Simple Guide to: Agni, Hindu God of Fire

Agni is recognized as the God of Fire in the Hindu religion. Characterized with two faces, he cleanses evil spirits and provides light, heat, and warmth to all. His fires are so great and powerful, the smoke he creates holds the heavens in the sky. His first face represents his purity and kindness to people and gods alike. As for the second, it guides him to make sure he does not stray from his duties. Those duties being the idea of both creation of good and the destruction of evil. It is said he was created from the creation energy that also created the universe and started time itself.

In the game of Smite, Agni is interpreted as a Mage controlling the abilities of fire. While Smite only lists as having "High Area Damage", there is so much for to him and those game mechanics are what make him be listed as a hard tier character.

I always look forward to constructive criticism and advice on how to fix my guides or builds! If you think something I said is wrong, feel free to speak about and I'll try to fix it asap. This is my first guide, and i'll be bound to do another one eventually!

PASSIVE - COMBUSTION



After hitting with 4 basic attacks, Agni will gain a buff. On the next cast of Flame Wave or Rain Fire, all enemies hit by those abilities will be additionally set ablaze, taking damage every .5s for 3s.

Damage (per Tick): 5 (+10% of your Magical Power)
Damage (Total): 30 (+60% of your Magical Power)

What you need to know: Every 5 basic attacks successfully hit, Agni's main damaging abilities (His 2 and 4) will make the enemy take an overtime effect.


ABILITY 1 - NOXIOUS FLAMES



Agni summons a cloud of noxious fumes at his ground target location, doing damage every second. Firing any of Agni's abilities into the fumes detonates the gas, stunning all enemies in the radius.

Damage (per Tick): 10 / 20 / 30 / 40 / 50 (+5% of your Magical Power)
Damage (Max): 100 / 200 / 300 / 400 / 500 (+50% of your Magical Power)
Stun Duration: 1s
Fumes Duration: 10s
Cost: 60 / 70 / 80 / 90 / 100
Cooldown: 12s

What you need to know: This ability sets a circle on the ground. If enemies walk into it, the circle deals a minor amount of damage. If Agni aims one of his abilities into the circle, anyone within it's radius will become stunned.


ABILITY 2 - FLAME WAVE



Agni summons a wave of fire in front of him that scorches all enemies in its path. Ignites Noxious Fumes.

Damage: 90 / 140 / 190 / 240 / 290 (+65% of your Magical Power)
Cost: 60 / 70 / 80 / 90 / 100
Cooldown: 15 / 14 / 13 / 12 / 11s

What you need to know: A large burst of flames is thrown in a thick line towards the enemy that has a small windup time.


ABILITY 3 - PATH OF FLAMES



Agni blazes a path forward in a quick dash, leaving flames trailing behind him. Any enemies passing through the flames catch fire and burn for damage every .5s for 2s. Ignites Noxious Fumes. Agni is immune to knockback while dashing.

Damage (per Tick): 20 / 30 / 40 / 50 / 60 (+15% of your Magical Power)
Max Damage : 200 / 300 / 400 / 500 / 600 (+150% of your Magical Power)
Path Duration: 3s
Cost: 70 / 75 / 80 / 85 / 90
Cooldown: 15s

What you need to know: Agni dashes away in a large line leaving behind flames. Enemies that step in this flame are damaged over time.


ULTIMATE - RAIN FIRE



Every 20 seconds, Agni gains a flaming halo that can be expended to summon a giant meteor at his ground target location. He can summon 1 every .8 seconds. Ignites Noxious Fumes.

Damage: 160 / 195 / 230 / 265 / 300 (+60% of your Magical Power)
Max Halos: 3
Cost: 0

What you need to know: Agni receives one charge every 20 seconds once his ultimate is received. Every charge can summon one meteor to his a target location after a windup. This ability requires no mana and maxes out at 3 charges.

SHOES OF FOCUS



This item helps Agni gain movement speed as well as Cooldown reduction in the build. Agni's abilities already have a large cooldown, so this will help a lot until the late game phase. If one wishes, this item can be traded out for SHOES OF THE MAGI later on.

BOOK OF THOTH



This item helps Agni dominate the middle lane because of the insane amount of both mana and power gained from stacking. Agni's second ability clears extremely easily and stacks will build up fast if done properly. Staple!


SPEAR OF MAGUS



This item is chosen as penetration over OBSIDIAN SHARD is because Spear works well with DoT or Damage over Timer affects, like those that work on Agni's escape or passive. Plus, Spear also debuffs your enemy of magical protections, making it easier to follow up with your 2.


SOUL REAVER



This item is chosen as a main damaging ability to large characters with defenses or health. Reaver is interchangeable with ROD OF TAHUTI, but Soul Reaver is able to take off 10% of health, which to someone building health, is more compared to just raw power.


WARLOCK'S SASH



This item helps Agni have an easier time in lane against other gods that do burst damage just as well, or better, than Agni. Typically, you would buy this item after BOOK OF THOTH in order to stack on both items at the same time and not waste time farming when you already have a level gap at your advantage.

Agni's abilities should all work in unison in order to defeat your enemy laner and start snowballing early onto your game. To begin with, Agni is going to be doing a lot of basic attacking during the early game. Levels 1 - 4 are slow for him, as his ultimate is not yet available to guarantee minion kills without wasting mana. Making sure those basic attacks land on minions or your enemy is crucial at this stage. This begins to drop off as your abilities will be doing almost all the damage for you.

Agni's first ability is very important and is basically the glue that holds his kit together. Whenever an ability from Agni lands in the circle area placed down, it explodes. That explosion causes everyone inside (minions and gods) to be stunned for one second. When comboing with a minion clear, it is best to wait for your enemy laner to stand close behind the back lane archers during a wave. Using your FLAME WAVE through the enemy wave will make it easy for you to hit the back archers and deal some poke damage to your enemy.

Agni's second ability is mainly used for minion clear and popping Agni's 1. You would typically want to stand in front of the enemy wave's melee minions and use your FLAME WAVE to hit the back archers. Make sure you always keep your number 1 and 2 abilities in sync as much as possible.

When escaping with Agni's third ability, it is very important to note it can also be used with Agni's 1. By placing it down on where he stands, dashing will make the area explode and Agni will behind whoever is chasing him stunned and damaged. Agni's dash is his only form of transportation, so having it up is very important at all times. It is also good to know that this can also help clear minions by traveling to the back archers and dashing through them to the melee minions.

Agni's ultimate is one of the hardest skillshots to land precisely in the game. Pro players who are good with Agni will always use the ability first, and place the 1st ability down in the area the meteor will hit. The timing is very hard to pull off, so most beginner players will place down the 1 first, and follow up with the ultimate. This can be used to clear waves when low on mana and you want to save mana for your 3. Otherwise, wait until you have 3 meteors loaded on Agni before spamming them, unless you can guarantee a kill.

Pros:

- Has form of escape
- Amazing Clear
- No Mana Ultimate
- Good Burst
- DoT
- Hard CC
- Mid and Late Game

Cons

- Squishy
- Hard to Learn
- Weak Early Game
- Slow Rolling
- Expensive Build