nova+knockbacks+extra pillar/debris/wall damage(poseidon).
-Eternal Spear: Extended jab, combine this with other range increases and you can poke people a full screen away. Multi-skewer is trash and needs a buff, vicious skewer is next best but the playstyle feels janky.
-Heart-Seeking Bow: Relentless barrage is so OP, combined with other special boosts you kill everything close range in one button press.
-Shield of Chaos(my favorite)Dashing Wallop, with knock back/extra pillar/wall damage is insane. Bonus if you can increase any of those, you basically dash/smash repeat until dead. By far the fastest way to kill trash. Against bosses you want +attack power and cool bonuses to your dash skill. You basically never take damage because you are one big reflection as you attack.
-Another build for shield is Mirage Flight/Dreadflight/explosive return. Hard to get three hammers in a run but I have done it. With this you just dash smash, throw, repeat. Really shines with Aphrodite and Zeus combos with a little Poseidon thrown in for extra knockback.
-Adamant Rail: Triple Bomb, little slower than I like and sucks for the dudes that leap screens away but its base dmg is massive and only grows from there.
Flurry fire and spread fire are also great if you go the poison route, get in full stack poison and switch targets. Even better when combined with Aphrodite weak+duo for extra stacks doing upwards of 40-55 dmg a tick.
Top tier gods are:
-Poseidon(pushback)
-Aphrodite(weak)
-Athena(deflect)
All above make any build stronger the rest are more situational
-Artemis is for fast attacks/crit builds
-Dionysus is kind of an all in god, but when he works out the damage is insane. Best with fast attacks/AoEs+Aphrodite Duo for the stacks.
-Ares is about the doom stacks which are good on paper but rarely pans out(the delay on damage is too long), he does have a great dash attack though, which is awesome with Engulfing vortex. Pick this guy if you don't have a dash yet or your "attack" build is fleshed out and go for the straight+8% damage on attacks.
-Zeus is mostly garbage. Electric shot is nice on its own and has the best "wrath" ability but he is an all or nothing type and you never get enough Zeus abilities to make lightening worth picking over another power. Avoid Zeus unless it is the first god they give you then go all Zeus and hope for a Poseidon or Artemis Duo.
That said there is so many builds out there this is just what I have experienced to be effective in my play time so far.