Magic

You can cycle through your various magical abilities by tapping the D-pad in different directions on your controller.

Typhon's Bane

The first magical attack you receive in the game is Typhon’s Bane, a magical bow that can shoot gusts of wind at your foes. It’s a pretty simple skill, all told, and very similar to Zeus’ Fury from the first God of War, at least before you upgrade it. At its highest rank, it gains a couple of multiple-target effects, but for the most part, you’re going to be using this on distant enemy archers, and won’t need to bother with it on enemies that are close to you. It comes in handy during some boss fights, so upgrading it to level two is a good idea at some point during the game, preferably after you start picking up a lot more orbs in the mid-game. Level three is likely going to be excessive.

Cronos' Rage

Even at early levels, Cronos' Rage is great for stunning enemies and boosting your hit meter a huge amount.

Cronos’ Rage is something of an analog to Poseidon’s Rage from the first game and the beginning of this one. When you hit the summon button, you let loose a ball of lightning that will zap nearby enemies, dealing them damage and knocking them around. Unlike Poseidon’s Rage, though, you simply let the ball go and can continue to move around and attack while it does its thing, making this a perfect ability to use when you need to stay mobile, such as when you have to fight enemies and deal with puzzle sequences at the same time. It’s range is negligible at level one, so upgrade this as soon as you have the extra orbs to do so. You’ll eventually want it up to level three, but you won’t absolutely need it that high until later in the game.

Head of Euryale

This is basically a clone of the Medusa’s Gaze spell from God of War, but this time you’re going to kill Euryale, the second of the three Gorgon sisters. (Who wants to bet that Stheno pops up as a boss in God of War III?) The basic effects are the same; you can use it to cause petrification of almost any enemy that you come across. Petrified enemies will break free from their stone prison after a few seconds, but if you hit them enough while they’re petrified, they’ll crumble and give you extra orbs for the kill.

At maximum level, the Head of Euryale can freeze multiple opponents, making it useful in fights against large numbers of small enemies, but this will come at a significant mana price. If you specifically enjoy freezing enemies, then upgrade away, but you can easily get through the entire game without using this spell, save in very specific circumstances.

Atlas Quake

Atlas Quake does a huge amount of damage when upgraded.

The final spell you get in the game is also likely your most powerful. It’s kind of a riff off of Poseidon’s Rage from the first game, in that it allows you to damage enemies all around you, will let you mash the O button to deal more damage, and will render you immune to damage while you perform it. It’s this last aspect of the spell that will probably make it most worthwhile to you. If you upgrade Atlas Quake to level two, each time you cast it you’ll gain around five seconds of complete immunity to any attack coming your way. Since this is one of the few spells that can actually stagger larger enemies, like gladiators and cyclopes, you’re going to be getting two birds with one stone when using it to avoid their powerful attacks.