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Notification: Good news for those who enjoyed this, or any of my other guides, or those who like to play Skadi! A guide update/conversion to S4 is in the works. No ETA as of yet, but it will take a long time. For more details about this conversion / update, read below.
What's going to change?
- An entire visual recreation. This will follow an entirely different structure than my other guides.
- Updated information for S4! Fairly obvious, however.
- More and more in-depth information.
- Information for both new and more or less experienced players.
What will you NOT find?
- Anything regarding ranked or high-level play. I play for fun and therefore have no interest in the ranked scene, neither have I ever come in contact with it. If you want information about ranked with Skadi, I'm afraid you'll have to look elsewhere.
This update / conversion will take a VERY long time before (final) release, so please keep an eye out. Thanks again for reading my guides, in any case!
Skadi is a female hunter that has been released since Patch 3.4
Unlike any other regular hunter, Skadi has a very unique kit. There is currently no other god that works in the same way as she does, there are however, gods that show similarities.
What's so special about Skadi?
Skadi makes use of a full-time companion: her wolf, Kaldr. Kaldr is a unique addition to Skadi, as she (aka the player) can control the wolf at your own will.
Skadi's stats are as follows:
Stats
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Basic attack
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Protection
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Regen
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oHealtho | ooManaoo | Speed | Range
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oDamageo | Progression
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Physical | Magicalo
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ooHp5ooo | oooMp5oooo
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470(+78) | 220(+35) | o370o | o55oo
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35(+2.5) | oooNoneoooo
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11(+2.8) | 30(+0.9)
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8(+0.69) | 4.5(+0.32)
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PROS / CONS |
High DMG | No (real) escape |
Kaldr (More DMG) | Low CC amount |
Strong ULT | Easily ganked |
While Skadi may have a companion, you play her allmost identical to any other hunter: safely.
During the early game, you're very weak and vulnerable. During this time, the enemy will do everything to kill you. This is to keep you low, so you do not become the late game killer a hunter is supposed to be.
But don't worry! I've got you covered! Let's go over some tips that'll hopefully keep you out of trouble.
Early Game
The early game is the hardest time for any hunter. This is because they're still weak, but don't have enough damage yet to sustain themselves.
During this time, you'll want to keep a few things in mind. This includes, listed by categories:
Laning
While in the (duo) lane, you'll be facing the enemy support and ADC, and occasionaly the jungler from either team. The enemy's goal is to eliminate you as much as possible, to keep you low and prevent you from getting your damage online.
To avoid certain death, follow the following steps:
- Do not over-extend. As the ADC, you should not be found any further than half of the lane. Even 1/4th could arguably allready be to much. Once you cross this distance, you're putting yourself at a great risk of dying, especially since Skadi has no escape.
Summary - Warrior Tabi
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Physical power: +40
Movement speed: +18% |
NoneNoneNoneNoneNoneNoneNoneNPassive: NoneNoneNoneNoneNoneNoneNoneNoneNo
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Summary - Transcendence
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Physical power: +35
Mana: +300 Mp5: +6 |
Passive: You permanently gain 15 Mana per stack, and receive 5 stacks for a god kill, and 1 stack for a minion kill.
Additionally, 3% of your Mana is converted to Physical Power. |
Summary - Asi
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Physical Lifesteal: +15%
Attack speed: +20% Physical penetration: +15 |
Passive: If you drop below 35% health, you gain an additional 25% Physical Lifesteal for 5 seconds.
Can only occur once every 15 seconds. |
Summary - Jotunn's Wrath
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Physical Power: +40
Mana: +150 Cooldown reduction: +20% Physical Penetration: +10 |
NoneNoneNoneNoneNoneNoneNoneNPassive: NoneNoneNoneNoneNoneNoneNoneNoneNo
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Summary - Titan's Bane
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Physical Power: +30
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NoneNoneNPassive: All of your Physical attacks gain 33% Physical Penetration.NoneNoneN
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Summary - Hastened Fatalis
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Attack speed: +30%
Movement speed: +10% |
Passive: When a basic attack hits a target, the attacking movement speed Debuff is removed from you for 1s.
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Asi is a great item. However, the benefits are provided by other items allready. But xZeroStrike, then why do we keep it?! Because it's cheap. However, should you find yourself getting alot of kills and sitting on a pile of $$$, you can swap Asi for Bloodforge. Do note that Bloodforge is not cheap!
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Art by: Scylla812 via NewGrounds.
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Art by: Larinor via NewGrounds.
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Jotunn's Wrath has alot of benefits. However, if you want to eliminate your enemies defenses, and attack faster, The Executioner is for you!
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Summary - Odysseus' Bow
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Attack speed: +40%
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Passive: Every fourth Basic Attack triggers a chain lightning, damaging the target and up to 4 nearby enemies for 30 damage +50% of your total Physical Power.
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sanctuary
Sanctuary:Using this item makes you invulnerable to damage for 2s, preventing you from taking actions. You may still move. Cooldown: 160s |
purification
Purification:Using this item removes Crowd Control Effects and makes you immune to new ones for 2s. Cooldown: 160s |
Sprint
Sprint:Using this item buffs the Movement Speed of Allies within 55 by 40% for 5s. It also makes them immune to Slows for the duration. Cooldown: 150s |
Curse
Curse:Using this item reduces all enemy gods Movement Speed by 40% in a 55 unit radius around you for 5s. Their healing is also reduced by 50% for the duration. Cooldown: 150s |
Starting kit 1
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The Charged Morningstar and Boots start will give you an early mana boost, and a bit of extra movement speed. The movement speed will be useful to escape easier from though situations, while the mana will allow you to stay in lane longer. | ||||||||
When to pick this starter kit?
You'll want to pick this starter kit when you're facing enemies that can more easily catch up with you, mainly due to a leap/jump and the like. If you're facing any such enemy, pick this starter kit.
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Starting kit 2
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The Charged Morningstar will give you an early mana boost. The Healing Potions and Mana Potions will help you keep your health and mana high enough to stay in lane longer and thus accumulate more gold. | ||||||||
When to pick this starter kit?
You'll want to pick this starter kit when you're facing enemies without a leap. The reason being that enemies with leaps can get to very quickly, without you having much time to react, forcing you to burn the mana and health you'll get from the potions, and perhaps even killing you, rendering the potions useless. | ||||||||
Note: you can use either starting kit in either situation, these reasons are just my "recommendation".
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Skadi throws an icy spear forward, dealing damage to enemies and Slowing them for 3s. Kaldr's basic attacks deal double damage to targets afflicted by Piercing Cold. Ability Stats
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->
Hit the enemy with Piercing Cold. Once you hit your enemy, send Kaldr out to attack with Rune Of The Hunt. Kaldr will now do double damage (basic attacks only) for a short period of time.
Difficulty: Easy
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->
->
Hit the enemy with Piercing Cold. Once you hit your enemy, send Kaldr out to attack with Rune Of The Hunt. When Kaldr attacks the enemy, use Winter's Grasp. Kaldr will do double damage for a short period of time while the enemy is rooted in place.
Difficulty: Easy
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->
Use Permafrost to let the enemy lose control over his/her movement. While the enemy is sliding, use Piercing Cold on them for a free hit.
Difficulty: Intermediate
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->
->
Use Permafrost to let the enemy lose control over his/her movement. While the enemy is sliding, use Piercing Cold on them for a free hit. After you've hit the enemy with Piercing Cold, send Kaldr out to attack the enemy using Rune Of The Hunt. Kaldr will now do double damage for a short period of time.
Difficulty: Intermediate
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->
->
->
Use Permafrost to let the enemy lose control over his/her movement. While the enemy is sliding, use Piercing Cold on them for a free hit. After you've hit the enemy with Piercing Cold, send Kaldr out to attack the enemy using Rune Of The Hunt. When Kaldr attacks the enemy, use Winter's Grasp. Kaldr will now do double damage for a short period of time while the enemy is rooted.
Difficulty: Intermediate
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->
-> -> The skillset is similar to the previous one (Easy difficulty). The difference here being that you'll use Piercing Cold after Kaldr has used his dash to attack an enemy (with Rune Of The Hunt. This is because Kaldr's dash attack does not benefit from Piercing Cold's double damage, and by using Piercing Cold after Kaldr has used his dash, you'll maximize it's effectiveness.
Difficulty: Hard
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->
->
-> -> -> This skillset is similar to the one above. The only difference is that you'll use Permafrost before the rest of the combo. The difficult part is that you won't use Permafrost randomly, you'll have to place Permafrost in a way that makes your enemy slide towards you. If this is succesful, proceed with the combo as usual.
Difficulty: Very hard
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I can understand where you're coming from. However, I've selected Hastened Fatalis over Odysseus' Bow in the main build for a couple of reasons:
- While Kaldr's attacks give Skadi some movement speed, it's fairly inconsistent. If the enemy keeps running, Kaldr may have a hard time keeping up and thus be unable to land hits, resulting in no movement speed gain. Hastened Fatalis always gives movement speed, regardless the scenario, which will allow you to keep up with an enemy more easily if Kaldr is unable to.
- When Kaldr is out of life points, you cannot use his attacks for movement speed. Since you'll only send Kaldr out in 1v1s, to finish off low health enemies and when he has 4/5 life points, you'll find Kaldr in spiritual form more often than not, causing the movement speed to not proc as often.
- While this guide was made in S3, the build is still functional in S4, and with Skadi's ultimate nerf in 4.6, Hastened Fatalis' movement speed has become even more useful since Kaldr is no longer immune during Winter's Grasp, which will make Kaldr's attacks and thus the movement speed bonus even more inconsistent.
- When running away from an enemy, you have to turn around before you can set Kaldr to attack those who're chasing you. Turning around will slow you down, and can get you killed before Kaldr is even capable of giving you that movement speed buff.
- Hastened Fatalis' movement speed, passive + Permafrost and Kaldr's speed bonus on attack all combined will make it easy for you to stick to target. In fact unless your target has a leap / dash or you get CC'd, there's almost no escape for your target. That is, if you can land your attacks and make use of Hastened Fatalis' passive, but if you can't land basics then Odysseus' Bow won't help you either.
Odysseus' Bow is definitely a viable replacement if you're not familiar with Hastened Fatalis or build for attack speed reliant build sets, but other than that I feel that Hastened Fatalis still takes the upper hand of the 2. That is just my personal opinion though.
Hopefully you understand what I'm going for here.
Have fun playing SMITE!
Thank you for your feedback. I do agree that Ninja Tabi has become a more viable pick in a lot of situations due to its buff. However, I still feel like Warrior Tabi is a better option. Let me explain why:
With Ninja Tabi, you'll deal less damage than with Warrior Tabi. You'll lose 17 physical power to be exact, in this build. The attack speed should make up for it.
However, when relying on attack speed, you're counting on a longer, more consistent battle.
You see, before Ninja Tabi's power output reaches equal potential of that of Warrior Tabi's, it needs some time to get there.
Due to Kaldr's low health pool, he can die very fast. This will result in only a very short combat sequence, thus Ninja Tabi's potential will be lost, and its benefits won't be as good as that of Warrior Tabi's.
When sending Kaldr out, you want to get damage in fast, and get him out even faster, as to not get him "killed". Therefore, the lower attack speed, but a lot higher Physical Power will be better, since Kaldr simply won't have enough time to let the lower damage and higher attack speed make up for the power loss.
I'm starting to ramble here, so I'll end it here. :P
Hope that you can make out as to why I believe Warrior Tabi is still more superior in this build. :)
Love the build, great work @xZero :p
The boots are specifically for a bit of movement speed. Potions will work but if you can't escape your enemy those potions will be rendered useless faster than one can say he used it. I made a small table on when I think it's better to select which starting gear, and I've also included the potions start as an option. I guess it comes down to preference and situation. If you play safe and conservative enough, the potions shouldn't be necessary.
Thank you for the feedback, though! :)
I didn't include it because Skadi has Kaldr allready, which makes up for it, but still a very good item nonetheless, specifically when dealing with tanks.
Other than that, I don't see anything wrong.
+1 for nice tables.
And thank you for the +1!
Onto the build; it's really well explained and looks very solid- my only question would be about the Hastened Fatalis- not that I have anything against it as it makes perfect sense; but would like to ask if you could possibly recommend a viable replacement option for it (maybe an Odysseus's Bow for the attack speed, and its passive would hit for quite a bit with all the power the build provides?), as buying fatalis tends to significantly change playing experience, and I personally am having trouble hitting my auto-attacks with this item, aspecially when boxing other hunters.
I also have some thoughts about the starting build- when buying Charged Morningstar to progress it into Transcendence, I would recommend to consider buying some HP and mana potions with the 300 gold left instead of the Boots, as without them you'll probably be forced out of lane way too early (not to mention that it'd be quite easy to gank a poked Skadi ) and actually lose some gold in the process. Of course potions can be skipped in Arena and whatnot, but I think in Conquest they're much safer option.
That partially leads to the recommended "first return"- if someone asked me, I think that it would be more beneficial to back whenever you have enough gold to just finish your Transcendence. Firstly because you'll be able to start stacking faster that way, and secondly because staying such a long time in lane would likely result in being forced under tower, losing potential income and thus prolonging the time required to stay even more.
With that being said, I am not a Skadi player myself and I'm sure someone (ehkem DucksRock, I summon thee) would provide more helpful feedback, but those were my thoughts. I liked the ability combos section with all the explanations the most- very helpful for anyone attempting to play this character.
I guess I shouldn't have to mention that's an easy upvote? Keep up the good work!
EDIT:
Looks even better than before with that color if someone asked me.
As for the potions start:
It is entirely possible to do so. You do have to remember that until you get Permafrost, you'll be very slow which could also put you at risk. I guess it all comes down to the situation itself:
- Are you facing an enemy that can easily catch up? (e.g. Neith with her backflip). Then I'd say you'll need the boots to escape, unless you plan on staying near your tower for the entire duration, but then you're risking to lose famr.
- Are you facing an enemy that can't easily catch up to you? (e.g. Artemis, who has no dash/leap or any of the sort) Then potions would probably be a better option, assuming you've used Wards to alert you from ganks, which you, or preferably your support, should do by default.
As for the "first return option", you have to follow its order. Meaning that even though you would have enough money to buy Combat Boots or Warrior Tabi, you should allways finish Transcendence first. And it is advised to stay in lane until you have just enough money to upgrade to Transcendence unless you're forced to back.
Last but not least I guess Odysseus' Bow could work if you're not used to Hastened Fatalis. I'll add this onto the build as a "potential replacement"
Thank you for your feedback, and the upvote! :)
Edit: All your feedback had been applied. If the color is yet again not good enough, feel free to let me know.
The reason I placed the Frostbound hammer in is mainly because of it's physical power, but the slow just adds nicely for chases, or when your 1 is on CD. Also if the enemy beads out of your skills the slow can help really well.
Frostbound Hammer's power is equal to Titan's Bane and The Executioner, so I think it to be fairly decent regarding that.
But that's beside the point, as Frostbound Hammer is no longer part of any of the suggested items. Also this guide may be somewhat outdated.