Hades

Shield makes short work of Theseus if you're struggling with him, can block his crap all day then mess him up against a wall.

I use the same tactic :-)

There isn't really a "best" one. Personally I find the shield easiest to win with, but I'm crap at the sword and spear. I'm kind of crap with the fists too, but they're still super fun.

It's more about what fits your play style, there are very few (if any) builds in the game that are impossible to win with.

I think the bow is one of the best initially. Its one of the easiest to make fairly powerful and being able to hit things at range is good while youre getting used to the game.

That said, I had my best early runs with the rail. Its the hardest to use and get crap builds with but the rocket launcher hammer is a literally a game changer.

I found unlocking the Skelly companion very helpful, can really get you out of a jam in the Hades fight.

Once you've unlocked aspects, the Rail has one where you gain 75% damage if you're caught in your special. If you roll either the rocket launcher or the 5x fire Daedalus upgrade (or both) and constantly upgrade your special with poms you end up with a special that just melts and that third boss and Hades both become much easier. Even without the aspects, I'd recommend giving it a go for third boss woes. You never need to get near anybody which I find makes it less chaotic and means you can learn boss moves and it's special DPS can easily be insane. Just focus on special.

Tore through the first 2 worlds with the Adamant Rail weapon.

Shall tackle world 3 tomorrow

I actually like all the weapons. I just pick whatever has the xp boost now as it keeps every run interesting.

Right I've inched a bit further along - made it to the minotaur again but this time he brought Theseus along. Nearly had them with the bow, lots of lightning and crit %

But died again! Great game.

Same. Easiest way to level up most quickly even if you don't necessarily win every time.

Easiest builds for me are anything ranged as they are effective against both Boss 3 and Hades.

Probably the easiest was Rails build where I threw nearly everything into Special, which is the grenade launcher. Part way through I got a buff that does 400% special damage but you can also get hurt by it. Thing is, if you just run around spamming it, you are away from the blast zone anyway. So you absolutely rain down damage. Couple with Doom perks and it was basically enter room, kill everything in 2 seconds, exit room. Loved it.

Then for Boss 3 and Hades just hide behind the pillars and spam.

General tip for Boss 3: put one of the pillars between you and Theseus and his spear attack will bounce off it. Once you get used to that you can just focus on the Minatour without much issue.

Also know that you typically can't see all gods in a run, you'll be given a pool of 4 who can appear in your run. You can guarantee what one of the 4 is by choosing a keepsake. Chaos and Hermes exist outside the pool regardless of the 4 chosen for the run. You can add a 5th (or more) by picking a keepsake for a god not already in the pool after the first floor but it's not recommended for the reason above; picking from the same god repeatedly increases the chance of a duo/legendary.

Made it back to bull/Theseus two more times this morning so definitely improving! Managed to kill the minotaur both times and Theseus down to a sliver once. But just got thrashed a moment ago and need to take a breather...

Good tips regarding selecting the same god - didn't realise that increased chances of Duo (never seen a legendary yet)

Best run so far currently the fists. Not having much joy with the spear. I also rotate based on which has a bonus - keeps things fresh too.

Completed my first run earlier. Was using the fists and assumed I had no chance ahead of reaching the world 3 bosses, as my boons were really unfocussed, but had a lot of +health by the end. Made it through them and beat Hades with some furious button mashing and a sliver of health left on my last life.

Want to try and git gud with one of the ranged weapons now, as all runs with the bow and rail have gone really poorly so far.

Getting the epic one to 20% and having the 40% damage modifier for multiple curses was when it shifted for me from thinking I'd never see the end to seeing it within a day or two. The mirror completely changes the game.