Ra - owning the middle, follow up to melting guide

Hello again. This is my second Ra guide I'm writing and the follow up to my melting guide. Since the last patch, a lot has changed including some of the things I do with Ra. I would like to include some gameplay videos, however I lack the software (if you can help me with this please leave a comment and I'll contact you). I've noticed the lack of good Ra's out there and I'm hoping to change that. In most games I don't see people picking Ra, which is a shame, because in the hands of a skilled players, his dps is unmatched. He's the most versatile god in the game. He can be a top notch dps, an elite healer, and a mediocre tank (though I'd never play him as a TRUE tank, just tanky). He has possibly the best passive in the game (speed of light), one of the best ultimates (searing pain), and the ultimate utility spell (solar blessing)

Chronos' Pendant is easily the best starting item for Ra in the middle lane. I almost always start with it. The +15 mp5 is incredible for mid lane sustain. At level 3, Chronos' Pendant, reduces ability cooldown's by 20%, which is a fantastic feature for The Sun God. Your main focus should be farming Minions and keeping your opponent pressed against their tower. Kill minions quickly so that your minions can do heavy damage to your midlane opponent. They will be doing the majority of the damage if you play it right, and by level 5, 1 ult should net your first kill.

You should have enough mana between the Mp5 and the Mana Pots to get you to at least level 8, and over 2000 gold. Finish your pendant and work on getting speed.Boots of the magi are the clear choice here. You do not need any more pots at this point because of the +20 Mp5 from the Chronos' Pendant, and you never need health pots with Ra, because of his healing capabilities. Return to your lane and continue to farm and push your lane. With any skill you should outlast your opponent and take your first tower. A trick i use is to cast Solar blessing on your melee minions attacking an enemy tower to heal/buff them and place yourself in the aoe to buff yourself while you help the assault.

Your next Item is The Rod of Tuhiti. The Rod of Tuhiti is a mages best freind. It boosts your magic power like no other item can. The additional Mp5 will also keep your mana bar full and keep you spamming spells at your pleasure. Your magic power is enough now to kill enemies with one or two spell rotations. Your healing abilities at this point are top in the game.

After the Rod of Tuhiti the items you buy are really personal preference. If they have magic resist, buy penetration. If not I usually buy the polynomicon, for it's magic lifesteal and mainly the added ability (After using an ability your next basic attack gets added damage based on your magic power, or as I call it the Polyshot). As the game goes on, and your magic power increases, those polyshots will be game-changing. The polynomicon is a must with Ra, he can kill enemies very quickly with this item. I like to grab magic power consumables and also grab the attack buff whenever it's convenient. Ra's spells and especially the polynomicon, feed off magic power and if you take both magic power consumables (elixir and potion of magical might), have the fire giant buff and the attack bonus buff, you will be an unstoppable force. I had almost 30 kills in a game early where with this combination i reached over 1000 magic power. Check my player profile (FuhQue) if you need proof. Most games you wont have the cash to generate this kind of power, but remember to keep that number as high as you can.

Sometimes I buy a Warlock's Sashas my 4th or 5th item. With Ra you could even buy it last with the way he farms. At level 3 with some added magic power he can kill a whole wave with a solar blessing, then while standing in it (with opposing and friendly melees, to get the solar blessing buff) celestial beam. His searing pain can also wipe a creep wave from early on (don't consider a ult wasted if you use it on a creep wave, it's not. Especially because of your Chronos' Pendant, you'll be getting a fresh ult in 45 seconds :))

Sometimes (mainly in duo lane and sometimes mid-laning against He Bo, Anubis or Agni) I go with a tank build. Most Tank Ra's buy a Stone of Gaiafirst. I disagree with equipping Ra with this because it adds no magic power and it's health regen is unnecessary because of Ra's Heal. I start with Reinforced Boots. At level 2, you'll have enough gold for 5 Mana pots, which will keep you in your lane long enough to net 2000+ gold. Again the strategy is to kill minions faster than your opponent and let them do the damage.

After you finish your boots, you want to start on your Warlock's Sash. You already have decent protection from your boots, now you'd have enough health, to take extra shots at reduced damage. At 80 stacks you get a bonus 460 health, 90 magic power and 560 mana. Great stats for any build, especially my tank build.

The next item you want to purchase is the good ol' Gem of Isolation. It gives 250 Hp, 250 mana, +70 magic power and of course, slows enemies (when damage is inflicted). Though it was nerfed in the last patch it still works great on Ra. At this point Ra will be tough to bring down and have great slowing abilities, do good damage and heal for a decent amount.
The way I decide on the next items is based on the enemy team's makeup. If they are unbalanced (have 4+ physical or magical damage gods on the same team) I simply buy resistance to whichever counters their strength. However most teams consist of 3 and 2 (3 magicians and 2 physical damage or vice versa). Whichever damage type they have 3 of, counter that first. I also take into account the enemy types. If I'm going up against 3 physical dps, and 2 magical tanks (ymir and sobek) I'll most likely disregard magical defense altogether and focus on physical. If your countering physical damage, buy a Breastplate of Valor, for it's physical protection, added mana and cooldown reduction (which is very important since this build doesn't start you with Chronos' Pendant). If your countering magic damage, buy a Void Stone. The general Idea is to get items that serve two purposes: increase survivability, and increase offensive capabilites. The Spear of the Magusincreases health, magic power and penetration and is another good item for this build.

Your first skill should always be solar blessing. This will allow you to clear the first minion wave the quickest Cast it on the 6 melee fighters(3 freindly to heal and buff, 3 enemy to damage and debuff) then place yourself in the aoe (to buff yourself) and basic attack. Kill the first creep wave and you'll be at level 2; time to grab Celestial Beam. The second creep wave again cast the solar blessing on the front 6, place yourself in the aoe and hit all 6 minions with celestial beam. Then basic attack to clear the waves. If you repeat this process your creeps will be doing nice damage to your midlane opponent. Usually with this tactic by level 5 they are at 1/3 health and 1 shot from searing pain gets me my first kill. Also, since you're attacking from inside the solar blessing aoe you should keep refreshing your health (if you took any damage). From here on your focus should really be farming. I typically don't gank with Ra until I at least have taken the first tower. Ra is slightly underpowered compared to other gods, so you need to compensate for this with his overpowered farming skills. I finish almost every game with more gold than anybody (regardless of where I rank in kills) and I usually hit level 20 before anyone else in the game. I don't even feel comfortable engaging enemies 1on1 unless I'm 2-3 levels above them (which is very easy to do with Ra in the middle). I also play much more aggressively when I finish my rod of Tuhiti. With the Rod of Tuhiti and Chronos' Pendant, your Mp5 is so high that you can spam spells and never need to recall to refresh your mana. This allows you to stay in the lane and farm longer. Also the Cooldown reduction from the chronos pendant will allow you to spam them quicker. If my first spell rotation (divine light, solar blessing, celestial beam) doesn't kill my opponent, it's only 7 seconds till celestial beam is back up and 8 seconds for divine light. If you are winning the fight and they flee, your passive will keep you right next to them ( you could even pass them) while waiting for your cooldowns) When fighting enemy gods I almost never fire celestial beam without slowing foes with divine light first. I laugh when enemy Ras try picking me off with the slow moving celestial beams, like I'm not simply going to glide out of the way...

Midlaning Vs Anubis is a pain despite what anyone may tell you. He gives any god a laundry list of problems and if you don't change your build to counter him, your whole team is going to ***** saying "who fed Anubis, please report him" (by the way snitching wont get you far in life, and severely damage your street credit). The biggest problem you deal with when facing Anubis is his mummify. At level 5 he's going to mummify you and ult you and kill you if you are not prepared for him. A common mistake most people make is thinking purification beads is the counter to him. Purification beads has a 120 second cooldown, where mummify has a 12 second cooldown. You may wipe one of his mummifies, but big deal, he still has mana and he's going to wrap you and kill you 12 seconds later. The 500 gold you wasted on beads should have went to your items. If I see an Anubis on the opposing team I run to the midlane without buying anything. If I see I'm playing the middle vs Anubis I recall and buy rank 2 Reinforced boots. I then kill minions and push as usual, and with any luck, I get my kill with searing pain at level 5 (when he casts his locust breath is a good time to use it). When he gets to level 5 I change my play-style. I play defensive, retreating when he advances with that "I'm gonna mummify your ***" look on his face. I will not push his tower, I will simply farm and kill creeps until I have the gold to finish my level 3 boots (which I buy right at 915 gold), and start my void stone. With the crowd control reduction of the reinforced boots, and the magic protection from the void stone, you should be able to withstand a mummify/ult combo, however keep in mind when he's running towards you his first ability is going to be mummify and do your best to dodge. A good Anubis is going to stun you eventually and with these two items first, you can weather the storm. I try and make sure to grab rank 2 solar blessing at level 3, to strengthen my healing. When I cast solar blessing, I always place myself in the aoe (to buff/heal myself), and if he catches me while I'm in that, the healing will also increase my chances of survival.