Ao Kuang - What Just Happened?! *Build + Very Short Usage Explanation*

Ao Kuang is all about burst, so using your abilities correctly is critical, though not difficult. If you plan on sneaking up on someone, you may want to start with Water Illusion, start the attack with Wild Storm, and then use Dragon Call to get the extra basic attack damage. If you plan to have no stealth, you can use Water Illusion for your escape after the kill. Avoid attacking a target when they have teammates by them who have a considerable amount of health remaining.

The example final build should be the base build you use, and then start using the alternates or situationals if you have say, a tank on the other team whom you have trouble taking down. The Demonic Grip is basically the magical version of The Executioner, so it is a great item for ignoring protection.

Early Game

For early game I recommend playing back, trying to single people out for kills, and take out camps. Just be in the tower to look scary. Your main focus should be camps and taking out stragglers.


Mid-Game

At this point you should be on or done with building Polynomicon. This is where you will be able to take on most of the people on the other team. You can either sit on the side and wait to gank, or you can stay near teammates and jump out for quick burst kills.

Late Game

Late game should be done with Rod of Tahuti and if not done already, buying actives/potions. You should be strong enough to take on two enemies at a time, depending on who they are. The damage output and this point will be enough to efficiently take out 2 enemies, and most hunters will be easy to take out as you can walk around them while attacking to avoid being hit. If both teams are struggling to take down the others' phoenix or titan, then you may have to backdoor, sneaking around the enemies and taking out an objective, to be able to end the game. Ao Kuang is very efficient in these situations.

I can only think of a few gods that can counter Ao Kuang. (If you have more, tell me in the comments)

1. Neith - I feel Neith can counter Ao Kuang easily. If you have used stealth to attack her, (Water Illusion) then she can flip away from you and continue attacking. You will probably need Combat Blink to compensate for that ability.

2. Xing Tian - If his ult is ready, you can go in for an attack and immediately be thrown away or into a tower, and then attacked. You may be able to fend off just him doing this not into a tower, but usually he throws me into a tower with a teammate ready to attack me. You will need beads to get away from this one.

3. Loki - I feel that Loki has more maneuverability, and can take out Ao Kuang easily. He can go invisible like Ao Kuang, but his gives his next attack more damage, and he can just teleport to you and attack. You could try to counter this with Shield of the Underworld or just plain avoiding encounters with Loki.

For early game Ao Kuang, it's mostly staying back, getting camps, and taking out lone targets. Make sure you use your abilities correctly, or else it can easily result in your demise. You need to make sure you can burst kill your enemies, or else they could get help/kill you before you kill them. The example build is what you should be using unless there is a major tank or certain enemy you need to adjust for. Make sure to avoid your counter gods, and most importantly, kill everything.

This is my first guide, and critique is encouraged. (Thrown together in about 30 mins.)

A MIGHTY SWORD!