Introduction
Hermes is one of the oldest monsters in Puzzle and Dragons and was my starter for Fantastic. He was once heralded as a powerful leader, but has lost his edge over time. However, with the release of his Awoken 
evolution, Hermes once again has leadership potential. In addition, with the awakenings buff, his B/L 
form has regained popularity and power. We are now faced with a challenging decision of which Hermes evolution is best for our monster box.
Video Commentary
At a glance
Awoken Hermes 
Awoken Hermes is the clear winner when it comes to base stats, active skill, and leader skill. Even with very low HP, this can be easily compensated through the numerous physical, HP heavy water monsters and the exceptionally high RCV will be greatly appreciated. The skyfall mechanic can be invaluable as it does increase your chances of additional water matches, but can also be used to override other colour debuffs caused by various bosses.
When played as a leader, Awoken Hermes forms a powerful 4x HP / 16x ATK team when matching both water and fire orbs. This is great as you can survive essentially any attack in the game, but has constraints in your sub selection for fire orb generation. You are unable to use Andromeda 
along with any board changer except for Mori 
and Summer Urd 
. Your other option for fire and water orb generation is Merlin Rider 
who converts hearts to fire and fire to water. You can focus on either TPA 
matches for picking off easy floors/going fast, or capitalizing on row enhances 
for giant burst damage. Lastly, you have the option of pairing with Awoken I&I 
should you wish to have augmented recovery. However, the best pairing possible is with Awoken Sun Quan 
. This will allow you to form a 2x HP / 48x ATK / 2x RCV team when you match water and fire orbs along with using an active. The active skill clause can be problematic, but can excel in short dungeons or in coop.
When used as a sub, Awoken Hermes is a powerful choice on numerous teams except for Blue Sonia 
and Neptune Dragon 
as he lacks both Physical and God typing. If you plan to use either Blue Sonia or Neptune Dragon teams, you should not make Awoken Hermes. One popular topic of debate is his viability on Sarasvati 
teams as both provide the skyfall buff. It is true that dual Sarasvati leaders can maintain 100% uptime on the skyfall buff, but I have found that I am not always using Sarasvati on cooldown as I sometimes save or use her prematurely to correct poor board changers. As such, Awoken Hermes can be used to fill the gaps.
Finally, you should also consider the skill up requirements as Awoken has to use Bubpys while his other two forms can be easily done with Super Kings.
B/D Hermes 
B/D Hermes was once the strongest evolution choice for Hermes, but with the advent of awakenings buff and Awoken form, B/D has lost his reign. His god typing means he can fully benefit from Neptune Dragon ‘s leader skill and the 3 water row awakenings add massive damage. However, his viability has greatly diminished as both B/L Hermes or Awoken Hermes better fulfills their role. Comparing to B/L, you are trading a row enhance and TPA for a devil killer 
awakening and physical typing (to be used on Blonia teams) and a significant amount of HP. The HP is more important on virtually any team team as that would allow you to survive an extra hit and the loss of TPA is negligible on row based teams teams. If you were wanting to utilize a TPA oriented team, Awoken Hermes 
is the better choice due to superior stats and active.
On the bright side, B/D has the best artwork of the three evolution paths.
B/L Hermes 
B/L Hermes has been transformed from a lackluster sub into an incredible powerhouse with the awakenings buff that granted him an extra row and devil killer awakenings. These additional awakenings make him stronger than B/D Hermes as he can be used on more teams along with the devil killer allowing him to deal 3x more damage to devil type bosses (which are quite common).
Furthermore, many high end water row teams will want to run multiple Hermes (Hermi?) because the active is so powerful as it floods the board with water orbs and can be used in conjunction with any tri-colour board changer to form a 2/3 water board. Lastly, the most important aspect of the physical typing allows B/L to be used on Blonia teams to great success.
I want to stress that the significantly larger health from B/L can allow you to survive attacks you may not normally be able to or providing an extra cushion for error.
Awoken or B/L?
This is a challenging question to answer as both are viable options on a variety of teams. I have both evolutions on Mantastic and I interchange between the two based on the situation. On my Sarasvati team, I have used both for various dungeons and my decision is based on a few factors:
- My HP requirements
- The need for Devil Killer
- Do I need the additional Skyfalls
- Is TPA or Orb Enhances going to help?
If my team needs the HP or can greatly benefit from the Devil Killer, I choose B/L. However, in longer dungeons, I will tend to choose Awoken Hermes as I can stagger my Sarasvati actives to better combo with board changers or other actives. For example, in Arena 2, I use my Awoken Hermes as it is 22 floors and gaining the additional skyfall has proven helpful.
Conclusion
Awoken and B/L are the two most viable options for Hermes. Awoken should be used if you want to have leadership potential, build a around a water TPA team, or benefit from the additional skyfall buff. B/L is used on Neptune Dragon and Blue Sonia teams as Awoken lacks their required typings along with having superior HP and Devil Killer.
To reiterate why B/D 
is the weaker choice:
- He is outclassed by B/L because the loss of a single row is outweighed by the significantly larger HP and Devil Killer awakening. Most water teams are row based so his TPA goes largely to waste while the extra HP allows you to survive larger hits which is important on a teams without a health multiplier
- On most other teams, Awoken is the optimal choice due to the heavier RCV stats, awakenings, and active. RCV is one of the most important stats as it allows you to restore your health after surviving an attack while the skyfall buff can allow you to save actives.
B/D may be stronger than either option in a few cases, but will never be the best choice in any scenario.
Let me know which evolution path you will be choosing.
Happy Puzzling!
Mantastic Puzzle and Dragons 
Nice informative post! I was leaning towards Awoken but after consideration I think I may go B/L. RCV on Neptune Dragon is good enough to still use Awoken but I think you’re correct about the additional use due to devil killer and extra row. Thanks for the post as usual!
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Well awoken cannot be used on Neptune dragon so that automatically makes him the worst of the 3 =P I actually made two B/L on Fantastic to use on my Blonia team. He is just too good too pass up on
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Agree! B/L here I come lol!
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What latent awakenings did you put for B/L Hermes? Attack seems good because he has devil killer but I’m not sure
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HP gives the biggest bang for buck in terms of raw stats due to physical typing; however, you do raise a good point about Devil Killer and attack latents. They will provide a significant boost against devil bosses, but very little otherwise due to low base attack. However, if you have attack latents to spare (and better monsters for HP ones, think Blonia) you can put on B/L Hermes.
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Awoken can definitely be used on Neptune Dragon; the lack of God type currently only causes you to miss out on an RCV buff (the upcoming uuevo may change this, but that remains to be seen). Even then, B/L and B/D Hermes hardly offer a great amount of RCV themselves.
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But Neptune Dragon boosts ATK and RCV for Gods so you are losing out there too. It’s just not as ideal and if Neptune follows suit as Ra D and gains HP, it would be even worse
As for the RCV, full +297 on B/L is still 400+ which is significant
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Neptune Dragon does not have a God-exclusive ATK boost. He’s the only MP Dragon which doesn’t.
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Oh really? Well I learn something new every day, but if Neptune follows suit of Ra D and only boosts God types, it may be more important to only bring them
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Glad I have two Hermes! One B/D and one Awoken here we goooo
Also, spotted a typo! hope you don’t mind me poking you about these…
“We are not faced with a challenging decision of which Hermes evolution is best for our monster box.” shouldn’t it be “We are now faced with a challenging decision”?
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It is always great when you have dupes =D
And I do not mind typo finding, it means future readers will have an even more enjoyable experience! It also reassures me that people read what i write XD. One thing I have learned is that the internet population as a whole are a fantastic editor and will spot mistakes right away!
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Don’t forget about Scheat being a great sub for A.Hermes! (If going for a TPA team)
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When you see the TPA damage, you will say Holy Scheat!
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HI mantastic i know this is a hermes article but in this godfest i got wukong and shedar, i already had apollo, LMeta and facet, do you think i can make a team with these guys?
Thanks in advance
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You need a strong leader to use those subs as they are for the most part subs. If you really wish to use those cards, you could use Awoken Apollo as a leader
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HI again, thanks for the answer, what leaders should i try to roll for to use these cards??
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Saria or Thor would be the universally easiest leaders for those cards =)
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Such a bummer, since Psychopomp has by faaaaaar the best art of the three T_T I guess mine is just fated to be a cheerleader forever =/
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Rest in Pengdras
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Very helpful article, thank you. Is there a plan to do this for others with multiple contextually viable paths as well? (Apollo, Indra, Okuninushi, Haku, Loki etc.)
Looks like I will be leaving my Hermes un-uevo’d at this time until there’s a role he could fill.
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I have some older articles written that discuss split evos paths, but I guess I can revisit them as I do have the template etc. Probably will do Haku next
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Excellent, I look forward to it.
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I run beach Eschamali on my Saras team for that pacing out of skyfalls. With the superior stats of A. Hermes, do you think he is better, or do we love those orb enhances way too much?
(the team consists of Saras, B. Eschamali, Blonia, Ryune or Summer Urd, and a flex of Nut/A.Isis/A.orochi/Nepdra)
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Orb Enhances make a huge difference with Beach Escha as you gain 7 vs 2. With Sarasvati, the value of orb enhances is apparent when forming water combos instead of rows from naturally occuring orbs. You only need rows for Annihilation content etc as 100x on 3 combos is enough already. So I would stuck with your Escha in most cases
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that was what I was thinking, but your post got me thinking about it since I recently pulled Hermes. B/L all the way for me. Blonia and Nepdra will be so pleased.
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Oh yes! I cannot wait to see how they buff Neptune Dragon! I hope he can at least compete with Sarasvati lol
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Am I the only who’s not bothered by AHermes’ look? The art is awful effects wise but his design is stellar.
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You are not alone in yearning for a better Awoken Hermes art =(
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Hey! I just got hermes from a totally unrelated godfest, but he seems like a decent sub for Meridionalis. Would his triple row evo be better or should I go awoken? Since he is getting a revo soon, maybe awoken is the obvious choice but Im still wondering.
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Awoken in most cases as the future Revo adds sizable bulk. Also, the main appeal of B/L is the devil killer which you do not need on Meri teams
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thanks, man! Your site and videos have been very helpful. Keep up the good work 🙂
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Glad to be of help and you are very welcome!
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