Smite Zeus Build Guide: Zeus Conquest Mid (Incon inspired)

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Smite God: Zeus

Tap Mouse over an item or ability icon for detailed info

Zeus Build

Full Build

Shoes of the Magi

Book of Thoth

Winged Blade

Obsidian Shard

Rod of Tahuti

Spirit Robe

Leave Base

Sands of Time

Boots

Healing Potion

Mana Potion

Early Game Greed Build

Shoes of the Magi

Book of Thoth

Dynasty Plate Helm

Obsidian Shard

Rod of Tahuti

Spirit Robe

Late Game Greed Build

Shoes of the Magi

Warlock's Staff

Dynasty Plate Helm

Obsidian Shard

Rod of Tahuti

Spirit Robe

Zeus's Skill Order

Chain Lightning

1 X

2 8 11 12 14

Aegis Assault

2 A

1 15 16 18 19

Detonate Charge

3 B

3 4 6 7 9

Lightning Storm

4 Y

5 10 13 17 20

2 8 11 12 14

Chain Lightning

1 X

Zeus fires a bolt of lightning that arcs between enemies, doing damage and applying a charge on each hit.

Ability Type: Projectile
Damage: 40 / 70 / 100 / 130 / 160 (+50% of your Magical Power)
Arcs: 4
Slow: 20%
Slow Duration: 2s
Cost: 50 / 55 / 60 / 65 / 70
Cooldown: 12s

1 15 16 18 19

Aegis Assault

2 A

Zeus throws his shield forward dealing damage to nearby enemies and apply a charge. The shield remains for 5s, and Zeus may target it with Basic Attacks or Chain Lightning. Each Basic Attack or first Chain Lightning arc that hits the shield will deal additional static damage and apply a charge in the area. While Zeus' shield is deployed, he gains Attack and Movement Speed. Zeus may refire the ability to recall the shield early.

Ability Type: Ground Target
Initial Damage: 60 / 105 / 150 / 195 / 240 (+50% of your Magical Power)
Static Damage: 55 / 65 / 75 / 85 / 95 (+30% of your Magical Power)
Attack Speed: 15 / 20 / 25 / 30 / 35%
Movement Speed: 15 / 17.5 / 20 / 22.5 / 25%
Cost: 60 / 65 / 70 / 75 / 80
Cooldown: 12s

3 4 6 7 9

Detonate Charge

3 B

Zeus detonates any charges that have accumulated on enemies, doing damage, multiplied by 1/1.7/2.4 depending on the number of charges.

Ability Type: Instant
Damage: 50 / 80 / 110 / 140 / 170 (+25% of your Magical Power)
Cost: 60
Cooldown: 10s

5 10 13 17 20

Lightning Storm

4 Y

Zeus conjures a Lightning Storm, striking enemies in the area every second. Applies a charge with each hit.

Ability Type: Ground Target
Damage per Hit: 100 / 145 / 190 / 235 / 280 (+55% of your Magical Power)
Max Damage: 500 / 650 / 800 / 950 / 1100 (+275% of your Magical Power)
Lifetime: 5s
Radius: 30
Cost: 100
Cooldown: 90s

Introduction

Hello again smitefire, its season 4 now and the meta has changed! It now takes two waves to hit level 2, which really favors early game midlaners. Ill be going over zeus abilities, why you get which items on him, when you should pick him in ranked, common things I see that should be avoided on him, as well as a summary.

This guide was originally inspired by Incon back in season 3 when he saw the value of having winged blade, when everyone was building mages pure dps at the time.

Introduction // Abilities // Items // Matchups // Items NOT to build // Summary // Credits //

Abilities

Chain Lightning

This is the ability that you max 2nd. Its the second ability you use to clear minions if needed, the slow doesnt change on it, and its the best thing to use right before Detonate Charge.

Remember if you are being chased, this ability will help to put distance between you and them, as well as poking them making them think twice about continuing chasing. Also a good ability to slow enemies in your ult too.

Aegis Assault

This ability is okay at rank 1, but doesnt do much mid game or late game. Max this ability LAST, you will rarely use it except to clear lane.

Detonate Charge

This is Zeus' nuking ability! This is what takes their midlaner down to half health at level 3. Definitely max this 1st and remember to use your Chain Lightning and auto attack combos to get the max potential out of this ability.

Lightning Storm

This ability is okay, definitely better than his Aegis Assault, but his detonate and chain lightning are so much better, so I'd say after maxing Detonate Charge level this skill periodically afterwards.

This is all the damage you need!

You will find that these four items will allow you to one shot even the tankiest of players. The reason you dont build or even would be that it hurts your survivability. There is such a thing as too much damage, and without the health, cooldown, movement speed, anti slow, and protections these next items give you, youd be focused instantly.

I wish I could make a video showing how fast you can kill jungle practice ra. Or even how you can solo fire giant at max rank and survive with over 50% health with no lifesteal. Dont have a way of recording it ATM sadly.

gives you 300 health, 10% movement speed, 20% cc reduction, and 10% attack speed that works with his passive all for a cheap price of 1850 gold. This item will save you time and time again. It gives you survivability and increases damage output slightly and is overall very good on zeus. This item is a MUST HAVE!

is better than chronos pendant or warlocks sash. Like I've said earlier, you have more than enough damage with those 4 items ^^^^ with zeus, this rules out the need for chronos pendant and welcomes spirit robe instead. Chronos pendant is interesting this season, as its more expensive, but with its passive considered gives you around 30% cdr alone. However, Zeus is a burst mage meaning the little damage you get out of chronos in return for cooldown is not as good as the health, protections and movement speed you get out of the other two items. Since we are also starting with as our starting item, this means you will maintain your 10% cdr until the point you replace it with spirit robe, which is all the cdr zeus needs in my opinion.

These items are greedy because you are trading off mobility for pen and early game damage. Warlocks works well when your ahead, because late game the damage difference between thoth and warlocks is minimal. However you have to get to that fully stacked late game, and getting warlocks while behind is terible, since you wont be able to get stacks, and your damage will suffer greatly. Ive learend this first hand experience. If you are behind, its better to go thoth and still be somewhat relevant if your team sets you up.

Dynasty Helm is a really good mid game damage item, with nearly the same dps as just without the cooldown, while costing a lot less. However, zeus doesnt exactly need more damage, and the lack of mobility really hurts him there.

Matchups

Zeus is a high tier mage at the moment, with strong early lane aggression and great clear. Zeus has a great teamfight, with tons of range, and is relevant all game long. These are his lane matchups and how he handles them:

Easy

These gods you wont have a hard time against. Ah puch, hel, he bo, janus, nox, and scylla you will outclear and bully them all game long with superior range and damage. Even if they escape over a wall like in scylla's and janus's case, you will still detonate them. Aphro doesnt do enough damage to really warrant mid, shes just bad all around, and picking up a divine really shuts her down hard. Raijin, if he ults you ult, and he kills himself. The morrigan is fine, just use your 2-1 combo to reveal her and kill her.

Medium

Vulcan has good lane pressure and poke that makes him slightly annoying to lane against. Ra can heal some of your poke, but overall not a big issue. Thoth has poke of his own, but terrible early clear, just shut him down early and win game. Nu wa has very safe clear and self peel, still not a big deal. Anubis is very good a 1v1ing, but loses game because his teamfight sucks; just farm all game and build divine somewhere. Like anubis, isis also likes to contest the early game, however she has low base hp, and if she missed a spirit ball she dies. Kuku not that big of a deal, good early clear, solid ult, but acts more as a zoner with his tornadoes more than anything.

Hard

This is where things start to get hard. Agni, like zeus has lots of damage and range on his abilities. Difference is he has a stun and an escape. Most agnis arent too hard to deal with, but an experienced one can make your life hard. Pos with gem of iso is broken as **** and Im tired of seeing him ever ranged game. Isotalis makes it hard to get your combo on him, and he can 100 to 0 you if your actives are down. Hades has a lot off cc, better base protection than most mages, can dash your combo, better sustain because lane healing, and you cant do anything about his ult. He was buffed recently, and Id suggest to start taking him seriously now.

But thats pretty much it. Anything thats not listed is either irrelevant, or so easy you should 100% **** on them. Like neith mid or any other casuals. Really the only thing you need to worry about are enemy assassins and warding yourself. Zeus is a great god, and even though i dont play ranked anymore, Ive reached diamond 5 because of him.

Items NOT to build on Zeus

Same DPS as dynasty helm roughly, but 1100 gold more expensive. Zeus doesnt need the cooldown, and is more early game focused then late.

Does the same thing as spirit robe but worse, zeus doesnt need that much cooldown, and chronos is not much of a damage boost either.

HUGE nerfs this season. Its basically as bad soul reaver that gives you +200 health.

Zeus is a team fight god, this would hurt his potential, and would mean giving up survivability or worse, Book of Thoth. Like Ive said before, zeus has enough damage. Stick with other items that'll help keep you alive.

Summary

I still want to add more to the guide, but dont have the passion I used to. Hopefully this explains things well, and if you have any comments feel free to leave them.

Credits

Its been so long since I wanted to update this, that I forgot who I wanted to thank. Oh well, you know who you are...

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too little damage late game, winged blade seems like a waste as you still get melted anytime you are rushed by anyone

(400) |

Keep in mind, Incon inspired (for one)...was something he'd done...also...you really should note the date of the latest update...April 24, 2017. This is an old guide. Hence your "fatalis" comment below as well...at the time, it was available, though as we know it's all different now, since the mid-season patches.

(81) |

Back when this guide was last updated, really needed because of how slow his movement speed was. Sure being slowed is dangerous for just about any mage, but it was almost a guaranteed death sentence for Zeus. Now that his movement speed is on par with other mages, he doesn't really need WB anymore.

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(400) |

Now that I recall, it was also because was in its nerfed state also...didn't provide immunity to slows, only cleansed existing.

(400) |

Hey ricu,

Alright, so you've got the solid knowledge, strong reasons for your build, etc. I'm convinced. Let's see what else you might touch on...

remember, you asked for this XD

Alright, so you've got a bunch of "work in progress"es. Only thing I'll comment on that is, you do the matchups how you see fit. But in that section, rather than how some people do by just saying "this matchup is difficult, stay away from them, play safe, etc.," you might get into the very high level detail about exactly how to get the best of the specific god in question. You know how you'd play against a god, and some of those little details on tips/tricks might be perfect for what people are looking for to get that extra bit of improvement in their game. Might be...they can't pressure you much, and you can bait them since they have no escape...or you throw your Aegis Assault BEHIND them to make them uncomfortable or whatever reason because you know they're not going to be able to kill you and it'll be easier for you to confirm damage or...whatever. You get the idea.
Make all of your icons database links, rather than just pics.
Go into more depth with individual ability use. For Aegis Assault, for example, it's 2 sentences. Your skill leveling shows just one point until late, and that's fine and understood, but maybe just a bit more depth would make people understand to a deeper level...something like "This ability will be used for your wave clear, and should be leveled first. When hitting this with basic attacks, it provides a nice AOE effect to help clear the entire wave. As long as you're not pressured, throw it in the midst of the entire wave, slightly off-center so you can easily hit it with your basics. Remember, you can also use this as an extension to help your Chain Lightning hit farther targets.

However, leveling past this point is not nearly as helpful, as it's easy for enemies to avoid, and the damage increase is somewhat marginal. This should be prioritized LAST." Something like that.
With Chain Lightning, you've got better info than for Aegis, but you say it's the 2nd ability you use to clear, "if needed." Is that only if you're being pushed back and need to clear before the tower hits them? Or do you use this to help pressure by out-clearing the enemy?, and so trigger this sometimes immediately before or after throwing down your Aegis Assault? Give some additional tips on what works for you...unless you really don't want to share XD
Same with Lightning Storm...more detail would be great. You say the ability is "okay," but Detonate/Chain are so much better...why? Most people would say that potential damage makes it a priority...but you might let them know that the AOE is large, but is easy to avoid, doesn't provide any CC, etc...give tips...use this to zone, use this in combination with hard CC provided by teammates like Kumbhakarna/ Ymir whatever, to help you confirm more hits...make sure Detonate is handy for greater burst potential.
Don't forget combos...distance poke combo with Aegis/Chain/Det, Nuke combo with Chain/Light/Det, etc.
Again, link icons for people to pull up stats easily...your first 4 items are all huge, but you don't mention them by name below, so if they want that reference because they don't have it memorized (but I mean, who the hell doesn't have this stuff memorized, amirite?), they have to go all the way to the top of the guide, or open a different tab.
Check spelling/grammar, particularly in the "greed items" section.
If you insist on having a section about items NOT to get, make those icons smaller, so they have less emphasis. They're already too big as it is, in my opinion.
If you have enough potential content, make a specific tips/tricks chapter with much more specific info, things you just don't see other Zeus players do that helps you secure kills, escape death, or whatever...like, if you're being chased and they're close enough, throw your shield in front of you, and throw your Chain on it...if it hits the enemy, you slow them without ever having to turn around. (Does that work?)

I dunno, thoughts?

(12) |

Alright Ill add links to the images. That was something I used to do, but didnt bother with anymore because I didnt feel like it had much of an impact.

Ill back and check for grammar, as well as make the other images smaller. The code is size ...... /size in brackets right?

I dont feel like there is much more to add to the skills, they are pretty straight forward, but Ill look over them again.

And the last part, youre talking about adding something like I did with the thanatos guide? Sure I could probably do something like that.

(400) |

Yuppers.

Code:

[icon=Aegis Assault size=50]

And yeah, little things that can give people an edge that you don't always see them do...you talked about attack canceling and ranked play tips in your Thana guide...things like that.

what relics i must use?

(12) |

Relics always depends on who you are up against. But most of the time will be sanctuary sprint and purification.

(12) |

wrote:

I like this guide and I'm trying it out now! But just wondering, is it worthwhile to get doom orb as the first item, then sell it later in the game? I'm always a bit afraid to build doom orb on zeus because he has no escape and those stacks can be lost easily :(

The only gods that should build are ones that are nearly impossible to kill. So , , maybe , and since his heal has 75% scaling.

Like Polymos said above me, for 600 more gold you can have more mana, an instant 100 damage instead of 40, permanent stacks, etc. Mid laners tend to have an easy time farming, its not like thoth will put you behind in your build because of it price. Its definitely the better item.

(2) |

wrote:

I wouldn't recommend getting at all because the risk of getting those stacks up and losing half of it at early game is going to drag you down a lot if you can't manage to escape.

There's a much safer and better way of building up power quickly and that is by building essentially as the first item or second however you prefer it. Usually people would go for or as their go-to start for that movement speed as has terrible m.s. Again as I have said, I wouldn't suggest you to build at early game or even at all unless you're so confident in surviving ganks and push from enemy teams. If you're going to build you have to play very passive in order to keep your damage up and only push up when your team is with you or has a way to root/stun/lock other enemy gods so you can get some kills off the start.

The 1 thing every player knows is that he lacks the movement speed which also means he's very easily killed by ganks and push. I usually play a passive style for early game so I can build up my items before I start switching over to aggressive.

Again, is a matter of confidence and believing you can survive til mid game without dying. It's going to be hard if you're not a great player. If you want to play it safe, you can but its going to make you fall back in levels if the other team starts farming your minions before you can even kill theirs.

Personally, I suggest you just go for a shoe instead of stacks for first item, sure the damage is very high for considering how cheap it is to get it, but the worse case is you lose half of your hard earned stacks because you got caught off guard. is much safer and just cost 600 gold more.

(1) |

i usually play spear of the magus over shard and fatalis over winged blade, I never thought of going valor, I usually play with talon

fatalis isnt a thing since hirez was too lazy to even slightly balance it

I love me some Incon and I think you did a good job. Can't wait to get home and try it out.

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Zeus Conquest Mid (Incon inspired)

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Table of Contents

Introduction

Abilities

This is all the damage you need!

Matchups

Items NOT to build on Zeus

Summary

Credits

Zeus Conquest Mid (Incon inspired)

Smite God: Zeus

Zeus Build

Full Build

Leave Base

Early Game Greed Build

Late Game Greed Build

Zeus's Skill Order

Chain Lightning

Aegis Assault

Detonate Charge

Lightning Storm

Introduction

Abilities

This is all the damage you need!

Matchups

Items NOT to build on Zeus

Summary

Credits

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