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Bluestone Pendant
Warrior Tabi
Transcendence
Asi
The Executioner
Brawler's Beat Stick
The Crusher
Bloodforge
Purification Beads
Aegis Amulet
Bluestone Pendant
Boots
Healing Potion
Mana Potion
Charged Morningstar
Healing Potion
Mana Potion
Warrior Tabi
Transcendence
Ichaival
Asi
Silverbranch Bow
Atalanta's Bow
The Executioner
Qin's Sais
Titan's Bane
Brawler's Beat Stick
Toxic Blade
The Crusher
Shifter's Shield
Mantle of Discord
Witchblade
Rage
Demon Blade
Deathbringer
Purification Beads
Aegis Amulet
Purification Beads
Aegis Amulet
Belt of Frenzy
Heavenly Wings
Horrific Emblem
Cursed Ankh
Y
B
A
X
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(credit to MattRhodesArt)
LorePros:
+ Reasonably strong in all stages of the game
+ Easy wave clear and poke
+ Strong ultimate for team fights
+ Passive makes her good at boxing and juking out enemies
+ Has a small niche against healers with her dash
+ Statues from ultimate are fun to look at
+ Arguably the best diamond skin in the game
Cons:
- Mana hungry until she gets Transcendence stacks
- Squishy
- Ultimate is easily countered if the enemy is paying attention
- Trying to escape with the dash and hitting an enemy can get you killed if not careful
- Ugliest goddess in the game (but don't tell her I said that)
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General Health: 470 (+77) Mana: 220 (+34) Speed: 365 (+0) Range: 55 (+0) Attack/Sec: 0.95 (+1.4%) |
Regen HP5: 8 (+0.68) MP5: 4.4 (+0.25) Protection Magical: 30 (+0.9) Physical: 12 (+3) |
Basic Attack Damage: 38 (+2.6) (+100% of Physical Power) Progression: None *Numbers in parentheses represent the amount gained with each level. |
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Passive - Sidewinder
Sidewinder helps Medusa with boxing by allowing her to better dodge enemy basic attacks. It also allows her to be more forgiving to newer players, to an extent. The downside is that it becomes pretty useless when slowed.Ability Showcase
1 - Viper Shot Viper Shot in boxing scenarios, or if you really need to clear the wave and your Acid Spray is on cooldown. Also, get in the habit of activating it before leaving the base, since you immediately get the mana back for free. Also, using this before engaging allows you to save precious time in battle, considering it isn't a timed steroid like that of 
Artemis. That isn't really combo specific, just a general thing to remember. The Damage over Time (DoT) that is applied can help snag some early kills, but otherwise isn't extremely useful.Ability Showcase
2 - Acid SprayAbility Showcase
3 - Lacerate Viper Shot or Acid Spray, or both, for unexpected burst damage, considering hunters generally have great sustained damage instead. With 50% healing reduction upon striking an enemy, this ability gives 
Medusa a small niche against healers. Defensively, it is a normal dash with the exception that enemy gods can block it. Be careful to get out of the way before using it. 
Wards are your friends.Ability Showcase
Ultimate - Petrify Petrify is Medusa's most unique ability. It's essentially just a big cone stun/slow, but it also comes with the added bonus of turning actively stunned enemies into statues upon death! It can, however, be easily countered. Simply turn around, and the stun is negated and replaced with a slow which does 75% damage. In 1v1 scenarios, it is easy to counter, but in team fights, enemies may not see it coming because they are distracted. It also synergizes well with taunts or stuns from allies like 
Athena, because enemies literally cannot look away.Ability Showcase
Acid Spray. Again, your dash is also your escape, so only use it offensively when you know you won't need it to run away. Keep in mind that Acid Spray is your main waveclear ability, so don't waste it if a wave is approaching. To clarify, activate your Viper Shot, then dash in, then actually shoot the vipers. It saves time this way. One key to doing well with Medusa is managing all her abilities and not putting yourself in bad situations.
Purification Beads or escape anyway. Once they are stunned, either shoot them dead or dash in and finish them off with whatever else you have available. Keep in mind it can be any taunt from any god, not just Athena's 
Confound, although she does have great synergy with our scaly antagonist, as mentioned below in the "Lane Synergies" section.
In-Depth Build DiscussionIn-Depth Build DiscussionIn-Depth Build DiscussionIn-Depth Relic DiscussionIn-Depth Ritual DiscussionIn-Depth Gameplay DiscussionIn-Depth Gameplay Discussion|
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He isn't too much of an issue until late game due to his lack of mobility and easy to destroy hives. This make him very easy to shut down. A well coordinated gank or two is enough to put him behind all game. Just remember to watch out for his hives, because they act like mini Wards.
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She has a very weak early game and struggles to clear minions until she gets a few items online. Because you are stronger earlier, you can bully her into her tower and shut her down by denying her gold. If you fail at this, however, she will make you regret it later on due to her extremely strong late game. |
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Another ability-based Transcendence builder. He is similar to Medusa in that he is fairly decent during all stages of the game. His  Training Exercise can cleanse your ult, so be careful. Also, watch out for his homing missiles and his sniping ult.Note: He was recently buffed. I'm not sure if he has risen in difficulty yet, but I will keep an eye on him. |
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The infamous magical ADC. Similar to Artemis and  Xbalanque, she has a very weak early game. You have a strong early game, and now Silverbranch Bow exists, so use that to your advantage. She does, however, have the strongest late game of any ADC in the entire game, without exaggeration. Force her under tower and shut her down or you will regret it.
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He is a late game hyper-carry like  Freya. That means he has an extremely weak early game, so bullying him should be easy. He is slippery, however, so scoring early kills isn't so easy. Try to keep him pressured during the early to mid game so he gets behind. Like other late game carries, he will punish you severely if you fail at this.
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He is one of the most versatile gods in the game because of his ability  Wheel of Time. He can use an ability and get the mana refunded, so he can save mana easily. He also has built in healing, meaning he is very hard to force out of lane if he is good at managing his passive. His combo is to stun you with  Stop Time and blast you with  Time Rift, and it hurts even more if he uses the boost from Wheel of Time, so either get Purification Beads or just be careful and avoid it..
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Her  Rapid Reincarnation allows her unparalleled mobility around the map and allows her to shrug off poke damage. Her  Persistent Gust +  Explosive Bolts combo allows her to clear minions very well, but makes her fairly mana hungry. This is not a huge deal, however, because of her passive.  Agility also makes her very hard to catch, and can let her chase kills. She is more late game oriented, but can still cause trouble early and mid game, so be aggressive but careful.
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She is another one who tends to build Transcendence. Be wary of her  Broken Weaves and  World Weaver as they can catch you off guard and result in swift, annoying deaths. She has some built in healing with  Unravel, so you may want to incorporate lifesteal into your build to keep up with her.
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He has pretty much always been a strong ADC. The one thing you should note here is that getting pierced with  Astral Strike mid-dash will stop you dead in your tracks because it cripples. It can completely throw off your combo if not careful. Also, watch out for his ult,  Astral Barrage, because it can snag him some free kills.
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She is very similar to Medusa in that they are both ability based hunters who can viably play ADC, Mid, or Solo. She usually builds Transcendence, too. This matchup should usually be a stalemate where the outcome is decided by player skill, but her ult was nerfed a while back and ever since then she's been in a weird spot, so you may come out on top.
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She used to be one of the three magical ADCs, but Hirez has adjusted her in a way that favors playing her as a conventional mage. Her  Stellar Burst gives her very easy to land poke damage and her ult is good for securing kills. Her  Disapparate is basically an Aegis Amulet with a 3 second delay, so she is fairly hard to kill. If left alone in the late game, she can melt towers like jet fuel can melt steel beams.
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He is arguably the hardest hunter to play, but a diamond  Ullr is scary. His  Hail of Arrows in bow stance has a long range and is good for poke or for securing kills on enemies who thought they got away. He is heavily reliant on his  Thrown Axe to stun you and do poke damage, and most players either land it every time or whiff it every time, so it is kind of hard to rate his difficulty to play against.
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He has great waveclear with his  So Beautiful and  Audacity. He can stop your combo by stunning you with  Serenade, so be careful. His ult,  Across The Sky, also allows him to get free kills from low health enemies. He can also use it to split push later on and be a nuisance even from behind.
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Pretty much every build seems to work on him and he has plenty of CC and damage. His  Bramble Blast is easy damage and CC, he has multiple strong basic attack buffs, a fast and long dash which can be cancelled, and a crazy ult that turns enemies into wild boars. The general consensus is that he is a massive pain to fight, despite multiple nerfs.
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His  Heart Bomb is his most annoying ability. Combined with his passive stun, he can be a real nuisance. Back when  Hou Yi was the top hunter and boxer in the game with a 25% pen mark,  Cupid was considered his only counter due to  Lovestruck, that's how strong it is. Early game, you'll both be about even, but you will have a stronger mid game than him. Use that to bully him and get ahead for the late game. He is one of the few hunters who is good at boxing you, so be careful. Also, he has sustain, so build lifesteal. Cupid and  Sylvanus together is one of the scariest lanes to face, so watch out.
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He is a very good boxer, despite the nerf to his  Mark of the Golden Crow, and has one of the best and most annoying escapes in the game in  Divebomb. He also recently got a buff to his ult,  Sunbreaker, so he is still very dangerous. Be careful when fighting him, because the tables can easily be turned on you.
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She has decent waveclear due to her boomerang basic attacks and very high scaling abilities. Her early game is fairly decent, and around mid game she comes online and starts chunking your health like a mage would. For this reason, it is very important that you dodge her abilities. Try to shut her down early or else it will hurt. Note: She's fallen slightly in the meta, but she's not terrible, so I might move her down in difficulty. I'll keep an eye on her. |
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It turns out  Anhur is the perfect counter to Medusa. He can make your passive useless with his AoE slow in  Shifting Sands, and he can totally counter your dash (and, therefore, most of your combos) with  Impale. To make matters worse, he can easily dodge your Petrify and retaliate by either leaping or using  Desert Fury. Even a player of just average skill can totally shut you down. Watch out.Note: He had fallen by the wayside for a while, which was nice, but he just recently got big buffs to his ult and leap. You'll be seeing more of him now, so be careful. |
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Despite their hostile relationship in lore, Athena and Medusa are a tried and true duo lane "Wombo Combo." So much so, that I even mentioned it above in the Combos section, using it as an example. All she needs to do is land her taunt, and you have a captive audience for Petrify. Worst case scenario, the enemy's Purification Beads are used up.
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He has a lot of damage and CC, enough that people make jokes about him being an assassin. He hits hard and fast, and hurts like hell. Who else does that sound like? Medusa! There isn't really a combo here, just let  Bacchus initiate and go to town.
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His passive makes it literally impossible to killsteal and can even give carries free kills. His dash can go through player made obstacles, so he is a good counter to  Ymir,  Cabrakan,  Odin, and  Thor. His  Turn of Fate damages minions while also buffing nearby allies so that they do up to 10% extra damage themselves, so he has great waveclear. His silence in  Ohm is great for locking fown mages and fleeing enemies. He also has  Nu Wa's old ultimate from before her remodel and rework, so it's great to see old stuff returning. |
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He doesn't do a lot of damage, but his waveclear is decent and he can easily set up kills with his root and pull in  Solar Flare and  Abduct. And if you make a big mistake, he can save your scaly butt with  Scarab's Blessing. He may not be the most aggressive support, but he still brings a lot to the table.
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The killer croc pairs very well with Medusa because of his ability to displace and disrupt the enemy. All he has to do is land his pluck, and enemies will fall right into your claws. Do this successfully two or three times, and you start to snowball with a gold and experience advantage. Play off this advantage and you could end the game nice and early. Even if you don't do that,  Sobek scales well into the late game and can be just as relevant then.
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He has great waveclear early on due to his AoE basic attacks, and if he can land his root and pull on a weakened enemy, then he's practically serving up free kills. Sylvanus can provide the added boost you need to pressure the enemy and just generally be a lane bully. His healing is an added benefit which allows you to consider skipping lifesteal items for other more powerful options.
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The newest guardian, and a true stance switcher to boot. She has a lot of CC in her Druid stance, and a good amount of damage and mobility in her Bear stance. She seems to work well with any ADC so far, and brings a lot to the table. In the same vein as Ymir and  Kumbhakarna, there isn't much to make her stand out with Medusa specifically, but she's great in general.
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He has a really loaded kit with a lot of intricate interactions, so going over it all here would be impractical. His  Cursed Strength does a great amount of damage for waveclear, but can be blocked by enemies. He is also more oriented toward the late game, so he isn't such a big help early on. He is probably the hardest support to truly master, but a really good  Fafnir can turn the entire game around for his team.
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He plays similarly to  Khepri in that he isn't very aggressive. He is more focused on passively helping his team succeed by displacing and disrupting enemies and cleansing crowd control effects. Since Medusa likes to be more aggressive, he doesn't work super well with her, but he can still help her out with a cleansing shield and by setting up kills. That is, unless he builds damage. Bruiser  Geb is something to be feared.
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Definitely the most annoying support in the game. He has good waveclear and can lock down enemies really well, but he can do that regardless of the carry he's supporting. He's good in general, but nothing really makes him stand out when paired with Medusa.
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He is seen more in the solo role than support. Similarly to  Ares, he has a really cheesy ult where he literally sweeps up and throws enemies. This can burn the enemy's Purification Beads, so if he follows up with a  Hook Slam or if you can land Petrify, then you'll have an easy kill, similar to Sobek or Athena. His waveclear is average and his double leap is kinda short and can't go through walls, so his pros and cons kind of average out.
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Similarly to Kumbhakarna, he is a great support in general, but nothing makes him stand out when paired with Medusa. He has good waveclear, easily spammable CC, a giant wall to single out enemies or protect allies, and a high damage zoning ult. He's also very easy to play, being unlocked for all players, so that's a bonus.
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He doesn't play very much like a support. He's more of an ability-based bruiser with a cheesy ult in  No Escape. His waveclear is mediocre at best. He is an aggressive bully and can set up kills, so he isn't totally awful, but his cons outweigh his pros, so he isn't up higher. You're also much more likely to find him outside of Conquest, in modes like Arena and Joust.
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Similarly to Ares, he doesn't play much like a support. He is more of a hybrid bruiser who hits hard and is very annoying. Unfortunately, he is hard and risky to play and is well past his prime, having been much more potent and scary during the Season 3 power pot meta. Combined with some nerfs since then, he isn't a great partner in lane. He may, however, be seen in the solo lane sometimes.
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The King Kappa himself would be higher up if it weren't for his inherent problems. He has great waveclear with his  NeNe Kappa, but the rest of his kit has no synergy with itself. He could, theoretically, set up kills by pushing enemies into Medusa, but he has no way of getting behind the enemy in the first place, making him overly reliant on  Blink Rune. Similarly, his ult,  Watery Grave, is good for pushing enemies around, but without a way to get behind them, he'll just be pushing them away from his team. His  Shell Spikes look good on paper, but in practice it causes enemies to disengage from him and attack his allies, which is the opposite of what a support wants.Note: He got buffed so his Watery Grave doesn't push enemies away as much, and his push now has a better turning radius. Some of his problems have been slightly alleviated, but not really enough to change anything.
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She is definitely a late game oriented support, and needs to almost be supported herself early on. Right off the bat, that hurts her synergy. Her waveclear is poor unless she uses two abilities,  Monolith and  Force of Nature, which naturally leads her to be very mana hungry. Her early game healing is also literally worse than a Healing Potion. If  Terra gets to late game, she more than makes up for her weak early with plenty of easily spammable CC, healing, and a global buff to her allies, so shes not terrible in general, just hard to work with in lane.
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Oct-Dec 2016Jan 2017Feb 2017Mar 2017Apr 2017May 2017Jun 2017Jul 2017
Artio's description in the "Lane Synergies" section Witchblade into the builds, because I forgot it existed Witchblade to the "Items" section
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Copyright © 2019 SMITEFire | All Rights Reserved
Poseidon
Sol
Chronos
Hastened Fatalis
Odysseus' Bow
Soul Eater
Chiron
Neith
Fenrir
Nox
Anubis
Janus
Xing Tian
Erlang Shen
Scylla
Hades
Loki
Kukulkan
Ah Puch
Nemesis
Ra
Chang'e
Hel
Guan Yu
Aphrodite
Sundering Spear
Shield of Thorns
Hand of the Gods
Frenzy
Sentry Ward
Chalice of the Oracle
Izanami
Cernunnos
Jing Wei
Skadi
Hastened Ring
Hastened Katana
"
It doesn't have base move speed, as it's only attached to the passive, so it doesn't help with rotations, chase, or escape.
If you get
- Lifesteal: no option of this...
Asi or otherwise...it takes that spot, in case you like lifesteal.
- Boxing:
Witchblade is a significantly better boxing option when facing basic attackers, due to the attack speed slow. You don't get this either.
- Early boxing:
Ichaival or 
Silverbranch Bow, in the 3rd spot, is more effective if you want to start boxing earlier in the match.
- Higher DPS: at least depending on the god,
Rage is going to provide better DPS overall...looking for a semblance of the Fatalis effect means you need Ata AND WD, meaning no 
Rage.
In essence, it's better to just completely forget Fatalis ever existed, and focus on bursting enemy gods quickly and safely in the presence of other gods for protection purposes.A lot of people aren't even getting lifesteal these days (I don't understand it myself) but it gives them better damage potential.
So consider, first 3 items in old Trans builds were Trans, Boots, and (usually) lifesteal.
Is that a fair and balanced tradeoff? Sorta, I think. But
BTW, your current build has both
Anyway, talking myself in circles. If I were to consider it, I might think about it as a situational item, and would delay it to maybe 4th...Boots, Trans, Ich, then Witch, but specifically as a counter only if the enemy ADC is a basic attacker (not a
To be fair that's basically what I've always done lol
I don't know how I made that mistake but I'm an idiot.
To be honest, like you said, it's not terrible, just inefficient, and I mostly said never use it because it might have confused newer players. I'm still going to stick with saying not to use it for consistency.
To be fair that's basically what I've always done lol
I know =P That's why I liked having your guide and mine...I've always preferred the Devo's boxing build. I know that Trans is more popular for her with that playstyle, but I liked her playstyle built my way as an alternative. And it was absolutely viable, though she had to be played differently and had a later power curve.
Now, it's like she's only got the one general option. Sure, you can do Qin's or you can do Crit as your burst power option, but now it seems to me it's basically just Trans and burst. If you miss
As for
You also have yet another option. If you're looking for that power, but also want the survivability,
Providing some feedback on your current build. Take it as you will; I continue to like discussion, and want to hear your thoughts.
Edit: new vid from DukeSloth talking about the current state of hunter builds...just thought I'd throw it in, he talks quite a bit about Medusa, but how overall the various hunter builds have never been more balanced.
https://www.youtube.com/shared?ci=XlPe_gu5a1k
I do have a few questions if you don't mind me asking:
Your standard build has additional lifesteal (though of course
Does
When you replace
I have indeed noticed this in my games using my build. You'll also be glad to hear that in the time since our last lifesteal discussion, I've warmed up to it a bit more ;p
I've been tossing around the idea of
Anyway, one minor visual thing to fix is the boots options in your first build breakdown...give that middle column some added space so it doesn't move to 2 lines.
I don't exactly understand what you mean. On my end everything seems perfectly fine with the formatting of the discussion.
One other thing, on your writeup for
I did say almost every other hunter. I was referring to ability based hunters like
Let's see about the rest of those comments...oh, with regard to sustain, this is one thing that Bullfrog323 preferred not to have for the Arena mode...since base is so close, getting max effect out of damage was his priority, so he didn't like getting
Back in her release in S2, Trans was the go-to build for her, Xbal, Ullr, Neith, and others. Jump to now, or even later S3, and I was really preferring to incorporate
So I've been tending toward Devo's myself, and with the DT buff and easier access to attack speed, it's just my main preference. But you know what, I need to use Trans more too. Always better to build to counter the enemy, and to have experience in as much as possible, right?
Hmmm, your boots are now showing just fine. I'm on my home PC though...it definitely had 2 rows on my work PC. I see that now and again with other builds, or even my own pros/cons section here and there, depending on the zoom I'm using (90% or 100% usually). Only way I can get it to show perfectly no matter what zoom is to give it 1 or 2 extra width. Anyway, looks like this is fine.
Anyway, well done, and keep up the good work.
On one hand i have the option to use the original build ive been running with since the new season (newish player), Malice and Shifters shield, cause i do find myself to still be rather squishy even with the good lifesteal that a fully stacked Devours gauntlet can bring, especially against assassins whop pop out of nowhere and hit me HARD
on the other hand i can go with The Executioner and Transcendence, witch at max stacks give me more Power(and damage) and attack speed than the other option, however the reduce crit chance and lack of protections for the improved mana are a bit rough for me, as most of the time i dont find myself hurting to bad for mana
Im curious to hear your opinion on this matter, and any other person who wants to throw there two cents in this : )
(just for completions sake i run with Meditation cloak and as of recent the purification beads as my relics, with the chalice of healing and eather the revealing ritual or the Chalice of the Oracle as my second go to item)
You'll also notice in my most recent revision all defense items are out. That is both to simplify things and because you're better off just going full offense and learning good positioning/dodging skills.
The only thing I find necessary on
Maybe im am just too used to it that I can't play without it anymore though maybe you could give it as an option in your normal build.
Nice well-explained buildd anyway!
And consider what you'd swap out for it?
- No
- No
- No
- Taking it over
In the end, it comes down to personal preference and the current game you're playing. Maybe if the enemy lacks a certain type of god you can slot HF in there.
Odysseus's bow is actually pretty weak for an early game pickup. it's actually used best as a late game pickup, where you can use that 40% better, rushing it early usually results in your opponent having more power than you do. You could actually accomplish more dps if you use
Going straight in with
Other than that, this guide is solid. 8.5/10, which is an upvote.
I'd say overall your build 2 is better than your build 1, with only difference Id make is
I see that you're a new member...welcome!
I like the god of choice for your first guide =)
Definitely be good to spend some time to learn some BBcoding basics, just to make it something that draws the eye. If you have specific questions, you're welcome to ask. I'll also point you this BBcoding thread by Mowen, and I'm sure xZero can spam you with his coding comment (mwahaha, take that, Zero!).
If you don't know, you can really break down your build order, and more fully detail your starting items, etc., all in the top build section. That way you can throw in the # of potions you get, instead of just hoping someone reads the body of the guide instead of leaving after glancing at your build. Same goes with detailing your alternate item options (you mention items like
Although it's pretty obvious you're going for as much damage on your abilities as possible, I would say that
Regarding
The other thing about
In your main build, the other big issue I see, at least if you're talking about Conquest or Siege, is that it has no lifesteal, anywhere. Your sustain is going to be terrible, and if you get hurt and end up at 1/2 health, staying out is just going to be risky. It's your build, so you'd have to figure out what you'd want to sub out, but lifesteal really is recommended for those types of modes. And of course I'm not talking about your "conservative" build, I see
Anyway, welcome again to SF, and look forward to seeing you flesh this guide out some more!
Welcome to SMITEfire, SF. I can see that you're new and decided to join the website, and made your own guide. Congratulations! Your guide is published and viewable for everybody. Hopefully you'll stay with us and enjoy your time here on SMITEfire, SF!
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