How to activate Arcana XIII the Centaur in Hades 2

The Arcana in Hades 2 is one of the game’s systems of permanent progression. It’s pretty straightforward most of the time – you use Grasp to hold an unlocked card. However, some defy the expectation, and one of them is card XIII, The Centaur.

The Centaur is a bit frustrating because it’s a very useful card. Every five levels you gain 3 HP and 3 MP. It’s not massively significant but it’s passive and useful. There’s no reason not to take advantage of it.

Which cards activate XIII the Centaur Arcana in Hades 2, explained

However, The Centaur says it requires 0 Grasp, but that doesn’t mean you can just activate it for free. Cards that require 0 Grasp have another method for activation that is described when you hover over it. For the Centaur it says:

“Activate Cards that use 1 (Grasp) through 5 (Grasp).”

Maybe you immediately understood what it meant, but I was stumped. A lot of cards cost between 1-5 Grasp, does that mean I need to activate all of them?

No, what it means is that you need to activate a card for each Grasp cost. This means you need to have an active card worth 1 Grasp, another worth 2 Grasp, then 3 Grasp, 4 Grasp, and 5 Grasp. You need at least one of each. Once you have them active, The Centaur will activate on its own with nothing else required.

This means that you need to have at least 15 Grasp to slot one of each of these cards. Thankfully, The Centaur doesn’t cost more than that, but it does slightly restrict what cards you want to carry in your hand.