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Sands of Time
Spellbook
Healing Potion
Mana Potion
For more information on which item to choose, see Analysis section
Book of Thoth
Spear of Desolation
Divine Ruin
If you are purchasing an offensive wild card item, DO NOT purchase a defensive wild card item
Soul Gem
Chronos' Pendant
Spear of the Magus
Bancroft's Talon
If you are purchasing a defensive wild card item, DO NOT purchase an offensive wild card item
Stone of Binding
Magi's Cloak
Mantle of Discord
Breastplate of Valor
Breastplate of Determination
Soul Reaver
Obsidian Shard
Pendulum of Ages
Aegis of Acceleration
Chaotic Beads
Temporal Beads
Corrupted Blink Rune
Claw Shard
Horn Shard
Staff of Myrddin
Charon's Coin
Doom Orb
Potion of Power
Elixir of Power
Pendulum of Ages
Book of Thoth
Divine Ruin
Soul Gem
Soul Reaver
Obsidian Shard
Aegis of Acceleration
Temporal Beads
Pendulum of Ages
Book of Thoth
Divine Ruin
Spear of the Magus
Obsidian Shard
Soul Reaver
Aegis of Acceleration
Temporal Beads
Pendulum of Ages
Book of Thoth
Divine Ruin
Chronos' Pendant
Soul Reaver
Obsidian Shard
Aegis of Acceleration
Temporal Beads
Pendulum of Ages
Book of Thoth
Divine Ruin
Breastplate of Valor
Soul Reaver
Obsidian Shard
Aegis of Acceleration
Temporal Beads
Tap each threat level to view He Bo’s threats
Tap each synergy level to view He Bo’s synergies
x Brief Preface
x Situational Item Choices
x Informational Heat Maps
x Scenario Coverage
x Best Matched Gods |
x Pros/Cons
x Combos
x Scroll + Ward Maps
x Ability Information x Rarely Known Tips
x Farewell x Changes and Additions |
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| Summary | Analysis | Skills/Combos | Game Stages | Macro Gameplay | Q&A | Tips/Tricks | Match Ups |
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Pros
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+ Insane damage + Shreds tanks + Good zoning + Strong team presence + Good initiation + Good cool down times |
He Bo is such a strong mage. He is capable of outputting massive amounts of damage in quick, successive bursts. His high damage and short cool down times always allow for offensive strikes and constant lane dominance. He Bo excels at providing deadly assistance in team fights, and can quickly clean up low health enemies in the aftermath. He is also a force to be reckoned with when alone; being able to hold his own majority of the time. He Bo is a strong addition to any team, and can play a vital role in turning the tides of a match. |
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Cons
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- Bad mobility - Squishy - Close(ish) range - Second-rate early game |
Like any God, he has his downsides. Most of them revolving around his mobility issues. He Bo has been known to be very susceptible to ganking/surprise attacks. His low mobility and lack of escape moves make him an easy target for most assassins. Being squishy doesn't help either. He Bo is required to get in a little closer compared to most ranged mages, so this can make over extending an issue at times. |
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MAGICAL POWER: Every mage requires magical power. He Bo is no exception to this, and requires large amounts of magical power to provide effective burst damage towards enemies. Maintaining oppressive lane control is essential for the typical late game God, and players should prioritize items with higher magical power, scaling as the game progresses in line with He Bo's abilities. More expensive items should (on average) be purchased during the later stages of the match. |
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FLAT PENETRATION: Magical power alone will not win a game. Players should give near equal consideration to flat penetration. Flat penetration will grant He Bo the ability to circumvent large portions of base protections found on most squishies, allowing him to be more oppressive at all stages of a match. |
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PERCENT PENETRATION: Percent pen will help players maintain their pressure on tanks. Getting around protections on a percentage basis is more effective than flat when enemies build protections in the larger numbers, typically seen on tanks and supports. Fitting percent penetration on He Bo will allow you to cut deeper, dealing more of the damage that you should be dealing on a much more consistent basis. |
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COOLDOWN REDUCTION: While not as important as the aforementioned stats, cooldown reduction can help He Bo maintain consistent pokes and lane clearing during the early stages of the match. With cooldowns on the lower side to begin with, a small boost from items can give players a competitive edge and amplify He Bo's daunting team fight presence. |
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Pendulum of Ages cost: 2200 +90 Magical Power +20 MP5 +20% Cooldown Reduction |
PASSIVE - This item grants 4 MP5 per 10% of your missing Mana. This item grants 10 Magical Power per 10% of your available Mana. Pendulum of Ages is the premier starter item for He Bo in joust moving into year 10. It provides necessary mana and mp5 for much needed sustain, along with high magical power and CDR for consistent damage dealing. What makes Pendulum of Ages the go to starter comes in it's unique synergetic interactions with He Bo's passive  Steady Flow. Where other mages lose power from this item as fights continue, He Bo will actually gain power. More on this can be seen in the Full Build Analysis section.
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Book of Thoth cost: 2500 +80 magical power +250 Mana +20 Mp5 |
PASSIVE - You permanently gain 10 Mana per Stack, and receive 5 Stacks for a god kill and 1 Stack for a minion kill (max 75 Stacks). 7% of your Mana from items is converted to Magical Power. At 75 Stacks this item Evolves, gaining 10 Magical Penetration and 3% extra Mana to Power conversion. Book of Thoth fits well into the integrity of this build with high magical power, and mp5 + mana that suits Pendulum of Ages well. With the nature of the passive of Pendulum of Ages, higher mana means He Bo can maintain the full effects of each 10% threshold for longer. For instance, without Book of Thoth, 10% of He Bo's mana is 171.8. With Book of Thoth, 10% is 271.8. With the mean average of He Bo's abilities being 86.25, this means that He Bo can make use of each 10% threshold for around 3x longer.
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Divine ruin cost: 2550 +100 magical power +15 penetration |
PASSIVE - Enemies hit by your abilities have 40% reduced healing for 5 seconds. Your next successful damaging ability on an enemy triggers a chain lightning, damaging the target and up to 4 nearby enemies for 40 damage + 20% of your Magical Power. This can only occur once every 20 seconds. Divine Ruin is the staple anti heal item for mages. This item functions almost identically in terms of base stats to Spear of Desolation. It should be built in most situations regardless, but excels when enemy team comps have prominent healing, and inflicting meaningful damage is difficult. The additional chain lightning makes building Book of Thoth stacks much easier. In an average, evenly matched game, you should be able to afford Divine Ruin when Book of Thoth stacks are half built (35). After purchasing Divine Ruin, stacks should be on pace to be completed by the 9:35 mark.
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soul gem cost: 2300 +80 Magical Power +150 Health +12% Magical Lifesteal +10% Cooldown Reduction |
PASSIVE - On successful hit of an Ability you gain 1 stack. At 4 Stacks your next Ability that damages an enemy God will deal bonus damage equal to 25% of your Magical Power, and will heal yourself and allies within 20 units for 30% of your Magical Power and will consume the 4 stacks. This is another amazing item that will greatly benefit your sustain and damage. It's health, lifesteal, and cooldown will extend your stay in lane and give you enough ammo to keep wave clear and pokes coming at a steady pace. it's passive loosely works with Steady Flow to release a devastating blast on your final ability at max stacks (preferably  Crushing Wave). Stacks can also be gained from  Atlas of the Yellow River.
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Soul Reaver cost: 2650 +95 Magical Power +300 Mana |
PASSIVE - Your abilities deal an additional 2% of the targets maximum Health as Magical Damage. If the target has over 2000 Health, your ability bonus damage scales up. This effect reaches a maximum of 9% Maximum Health damage at 2750 Health. Subsequent hits on the same target do half the bonus damage for the next 3s. Soul Reaver will add a significant spike in power, contributing to the builds high damaging nature, as well as percentage health damage for tankier enemies building lots of health. This item works great if enemy supports are especially difficult to deal with, or if enemy teams are running dual tank comps. The mana from this item helps Pendulum of Ages in the same way Book of Thoth does, but also helps Book of Thoth directly by aiding in more mana for the power conversion.
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obsidian shard cost: 2550 +90 Magical Power +20% Magical Penetration |
PASSIVE - Your first ability cast gains 10% Magical Penetration. This can only occur once every 10 seconds. Obsidian Shard is a fantastic item for tank shredding. He Bo will be able to use it to his advantage in order to avoid having his dominating presence drowned out by enemy supports. It provides 20% base pen (30% off cooldown), and will see to it that players are not investing too much into dealing with squishy gods. With that being said, the magical power will still keep you on the incline compared to other mages.
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Offensive items
TLDR: -Variety in build direction -Maintains integrity -Ability to target specific Gods In most situations, players should always be looking to purchase from this list before looking to the defensive list unless necessary. He Bo is, by definition, a burst damage mage, and therefore should prioritize items which will give him the offensive advantage. Buying from this list ensures that players will not stray from that purpose, while still having a variety of options to choose from. Assuming the match does not require a defensive wild card item, players should choose their offensive item in this slot based on what the events of their current match requires. Offensive items can help with further tank shredding if the opposing team is more tanky in nature, lifesteal if more sustain is required, or even cooldown reduction if the enemy team has more consistent damage output/lane clear. |
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Defensive items
TLDR: -Doesn't sacrifice offensive capabilities -Discourages focusing -Offers direct countering As stated previously, defensive items should be seen as second to offensive items. They should only be purchased if absolutely necessary. The defensive items in this list are inherently detrimental to the damaging capabilities of the build compared to purchasing an offensive item in this slot. With that being said, however, even after the addition of a defensive item in place, it is rare that He Bo will fall behind in damage numbers and magical power to opposing mages. Players will not have to sacrifice their offensive pressure with this addition. He Bo should be equipped with a defensive item in situations where enemy oppression exceeds his own. Building sufficient protections will discourage enemies from focusing He Bo, or at the very least, make accomplishing this task more difficult. Certain items may provide direct counter measures to enemy strategies, i.e. CC protection and immunity will allow players to avoid being locked down long enough to either escape or turn the battle into more favorable conditions. |
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Spear of the magus cost: 2550 +110 Magical Power +12% Magical Lifesteal +10% Magical Penetration |
PASSIVE - Any god you damage becomes marked and debuffed to take 7.5% increased damage from all sources for 7s. This effect can only affect one god at a time and can only occur once every 15s. Spear of the Magus is a great alternative item to Soul Gem in the wildcard slot. It provides equal lifesteal, but trades out cooldown for more power and pen. The pen especially, along with this item's passive, provide huge benefits against double tank comps and synergize well with Soul Reaver.
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Bancroft's talon cost: 2500 +100 Magical Power +15% Magical lifesteal +150 Mana |
PASSIVE - You gain additional Magical Power and Lifesteal scaled from missing Health. This caps at 100 power and 20% Lifesteal at 25% Health. Bancroft's Talon is a great situational pickup offering lots of sustain in lane, while providing he Bo with offensive counter measures to highly combative enemies. Players can make use of this item's passive in high risk environments to create higher rewards in blow for blow situations. It may pick up where Pendulum of Ages starts to fall off in terms of bonus power, depending on how long fights last.
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Chronos' pendant cost: 2600 +100 magical power +20 MP5 +20% Cooldown reduction |
PASSIVE - Every 10s the Pendant activates, subtracting 1s from all of your abilities currently on cooldown. The initial countdown will not start until you leave the fountain. Chronos' Pendant is the go-to item for significant cooldown reduction in a pinch. Luckily, with a high magical power stat, this item can fit rather seamlessly into the builds integrity and offers a fair amount of pushback to enemy Gods who are dominating lane and keeping He Bo on the back foot. Players should be mindful not to build any other CDR, as once Pendulum of Ages is completed, you will be at max CDR. This, however, is beneficial to He Bo, as it allows players to keep He Bo's high damaging abilities on extremely low cooldowns, maintaining considerable damage output at a high and consistent rate.
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stone of binding cost: 2300 +250 health +40 Physical protection +40 magical protection +10 mp5 |
PASSIVE – Successfully hitting an enemy god with a Crowd Control ability will place a debuff on them, reducing their Physical and Magical Protections by 0 + 1 per level for 5s. This is a fantastic item for providing blanket protections in applications where He Bo is being targeted by the enemy team, or is finding specific enemies difficult to deal with. The passive allows He Bo to counter harass enemies by using his crowd control to get the most out of Stone of Binding's passive. The protections + pen nature of this item means it can help with high damage enemies who are building some protections, such as warriors or tankier assassins.
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Breastplate of valor cost: 2300 +65 Physical protection +300 Mana +10 MP5 +20% Cooldown reduction |
Breastplate of valor is the only completely one sided defensive item on this list, and so it should only be purchased against very physically dominant teams. This may come in the form of many physical Gods, or one very dangerous one who is targeting He Bo on a consistent basis. It's cooldown reduction means players can keep a max 40%. This gives a similar effect to Chronos' Pendant, but in a more defense oriented way. Not only will the protections allow He Bo to maintain his survivability in lane, but the CDR will allow He Bo to consistently use his CC abilities to break up and interrupt offensive pushes on him. The mana fits greatly into the Book of Thoth + Soul Reaver synergy, along with the mp5 fitting with the Book of Thoth + Pendulum of Ages synergy.
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Breastplate of determination cost: 2900 +65 Physical Protection +300 Mana +10 MP5 +20% Cooldown Reduction |
GLYPH - Each time you are hit by an ability, gain a stack of 5 Protections that corresponds to the damage type you were hit with, up to a max of 4 of each type. Once you reach max stacks of both kinds, gain a burst of 20% Movement Speed and double your Protections gained by this effect for 8s, after which all stacks are removed. This item has all the benefits of Breastplate of Valor. Due to the dynamic nature of the way this item grants protections, in matches with physically dominant teams He Bo will be able to hold on to the physical protection stacks for much longer. Once the buff reaches max stacks, He Bo is granted with double the protections and movement speed, often guaranteeing his survival. This item at full power provides 153 physical protection and 88 magical protection (base stats included) from one item.
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Magi's Cloak cost: 2150 +10% Cooldown Reduction +30 Magical Protection +30 Physical Protection |
PASSIVE - Absorbs a single hard Crowd Control or Root effect once every 70 seconds. When this occurs, the owner also receives 1s of CC immunity. Magi's Cloak is a great defensive choice for matches where players are being consistently targeted by CC heavy Gods. The protections give sustainability for He Bo to last slightly longer as players attempt to either get away, or use the CC immunity to turn a fight. The CDR from this item will not make you hit cap, so feel free to build another CDR item like Spear of Desolation if you so choose. Be mindful that any form of CC can trigger the passive, so attempt to coordinate with team mates to force enemies to use meaningful CC on you, effectively wasting an ability that could have been crucial to a team fight.
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Mantle of discord cost: 2900 +55 Physical Protection +55 Magical Protection +10% Cooldown Reduction |
Passive – If you take damage below 30% health you unleash a shockwave that stuns all enemies within a range of 20 units for 1s and become immune to Crowd Control for 1s. This effect cannot trigger more than once every 90s. *NOTE* The passive has a 0.4s cast time before the stun hits. CC immunity occurs instantly upon trigger of the passive. This item is also helpful for combatting CC heavy Gods, with the added benefit of some significant protections and cooldown reduction. Although this item cannot absorb a crowd control effect, it will grant immunity, making this item slightly better than Magi's Cloak in situations where your team can provide heavy counter CC, playing off Mantle of Discord's stun. Be mindful that this item requires players to sustain significant damage before triggering, and so like usual, initiating with CC is best saved for the team support. However, this item is still very beneficial for turning the tides of otherwise grim situations.
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Aegis of Acceleration cost: 800 |
Using this item makes you invulnerable to damage and healing for 1.5s, and prevents you from taking any actions. You may still move. Each instance of damage prevented in this time provides you 7% Movement Speed for 4s, stacking up to 3 times. Cooldown: 140s This is a default option for most mages. As a mage in joust, you will often face abilities which will have you sustaining sometimes fatal amounts of damage. Anticipating enemy action and activating  Aegis Amulet will prevent your death. The added movement speed burst grants a much needed boost to he Bo's mobility in times when it is of utmost importance, and will ensure your return to safety in most situations when used properly. As a burst mage, you may find yourself in dangerous situations with all abilities on cooldown. This item may buy you enough time for your abilities to come back online, or for an ally to come to your aid.
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Chaotic Beads cost: 800 |
Using this item removes Crowd Control Effects and makes you immune to new ones for 2s. Any hard Crowd Control or Root Effect that is cleansed during this time, including on activation, sends out a homing projectile to the enemy who applied it, dealing True Damage equal to 7% of their Maximum Health. Cooldown: 140s This is another must grab in most games. It cleanses CC and grants immunity to new CC. This will break you free from long CC chains, save you from early rushes that attempt to isolate you from your team and take advantage of your lack of mobility, and often save you from situations which would result in your death. It will allow you to continue your ability chain amidst CC heavy onslaughts or escape from danger. The added damage punishes CC attempts and may ward off enemy engage attempts. This should be picked up in most games. If absolutely necessary, fully upgrade this relic after your first three of four items have been purchased. Otherwise, wait until all items are online. |
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Temporal Beads cost: 800 |
Using this item removes Crowd Control Effects and makes you immune to new ones for 2s. Reduces active cooldowns by 3s. Cooldown: 140s This is another must grab in most games, providing near equal value to Chaotic Beads. It cleanses CC and grants immunity to new CC. This will break you free from long CC chains, save you from early rushes that attempt to isolate you from your team and take advantage of your lack of mobility, and often save you from situations which would result in your death. It will allow you to continue your ability chain amidst CC heavy onslaughts or escape from danger. The added cooldown will likely reset all of He Bo's abilities (excluding Crushing Wave), allowing players to completely refresh their ability chain and potentially turning the tides of a team fight or focusing attempt. If absolutely necessary, fully upgrade this relic after your first three of four items have been purchased. Otherwise, wait until all items are online.
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Scorching Blink Rune cost: 800 |
Using this item will allow you to teleport up to 45 units away instantly, leaving behind a trail of wildfire that deals 20 (+4 per level) True Damage every 0.5s for the next 4s. Enemies are damaged for 1s after leaving the flames. This item cannot be used if you have taken or dealt damage in the last 3s. Cooldown: 120s This item is not advised on most mages, and should not be your priority pick for most games with He bo. It should only be purchased in games where the enemy team composition has low lockdown and peel capabilties, or in games where the first three relics are not necessary. It is best to ensure that all abilities including ult are online before engaging using this item. When possible, ult your way back to safety, attempting to land killing blows on you enemies in the process. The fire effect will help greatly in this process. It is not advised to use this item as a means to engage enemies whose full team is present in lane, unless they are all at considerably low health. Wait until the all other items are online before purchasing this full upgrade. |
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Claw shard cost: 0 |
Upon using this relic, you gain 15 + 1.5 Magical Power, 10 + 1.5 Physical Power per level, 20% Magical Lifesteal and 10% Physical Ability Lifesteal for the next 3s. Cooldown: 120s Claw Shard is the go-to shard option on He Bo. When timed correctly, this item allows He Bo to be more aggressive in the earlier stages of a match and help secure kills with ease. Players can use this item in conjunction with max Steady Flow stacks in order to gain the most benefits out of it. It is not recommended that players activate this item unless doing so will result in a kill, or otherwise meaningful result such as peeling an enemy off of you or your teammates, saving them from death.
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horn shard cost: 0 |
Your non-ultimate ability cooldowns are reduced by 0.5s every 0.5s for the next 3s. Cooldown: 120s This item, while being beneficial, should still come second to Claw Shard. This item provides similar kill securing potential, but in a slightly different way. Often times in the early stages of a match, He Bo can struggle to be useful due to abilities being down at inconvenient times. This may come in the form of missing a kill opportunity, or dying as a result of having to wait for cooldowns. Horn Shard can help in these regards.
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Staff of myrddin cost: 2650 +10% Cooldown Reduction +105 Magical Power +10% Magical Penetration |
PASSIVE – When your ultimate ability has finished casting you gain Myrddin’s Rage which provides 20% Increased Damage Dealt, decaying to 2.5% Increased Damage Dealt over 8s. At the end of the 8s you lose Myrddin’s Rage. This can only occur once every 45s. This item is a great alternate item that can be built in place of Soul Reaver. In most situations this would not be recommended, however certain applications can benefit from this. In losing the mana synergy from Soul Reaver + Book of Thoth, you instead gain significant damage bursts when combined with Spear of the Magus. Comparing Soul Reaver and Staff of Myrddin, the breakdown is as follows: The first hit from Soul Reaver (assuming 805 base power, and all hits from  Waterspout) deals 1,000.5 damage. This is higher than Staff of Myrddin's first hit at 910.8. However, the first and second hit from Staff of Myrddin (910.8, 891.8 respectively) deal more than all subsequent hits of Soul Reaver (876.75). The third hit of Staff of Myrddin being at 872.85 is lower, but still comparable.
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Doom Orb cost: 2850 +145 Magical Power +200 Mana +25 MP5 +4% Movement Speed |
PASSIVE – Killing or assisting an enemy minion provides you with 1 stack, granting you 1% Movement Speed and 4 Magical Power per stack. Stacks last for 15s and stack up to 5 times. Enemy gods provide 5 stacks. This item works very well if you find yourself jungling frequently, running from enemies, or having a hard time catching up to enemies. Alternatively, this is a great pick if you notice that a significant amount of team fights are happening in lane. You will benefit from this item more during the later stages in the game when your wave clear is better. Having very high magical power, high mana, good mp5, this item should take the place of Soul Reaver once again as it fills the void that Soul Reaver leaves almost perfectly.
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Charon's Coin cost: 2400 +90 Magical Power +20% Magical Penetration +7 HP5 +20 MP5 EVOLVED CHARON'S COIN: +80 Magical Power +20% Magical Penetration +35 HP5 +35 MP5 8% Movement Speed |
PASSIVE - On god kill or assist a coin is flipped. If heads, you gain a stack of 7 HP5. If tails, you gain a stack of 2% Movement Speed. Each effect can stack up to 4 times and at 8 stacks this item evolves. You also gain 1 gold every time the coin is flipped. EVOLVED PASSIVE - On god kill or assist a coin is flipped. If heads, you gain 150 Health over 6 seconds. If tails, you gain 5% Movement Speed for 6 seconds. You also gain 1 gold every time the coin is flipped. Charon's Coin is a fantastic substitute for Obsidian Shard. The addition of this item will provide a steep increase in penetration, and an appropriate amount of power. It also provides high utility, with it's stacking movement speed and evolved movement speed buff. This is a great way to get around He Bo's low mobility. Substituting for both this item and Doom Orb will make for quite the mobile He Bo. The mp5 + hp5 bonuses also help his sustain greatly.
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| Standard build |
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Pendulum of Ages, Book of Thoth, and Steady Flow. With the nature of Pendulum of Ages passive, players lose magical power as they waste mana. With He Bo, however, the opposite is true. Per the item's passive, 100 magical power is given at max mana, and decays by 10 for every 10% mana the player uses. However, Steady Flow grants 92.28 magical power at max stacks. This means that where another mage with equal base power (769) would begin to decay, He Bo is given a 92.28 magical power buffer. In fact, if that same mage were to use 90% of their mana, they would now be at 679 power, down from 769. If He Bo were to use the same 90%, he would be at 771.28 power; not only higher than the other mage, but higher than what he started with.| Tank Shred Rush Build |
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Spear of the Magus allows for earlier tank shredding capabilities, and because of this, should be immediately followed up by Obsidian Shard when dealing with very tanky teams. The % pen from these items will deal with them well, and the passives from Spear of the Magus + Soul Reaver will work well together into the final stages of the match.| Cooldown + mp5 Build |
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| Protections + Cooldown Build |
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Pendulum of Ages + Book of Thoth + Soul Reaver.|
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Rod of tahuti cost: 2850 +120 Magical Power +30 MP5 +10% Magical Penetration |
PASSIVE - Basic Attacks and Abilities gain 25% additional Magical Power against targets below 50% Health. Rod of Tahuti has dominated the last item slot of mage builds as the clear go-to for years. And while still holding up today, I believe it's place in this build would be too forced. The price of the item would require that it be built last (or near last) in most games. However, the issue with this is that the final items of the existing build are too valuable to replace. So, naturally, people's first instinct is to push the purchase order of Soul Reaver and Obsidian Shard up a slot, while removing the mid game wild card slot. This would allow them to keep the late game synergy while still slotting in Rod of Tahuti. The issue with doing this is that the wild card item slot is where most of this build's counter building comes from. The wild card slot allows this build to be diverse in nature, adapting to a variety of circumstances with ease. The first thought now would be to add Rod of Tahuti as an alternate item in the wild card slot. However, I do not believe there are enough situations, if any at all, which would require this item to be purchased over any of the other wild card items. I have heard of a lot of people say that Rod of Tahuti is comparable to Spear of the Magus, as they have similar stats and passives that work in slightly similar ways. In a team based competitive environment, I believe it is always better to go with the item who's passive can be taken advantage of by everyone on the team. And in this case, that item would be Spear of the Magus.
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Archmage's gem cost: 2200 +120 Magical Power +200 Mana +25 MP5 |
PASSIVE - Every 1s you gain a stack of Demise, causing your next damaging ability to deal an additional 1.5% of your Magical Power in damage and remove all stacks. This effect stacks up to 20 times. Archmage's gem is the worse option between the 2 upgrades of  Conduit Gem on He Bo. While very powerful on Gods with hard-hitting single abilities, He Bo is a God who thrives when all of his abilities are used in succession (this is highlighted by Steady Flow), and will not gain any benefits from his other abilities when the stacks on  Archmage's Gem are consumed.
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Gem of focus cost: 2200 +100 Magical Power +150 Health +15 MP5 |
PASSIVE - Every time you cast an ability that costs mana you gain a stack of Focus for 10s, providing 5% Movement Speed and 5% Damage Increase, stacking up to 3 times. Gem of Focus, while being the better of the two Conduit Gem upgrades, still is not recommended in this build. This starter item is actually very effective, and synergizes with He Bo's passive Steady Flow quite nicely. The issue is that every item in this build has been carefully chosen to specifically tailor to and center around Pendulum of Ages. Therefore, Gem of Focus would not be able to benefit from these items as well. With another build, this starter can be a very good choice on He Bo.
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Warlock's staff cost: 2500 +95 Magical Power +150 Health +200 Mana EVOLVED WARLOCK'S STAFF: +155 Magical Power +225 Health +200 Mana +10% Magical penetration |
PASSIVE - You permanently gain +1 Health and +0.8 Magical Power per Stack, and receive 5 Stacks for a god kill and 1 Stack per minion kill. (Max. 75 Stacks) This item seems great on the surface. It provides great magical power, good percent pen, and high amounts of defensive/utility stats like health and mana. Where this item becomes a cause for concern is in it's nature as a stacking item. It requires an investment for your late game at the cost of your early/mid game. He Bo naturally does not fare well with this style of building, as he is seen as a very late game leaning God. However, certain changes to items and stats means that He Bo can begin to come out of his comfort zone in this regard, but only slightly. The early/mid stages of the match are still crucial for He Bo, and could be a deciding factor in the way the rest of the game is played. Players will need any amount of support they can get until they start to snowball, and cannot afford to make any sacrifices. With Book of Thoth already being a risk factor in this regard, He Bo should pick up items that provide immediate benefits rather than double stacking, as too much of an early game investment/sacrifice may tilt the balance too far. If defense/sustain is a concern, there are more effective items in the form of defense.
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Skills
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STEADY FLOW (Passive): Every time He Bo uses an ability, he gains a 4% magical power buff that can stack 3 times. The passive has a duration of 5 seconds, but refreshes whenever an ability is used. Make use of this in any situation you can. (refer to combos section). |
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WATER CANNON (1): This is a close range cone attack that deals 60/110/160/210/260 damage +80% of your magical power. This requires you to get a little closer than usual, but pairs very well with Waterspout for a devastating combo. Also helpful in lane clearing.
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ATLAS OF THE YELLOW RIVER (2):This is a line/zoning ability that slows enemies by 20/25/30/35/40% and increases the speed of allies by the same amount. it has a duration of 7 seconds. This can be a very important ability for zoning objectives and confirming kills, along with getting you and your team mates out of trouble.
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WATERSPOUT (3): This is a ranged ground target knock up ability. It deals 70/120/170/220/270 +60% of your magical power. This and  Water Cannon will form the core of majority of your combos. This move acts as an excellent poke, a good lane clear, and a great initiator for combos/kill confirms.
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CRUSHING WAVE (4): This is a line ability that deals 350/430/510/590/670 +105% of your magical power. This move can either initiate or finish a combo, or even be used on its own. This ability is amazing for hitting multiple Gods bunched together in a team fight, turning the tides and either killing everyone or rendering them easy kill confirms for your team mates.
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|TOP PRIORITY| Crushing Wave|
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|2ND PRIORITY| Waterspout|
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|3RD PRIORITY| Water cannon|
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|LAST PRIORITY| Atlas of the yellow river|
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Bread and Butter
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Just as the title suggests, this is your bread and butter. You should use this as your basic form of attack. The knock up will make (most) Gods unable to move until they land, resulting in a perfect opportunity for
Water Cannon to be waiting for them on the ground. This is a basic combo but can be quite deadly. Click to View Bread and Butter Demo |
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Advanced Bread and Butter
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This combo simply acts as an extension of the last. The only difference here is that
Atlas of the Yellow River will keep your enemies in place while you attack, as well as adding a stack to Steady Flow, increasing your bread and butter damage.Click to View Advanced Bread and Butter Demo |
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Swift Submerge
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Upon completing the build, this combo should be enough to kill most non tanks.
Atlas of the Yellow River and Waterspout add 2 stacks (10% magical power), making Crushing Wave even more lethal. Use Crushing Wave while the enemy is still airborne from the knock up to ensure they can't escape. If the enemy happens to still be alive, quickly whip around and use Water Cannon once more.Click to View Swift Submerge Demo |
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Masterful Monsoon
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Masterful Monsoon makes use of every ability, maxing out
Steady Flow stacks. The order of the abilities is important, due to the fact that in this order, the damage for each ability scales from weakest to highest, meaning Steady Flow will scale to its max damage right in time for your most damaging move.Click to View Masterful Monsoon Demo |
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Tyrannical Torrent
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Tyrannical Torrent is only achievable by using
Staff of Myrddin. This devastating 7-hit combo will be initiated with a quick Water Cannon and Crushing Wave, which will activate Staff of Myrddin's passive. Starting the second half of the combo will be Waterspout. As it is on cooldown, you will have enough time for 2 Water Cannons in a row, utilizing it's already low cooldown reduction with Staff of Myrddins passive. Once this is complete, you can use the last of the uncapped cooldown for another Waterspout and Water Cannon. This tank-leveling combo deals 5,887.75 damage (before protections, item passives, and Atlas of the Yellow River).Click to View Tyrannical Torrent Demo |
Early game
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Early game is not always He Bo's strong suit. Get around this by clearing wave as often as you can, and frequently poking the enemy with Waterspout's decent range. Keeping your enemies at bay while you farm gold and experience is your fastest method of reaching late game. Make sure you stay with your team at almost every moment during the early game as a means to keep heavy lane pressure, minimize enemy breathing room, and to eliminate the chances of you getting caught alone. If this happens, you will likely not escape. With this in mind, you and your team should be warding areas such as gank points and buff camps, whilst trying to avoid being overextended. On the note of buff camps, you should always try to contest buff camps to deter the enemy from gaining leverage over you; but know when to pick your fights. Not all battles are winning battles, and a lost buff camp is favorable compared to a team mate's potential death. In the event you are able to walk away with one or more kills, focus on things such as recalling and purchasing items, or clearing xp camps. Tower pokes aren't very important at this stage, and the short respawn timers won't give you much time to work with. Clear the lane and let your minions push as you perform other tasks. You will want to stick with grabbing the mana buff for most of the early game. When choosing to engage an enemy or leave lane for a buff camp, ensure that you always clear the lane before hand. Lane clearing should take first priority. |
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click to view early game heat map (S7, 10) |
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click to view early game heat map (S3, 9) |
Mid game
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He Bo's wave clear will likely become more efficient with the steady increase in power. At this stage of the game, you may stop relying so heavily on your support and begin to coordinate rotations with your team. Splitting up to control more camps will cut the enemies resources and allow your team to become more aggressive in lane and around the map. At this point in the match, your abilities will start to become lethal, and your pokes will turn to full combos. With some assistance, you will be able to target the teams most valuable players and eliminate them with relative safety. Extending will start becoming less dangerous, and the focus should shift to taking objectives like towers and phoenixes. In team fight scenarios, do not leave yourself exposed to the enemy. You are an asset to the team at this point, so staying further back and casting your abilities from a safe distance is essential. Learn more in the Macro Gameplay section. |
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click to view mid game heat map (S7, 10) |
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click to view mid game heat map (S3, 9) |
Late game
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At this stage in the game, most of your items will be online. For the most part, late game will play out similarly to mid game, just more devastating. Primary objectives such as towers and phoenixes along with other objectives such as demon king should take priority. You should also be switching to primarily getting the damage buff. Most fights you engage in should be team fights, but you are very capable of solo killing enemies if you are sure the area is clear. Very few things can stand in your way, yet for this very reason it becomes crucial that you are not targeted. Your abilities are extremely lethal and can turn the tides of any battle, so use them wisely and proceed through the map with caution. If enemy locations are unknown, travel with your team. You and your team should be placing wards at more crucial areas such as demon king, and new gank points that may open up as objective structures are destroyed. Make sure to keep up with clearing buff camps, and stealing any enemy buff and xp camps that you are able to. At max level and full build, you don't have much else to gain, so your one and only goal should be doing whatever is necessary to end the game. Most times, this means getting rid of any threats that may stand in your way and attacking objective. If the game has come to a stalemate, begin attempting to bait enemies, force team fights, etc. Draw out your enemies in any way possible to open up opportunities for objective play. |
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click to view late game heat map (S7, 10) |
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click to view late game heat map (S3, 9) |
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Scroll maps
Ward maps
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|Q:| What do I do if I'm being targeted?|
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GUARDIAN SYNERGY
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WARRIOR SYNERGY
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HUNTER SYNERGY
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ASSASSIN SYNERGY
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Thank you very much for sitting through this guide. I truly hope you have learned something here; He Bo player or not. The intention of this guide has always been for old and new smite players alike to gather and share what they know. I am learning new things about smite, and even He Bo, every single day and that is my hope for everyone else as well. Please feel free to comment or critique, as I am always updating. This guide and this build will forever remain a work in progress, and it is thanks to this wonderful community that I have been able to grow and adapt as this game adapts.
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October 27, 2015- Huge thank you to xXbeardAngelsXx for suggesting Obsidian shard as an effective penetration item. An even bigger thank you for stating a reason why.
October 28, 2015- Switched P.O. Of Gem of isolation and Book of thoth.
April 4, 2016- Added Pure Power build!!!
April 4, 2016- Added Match-Ups chapter!!!
April 4, 2016- Got rid of Warlock's sash
April 4, 2016- Got rid of Gem of Isolation
April 4, 2016- Added Spear of Desolation
April 4, 2016- Added Obsidian Shard
April 4, 2016- Switched P.O. of Book of Thoth
April 4, 2016- Switched P.O. of Ethereal Staff
April 4, 2016- Switched P.O. of Rod of Tahuti
April 4, 2016- Switched Wards for Mana Pots
April 4, 2016- Switched Magic Shoes to Shoes
May 12, 2016- Thank you Technotoad64 for helping me with the complete color change!!!
May 12, 2016- Changed all font sizes
May 16, 2016- Changed title (was "he bo s3 updated build/guide all around + pure power")
June 22, 2016- Switched mana cost for waterspout
February 14, 2017- Prepared the way for Season 4!!
June 26, 2017- Removed Rallying ritual and Revealing ritual
March 1, 2018- Switched out Soul stone for Mage's blessing
March 1, 2018- First step into Season 5 transition. Stay tuned!
March 1, 2018- Replaced Pros/Cons with Build Stats
March 1, 2018- Complete transition into Season 5!!
May 10, 2018- Switched P.O. of Rod of Tahuti and Rod of Desolation
December 14, 2018- Complete revision of Pure Power build
December 14, 2018- eliminated All Around build
December 14, 2018- added Updates, Thoughts, and Plans for the Future chapter
December 14, 2018- Changed title (was "Swift and sure, we must flow to victory! S5 updated (all modes))
April 8, 2019- Complete UI overhaul
May 27, 2019- Build re-examination
May 30, 2019- Corrected some minor mistakes in guide
August 28, 2019- Added Synergy section
september 11, 2019- Switched P.O. of shamans ring and shoes of the magi
october 19, 2019- updated skill order
February 26, 2019- Those who oppose me shall be swept aside! S7 updated (Joust): Guide overhaul for season 7
June 19, 2020- changed P.O of Obsidian shard and charon's coin
December 3, 2020- Updated item and ability stats
SMITEFire is the place to find the perfect build guide to take your game to the next level. Learn how to play a new god, or fine tune your favorite SMITE gods’s build and strategy.
Copyright © 2019 SMITEFire | All Rights Reserved
Hook Slam
Throw Back
Groggy Strike
Mighty Yawn
Epic Uppercut
Charge Prey
Verdant Growth
Nature's Grasp
Wisps
Wrath of Terra
Conviction
Warrior's Will
Cavalry Charge
Taolu Assault
Earthbreaker
Driving Strike
Excavate
Fearless
Power Cleave
Vengeful Assault
Still Target
Suppress The Insolent
Lovestruck
Heart Bomb
Share The Love
Flutter
Spirit Arrow
Broken Weave
Moonlight Charge
Gravity Surge
Unchained
Brutalize
Ragnarok
Universe Ring Toss
Armillary Sash
Wind Fire Wheels
The builds in this guide are representative of the current joust meta. HOWEVER, ALL information present in the written guide section are not.
Once the guide has been sufficiently updated to correspond with the new builds and current joust map, this comment will be deleted and replaced with a new one. until then, PLEASE DISREGARD THE GUIDE INFORMATION.
The Smite fire UI overhaul/mobile update, while fantastic in many many ways, has severely interfered with this guide's BB code and overall design. I am working to find ways around this, including experimenting with other design options. Please excuse the horribly designed guide for the time being!
Can't remember if the announcement was made public on SmiteFire or not. If it hasn't, Bran will likely do a public announcement soon.
As far as I know, a fix is in the works to take care of this BBCoding problem.
Center has now been fixed and columns is being worked on. Hold tight.
I'm muffinboy and bremz is draisaitl
https://smite.guru/match/1026949480
Bancrofts > Magi Shoes > Typhon's Fang > Divine Ruin > Soul Reaver > Obsidian Shard (or get Charon's earlier in the build and delay Reaver and/or typhons). If you want defense get Breastplate of Valor (pretty common pickup on him from what i've seen).
Also He Bo can be flexed in Mid, Jungle or ADC (ADC if you have a hunter in Mid).
One thing that I think is slightly weird/misplaced is usage of Charon's, which you say in the writeup is a good potential substitute for
Another reason I don't think it's quite an alternative to Deso is that in your main build, your first CDR item is Deso, as you're not picking up
Thoughts?
To be honest, of all the situational items listed, I had the least time to experiment with charon's, so i find this input very useful. Also, I had strongly considered listing shoes of focus as a situational, so hearing it from an outside source practically confirms it.
As for charon's replacing obsidian shard in the primary build, I'll need to experiment a little more before committing to anything, but I will keep it in mind.
Thanks!