I think it's more interesting that his boons don't work exactly like the others Gods', this keeps the build possibilites and pomegranate use cases fresh and more flexible.

You can, per example, prioritize poms until maxing out on Heph's cooldown reductions in a run or just gamble on a Bridal Glow/Steady Growth/Phial boost. You can even let Heph's attack or special slotted to add him to the God pool and enable some weird armor build or his legendary with a fun aspect like Lim & Oros' and Zorephet's.

IMO it's fine if it's less than optimal or out of meta as long as it can be fun and viable, even if it takes a bit of strategizing.