Hello and welcome to my Hera-Is descend guide. This is one of the easier descends and I list on my easier 7 descends in my *Beginner Guide*. I know this descend is quite old and possibly ‘dated’ but it is nevertheless a crucial stepping stone for new players who are starting to get their feet wet (or icy?) in descends. This dungeon comes in both Legendary and (Mythical) difficulties and I will explain both in detail =) Hera-Is has two distinct forms with her Blue/Dark being gravity oriented and Blue/Blue being focused on orb enhancing for mono blue teams. I go into more detail on her uses in my *Farmable Monster Guide*. I did something slightly different with this guide and actually had my (relatively new to pad) friend, donutdust (343,379,344 and in search of more Kali friends!), play with me watching and she took pictures along the way so the screenshots you see are from legendary difficulty with a much more strange and underdeveloped Kali team. Now let us jump right into the descend before Hera-Is freezes us over!

First Turn Danger: This depends on if they are both synchronized upon entering as you can expect to take ~7200 (~10400) combined. However, if you get either wood or light bound and no way to remove them, this may lead to death through repeated attacks over a few turns

Skill Lock Resist Danger: None! Huzzah

Delayable: YES! Every floor in this descend is delayable and should you choose to bring one, I feel the boss floor is the safest place to use it as she is the scariest part

Risk of Monster Binds: There are no preemptive binds and being bound can only occur on the boss and first floor. Granted being bound is most likely a death sentence so still exert caution

Blind / Dark Attack: 95% of the time no. Only on floor 3 you have a 5% chance (but you probs just get one shotted so I would ignore the blind aspect tbh)

Highest HP / Extreme Defense Floor: The highest hp floor you need to deal with is the boss at 1.81M (2.91M) hp who is on a one turn attack timer

Colour Preferences: This dungeon is exclusively blue and dark in nature. As such, green and light teams will have a significant edge while red teams will struggle.

Major Threats / Conclusion: This descend is relatively straight forward with none of the fancy new mechanics and no preemptives. The major danger is first floor orb troll, floor 3 orb troll on 1 turn timer, and the boss itself.

Now we get to explore a detailed floor breakdown that can reveal tips and tricks to navigate this icy road ahead!

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Floor One: Shivering with excitement you use your 50 stamina and are greeted by two lovely demons. They have ~300k (450k) HP each and can be synchronized upon arrival and on one turn timers. Together they hit for a combined 7340 (10515) every turn with a 30% chance to bind your green and light cards for 2-4 turns. In addition, they will have a chance to do 80% more damage when under 35% hp. This can prove costly especially if you enter without your orbs needed to proc your multiplier. If you can pick off one of the demons, you can take a breather as stalling becomes twice as easy!

Floor Two: You will encounter either one of two dragons with the blue one is easier to deal with as it hits slightly harder and is on a two instead of one turn timer:

• The blue dragon has 712k (907k) hp and is set on a two turn timer. Normal hits above 50% deal 6925 (8820) damage per turn, but under 50% hp has a 75% chance to deal 14544 (18522) which may result in your death. Safest way to deal with him is to take the hit and then use the two turns given after to safely kill in case you leave him with just a sliver of hp
• The purple dragon has almost the same stats and damage as the blue one which is a little unfair in my opinion. He has 712k (906k) hp as well and hits for 5159 (6570) damage every turn. When under 50% health, you can expect to be barraged by 9288 (11828). Purple dragon requires a bit more planning as you do not get a 2 turn cushion, but I have faith in your combo-ing ability!

Floor Three: This floor is pretty straight forward, kill or be killed. This Vicious dragon has 448k (836k) health and is set on a two turn timer, which means he can either appear with 1, 2, or 3 turns upon arrival. It would be hard to tickle him to above 75% hp and you will most likely receive the 22413 (41811) blast and most likely meet your end. I simply recommend just killing him asap as even basic hits above 75% hp hurt at 9961 (18583). If you can survive this, then you can employ the safety of taking two turns after absorbing a hit. I think this was more intimidating when it was current and I was struggling to clear it on my first attempt so long ago and has always scared me since.

Floor 4: At last we arrive at the big blue cow stage. He is set on a 2 turn timer and has 507k (742k) health and I would recommend using the two turns to your advantage to ensure a safe kill. That means if on one turn and uncertain of sweeping, take the hit of 7000 (10248) and use the next two turns to safely kill as the Ice Crusher attack at under 25% hp will most likely one shot you, up to 24500 (35870) and may be charged up too.

Floor 5: We are almost there!!! This is probably the easiest of all the floors as these fearsome dragons start on a two turn timer and their first ‘attack’ is simply opening their mouth wide in hopes of scaring you. Thus, in worst case scenario, you have three turns before the Chaos Ray obliterates you for 51-66k (67-82k). Honestly not much to say on this floor as you should take this opportunity to heal/set up board/take a breather/etc. because the next and final floor is Hera-Is herself!

BOSS BATTLE: Well done on either reading this far or making it to floor 6 of the dungeon! Hera-Is, is certainly the most scary floor in this descend at 1.81M (2.91M) health. As a saving grace, there is no preemptive nor  status void to deal with and as such, delays like Echidna allow safe passage. Furthermore, she can be on a two turn timer if you are lucky.

I recommended to donutdust she bring her newly acquired Naga into the dungeon simply because it will allow the boss to be dealt with much easier. The boss is actually quite terrifying if you fail to one shot her or do not have bind clearing (and bind immunity on that card too). One thing to note is if you decide to not bring a delay and are orb trolled on her floor, you must have an unbindable bind clearer to remove her first attack of Ice Coffin (binds 5 cards for 1-2 turns). In the advent you are stuck in a bind and cannot remove or are confident you can one shot, be aware she will only hit for 15136 (24281) when above 75% health. This is most likely a killing blow if this is your first time clear attempt, but can be survivable with certain teams.

When you drop Hera-Is below 75% health, she will have a chance to deal even more damage, 18164 (29138) OR proceed to do Mischief by God (two orbs -> jammers) and deal 0 damage. Mischief by God can only occur once so if you have a board refresh, this can work in your favour. Last thing to note is that if you push her below 40% hp, she must cast Crystal Coffin (3 subs bound for 2-3 turns), BUT she will cast Ice Coffin first if it is first turn. Thus, if your first move is damage below 40%, she will Ice Coffin first turn and then Crystal Coffin second turn. Keep that in mind if you have bind clears and a messy board after pushing below 40% on turn one you can use your second turn to set up the board, receive Crystal Coffin, and then clear the binds away and finish.

Thank you for reading this guide and hopefully enjoying the new Hera-Is in your box! This was amazingly fun to write and I love writing for the sake of writing, no time constraints, grades, etc. And as such, I would love any and all feedback! It means a lot to me to know this is making a difference and I hope you continue to go through my other posts.

I also want to say thank you to donutdust (343,379,344) for allowing me to use you as a ‘guinea pig’ and also to congratulate her on the first time legendary clear! Thanks to her, at least we all get to appreciate that you do not need the most plussed out nor exotic teams to clear content. Happy puzzling!

-Mantastic