Loki: You're never getting away, ever.

CaptElfimis here with a complete and comprehensive Loki guide that will change the way you play Loki in Joust, "What, Loki in Joust?!" Yes, Loki is Joust.

Let me start off by saying that I am by no means a "Pro Player" and I cannot say that at this very moment I am a diehard/tryhard Smite Player. This is my first guide and my #1 reason for writing and publishing said guide is to show the community that out-of-the-box builds can truly shine and achieve amazing things.

Loki is usually my go to god in Joust but is typically shunned by most team comps and for obvious reasons so I can't really hate on their initial decision of asking me to switch, it's not till the mid game when the "How are they not 1 shotting you" Assassin is carrying that there reservations go unmet and the mindset changes.

Let's take some time to discuss the item choices, the full build, and the logic and reasoning behind the end game here.

-Ninja Tabi

I see a decent amount of people with Warrior Tabi Loki builds and those are perfectly fine but the choice/build here is simple, it's based around Atk Speed and Lifesteal so the obvious choice here is Ninja Tabi, moving on.

-Soul Eater

Soul Eater is an excellent choice for the Early Game and depending on the enemy team comp I'll even rush build it vs. Ninja Tabi instead. The +300 Health in addition to Lifesteal means a bit more survivability and a little less worry when you dive or attempt to last shot a fleeing foe. The Aura is beneficial to your teammates and as I previously mentioned, you will be Team Reliant in the early game, it is what it is.

-BloodForge

BloodForge synergizes very well with pretty much any Atk Speed/Lifesteal build and is pretty much mandatory. Everything about this item is excellent for Loki but the main candy here is the passive as the 3 stacks it allows is amazingly easy to achieve with Loki's Kit. I went back and forth for a while on whether or not to take Devourer's Gauntlet over BloodForge and the end choice ended with building stacks. Your main focus will not be wave clear but instead Picking off gods, and while yes this does Warrant 5 stacks per kill, there is a strong chance that a teammate will be building stacks instead and it will typically be more beneficial to them instead of you. Slow stack building will leave you a bit weaker in the mid-game and cause you to fall behind easily to a strong counter, thus my choice stands BloodForge.

-Hastened Fatalis

This is where the chase game comes in to play. The passive here will allow you to easily chase fleeing targets, now I imagine a lot of people asking "Why, Loki is already an amazing chase" and while yes this is true, Loki's chase is reliant on blowing his stealth for speed and that is NOT where you should be using it the most, while the bleed from Backstabs is nice, I'll explain the finer points of stealth usage in the Tips section.

-FrostBound

Now we're just being a ****. Let the troll train come rolling into battle, because You're never getting away, ever. This is the main synergy of the build, the Combo of Hastened Fatalis Paired with Frostbound allows you to stay on your target like super glue and save your stealth for something more pressing, like escaping or engaging a 2v1 or even a 3v1. "But isn't this a bit redundant?" Possibly so but the +400 health and +25 Physical Power paired with the passives of Hastened/Frostbound is just too good to pass up. Survivable, Check. Chase Game, Check. Enemy Raging that you're impossible to escape, Check.



Situational Last Picks:

-Winged Blade

This is usually my first pick as it brings a lot to the end game to keep you constantly in battle. Health/CDR/Mvmnt/Atk Spd and a nice passive to boot paired with your Vanish can really help avoid slows entirely as long as you trade them off. When Winged is on CD use Vanish, When Vanish is on CD Winged is typically ready, this makes catching you a right foul pain in the *** and that's exactly what you want. This also pushes your health to nearly 3000hp and I mean, c'mon, an assassin with 3k hp/Lifesteal/and ridiculous chase...Where is Shia Labeouf to jump in and say JUST DO IT!

-The Executioner

When the enemy team comp is nice and beefy with heavy hitter Warrior Bruisers or Guardians, this will come in handy and allow you to shutdown them beefy fat ****s fast. While you will have a little bit less hp in the end game, your Atk Spd and Damage will be nearly impossible to deal with, even for the most Defensive of players or you will end up forcing them to rebuild with a ridiculous amount of Physical Protection causing their damage to scale off very nicely and rendering them to become a pure damage sponge, thus ignore them at this point and focus their teammates instead and enjoy the lolz


-DeathBringer

This is mostly here just for flavor, I typically take this when the enemy team comp is all damage players with no bruiser or tank. This will allow you to leap on anyone and instantly kill them within seconds, should they not die instantly and make the fatal mistake of running with their back to you, the kill is then obvious and again, more lolz. No idea why people give their backs to Loki but if they do, punish them mercilessly for it.

This is an absolutely vital section and will determine how well you perform early/mid game. Late game you will pretty much be an unstoppable killing machine but you have to get their first.

--Early Game--
At the start, make your purchases and go ahead and roll off to the camps with your teammates, try not to be late as it's a nice early XP gain and you should be helping your teammates anyways. After the camps you have 2 choices:

1:Go through the middle of the buildings like most people will, typically rolling in with your team is the solid choice here. Should you take this option you can almost always gain a first blood here to the most confident person pushing for the enemy lane entry on the other side. Let your teammates intiate and use the Vanish/Aimed Strike combo to put some early damage on them or even pick a quick first blood. Engage with common sense and don't chase, if they back off, you back off or you'll probably end up being the first blood as Loki is super easy to kill early game.

2:Rotate all the way around the Jungle path passing behind the enemy tower and coming through the building from the enemy Jungle side. This will be a rare occurrence and this choice should be made based on what your teammates and enemies have chose to do. Typically, An enemy has been left to solo their jungle camp while the other 2 rushed to lane and left them, they will most likely be weak from soloing the camp and an easy first blood. This can also allow you a chance for an early ward on their blue buff. Again, Engage/Choose with common sense.

Once in Lane, just hang in the back and use your decoy to assist with wave clear and take strikes when/if the opportunity presents itself and that's basically it for the early game. Should you be really ahead of the enemy team, feel free to make a hard push early and get in tower shots if possible.


--MidGame--
Once you have Boots/SoulEater/BloodForge on you can engage much more often (Get the speed buff when it's ready and steal theirs as much as you can here) and easily pick kills on the squishier enemy players. Try to avoid long encounters and be smart with your kit. Let your Tank/Bruiser initiate and pick off the weaklings. Try NOT to be the obvious Loki and stealth before every engage, it's predictable, easily countered, and a good way to die. Your kill count should be the highest on your team at this point and typically you will be the gold lead as well, so be sure to back when needed for purchases. Be smart and communicate OFTEN with your teammates as you will probably be the most mobile player and moving in and out of lane quite often checking camps, warding, and ganking.

**DO NOT KS YOUR TEAMMATES** This is a MAJOR problem with random Loki players. If you see them do all the work and you KNOW they can close the kill, don't jump in and take it just because you can. We all know it's easy as **** for Loki to jump in and knock out someone with under 50% hp, that doesn't mean you always should. You're kills need to on targets harassing the hell out of your teammates or on fleeing enemies after your team has made a solid push which with proper communication should happen often.



--LateGame--
At this point you are full build or nearly full build and absolutely impossible to escape with the exception of someone like Janus who can portal themselves out of a fight instantly. This is where you will shine and you no longer have to wait on your teammates to initiate fights as you are quite capable of initiating/closing/surviving most engagements on your own and depending on the enemy team comp 2v1's will be a fast an easy double kill for you. Running is the worst mistake they can make and usually the most common choice they will make when they panic. At this point you want push hard and often to keep pressure on the enemy team, don't be afraid to take Tower/Phoenix dives with your Ult to punish them when they think they are safe.

Time to start backdooring, especially if you're team is behind. Ward/Shielded Teleport is a quick way to dispatch an enemy Tower/Phoenix or to quickly jump back into a fight for struggling teammates. You can easily solo the Tower/Phoenix/or Titan with this build and should aim to do so. Definitely take Sentry Wards to find and destroy theirs as most players will start warding if they have notice you bought a Shielded Teleporter in Joust.

I felt the need to add this section and give a solid list of what works well for me and some common mistakes/do's/don'ts

Do's:
-Camps. Often. Do them. Ping your teammates for buffs, they will thank you.
-Ward. You should always be warding.
-Harrass. Keep the pressure, keep them scared.
-Vanish for absolutely no reason often. This will make them think you're going to attack and when you don't it will confuse them and always keep them guessing if you're going to attack or not.
-Run around like a mad man when Attacking someone. Do not just stand there and slash them, dance around them and change your pattern rapidly and often. This will make you hard to target.

Don'ts:
-Over Extend early. You will most likely die or die for a kill. 1/1 is a bad habit of Loki players and not "WORTH" as people so avidly love to shout in chat.
-Killsteal. As I explained earlier, just don't. It's easy not to.
-Underestimate your foe. Check the enemy teams builds as the match progresses, adjust accordingly.
-Stealth for every kill. This is such a bad Loki habit and SUPER predictable.

Tips:
-Save your Vanish for escapes whenever possible. Most people expect you to Vanish for the kill. **** that predictable ****, Aimed Strike and Assassinate in broad daylight and even then, only Vanish if you NEED to, don't waste it.
-Don't be afraid to Assassinate the weaker enemy players even if their teammates are doing well. I've seen a lot of Loki's hang in the back and afraid to engage even when the odds are on their side. Always read the situation carefully and make sure you have an out. This is where Blink really helps "Loki with blink, now that's just ****sih" yes it is, but so is the entire build. Blinking in for the kill leaves you with both Vanish and Assassinate as escape tools and is very unexpected or vice versa, jumping in for the kill and Blinking out.
-Buy a power potion whenever you can spare one, more damage. simple.
-Backdoor. Learn it, love it, do it.

All in all the Guide is fairly straight forward and I personally feel a more unique approach to Loki that breaks out of the common builds and play style you typically see with Loki. I have tested this build quite a bit and it works well, a little too well.

There will be more to come in the future as well as builds for Conquest/Arena as I fine tune them. Future updates will include game play footage and revisions as needed. Good Luck and happy hunting!

**To be Added**
Skills Section
Counters Section (Strong/Weak)
Best Team Comps Section


Be sure to Comment/Like/Vote and be honest! Your internet opinions will not offend my fragile sensibilities.

Loki Image Credit: FeroLT http://ferolt.deviantart.com/

-CaptElfimis