Loki - Knives to Meet You!

Hello, I am Rampageriley. This is my very first guide, and I decided to create it after I achieved Legendary status as my favorite god in smite, Loki. Currently, I have a kill to death ratio of about 2:1, over 1500 kills, and 98 wins as Loki alone (as of March 24, 2014). With this build/playstyle, I rarely lose a 3 vs 3 Joust or Arena (carrying teams with an average of 15 kills and 3 deaths). I often win conquest pre-mades with my clan, so I am confident Loki is a valuable asset to any game mode. This is a general guide, and aspects apply to nearly every game mode. This guide will teach you the fundamentals of Loki, the God of Trolling... I mean Trickery. Anyway, lets get somethings straight.

Loki is NOT a carry. He is able to carry his entire team even if they are full of badies/noobs if you are good enough. NEVER think of Loki as an ADC. Attack speed/protections are worthless for him, because you should not be in combat long. You should be focusing on CDR, power, and penetration. Only strike when you know you can secure a kill and stack full penetrations and physical power for the most burst in your opener. Remember, he is like a "Subtlety Rogue" from WoW (yes, I used to play WoW). Focus on revanishing and destroying your target from 100-0 by maximizing your initial burst.

You are squishy, and you will always be squishy, so staying in combat long is a terrible idea. That is why mages/assassins are your top priority to gank. Patience is a vitue when waiting for a sheep to separate from the herd so you can engage in the slaughter from the shadows. Sheep (squishies), are afraid of wolves (Loki). Use this intimidation to an advantage by using vanish at key moments. Unfortunately, if there is a Neith, Ymir, Tyr or any enemy with insta-CC, they will be on "Loki patrol", ready to save their carry from getting ganked. Play smart and predict your enemy's movements.

This build focuses of maximum burst damage and max CDR. This allows a high up-time on Vanish and Aimed Strike, while letting you use Assassinate more times for escaping and initiating. The only practical way to build Loki is as an assassin. This build is universal, and can be used in any game mode.

1. Warrior Tabi

Screw the Ninja Tabi. This build already maxes CDR, so this lets you invest in items that give you more damage/penetration. The penetraion on this item is ideal.

2. Jotunn's Wrath

Loki is a son of a frost giant, therefore, this item is only logical. What, you need more proof than that? Fine, this item adds nice penetration, helps max CDR, and gives you a little extra mana. One of my favorites indeed.

3. Hydra's Lament

This gives a ton of physical power, helps max CDR, and has a neat little passive that has great synergy with Aimed Strike, Vanish, or even Assassinate.

4. Deathbringer

This sword has a cool name. Oh yeah, and it gives you a ton of physical power, increases crit chance, and has an epic passive. A must have for any assassin.

5. Malice

The crit chance stacks well with Deathbringer, gives you more physical power, and the passive has good synergy with your Aimed Strike, Hydra's Lament proc, and Vanish DoT (bleed).

6. Titan's Bane

This last item is debatable. If there is a tanky opponent, or if everyone and their mom is stacking physical protection, then this item is ideal for the flat penetration percentage. Just remember to only get this item last for when your enemies actually stack a good deal of protection and you have already maximized your power. But, if there is an all-you-can-eat buffet of squishies, start off with Heartseeker. With a full item build and maximum stacks, Heartseeker will give you a whopping 295 physical power! You can also get the Void Shield if they have a bruiser or a majority of physical gods, such as Odin, Thor, Neith, etc. This also gives you a nice bit of penetration.

Active Items:

Creeping Curse:

Synergy with Aimed Strike and great for early game, allowing for chase.

Greater Blink:

"SURPRISE! Assassinate isn't my only teleport @#!*% !" Also can't hurt to have another escape handy. DOES NOT BREAK VANISH! You can also use this to open as a quick gap closer instead of Vanish and follow up with an Aimed Strike.

Girdle of Might:

More damage is always nice.

* Purification Beads if there is a Hades, Ares, Fenrir, etc.

Loki has many tricks of the trade. Use your skills to the fullest Potential!

"Nice try savages, I am not the dying type, you shall die instead."

Behind You! gives you a nice damage bonus when attacking from behind (like a true assassin). You should always be behind your target when you have the intention to kill them. Also, mages have a hard time hitting things that aren't directly in front of them, so keep that in mind.

"I disappear... a ghost amidst the combat, preparing to strike!"

Vanish is obviously used to sneak up and get the first hit on your target. In late game, you can honestly just stab targets once out of Vanish and the DoT will be enough to kill them usually if they're a squishy mage. Otherwise, harass your enemies with the annoying poke damage of this OP bleed. Remember, you do not always have to open with this move. You can open with Assassinate to gank them, then Vanish to escape and vice-versa.

Decoy "Your eyes deceive you, an illusion fools you all, I move for the kill."

Decoy is upgraded later in the game because you should be more focused on killing gods than farming, isn't that what your allies are for? Doing the dirty work? I used to think this skill was useless, only good for killing creeps solo when fully upgraded. But, then I realized its great to use as a pillar to block ranged attacks when running, or throw it into a tower to aggro the turret while you gank someone inside of it. Also, remember to place it next to the archers so that the explosion hits them, and the melee creeps are taunted over to it, effectively hitting all of them. Be sure when laning to use it when proceeding to gank someone to get the creeps attention and moving them out of the way. NEVER IGNORE CREEP DAMAGE.

Aimed Strike "How hilarious, you've just set off my trap card, your death approaches"

Aimed Strike is your hardest hitting move with an extremely short CD (about 5 seconds with full CDR). It also applies a slow, making it hard to run from you while you burst them. It DOES NOT BREAK VANISH, so use it while you are initiating combat. Remember to refresh it during combat too, not just when you open.

"The true world revealed, your weakness is now known to me, time to go to work"

Assassinate is insanely useful as an escape with a decent range, or for quick in-and-out ganks. Wanna be 100% that your target will die? Pop Vanish, Aimed Strike, then proceed to Assassinate to your target. The only downside is that you will blow all of your escapes, so be smart about timing and situation. Under normal circumstances, be sure to use aimed strike BEFORE you Assassinate so you do not have to wait for the animation to finish!

*The quotes in orange are from Zer0, a character in Borderlands 2.

I know what your thinking. "Team work as Loki? LOL learn 2 play noob." But honestly, being a team player can help you pull of kills you otherwise wouldn't be able to do. Your team is literally a distraction while you pick out the sheep from the heard one-by-one.

Team Combat

Loki is obviously capable of insta-killing anyone without much physical protection, so he is perfectly capable of getting his own kills. Moral of the story: DON'T BE A KILL-STEALER! I know its easy to do, and very tempting, but you need your supporters to get fed too. After all, they provide you with tanking and distractions. They will possibly even learn to resent you and let you die. As I said, Loki does not require much feeding, so just being on the same level as your enemies will give you enough of an advantage.

Early Game

Early in the game, stay hidden, gain lane exp, and only engage when the target is almost dead. Golden Rule of Loki: DO NOT GANK UNTIL YOU HAVE ASSASSINATE! Wait until about level 5 to start engaging actively in kills. Do not spam Decoy on adds or you will waste mana. Only use Decoy as described in the "Skills" section at this point in the game. Wait patiently for opportunities. It is easier to kill an enemy by your tower than theirs.

Mid Game

At about level 10 or so, GANK! You can manage to kill at least one and run away with your current skills and items. Even dive into towers with Decoy up and Vanish out! Actively gain buffs and kill jungle adds when convenient. Stop preying on the weak and start insta-killing.

Late Game

Spam the almost or completely full upgraded Decoy to clear adds. Gank anything or anyone that is alone. Remember to use Girdle of Might (if you have selected it) before you ultimate. Use Greater Blink to chase, ambush, or escape sticky situations.

Conquest

I'm rarely the "official" jungler in conquest as Loki. I know he gets a reputation for being a great jungler, but he really benefits from being in a duo lane with a mage or someone with great lane clear. This allows you to harass the enemies in your lane while your partner farms the minions. Solo lane is also great, especially if you are coordinated with your teammates. Selecting Heartseeker in conquest is a good idea because you can easily get stacks without dying, and enemies are less likely to stack physical protection considering they tend to focus on a balanced build when fighting 5 vs 5, so Titan's Bane isn't always necessary. At about mid game, feel free to wander through the jungle and gank freely, because the hardest part of Loki is early game.

Arena

Loki is a natural arena god. Able to get in-and-out of sticky situations and pick off gods one at a time, the only real difficult part of playing Loki in an arena is deciding when to strike. Stay behind pillars and walls, waiting for an enemy to weaken or attempt escape at low health. Then, kill them before they reach their base, or when they're alone not expecting to get ganked. DO NOT engage when there is an enemy who has hard CC like Hades, Ymir, Neith, Tyr, etc, or anyone who can easily chase you, such as Nemesis, Mercury, Sun Wukong, etc. Wait for the right opportunity when they are not stacked together, or a squishy god is easily exposed. Of course when they're next to your base, feel free to harass and be reckless.

Jungling

IMPORTANT: DO NOT waste too much time in the jungle. Its an easy way to lose lane experience. Get your buffs, get out, don't fall behind!

Loki can be a pain for many gods to face, but there are also quite a bit of gods that can counter him without a problem. Here's a list of enemies and counters when playing as Loki.

Counters

Thanatos is usually an easy gank with low protections and terrible escapes (except for his Hovering Death, which has too long of a build up to escape your burst.)

Ra is very squishy, and also has no immediate escapes. His only defense against you is a well timed Divine Light, but shortly after you can gank him unless help arrives.

Vulcan has no moves to counter you whatsoever. If you see him, hes usually a free kill. Vanish past his turret and give him @#!*% .

Agni is a sitting duck with his path of flame on CD. Regardless, your Vanish bleed should still be enough to kill him in most cases.

A good Ao Kuang may put a tornado on himself and then spirit's tempest you in the face, but more times than not, he is an easy kill.

Enemies

if Ymir gets off a good Frost Breath on you, you most likely will die. Also, a well timed Ice Wall prevents narrow escapes. NEVER go near a Ymir if you can help it.

Neith has so much CC, including stuns and roots, that unless she's the target you're focusing, you probably won't get away with murder with a good Neith around.

When you are playing Joust League 1 vs 1, NEVER HESITATE TO BAN THIS GOD! You will lose 100% of the time when engaging a good Nemesis. She can chase you down, slow you, does crazy damage, and can reflect the bleed from your Vanish I made the mistake of not banning her a couple of times and regretted it...

As a bruiser with instant knock-backs and CC, Tyr will be sure to ruin your kills against the squishy mages in the back.

Confound will instantly remove you from stealth, and then every one will insta-gank you. Don't even go near this crazy b****.

Kali will use her ultimate Destruction to survive your burst, then turn around and counter-gank you.

Self explanatory...