Few questions about casts and cast related weapons

[Jun Gling]

1. When i use Demeter boon Ravenous Will and load casts into hera's bow or beowulf, but not release them, does it count as if i have no casts available?
2. Does beowulf shield blocks damage from the front? I remember reading somewhere that it doesn't and charging animation also implying it, but now i finally tried it and it seems to work just like every other shield?
3. How to make a good cast build? Do i have to take every chaos gate? What if there is no boons that benefit cast, does that means my build is ruined? I ask this because i've heard from a lot of people that cast builds in hades are OP, but it was while the game was still in beta. Now i'm finally trying to make a decent cast build, and, while some of them being really fun, they don't seem that powerful in comparison to any other good build i've had.