Ao Kuang, The Beast!

Welcome to my Ao Kuang guide.

Ao Kuang has been my favorite god ever since I first encountered him. A lot of people think he's easy to use, and even his god difficulty states that he is 'Very Easy' to use. IMO, I think all gods have a certain learning curve to them. Just because Ao is easy to use, it doesn't mean that you can just go out there and expect the whole battle to be easy.

Ao Kuang is a toothpick. A very squishy god. But a good Ao Kuang can turn the tides of the battle.

The thing that makes Ao so valuable are his Tornadoes. Unlike other AoE attacks, if an enemy so much as slightly steps on the tornado, he will suffer 4 seconds of accumulated damage.

Ao Kuang's passive skill converts 5% of his Maximum Mana into Magical Power, meaning that Ao Kuang has ability to have more magic power than any other god in the game.

This guide serves as a general Ao Kuang guide for the updated after-release of Smite.

Note that these builds have been tested for middle-lane.

June 6,2014
-Added What's New Chapter
-Discussed 'Bancroft's Talon' in "Items - Core" chapter
-Added "Scenarios and Situations" chapter

As you can see in my builds, I have listed them down by

• Starter
• Core
• Damage
• Defense

For your standard conquest map, I highly suggest buying the whole starter build for the beginning of the match. It fits perfectly 1500g of your starting money so you can start off without your pesky OCD telling if you should buy something else.

First off, we have the starter item, Vampric Shroud. A lot of people these days can't see the importance of starter items. I highly suggest that you do not follow this example until you are confident enough to create your own build and know what items work.

Vampric Shroud Allows the player to HEAL HEALTH AND MANA for every kill you do on a minion or god. The amount stays the same, but do not overlook this item. The heals coming from this item will keep you in the lane for a long time. That's what we want. For you to stay in your lane and be the dominant one.

Shoes of Focus
At the beginning of the game, you'll only get enough money to buy the first level of these boots, assuming of course you are following my build. We want shoes of focus more than Shoes of the Magi because it's more practical. You will most likely be facing another mage in your lane, and the Cooldown Reduction (CD) of Focus will certainly give you more DPS than the Magical Penetration of Magi. Build this first as soon as you have the gold.

Meditation
Your first active item should be the first level of meditation if your goal is to sustain your lane. Most players overlook Med and see it as a noob item, but I cannot tell you how many times Med has saved my life. You can use it in an emergency or as soon as your mana is low. The rule of thumb is to use it as soon as your mana reaches below 25%.

USE IT FIRST BEFORE YOU USE YOUR MANA POT.

POTS
And of course, there's no harm in stacking up pots in an emergency. I like to stock up on at least one of each everytime I return to base. However, mid-game, you won't need your mana pots and then you can substitute the item slot for a Potion of Magical Might or Wards just in case your stubborn tank or jungler is just too overworked to ward the map which is their secondary role.

Book of Thoth
This is a MUST HAVE item for Ao Kuang. It has everything he needs, and it is recommended that you build this right after you finish your shoes. It is the perfect item for Ao Kuang because of his passive. Let's do the math.

Book of Thoth gives you 100 Magical Power (MP)
and +125 Mana, immediately giving you a total of
106.5 MP as soon as you finish it.

Then there's the mana stacks. 75 maximum stacks giving +10 mana each
making +750 mana in total, giving you an extra
37.5 MP, and adding that to our total gives us
144 MP as soon as the stacks are finished.

The massive amount of added Mana +875 is going to save your life a lot, plus the Mana regen is pretty good. Then add that to your bonus mana that you gain from Vampric Shroud, you'll have a pretty good early-mid game.

After finishing the stacks, you will no longer need to buy Mana Pots and you can depend on your Meditation to replenish your Mana. It will take the exact cooldown of Med for you to use up your mana again anyway.

I cannot stress how important Book of Thoth is to Ao, even in a joust or an arena game.

Polynomicon
At first, I really didn't believe Polynomicon was a good item for Ao. His basic attacks are far more inferior to the other mages, and Lifesteal isn't really Ao's style. Then I realized that Lifesteal is perfect for Ao.

Assuming you are playful with your Tornadoes, Lifesteal will save your life (PUN) allowing you to heal as you escape. Discussed more in "Scenarios and Situations" chapter below the items.

Never underestimate Ao's Squall. It actually deals a huge amount of damage and slows the enemy for 25%. So after using Squall, your next basic attack will have a large increase in damage leaving your enemy SHAMED from being attacked from a high damage basic attack. This will most probably be how you will get most of your kills.

Bancroft's Talon
I know what you're thinking, "Wait what? If Ao Kuang is a toothpick, then why should Bancroft's Talon be a good item for him." Well, it's simple.

First off, we get a huge amount of Magical Power from it. And as I explained earlier in Polynomicon, The lifesteal will help you heal as you escape. See the "Scenarios and Situations" chapter below the items.

To Be Continued

To Be Continued

To Be Continued

Being Chased
One of the many situations I get myself in as Ao Kuang, most of the time, I'm being chased. When I'm being chased, I place a tornado under me giving a 100% chance for the tornado to hit.

As my pursuer behind me chips away my already low health, I get more MP coming from Bancroft's Talon. Then as he gets hit by my tornadoes, I proceed to Ult in FRONT of me instead of behind me which is a great escape tactic of Ao. Then I proceed to Squall if he isn't already dead.

The lifesteal allows me to heal massive amounts of health thanks to the massive amounts of damage Ao has the capability of inflicting. So as my pursuer turns his back and runs away, I proceed to use Squall to slow him down, and most probably finish him off with Polynomicon's effect.

The Auto-Skills for Ao Kuang is already balanced and optimized. There is really no need to change the order of the auto-skills build.

When aiming your tornadoes, it's better for the archers to die than the warriors in front. Use this to your advantage to harass your rival either choosing to place the tornado left or right of the rival's archers. However, it's more likely for your jungler to help you out so it's best just to kill off the minions. It is possible to envelop all the minions in your tornado. What I do is make sure the edge of my AoE highlights at least one archer and usually they all get enveloped in your tornado. If you're lucky, maybe your rival didn't see that coming and he got hit.

When your mana gets around 20%, use your Meditation before you use your Mana Pot. If your Med is still going through cooldown, use your Mana Pot when your mana is around 50%.

At level 5, your torandoes should be able to kill off all the minions even without them staying in it. So when you see your minions on your minimap approaching your furthest tower, charge up front and just place a tornado in the rival minion's route, right in front of them.

At this point, call your jungler to help [VG2]. If he agrees, wait for him to approach ganking position and lure the rival god inside by NOT using tornadoes yet. Signal for attack [VAA] and Slither inside. When your jungler hits the rival, put tornadoes behind him, thus creating a few scenarios.

-You put the tornado in your rival's blindspot and he gets hit. Usually kills. Place your ult in a slightly tilted diagonal line a little bit to the side of your rival.
-Your rival sees the tornado and starts deciding to move left or right of it. Giving enough time for your jungler to kill. Use this to your advantage and use Squall then Ult.
-Your rival jumps over the tornado and ultimately survives, returning to base.

After this happens, finish off the mid-camps. Your Tornado and Squall should be enough to finish them off, both left and right. Be careful of the enemy jungler. Keep an eye on your minimap to see if the enemy jungler is busy ganking the other lane.

Place a tornado on the next wave of enemy minions and return to base. You're now ready for mid-game.

No matter if your rival gets to poke your tower on your way back mid-lane. You hold the advantage. Mid-game, you should always try to finish off the mid-camps after you finish off the next wave of minions. You will probably encounter the rival jungler. When this happens, don't challenge them. Just place a Tornado below you and Slither away. If you're lucky, they get hit and think twice before chasing you.

If your chaser does get hit and continues to chase you, turn back, Squall him. If your squall hits, use your basic attacks to finish them off. If you have 2 or more people chasing you, use your ult in a straight line through the jungle.

Protip: If you're being chased and getting hit in the process. Place your ult in front of you, not behind you, and keep moving forward. 100% chance to hit.


If you're dominating your rival, help your allies, preferably the one furthest from the enemy tower. Announce that you will gank so they will try to stay alive until you get there. [VSG1] [VSG3]

Ao Kuang is a pusher, so go ahead and destroy their side towers after your gank. Doesn't matter if your rival mid-tower is still standing. Your allies will reciprocate their thanks by helping you destroy the mid tower. Then maybe getting Gold Fury, maybe even Fire Giant.

If your HP is below 50%, run away even if there's no enemies. Return to base, and stock up.

It is very important not to get cocky late game. You are very squishy. Stay behind your allies as much as you can. Attack the lanes nearest to the rival phoenix.

To Be Continued.

To Be Continued

To Be Continued

To Be Continued

Do not mistake Ao Kuang's role as a mage to be an inability to jungle. In fact, his tornadoes should finish the job mid-game.

To Be Continued

To Be Continued