Hades 2 Has Removed One Of The First Game's Most Powerful Gods

thegamer.com:

Hades 2 has removed one of the first game's most powerful Gods, although there's a good story explanation for why she's not offering her infamously Boons in the sequel.

One of the best parts of the original Hades was how it incorporated the Greek Gods into the game through Boons, which were upgrades that Zagreus could equip to change his moveset and status effects as he made his way towards the surface. Some of them weren't that helpful (Black Metal, I'm looking at you), but there were a select few Boons that were always worth getting if you ran into them.

Out of all of the Gods, though, there was one that stood out as having some of the best Boons in the whole game - Athena. Running into the Goddess of Wisdom gave Zagreus a chance to unlock Divine Dash and Divine Strike, two incredibly powerful upgrades for beginners that essentially acted as counters and removed some of the massive anxiety that projectiles would give you.

Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but Athena isn't around to help you out in Hades 2, at least not in its current Early Access state. There are a number of returning Gods in the sequel, but Athena is one of the few who sadly hasn't made the cut, although there is an explanation given for her absence.

If you run into Hephaestus, the God of the Forge, during one of your runs, there's a chance that he'll mention Athena to Melinoe. He explains that, although she'd usually be one of the first people to say hello and offer help, she's currently busy testing out all of the weapons and armour for Hephaestus, something that seems to be going well.

"Normally it'd be ever-wise Athena who'd be first to greet you and make nice but... she's been busy putting all my arms and armour to the test. Good news is the testing is going well!"

Considering the fate that has befallen Hades, Persephone, and Zagreus, it's a relief that Athena is at least just keeping herself busy instead of being in some grave danger, but it's still a bit of a shame