Cernunnos Arena Build

Hi Diego. Thanks for your reply. As a hunter, your role is to output high damage with your basic attacks. For this you need:
-Attack speed: Faster basic attacks = faster damage output.
-penetration ( The Executioner): Without penetration, your attacks will do less damage.
-Damage Per Second Item ( Qin's Sais Or Critical Strike chance).
If you're going for critical strike chance, I think failnot + Deathbringer + wind demon

Since this is for arena, here are some example builds that include attack speed, penetration, and high damage:
Ninja Tabi
Transcendence
The Executioner
Fail-Not
Deathbringer
wind demon
Sell Ninja Tabi for Elixir of Speed and Asi.

Warrior Tabi
Transcendence
The Executioner
The Crusher
Brawler's Beat Stick
Qin's Sais
Sell Warrior Tabi for Elixir of Speed and Odysseus' Bow.

Let me know if you have more questions.

So your build is currently:

• Ninja Tabi
• Asi
• Transcendence
• Odysseus' Bow
• Silverbranch Bow
• Heartseeker

I'll go one by one:

Ninja Tabi: This item is fine for him, and rushing boots is usually the best thing in Arena.

Asi: While a great item, and a perfect item in combination with Transcendence, is not a great early item in Arena, IMO. You don't really need lifesteal that early, and while the pen and AS are very helpful, it's something that can probably be delayed so you can work on other, more impactful early items.

Transcendence: This is an alright item in Arena, purely due to the power. However, you typically rely a lot less on mana in a smaller map since base is close and gold spooling is high (thus going back to buy items very regularly). This means the mana portion of the item is, although helpful, mostly unnecessary. Finally, the CDR is nice for ANY god, but that's not really necessary for him. Given that you split a single wave with 4 teammates, and it's an item that, again while okay, isn't anywhere near core for him.

Odysseus' Bow: This item is great for him in Conquest. Helps his wave clear a lot, and allows him to then save his 2 for god poke/boxing. And while it has teamfight function, it's not really the strongest item in this position, IMO. Keep in mind, its secondary / passive damage relies on power, so in an Arena setting, I might only consider it late-game...but likely wouldn't build it in Arena at all.

Silverbranch Bow: This item has strong base stats, but the passive is basically worthless. The item's design is terrible...basically saying, "hey, if you want to build inefficiently (by overcapping AS), this item will at least make it a bit worthwhile." And while you've built a lot of AS to this point, I'm not sure you're even overcapping, meaning you'd get absolutely nothing out of the passive. Add to that that while you've built some good flat pen, you haven't built any % protection reduction. More on that in a bit.

Heartseeker: This item is for ability-based gods, or at least those that are hybrids. Although you built Trans, the rest of your build is squarely a basic-attacker's build, and this item doesn't really fit. Not that you can't get use out of it, but you're sort of lacking in other, more core items.

What is missing: Core damage. Let's assume you are committed to the basic attack nature of Cern. What you're missing is a combination of core pen ( The Executioner) and either Qin's Sais or 2 crit items. That's a pretty big oversight with regard to the build. This isn't to say you can't do reasonable damage with what you've built, but if you're looking to optimize, you're missing core items.

The below build directions are perhaps boring, but these would be stock builds I'd consider to be strongest in Arena:

• Trans / Qin's build: If you want to commit to Trans for whatever reasons, then you might go like this: Ninja Tabi, Transcendence, The Crusher, The Executioner, Qin's Sais, situational (e.g. Brawler's Beat Stick, Atalanta's Bow, Magi's Cloak, Asi, Bloodforge, Ichaival, Runeforged Hammer...whatever you might need)
  
  
• Devo's / Crit build: If you want that lifesteal, and are okay dropping Trans, Devo's can be strong, but stacking in Arena is always optional. Ninja Tabi, Devourer's Gauntlet, Wind Demon, The Executioner, Deathbringer, situational.
  
  
• Non-Stacking build: You can always skip stacking altogether. Ninja Tabi, The Crusher, The Executioner, Qin's Sais, 2x situational.
  
  
• Hybrid build: If you want to build a bit more reliance on your abilities, that's somewhat okay. Cern can do good damage with his 2, and it's easy to get poke damage on it. In that case, build power, pen, and CDR. It's not the preferred way, but it can work. Ninja Tabi (or Warrior Tabi, but Ninja would be how I'd build due to the mana and synergy w/ Trans, and because most of your build won't have AS), Transcendence, Soul Eater, The Crusher, Titan's Bane, Jotunn's Wrath. You can move Jotunn's to an earlier spot if you need.
  
  Another alt would be: Ninja Tabi, Transcendence, Fail-Not, The Crusher, Deathbringer, Titan's Bane. Yeah, these are a bit funky.