After updates, nerf and buff Hera remain a strong and dangerous midlaner , the Queen can be deadly on group fights, by turning enimies gods in animals, leaving them unable to fight back, along side with Argos Hera will punish bold enemies, so follow this guide and make the enemy team kneel before you.
Start
As a midlaner you need the Damage Buff early on the game, this will help you destroy the minions and poke your enemy for some damage, your goal is to destroy as many minions you can, also try to take the harpies close by for extra gold and EXP, there is a high chance that the enemy jungler will try to gank you, so Warding is a essential thing. Never try to be bold and advance or hopelessy engage chases to secure kill, killing the enemy is a bonus, but your focus is gold and EXP. Focus on conserve Mana, yet poke your enemy in every opportunity, with luck you can get a kill, if not then the enemy will retreat due to low health/mana and will lose gold, EXP and his tower armor. Avoid helping the minion on destroying the tower, you can easily get gank, unless you know exactly where each enemy is , your death means the same as the enemy's, so be careful.
Build
Start
Healing Potion
Conduit's Gem
Ward
Shoes
First Time Coming Back
Shoes Of Focus
Magic Focus
Ward
First Core Item
Spear Of Desolation
Core Items (Must Have in All Builds)
Spear Of Desolation
Staff Of Myrddin
Rod Of Tahuti
Full Build 1
Archmage's Gem
Staff Of Myrddin
Shoes Of Focus
Rod Of Tahuti
Spear Of Desolation
Soul Gem
Doom Orb
Full Build 2
Gem Of Focus
Shoes Of Focus
Spear Of Desolation
Staff Of Myrddin
Rod Of Tahuti
Breastplate Of Valor
Chronos's Pendant
Optional Items (Choice by necessity)
Divine Ruin
Bancroft's Talon
Soul Reaver
Obsidian Shard
Mantle Of Discord
Those ''Optional Items'' is to be chosen when necessary, Divine Ruin is useful against gods who can heal , like Aphrodite, Terra or Hel. Obsidian Shard will be strong against a full tank god. Mantle Of Discord will inscrease your survivability and reduce your cooldown, helpful if you are having trouble staying alive. While Soul Reaver is reccomend for high HP gods. In late game, once your build is finish it could be wise to sell your Shoes Of Focus to buy a Elixir Of Speed and another item, it can be a defensive one, Soul Reaver, Chronos's Pendant , Soul Gem or if you are feeling that you are not doing enough damage Bancroft's Talon is a good pick.
Skills
*Level To Upgrade Each Skill
Royal Assault
1 - 4 - 6 - 7 - 10 Polymorph
2 - 8 - 11 - 12 - 14 Divine Shroud
3 - 15 - 16 - 18 - 20 Argus, The Defender
5 - 9 - 13 - 17 - 19Combat
Hera is the ultimate group fight slayer, with the right timing and teammates, she can turn the tables of a losing battle. When your teammates are engaging in a team fight, focus the enemy with the biggest damage, start with Argus to stun the enimies, then Polymorph, and once more Polymorph (thanks Staff Of Myrddin) if Argus is still alive then Divine Shroud, next step is to spawn Royal Assault, by this time Polymorph cooldown should be over, if the enemy didn't retreat you can use Polymorph follow by Royal Assault. You will be using Divine Shroud more for Argus than for yourself , he's your ultimate defender and can be a threat for enemies, specially the ones with no defense items. When engaging in 1v1 you can either start with Argus, follow by Polymorph (x2) then Divine Shroud and Royal Assault, or summon Argus as a finisher, opening the fight with Polymorph, follow by Royal Assault then call for Argus, either use Divine Shroud to finish the enemy or retreat. Of course these tips are not mandatory, sometimes you will be force to use other skill, it depends what kind of enemy you are facing, agressive or defensive, if agressive prioritize Polymorph, if defensive Royal Assault can do the trick. Always keep yourself in range of your skills, a decent enemy team will focus Hera unless there is someone else with better range, with luck your tank will have your back, if not then Mantle Of Discord surely will.
Threats
Those gods skills can give Hera a hard time, of course player skill matters most, but always be careful against those.
Arache can easily kill you thanks to her skills and Hera's lack of escape ability, always watch out if there is a Arache on the enemy team, poke her with Polymorph and retreat into your tower or base safety, never try to take her by yourself, unless you are confident.
Discordia skill can make her invisible, resetting Argus targetting, so always wait for her to use the invisibility skill before you summon Argus. Despite this, she wouldn't be much of problem.
Luckily not a popular choice, but Nox can give you a hard time with her combo, she can silence you and leave you even more vulnarable for another teammate to finish you, always play safe against a Nox, mind games is essential since her abilities can be quite tricky to hit.
Like Discordia, Nu Wa can become invisible and end Argus chase, but she can be more dangerous, her abilities are easy to hit and she can stun you, Nu Wa ultimate make's her invincible for a short time, also restarting Argus targetting.
Ao Kuang can become invisible and punish you with his fast attack speed and high mobility, if you hear ''Mighty sword'' run or be ready for a battle, you can win, but you need to act fast or he will finish you with his ultimate.
Prons and Cons
Hera is scary, and can easily destroy a enemy with her combo, but her lack of escape skill will make her a target and extremely vulnerable, specially when Argus is on cooldown. Don't iniciate a fight without Argus, If you are looking for a goddess who can do high damage, polytransform and a ultimate that can tank and finish your enemies, Hera is your Queen.