Arachne - Warrior Assassin

This is a build I've optimized over time, and is my go-to on Arachne. The idea is that you are a tanky assassin who can both debuff the enemy and buff yourself via auto-attacks, especially movement speed, but also basic attack speed.

This build works well for me in both Arena and Lane modes, and has made Arachne my favorite god to play, and best win ratio and KD god. It's a little slow to build-up damage though, so the first half of most games will probably feel underwhelming for those used to assassin damage, though you get that assassin dmg burst as the the last few items complete, with a lot of additional advantages...

The movement mastery you end up having can be devastating to the other team in both team and solo fights, especially on larger maps like Conquest. Getting Frost Hammer complete early can cause you and/or your team to get some early kills by slowing people out of position. Add your spiders to slow them even further. Unfortunately there are no movement items until Item 4, though, contributing to more danger of dying early on.

This is a build that once you complete the shield, it usually takes at least 2 people to kill you, usually with a bunch of CC and 3+ people dumping abilities, if you start full health. I smile big escaping with a sliver of health a lot of times, knowing the other team did everything they could to take me down.

Item 1 - Manikin Scepter (into Manikin Mace at lv 20):

The Manikin line is great to damage jungle monsters and even heal off them, but it also includes basic attack damage boost, which works with Arachne's focus on basic attacks. Note that the burn does stack up to 3 times on the same mob, but the more jungle mobs that get the effect, the more you will heal, so make sure to tag all of them with at least one basic attack.

The upgraded Manikin Mace gives a big 50 dmg basic attack boost and 20% additional attack speed, but also debuffs enemies basic attack speed by 10%, stacking up to 4 times. This means if you stun someone with 3 attacks and get in a 4th while stunned, they should be locked into a basic attack reduction of 40% while you keep hitting them. Tack on the frost hammer proc and that will be 65% reduction. On top of all that, the burn bumps from 16 dmg over 2 seconds to 160! This stacks up to 3 times, so you add effectively 240 dmg per second if you can get your attacks going.

Thus, the upgraded Mace is a huge dmg upgrade and I get it as soon as it is available at 20 over completing other items.

Item 2 - Frost Hammer

Second we start with frost hammer. This is crucial to the build and early game, but also comes with some massive tradeoffs. It is cheap and gives MP5. We need the MP5 for skills because we will be relying on them heavily in the first half of the game, and even with the hammer you can run out of mana, but it makes it bearable.

But even though as a pure damage item the hammer isn't great, it's key is that on successful basic attack it slows enemies *in a small radius* by 25% movement and 25% basic attack. This is for 3 seconds, but it can also trigger every 3 seconds, so you can continually apply this effect if you continue to hit them with basic attacks. This is devastating on any solo encounters and gives you the edge against most meleers.

Beware at the start though, when you don't have the shield yet, that opponents may still be have the edge through ability refresh - or, obviously, if teammates join the fray.

A big advantage of the hammer is that you can audibly and visually see when the slow effect goes off, and if you need to escape, a single successful auto-attack can slow them down and help you to escape - even if it's 2 or 3 people, as it applies in a small radius.

Item 3 - Shifter's Shield

This shield is a great hybrid item. Above 75% health you get 30 protections of both magic and physical, but also 20 physical power. If it drops below 75% you lose the power, but gain 20 more protections. Getting 50/50 protections most of the time is great, and just about doubles your survivability against most (but not all) builds. It makes it so often it takes 2-3+ enemies dumping everything they have to kill you.

To me, the loss of damage output, though substantial, is worth it, but it definitely has more value in smaller maps where there are more team fights and less jungling.

It's amazing to have another player dump all their abilities and you are still sitting at half or 2/3rd health. Then they turn to run, but they are slowed. The downside being, you may not be able to kill them as you don't have a lot of damage. Good poke early though, and sometimes the kill.

Item 4 - Hastened Fatalis.

No power added, but good flat penetration and haste, plus our first movement item. And not only % movement, but the proc is haste, where with a successful auto-attack you avoid the normal movement penalty to attacking. This works on minions and jungle mobs as well and makes the fluidity of the game much better as a melee god.

The result is you can follow someone trying to escape very easily if you have good enough speed and just keep hitting your auto attacks. If they juke well or initially get out of range though, you have to time everything right as it drops after 1 second. Pared with the frost hammer anyone trying to escape is in a bad spot, as even if they use a jump or dash there is a good chance you can catch up to them, maybe with spiders (that give you speed and slow them down), and reapply the frost slow again - and now they have no dash.

In addition, in face-to-face fights, you will maintain full movement speed so strafing and backpedaling are both a lot faster, as long as you are hitting an enemy. I find strafing in a circle around people with this effect is great because it's not normal to do it so fast while attacking, so most people's aim will be off.

Item 5 - Serrated Edge

Basic assassin item for penetration, movement, and power, plus some straight lifesteal now. Many are unaware of it's secondary abilities - more power and lifesteal while abilities are down.

Second movement item, we are starting to get into better assassin fighting form now.

Item 6 - Equinox, Shadowdrinker, or Stone-cutting sword

Any good damage + movement item will work here, though I like equinox for its healing and damage boost procs, but also it gives 20% haste. Shadowdrinker has become an option with recent changes that add 10 flat penalty and bump movement to +10% (and the 30% movement on kill is just awesome). Stone-cutting sword is also a good alternative as it boosts your protections and removes the enemies as your quick auto-attack goes to work.

Add this item, plus upgrade your starter and you will begin to tear through people like a proper assassin should, but still with a lot more survivability, and your buffs and debuffs are insane when you can catch anyone alone for just a moment.

Between the Manikin Mace upgraded and frost hammer you can debuff people to over 50% drop in their basic attack speed, slow their movement by 40% with frost+spiders, and your movement is 21% higher with an extra 40% boost from spiders at times, plus you have your ultimate...

S1 - Venemous Bite

Great for all the effects. Note this adds ability damage from the DOT on top of a normal basic attack. i.e. you can proc all the normal basic attack stuff like hastened and frost with it active. With heals in addition, apply this in any god fight and generally to jungle mob camps as well, whenever it's up.

S2 - Cocoon

The obvious effect here is the stun for god fights, but don't discount the basic attack speed boost. For example, at times I will trigger this when attacking a meteor to make it deplete faster as it can only be hit by basic attacks.

S3 - Web

Ah, the spiders. They can be used various ways, including to keep people out of areas, and don't forget that you can have up to 3 sitting up at a time. Thus, you should almost always get 2-3 down before any round begins - either at a camp that is going to pop or at a place minions will eventually tread.

For conquest especially, this means dropping 3 webs near the point you will fight with the midlaner on the first 2 camps, then recall to base to restore your mana, and walk back. You'll have another web you can drop as soon as the other traps trigger, and full mana.

One alternate skill tree setup is to build spiders first, to increase damage and get to 3 instead of 2 at level 5. At that point they are hitting for 180 per hit as a group, and they can definitely track down and finish off people, plus this is your only distance ability, other than the ult. Something to consider. Just keep in mind while they can take forever to kill with auto-attack, a lot of abilities can easily wipe them out.

Using these to escape, while it can have issues, is a great way to go. The reason is, you get a 40% speed boost walking on the web, but then you can walk through the spiders, but any enemy chasing you will then trigger the trap, get attacked, and get a 15% speed reduction from the spiders. If it's a solo engagement, this may be enough for you to turn back on them in many cases. However, if you are in a group, or there are minions around, keep in mind that the spiders will immediately trigger when they hit something, so you may not get the path away that you want.

S4 - Night Crawler [Ultimate]

This is a great ultimate that can be used both as an attack and as an escape. I mostly find myself using it as an escape, especially early game, because other than our spiders, we have to get in close to attack.

Keep in mind that there is a delay to getting up into the web, so learn to manage that. Then you can still get hit on the way up as well. I've died many times due to these two facts.

I would generally avoid using this to engage - even to follow for a kill, at least early game, with this build. Situations vary, but in general.

With this build CD is not a focus at all, but at least this ult at lv 1 only has a 90 s timer, and at lv 5 it is only a base 70 s cooldown. That does get crazy with a 40% CD build, but this is not that build!

Learn how to lead people and anticipate a little delay in dropping to make sure you hit folks. Takes some practice.

So what are all the tradeoffs to this build, and how to play it?

First, you need to be very careful prior to getting the shield at least to level 2, as you are a bit weak and somewhat vulnerable. You can get kills, even solo, but as with all early game, it's heavily based on numbers. If it's 1v2 you lose, if 2v1, you win.

Second, especially in Conquest, realize that you will clear jungle mobs slower. This may be a deal-breaker for you.

Third, you are a lot more survivable, much better able to stay in a longer fight or escape a surprise invasion attack. You also are favorably matched up against most other gods in an extended fight on neutral ground - but it WILL be an extended fight until late game.

I am generally very KD positive with this build, often with very low death rates, depending how well matched the teams are, of course. With a good team behind you, a more traditional straight damage build may work better, or depending on your playstyle and skill level, this may not be your cup of tea. I find it fits my playstyle well, and especially in Arena and when you end up short on tanks. If I have to engage to do my melee damage, and since Arachne doesn't have any stealth or straight jump/warp abilities, I feel she does better as a bruiser than an assassin. This is the best build I've been able to muster for that playstyle.