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Not Updated For Current Season

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Merlin go to guide for Mid Laners and Arena

5 1 20,930

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Smite God: Merlin

Tap Mouse over an item or ability icon for detailed info

Merlin Build

Starting items

Notes Mage’s Blessing should be sold later on to get or a preferred item .

Mage's Blessing

Multi Potion

Mana Potion

Ward

Aegis Amulet

Purification Beads

Rest of the build (in order) for conquest

Shoes of the Magi

Spear of the Magus

Chronos' Pendant

Gem of Isolation

Obsidian Shard

Full build Anti-heal

Shoes of the Magi

Chronos' Pendant

Spear of the Magus

Gem of Isolation

Divine Ruin

Rod of Tahuti

Full build life steal

Shoes of the Magi

Spear of the Magus

Soul Gem

Chronos' Pendant

Gem of Isolation

Soul Reaver

Situational items

Bancroft's Talon

Mantle of Discord

Obsidian Shard

Shaman's Ring

Blink Rune

Merlin's Skill Order

Eclipse / Radiate / Frostbolt

1 X

1 4 6 8 9

Vortex / Dragonfire / Blizzard

2 A

2 7 11 12 13

Flicker

3 B

3 14 15 16 18

Elemental Mastery

4 Y

5 10 17 19 20

1 4 6 8 9

Eclipse / Radiate / Frostbolt

1 X

Eclipse (Arcane): Merlin conjures an orb of condensed celestial energy that grows in size as it travels, dealing damage every 0.4s and marking Enemies hit.
Enemies marked take additional damage if they stay within the outer range of Eclipse.

Ability Type: Circle, Damage
Initial Arcane Damage: 40 / 60 / 80 / 100 / 120 (+55% of your Magical Power)
Arcane Damage Per Tick: 5 / 15 / 25 / 35 / 45 (+8% of your Magical Power)
Arcane Range/Radius: 60/15,25)
Arcane Duration: 3s
Arcane Cooldown: 14s

Radiate (Fire): Merlin channels a beam of intense fire for 2s that deals damage every 0.25s. Each time Radiate hits an Enemy, it also applies a Burn, dealing additional damage over time.

Ability Type: Line, Damage
Fire Damage Per Tick: 8 / 14 / 20 / 26 / 32 (+18% of your Magical Power)
Fire Burn Damage: 5 / 10 / 15 / 20 / 25 (+5% of your Magical Power)
Fire Duration: 2s
Fire Range: 45
Fire Cooldown: 14 / 13.5 / 13 / 12.5 / 12s

Frostbolt (Ice): Merlin hurls a Frostbolt that explodes if it hits an Enemy, dealing an additional 15% damage if they are slowed.

Ability Type: Line, Damage
Ice Damage: 60 / 95 / 130 / 165 / 200 (+55% of your Magical Power)
Ice Range/Radius: 70 / 15
Ice Cooldown: 6s

Cost: 60

2 7 11 12 13

Vortex / Dragonfire / Blizzard

2 A

Vortex (Arcane): Merlin deploys a field of arcane energy at a location. After a delay, the Vortex deals damage and pulls Enemies towards the center.

Ability Type: Circle, Knockup, Damage
Arcane Damage: 50 / 80 / 110 / 140 / 170 (+60% of your Magical Power)
Range/Radius: 60 / 20
Cooldown: 16 / 15 / 14 / 13 / 12s

Dragonfire (Fire): Merlin summons forth two ethereal dragons that spout flames towards each other, dealing damage to Enemies every 0.25s. If caught in the center of the area, Enemy gods have their protections reduced. The dragons last for 3s.

Ability Type: Area, Debuff, Damage
Fire Damage Per Tick: 8 / 11 / 14 / 17 / 20 (+20% of your Magical Power)
Fire Protection Reduction: 4%
Fire Max Stacks: 4
Fire Duration: 4s
Range: 50
Cooldown: 16 / 15.5 / 15 / 14.5 / 14s

Blizzard (Ice): Merlin creates a Blizzard at a target location that lasts for 4s. After a brief delay, shards of ice start hurling down every 0.5s. Enemies hit take damage and progressively get more slowed while they stay within the area. Enemies hit take damage and progressively get more slowed while they stay within the area.

Ability Type: Circle, Slow, Damage
Ice Damage Per Tick: 10 / 25 / 40 / 55 / 70 (+15% of your Magical Power)
Ice Slow Per Stack: 8%
Ice Max Stacks: 5
Ice Duration: 2s
Range/Radius: 65 / 20
Cooldown (Vortex / Blizzard): 16 / 15 / 14 / 13 / 12s

Cost: 60 / 65 / 70 / 75 / 80

3 14 15 16 18

Flicker

3 B

Merlin quickly teleports a short distance in front of him.

Ability Type: Teleport
Range: 30
Cost: 70
Cooldown: 24 / 23 / 22 / 21 / 20s

5 10 17 19 20

Elemental Mastery

4 Y

Merlin taps into his inner potential, exploding with energy in the stance he is currently attuned to. During this time Merlin can choose which stance to enter into next.

After the explosion reaches its apex, it collapses in on itself. Enemies are dealt damage from the both the explosion and the implosion and suffer different effects depending on which stance's energy they are being hit by.

Ability Type: Circle, Crowd Control, Damage
Damage: 80 / 110 / 140 / 170 / 210 (+15% of your Magical Power)
Arcane: Knockup
Fire Damage Per Tick: 5 / 10 / 15 / 20 / 25 (+5% of your Magical Power)
Ice Slow: 20%
Slow Duration: 2s
Radius: 25
Cost: 40 / 50 / 60 / 70 / 80
Cooldown: 30 / 27.5 / 25 / 22.5 / 20s

Merlin Threats

Tap each threat level to view Merlin’s threats

Max

Major

Even

Minor

Tiny

Introduction

INTRODUCTION

About: Merlin is a very ability based god , and arguably one of the best stance switching gods . He can switch between 3 different stances (Arcane, Fire and Ice)in order starting with arcane then Fire and lastly Ice ,using his fourth ability Elemental Masteryto switch between them.

Skills

Skills and abilities

Because Merlin is a stance switcher I’ll start with his fourth ability:.
, is a stance switching ability which causes Merlin to explode with energy of the stance he was using before activating the ability, and implode with the energy of the Stance he is switching to. Both the implosion and explosion have different effects . To help you out I had all three effects written down:
Arcane:causes enemies with in the area of the explosion/implosion to get knocked up.
Fire: gives enemies with in the area of explosion/implosion a burning effect for a short duration.
Ice: slows enemies caught in the explosion/implosion for a short duration.
However, switching between stances causes both an explosion and an implosion around Merlin with each depending on the stances he is switching from and to. All three effect combos are down below: Arcane to Fire : explosion of Arcane energy causes enemies around
Merlin to get knocked up followed by an implosion of Fire energy which does damage and afflicts enemies around him with a burning effect damaging the enemy over time .
Fire to Ice: an explosion of Fire energy afflicts enemies around Merlin with a burning effect damaging them over time ,followed by an implosion of ice energy which damages enemies around Merlin and gives them a slow effect for a short duration.
Ice to Arcane: an explosion of of ice slows enemies around Merlin, followed by an implosion of Arcane energy that deals impact damage and knocks enemies up.

Now that we are done with his fourth ability we will talk more in depth about each stance but Before we do that let’s talk about his third ability and his only getaway .
: Merlin teleports a short distance in front of him.
stays the same in all of Merlin’s stances and shares the same 15second cooldown between all of them . Therefore you must use it carefully and always have it ready before going into any team fight unless you are very sure your team can win said team fight. Without this ability Merlin is very immobile, and can be picked off very easily.

Now, for Merlin’s main abilities .
Eclipse/Radiate/Frost bolt
Merlin’s first ability changes depending on the stance.

Arcane:Merlin fires a ball of condensed arcane energy that grows in size till it reaches its maximum size at maximum range. The ball damages all enemies with in a certain range of it and marks them . Marked enemies take additional damage from the orb
Notes:
Marked enemies that walk outside the range of the orb will lose the mark and will not gain another mark for the rest of the ability’s duration
Enemies that walk into the range of the orb after it gained maximum size will not be damaged or marked by it unless they touch the center orb but they still will not be marked by it.

Fire :Merlin starts shooting a a beam of Fire energy that damages enemies overtime and applies a burning effect on them.Merlin can still move while using this ability but is slowed.

Ice Frost bolt: Merlin shots a Frost bolt that damages enemies. Enemies that are slowed gain additional damage from this ability.

Merlin’s second ability:vortex/dragon fire/blizzard:

Arcane : Merlin summons a vortex at a ground target which damages and pulls enemies towards the center of it.

Fire dragon fire: Merlin summons two dragon heads that shoot fire towards each other damaging enemies caught in the fire overtime and applying a burn effect. If enemies are caught in the center of it their protections are reduced every time they’re hit.

Ice : Merlin summons a blizzard at a certain area that deals damage overtime to enemies within the area and slows enemies.

Combos for each stance

Arcane : for arcane you want to be quick with your combos you want to use your at an enemy location and quickly use to pull them towards the center of your and to deal some more damage . Now if this is late game and you have one of the builds I specified above , you should anticipate a blink from your target ( if they have one ). If he does blink, is low on health and is alone ,then by all means feel free to use to get up close and personal switching to your fire stance to finish him off.

Fire: Fire stance is one of the best stances and can literally melt your opponents . Start with dragon fire and follow it up with . Gem of isolation will make your Fire even deadlier.

Ice : Ice stance is the best for poke damage .Start with at your targets location and follow it up with Frost bolt which will deal extra damage because of blizzard’s slow effect.

Pros and cons

Pros and Cons

Pros:

A wide range of combos.
Very effective in both early and late game.
Can provide some cc with his arcane and ice stances.

Cons:

Very mana hungry .
Very Immobile .

.
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.
.
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Wards (conquest)

Warding

Wards are very important in conquest.As they prevent you from getting ganked by showing you the locations of enemies whom are around it.
As a mid laner you should place 4 wards , one on each of the paths that lead to the mid lane.
However, if you like being aggressive; you can place your wards a bit further into the jungle so that you can know what your enemies are planning , just in time to stop it.

[/center]

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(143) |

Soul Gem is a bit early in that lifesteal build. Better to get it after chronos’ pendant/magus/boots.

(400) |

Hi DarkAngel,

Some follow-ups, especially to your revised form.

It's basic, but I'm glad you emphasize being aware of Flicker and its CD and availability, since it's his only real form of mobility/escape. Also good clarification that it shares the same CD regardless of stance. That's definitely helpful for newer players.
Still with abilities, I think you could perhaps talk a bit more about individual use of the specific abilities. You do have some good info, but you could point out, for example, that Radiate is channeled, and as such you can't do anything else while you're casting for those 2 seconds (unless you cancel out early), and that it's at best a close to medium-range ability...as such keep that in mind when either starting in that stance or changing to that stance. It's basically a commitment of sorts to a fight. That's just one example, but you get what I mean.
In combos, I think it's not just about the two abilities you combo in one stance. If you're looking for true combo information, you should discuss starting in one stance and switching to another depending on situation. For example, Ice stance has the longest range due to Blizzard, and so you might initiate with that, close in, and use Frostbolt. But then, how do you best combo? That's not discussed. If you commit to a fight, you change to Fire. If you're getting ganked, Fire or Arcane can both work, but if you're being aggressive, Fire again is the way to go. Drop Dragonfire at your feet, stay in the range, and force a melee god to engage you in the fire, while you're also chipping away at their health with Radiate. See what I mean?
Back to the build for a bit. You have 4 items you consider core, based on your build examples. Shoes of the Magi, Spear of the Magus (finally), Chronos' Pendant, and Gem of Isolation. All the rest of the items should probably be listed in the situational items grouping, which would actually also include Obsidian Shard, Divine Ruin, Rod of Tahuti, Soul Gem, and Soul Reaver...because you see those items in your build examples, but not in every one like your core.
Just giving you a bit of feedback here, but the biggest thing your guide doesn't provide is itemization and explanations. You don't say when you should build some of those situational items, and why the core is the core.
Shoes of the Magi is okay, but from the beginning, Shoes of Focus has been the more popular choice. ESPECIALLY if you're getting Spear of the Magus early (2nd or 3rd item), you don't need the extra early flat pen from Magi, because once you stack, you'll be dealing true damage against gods that haven't built any protections. And with his CD on Flicker being nerfed, you probably can use the CDR from Focus (and the mana) earlier.
Your warding section is, no offense, about as zero-effort as possible. You grabbed some pic you found on Deviantart, and quite carelessly just used it. Did you even look at it? not only are the warding dots not really applicable to mid-lane (other than the offensive orange dots), but YOU'RE USING A SEASON 4 MAP. Unacceptable.

Thanks for all the feedback. I have to admit I didn’t spend as much time perfecting the warding section of the guide as I should’ve. I didn’t even try to look for a season 6 map to use , I was just trying to finish it as fast as possible before the contest deadline.

With that said I appreciate you taking your time to give me feedback on every single detail . I’ll make sure to update my guide as soon as possible .

(2) |

You got good information, but I'll backpack off of Gulfwulf's point that you could use a bit better presentation. Here are some good guides to follow:

https://www.smitefire.com/smite/guide/medusa-getting-everyone-stoned-s6-all-modes-patch-6-3-9888 : This guide has a great lay out to kind of take inspiration from

https://www.smitefire.com/smite/guide/a-template-for-guides-11963 : this guide gives you the code which is a huge timesaver.

Like I said, your information is good and just needs to be formatted a bit better.

(81) |

I'm not judging the mage category, but I think this guide could use a better presentation. These are two good guides that you should look at when you get the chance:
https://www.smitefire.com/smite/guide/a-template-for-guides-11963
https://www.smitefire.com/smite/guide/spruce-up-your-words-a-guide-to-bb-coding-15438

I also suggest that you look at Bran's guide to get a better idea as to what's needed. You don't need to follow his formatting nor include all of the information he did, but having a section that discusses what combinations to use, what abilities (stance-wise) to use when, and more than just the one build would really make this guide stand out. The judge for the mage category is having difficulties picking two entries because most of the guides either don't fit the character requirement or are a bit...lackluster. I think sprucing up this guide will help your chances of winning.

(400) |

Hi DarkAngel,

The way this reads, you're suggesting getting first. I'm assuming you are picking up first and ObShard is a replacement for that, but you give absolutely no direction or starting items at the top.

Also, while Mage's is essential for Mid-lane conquest, it's not for Arena, at least IMO. If you're proposing a build for two different modes, I'd personally have 2 different builds.

as the 2nd item after Shoes is way too early for it IMO. You have more pressing matters...CDR (which he really wants), and higher damage (). I think you're undervaluing Magus, as you listed it only as situational in your original build, and only added it as core after getting feedback. Magus is probably best as 3rd item, with Iso 4th. Chronos and Iso are both expensive, but Chronos' CDR is so needed that you just bite the bullet on that one. But while the control from Iso is really nice, I just don't see it as quite as valuable as the other two items. But you build as you prefer.

In Conquest, I don't think you'll ever invest in a Chalice. Early, it's some potions, and later you'll need the space for wards. And you definitely shouldn't get chalices in Arena.

Also, other items should be options. , (for Arena esp), , etc are all functional. I'm not listing all of the items that can work, just giving you examples.

Thanks a lot for the feedback I really appreciate u taking your time to comment and I’ll make sure to change the build

(143) |

You've uploaded your guide twice, delete the one you don't want as there's no point having two of the same.

As for builds, Spear of the Magus is core, not situational.

Book of thoth should also not be in this build as you're not building any mana items to go with it.

Also, you call this a " go to guide for most game modes", yet I do not see any game modes mentioned.

Thnx for the notes I’ll make sure to edit the build as soon as possible

(72) |

I don't think is a situational item on , I think it's a core item.

Also your main build lacks penetration.

I’ll change it thanks for the note

(81) |

There's pen there, but it's only 25 flat pen. And magus is core, not situational, on Merlin. Ob shard is situational when facing a tank-heavy comp.

(72) |

25 for me is not enough, so it's lacks pen for me :v

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Merlin go to guide for Mid Laners and Arena

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Table of Contents

Introduction

Skills

Combos for each stance

Pros and cons

Wards (conquest)

Merlin go to guide for Mid Laners and Arena

Smite God: Merlin

Merlin Build

Starting items

Rest of the build (in order) for conquest

Full build Anti-heal

Full build life steal

Situational items

Merlin's Skill Order

Eclipse / Radiate / Frostbolt

Vortex / Dragonfire / Blizzard

Flicker

Elemental Mastery

Merlin Threats

Bacchus | Even

Ymir | Major

Introduction

INTRODUCTION

Skills

Skills and abilities

Combos for each stance

Combos for each stance

Pros and cons

Pros and Cons

Wards (conquest)

Warding

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