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Hi all, I'm DodgeNDive and this is my Assassin/ADC hybrid Xbalanque. A little background about myself; I'm an avid fan of Arena game mode, because it's a short and sweet play time packed full of combat goodness.
NOTE: This guide is most effective in ARENA, I have not tested it for Conquest.
Xbalanque is my go-to God when I ADC (Attack Damage Carry) for my team because of his excellent Area of Effect (AoE) skills.
First, we'll get the obvious questions out of the way;
-"What kind of ADC build is this? What's an Assassin/ADC hybrid?"
I'll be the first to admit that I've made up the name, but from it you can get an idea of how this build will play out overall. You jump in, get a kill with your abilities and get out like an Assassin would, but you can also stick around and auto-attack people into submission like an ADC would.
-"What made you come up with this build?"
Xbalanque's 3rd ability is best used as a chain from his 2, and his 2 is best used at (as close as possible to) point blank. So my initial reaction is "hey, I'll blink over instead of running over". And thus "XBlinkque" was born (a play on words with Xbalanque+Blink, the bread and butter of the build, get it? aha).
-"What's with the weird ability set up?"
Well, that will be answered in the skills discussion.
And so without further ado, let's discuss how "XBlinkque" works! (Feel free to be the first to come up with how to pronounce it properly)
Any constructive criticism are always welcome, words of encouragement and appreciation will always be encouraged and appreciated too of course! And as always, thank you for your time.
PROS
Hint: Set Rising Jaguar to instant trigger instead of default trigger.
Below are the skill by skill breakdown, listed by relevance. A paragraph at the end of this section will explain why we allocate into the skills the way we do as "XBlinkque".
For items, I will go through the picks I usually do when I play first - followed by additional options discussions afterwards.
Your ultimate Darkest of Nights is a true asset for your team when it comes to Engagements, both offensively and defensively. So be sure to learn when is best to use it. A few examples are as follows:
-If the enemy guardian blink/dash ahead too far from the rest of their team. Your ult will impede the follow up damage that comes with the initiation, giving your team time to react and counter-attack.
-When your guardian is initiating. Use your ult so your team can isolate a target or two before the real team fight begins.
-When an ally Assassin pulls off a gank. Use your ult to cover their escape.
Positioning
As "XBlinkque", you will take position on the rear or either flanks of your team. Against gods with deadly AoE ults such as Ares, Bakasura, and Odin, take the flank. Against gods with single target ganking capabilities such as Loki and Serqet, take the rear position. If both types are present in the opposing team, take note on which will make their move and take the corresponding position. Be ready to use your dash as a defensive action.
Early Game Engagements - Offensive
If you know your team will cover your escape, and you know you'll get the kill on your target, then you can initiate with your blink. You grab a quick kill and turn the fight into a 5v4 in your team's favour. This is not without risks, and your risk is heightened depending on how many opponents can pull off a quick hard CC (e.g. Anubis, Thor, Hercules) and how close they are to your target.
As always, it is safer to let your Guardian do the initiation. When your mage follows in, they will throw their abilities - they might hit, might miss, might secure a kill, etc. Depending on this result, you will either blink in and secure kills then create more kills with your AD power, or you will blink in, deal AoE slow and discourage counter attacks by punishing them with your Bola.
Early Game Engagements - Defensive
When the enemy team attacks, you will first retreat away from your team before using Blink to regroup with them. This way you will lose whoever was chasing you and can now concentrate attack on whoever is chasing your team, or help a member of the team escape a chase.
If no enemies chase you when you retreat away, use your blink to position yourself behind or to the flank of your enemy team, take note as best you can on the CC abilities that are still up on the enemy team while you do so. Use Poison Darts to slow as many of them as possible, then use Rising Jaguar as an escape. Pulling off this manoeuvre is difficult, at times the entire enemy team will turn to face you and kill you. The trade is quite safe, however if you are able to pull off a quick kill - so take note on any enemies that are low on hp to spot this chance.
Mid to Late Game - Offensive
You can rely on your Auto Hits more comfortably now, so you can follow the standard ADC rule of engagement. Follow your team, pick your target and create kills. If you didn't pick up Sprint, use your blink to come to the aid of one of your other teammates, creating a quick 2v1 kill so you can both move on to the next target.
The same rule of early game offensive applies, but you now have the option of following the engagement on foot without using your blink. This way you are able to use it for a chase and secure a kill or two that your team might've lost otherwise.
Mid to Late Game - Defensive
You now have the option to stick with your allies, using Poison Darts to slow the enemies' advance and saving your Rising Jaguar as a dash for escape while throwing Bolas at an enemy whose attention is 'tunnel vision' on one of your fleeing teammates. Your blink can also be used if their initial target of engagement includes you in its viscinity, if you're fast enough to do this then you will still have your dash to add even more distance if needed.
Alternatively, your mobility through blink and dash enables you to counter attack and disengage before your team can. If you're able to occupy one of the enemy main damage dealer ( Ao Kuang or He Bo for example) then you will again save your allies from a lot of pain.
Overall, I wrote this guide because I've had much fun with a blinking Xbalanque, and wanted to share it with the community. I also think that with this style of playing, you will become a great asset for your team as you can gank, chase, and aid in offense as well as defense more effectively than most other pure ADC Gods in Arena. When I play using this build, my player damage stat at the end of the match consistently hit 30k. This is because this build has a high ability damage output during early game, transitioning to a high auto attack damage output during the late game.
I am in no way a build-making guru, and as such I apologise for any shortcomings in writing this build. If you have the time to spare, don't be shy to suggest improvements on the build and strategy, as well as the formatting of the guide itself. I will always consider constructive criticism in a positive light, and would appreciate any comments at all.
I hope you enjoyed the guide, I thank you for the time you took in reading it, and may the Gods favor you today!
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This is... interesting?
Not sure if that was a question directed at me or if it was rhetorical aha
I'd say the way the build choose not to level up its ultimate, Darkest of Nights in favour for scaling ahead its other abilities could be considered interesting maybe?
I do the same when I am supporting with Tyr, because the way I play, I rarely initiate with the ult - preferring to use it as a CC immune escape. Some people may frown upon that notion, but I'm one of those players who likes to try out and experiment with fresh ideas ^_^
As such, I have placed a note at the Introduction to clarify that this guide is written for Arena play.
I will try to write a section about gameplay and teamwork, though I'm unsure what elements I should include in it. I will do my best, but if you (or anyone reading this) have suggestions on specific elements of the gameplay and teamwork that I should include, please do let me know.
I went for Deathbringer before Rage in this build because the 400g difference is not too big, and the extra 20 Phys Power aids the Blink+Poison Darts+ Rising Jaguar combo. However, because you've pointed it out, I've done some testing and can say the extra 20 Phys Power is minute so have now switched the order of Rage and Deathbringer.
I will try to have a Teamwork & Gameplay section by tomorrow.
Once again, thank you!
uhm for a guide I miss gameplay teamwork section at least. this is a build atm
the spoilers so many. you can use a lot less spoilers. most of them shouldn't be there.
I'm not such a fan of your build. but uhm second item is mostly LS for the adc and 3th pen (or power) that's a small mistake I would like to point out. I don't feel like criticizing it because I don't play arena and I see it working out. Only point is I would take Rage before Deathbringer because it's cheaper and let you pump out crits faster. this will do more damage then hope for a crit with huge damage so the lower damage crits do in total more damage and are more common.