Hera links enemies together with Hitch, so hitting one pack member spreads your damage to every other foe she has cursed.
Hera turns a crowd into a single shared health bar, which is exactly as strong as it sounds.
The Queen of the Olympians runs on Hitch, a curse that makes afflicted foes take damage whenever you attack any other afflicted foe. Spread it across a pack and every hit echoes through the whole group, melting clusters of enemies at once.
She also brings two of the best meta boons in the game: one that makes a boon Heroic on the spot, and one that rewards running many gods. That makes her as good for shaping a build as for clearing rooms.
This guide covers how Hitch works, every core Hera boon, her Iridescent Fan keepsake, and the build that ties it together.
Sworn Strike for damage and Hitch, with Bridal Glow to make a boon Heroic.Hera builds around Hitch, a group curse that turns a whole pack into shared targets, which sets her apart from single-target Olympian boon-givers.
Her signature status curse is Hitch. The wiki notes that Hitch-afflicted foes take damage whenever you attack any other Hitch-afflicted foe, so the more enemies you curse, the more every hit spreads. On a busy screen it is one of the fastest ways to clear a room.
Her boons apply Hitch through your Attack, Special, Cast, and Sprint, and several add bonus payoffs. Dying Wish makes a slain cursed foe damage every other cursed foe, while Hereditary Bane makes Hitch hit harder and last longer for Melinoe 
.
As of patch v1.0 she also carries the strongest build-shaping boons in the game. Bridal Glow makes a random boon Heroic, and Extended Family rewards running many gods, so she is a build enabler as much as a damage curse. She only appears once you reach the Surface.
Spread Hitch as wide as you can before you commit damage. Because every hit on a cursed foe damages all the others, a fully Hitched pack takes far more total damage than the same hits on uncursed enemies.
Her menu splits into Hitch appliers, Hitch payoffs, and a few of the best meta boons in the game.
The wiki effect blocks list the per-rarity values below, with the Common to Heroic range shown for each.
| Boon | What it does | Value (Common to Heroic) |
|---|---|---|
| Sworn Strike | Your Attacks deal more damage and inflict Hitch. | +50% to +80% Attack damage |
| Sworn Flourish | Your Specials deal more damage and inflict Hitch. | +60% to +90% Special damage |
| Engagement Ring | Your Cast inflicts Hitch and bursts based on foes in the circle. | 20 to 50 damage per foe |
| Nexus Rush | Your Sprint inflicts Hitch and deals damage when it does. | 60 to 150 damage |
| Dying Wish | A slain Hitch foe damages all other Hitch foes. | 40 to 100 death damage |
| Hereditary Bane | Your Hitch deals more damage and lasts +5 seconds. | +10% to +25% Hitch damage |
| Bridal Glow | Make one random boon Heroic and give it bonus levels. | +1 to +4 bonus levels |
| Extended Family | Olympian damage effects are stronger per boon-giver you have. | +3% to +6% per god |
Sworn Strike or Sworn Flourish is your core, applying Hitch while boosting damage. Dying Wish and Hereditary Bane turn Hitch into a chain reaction, while Bridal Glow and Extended Family are build-defining: one upgrades a boon to Heroic, the other scales with how many gods you run.
Bridal Glow is one of the best single boons in the game. Save it for a build-defining boon you want at Heroic rarity, since jumping a key boon several tiers at once can reshape an entire run.
The Iridescent Fan is Hera keepsake, and it is the cleanest way to force a Hitch core to come together early.
You earn it the first time you gift Nectar to Hera. Once equipped, it works like the other Olympian keepsakes: a Boon of Hera becomes likely on offer, and you can Rarify her Common, Rare, or Epic blessings once that night, raising one a tier on the spot. It sits in the wider keepsake pool with the other Olympian mirrors and fans.
Since Hera offers both strong damage boons and the game-changing Bridal Glow, fishing for her boons early is valuable. The Rarify charge is best spent on Sworn Strike or Sworn Flourish to scale your Hitch damage for the run.
Equip the Iridescent Fan when you want to anchor a run around Hitch or chase a specific Hera boon like Bridal Glow. Making her boons likely early gets your group-damage core online before the harder regions.
The strongest Hera build spreads Hitch across packs, stacks the payoffs that chain it, and uses her meta boons to power up the rest of the run.
Open with Sworn Strike or Sworn Flourish to apply Hitch on your main damage, add Engagement Ring or Nexus Rush to blanket a pack, then take Dying Wish and Hereditary Bane so the curse chains and lasts longer. Bridal Glow upgrades your keystone boon to Heroic.
Sworn Strike (damage and Hitch on Attack) Engagement Ring (Cast Hitch on a pack) Dying Wish (slain foes damage cursed foes) Hereditary Bane (stronger, longer Hitch) Bridal Glow (make a boon Heroic)
Aphrodite Weak (defense for the pack fight)Across multiple runs, this core holds up because Hitch scales with enemy count, the exact opposite of a single-target build. Packs that would overwhelm a focused build simply collapse as the shared damage chains through every cursed foe.
Hera pairs well with multi-god builds and with damage gods whose effects can ride her Hitch through a pack.
Her Extended Family boon rewards running several boon-givers, so she encourages spreading across gods rather than committing to one. Her sons Ares 
and Hephaestus 
both add area damage that benefits from a Hitched pack, and her husband Zeus 
chains lightning that stacks with the curse spreading damage around.
Defensively, since Hera wants you fighting whole packs, a damage-reduction god keeps you safe in the crowd. Whatever duo boon you chase, the throughline is keeping Hitch on as many foes as possible so every hit multiplies.
Hera rewards a wide boon spread thanks to Extended Family. Where many builds want to commit to one or two gods, a Hera run can take a little from several and still scale, which makes her forgiving on chaotic boon offers.
Hera is the Olympian Queen and a boon-giver. Her blessings inflict Hitch, a curse that spreads damage between afflicted foes, and she offers powerful meta boons like Bridal Glow, which makes a boon Heroic, and Extended Family, which rewards running many gods.
Hitch. When you attack a Hitch-afflicted foe, all other Hitch-afflicted foes also take damage. The more enemies you curse, the more every hit spreads, making it one of the best crowd-clearing curses in the game.
Sworn Strike or Sworn Flourish to apply Hitch and boost damage, plus Bridal Glow, one of the strongest boons in the game, which makes a random boon Heroic. Dying Wish and Hereditary Bane turn Hitch into a chain reaction.
Hitch links cursed enemies together. Attacking one Hitch-afflicted foe damages all the others, so spreading it across a pack means a single hit echoes through the whole group. It scales with enemy count, not single targets.
The Iridescent Fan, earned by gifting her Nectar. It makes a Boon of Hera likely on offer and lets you Rarify one of her Common, Rare, or Epic blessings once that night, best spent on Sworn Strike or Sworn Flourish.
Yes, especially against packs. Hitch clears crowded rooms fast, and her meta boons are among the best in the game: Bridal Glow upgrades a boon to Heroic, and Extended Family scales with how many gods you run. She is weaker against lone bosses.
Apply Hitch with Sworn Strike, blanket packs using Engagement Ring or Nexus Rush, then chain it with Dying Wish and Hereditary Bane. Use Bridal Glow to make a key boon Heroic, and pair a defensive god for fighting in crowds.
Hera only appears once Melinoe reaches the Surface, so you will not see her on the early Underworld route. After that she offers her boons during runs like the other Olympians.
Keep building out your Hades 2 knowledge with these next stops.
Game data and character art adapted from hades.fandom.com, used under CC BY-SA 3.0. Original content remains the property of the wiki contributors and Supergiant Games.