The Four Regions

Every escape attempt runs through the same four regions in the same fixed order, each harder and more rewarding than the last. The structure never changes, but what fills the chambers does. Within a region you clear one chamber at a time, and the door to the next always shows its reward before you walk through it, so the real skill of routing is reading those symbols and steering toward what your build needs. This is the one page that covers the regions themselves and the encounter types you meet inside them.

The four regions in order

You descend through Tartarus, then Asphodel, then Elysium, then the Temple of Styx, fighting a boss gate at the end of each. Difficulty and reward quality climb the whole way down.

Order	Region	Theme	Notable hazards	Region boss
1	Tartarus	Stone dungeon depths	Spike traps, trap-heavy rooms	The Furies (Megaera first)
2	Asphodel	Lava islands over magma	Lava floors, fire, environmental burning	Lernaean Bone Hydra
3	Elysium	Verdant fields of resting heroes	Bramble and spike traps, shielded foes	Theseus and Asterius
4	Temple of Styx	Branching wings near the surface	Poison and acid, the toughest standard enemies	Hades

Tartarus and Asphodel

Tartarus is the tutorial-feeling first region, a stone dungeon of trap-laden rooms. Its enemies are the easiest in the game, which makes it the right place to learn boon stacking and read how a build comes together. Sisyphus lives here as a friendly face. Its minibosses include paired Elite Inferno Bombers and the Wretched Sneak, which teleports and summons reinforcements.

Asphodel turns the floor itself into a threat. Lava covers much of each chamber and burns you on contact, so the region constantly pushes you to keep moving rather than stand and trade. Eurydice resides here, and gifting her Nectar earns the Evergreen Acorn keepsake. The boss, the Bone Hydra, detaches severed heads that attack on their own as the fight drags on. Asphodel minibosses include the Megagorgon and the Barge of Death, a moving fight where waves are shielded by Voidstones.

Elysium and the Temple of Styx

Elysium is the difficulty spike. The heroes here hit hard, and many carry shields or revive after death, so fights that felt routine in earlier regions suddenly demand patience and positioning. Patroclus can be found here. The boss gate is a duo: Asterius the Minotaur charges and swings a heavy axe while Theseus calls down ranged attacks from the gods, and you face both at once.

The Temple of Styx is built differently from the first three regions. Instead of a single chain of chambers, it is a central hub with several wings branching off it. You explore those wings, usually to find a specific item or clear them out, before the boss door opens. Then comes the two-phase final fight against Hades himself. Beating him is your first escape.

In-run encounter types

Beyond ordinary combat chambers, the door symbols point you toward a fixed set of special rooms:

• Boon rooms: an Olympian god offers a choice of boons, the engine behind every build.
• Charon’s Shop: spend Obols on boons, Poms, healing, and consumables. The smaller Well of Charon is a standing shop with a few discounted items.
• Chaos Gate: a red portal to Chaos, who grants a strong run-long buff after a temporary penalty across several encounters. Chaos Gates begin appearing after a number of escape attempts, commonly cited as six.
• Erebus Gate (Infernal Gate): a combat challenge with a clear condition, paying out an upgraded reward such as higher boon rarity, a double Pom, a stronger Centaur Heart, or 200 Obols instead of 100. Requires the Gateway to Erebus renovation.
• Pool of Purging: delete one boon from your loadout for Obols, which refreshes the offer pool toward something better. A Contractor unlock.
• Fishing: once you own the Rod of Fishing, rippling water appears in some chambers. Caught fish go to the Head Chef for resources, with rarer fish worth more.
• Fountain rooms: restore HP between fights.

How to route a region

Read every door before you commit. The symbol tells you whether the next chamber holds a boon, gold, a Pom of Power, a Centaur Heart for max HP, or the permanent resource you are farming. Route toward what this run actually needs, not toward whatever looks shiny.

Early in a run, lean toward boon rooms and the god that anchors your damage source, plus a Centaur Heart or two so you are not paper-thin by Elysium. Later, when the build is set, weigh Chaos and Erebus gates for the bigger payoffs. The fixed order means you always know what boss is coming, so you can shape the run before you arrive at the gate.

Related: Boons and the Gods, the Bone Hydra and Theseus and Asterius boss guides, and Heat and Bounties.