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Athena Support Guide (Season 7.9)

143 8 580,088
9.4
by Setolino updated September 18, 2020

Smite God: Athena

Build Guide Discussion 119 More Guides
Choose a Build: Conquest Build
Conquest Build Conquest Build (Full CDR/CCR) Conquest Builds (Anti Healing) Conquest Build (vs heavy auto attackers)
Tap Mouse over an item or ability icon for detailed info

Athena Build

Starter Item

Notes Okay, let's face it: Guardian's Blessing is the only Support item to start with there is not other valid option period.

There is really only one reason why this item is in the current meta: That sweet extra gold, you get my boi.



Which Potions should i buy?

I wont tell anybody with which potion they should start. I prefer 4x Healing Potion and 2x Mana Potion, some prefer more early wards than the 1 default you get, or more/less potions.


Hand of the Gods is a important consunamble you should get at start, if you know the enemy lane has a faster clear than you. A enemy Izanami+Xing lane would be good moment to pick up HoG as a example

Notes

Okay, let's face it: Guardian's Blessing is the only Support item to start with there is not other valid option period.

There is really only one reason why this item is in the current meta: That sweet extra gold, you get my boi.



Which Potions should i buy?

I wont tell anybody with which potion they should start. I prefer 4x Healing Potion and 2x Mana Potion, some prefer more early wards than the 1 default you get, or more/less potions.


Hand of the Gods is a important consunamble you should get at start, if you know the enemy lane has a faster clear than you. A enemy Izanami+Xing lane would be good moment to pick up HoG as a example

Build Item Guardian's Blessing Guardian's Blessing
Build Item Shoes Shoes
Build Item Healing Potion Healing Potion
Build Item Mana Potion Mana Potion
Build Item Ward Ward
Build Item Hand of the Gods Hand of the Gods

First Item (Sell when you have Elixir of Speed)

Notes

ITEM #1



Reinforced Shoes can be quite good, the health + passiv for the early/mid game is not something that should be ignored. Against a aggresive duo lane (like Ares) it can be a good pick up early in the game.




Shoes of Focus is really strong on a Athena support and should be your priority.
You can start with them for that extra early cdr and mana, to use your abilites more often and quicker. Athena is quite mana hungry in the early game, so this item helps you out alot.



Shoes of the Magi is quite fun when you decide you want some early/mid game damage, it can really help you melt some mid laners and adc gods.


In late game you should sell any of the shoes you got and buy Elixir of Speed. Now you have a item slot open and can fill it with whatever item I listed in the purchase order you still want to have.

Notes

ITEM #1



Reinforced Shoes can be quite good, the health + passiv for the early/mid game is not something that should be ignored. Against a aggresive duo lane (like Ares) it can be a good pick up early in the game.




Shoes of Focus is really strong on a Athena support and should be your priority.
You can start with them for that extra early cdr and mana, to use your abilites more often and quicker. Athena is quite mana hungry in the early game, so this item helps you out alot.



Shoes of the Magi is quite fun when you decide you want some early/mid game damage, it can really help you melt some mid laners and adc gods.


In late game you should sell any of the shoes you got and buy Elixir of Speed. Now you have a item slot open and can fill it with whatever item I listed in the purchase order you still want to have.

Build Item Reinforced Shoes Reinforced Shoes
Build Item Shoes of Focus Shoes of Focus
Build Item Shoes of the Magi Shoes of the Magi

Second Item

Notes NOTE: Buy order from here on out is situational, many items can be interchanged with each other. And also don't buy Contagion and Pestilence, they don't stack with each other.

ITEM #2



Why Gauntlet of Thebes? Simply put, it is one of the best support items out there. It gives you a good amount of health, while its passive provides your nearby teammates with +10 protection against magical and physical damage (if fully stacked)

And I didn't even mention the extra physical and magical protection you yourself get with each stack...

The sooner you buy it the better, shouldn't stop you from considering to get Sovereignty, Contagion or Pestilence earlier, more about them in the next item section note.
However if you decide to go with any of the other don't you dare to not buy Gauntlet of Thebes later on.

Notes

NOTE: Buy order from here on out is situational, many items can be interchanged with each other. And also don't buy Contagion and Pestilence, they don't stack with each other.

ITEM #2



Why Gauntlet of Thebes? Simply put, it is one of the best support items out there. It gives you a good amount of health, while its passive provides your nearby teammates with +10 protection against magical and physical damage (if fully stacked)

And I didn't even mention the extra physical and magical protection you yourself get with each stack...

The sooner you buy it the better, shouldn't stop you from considering to get Sovereignty, Contagion or Pestilence earlier, more about them in the next item section note.
However if you decide to go with any of the other don't you dare to not buy Gauntlet of Thebes later on.

Build Item Gauntlet of Thebes Gauntlet of Thebes
Build Item Sovereignty Sovereignty
Build Item Contagion Contagion
Build Item Pestilence Pestilence

Third Item Choice

Notes

ITEM #3





Sovereignty is one of the priority items you should focus on buying early on, unless you want some extra bang on your ultimate or need that early healer debuff you should probably get it.


Pestilence is pretty much a must if your lane enemy decided for whatever crazy reason to bring Aphrodite/Hel as the support to the lane.

Should also be bought if the enemy has a Freya adc.
If the enemy has a healer in the solo or mid lane, you should get it later on.


Pridwen is a really good item, it gives you everything you could want that your Athena ultimate doesn't have yet. I would argue that it is one of the better items you can get to really help you in a Athena ultimate engagment.

You can get it as a 3rd item but certainly can also wait up to last item to get it.


Contagion same solution to the healer problem that Pestilencee offers but instead you get physical protection. It gives less health than Pestilence but the Mana it offers at that stage can be somewhat helpful.

Get it when the enemy team is more focused on physical damage, but don't you ever get both Pestilence and Contagion they don't stack.

Notes

ITEM #3





Sovereignty is one of the priority items you should focus on buying early on, unless you want some extra bang on your ultimate or need that early healer debuff you should probably get it.


Pestilence is pretty much a must if your lane enemy decided for whatever crazy reason to bring Aphrodite/Hel as the support to the lane.

Should also be bought if the enemy has a Freya adc.
If the enemy has a healer in the solo or mid lane, you should get it later on.


Pridwen is a really good item, it gives you everything you could want that your Athena ultimate doesn't have yet. I would argue that it is one of the better items you can get to really help you in a Athena ultimate engagment.

You can get it as a 3rd item but certainly can also wait up to last item to get it.


Contagion same solution to the healer problem that Pestilencee offers but instead you get physical protection. It gives less health than Pestilence but the Mana it offers at that stage can be somewhat helpful.

Get it when the enemy team is more focused on physical damage, but don't you ever get both Pestilence and Contagion they don't stack.

Build Item Sovereignty Sovereignty
Build Item Pestilence Pestilence
Build Item Pridwen Pridwen
Build Item Contagion Contagion

Fourth Item Choice

Notes

ITEM #4




Breastplate of Valor: You should buy this item if you feel the need to use your abilities often. The 20% CDR is great and gives you 30% cooldown reductation with Shoes of Focus, allowing you to spam your ultimate ( Defender of Olympus and your Confound.


Mantle of Discord is a priority item to get for some extra protection for both magical and physical damage, pretty useful when the enemy team has a burst damage setup.

The passive is amazing and works great together with her teamfight potential. It can cc chain the enemy if you take enough damage after you used your Confound, please don't try to stay in the teamfight after it popped unless you are confident you will survive.


Void Stone is a great item if the enemy team went a bit to crazy with their magical damage output. In such a situation it is a really useful item, but even with fewer mages in the enemy team you can still get it.


Relic Dagger Can be a really useful item, if you want to spam your relic in order to support your team or engage with blink more often. Get it if you feel like you need to make a bigger difference in order to win a teamfight.

Notes

ITEM #4




Breastplate of Valor: You should buy this item if you feel the need to use your abilities often. The 20% CDR is great and gives you 30% cooldown reductation with Shoes of Focus, allowing you to spam your ultimate ( Defender of Olympus and your Confound.


Mantle of Discord is a priority item to get for some extra protection for both magical and physical damage, pretty useful when the enemy team has a burst damage setup.

The passive is amazing and works great together with her teamfight potential. It can cc chain the enemy if you take enough damage after you used your Confound, please don't try to stay in the teamfight after it popped unless you are confident you will survive.


Void Stone is a great item if the enemy team went a bit to crazy with their magical damage output. In such a situation it is a really useful item, but even with fewer mages in the enemy team you can still get it.


Relic Dagger Can be a really useful item, if you want to spam your relic in order to support your team or engage with blink more often. Get it if you feel like you need to make a bigger difference in order to win a teamfight.

Build Item Breastplate of Valor Breastplate of Valor
Build Item Mantle of Discord Mantle of Discord
Build Item Void Stone Void Stone
Build Item Relic Dagger Relic Dagger

Fifth Item Choice

Notes NOTE: These items except for Magi's Cloak give you either CDR or CCR or both, from now on out you should watch out that you don't go over the limit. Especially regarding CDR.

ITEM #5




Spirit Robe is great, the passive is quite good considering how many gods these days have hard CC. If you see yourself getting peeled a lot it can be a good friend.


One of the best items and one of my favorite is Genji's Guard, it gives you a great amount of magical protection and the passive is really great and allows you to spam your Confound more often.
Watch that you dont go over the cdr limit by to much please. Prioritze it in your build, nothing stops you from getting it later on.


Stone of Gaia is back baby it is fairly good on its own but you should consider getting it if the enemy has a lot of knockup/back, pulls or grabs like for example a Hercules, Vulcan or Sobek etc.

Notes

NOTE: These items except for Magi's Cloak give you either CDR or CCR or both, from now on out you should watch out that you don't go over the limit. Especially regarding CDR.

ITEM #5




Spirit Robe is great, the passive is quite good considering how many gods these days have hard CC. If you see yourself getting peeled a lot it can be a good friend.


One of the best items and one of my favorite is Genji's Guard, it gives you a great amount of magical protection and the passive is really great and allows you to spam your Confound more often.
Watch that you dont go over the cdr limit by to much please. Prioritze it in your build, nothing stops you from getting it later on.


Stone of Gaia is back baby it is fairly good on its own but you should consider getting it if the enemy has a lot of knockup/back, pulls or grabs like for example a Hercules, Vulcan or Sobek etc.

Build Item Spirit Robe Spirit Robe
Build Item Genji's Guard Genji's Guard
Build Item Stone of Gaia Stone of Gaia

Last Item Choice (Sell Guardian's Blessing)

Notes

ITEM #6




Witchblade gives some nice extra speed and health, plus the 20% aura debuff to atack speed is really great if the enemy team has more than one auto attack carry in their team.

Under no circumstances do you get this item or Midgardian Mail, when you want the enemy adc or Freya/ Mercury to hit you as fast as possible, more about this in the Relic choice chapter and the Conquest Build (vs heavy auto attackers) section.


Spectral Armor is a great item when the enemy has a crit based team or the enemy adc (if he build crit) is fed, it takes away 50% of the crit damage and gives you some health + physical protection. Use tab in order to find out what the enemy team build before you get this item.


Midgardian Mail takes the same approach as the Witchblade in how to deal with the auto attack carry problem. You should probably get it and Witchblade, if the enemy auto attack problem is getting out of hand.


Hide of the Nemean Lion got a buff, so it's a really good item on Athena now. Her passiv gives you 3 AA blocks, this item will give you 3 blocks when fully stacked and if you have Magic Shell upgraded you will have a total of 8 auto attack blocks, which could easily become the new meta for Athena build.

Notes

ITEM #6




Witchblade gives some nice extra speed and health, plus the 20% aura debuff to atack speed is really great if the enemy team has more than one auto attack carry in their team.

Under no circumstances do you get this item or Midgardian Mail, when you want the enemy adc or Freya/ Mercury to hit you as fast as possible, more about this in the Relic choice chapter and the Conquest Build (vs heavy auto attackers) section.


Spectral Armor is a great item when the enemy has a crit based team or the enemy adc (if he build crit) is fed, it takes away 50% of the crit damage and gives you some health + physical protection. Use tab in order to find out what the enemy team build before you get this item.


Midgardian Mail takes the same approach as the Witchblade in how to deal with the auto attack carry problem. You should probably get it and Witchblade, if the enemy auto attack problem is getting out of hand.


Hide of the Nemean Lion got a buff, so it's a really good item on Athena now. Her passiv gives you 3 AA blocks, this item will give you 3 blocks when fully stacked and if you have Magic Shell upgraded you will have a total of 8 auto attack blocks, which could easily become the new meta for Athena build.

Build Item Witchblade Witchblade
Build Item Spectral Armor Spectral Armor
Build Item Midgardian Mail Midgardian Mail
Build Item Hide of the Nemean Lion Hide of the Nemean Lion

Relic Choices

Notes Default relic on Athena is Magic Shell. If your or the enemy team has a certain composition you should check out what I wrote in the Relic Chapter down below.

Notes

Default relic on Athena is Magic Shell. If your or the enemy team has a certain composition you should check out what I wrote in the Relic Chapter down below.

Build Item Blink Rune Blink Rune
Build Item Belt of Frenzy Belt of Frenzy
Build Item Cursed Ankh Cursed Ankh
Build Item Magic Shell Magic Shell
Build Item Heavenly Wings Heavenly Wings
Build Item Phantom Veil Phantom Veil
Build Item Shield of Thorns Shield of Thorns

Late Game Potion

Notes Elixir of Speed is a really great potion, buy it before you sell your boots and buy any one of the defense items from the previous sections you still want to have.

Elixir of Defense is ok I guess, if you have the cash after you bought every item, you can get it. By that point the extra 50 protection are not that great.

Notes

Elixir of Speed is a really great potion, buy it before you sell your boots and buy any one of the defense items from the previous sections you still want to have.

Elixir of Defense is ok I guess, if you have the cash after you bought every item, you can get it. By that point the extra 50 protection are not that great.

Build Item Elixir of Speed Elixir of Speed
Build Item Elixir of Defense Elixir of Defense

Situational Last Items

Notes Mail of Renewal is a great item if none of your friendly gods have a self sustaining ability or heal which forces the enemy to buy anti-heal, if that is the case you can get this item last. If the enemy team bought any kind of antiheal don't buy it.

Gem of Isolation can be pretty fun if your team is snowballing hard and you want stupid amount of slow on your Preemptive Charge


Oni Hunter's Garb has a pretty trashy passiv but can be a good item to get when the enemy team went full out CC combo. Combine it with other CDR items but don't go over the limit.


Winged Blade is for when you don't have to buy Heavenly Wings for your team because they all have escapes or abilites that negate slows. Get it when you are getting trashed by the enemy Nemesis, Anubis, Bakasura etc. and your Preemtive Strike isn't enough to get out of trouble.


Ethereal Staff is a ok last item to buy when the enemy has more than one god with atleast over 2.5k health. Try to use its passive to your full advantage (Athenas Reach works great with it).


Emperor's Armor is for when the enemy is snowballing, you can tank towers in late game anyway, so you mostly want to get it so the enemy has a harder time pushing you when they are ahead.

Notes

Mail of Renewal is a great item if none of your friendly gods have a self sustaining ability or heal which forces the enemy to buy anti-heal, if that is the case you can get this item last. If the enemy team bought any kind of antiheal don't buy it.



Gem of Isolation can be pretty fun if your team is snowballing hard and you want stupid amount of slow on your Preemptive Charge


Oni Hunter's Garb has a pretty trashy passiv but can be a good item to get when the enemy team went full out CC combo. Combine it with other CDR items but don't go over the limit.


Winged Blade is for when you don't have to buy Heavenly Wings for your team because they all have escapes or abilites that negate slows. Get it when you are getting trashed by the enemy Nemesis, Anubis, Bakasura etc. and your Preemtive Strike isn't enough to get out of trouble.


Ethereal Staff is a ok last item to buy when the enemy has more than one god with atleast over 2.5k health. Try to use its passive to your full advantage (Athenas Reach works great with it).


Emperor's Armor is for when the enemy is snowballing, you can tank towers in late game anyway, so you mostly want to get it so the enemy has a harder time pushing you when they are ahead.

Build Item Mail of Renewal Mail of Renewal
Build Item Gem of Isolation Gem of Isolation
Build Item Oni Hunter's Garb Oni Hunter's Garb
Build Item Winged Blade Winged Blade
Build Item Ethereal Staff Ethereal Staff
Build Item Emperor's Armor Emperor's Armor

Athena's Skill Order

Preemptive Strike

1 X Y
Preemptive Strike
3 15 16 18 19

Confound

2 A B
Confound
2 7 8 10 11

Shield Wall

3 B A
Shield Wall
1 4 6 12 13

Defender of Olympus

4 Y X
Defender of Olympus
5 9 14 17 20
Preemptive Strike
3 15 16 18 19

Preemptive Strike

1 X
Athena powers up for a dash. While dashing, Athena will pass through minions, stop and hit the first enemy god she encounters, dealing damage. If she hits an enemy, Athena gains a stack (max 3), reducing the next source of Basic Attack damage from any god that hits her. Athena may also gain these stacks by hitting an enemy god with Reach, once per attack.

Ability Type: Dash, Slow, Damage
Damage: 80 / 130 / 180 / 230 / 280 (+50% of your Magical Power)
Range: 55
Cost: 60 / 70 / 80 / 90 / 100
Cooldown: 14s
Confound
2 7 8 10 11

Confound

2 A
Athena releases a shockwave of power from her shield, Taunting enemy gods and decreasing their Attack Speed as she forces them to fight or chase her.

Ability Type: Cone, Taunt, Damage
Taunt Duration: 1 / 1.25 / 1.5 / 1.75 / 2s
Damage: 40 / 65 / 90 / 115 / 140 (+20% of your Magical Power)
Attack Speed Slow: 20 / 22.5 / 25 / 27.5 / 30%
Cost: 60 / 65 / 70 / 75 / 80
Cooldown: 18s
Shield Wall
1 4 6 12 13

Shield Wall

3 B
Athena summons a group of Athenian warriors who do damage and Slow upon arrival. After 2s, they strike again, dealing additional Damage and Slowing.

Ability Type: Circle, Damage
Initial Damage: 70 / 110 / 150 / 190 / 230 (+50% of your Magical Power)
Secondary Damage: 70 / 135 / 200 / 265 / 330 (+50% of your Magical Power)
Slow: 15%
Radius: 15
Cost: 60 / 65 / 70 / 75 / 80
Cooldown: 14s
Defender of Olympus
5 9 14 17 20

Defender of Olympus

4 Y
Athena picks a single allied god anywhere in the world, and launches herself up into the air, landing next to that god 3.6 seconds later. During that 3.6 seconds, both Athena and the allied god gain Damage Mitigation, and the allied god also gains Movement Speed. Enemies nearby when Athena lands take damage.

Ability Type: Teleport, Buff, Damage
Damage: 340 / 415 / 490 / 565 / 640 (+90% of your Magical Power)
Ally Mitigation: 10 / 12.5 / 15 / 17.5 / 20%
Movement Speed: 10 / 12.5 / 15 / 17.5 / 20%
Radius: 20
Cost: 80 / 90 / 100 / 110 / 120
Cooldown: 120s

Athena Threats

Tap each threat level to view Athena’s threats

Max
1
Major
4
Even
0
Minor
4
Tiny
1

Introduction

Hey guys I main Athena as a Masters Player in Season 2, so i figured i could make a guide.

I am a Level 10 Athena, and have around 7000 worshipers with her. I played for HNZ (HeroesNZeroes) as Support and helped them win the SPL Play-Ins and advance into Round Robin.... that was quite some time ago though.

The guide is not 100% perfect, though I try my best to keep it updated. I have first-hand experience with the support role, and Athena in particular, and thought I would share my knowledge to help others improve their gameplay and strategy. I am German, so please try to be nice to my *cough* perfect English.



edit 2020: Didn't play for quite some time (more than 4 years ?), so ye that was the main reason it stopped being updated.

Inital release was January 2014, and the gameplay videos are really outdated, some more so than others. A lot of people helped me with this guide, especially in terms of coding, forgot some of the names after all the time, so I missed a crucial credit please PM me. Shout out to Talenhiem,TormentedTurnip and Branmuffin17 plus all the others who all helped me to some degree back then.

Athenas Story

It is fun, I swear

Pros/Cons

Pros



+ High defense
+ Good mobility
+ Global ultimate
+ Very good crowd control
+ Her Confound forces Purification Beads
+ Good initiator, one of the strongest supports in late game


Cons



- Weak early game
- Not a beginner-friendly god
- Preemptive Strike is slow to load
- She has a Russian accent (SHE'S GREEK!). Fixed with her voice pack + skin.

Relic Choices


Blink Rune is a reliable relic on Athena, it negates all weaknesses of her Preemptive Strike. With weakness I mean the charge up time, how obnoxious loud it is, plus that it can't go through walls and ****. Use it as a engagment and Preemptive Strike as disengagment. It makes Athena much more mobile and allows you to suprise engage the enemy, giving them less time to react to your incoming Confound. After the recent nerfs to the relic not a priority item for Athena anymore.


Belt of Frenzy gives your fellow gods in a teamfight that extra damage they could need. Not really a priority relic but can be quite useful if you want to snowball from a won teamfight.


Cursed Ankh is mandatory when the enemy has a Hel or Aphrodite or something equally annoying, you have to get this and Pestilence or Contagion. It is the bane of the existence of any healing (and heavy lifestealing) god, quite literally.


Magic Shell is a high priority relic if you need to babysit certain gods like a Kukulkan, Zeus or Artemis in late game. You don't want you squishes to die by Assasins or warriors in a matter of seconds ? Get this to help them out, it is always a good relic to get. Also the 2 AA block you get out of the upgraded version of this items has a really great synergy and Athenas passiv and Hide of the Nemean Lion. When you have both this relic and the mentioned item you max out on a total of 8 auto attack blocks. Which can safe your lifes in any engagement, really.


Heavenly Wings can be a quite important item, if the enemy team has a lot of slows.

Can be quite a life saver for your team against certain gods ( Nemesis, Bakasura, Vamana) and helps your team to get out or into a teamfight.


Only buy this relic when you want to have some fun.

If the enemy has a priority on auto attacking gods ( Mercury/ Freya+ any adc) that rely on lifesteal this is the relic you can pick to annoy them. Activate it, use your taunt on them and watch them kill themself, it is hilarious.


Phantom Veil is a great item, when the enemy team has a Odin, and more than one of your teammates doesn't have a jump to get out of the cage. Otherwise just get Blink instead.

Skill Explanation

Passive


Reach


Explanation




Ability #1


Preemptive Strike


Explanation




Ability #2


Confound


explanation





Ability #3


Shield Wall


explanation




Ultimate


Defender of Olympus


explanation

Ward Placement

Okay, the main thing you need to know is that you should always, ALWAYS place wards. Remember you can only place two wards at any one time. That means the whole team has the responsibility to place wards, not just you. Since everyone starts with a relic that gives a free ward, that really shouldn't be to hard.

It is practically impossible to place a ward on a wrong position ... well, except inside your own base & ****. However, there are positions you have to consider when placing wards, depending on which stage of the game you're in.


Laning Phase (Early Game)






Mid-Lane (Early Game)





Mid/Late Game, Gold Fury and Fire Giant





Late Game, Pushing and Defensiv Wards

How to Farm

We are in Season 7 now and you may ask, how can i still maintain a steady gold income ?

First of all, i explained this in my Gameplay Video but since it is really outdated I kinda have to do it again.

Always start on the Void Camp, they moved the spawn timer up, so it is possible now to do them and get to your lane in time, if your adc is up for the task. Give the buff to the adc, just like back in the days.

Athena can be a aggresiv roam support, because of her ultimate, so everytime you gank a lane, and you may or may not get a kill/assist, you should stay for 1-2 waves and leach from the lane you ganked, you shouldn't care if your temporary lane friends doesn't want that unlike the adc he gets more solo farm.
If you dont want to leach anymore ,you should go back to base.


On your way back to the duo lane, you should do the Back XP Camp, with or without the junglers help. After you did that, do the Red Buff with the Mid-laner/Jungler together or the Void Camp with your adc.

Then you can go back to lane, stay there until either the xp camps are up, you have to use you ultimate for a gank, or you want to roam to middle lane.

Like this you wont have to much trouble with the gold/exp stuff.

3v3 Gameplay

Really outdated

Hey, so due to request i did a 3v3 Tutorial, i dont play that mode so much, but iam decent enough to make a small guide for it. Enjoy.

I also won some worthless 3v3 EGL Tournaments with my alias so you might want to check that out aswell.

Gameplay Video

outdated, combos still work and laning phase aswell but jungle rotation and ward placement are outdated, will maybe make a new one for Season 7. No promises.

Season 2 Athena Gameplay Video:

How to Firegiant:

Old Gameplay Guides

Old Tournament Videos

I used to play support for HNZ. We got into the Finals of the SWC Play Ins and advanced into Round Robin in order to qualify for the SPL.

You can watch the Tournament Videos if you want, i mostly played Athena at the tourney and there are some combos that you may not know, its already older, so yea....


Round of 16 vs Vindicate:

Round of 8 vs IIIII (i5) (by Xioden)

Round of 4 vs Exposed Secrets:


Final vs Walk it off:

Summary

Playing support can be so annoying. I would recommend finding a team as fast as possible if you enjoying playing support.

Why can it be so annoying? Well, you won't get any kind of "love" as a tank. If you and the ADC are winning your lane but it's mostly your doing, the casual player isn't gonna recognize it. On the flipside, if you are doing poorly, EVERYONE is gonna blame you, so you have kinda the same problem as the jungler.

So if you have an inferiority complex, it's probably not in your best interest to play a tank.

But if you are on a pre-made team, and you generally like the people you play with, you're gonna enjoy helping them out, and they will thank you for it. Isn't that so sweet?

Oh, and I nearly forgot, it's okay if you die often in mid-late game as support, as long as you're not dying because you're out of position. That is part of your job ... sometimes you have to sacrifice yourself to save the rest of the team.

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Collapse All Comments

1
Kriega1 (143) | September 8, 2020 8:22am
Why isn’t HoG in the recommended start? Also please don’t ever, ever build gem of iso on Athena.
1
Setolino (18) | September 18, 2020 8:18am
Kriega1 wrote:
Why isn’t HoG in the recommended start? Also please don’t ever, ever build gem of iso on Athena.


Gem of Iso is more of a troll item and not really all that good in comparison to the ones listed before the Situational item list. Never felt the need for HoG to clear attack speed, Athena is pretty fast on it. mMaybe against certain matchups where I know they have a wayfaster clear but otherwise I always rather take mana potion since Athena has a big mana problem in early game. But ye I did noticed that a lot more supports use HoG early though, so I probably should add it as a alternative.
1
Branmuffin17 (394) | September 18, 2020 8:42am
Biggest early duo strat right now is one that is good for Athena, and it involves using HoG to clear ASAP. The main point of it is to get to lane quickly (and for the Support to have enough separation from the ADC to hit the spirit minion and gain the full XP for it). That allows the Support to reach level 2 a bit quicker, and for those Supps that level an ability with some CC at level 2, this can lead to an early kill/pressure chance.

So yes, her 3 has great damage, but when you can, you should try HoGging the Void camp, dropping your 3, then letting the ADC finish it off while you run for a head start to hit that spirit minion.
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1
Gulfwulf (81) | February 12, 2020 5:15pm
I'm not sold on Mail of Renewal being a blessing replacement, but other than that, good job.
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Setolino (18) | February 13, 2020 1:58am
Gulfwulf wrote:
I'm not sold on Mail of Renewal being a blessing replacement, but other than that, good job.


It is a replacement for the shoes mostly, not the blessing. At that point you are almost at max protection for both stats, so I tend to get items that give me some extra health. I wouldn't really call it a priority though, there are lots of items that I listed before it I would normally get instead of it.
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Kriega1 (143) | February 13, 2020 2:19am
You know Ethereal Staff exists right? Sell boots for that instead of a bad item like Mail of Renewal.
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1
woxxer88 | February 3, 2020 3:32am
bester spieler bester guide, lappen 4the win
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Setolino (18) | February 3, 2020 6:03am
Mittlerweile 1er Platz bei Athena im Leaderboard :D.
1
Kriega1 (143) | January 31, 2020 1:14pm
Tip: Get rid of the big item icons in the notes, they take up too much space.

Also why is Magi boots listed and why does it say to replace it for Focus shoes late???

And there also seems to be no accounting for Elixir of Speed for some reason.
1
Setolino (18) | January 31, 2020 1:23pm
Replace it because the extra damage you get out of it is only useful at the early game. in the late game you want to be more focused on CDR.

Elixir of Speed sure can be bought but tbh with blink, your dash and your ultimate you are already more than mobile enough. Will add late game potion which I totally forgot and add it as a option.

And ye I will get rid of the big icons, it really drops down way to much, thanks for the feedback :)
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Kriega1 (143) | January 31, 2020 1:36pm
Setolino wrote:

Elixir of Speed sure can be bought but tbh with blink, your dash and your ultimate you are already more than mobile enough. Will add a late game potion section which I totally forgot and add it as a option.

I don't think you understand the purpose of Elixir of Speed (please read the item's description). It's movement speed does not stack with boots (they also both have same movement speed), it also persists on death and has unlimited duration. It's what you buy lategame when you're ready to sell boots and buy what effectively is your "seventh" item.
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2
Branmuffin17 (394) | January 31, 2020 12:29pm
Hey Seto,

Welcome back!

Alright, some comments:
  • For the starter items, I would suggest dropping the presence of Ward, since we now get the Vision Shard to start. You'll need those 2 consumable potion slots at the start.

  • I would straight up drop Shoes of the Magi. It used to provide penetration (obviously great for aggression), but now it doesn't, and although Athena's Shield Wall has great scaling, I just don't think it's worth giving up 10% CDR (or the prots from Reinforced).

  • I might suggest lumping in 2nd and 3rd item choices together, and taking Pridwen out of it, though that's my opinion. I do see you included a note that you can get Pridwen later, and that's good. Anyway, Sov got a buff and seems very strong right now, and you might want to get it 2nd, and maybe Pest 3rd, even though you typically want to build those Thebes stacks ASAP when you do get it. Thebes IS okay to build a bit later, as you'll still get those stacks, and it doesn't hurt to get some base prots first so you don't have to wait for those stacks to give you functional tankiness.

  • The way you have it organized, it looks like you only consider Sov/Pest 3rd, and you move on to different items 4th. But in some cases, you might want to go Shoes -> Sov -> Pest -> Gauntlet for example (or switch Gauntlet and Pest)...so rather than isolating 4th and 5th item choices, you might consider lumping ALL of them together as later-game item choices. This lets readers know what items are good for her to use, but gives them more flexibility as to when to slot them in. In the notes for the items, you can state that you think they're better at specific places in the build.

  • Item choices all seem fine to me, but you might also include Contagion (the physical version of Pest). Also might consider Emperor's Armor for objective push or defense. Also when you go full tanky, I actually like Hide of the Urchin less. Urchin to me at this point is a solid item for a Solo laner, and for a Supp, I feel it's better to get items with added utility instead of just being of personal use.

  • Double check your numbers for the abilities. For example, the passive damage bonus is now 15% instead of 25%.

  • In your "ward placement" section, you state you can place 3 wards at any one time...the correct number is 2.
1
Setolino (18) | January 31, 2020 1:21pm
Thanks for the feedback. ^^

1. I left the Ward in because I feel like some people prefer to have 2x early ward + the ward the adc can place for extra coverage, the new relic everyone starts with is just great. Granted early on it would be overkill so yeeeee.

2. Shoes of the Magi, a 10% cdr on the other option isn't enough to completly ignore the boost in early damage you get out of it. [Shoes of Focus]] are definetly a priority over the other 2 options though, will edit it in the note section to make it more stand out as one.

3. The problem is if I do that my entire note setup will be thrown in dissary, should I add a Item Chapter to specify when to buy what ? Since the drop down of the notes somewhat limits me in how much I can write. I don't want double items in the same build since I mentioned that they can be interchanged with each other.

4. Will definetly add Contagion to the build, totally overlooked that item. Not a big fan of Emperor's Armor though, the passive is not really all that needed in mid/late game. Not sure if I should add it.

5. Will do, thanks man.

6. Oh yea that's true, thanks again :).


he notes kinda limit me in how much I can write, I could also make several build for different situations as a example. You think that might fix that problem ?
1
Kriega1 (143) | January 31, 2020 1:39pm
Setolino wrote:


4. Will definetly add Contagion to the build, totally overlooked that item. Not a big fan of Emperor's Armor though, the passive is not really all that needed in mid/late game. Not sure if I should add it.


It helps with lategame sieging / diving (though is ok for defending structures).
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1
iwwontcastthatifiwhereyou | February 9, 2019 8:30am
minor tweeks here and there and its still performing perfectly
1
Branmuffin17 (394) | February 9, 2019 8:56am
Enough minor tweaks that the people need to actually be familiar enough with current itemization, which means they don't need this extremely outdated guide anyway =P

And as an FYI, I helped Seto with his old Athena guide years ago via editing writeup. So this is nothing against him...just in order to be functional, it really would need more than minor tweaks.

(Also, your name is making my inner grammar police's sirens blare in my head)
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Gulfwulf (81) | February 9, 2019 9:27am
Branmuffin17 wrote:
(Also, your name is making my inner grammar police's sirens blare in my head)

Quoted:
...its still performing perfectly
. it's, not its.

:)
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1
Dasti | December 16, 2015 3:41am
Thanks! This is a great guide to improve my supporting. Really enjoyed the ward placement guide, skill guide and the build guide with alternitives.
1
Stuke99 (56) | December 15, 2015 5:18am
Well, welcome back.
1
Kirigama2 | June 26, 2015 12:38pm
Great guide! This helped me a lot about Athena love the lore section btw wished almost every guide I read had something like that. (:
1
Setolino (18) | March 10, 2015 11:12am
AtomicPie525 wrote:

Hey, I love the sense of humor in this build. I am sorry if this comment is out of place in this but to me a build with a sense of humor in the explanations just makes it that much better for the viewer and more fun to read.
Nice build


Atleast someone who likes my Lore section :D Thanks mate, i try my best.
1
AtomicPie525 (5) | March 10, 2015 7:18am
Hey, I love the sense of humor in this build. I am sorry if this comment is out of place in this but to me a build with a sense of humor in the explanations just makes it that much better for the viewer and more fun to read.
Nice build
1
Kalika Vatran | February 26, 2015 6:39pm
Thanks for your build, pleasant to read :)
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