New player suggestions, from a long time Hercules enjoyer. 1. Ability usage Simple and effective combo: Pull, basic attack, push, basic attack, 3, basic attack, ult Pull: Limit test the max edge range of the ability. You can pull from farther away than you may think. If you time it right you can hit a basic attack before they land on the ground. Learn to adjust your positioning as they are mid air in order to push them to a desirable location (in your tower, exposed position for your carries to attack). This ability when combined with his 1 is hercs bread and butter for setting up kills and peeling for his teammates. Dash: Be cautious about dashing in as this is your only escape mechanism. This ability does great damage and stuns. The legendary 3: Cast this ability right before you are about to take damage or fight. If you aren't antihealed it will grant you great sustain as well as reducing damage with the high protections it gives. Remember it gives attack speed, swing away. Hercs passive grants him lots of free power when taking damage, so learning to use this ability properly is what makes him shine. Ultimate: This ability has 100 percent power scaling and can hit an enemy multiple times if bounced off walls. It offers cc immunity when timed correctly and can now displace close targets, useful for self peeling if you don't have beads or they are down. I typically full level the 2 last. In conquest I prefer the 1 for wave clear, it does more damage and has higher scaling than the 2. Pull the full wave to group and 1 the fully grouped wave. There are situations in other lanes or modes where I max the 3 first, as the tankiness it provides is unmatched. If damage is not an issue, maxing the 3 is never a bad idea. Full tank vs Full Damage vs Hybrid builds will adjust how and when you use his abilities. He has high one shot potential in a full damage build, but full tank you might want to hold the ult instead of full comboing, as you may get more value by saving it for a low health target. It may be desirable to clear a wave with ult, or attempt to secure an objective with it. Itemization The simple Combo shown to start, included basics between each ability. Hercules love Hydras. Hercules love Bumbas. Now Hydras is almost never a bad item to build on him, but Bumbas is more of a for fun item if you aren't jungling. You can make Bumbas work with great success in solo if you possess the proper skill, but more often than not it will be more reasonable to go with bluestone or axe. Hercules LOVE Regrowth. The item might objectively benefit Herc more than anyone else in the game. It synergizes so very well with his kit, and he loves movement speed to close the gap on enemies properly spacing to avoid getting pulled. There is not as much movement speed in the game as in Smite 1, but its not a bad idea choosing items like Tekko in the jungle or Warflags in the support role. Improving his gap close ability to get pulls can and will win games. Its also fun to go fast. Not to mention, as busted as his 3 is, you will not be that tanky as a late game jungler, and the movement of tekko may keep you alive, especially if you just used your 1 to output damage. That being said, I do not build the item every game, only situationally. Hercs 3 now scales off built protections, so bruiser builds are more effective than ever, considering the free power he is granted from his passive. Items like Brawlers and Shifters are super effective in Solo or Jungle. You can also utilize this scaling in support or solo to finish a tank build off with a hydras or Titans bane. Herc uses Runeforge really well as a single damage item, however I'm not fully convinced that its a better choice than hydras. It does decent damage at full build, offers a lot of health and hp5, and hercules is better than most at reducing its passive cooldown. Its a good complimentary item to a axe + prophetic + freya's build that lacks health. Herc is very strong early game, and if you are fighting a lot you will run through your mana very quickly. For this reason and his built in health sustain I often prefer to get a mana item online within the first 2 items. Being OOM is never fun. Intelligent gamers may not find this necessary, my intelligence is questionable. Given that Herc gets a lot of free power from his passive, and proc items scale off power, items like Crusher, Heartseeker, and Barbed Carver will always be good choices in the jungle. Not building a good bit of cooldown on him is pretty troll, less pulls, less heals, less ults. There are games where I need situational items, and I can get by with 25 percent CDR, but anything less than that feels like I'm severely limiting his effectiveness. Typically I'm in the 30-40% range. Lastly, if you are an anti meta builder like myself, attack speed herc is quite effective. His basics slam hard, and his 3 gives him a nice AS boost. A deaths embrace, berserkers, shoguns, hastened build will always offer you a good time. I would like to save you some trouble by saying do build at least one CDR item. Boxing queen Bellona can't handle big boy Herc when he's swinging as fast as her. Results are subject to vary. Nuances Competent opponents will know how to space and dodge your pull. Think of the classic Ares straightlining it towards the enemies, "Gee, I wonder what Ares is about to do?" Movement speed is one way to close the gap, but unpredictability and deceptive tactics will allow you to get more pulls against higher awareness opponents. Hitting minions while looking away from your opponent may cause them to drop their guard, allowing a flick pull that they might not otherwise step into. Feinting a retreat into a 180 pull is another effective tactic. If your opponent is hot on your tail whilst retreating to your tower, a "hesi" might allow you to take a backstep and push them into your tower with your 1. Too many times an overconfident player does not respect the pull or push, and ends up under my tower with an Ult on their head. Its a truly satisfying feeling. I agree with the statement that you miss 100% of the shots you don't take, but I implore you to be wise about when you go for pulls and pushes. Herc's effectiveness is very dependent on hitting these abilities, so using them wisely over spamming can lead to more long term success. If you get a push into a wall, don't feel obligated to hit them with a free 2 for the hydras proc, saving the 2 to pull them back as they run away might be the thing that secures you the kill. After becoming quite proficient at hitting my pulls, I have learned the hard way that its not always useful to pull an enemy to your teams backline. Most of the time its a free kill, so you may feel inclined to push anyone you pull right to your damage dealers. However, if its a full health Chaac with his ulti up, your hunter and mage may soon be dead :( Picking targets wisely and recognizing who and when to pull and push will make a big difference in outcomes. Look to pull defenseless squishies, or out of position supports who aren't much threat to your backline. Hercs Ult cooldown is quite short, so I send it quite frequently. Whether its the full combo on a squishy, clearing a wave, or contesting an objective. That being said, his build does make a difference. Full damage jungle, it might be overkill and worth saving. In Support it might simply just not be effective enough, and worth saving for a more opportune moment. It has a surprisingly long range so if their hunter has seemingly escaped at one HP, you might be able to snipe them from long range. Blink is very good on Herc, although beads may be preferable with his limited mobility. For a unique game interaction, hit your pull on an enemy, and while its casting hit a 180 blink. Watch them fly like you've never seen before. Closing I've attempted to become proficient at almost every God in smite, but Hercules is by and large my most played. He is my favorite to play and in my humble opinion he is one of the most oppressive in the game when played effectively. HOPE YOU HAVE FUN LEARNING HIM GRAND SLAM