Hades: Magical Bruiser

I used to play this build a lot before they nerfed Hades, but it is still a viable and fun build to play as an off-tank mage. I tend to only build it if there is another initiator on the team.

For every build there are circumstantial items that may help. For example, in the video I opted to choose void stone instead of chrono's pendant because it was a 75% cooldown MOTD. This gave me protections, damage and a valuable aura which works well with his ultimate.

After years of neglect I have updated my guide. Hope you have fun with this build. I always do.
Thanks for taking a look, GLHF!

Lewcipher

With this build he is neither particularly tanky, nor particularly powerful - but that's not the point of a bruiser. He is an off tank, peeler and debuffer. Whilst he has enough damage to get a kill, generally you need a team around you to really excel. Hades is more an early game character and tends to fall off late game.

Pros
+ Very disruptive
+ Decent damage early game
+ Hard to kill, especially with built in heal
+ Good crowd control
+ Ult debuff enhances allies damage on affected targets too

Cons

- Long cooldowns, even with full CDR
- Slow
- Predictable damage combo and ult. CC ruins his initiation
- His ult, whilst awesome, can be too easily avoided with escapes and beads
- He is not a good tank, nor is he a great mage. Bruiser is his only real role but others can do it better.

Passive - Blight

Hades' normal staff attacks apply a Debuff to the enemy, called Blight. This Debuff stays on the target and can be refreshed. If an enemy is afflicted by Blight, each of Hades' other powers have an additional effect.

This debuff can also be applied using your 1 and 2 abilities. I tend to use my 2 to apply his passive on a minion wave, 3 to detonate (usually clearing the whole wave if done correctly) that way I still have my 1 to escape with if required.
1. Death from Below

Hades descends into the ground and erupts from below at his ground location, doing damage to all enemies in the area. If the enemy is Blighted, they are also Slowed. Applies Blight.

Excellent for initiating your ult, it applies your debuff to everyone in the target area making your ult that bit more potent. A good escape tool as well as it can go under walls and player obstacles.
2. Shroud of Darkness

Hades Silences all enemies in a cone in front of him. If the enemy is Blighted, they are also Feared. Applies Blight.

Perfect for interrupting a Bacchus belch or a Thor's Berserker Barrage. As can bee seen in the video it can also remove nemisis' shield. A very annoying ability to be against. Especially when feared!
3. Devour Souls

Hades devours the souls of his enemies, dealing damage in a radius around him. If the enemy is Blighted, the enemy explodes dealing damage to nearby enemies and healing your allies. Enemy gods only take 50% of the damage from detonating Blights. Consumes Blight.

This is your main damage. Always use on blighted targets as the damage is huge with blight, especially if you can catch a god amongst his/her minions. This causes a shockwave of damage aswell as heals Hades, watch your health go up and theirs disappear! One trick to note, this can also heal allies if they are within the (tiny) range of it. Especially useful in assault when you have no healer.
4. Pillar of Agony

Hades calls to all enemy souls nearby, pulling them closer to him over time, doing damage every .5s for 4s. If the enemy is Blighted, their Protections are reduced. Hades also gains Protections for the duration.

Although his ultimate looks and sounds awesome, it is his weakest ability too. Since most gods in the game have an escape, they can usually just jump out or use beads. The best time to use his ult is when you see someone use their escape, chase them with your 1 or blink, then ult them. Getting this opportunity is fairly rare though and makes his ult unfortunately weak. It can be done though, as can be seen in the video, enemies without escapes or beads very quickly melt. Especially when you pop Sheid of the Underworld before attacking. (Watch for Anubis killing himself during my ult around 6.45 in the video link)

Play Video
Play style

Waveclear

The safest wave clear is to apply blight with your 2, damage in the middle of the minion wave with your 3. The more powerful wave clear is to attack with your 1 and follow with your 3. This is more effective but more dangerous, leaving your escape on cooldown. Only use this if you are in no danger. If you can catch an enemy in his minions with this combo, you will do huge damage to both the enemy and the minions.

Damage

When dealing damage, it is always a good idea to keep track of who has blight on them. If you are 1v1, remember that if you have basic attacked and then used your 1, this will use up blight to slow them, meaning you will need to reapply blight with either your 2 or a basic attack. This goes for all your abilities, if they have blight all abilities with consume it. So his combos tend to be broken up with basic attacks (BA). For example:

1,3,BA,4
2,3,BA,4

Using blink to initiate instead of your 1 leaves it free to deal more damage, chase and to reapply your passive. Which is why I like to use blink on Hades, especially into a big group. For example:

Blink,2,4,1,3

Boots are a standard first choice, optionally take shoes of focus if you want a bit more cooldown reduction. This can help against those pesky players using purification beads to escape you as you can cast more often and catch them off their bead's cooldown.

After a helpful comment (viewable below) from a fellow Hades fan, I have taken his advice and swapped my void stone for the spear. More damage at the loss of some magical protection makes Hades pretty powerful.

Thirdly, I go for chrono's pendant, purely for the cooldown reduction so you can cast Piller of agony more frequently.

Mystical Mail works really well with Hades' ultimate, besides the extra health and physical defence, the aura makes your ultimate that bit more potent!

Bancroft's talon I'm still not 100% sure is the best item for him but I like it never the less. The lifesteal helps to keep you alive whilst using your ultimate and the passive makes you increasingly more powerful as the poor fools feebly paw at your mighty self!

Lastly, no mage would be without the trusty rod of tahuti. Speaks for itself really - big damage boost!

This build is by no means perfect, nor should the build order be taken literally. It is situational and you must look to your own discretion to decide the order, this is just an example that I have enjoyed and I hope you do too.

Please feel free to suggest any items that may improve on this build or any other (useful) feedback would be appreciated!

Lewcipher