Tess, you know I love Seshat, well I also hate Hel (because I don’t have her)
I like that you can easily emblem up Hel but definitely don’t dismiss Seshat’s dispel which has saved my butt many times. I don’t see a great dark tank, so if that is something you’d care about… Hel is a better Tank than Seshat. Even with the available emblems for Hel, I’d have to call this a coin toss.
BTW - have you noticed my Avatar on this forum?
I love them both but would ascend a second Hel before a second Seshat. Fast mana, chance to dispel, yes Seshat is more versatile, but Hel is a complete game changer!
You can’t lose with either option 
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In my honest opinion I would focus on Hel.
Whichever hero you choose good luck
Hel is still the best offensive hero in the game, period. Level 23 mana troop and 9 tiles freezes out the opponent. If you want a defender go with seshat, but Hel is tops IMO (even with old stats). Mine is getting the limit break when I can.
I seem to be in the minority when I think that Seshat is completely overrated. Dispel is nice. Self replicating minions yes but they just provide some extra durability to keep dishing out the same underwhelming damage to 1 - besides which those minions can also be detrimental on defense with Gefjon, Noor, Skadi, Grimble and C Gormek all able to take advantage of them. If I got Seshat I wouldn’t keep her at 1/1 - I far prefer multi hits, healers, and mana controllers than snipers, and she is a weak sniper at that.
Hel is a great mana controller in the vein of Proteus, and Proteus is great with the single weakness of being fragile - which Hel remediies. To me it is a non-contest.1
I have both Hel and Sashat , the two fully emblemed;
if you need a straight out killer sniper, that is not Seshat! She doesn’t even do extra damage against holy… her dispels…very useful but without her minions she sometimes get taken out with one shot…on defense she can be problematic if you don’t have what can bridle her replicating minions. Another good point for Sesh is her resistant to DMR…get to be the only one keeping her mana when Freya exits.and other mana cuts.
However, Hel is a different class of it’s own, I formed my raids attack team around her, with level 23 mana troops she often charge synchronously with Seshat…and C-Rigs lvl 6 mana troop. And once the trio charge…its mostly game over for the defense…Courtesy of Hel’s mana stasis on at least 2 enemies!..3 if no cleric or monk procs!
Can’t recall when last I took any maxed Proteus to raids or war, if I should have 2 more Hel, I will max them before a second Seshat…that’s my view.
I have Seshat and Proteus, but not Hel
Seshat has served me well, and the replicating minions keep her alive once you get them going
But Proteus has been the bigger game changer because he shuts down 3 heroes. So I would ascend Hel first before Seshat - but both deserve to be ascended eventually
Have Seshat but no Hel, have 2x Proteus, one +19, one +0. You’re missing a 5* dispeller, for that reason alone I’d lean towards Seshat.
I use mine for the dispel instead of the snipe (though her tile damage at 887 atk going full sword path is still very much up there), since you can never have enough dispellers for war, and there she excels. Ever since I maxed Seshat she sees use every war, whereas Proteus only sees action for rush but nowhere else.
Certainly there’s nothing wrong with Hel, and she’s still very much relevant in 2021 even though she was the very first HoTM, but I’m fan of diversity and full coverage in rosters, so my vote goes to Seshat.
I got Seshat along with Hel and I ascended Hel first. Remember, whoever controls the flow of mana(ey;), controls the game.
PS.If only devs would update the stats of these good old cards!! Imagine…
I have both, actually leveled dupes of both.
My answer?
Hel is the only one of these two I’d level every dupe I own because she’s that amazing
She was the first ever hero I truly wanted (and went after), and to this day - over three years later - she still remains my favorite hero of all time. Nothing has ever quite matched an entire mana block on three. & I know some of you will say Proteus is close enough, and although similar, Hel is still a heavy bit better: direct damage > DOT (for everything except counter-attack); all of mine are at 3/70, and I still choose her over Proteus.
So yeah, go Hel without regrets. Mana control is by far the best skill in this entire game, so utilize it.
You’ll thank yourself later 
Decision made, after much agonizing… came down to emblems. I have almost 1100 wizard emblems hanging around but only 400 ranger emblems…
Thanks to everyone who weighed in, it was a really difficult decision and I’m sure sometimes I will wish I had gone Seshat…
So…emblem path. With Proteus his job was to stay alive so I took him defense/health. But since Hel does direct damage I’m thinking full attack/def with? Or am I thinking wrong?
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: the answer is always Hel. And this from a dedicated Seshat fan.
p.s. Can’t help from the emblem point of view as I sadly don’t have the Queen of the Dead (as opposed to the dead lady). But I would hazard a guess that you would still want to go survival mode as her main job is the mana stop, plus her stats are a little fragile for this day and age, so she needs to stay alive more than to hit stuff.
Mine is full on attack. She hits really hard, that’s one part of her special many seem to forget a little bit because the second part is so useful.
But she is in one league with many other hit 3 heroes and especially if you have a yellow target, and yellow flanks in standard or reverse standard are really common at the moment or double with sif in the middle.
So although I can understand when someone says their hel is full on survival mode I found it for me more useful going attack route. She nearly always survives to fire at least once and that’s most of the time enough already.
I would opt for a more balance way so she can reach at least 800 in each atk and def
What do you plan to use her for?
If she is used on your Titan teams I’d probably go more attack, but if used generally (raids/pve) I’d probably go more balanced between attack/def.
She looks to do decent damage especially against holy but the damage is icing on the cake. (Although I like more icing then cake) Just like protus the her best attribute is the mana stop so she needs to live to make her worth it.
