The Safety Dance- A Chang'e Guide to Joust/Arena

Who Am I?

Hello, and welcome to my very first guide! I am TheMoxiousOne, and I am a Chang'e-focused player on XBox One (The Moxious One). Now, I would first like to start off by saying this guide is currently in its infancy, but I hope to expand it to Conquest and all ranked modes as I feel comfortable, to keep Chang'e an up-to-date and relevant god.

Feel free to comment coding/content suggestions, as I am by no means the best player out there, nor an expert on forum-style coding. The basis of this build actually sprouted when I inquired to Zilby for Chang'e suggestions and help on items, months ago. There have been some tweaks, and I hope Zilby will see this and tear the build to shreds. Or appreciate the thought and energy put into one of my (our?) favorite gods in the game!

My courage to write this guide comes from hours of dedication, Rank X mastery, and my friends and family that I play with, as well as my frustration in trying to find an up-to-date Chang'e guide on Smitefire. So thank yous go out to all of those I have played with and against for helping me evolve as a player, and in some cases, a person.

My approach and my goal with this guide is to be less a numbers contest, and more an open forum; discussing why I choose to build they way I build, snowballing to the end result. I hope this slightly unique approach is well-received, because I feel as though the logic and play style of Chang'e will be supported by the numbers, if need be. But, as we all well know, there is always a difference of opinion and need, even in numbers, when it comes to toolbox and support roles.

Well, here goes nothing!

Why Chang'e?

There were several gods I'd tried out before Chang'e, and none of them were bad; don't get me wrong. I as a gamer loathe melee, though I enjoy high mobility, in-and-out sorts of characters. I also like utility and support. Chang'e has all of these things, in addition to a unique kit with unique tools; some of which are broken really good. In Joust, she has a strong early game support, with a great potential for lane harassment, morphing into an assassinating yo-yo late game; she's great!

Pros

• Powerful, Large-Area Heal
• Her 2, Moonlit Waltz, makes her resistance to early Assassins and Warriors high, while making her sustain arguably better than any other Mage in the game
• Great for boxing/baiting
• Starts snowballing mid-game with no real way to shut her down

Cons

• Combos are hard to time and master, given they rely on enemy god knowledge; high learning curve
• Mistiming Moonlit Waltz usually leads to death
• Rough match up 1v1 against most Hunters
• Getting ganged up on usually leads to under-leveling, but provides rest of team with opportunity for ganks if communicated properly; a double-edged sword

This section is a little rough for me, but I will try. The reason it is rough is there are so many situations where certain items are better than others. No Guardian on the opposing team might means I might drop Obsidian Shard in favor of Spear of the Magus. I will do my best to highlight as much as I can as fast as I can, but this section will be ever-changing, and I shall do my best to keep a Chang'elog. Get it?

I'd also like to preface my item choices by saying I purposefully avoid getting stackable items, because I'm not a pusher, and too often gods build stackables and try too hard to carry or are fighting over stacks; I just support the team early/mid game, and carry late game!


Soul Stone is quickly becoming a staple on every mage I play. Why, you ask? For one, the 20 Magical Power at the start of the game isn't bad. The extra mana is also a huge deal, especially dealing specifically with Chang'e's Moonlit Waltz. Early game sustain against waves and pesky Anubis players is perfect. Oh, but wait; there's more! Why? Because, reasons. Each kill grants a stack for 4 MP5, up to five stacks. This might not seem significant, but it snowballs with the rest of the MP5 built into the latent power of the build.


Lotus CrownLotus Crown. This has been an item of debate for me and many others, and I'm not sure on the math behind it, but it works better for me than other healing items, such as Gauntlet of Thebes or Rod of Asclepius. While both are valid options over the crown, I like the free, almost Shell-like effect. But what makes me favor the crown over others is how drastically the 20 MP5 helps in the early and mid, and even in the late. Late game, before buying Spear of Desolation, can get up to 105 MP5, and that isn't including her innate 5.5(+.44/lv) MP5!

Which brings us to
Chronos' Pendant is an item I feel is almost core in every Mage; it's got a fat +75 Magical Power, half of the cap for %Cooldown, AND a whopping +25 MP5! Wowzah! It's so good, and so is Chang'e's movement speed mid-ability, I sometimes build this before boots if I'm on a team with very low sustain. See? That toolbox coming out again.


Shoes of Focus are next on the list. They make you move, give you %cooldown, a ton of mana, AND +40 Magical Power. And for a cool 1500!


Rod of Tahuti. This is where and when the build gets spicy. Her power spikes. Her heals spike. Her MP5 even smooths out to its peak in this build. Buying this item just feels so... Good.

Obsidian Shard. In a world or warriors and Guardians, this item separates great Mages from dead ones. %Pen is monstrous, but it trickles into worthlessness against Hunters and Assassins. Switch to Spear of the Magus in case of emergency.

Spear of Desolation is sort of self-explanatory, but I'll go into a bit more detail. So here we have a solid 120 push on Magical Power, and an additional 20 Magical Penetration. Both are solid. What justifies the cost in late game is its passive, which lets us reduce all cooldowns by 8s upon killing a god. This is where that "assassinating yo-yo late game" comment from my introduction comes into play. More times than I can count, and again this is all situational, I have used a combo of 4 to stun, 3 to get to and start damaging gods and minions, and then 1 to damage. Perfectly, I kill and 2 out, but sometimes my eyes deceive me on their HP, and I'm off. Then I 2 to regain mana, 1 again for the kill, 3 for heals, and 2 again from the Spear of Desolation proc to get out of harm's way.

Relics
Coming Soon!
(Yes, the ones listed may look weird, but I will go into those, hopefully, within the next couple of weeks!)

Other toolbox-y items to come, so keep your eyes peeled!

Chang'e has a kit unlike any other I've seen before, and I'm excited to share my personal synopsis of her abilities!

Jade Rabbit -Passive- (DISCLAIMER) I'm going to preface this by saying this is an opinion, and not fact.
Best. Passive. In the GAME.
That being said, this little guy complains. A lot. But for good reason! His primary function, like any good animal slave minion friend, is to go get things for Chang'e normally out of her reach. Chang'e can buy and sell items in lane, making her sustain and lane dominion absolute in most occasions, assuming the other two teammates are backing in tandem. As if that didn't make this little guy the best passive already, he is a great cheerleader. When Chang'e is dancing (Using any of her abilities), she gains a 25% boost in movement speed AND ignores the backpedal penalty during the dance. This is where the yo-yo comes into play. With the chain of moves I will discuss later, I've gone from enemy tower to friendly tower in no time flat; faster, even, than Sun Wukong's eagle form!

Crescent Moon Dance -1- This is the main source of damage and lane clear for Chang'e. Early and mid game, I find myself not using this as often, because I don't want to take away from team pushers' stacks. That is, of course, unless I've got an opportunity for a sneak kill. I usually tag minions for xp and move on to support and focusing on enemy gods. Great skill, especially with her passive. With only 30% Cooldown in my typical build, cooldown on this high-damaging monster is only 3 sec!

Moonlit Waltz -2- Most assuredly my favorite non-passive in the entire game. Those of you few who know me know I loathe playing gods without evasion. But this is the epitome of evasion moves. Not only does it get you out of dodge, but you are also completely immune to ALL CC and damage! Wait! That's not good enough for you? FINE! I'll also inform you that NOT ONLY is it affected by her passive, as is all of her skills, but she also GIVES YOU MANA FOR EVERY TICK OF DAMAGE AVOIDED! Sweet Christmas!

Moonflower Dance -3- Well this guy here, in my mind, is the reason her team's early and mid game get so much better. Not only is it a scaling to Magical Power heal, but you also get the movement bonus from Jade Rabbit that makes her already large circle larger, so long as you time a clockwise properly. Every so often I get an antsy Hunter who dodges the initial heal accidentally and goes splat because "I didn't heal them." Please, people, be aware that despite being one of the most potent heals, in my opinion, in the game (Especially because of the bubble from Lotus Crown in team fights), it is very skill intensive to time and execute accurately. Be patient with newer players with her. And Chang'e players? Practice, practice practice. Knowing how to play Chang'e, for me, is less combo and more intuition. And situational awareness. Which brings me to

Waxing Moon -4- This ult is a little bit different. With my typical build, it's available, on average due to Spear of Desolation, every 56 sec. Meaning, especially in Joust, I'm a bit liberal with this ultimate. It not only stuns, but it also has increased stun time for all gods hit by 1 sec for each hit after the first. Its high damage and stuns are nice to initiate a team fight with, or to stop/slay an escaping Assassin/Hunter.

Hopefully this guide has been insightful in some way. Any questions, comments and constructive criticism can be directed to the comments section, and I will do my best to answer in a timely fashion. Anyone seeking to view my playstyle on console is also free to inbox me to set up a play date. Can't wait to see how far this guide goes, and I look forward to the resurrection of Chang'e!

What Is Teamwork to Chang'e?

To answer that, we have to take some things into account. For starters, we have to analyze what teamwork is. A silly thing to do, right? I thought so, until I played a few games as Chang'e with friends and family, and then some games, if I could call them that, with randoms.

Playing with friends and family, we were in an established party, and my role as support came from necessity and communicating with them as to the team's needs. I was there, simply, to help secure kills, and keep the team fighting. But when I was on a team with randoms, I only locked her in when I saw the team needed the support and mobility provided by our Faerie Queen, and without any communication of the teams preferences.

The thing is, as much as I love playing Chang'e, I feel as though she's unplayable/not able to operate at pinnacle performance when not playing on a team filled with communication. This goes for literally any game mode other than 1v1. Period. I don't care if you're new to Chang'e or someone as versed in her as myself or even a pro like Incon; you will never see her top performance on a team that doesn't communicate.

That goes for you, too. You have to play your role better than any other god in your role, because Chang'e, as I've come to understand her, cannot play on a team that doesn't communicate. I know some of you will disagree, and that's alright. I see her as a support Mage, and some of you may see her as a mid Mage; both are acceptable ways to play her. Support fits my style, and so does Mid, but I have found her to be more likely to win games for the team in a communicating support role.

So I urge you folks looking through this guide, reading as far down as you have: Do not judge her as a garbage god because you went 0-x-y in Arena with her. Sure, she could use some numbers buffs, but that isn't the point.

Try communicating with the team, and letting them communicate with you openly, before you pass judgement. The reason I say this is from experience, and my inability to believe Chang'e is in the bottom ten slots of gods, as oft ranked by pros. It's not possible! Please, Smitefire, let's show the pros the value of our favorite support Mage!

Coming Soon!

Get it? Anyway...

Spoiler: Click to view

• 21/10/2016- Guide created! Go me!
• 24/10/2016- Color coding changed, as well as skill order to better reflect a focus of her -1-, and an even focus on her -2- and -3-.
• 08/11/2016- Added a Teamwork section. Huzzah!