Cthulhu Overall Guide- Champion of Madness (Support/Solo/Joust)

Hello, my name is IllmaticXVII and I've been playing Smite since season 3. This will be my first guide and I'll keep it up to date everytime I come in with new information on Cthulhu.At the moment, I am a Diamond Cthulhu and have no intention of slowing down with this God. Have fun reading and good luck on your coming matches!

To start this chapter off:

Cthulhu

Cthulhu

With the Pros out of the way, lets get to the negatives and how to combat them:

Qin's Sais

Qin's Sais

Hide of the Nemean Lion

Oni Hunter's Garb

Cernunnos

Hide of the Nemean Lion

Spectral Armor

Easily cancelled out The Mire

Achilles

King Arthur

Zhong Kui

The Mire

Passive Ability:
Prey On Fear- "Cthulhu breaks down the mental fortitude of enemy gods, applying stacks of Torment with abilities and the final hit of his basic attack chain. On reaching 4 stacks of Torment, enemies are afflicted by Insanity. Additionally, Cthulhu gains Magical Power per nearby enemy god with Insanity.

Torment Duration: 5s
Insanity Duration: 20s
Magical Power: 25 per enemy with Insanity"

For solo lane, a good way to stack Torment is using his final hit in the basic attack chain that can hit multiple people at once. So essentially, you can basic attack minions and then focus the 3rd basic on hitting the enemy God. That is the most efficient way to stack Torment early game.

Sanity Break / Sever- "Sanity Break: Cthulhu sends out a terrifying blast of energy, dealing damage to all enemies hit and reducing their Attack Speed. Enemies hit by this ability also do reduced damage to Cthulhu for 6s. This ability applies 1 stack of Torment, 2 if the enemy hit is facing Cthulhu or Fears them instead if they are afflicted with Insanity. Successfully consuming Insanity permanently increases the base mitigation of this ability.

Ability Type: Cone
Damage: 90 / 135 / 180 / 225 / 270 (+40% of your Magical Power)
Attack Speed Slow: 10 / 15 / 20 / 25 / 30% for 3s
Fear Duration: 1.5s
Damage Mitigation: 20% + 0.5% (Max 30%)
Cooldown: 10s
Cost: 60"

Nothing much to say about this Ability. A quick fear that can cancel gods out of their abilities or just give you an extra second to make a play. Quick damage, useful against for wave clear or just poke.

"Sever (Ultimate Form): Cthulhu swipes down at the ground beneath him, creating 3 large projectiles. These projectiles damage enemies and apply a stacking Protection Reduction debuff. This ability does not proc item effects.

Ability Type: Line
Damage: 120 / 175 / 230 / 285 / 340 (+30% of your Magical Power)
Protection Reduction: 3% stacking up to 5 times
Debuff Duration: 5s
Cooldown: 1s
Cost: 0"

This will be your main damage tool in ult form. The protection reduction you can apply on people is very useful in teamfights and can ultimately change the way a battle is going.

The Mire / Devastate- "The Mire: Cthulhu summons a portal creating a slowing field of eldritch mire at the target location. While Cthulhu channels, The Mire continues to grow as the portal fires out two masses of corruption that hit and damage all enemies in the field.

The first shot also Slows enemies while the second Roots them, both hits applying 1 stack of Torment. Cancelling the ability early stops The Mire from growing or the portal from firing additional shots.

Ability Type: Ground Target
Damage per shot: 50 / 95 / 140 / 185 / 230 (+30% of your Magical Power)
Slow: 10%
Corruption Slow: 35%
Corruption Slow/Root Duration: 1s
Mire Duration: 3s after ability cancel/end
Cooldown: 18 / 17 / 16 / 15 / 14s
Cost: 50 / 55 / 60 / 65 / 70"

This ability can be easily canceled by enemy gods before you even get the first tick off. I recommend you use distance as said before. It has nice damage output if you can land both hits and has good CC (slow and root).

"Devastate (Ultimate Form): Cthulhu fires a devastating blast of psychic energy that damages and knocks up enemies.

Ability Type: Ground Target
Damage: 140 / 175 / 210 / 245 / 280 (+20% of your Magical Power)
Cooldown: 5s
Cost: 60 / 65 / 70 / 75 / 80
Skill Discussion"

This ability contains a knock-up. You can use it to slow enemies that are running from you, or finish a kill. This can also be used to peel enemies off your teammates.

" Rushing Terror / Transfuse- Rushing Terror: Cthulhu creates two twisting projectiles at his sides as he unfurls his wings and charges forwards, damaging, stunning and knocking away enemies hit. The projectiles follow at a slightly slower pace but travel further, damaging enemies as well. Enemies hit by Cthulhu or the projectiles gain 1 stack of Torment.

Ability Type: Dash
Damage: 80 / 120 / 160 / 200 / 240 (+30% of your Magical Power)
Stun Duration: 0.4s
Projectile Damage: 50 / 80 / 110 / 140 / 170 (+20% of your Magical Power)
Cooldown: 16s
Cost: 60 / 65 / 70 / 75 / 80"

This is SUCH a good ability in Solo as well in support. You can peel enemies off your ADC or cancel a solo laner's abilities with this attack's stun/knock-back. For example, in support role, if the enemy jungler is a Daji, you can cancel her out of One Thousand Cuts and therefore removing her of her safest early game damage. In solo, you can cancel King Arthur out of Bladestorm

"Transfuse (Ultimate Form): Cthulhu transfuses his own life force into the area around him giving Allies Health, Movement Speed and Power. Enemies are also hit, taking more damage the closer they are to Cthulhu. This ability damages Cthulhu for 6% of his Maximum Health. If Cthulhu is below 20% Health, this ability does not damage Cthulhu but all Ally effects are reduced by 50%.

Ability Type: Area
Damage: 120 / 140 / 160 / 180 / 200 (+20% of your Magical Power)
Ally Healing: 10 / 11 / 12 / 13 / 14% Max Health
Power: 20 / 25 / 30 / 35 / 40
Movement Speed: 20%
Duration: 3s
Cooldown: 6s
Cost: 70"

A good heal late game for your allies, also quick and easy damage. BEWARE, this ability also removes health from you! Don't use it in bad scenarios like when you are outnumbered or alone.

Descend Into Madness- Cthulhu reveals his true form as he plunges the battlefield into R’lyeh while any enemies caught nearby are damaged.

In this form Cthulhu gains access to new abilities. Enemies near Cthulhu gain stacks of Torment, increasing in pace if they are facing him. Enemies also suffer the debuff effects of Sanity Break, causing them to deal less damage to Cthulhu.

Ability Type: Stim
Damage: 150/195/240/285/330 (+40% of your Magical Power)
Max Health: 30%
Duration: 12/13/14/15/16s
Debuff Radius: 50
Damage Mitigation during Intro: 80%
Cooldown: 100s
Cost: 100"

As you can see by the stats, this ability has crazy damage and crazy tanking ability. On another note, growing in size does attract more attention. You are easily focused and poked down by the ADC. You AREN'T invulnerable. Don't try to 5v1 or 4v1. Also CANCELING the ability in sticky situations is VERY useful... Either to chase or to run.

I won't be covering EVERY item at the moment but I will shed some light on the more recurrent items and the ones I find most important.
Void Stone- This item is extremely useful in solo if you are against a magical. The decent magical protections and the useful magical power is a must in most builds.

Stone of Binding- I consider this a bridge item. It can easily be sold before buying a speed potion and is VERY cheap in the early game for what its worth. The overall magical and physical protection is useful for 1700 gold, also it has magical power and a nice passive.

Stone of Gaia- Very Situational. Depending on the team this can lead to a very large heal for Cthulhu increasing his sustain in battles. This won't work with his Descend Into Madness.

Breastplate of Valor- One of the best defensive items that can be bought on Cthulhu. The Good Cooldown and protections undeniably make it a very useful item and this isn't even bringing up the MP5 that is useful in early game.

Ethereal Staff- I believe this item is amazing on Cthulhu. You already have a high health pool and stealing it from your enemies makes you an even bigger threat. Plus I love the 90+ power and the extra 200 Health. I would only recommend this item in solo lane though.

Gauntlet of Thebes- A great item for all supports. The protections you receive and you give to your allies will always make it a top tier support item.


Gem of Isolation- Although I see many people say this item works wonders on Cthulhu, I don't see it that way. The ability The Mire already has a built in slow and added Gem of Isolation of course it becomes more powerful... BUT the main argument for using this is the difficulty in hitting that ability. If you play smart with this ability you can easily land it in most cases. Not only that I much rather have more protections over the base stats. With that being said, if you are ahead it is an UNDOUBTEDLY GREAT item. 90+ power and the 200 health can give you very good damage (Just like Ethereal Staff) and also the slow can stop people from running away from you.
NOTE:
I simply do not use this item often because I think Ethereal Staff works better. Not only that I sometimes hesitate in building both items because I match rather just have the extra protections. Nonetheless a great item and comes down to personal preference and playstyle.

Now 2 items I think may be the most important in late game conquest matches with Cthulhu.
Hide of the Nemean Lion and Spectral Armor. Both these items are extremely useful against pesky ADCs but DO NOT NEED TO BE USED TOGETHER. I can not stress this enough. You use Hide of the Nemean Lion against ADCs who haven't built Crits, for my testing I used Cernunnos who is a major threat to Cthulhu. Without this item, Cthulhu can last about 5-10 seconds if Cernunnos hits every basic in that time. With this item though, you have an increased chance of surviving and tanking for longer amounts of time, allowing your team to swoop in and rid you of that pesky hunter. With a crit build, I used Rama. Spectral Armor made his basic attacks almost insignificant truthfully. You can tank for much more time and be able to remove him from the battlefield easily or just force him to ult and have your team deal with him when he lands. Without Spectral Armor, the time you'll have to survive is about 5-10 seconds as well. With this being said, Hide of the Nemean Lion should be bought if ADC did not build crits, Spectral Armor should be used if the ADC did built crits.

With this God you won't have very hard match-ups. Level 1, you should grab Sanity Break so you can clear fast and apply Torment to the enemy. Focus all basics on the minions EXCEPT for the 3rd in the attack chain. If you can hit the enemy for more quick stacks of torment). You can secure totem pretty easily with the damage you have available at level 2 using The Mire or Rushing Terror.
The second ability is completely relative to your match-up. The questions you should ask is, does he have a main damage ability that can be canceled? If I throw out The Mire can I be able to ensure I get both ticks of damage? If you answered Yes to the first question, grabbing Rushing Terror, might be a good choice. For example, with this ability you can cancel Bellona out of her main damaging ability ( Bludgeon) therefore slowing down her clear. If you answered Yes to both then it is completely dependent on how you choose to play but I would recommend your 2 if you choose to just out damage your opponent other than just shutting him down. In most cases (In which you answer No to the first question) you will want to go with The Mire.
After this, you can't really be threatened much. Even if a jungler ganks, you have Descend Into Madness that makes you CC immune and you have Rushing Terror. As long as you play aggressive but make sure not to overstep your bounds, you should win almost every match-up.

At level 1, you could EASILY go for the invade in most match-ups due to your aggressive kit and damage output, but if you choose not to then no worries. Now best way to get the most out of a Cthulhu Support is hoping your ADC picks an aggressive hunter as well. If so, your kit will be used to its maximum potential and most likely you'll get a kill early on or force them out of lane.
If the ADC isn't so aggressive, your kit can still be helpful in keeping him alive from ganks or a more aggressive enemy Duo Lane.
With all this being said, when you start to rotate, one of main goals will be forcing other enemy gods out of lane, making them lose farm and giving your team more room to evolve. Despite the capability to do this, don't think you are invulnerable and remember that you are still Support. Keeping your team alive should still be a top priority! Don't forget with the amount of Peel Potential you have, you can easily secure and defend an objective. Do not forget you have a pretty good Team Heal in your kit. Very important.

In teamfights, your function is simple. Peel and do damage. Keep your team alive at all means and make sure the enemy always come out on bottom. Doesn't matter what role you queue up in for Cthulhu. You ALWAYS frontline. In all fights you will be at the CENTER of the confusion stunning, slowing, rooting, fearing and killing all enemy gods. I do not suggest using Descend Into Madness right at the start of the fight. At the start they can easily disengage and then reengage at the end of that ability. I do however recommend try doing damage and keeping your team alive with your normal kit. When things get intense for anyone on your team, I mean if someone gets below half, use Descend Into Madness and spam heal your team. Then be prepared to chase the enemy using Devastate. Do not forget to keep the continuous heal going on and do not over extend without your team. However, sometimes using Descend Into Madness at the start is the right move. It all depends on the scenario and you need to read each and every scenario to make these moves. For example lets say my team is losing most teamfights, then in this case I might start with ult and focus the squishies out of the fight...If I can of course. You can't go wrong as long as you analyze when is the right time. Ulting too late or too early can sacrifice a teamfight and should be used with caution.
I will say though, if you are solo you can start with ult most of the time. Leave support to make sure that your team is doing fine. If you are the support, maybe save that ult. The heal will save lives.

Here I would like to shed some light on some tips I have that will improve your gameplay with Cthulhu:

1- Remembering The Mire is a ranged ability. Now most people will complain about how interruptible it is, but for that reason, against most Gods you can use your range to not risk getting CC'd out of it. Do not forget its ranged. You can throw it anywhere. You have no reason to get close and get caught with the Zhong Kui Stun or the Achilles Stun.

2- Positioning The Mire. It is indeed hard to hit that second tick of damage with this ability. In most cases you might miss the second and not get the full potential damage and in this case, I recommend you learn how to position it. What I learned is, if you put that ability behind a god and you walk up to him, he will most likely avoid taking that damage. Making him susceptible to your Sanity Breaks and your Rushing Terror. Another way is hitting him in a choke point. Those points are easy to find in the jungle or even if he's hiding behind his tower. Keep in mind that The Mire extends outwards growing in range.

3- Exiting out of Descend Into Madness early. I know, I know, why would you want to leave an ultimate form that makes you practically invincible...oh yeah... the fact that you AREN'T. Exiting out of ult early can surprise many players and serve as an opportunity to use your Rushing Terror to escape. Another reason would be it is more efficient to chase enemies who are out of range with your normal kit. Allowing your team to either secure a deicide or just some kills.

4- To Fear and when not to Fear. Sanity Breaks can release and awesome fear that will help save your life or get a kill but when should you really use it or not? So to fear an enemy you need to have Insanity. To give insanity you need 4 stacks of Torment. What does insanity give? 25 Magical Power per enemy. So looking at it, if you aren't close to killing an enemy God, and you have the insanity on him, do you really wanna give up 25 magical power and work on stacking Torment again if you aren't close to killing him? I'll leave that for you to decide. Consuming the insanity also gives you permanent damage mitigation on your Sanity Breaks but that is up to you. I just lay out the facts and give my personal opinion.

5- Rushing Terror. I have already said this, but I'll include it here as well. Using this ability to interrupt enemy abilities is a fundamental mechanic and can change the flow of the battle.

6- Do NOT build full damage. You absolutely can build full damage, but I, in no way whatsoever recommend it. Firstly, when in ult, you will be targeted and need protections. Secondly, regardless you have a large health pool. That just means Qin's Sais users will absolutely shred you. To use this God to his max potential you need to build protections. But this is your choice.

Thanks for checking out this guide on Cthulhu! I will regularly update this guide with new info as it comes in. My main focus is finding the main threats when it comes to this god, but we might only find that out after he receives his nerf. I might also link some Youtube videos in the near future to assist you with absolute domination in any lane you go in with this God! Have Fun and Good Luck. Remember, VER!

Updates have nerfed Cthulhu but not in a drastic way. Everything here remains relevant to date and no real changes are needed.