An in depth guide on succeeding as Anhur.

Hello everyone, and welcome to my first ever Smite guide, so bare with me if it doesn't look that good. First of, who am I? My in game name is Razz90 and I've been playing Anhur as my main god for over 7 months now. And I'd like to share all of my knowledge with all of you here on Smitefire, I will mainly be focusing on the mid lane and explaining every match up, that I've played against, I will also cover some sidelane things, and who works best with Anhur.



To do list:
Make fancy stuff, colours, fitting pictures etc.
Add a detailed Joust section (builds, matchups etc)
More in depth info with items
Explain Anhur's role in Domination, Arena, Assault.
Explain "Kiting"
Explain Recall baiting
Add a defensive optional items list under items.

Update 07-05-2013: Fixed some grammar, added "To do list", wrote more on Pros/cons, added passive to skill section.

Update 14-05-2013: Added new chapter: Why and when should I play Anhur?

Anhur isn't a very situational pick, he fits into a lot of team compositions. He brings a lot of cc and damage.
When?: You can pick him if you have a magical in sidelane (then you're going mid ofc)
Why?: He's a freaking lion, thats why! No really, he's a bit hard to learn, but he's really good when you have around 100 games with him...okay maybe a little less! (depends on fast you learn of course and where you learn from).

First off, lets talk about some of the pros and cons about Anhur.

Pros
High damage (all game)
Good early game (counters other ADC's with his passive)
Can 100 to 0 early (which basically means bursting someone from 100% hp to 0% fast.)
High utility (slow, 2 knockbacks)
Can clear waves quickly (which is one of the reasons why he is good for mid)

Cons
Can be squishy (positioning)
Combo can be hard to hit
Slower attack speed than other ranged AD's (try to get a speed buff early for lane dominance)

Buying items for Anhur can wary from game to game, it all depends of you're behind or ahead.

Heartseeker: Very risky, but with a high reward since it will give you a total of 75 PP (physical power) if I remember correctly. I'd say only buy it if you feel very comfortable.

Death's toll vs Warrior tabi 2: Death's toll gives you some nice sustain early, but leaves you with 1 potion, but tabi 2 gives you 3 pots which could in the end you equal sustain (depending on what happens in lane), and also gives you more movespeed, I won't say toll is better, but I've been using it more myself lately.

Devo gloves vs Soul eater: This is a hard one, gloves give you more damage, but soul eater can make up for Anhur's slow attack speed, and also provides a nice aura for the team, I'd probably go for soul eater tho if I'm behind, since it also makes you a little tankier with the 300 health, and it's also 150 gold cheaper than devo gloves.

Titans bane vs Jotunns Wrath: Both are nice items, tho for pure damage you wanna go for that Titans bane, I don't really think Anhur needs the cdr from Jotunns, but if you like it, then go for it.

Rage: Can be a nice combo with Deathbringer, but doesn't give Anhur enough damage in MY opinion.

Deathbringer: A must have, although it's one of those items you don't want to buy before you can atleast get rank 2, since the first rank is pretty much useless, and will leave you in an akward position if you're not getting a lot of gold.

Quin's blades: Nice for the attack speed and health, can be a good tank shredder, tho very situational.

Fatalis: Don't, please don't.

Brawler's Beat Stick: Very, very situational, can be used for Jousts to counter another Ranged ads lifesteal, does give you nice crit, but overall, Soul eater or devo gloves work better.

Abilities: Situational, don't EVER buy meditation though, it's not needed.
Sprint is INSANE now, with the rank 3 of it, which allows you to move while auto attacking.

Aeagis amulet is usually an active I like to pick up, just because it almost fits in every game.

Alright, I level up Anhur's skills for an early kill usually.
Start off with a point in Impale(2), like you do no matter what. Then next get a point in Disperse(3), then at lvl 3, get another point in Impale(2), now, depending on the matchup, you can jump on the enemy and Impale them into a wall, and either bring them very low or kill them. You can also wait for lvl 5, and do the same just with your ult in the end.

Individual skills explained:

0. Passive

Basically a counter to every physical god in the game, and lets you easily trade with other AD's.

1. Shifting sands.

Slow and big damage steroid.

Can be used as a combo with Impale, although usually very hard to pull off.
Tips: try placing the obelisk near a wall for extra chance of landing the Impale.

2. Impale.

Your wave clearer.
This is Anhur's main damage dealing spell. Most of his damage is reliant from AA's. But Impale really does some damage too.
Can be used against a wall.
Good for escapes.

3. Disperse.

Your main initiator (be careful)/ escape (most likely)
Can be used over walls/ out of ults.

Insane knockback, which allows use for Impale/shifting sands. Can put you in a bad position though.

4. Desert Fury.

Your ultimate.
Honestly it's more of an early game spell. Late it will more likely be for picking off low hp enemies, since Anhur becomes CC immune and can move at full speed.

Counters Ares ult too, if you're laning against Ares, don't be afraid, everytime he ults, you'll just ult and he'll end up wasting his ult and taking damage.

Pics will be added of the skills when I have time.

Anhur is a very good middle god, and if played right can beat everything.

Matchups, I will try to go through every possible matchup and explain the fights early/mid game and how difficult they are to Anhur.

Anubis: Difficulty: 5/10.
Should be an easy match up for you if you don't keep on screwing up. You can outpush him, and kill him early, he can counter you with his wrap though, so watch out for that, overall easy matchup throughout early and midgame. BUY BEADS HERE.

Ao Kuang: Difficulty: 8/10.
Can be a pain in the a** to lane against if you can't kill him/poke him out of lane. Since he WILL outfarm you and take your towers if you leave lane, he will never leave his lane, and by forcing you not to either, you will be at a disadvantege. And he will have infinite mana, which you won't. Suggestions: Try to shut him down early, and keep killing him, don't let him farm.

Aphrodite: Difficulty: 3/10.
She can be annoying, but you will outpush her, and be stronger and more valuable late game.
Suggestions: Don't tower dive her, never. She will bait with her ult and just heal up.

Apollo: Difficulty: ?/10.
I find it hard to give this a difficulty rating since I haven't played against it much and I find a more skill matchup than farming, you can beat him, but he can also outplay you, and with the recent buffs to his 2, with the protections, he's pretty strong, and he's a better ganker than you.

Artemis: Difficulty: 6/10.
She can poke you a little bit, but you should be able to win this matchup, just watch out for her passive though, she can pull off some NASTY crits early game, if she starts with tabi 2.

Cupid: Difficulty: 4/10.
Isn't played a lot, mainly because he doesn't have good wave clear and works better in a side lane, though he can poke you down with bombs and can heal up and can cripple you which can lead to good ganks, overall it should be a pretty easy matchup.

Freya: Difficulty: 2/10.
She can't do anything to you, just hide behind creeps when she uses her 1+2 combo or push her away and harass her down when her combo is on CD, very easy matchup.

He bo: Difficulty: 9/10
VERY scary matchup for Anhur in my opinion, the damage He bo can dish out early is just absurd, he can kill you at 5 in 1 combo like you can, problem is, if you jump in he's just gonna use his 3 and knock you up and you're a dead lion. Suggestions: Be careful, don't get him fed or he will carry the game.

Hel: Difficulty: 7/10.
Annoying matchup. Since she will get tanky and you can do much, she has better lane clear, and getting a kill on her is hard, she will cleanse your slow, will most likely end up being a farm lane, since she will have a hard time killing you too.

Kali: Difficulty: 5/10.
Depends on the skill of the Kali. If you take too much harass, he wins the lane, but you can easily win it too, very early game dependant. Don't get hit by auto attacks, and try to avoid his 2.

Loki: Difficulty: 5/10
Again, skill is very dependant in the matchup, if the Loki is bad, it's an insta win for you, but if he harasses you too much and gets easy heartseeker stacks or whatever he is building, he will snowball the rest of the game.

Neith: Difficulty: 8/10
Hard matchup, be very careful with her broken weaves, since you can easily be snared for longer than you want to be, and she gets too much free damage on you. She has a pretty big heal too, and she can gank from lane, and her backflip pretty much counters your combos, so overall hard matchup, she will have to mess up badly if you get a kill.

Odin: Difficulty: 5/10.
It's not played much these days, but if you go against it, don't take auto attack damage, outpush him and win the lane, you counter his ult.

Poseidon: Difficulty: 8/10.
Will usually outpush you and deny you killing creeps with his cripple. Can also blow you up at 5. Be careful with going for kills. Buy Aegis to counter ult.

Ra: Difficulty: 10/10.
Impossible, he outpushes you in every way, and can slowly kill you, he will also be very tanky while doing good damage. Suggestions: Gank him, a lot. And hope that your team has the late game advantage.

Wukong: Difficulty: 5/10
It's not seen much, but a good wukong can actually outplay you pretty hard in mid. Especially with blue buff. He has better wave clear and good poke, and a VERY strong roamer and jungler.

Thor: Difficulty: 5/10
Pretty much same as wukong, although their ults are very different, and Thor has a stun, be careful of his early game damage.

Vamana: Difficulty: 7/10
A pretty strong midlaner, he can harass you hard and is insanely tanky since he gets damage from physical protection. He has good sustain and has decent ganks, and can easily pick up buffs.

Vulcan: Difficulty: ?/10.
I don't know where to put the difficulty on this, since noone really plays it, but if you're against it, you'll find out that it is annoying as hell. He's like Ao, he will counter push you all game and take your towers, be careful with roaming against this guy and don't take too much turret damage. Also look at his build, is he building pure damage? Destroy his turrets. Is he building tanky? You're done, not really but you can't hurt his turrets and he will annoy you to death.

Xbalanque: Difficulty: 6/10.
Easy matchup with the nerfs he's gotten, pretty scary with blue buff though, and he has a global ult so tell your team when he is lvl 6.

Zeus: Dificulty: 0/10.
Seriously, this guy can't touch you, outpush him early and you win, is he going in to put charges on you? Punish him, keep on killing him, get super fed, carry the game.

That's it for the matchups!

Anhur works very well in a sidelane too.

Possible lane partners are:

Ymir 10/10: Wall and stun, works really well with all your spells!

Sobek 9/10: Can setup good impales for you and has good cc.

Bacchus 9/10: Kill, kill and kill.

Ares 6/10: Nasty damage, and your ults work well together.

Odin 5/10: Good early game damage, your ults don't work that well together, but pretty good lane.

Hades 8/10: Good combo, ults work together, he provides good CC to your lane.

Guan yu 7/10: Provides heals, slows and stuns, and overall good damage.

Vamana 6/10: Good damage, low cc though.

Vulcan 4/10: Doesn't work well together.

Hercules 5/10: Hmm, it's hard to say, he's a very strong brawler early and midgame, and can be very tanky lategame, he doesn't bring much to lane though in my opinion. He can give you early kills though.

And remember, anything can possibly work in normal games, but in ranked play, these should be your ideal lane partners.

First of all: Positioning is key.
Don't be one who initiates, let your tanks handle that!
You try to slow, impale, and hit as many with your ult as possible!
Save your jump as an escape in teamfights.

I will add more info here when I get the time to do so.

Got lifesteal and damage? Solo Gold Fury or Fire Giant.
Gank, initiate with jump to push them towards your team, and kill.

I will add more info here when I get the time to do so.

So, I wrote this guide pretty quick and will keep improving it and add some pics, colours, etc. When I have more time, right now I'm pretty busy but felt like writing some up to date Anhur infomation for those of you who wants to learn him since he is a fricking awesome ranged carry, possibly the best in the game.

If you've come this far, then thanks for reading my guide!

Also feel free to ask me questions in game:
IGN: Razz90.
Cya