Loki - The Lane Controlling Jungler

Hey, I'm inb4nosoul and I play Smite on the Xbox One. Loki is my most played God with over 3,000 worshipers. When I first started playing Smite during its release on the Xbox, I read Greenevers guide which helped me establish a little knowledge about how to play as the Trickster God (attack canceling, skill order, etc). However, the changes introduced with Season 4 lend themselves to some new combinations I do not see in other guides. I used to play him primarily as a solo laner in Conquest while solo-queuing, but with Season 4 changes have had more success (and fun) after moving him back into the jungle.

Loki is a physical assassin that relies on auto attacks which are boosted by his abilities. The best way to build him is therefore with power, penetration, and cool down reduction (of course movement speed never hurts either). I've seen others build him with attack speed or critical chance, but I find this to generally be less effective.

You may notice that both Bumba's Mask and Rangda's Mask are utilized in this build, which slows the early game a bit, but helps Loki continue gaining utility throughout the match hopefully beginning a bit of a snowball around level 10-12. The added early MP5, cooldown reduction, and movement speed for only 500 gold which also gains 15 penetration after 10 stacks (2 per kill, 1 per assist) makes Rangda's a worthy pickup in addition to Bumba's.

I have not listed many alternative items, but I feel the third slot is easiest to work around. My preference is for Stone Cutting Sword because it provides additional physical penetration and protections rather than just the protections found on Masamune. Heartseeker also provides less overall power and procs only on Loki's ult in S4, making it the worst of the three options imo.

Warrior's Tabi, Hydra's, Jotunn's, and Titan's are all generally core items, hopefully the reasons for which are obvious.

Bloodforge also makes for the best lifesteal item when compared to Soul Eater or Devourer's Gauntlets because of the shield given on kill, even though it is the most expensive. Soul Eater can be easily stacked to 100 and can offer some nice utility healing with Decoy and minions, but on the whole Bloodforge feels more consistent. Devourer's Gauntlets add additional scaling throughout the game, but the shield from Bloodforge is more valuable than building earlier lifesteal.

For relics I start with either Meditation or Hand of the Gods (personal preference) and take Belt of Frenzy as my second to help with shredding objectives during split pushes. If the enemy team is CC heavy I will rarely take Purification Beads.

Vanish - You will be using this mostly for mobility and as an escape, though in early game the bleed can be effective in helping against jungle camps. When using as an escape, try to take turns and double back to throw off any pursuing Gods. It also gives slight damage reduction while you are invisible, removes any slows, and makes you immune to new slows. Level this last.

Decoy - Forces minions and jungle creeps in radius to attack the decoy which explodes after three seconds. This ability gives Loki the ability to control lanes and when fully leveled wipes out and farm an entire small minion wave. You can also drop it under tower to absorb fire for yourself or minions until it detonates or you damage an enemy God. Can also be used to block enemy basic attacks or impede movement when placed correctly. Level this second.

Aimed Strike - Loki's main form of dps, it adds bonus damage and applies a slow to target with his next basic attack while resetting his attack chain. You will be using this to gank and clear jungle camps. Additionally, it procs the Hydra's Lament passive adding even more damage. Level it first.

Assassinate - Loki's ultimate, it allows him to teleport to the designated area. If a God is present in the area it is stunned for 1 second while Loki is placed behind them, ready to line up some basic attacks and Aimed Strikes. Can also be used as an escape. Protip: when teleporting to attack an enemy God Loki becomes CC immune for a brief moment--use this to your advantage when hit with something like Ares' ultimate once you've gotten the timing down. Level this as it comes, after Aimed Strike and Decoy.

To start the game you can either go Combat Boots + Bumba's Mask (my preferred start for the extra move speed) or Bumba's Mask + Rangda's Mask + Boots for earlier MP5. Meditation can help with sustain throughout the game, while Hand of the Gods can help for early camp clearing and to secure late game kills. Take your pick.

As a jungler you will need to help farm with your solo laner before the jungle creeps become available. To this extent, Decoy is the best skill to begin with because it can allow you to semi-proxy farm the first minion wave in lane. When the minion waves are spawned begin running to the second enemy tower so that you can place your Decoy over the archers just as they come into casting range. Run back through the jungle to meet your solo and place a second Decoy on the enemy minions as soon as your cooldown is back up.

The key to success with Loki is to play conservatively for the first 5-6 levels until you can rotate and gank to build stacks on Rangda's Mask. After finishing your boots, your next item should be Hydra's Star into Hydra's Lament for the added MP5, CDR, and damage increase.

Rather than capping CDR by building Jotunn's next, Stone Cutting Sword is a better option as the movespeed helps you rotate for ganks and the passive helps shred protections while simultaneously building up your own.

Loki wants to play aggressively against to snowball and continue to gank effectively. Pay attention to when your own jungle camps are spawning and always try to take the Movement Speed Buff while clearing the Mana Buff for your solo laner. If you are confident in your skills and/or your team is using wards, feel free to counter-jungle as much as possible as that means more feed for you and less for the other team. Counter-jungling their Mana and Movement Speed Buffs is a great way to keep an advantage over an otherwise equal team. If your jungle is out of creeps and the enemy jungle is too dangerous, rotate between lanes to help exert pressure and keep farming exp and gold for yourself.

Loki is a squishy God, which means he is not especially adept at team fighting. To make up for this, placing Decoys down throughout the fight to draw minion fire, damage enemy Gods, and potentially body block can be extremely beneficial. Additionally, by staying on the outskirts of a fight, you can choose when to engage with your ultimate, Assassinate, to do just that to a squishy enemy God.

Aside from jungling, Loki is a master at split pushing lanes when using Decoy to instantly wipe an entire enemy minion wave out and advance friendly minions. As mentioned before, dropping a Decoy into the attack radius of a tower before you or a friendly minion enters gives you three seconds to pile on some extra damage without being targeted.

When paired with a full kit and a Belt of Frenzy, Loki can burn down an entire phoenix with less than one minion wave supporting him.

Loki is a God that is easy to play, but takes some time to really get a good handle with. Mess around with your starting items if you find mine to be incorrect for your playstyle. Most of all find what works best for you and just go out there and have fun with one of the most annoying Gods in Smite.

If you have any questions or comments, please leave them. We'll see how quickly I respond.