Neon Abyss 2 Tips: Faith Tiers, Wonder Jars & Builds

Neon Abyss 2 hides most of its depth in systems it barely explains. These tips cover the things players ask about most: which faith to pick, how Wonder Jars actually work, how to get more from merchants, and how to build around Hatchmons and weapon affixes. Everything below applies to the 1.0 full release.

Pick Your Starting Faith From the Community Tier List

Faith is the biggest floor-one decision in every run, so it's worth knowing the consensus. The most referenced community tier list (from Steam guide author Cosmic Hatter) ranks the eight faiths roughly like this:

1. Agapeism — S tier. The most consistent faith in the game. No matter your character, it offers two possible strong starts, and egg/Hatchmon-related items make it potentially the strongest start in the current version.
2. Consumerism — A tier. The first faith you unlock, and easy to trigger through gambling machines, roulette doors or shops. It guarantees coin income via a giant smiley head, though it doesn't guarantee a strong start beyond coins.
3. Character-dependent picks — A/B tier. For James, a shard-based faith jumps to A tier because he innately earns more weapon shards, the faith room's weapon is guaranteed level 2 on floor one, and swapping out your unwanted weapon leaves you with more shard progress. Some mid-tier faiths only improve deep into meta-progression.
4. Fortunism — C tier early. Filling its meter needs 6–8 gambling rolls (60–80 coins — most of your floor-one budget), and the faith room's RNG bingo board rarely pays off on floor one. Community commenters note it only becomes worth it if you can bank a large key reserve for rerolls in later floors.
5. Psychedelism — situational. It costs crystals or health to even enter the room, and crystal chests aren't more likely when running it.
6. Others — unlock-gated. Some faiths only appear after boss milestones (for example, a faith granted for beating Eris for the first time is required as a starting pick if you want to pursue Dark Eris), so expect your tier-list options to grow as your unlocks do.

Two more practical notes: faith rooms contain machines that can explode and damage you after your first interaction, and choosing certain faiths is required for boss routes — you need an uncompleted faith when beating Apollo to reach Eris's floor, and a specific starting faith to pursue Dark Eris. In 1.0, the Artisanism faith was reworked alongside the new affix-badge mechanic, so older tier lists may shift.

Use Wonder Jars Correctly (Q and F)

The single most common Early Access question was how to use Wonder Jars, because the game never explains it. The answer, confirmed by the developers: on standard keyboard controls, press Q to take a jar out or put it away, and press F to unleash its power. You cannot open jars by shooting, meleeing or bombing them — the F key is the only trigger.

Treat jars as planned plays rather than emergency items. Pick one up, keep it stowed until the right room, then deploy it on purpose. If you've been carrying a jar for three floors without using it, you're hoarding; jars exist to be spent.

Shop Smarter: the Smiling Merchant and Rerolls

When you meet the Smiling Merchant, don't just accept the default price. You can long-press and pay coins instead, randomly switching the payment type to coins, hearts, bombs, keys or eggs. If the merchant is asking for something you're rich in anyway — or something you desperately need — rerolling the payment type is almost always correct.

The 1.0 update also increased access to Wonder Dice: some shops and Athena reward rooms can now offer the big Wonder Cube, giving you more chances to complete a build. In 1.0, weapon-experience soul jars release souls at a configured value for you to pick up, so grab those souls instead of ignoring them.

Build Around Weapon Affixes, Not Just Damage

Weapon affixes are the real build engine. They range from flat damage scaling with weapon level to extra projectiles per three Hatchmons, extra range per extra jump, and on-hit triggered effects — all of which can upgrade further. Reviewers have called the build variety a standout: one critic described a cat that shot fish bones splitting into 12 linked projectiles.

The lesson: when two weapons have similar stats, pick the one whose affix synergizes with what you already have. Extra projectiles scale with pet builds; extra jumps scale with movement-focused affixes. Don't fixate on a single weapon — swap whenever an affix fits your run better.

Hatchmons: Collect Two of the Same

Hatchmons hatch from eggs collected after combat rooms, each one random, with its own health bar and attack style. The key rule: two duplicate Hatchmons combine into a Super Pet that keeps its old skills and gains enhanced effects like double shots or explosive area attacks. So if you're running a pet build, prioritize eggs early and always aim to fuse.

Protect them — explosions and friendly fire can kill your Hatchmons, so hold your grenades when pets are nearby. Pet-synergy items from the original game, like fire-rate-per-pet candies, define the ceiling of these builds.

Match Mode, Side Rooms and Difficulty

Not every tip is about combat. The fishing room in 1.0 gained a day/night cycle with sky, water reflections and distance fog — and more importantly, a new chest-related hidden boss whose trigger conditions the developers deliberately left undiscovered. If you've been skipping the fishing room, stop: it's a low-risk way to grab resources between floors, and it now hides one of the game's secrets. The bar hub gained a music player for OST and supporter-pack owners, which doesn't affect power but does make between-run downtime far more pleasant. Supporter outfits also received a refresh in 1.0 with several new looks.

Standard runs take up to around 45 minutes, which is a big commitment. If you want a quicker session — especially with friends — Storm Raid from 1.0 is a leaner mode where stages come sequentially along chosen routes, and the developers specifically recommend it for co-op teams. On difficulty: co-op feedback has consistently said Normal runs feel too easy for veteran groups, while Hard is the appropriate challenge; the game also asks you to confirm difficulty before a run, so don't click through that popup blindly.

Related Guides

• Neon Abyss 2 Beginner Guide — first-run structure and boss unlock order.
• Neon Abyss 2 Review — critic scores and the Steam player verdict.
• Neon Abyss 2 Wiki: Systems Hub — all core systems summarized.