Spear Pokes and Arena Jokes

Achilles is one of my favorite gods in Season 5. He is extremely mobile. His abilities, when you land them, can burst other warriors down, not to mention squishies. And his ultimate is the apex execution ability in the game. No tank can mitigate this killing blow. I will share some of my experiences and successes on here with you all, I will also give you a few warnings about what to watch out for as you master Achilles. Enjoy!

Pros

High Burst Damage throughout game
Consistent mobility
Apex Execute ability
Consistent stun/setup ability
Free armor that other gods don't get

Cons

Cripples will kill you
Silences will kill you
A little squishy when not using armor passive
Ultimate makes you squishy

Gift of the Gods

Gift of the Gods is a simple passive to understand. Anytime you're in the base, you can choose to wear armor or go without. Going without armor increases your movement speed and power, but wearing armor increases your protections and health. In the Arena, this passive is amazing! The armor option allows you to build an early power spike build that will blow back the opponents' frontline, but you will still be plenty bulky because of the bonus protections from the armor.

I normally wear the armor unless I am tanking things extremely well. If you are winning your lane, or getting ahead in joust, try taking off your armor to increase your lead, but I normally put it back on in the end game. The bonus defenses are really noticeable.

Shield of Achilles

This is the bread and butter. This ability is the one we max as quick as possible. The damage output of the inner cone is ridiculous, and with a little penetration will hit for half the health of most squishies in the mid-game. The inner cone also contains a stun. This can be used for wombo combos with the likes of Ares, Odin, Sobek, etc. because it will stun as many gods as will fit in that little cone. When this ability is up, find a way to land it.

Radiant Glory

This ability is one step away from being a passive. It is a self-buff. When you activate it, you will automatically get healing from your abilities, extra physical power, protections, and crowd control reduction. Basically, ensure that this ability is activated a split second before diving into a fight! It will make or break many encounters in the early-mid game.

Combat Dodge

MOBILITY!! This is all that Achilles needs to make his one unstoppable. When you activate this ability, Achilles will roll in the direction that you are moving. Not the direction you are facing. Then, you may activate the ability again to throw a spear in a short, line attack. If you land that throw, you will get another roll and throw before the ability goes on cooldown. Thus, you can do the damage from this ability twice! This is why I get this ability on level one of Conquest.

Fatal Strike

Huge damage and an execution function. This ability rounds out Achilles kit well. It will damage all minions hit, but it will stop on the first God. It's basically a CC immune dash. It can be used as an escape in a desperate pinch, but the best use is on a god that is below 30% health, as it will instantly execute them where they stand and refresh your Fatal Strike for another use. This can happen up to five times. If you execute a god, and there are no others around, use it on minions. If you execute a god and there are others at full health, use it for damage on them. If you execute a god, and there are four others at less that half health, EXECUTE THE WHOLE DAMN TEAM. You can do it with this ability.

One thing to be aware of here. Every consecutive use of Fatal Strike raises the damage you take by 10%. If you execute two or three gods, the other enemies left will be able to shred you.

Basic Combo

The basic combo for me goes like this. Activate Radiant Glory to buff your power and healing, Combat Dodge toward the opponent and hit them with the spear throw. Basic attack if they are in range. Use Shield of Achilles to stun the enemy. Basic attack. Combat dodge out if things get hairy, or combat dodge toward them to chase. Get second spear off. If they are low enough, then Fatal Strike will clean them up. That combo (without the ultimate) will get squishies into killable range. For tanks, you may need to be doing some in and out work. Dive in, do combo, roll out.

A final combo to be aware of. When trying to escape, combat dodge away, throw your spear and hit a god to refresh your roll, then roll again. That will give you the max distance of a dash to get away from pursuers. If you are still in trouble and close to death, use fatal strike to avoid CC and dash further away.

This is what you came looking for a build for. These are the items that I think work best on Achilles. First, I want to give you a few that are tempting...but you probably shouldn't go after.

Avoid These Items

Hastened Katana and Stone Cutting Sword
These items are tempting on any warrior. Warriors have pretty high basic attack damage, especially if you build a power item like Jotunns or Heartseeker. It is tempting if you are ahead to jump into a shred build with Basic Attacks. Trust me when I say, Achilles shines better focusing on his kit which is built around nuke-level ABILITIES. Not basic attacks. If you use these, you will do damage, but Achilles isn't bred for this playstyle. Play Bellona. :)

Executioner, Qins, Ichaival and Asi
Again, you can design a build incorporating attack speed, defense shredding, and percent damage on any physical god and it will do OK, but Achilles can make better use of power and defenses then attack speed and basic attack effects.

Core Items

Warrior Tabi
Warrior Tabi gives you a huge power spike if you build it first. You will notice that your Shield of Achilles will be chunking enemies once you build these. Even if you get a fast gold lead, still build these. They are awesome.

Spirit Robe
I love this item. This one can be debated though. If you are in a game with mostly physical threats, get a mail item here. Or against magicals go Genjis. But most games, Spirit robe as the second item combined with protections from your passive will make you FAT in early game conflicts. You will have plenty of survivability to get your entire kit off and escape a few times before having to back. Remember, you get tankier when hit with CC with this on. So jump in there!

Heartseeker
Ok, on Achilles, you want an item that will sustain your mana, add power and penetration to your abilities, and give you extra power spikes on some of your abilities. Heartseeker is that item. Make sure you stack some basic attacks on minions before getting your shield of Achilles off on an enemy god, and you will be gouging them for even more damage then before. This item is incredible.

Offensive Options

Remember that in Conquest, in the Solo role, you will probably not build many of these items because you need to be tanking up to frontline so that your team can deal the big damage. There are variations to this game plan, but defenses should come first in that game mode most of the time. Now for arena, if you are in the lead, these items will make your Achilles downright nasty.

Bloodforge
Lifesteal is not the main point here. It does pair well with your already strong sustain, but the passive shield you get from Bloodforge helps mitigate the extra damage you are taking after you execute someone. It's another item like Heartseeker that pairs well with Achilles total kit.

Jotunn's Wrath and Brawlers Beat Stick
Penetration and power will make your abilities ramp up in a big way. Jotunns offers mana and CDR. You need those. Brawlers gives you anti heal against Ra, Aphro, Baron, and others. Keep both around when needing damage.

Hydra's Lament
If you are good at landing a basic attack between combat dodges and stuns. GET THIS. If you have a couple of other power items like Bloodforge and Heartseeker, your basics between abilities will be chunking the opposing squishies down in a couple hits. This item ramps up your power in mid game in a big way.

Transcendence
Fun item. Unlimited mana and power. Stacking is fun. However, it shouldn't be on Achilles unless you are forced into a physical carry type of role. You should normally never be stacking or building this item at all. If you are forced into that role, only build one defensive item and make the rest all damage items, and you may well be able to carry a game on the physical side for your team. Don't build this often when playing as a warrior though.

Masamune
This is a great midground item. It is offensive in the power that it brings to the table, but as long as you are near enemies, it also beefs you up. I get this item almost every game in Arena because I'm constantly in conflict, but in joust, siege, early conquest, this item isn't as effective. It's a consistent item in the 5th or 6th slot though.

Soul Eater
If you are getting a good start, this item would be a good third or fourth slot because it requires a bit of stacking. Once evolved, however, this item will allow your abilities to heal you even more then they already do. When combined with your Radiant Glory ability, you will have amazing sustain. When combined with Bloodforge, you will have a lot of lifesteal as well. This takes Achilles into a role where he can come out of conflicts with enough health to farm a bit and engage again without having to back. However, it is a risky get because if you cannot get the stacks or if building it causes you to get behind on defenses or other damage options, you may regret it. Try it out sometime.

Defensive Options

In my opinion, this should be most of what you build in joust and conquest. All of these are in some ways situational. Build based on what kind of damage the other team is dishing out.

Hide of the Urchin
Get this item if you are ahead in the early game. If you can get the stacks by mid game, you will be the tankiest warrior on the battleground at the time. The health and mana is nice as well. Do not buy this in the fourth through sixth slot. It should come early and be stacked by midgame. Can be subbed in for the Spirit Robe from Core Items.

Breastplate of Valor
CDR and Mana is why we choose this in physical defenses.

Mystical Mail
Constantly locked down by CC? Need a consistent way to get more damage off? Mystical mail is the way to go. It consistently works on Achilles as I play him.

Genji's Guard
Consistent cooldown reduction, along with the mana sustain to use the shorter cooldowns. This item will make you feel like a boss against magical opponents if you get it built in the third or fourth slot.

Oni Hunter's Garb
Are you constantly getting wrecked in the middle of fights? Does your health zap down way too fast and mages are causing you headaches? This will bolster your magical defenses as well as up your overall damage mitigation by as much as 9%. This is definitely a good grab if mages are wrecking you.

Pestilence
Magic defense and anti-heal.

Situational Items

Hide of the Nemean Lion and Midgardian Mail
These items are for use against basic attack focused gods. Want to reflect damage? Hide. Want to slow them down? Mail.

Ancile
Having trouble with double guardians or one really tough guardian? Ancile will stop his abilities in their tracks for a full second if you are near him. It also adds magical protections.

Shogun's Kusari and Bulwark of Hope
More magical options. If your team has two or three basic attack focused gods (e.g. Artemis, Mercury, and Chronos) Shogun's Kusari raises all of their Attack Speed by 20%. How crazy is that?! Bulwark of Hope is magical defense for the Achilles who is getting destroyed. This is an item to try to stop the downward spiral of death against magical damage.

Frostbound Hammer
I know I said to avoid basic attack items, but this one will help your entire team, and you don't have to focus on basic attacking too much. An enemy guard is pressuring and over-extending, but you have no way to lock him down? Get this, use your stun, then attack him to slow his escape. Chances are it will help your team be able to kill him before he is able to escape. Unless it's Ganesha. Then you're screwed.

I truly appreciate you reading my guide to Achilles! I hope this build will work for you. Please send me feedback and comments in the discussion sections. I hope you have success poking and making easy gg jokes in the arena with Achilles! So long!

Guide Posted 11/29/2018