Ne Zha the Underrated Sqeaker!

Welcome to my first ever SmiteFire guide, for Ne Zha!

The Pros:

Very high damage (1315 is my highest crit).
Quite high mobility.
Strong penetration - can 1v1 most Gods.
Early game beast.

The Cons:
Squishy throughout.
No real escape except ult.


Ne Zha has many pros that far outweigh his cons. He is a very high damage God and extremely strong early and late game. His single target damage is extreme, however he is at a disadvantage in team fights as he lacks crowd control and is too squishy to withhold any damage.

Time to talk about his lovely skills. First off, here is a brief overview:
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Passive - Ne Zha gains 0.5 HP5 per stack for a maximum 50 stacks. One successful basic attack gains one stack.

First ability (Universe Ring Toss) - Ne Zha throws a ring that bounces between players and minions, dealing damage and slowing for 1s. It also gives Ne Zha a speed buff that stacks between hits on players.

Second ability (Flaming Spear) - Ne Zha gets a buff that provides an increased attack speed that can reach 55% at max level. It also gives him 15% crit chance and lasts for a duration of 6s at max level.

Third ability (Armillary Sash) - Ne Zha throws his.. uh.. scarf forwards. If it hits, he deals damage and pulls himself to the player. The target is stunned and the ability can crit.

Ultimate (Wind Fire Wheels) - Overpowered. Ne Zha dashes forwards, and if he hits an enemy, he flys into the air with them. The player has 3 chances to critically hit the player, before dropping down and dealing damage upon landing. Can also be used to escape as it is a dash.
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Put together, his abilities create complete wreckage for whatever opponent he faces. Ne Zha is a very uncommon God to be seen played, because he is really underestimated due to his annoying appearance and seeming lack of damage when built incorrectly.

Chaining Abilities
Ne Zha's abilities are very easy to chain. Once in range of the target, you simply activate your 2, then quickly follow up by pulling yourself to them with your 3. The player will be stunned long enough for you to dish out crazy damage thanks to your buff. If the enemy is on scrapings of HP, now is the time to throw out your 1 to finish them off.

For high HP Gods, you need to perform a more aggressive approach. Here is how to engage:

-Check for approaching enemies. If there is more than one around, you should not try to engage.
-If clear, use your ult to deal some initial damage. This will hurt even the strongest of Gods.
-Once down from your ult, chain as aforementioned. This should be enough to kill most Gods.

TOP TIP: When engaging an enemy when you don't have your ult, I like to have Achilles Spear to increase my attack speed to dish out damage even faster.

Moving onto items, and this is going to be the interesting section for me because my build contains a couple of items that many people have questioned me. So, to clarify, this build is designed for immense single target damage, which I believe is the true way to build Ne Zha. Many people like to build him without attack speed, but I have found that is a really good idea when I have incorporated Hastened Fatalis. So allow me to explain the build.

Ninja Tabi should be a pretty clear choice. Many like to use Warrior Tabi for the increased physical power, but Ninja Tabi works better because the attack speed allows you to dish out damage faster, especially with the items that you build later on.

Jotunn's Wrath is an all-round excellent item for Ne Zha. The increased power allows for high damage, which is also aided by the penetration that it gives. It also increases your sustain from the mana increase. The best part of this item is the 25% cooldown, meaning you can engage with your ult far more often.

Titan's Bane is yet another great item. It provides a lot of penetration which is crucial to deal with tanks or bruisers when fighting around the map. It also adds to your physical power, upping your damage a little bit more.

Rage / Deathbringer should always be part of your build. Both increase your crit chance and your physical power, and best of all, Deathbringer increases your crit damage by 50%.

Now here is where it becomes interesting.

For your last item I have given you a choice between two items. Malice, or Hastened Fatalis. Many would argue that Malice was a clear choice in the matter because it would increase your damage so much more, but I prefer to use Fatalis. This is because the increased attack speed would allow for significantly improved damage per tick, and best of all, your enemies will find it far harder to escape your grasp. It also makes for quicker minion clearing if you are prepared to buy the item earlier; but this is a gamble and may cause you to lack early game damage so do be careful.

Ne Zha works really well with the following Gods:

Ymir- stuns make for brilliant damage disposition. Also good to trap targets for Ne Zha to prod with his stick. Also, if you ult an enemy, Ymir can fully charge his ultimate below you and if the enemy is not dead, bam. Ymir ult straight to the face.

Poseidon- with Gem of Isolation, Poseidon's 3 ability makes for some great sticky glue for Ne Zha to engage.

Odin- put simply, ultimate. The cage is like heaven for Ne Zha. He can jump about, dealing crazy damage, all the time whilst the enemies such as Hel cannot heal themselves.

Hades- oh my days. Hades's ult is the perfect match for Ne Zha because not only does it make the enemy unable to escape, it can also make them waste their beads meaning more fun for Ne Zha's stuns and 1 ability :D

Ne Zha is weak against the following Gods:

Ymir- your best friend and also your worst nightmare. His freeze makes for a very difficult time engaging and if you get caught in it during a team fight then you are probably screwed. Also, as a tank he often buys Magi's Blessing, which can completely screw up your 3 ability. TOP TIP: to counter this, use your ring toss to pop the bubble.

The Pros:

Very high damage (1315 is my highest crit).
Quite high mobility.
Strong penetration - can 1v1 most Gods.
Early game beast.

The Cons:
Squishy throughout.
No real escape except ult.



To Chain:

2 ----> 3 ----> 1 ----> 4

Choose Hastened Fatalis for fast attack speed and endless slaughter that hardly anybody can escape.
Choose Malice for slower but higher damage.


And most of all, thank you very much for reading this guide. Please vote this up if you like it and leave feedback of what you think in the comments so that I may improve next time. Also, if you want to type a God name, I will play them for a while and then most a guide like this to what I think is the best build for them. Many thanks, TheDerpAmongUs :D