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PROS -Some of best laning in game, because you clear, heal your own wave, and deal massive damage all at the same time -Very good self-healing -Laning bully, if he is in a lane you have to kill him to win -Incredibly dangerous to any mages, hunters, or assassins -CC on 3 out of 4 abilities -Great damage |
CONS -Long cooldowns -Somewhat bursty -Neutered without mana -Players with knowledge of Hades can counter you by hanging back and waiting for the right moment to attack |
Warriors
In general, warriors are a stalemate against Hades. Sometimes it is possible to outplay them, but they are usually to tough to kill. However, very few warriors are actually a threat because you can heal yourself and your wave.
Biggest Threats: Sun Wukong, Vamana
Mages
Mages are a mixed bag when it comes to laning. Some are easliy bullied out of farm and killed, like Change and Zhong Kui. Others have safe clear and healing, like Ra and Aphrodite. One or two are a pain in the @ss to deal with, like Posiedon and Isis. The best way to fight them is to know how they work and how they clear waves.
Biggest Threats: Aphrodite, Poseidon(why isnt Poseidon in the mid? Who knows, but if he is solo its gonna be a long game)
Assasins
Assasins are usually a free kill every once in a while, but you have to know how they work, just like mages. As an example, fighting a Loki is different than fighting a Bakasura. Learn it, live it, kill it.
Biggest Threat: Loki (You might think you are out laning him, but he can shred you easily)
Hunters
There are a few hunters that Hades cannot deal with, mostly the ones with good waveclear (duh you say, those are the solo ones). The reason for this is because they clear from a distance, keep at a distance, and deal damage from a distance. A smart Ullr will shut Hades down completely, so be wary of hunters in general until you know that you can outpoke them.
Biggest Threat: Ullr
Other Guardians
These lane matchups are just slapfights, plain and simple. Both of you will do some damage, you will heal back up and they will mitigate it. It is likely that you will not get a 1v1 kill against another guardian for the entire game.
Biggest Threat: Hades
This is as of the beginning of Season 2, things might change in the future.
Starting Items:
Vampiric Shroud (Conquest only)
Hand of the Gods Rank 1
Shoes of Focus Rank 1
Mana Potion
Ward (Conquest only)
Build
Shoes of Focus
This item gives early game mana ,CDR, and power. Pretty simple.
Your second item is a bit flexible...
Auto Attacks: (*pew*... *pew*... *pew*) Auto Attacks aren't an ability, but they are just as important as his other skills. These are one of the most important ways to spread Blight. You should always be spreading Blight to minions and enemies so that your abilities do more. Auto Attacks are also good for poking someone while they are under their own tower, fighting your minions. |
Death from Below: (Enter From Behind ;D) This is a pretty straightforward skill. Death From Below allows you to innitiate, escape, or chase down excaping enemies. If Blight is applied to enemies hit they are slowed, but this is not a common use for Death From Below. It can also be used as a source of damage (especially with Soul Reaver), but only use it if you are sure you need to because it is also your escape. Max this last. |
Shroud of Darkness: ("FEAR ME!") While his 3rd ability is his bread and butter, Shroud of Darkness is the knife you use to spread it. This is your mains source of CC, and its cooldown allows you to use it several times in a fight. If enemies arent Blighted, then this is a useful 2s silence useful for interupting fights and saving teamates ***es. If the target is Blighted they turn into a punching bag for 2s, allowing you to open up with AAs and abilities. When supporting as a tank -or when your abilties are on cooldown- this is one of the best ways to set up a kill. Max this 2nd to last. |
Pillar of Agony: (Give Hades a Hug!) This is Hades' most well known ability. Everyone and their mother knows of the horrors of being sucked closer to the scary purple dude. This ability is a wonderful teamfight ability for the obvious reason: it stops enemies in their tracks, allowing for allies to attack them. However, when fighting by yourself this should not be your opening move. Pillar of Agony is your finisher or mid fight damage bomb. Most of the time, enemies will try to escape from Pillar of Agony before they realize they dont have a chance. Some of the smarter ones will turn and fight, but they arent long for this world. It is VERY important that you know your limits with this ability. Do not be scared to cancel it and use Aegis or escape if the fight isnt in your favor. Max this 2nd. NOTE: In order for Pillar of Agony to be an effective damage ability, targets MUST have Blight on them. This is a very common mistake for players to make. Without the debuff on them, they can outdamage you or escape before they die. |
Death From Below- Devour Souls
Basic waveclear, leaves you without escape. If Death From Below hits an enemy god, then minions will attack you instead, clustering up and making Devour Souls more effective.
Shroud of Darkness- Devour Souls
Waveclear that saves your escape, use when outmatched or playing safe.
Auto Attacks- Shroud of Darkness
Simple CC. applies fear and lets you manhandle them.
Death From Below- Shroud of Darkness- Devour Souls
Use this to bully an enemy out of a waveclear or poke them. Same as first combo, but fearing/silencing them inbetween.
Death From Below- Shroud of Darkness
Best way to set up kills or start a fight. use Death From Below and come up behind them, then quickly fear them.
Death From Below- Shroud of Darkness- Devour Souls-Auto Attacks- Pillar of Agony:
GG. Use Death From Below and come up behind them, then quickly fear them. Devour souls will do damage and heal you. Auto Attack to apply Blight again, then use ulti to finish them off.
Conquest Solo
Early Game:
The first 5 minutes of a game are your most passive play. During this time your first priority is to stay alive and clear waves (simple but important). You should level your 3rd ability as soon as possible in order to clear waves. The faster you clear waves the faster you heal and get a leg up on your opponent. When wave clearing, give your opponent hell by healing your own wave. This will force them to use more mana and burn through their cooldowns.
Mid Game:
After you are fed, and have your first three items you are a threat to anyone. You do not have enough damage to gank someone from full health in most situations, but you are still dangerous. Hades ganks always lead to a kill if you initiate at the right time and set up the kill for your mid/ADC teammates. DO NOT forget to farm. Do not fall behind by ganking to much.
Late Game:
This is where Hades starts to see good and bad things. The good is that you can kill anyone on the other team. The bad is that you are the center of attention. Pick your battles, and do not be afraid to play a support role in a teamfight, setting up kills for your teammates.
Of course you cant always play Hades, so here are a few tips for when you are playing against him.
-Hades is all about ability damage, so the cooldown in-between abilities is when he is weakest. The best time to poke or attack Hades is after he uses Devour Souls to heal himself.
-Hades has a somewhat predictable initiate. In lane, he will always try to be in and among the minions, since Devour Souls does more damage there. DO NOT stand in your minion wave while fighting Hades.
-I mentioned that Shield of the Underworld is amazing on Hades. It is also good against him. Use Shield of the Underworld against damage Hades while he is using Pillar of Agony for best results.
-Hades is a self healer, so he is vulnerable to anti healing items and actives like Brawler's Beat Stick, Divine Ruin, Pestilence, and Weakening Curse. Be careful! He is still dangerous, just easier to kill.
2/2/15: Added changes, added notes on waveclear in conquest section, added details to Pros.
2/4/15: Fixed typo in Combos section
2/15/15: Added Active items and their descriptions
3/11/15: Added Book of Thoth, Warlock's Sash, Wrath of Gods, And Shielded Teleport/Teleport to Gods
4/8/15: Added tank build as per CarmelitaFoxy request, go get 'em buddy
4/14/15: Added "Other Player" builds
4/27/15: Fixed problem that made Actives and 2 build tabs unviewable.
10/2015: Began the process of updating the guide...
1/29/16: Tons of changes! This guide is now "Hella Hades: Solo Lane Bully" instead of "Hella Hades: Solo Lane Lifesteal"
9/14/16: Swapped spear of magus for Obsidian Shard, updated relics
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Bancroft's Talon> Pythagorem's Piece> Rod of Tahuti> Rod of Asclepius> Dynasty Plate Helm> Hastened Fatalis
I essentially follow the order skills are grabbed in as your guide. I have a little bit of extra max health and protections so I am not completely defenseless. Once in a while I might swap out the Dynasty Plate Helm for Shoes of Focus (reduced cooldowns), or perhaps Hastened Fatalis for Obsidian Shard (for more penetration), but that is my average arsenal. I generally use this setup in Arena, and find that, depending on the enemy gods and how close together the enemy is, I can Death From Below in the middle of them, Devour Souls, and immediately Pillar of Agony. If all goes well with aforementioned combo and item setup, I generally can wipe the whole team. Again, this is very dependent on the enemy gods, as well as their items. I am not sure if this is a optimal setup, though. Let me know if you think this is at all viable. Also, I take the sprint and the meditation relics very often.
P.S. Sorry for long explanation, thought it might help show the full purpose of my build. :)
Builds arent set in stone, so a damage item can be swapped around depending on the enemy team. I would pick up Obsidian Shard if you need to get through alot of protections.
Oh how things have changed lol. IVe grown much more fond of Spear of the Magus since ive made this build. I never realized it but damage from Detonate Souls isnt one number but a bunch of small ones. This means that you should always go with Spear of the Magus over Obsidian Shard.
Really nice guide!
I like a lot your tank build.
Only one question : do you really consider the Obsidian Shard being better than the Ethereal Staff for late game?
If you end up with 3500 HP, your Ethereal Staff actually gives you 100 MP (30 + 0.02 * 3500), 600 health and 300 mana, which seems better to me than 70 MP + 33% magical penetration. But maybe I missed something, I have not been playing Hades for long (Xbox One player).
Builds arent set in stone, so a damage item can be swapped around depending on the enemy team. I would pick up Obsidian Shard if you need to get through alot of protections.
I like a lot your tank build.
Only one question : do you really consider the Obsidian Shard being better than the Ethereal Staff for late game?
If you end up with 3500 HP, your Ethereal Staff actually gives you 100 MP (30 + 0.02 * 3500), 600 health and 300 mana, which seems better to me than 70 MP + 33% magical penetration. But maybe I missed something, I have not been playing Hades for long (Xbox One player).
He gets a lot of healing from his 3 and vampiric shrouc
He does plenty of dmg with out penetrations if you blight them before you ult. Also always try to lure them to their minions for explosion dmg and healing.
Blighting an enemy before Pillar of Agony does reduce their protections, but only for the duration of the ability. Hades MUST have penetration or he is useless and a burden to his team.
Another reason you will need penetration is because the build you posted does not have high enough magic power to not have to worry about protections.
@Talbacca, how in the heck do you play solo Hades without lifesteal or Shielded Teleport to heal up? O_O (also your build straightup needs penetration if you want to do ANY damage late game, which Hades kinda needs since his only CC is a silence/fear and his ult).
He gets a lot of healing from his 3 and vampiric shrouc
He does plenty of dmg with out penetrations if you blight them before you ult. Also always try to lure them to their minions for explosion dmg and healing.
@Liverslices, you need to hit publish in order for others to see your changes. Currently viewers don't see Shield of the Underworld anywhere in your guide.
This was my mistake, I forgot to "publish" after I added more. I only hit save. Thanks!
Totally disagree with this guide.
My solo build:
Vampiric Shroud > warlock's sash > Shoes of the Magi > Spirit Robe > Shield of the Underworld > Ethereal Staff > Shell of Absorption > Hide of the Urchin > Chronos' Pendant
*Last item can be replaced with something situational of course.
--High HP
--Med protections
--Pop both actives before Ulti for high protections
--Med power but enough to kill early/mid game and set up kills for team mates late game
--Full cool down
Totally disagree? That's a bit harsh... MY build is more mage oriented, YOUR build is a bruiser and frontliner.
They both have their pros and cons. You can look at my Magic Bruiser tab to see my take on a bruiser.
My solo build:
Vampiric Shroud > warlock's sash > Shoes of the Magi > Spirit Robe > Shield of the Underworld > Ethereal Staff > Shell of Absorption > Hide of the Urchin > Chronos' Pendant
*Last item can be replaced with something situational of course.
--High HP
--Med protections
--Pop both actives before Ulti for high protections
--Med power but enough to kill early/mid game and set up kills for team mates late game
--Full cool down