Athena: Bea at work!!!

Hey everyone, Jorro here and today i wanted to post a guide about my favorite goddess in Smite, Athena Goddess of wisdom!

In this guide i want to mainly talk about play style and strategy when playing Athena because is still see a lot of Athena player miss out on a lot of damage. Now you may ask: but Athena is a guardian and shouldn't do a lot of damage right? NO!! Athena is one of those guardians that, with the right build, can kill and harass low health targets easily! No you will not be able to kill tanks, but you will be able to bring mages and hunter very low to kill or let your teammates kill. Of course this is my opinion, in this guide im going to talk about a aggressive and warrior based Athena, not a full tank athena, you build tanky but with DAMAGE!!!!

i already posted a gameplay video with this exact build on Youtube If you want to check it out!!, link here!!...

Pros:
-Very mobile with dash and ult
-Good combo with her kit
-Nice passive with blok and reach stacks
-High defense
-Taunt is one of the best CC's in the game!
-Hard hitting abilities like shield wall
-Again AMAZING skins
-Blinky Blink!!!

Cons:
-Not many damaging abilities
-High cooldowns!!!
-long ult charge time
-Not the best passive

Now im going to talk about her skills and passive and what you should and shouldn't combo!

Passive: reach:
Every time Athena uses a ability, she gains the reach attack and is able to trow a ranged spear that deals around 100 magical damage with this build, its damage so try and use it every time you get it!

Ability 1: Preemtive strike: (level second)
This ability is both your initiation and your finisher! This ability is a dash and deals a good amount of damage if you hit someone. if you dash trough the wave you gain stacks of block, which, you guessed it, block enemy god auto attacks up to 3 stacks. Athena can use this ability to dash in an taunt, OR dash and try and hit someone and then get your combo off for more damage ( i will explain this further in the taunt section and the combo section).if a target is really low, feel free to use your dash to kill them or close the gap for your 2 and 3 combo.For wave clear its best to dash trough the wave to gain lane dominance and scare others off and then use your three to full clear the wave around level 8-9.

-Support: In this role you one should be used as initiation or poke for the wave, remember your ADC should get last hits and your dash is great for that! Dash trough the wave and you can instantly taunt the enemy duo lane and gain dominance that way.

-solo, mid, jungle:
In these roles your dash should be used as clear for the wave. dash, use your three and the wave should be cleared fully at level 8 to 9, before that you will need some auto attacks to fully clear!


Ability 2: Confound:(level third)
Confound is your taunt, your hard CC and the ability that makes Athena so powerful and viable. But a lot of people use their taunt BEFORE their three! This is a waste of damage! You should first put down your 3 for some immediate damage and THEN use your 2 to lure them back in your 3 for the full damage. Don't forget to throw your reach passive for extra damage! this combo will keep the enemy in longer than the previous combo would, it buys time for your team to deal extra damage or for you to secure the kill!

Support, mid, jungle,solo:
Use this ability to draw your lane opponents into the wave for extra damage or into your shield wall or ADC damage. putting your shield wall right should help and i will talk about that in the next section.


Ability 3: Shield wall:(level first)
This ability is your bread and butter and MAIN source of damage.This ability plants a shield wall around you that does damage as it lands, lasts for a couple seconds and then explodes dealing more damage!Here is where your taunt comes in handy!The taunt allows the secondary damage from shield wall to hit the taunted enemies and deal a lot of damage to them (mages, hunters etc...).

Support:
If you are playing support you should use your three to bring the wave down to a low enough amount of health for your ADC to clear your wave. You can use your three for that early game, combined with the dash, and later only the dash (your 3 should be able to clear the wave by then).

Solo, mid, Jungle:
Use your three as your primary wave clear and keep your opponent at bay with the danger of being taunted into guaranteed damage. use your dash first, use you 3 to clear the archers and try and taunt the enemy into your shield wall if they are still in range.

Ability 4: Defender of olympus (ult)(level last)
TAXI!!! Yes, that is what this ult does, you teleport to one of your chosen teammates to assist them in battle. The ult has a wind up time and does damage around the chosen teammate when you land, it also gives them bonus protections! WARNING: don't use your ult on TOO low health teammates, the may die and your ult will be useless!! Instead try to ult to a nearby teammate with more health to still assist them but in the main time insuring your ult goes off. For every role this is your rotate weapon, use the ult to help teammates and rotate to objectives like gold fury and fire giant!

Early game:
Early game you should mainly focus on clearing the wave and, if you play support, protect your ADC and let them farm. Try and be aggressive as your enemies won't expect this from a guardian (especially an Athena). Try and use your combo to poke your enemy and also clear the wave. After 3 minutes its time to look for rotations. It doesn't matter what role your in, always look for wounded teammates and farm near them to soak up.

Mid game:
Mid game is your time to shine. A good rotating Athena can change a game for her team to come back or extend your teams lead. At this stage you should rotate around the map and look for objectives and kills to get your items online.Your ADC, mid, jungler, support or solo laner can spare some kills so that you can get your build online and be a tanking, yet powerful threat to the enemy team.

Late game:
In the late game you should be looking to tank damage for your team, your front line and your mages and hunters need help and protection in late teamfights. Burst is everywhere so try and be aggressive and harass the backline of the enemy team to distract them from your own backline.

Here i am going to talk about good and bad match ups for Athena:

Good match ups:

Bastet:
Bastet is a easy assassin to counter. you're tanky and can withstand her bleed and slow also, her ult is easily taunted and cleared by your shield wall, making a excellent life saver. You can also taunt her out of her jump to allow easy burst on her too! WARNING: watch out early game, your not very tanky yet and should watch out, Bastet is VERY strong early game!!

He Bo:
You counter He Bo SO BAD!! He is very squishy and easily killable for you if you build a little bit of damage. Your taunt is also a death sentence for a lone He Bo (Since he has no escapes), a good He Bo should buy beads or think very carefully before engaging on you.

Odin:
You can counter odin in a very one sided way. if he cages you with his ult you can counter it by taunting him and his allies into fighting you instead of another squishy teammate stuck in the cage. Your taunt is your BEST weapon against an Odin and should be used a lot to prevent direct cages and birdbombs.

Loki:
You don't counter Loki per say but you can taunt him out of stealth which makes him VERY vulnerable to your team and yourself. Try and predict where he is moving and you should take him out of stealth and be able to burst him down FAST!


Now the counters:

Aphrodite:
Yes, the first goddess i did a guide on, Aphrodite is a HARD counter to you! She can kiss you out of your dash and can thus prevent you from advancing, she can Back off so you can't use your shield wall AND she can negate your taunt with her ult and heal.In short, try and advance on her teammates, avoid her because she will stop you dead in your tracks and allow her team to advance on YOU instead!
(build anti heal, such as pestilence and weakening curse)

Geb:
Geb is also a HARD counter! he can render all your effort, CC and damage useless with his shield and ult stun. Try and taunt HIM instead of his teammates to bait his shield and allow your own team to burst his backline down!
(try and buy weakening curse for slow or Frenzy for more burst on his shield)

Hercules:
Hercules can counter you ONLY if he gets his 2 and 1 combo off. He can then put you out off position and pull you away from the fight, thus negating your disrupt potential.
(try and buy beads to negate the pluck)

Ah Muzen Cab:
Poor AMC!! he has fallen HARD but he is back to haunt YOU in particular!! AMC can put a lot of damage on you quickly and easily, your taunt won't help! It will actually help him get his auto attacks off and guarantee extra damage! His honey slows you down and if he puts his ult on you, you're in BIG trouble if you face him alone.
(try and stay with your team and try and buy sprint to get away from him)

Now i'll be talking about the two different build i run on my Athena:


Build 1: Her tanky side

-Shoes of the magi:
No travelers shoes you ask? NO!! These shoes help with DAMAGE!! And you need it, early game people will expect you to be low level and low damage, these shoes compensate and allow you to get an early power spike and thus also early kills! Don't be afraid to secure first blood, it will allow you to snowball from there.The penetration that these shoes give also helps your damage against another enemy tank and squishys!

-Hide of the urchin:
I LOVE this item, it gives you health, protections and 30 extra protections due to stacking. Get this item EARLY, it will allow you to get your stacks online early which makes you much tankier than other supports or tanks!

-Breastplate of valor:
Athena NEEDS CDR and Breastplate provides that with 20% CDR, plus a lot of mana and protections, three things that are key on Athena. Buying this item early allows for more spammable abilities and a lower cooldown ult to quickly rotate around the map. i would recommend you buy this item third for obvious reasons as stated above.

-Bulwark of Hope:
Getting poked out by pesky mages? Get Bulwark of hope!! It gives you Magical protection, health and CCR which always comes in handy, plus the passive which gives you a shield at low health to survive just a little bit longer! TIP: i always use this passive as a indicator that i should back off a fight,its a good shield but easily burstable!

-Mantle of discord:
This item is mainly used to provide a lot of protections and a bit of CDR to help you with your taunt and ult cooldown. Also the passive on this item is great for AA assassins and warriors who like to stick to you and don't expect to be stunned for a second and lose their chase potential!

-Ethereal staff:
This item is my FAVORITE damage item on guardians because it scales of off health, which guardians have a lot of, the extra health and mana that it provides also helps you to stay in the fight longer and with it, deal more damage to low health targets!!


Build 2: Her damage side

-Shoes of the magi
No travelers shoes you ask? NO!! These shoes help with DAMAGE!! And you need it, early game people will expect you to be low level and low damage, these shoes compensate and allow you to get an early power spike and thus also early kills! Don't be afraid to secure first blood, it will allow you to snowball from there.The penetration that these shoes give also helps your damage against another enemy tank and squishys!

Breastplate of valor:
Athena NEEDS CDR and Breastplate provides that with 20% CDR, plus a lot of mana and protections, three things that are key on Athena. Buying this item early allows for more spammable abilities and a lower cooldown ult to quickly rotate around the map. i would recommend you buy this item third for obvious reasons as stated above.

-Bulwark of hope
Getting poked out by pesky mages? Get Bulwark of hope!! It gives you Magical protection, health and CCR which always comes in handy, plus the passive which gives you a shield at low health to survive just a little bit longer! TIP: i always use this passive as a indicator that i should back off a fight,its a good shield but easily burstable!

-Imperial helmet:
This item is AMAZING on aggressive supports!It provides a lot of power, physical protection and a nice passive against assassins and hunters with crit!! It will give you a nice power spike to burst down squishys and especially physical damage dealers because of your high protections and damage.

-Void stone:
Another hybrid item that i LOVE!!This item is amazing against mages in general but especially against mages like Freya,Sol or Au Kuang!!This item scales their magical power down in an aura around you basically giving you a bit of soft pen to help with your damage potential. The flat damage and protections also make this item an amazing pick up for almost al my guardian builds!!

-Rod of tahuti:
This is a LUXURY item, so don't buy it right out of the gate!! This item is only viable when you're ahead and just want to extend your lead or do more damage. If you feel that you're too squishy, but mantle of discord instead!! Rod gives you a lot of power plus a nice power boost to your already existing power! it makes your job even easier to burst down mages and hunters easily! The MP5 that it gives also helps your mana sustain in long teamfights!!

Now for the summary:

Athena is a very powerful and valuable asset to your team as a tank and support, but DON'T underestimate her damage output!! Her 1,3 and 2 combo can be devastating to almost anyone with low health!
(TIP: try and focus this combo on the most damaging enemy so that you can easily take them out of the fight or force them to back, hunters are mainly your priority next to mages like Scylla and Zeus)
Use your ult to quickly rotate around the map and support your teammates, use your ult wisely though don't waste it on an already dead jungler for example!
(TIP: wards can be very useful to track the enemy jungler and mid so you know when your rotation will be most useful)
Look to exploit good match ups and try and avoid your counters!! Try and take them on with your team instead of only yourself! Try and find a balance between supporting your team and picking off opponents who try to flee or are out off position. DON'T hesitate to go in on some lone mage!! With the right build and playstyle YOU will be able to carry your team to VICTORY!!!

I hope you enjoyed this guide and please feel free to ask questions or ask for a guide YOU want to see down below!!

Keep gaming and keep the new builds coming!!