Unkillable Hercules

I followed this build, died 7 times and got no kills. At least I can admire the irony that this build is called unkillable hercules.

I actually started using a similar build yesterday for the match of the day (all AD assault) after I saw an improvised tank Hercules the day before for regular assault. I do agree that Hercules actually makes a great tank when maxing his mitigate wounds first (surprisingly he still does decent damage) but I dont agree with some of your item choices.

Gauntlet of Thebes is the main problem. It requires 100 stacks while providing only health stats and encouraging the god to steal stacks and gold from the carries. Of course with it being banned in assault, this isnt even an issue, but in Conquest it would take too long to fully stack and your time and gold would have better benefited you buying another defense item that would provide health along with other benefits (such as Mystical Mark for its pushing capabilities due to his slower clear potential).

Elixir of Defense would rarely come into play in either game type simply because of its cost. If you are indeed going for a Tankules build, you should also take the role of the support and invest in wards. If the game last long enough that elixirs should come into play, it is now your job to acquire more damage to ensure you are able to put an end to the match, not prolong it. I usually dont bother with them outside of Hoard modes.

For your balanced build: I dont think its necessary for an equal split of physical and magical. Minions, Towers, Phoenixes and the Minotaur all deal physical damage (not sure about the Gold Fury and Fire Giants but stands to reason they do as well). As a tank it is usually better to invest gold more in physical to tank the stronger hitting objectives because of how easy it is to simply kill heavy magical gods. Of course if there is enough damage to warrant a change, you might as well go with the Heavy Magical build.

Getting boots as a fifth item is a large penalty to you mobility for the majority of the match. It also effects your sustain as Grieves gives defense, HP5, and of course, the speed to run away or assist teammates.

Lastly, I've found Wall of Absolution a surprisingly viable item on Hercules. I used it for nearly every match I played in yesterdays all AD assault match of the day as it gave a flat 30 physical defense along with the potential 45 from its third tier passive. The magical power is useless on Hercules of course, but the MP5 was perfect for Assault. Its a better item than I previously gave it credit for, good enough that I felt it was a viable item on a physical tank like Hercules. I would start with the full item each match and grab the second tier shard with the remaining gold. Worth a try on against a full phys team.

Typo under the basics category.
"Damage isn't a priority when you have a good that can pull people off their turret"