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Demonic Grip
Shoes of Focus
Spear of the Magus
Rod of Tahuti
Bancroft's Talon
Book of Thoth
Chronos' Pendant
Divine Ruin
Gem of Isolation
Void Stone
Polynomicon
Obsidian Shard
Aegis Pendant
Combat Blink
Spiked Shell
Enfeebling Curse
Y
B
A
X
Hello there fellow Smite players, most of whom I know are better than I am! I am Riomhaire, and this is how I like to play 
Hades, the real god of the dead. This is probably the god I have played the most (since a bunch of it was before the new statistics system, we'll never know for sure), and his kit has always appealed to me.
As I am not exactly excellent at writing guides, I will probably leave something out that is important to the continuity of the guide, whether it's why I picked a certain item over the other possible choices or an entire section on matchups. If you notice something missing that you want to see here, please tell me in the comments, and I will probably begin work on it within a couple days. Also, if you have some insight into Hades that you think players need to see, tell me! I haven't seen everything, and any little tips or tricks (and of course upvotes and +Reps) would be greatly appreciated.
That all said, let's look over what Hades has to offer.
AAAGood farmAAA
Hades's strong points is his farm. His Devour Souls can potentially hit an entire minion wave with a bit of preparation by basic attacking the melee minions, and the fact that 
Blighted minions explode is a good way to keep your enemy from hiding among the creeps. This means that he can really benefit from stacking items, such as Book of Thoth or 
Doom Orb.AAAGood natural defenseAAA
Hades comes with a nice tendency towards being a tank, with a good amount of HP and protections without items. This leaves slots that would normally need to be taken up with a defense-oriented item available for more pure damage output. This is part of what makes Hades such a viable and versatile character: he naturally tends toward survivability.AAAGreat sustainAAA
Devour Souls a stellar way to clear creep waves, but the heal it provides allows for Hades to stay in lane much longer than most other mages. In fact, as long as he has mana, he can just sit in lane and farm up a huge lead. Couple this with the fact that he naturally starts out with more health than his opponents in mid, and you have a god that is able to push the lane when his opponent leaves without worrying overmuch about being ganked.AAALow base damage outputAAA
Hades is a Guardian. That is a tank in non-HiRez talk. As such, his base damage is bound to be lower than that of any self-respecting mid or solo laner he comes up against. This is not a killer by itself, because his passive, Blight, helps with that a bit. Nonetheless, don't expect to be knocking giant holes in enemy health bars. That's just not what Hades is built for.AAACan't really chaseAAA
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Here's where Hades's kit really kicks off. Blight adds a bonus effect to every ability he has, not to mention debuffing whoever has been Blighted. Really great effect to have. Makes your basic attacks really worthwhile, despite their low base damage.
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To see a tank with a good leap? A huge plus in my book, especially if I intend to be using him at a position other than tank. Not only that, but this will slow any Blighted enemies in its area of effect, and it will also Blight them. Great skill; max this second.
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A very admirable CC ability, especially with the added CC from Blight. In mid lane, I don't find this to be as useful early on as putting more points into one of the other skills (hence the skill order above), but in a duo support role this may have more merit and warrant a higher priority. Lategame this can be particularly frustrating to your opponents, as its very fast cast speed can interrupt many undesirable abilities.
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Learn to love this ability. It has a good damage on it, coupled with a heal, and if the enemy is Blighted (hint hint: use your Death From Below to do that nicely), it makes more damage and more heals. And all this heals is before we decide to buy magical lifesteal. Yay! Max this first.
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Ahh, the ultimate. What we have all been waiting for. This one is pretty straightforward: walk somewhere with a lot of enemies, make a circle, suck life out of them. Think Ymir's ultimate but with about a millionth the casting animation and a DoT effect rather than one big smack. Also, with Blight (I'm sorry, did I mention that we love this passive?), it removes some of their protections for a while too. Now this ult does have its downfall, namely that everyone with half a brain who you catch in this bugger is going to turn and hit you with everything they've got. Expect it, plan for it, and you'll be fine.
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As always, item builds are more of a way of thinking about situations rather than a set progression from item to item. Remember that, and never be afraid to branch out with your purchases, as long as you can explain your choice to yourself.
Also, this build focuses entirely on dealing damage, rather than building on Hades' tankiness. As such, this is a good solo lane or mid lane build, but might not be the best for support. If I see that people would like one of those too, I will add it later.
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I like to take this first because I have no real need for movement speed early. It's extremely rare for me to have the opportunity for a kill as Hades before level 5, and I am more a fan of boosting my attack speed early. If you read my Chronos guide, you probably noticed that I did this there as well. Simply put, I like the item in the early game, especially the magical protection debuff. However, I do sometimes sell this item late game to open up a slot for something that is more late-game focused.
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Now here, depending on how often I find myself running out of mana, I have a choice. I can either build my shoes here or build Chronos' Pendant. Generally, though, I find myself in need of more movement speed than MP5, so I will build my boots first. On the occasion that I need more mana, however, I find the MP5 more than outweighs the mana on the completed boots.
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The penetration this item offers is really up there, second only to Obsidian Shard. However, I prefer this item in most situations because it also helps your mid laner (and maybe even your support), because instead of just using penetration, it also debuffs magical protection, leaving the enemy more open to the other magical damage sources on your team.
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If you don't see this as pretty much a necessity for any damaging mage worth their salt, you haven't been playing mages enough. The fact that it gives you 125 magical power plus 25% of your total magical power (including that 125 you just got) is simply too good to pass up. This is the kind of damage we want to see out of our finished Hades. Yes, it's expensive. Buy it anyway.
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This first item is always worth considering. It has a good amount of power, some lifesteal, and a nice passive that adds to your magical power as you lose health. This should mainly be used if the opposing mid is outdoing your sustain, but with it you will need no more lifesteal. Verdict: B+ |
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This is probably one of my favorite stacking items in the game, alongside  Transcendence and  Heartseeker. Hades' ability to farm means that stacking this item will be easy, and I am all for having more mana and magical power. Very viable item, but on the expensive side. That means this is probably not the best item to start buying if you're behind. Of course, if you're ahead, go for it. The massive magical power boost is always useful, and a mage always loves to have extra mana. Really stellar item to stretch your lead over your opponent.TL;DR - STAAAAAAAACKS. Verdict: A |
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This is your go-to item if you find yourself in need of abilities but having to wait for cooldowns. The blend of extra magical power, MP5, and CDR is a very good item at a very reasonable price. However, if you don't find yourself needing more cooldown reduction, this is no longer as good of an option. Remember, it's all about the situation you find yourself in, not some magic item build that will magically make you a Diamond level player. Verdict: B |
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The lifesteal on here is not the main reason to pick this. This is meant to shut down that annoying  Ra who keeps healing himself just before you can pull off a kill. This is very situational, as the slot would be better utilized if the enemy god doesn't have a lot of healing.Verdict: B+ |
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If you are having trouble chasing down kills (which doesn't often happen for me, as my targets tend to go down quickly), this is a must. It turns every one of your abilities into a slow. And it still has good other stats, so we aren't sacrificing too much for that slow. A very playable choice, but not one that is always necessary. Verdict: A- |
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This item can be very useful on Hades, as he tends to like to get up close and personal with his opponents, despite his ranged attacks. It adds effectiveness to all your damaging abilities, and stacks with the debuff you apply during a Pillar of Agony on a Blighted target. The protection is just an added plus if you need the extra tankiness. Verdict: B |
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I like this item on Hades because of its passive. The extra damage on those basic attacks can make the difference between a kill and your target barely escaping. Since your chase is horrible, you need to prevent this. Also, makes your 2 even more useful. I usually finish this first, even before my boots, because the damage early game really helps. Verdict: A |
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A very nice amount of magical power, plus all the penetration you could want. This plus Spear of the Magus usually means that building protections against you is useless. Verdict: B+/A- |
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And that concludes my items build. Yes, everyone needs  Purification Beads some games, but if you aren't at a level where you know that without me telling you (like I was until a few months ago), you probably aren't going to remember you have them (also, like I did until a few months ago).
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Okay, so most of what I am about to say here also applies to mid, but mid requires extra care. After all, there is nobody the jungler likes to eat alive more than mid.
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This build is what I rely on early game. It has just enough movement speed that I am not pig slow in getting to my lane, but at the same time it doesn't waste unnecessary gold giving me speed I don't need. That money then goes into attack speed, which provides more Blight for my Devour Souls.
Hand of the Gods on it. Now, go to blue. This buff is to be yours while you are in lane. As you enter lane, drop your 
Ward so that it has vision on the middle jungle path (the one that goes behind the closest objective). Ward the Gold Fury. Or have the support ward it, if it's on the other side. Ward up and push.notes on ults|
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If you see the jungler in a bit of trouble, don't be afraid to body block the hits. Especially if  Neith just sent an arrow his way. Him dying leads to your team being way more behind late game than you dying, because junglers tend to be behind anyway. Also, you may survive, especially if the jungler turns and uses you as a distraction while they kill whoever was chasing them.
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If mid is dead, take over for a while. You can play a decent mid role, and the jungler can take over for you in solo for a while. Just make sure you have a lot of Wards and are watching everywhere for ganks. When mid comes back to lane, don't just immediately leave and go roam again. Push the lane to the tower first.
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If you see either jungler (yours or theirs) going somewhere, go there too. There are probably enemies going that way that you can't see, and that spells TEAMFIGHT. Late game, with your 2-second silence, you are a serious teamfight presence and shouldn't miss out (see note above about teamfights). |
Ward EVERYTHING. It is hugely important that you know where everyone is at any time, and since each person can only buy 2 wards and 1 sentry ward at a time, everyone has to contribute to the cause. 
Sentry Wards go in objectives, regular Wards go in jungle pathways, beside jungle buffs, and in lanes you don't intend to be pushing. Too many times, I have been on a team that was ahead, decided to skimp on Wards, and lost when the enemy team managed a deicide and steal as we attempted the Fire Giant.|
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Note: When you take the Fire Giant, DO NOT recall from the Fire Giant camp, because that is exactly where they will look for you. Instead, go to somewhere that your allies aren't going and back from there. Course, if they're all dead (lucky you), go ahead and back from wherever. It won't matter. |
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explanationThis section is woefully incomplete, mainly because nobody lets me play Hades solo lane enough. It's like either I get stuck as support by default, or I keep getting the same opponents over and over. So I apologize and I will definitely try to keep adding more as I get the chance.
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August 26: Published guide
Thanks to all the people on SmiteFire for their wonderful BBCode help.
Thanks to Jordenito and Piederman (and whoever else contributed here) for having BBCode templates that were easy to tweak.
Huge props to Adam Doyle for his awesome pictures (in the pros and cons section)
Also thanks to anyone else whose picture I found but not their name.
If I took something of yours but didn't give you credit, please don't downvote. It was either used because I forgot I had seen it on your guide, or I couldn't find who deserved credit. Just comment or PM me and I will be sure to give you credit.
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Aegis Amulet
Greater Blink
Circle of Protection
Loki
Zeus
Overcharge
Detonate Charge
Lightning Storm
First of all abilities.
I agree. Ult and 3 get priority. But I think you should stil drop a point into 2 before Lv 5. Just so you have the option open at least. Then upgraded as necessary or put off until later if desired.
Items:
demonic grip: I'm not a big fan of this item. Your 1 is your main applet of blight. 1->3 is your main farm/poke combo. Even if you are Savin your 1. You sound like you don't use your 2 much. It applies blight just as well. If you stand to the side the whole minion wave can be hit.
Is also change divine ruine to a solid B since it's usually more niche but again I'm mid more often than not so I don't see extreme heals too much. Hel and change being exceptions.
Non core items: no pythag piece? It may not give as much power as Bancroft but it has life steal for days. It also gives life steal in aura so it's a nice benifit for your friends in a team fight.
Poly: good item. I think it deserves a slightly lower rating. But it does deserve a spot on the list. I just feel most people over value poly.
I agree with pretty much everything in the game play. I'd also add that of you happen to be far ahead in your lane, don't be afraid to roam and make some plays. Hades 1 v 2s very well. If you see the jungler is preoccupied/dead feel free to move around a bit.
Also as a possible addition. Depending on your confidence (this is for mid as solo gets blue buff). You can buy meditation to increase your sustain. With hades heal and a strong mana source you won't have to leave lane ever. Your sustain should be legendary. And constant sustain can really help give you a lead on your opponent.
Over all I liked the guide.
srry but hades rips holes in everyone
Not entirely sure what this is supposed to mean. If you mean that a fed Hades can decimate entire teams, then yes. If you mean he can end up with the top player damage in a game, no. That always gies to the hunter or jungler (if they're competent).
Also, not sure why you posted it twice.
Also, the
I usually sell
let's start with your core. As far as I normally play hades
I also somewhat agree and disagree with spear of magus this item is mostly really effective on the ult (on the 1-3 obsidian is better) his other attacks are more dependent on obsidian
this is all (also I find bacroft better then poly on him because of the LS)