Damage Athena Done Right (For Conquest Solo Lane)

Damage Athena done right is a ton of fun to play.

You get to hop around the map via Athena's ultimate ( Defender of Olympus) killing enemies as you go, earning VVGNs ("nice job"s) from your teammates and annoying the hell out of the entire enemy team with your 2 ( Confound).

If you do it right, you can become the #1 damage dealing player on your team and carry your team to victory. In a good game I typically get stats like 13/4/15 (kills/deaths/assists) and do 37k player damage in a 45 minute game. My best game so far was 22-2-11 in a 50 minute game with 52k player damage. In a bad game, I usually end 5/5/10 or so -- clearly still helping the team, but not dominating.

This leads to an important point: even if you're not the #1 damage dealer on your team, you can still be a great asset to the team and maybe even the most influential player in spite of average stats. Damage Athena, you see, does her damage wherever the team needs it most thanks to her ult ( Defender of Olympus). The importance of this influence cannot be overstated. To put it simply, if you play Damage Athena right, your whole team does better.

It is important to mention that if you play as Damage Athena, it doesn't mean your team is without a tank... it just means that YOU are not a tank.

Pros

Incredibly fun to play
You can jump all over the map
You can do real damage! (getting a ton of kills and assists)
You can play a very strategic role for the team
You can recover even after a bad start
You can make up for a bad ADC (e.g. Neith or Artemis) by carrying the team

Press 1 ( Preemptive Strike) to rush forward, slowing the god you run into. If you hold the mouse button down as you rush, a single basic attack is fired immediately afterward -- hopefully polinomicon powered.

If you have Purification Beads you might need to use them now -- especially against ymir

Press 3 ( Shield Wall) to put the shield wall around you.

Press 2 ( Confound) to force the enemy back towards you. (NOTE: You will need to aim this one!)

Decide to either attack more or escape.

If you have sprint consider using it to escape.

IMPORTANT: You will want to use instant casting on abilities 2 and 3, and probably normal casting on 1. To select this, play a game and press 'K'. The pop-up will let you select a casting mode for each ability separately.

Many players assume Athena is a tank -- and only a tank. So when they see Athena chosen, they assume you are going duo-lane. That is why you must make it VERY clear when you are choosing gods that you are (A) going solo and (B) not a tank.

The best way to do this, I have found is a 4 step process.

Step 1: Just before the choosing-gods screen comes up, type the word 'SOLO' in all caps in the chat field. As soon as you hear the 'beep', press 'enter', and you will be the first to declare solo.

Step 2: Click on Athena but do NOT lock in yet.

Step 3: Type this EXACT sentence: FYI: I am damage Athena (going solo) -- not a tank

Step 4: Check to be sure other players understand before you lock in. You can tell by the types of gods they pick, and what they say in the chat.

I cannot tell you how many times people ask, "So who's solo?" even after I (A) called it in all-caps and (B) repeated it a second time. But that's just human nature for you. They were probably scrolling up or down on the 'god selection' pane and missed your chat messages.

Here's the bottom line: The WORST thing that can happen to a team is for the team to pick the wrong combination of gods at the start; and since YOU are the one doing something unusual, it is up to you to make extra-sure that your team composition is right.

If, for some reason, the team gets confused, be a man (or woman) and play whatever role your team needs you to play.

You have 1500 gold at the start of a conquest match. So how should we use it? Well, the goal here is to (A) max your damage potential, (B) address mana concerns, (C) have a backup minion-clearing ability and (D) have a reserve of health just in case. This combination of needs leads to the following starting items:

Hand of the Gods Level 1 ( Hand of the Gods): For just 300 gold you can do 480 damage to minions every 60 seconds. This is, therefore, an essential purchase. Not only will it help you clear the minions you miss with your 1 and 3, it will also help get your blue buff when your jungler is not around. Later in the game you can upgrade it into Fist of the Gods to stun enemies or hand of the gods level two or three to kill the fire giant, gold fury at 10% or 25% respectively.

Doom Orb Level 2 ( Doom Orb): This provides the early damage you need plus the extra mana you need to make Damage Athena work. Athena has good natural defenses, so it's actually pretty hard for Athena to die early game -- assuming you play safe. So this is NOT a risky purchase. Also, the price is perfect considering you need Hand of the Gods from the start.

One Healing Potion ( Healing Potion): With the fifty gold you have left, a healing potion is an easy decision. You don't need the Mana Potion because (A) your jungler will help you get a blue at the start and (B) doom orb gives you a ton of extra mana.

Shoes

Sun Wukong

After you purchase your starting item, head towards your starting point. The solo lane is the lane that has the shortest distance between your tower and the enemy tower.

If the solo-lane is on the right side, you will start with the jungler and the mid-lane god at the right-side middle-furies, before you and your jungler proceed to red and then blue. Let your jungler know before the game starts that you will "HOG blue". (HOG stands for Hand of the Gods).

If the solo-lane is on the left side, you will start with the jungler at the speed buff before proceeding to blue. (although sometimes junglers like to do the experience-furies first, then speed, then blue; and sometimes just blue)

As you are getting the blue, press "VH1" or "VH3" depending on what lane you are in. That will remind the jungler that they are supposed to help you with your lane for a few minion waves in case the enemy jungler helps the other side's solo god. You might also ask the jungler before the game starts "can you lane with me a bit in case the enemy jungler is laning?"

IMPORTANT THING #1: Don't waste your mana using your #1 or #3 until you get to your lane. You don't really do much more damage this early in the game, and you just waste your mana, which is precious.

IMPORTANT THING #2: Don't initiate (tank) the attacks for the furies or the buffs. That's the jungler's job. If you are the first person to attack, you take all the damage, and you don't want to take ANY damage.

IMPORTANT THING #3: Every now and then you will get a jungler who doesn't know (or doesn't believe) they should start solo side. So as everyone leaves the starting point, watch your jungler carefully. The moment you see them going to the wrong side, say "Jungler -- please start solo side... I need my blue at the start!" That will usually work. You might also (even earlier) say "Jungler, you're starting solo side, right? I need my blue at the start" and they will probably say "Duh!" but at least then you're sure of a good start. If the jungler does go the wrong way (e.g. if Mercury is jungling and if solo-side is right side, they sometimes want to start at the speed buff) then tell them to come over and help with blue ASAP, and focus on clearing minions.

IMPORTANT THING #4: The only gods you need to be really afraid in solo lane are (A) Arachne, (B) Zeus, (C) Isis, and (D) Vulcan. These gods are bad matchups for you because they can destroy you even if you hide in your tower. Luckily these are not gods that normally go solo lane. If you think you will be facing one of these gods, set up a plan BEFORE THE GAME BEGINS by saying "Hey Mid, if Zeus goes solo can we switch? It's a bad matchup for me." You might also be able to switch with the ADC in duo-lane.

On your first trip back, you need to decide if you want sprint or teleport as your second ability. I used to always get teleport, but with the recent nerf to teleport (greatly increasing the teleport cooldown) I'm going with sprint more and more.

The reason to go with teleport is so you can get back to your solo-tower quickly and prevent it from taking damage. It's also great for mid-game and late-game ganking. Here's the idea: wait for teleport and your ultimate to both be ready. Recall if you need health. Then ult to whoever needs help, get a quick kill, recall to max health and buy items, and teleport back to your tower before your tower takes any damage. DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF THIS STRATEGY. The key to getting fed -- obviously -- is getting kills. And oddly, you will find it easier to get kills in other lanes than your own. The reason is simple: you're ulting in at full health, attacking an enemy at low health. If you "steal" the kill -- getting credit for a kill that was obviously about to go to someone else -- just apologize quickly (e.g. "Sry for the KS", and they will forgive you. (KS = "Kill Steal"). If you go this route, you will want full teleport.

The reason to go with sprint is that it gives you protection against slows and makes up for the fact that you don't start with shoes, helps you get to your tower faster, and helps you chase down enemies.

I usually try to stay in my lane until I have enough gold to get my third level of doom orb, plus at least the first level of sprint or teleport.

You will also want to pick up a Healing Potion and Mana Potion your first trip back because your blue buff will have worn out and a new one will not yet have spawned. A single mana pot at this point will likely carry you through the early game when mana will no longer be an issue for you.

Up to level 13, just focus on clearing minion waves to stack up your Doom Orb and to build experience and gold. If you discover you can do more damage to your opponent than you take yourself, you might consider wearing your opponent down to half health and then calling for a gank. You or your jungler will likely get a kill, and that's good either way.

NOTE: Your ultimate is a good way to return to your lane if a jungler is about to attack. Just ask for the gank, when you see the jungler heading over say VVB (be right back) and VVVR (ultimate is ready). That lets your jungler know to attack instead of defend. As soon as you sense the time is right, initiate your ultimate, and prepare to kill your lane opponent.

You ult can also be used even if you are ulting 5 feet away. Damage Athena is VERY dependent on cool down times... so if you're out of abilities, and you think ulting will secure the kill, secure the kill.

BTW: It's fun to do a VEW (Woohoo!) as your ult is charging... just makes it fun.

ABOUT LOSING YOUR TOWER: Damage Athena is a bit weak early game and if you end up hiding in your tower, your tower will slowly take damage. THAT IS OK. Towers are easy to kill later in the game, so you can catch up later. So don't die protecting your tower. In fact... losing your tower sometimes frees you up to start ulting around more, getting more kills. So it might even be a GOOD thing. Your teammates might not agree, but you start getting fed -- and helping them get fed -- they won't mind. If your tower dies and your lane opponent keeps on attacking the one remaining tower, GREAT! That is easier for the jungler to gank, and harder for the opponent to escape. So again, don't worry about losing a tower. Focus on staying alive and farming.

Mid and late game is AWESOME!!!! This is where Damage Athena really shines. The pattern is simple:

1) Get healthy, including speed or red buff.
2) Ult (or travel) to wherever the team needs you.
3) Secure a kill for you or your teammate.
4) Recall & repeat.

It's that simple.

Here are some rules about engaging:

1) Don't initiate an attack on more than one enemy unless you have help, or one is VERY weak, or you are fed. If you attack two enemies alone, you take twice the amount of damage, and that's usually too much -- especially if one has crowd control. If the enemy team is spread out -- e.g. in the jungle -- pick off the stragglers. If they are all holed-up in their tower, don't waste time sitting there. Instead say VD2 (Defend Middle lane) and then VSA1 or VSA3 (I'll Attack Left/Right Lane). That way you can push lanes, get experience, and cause the enemy group to de-group. As soon as an enemy appears, decide if you can take them or not. If not, ult back to the group.

2) Don't attack towers solo... you might feel like you're doing something good and sneaky by getting a few extra wacks at the tower, but the truth is, you're just asking for trouble. If you are alone, pushing lanes, stop pushing when your minions enter the tower, and go push another lane or help with the group fight. This strategy does several things... (A) it helps divide the enemy team, (B) it keeps you safe, (C) it still kills towers, (D) It gets you more kills and (E) it supports your team more. Make sense?

3) If you find that the enemy team is crowd-controlling you to death, get Magi's blessing or - if you predict crowd-control trouble, get Purification Beads instead of sprint. However, if you tackle only 1 enemy at a time, crowd control just shouldn't be much of an issue.

4) The key to doing tower damage as Damage Athena, by the way, is level 3 Polynomicon. Polynomicon's extra magical power every 4 seconds (assuming you also use an ability every 4 seconds) is what really makes that tower health bar move.

5) Recall constantly. You never want to initiate attacks when you are at half health or below -- and probably not even then. Your plan is to attack, escape, recall, attack again. With cooldown maxed out, you can ult back in about 2/3rds of the time.

6) As a general rule, ignore the tanks and attack the squishies -- unless you are in a groups.

Sometimes your teammates will try to take the Titan (formerly Minotaur) as soon as the first phoenix is down. DO NOT LET THEM DO THIS! With two phoenixes still up (and maybe other towers) the Titan heals back up incredibly fast and since enemies have instant healing at their base, attacking the Titan too soon is a trap.

So as soon as you are about to kill the first phoenix, spam VA1, VA2 or VA3 -- "Attack left/mid/right lane!". And if you see your team going for the Titan, spam it some more. If they do not obey, don't follow... go push whatever lane needs pushing, and attack another phoenix. VVVT is another good one to use here, "It's a trap!"

The best way to practice Damage Athena is to create a new Smite account, pay the money to buy Athena and practice on a less experienced crowd. It takes a while to get the combo down to a reflex and that's what you need to do well.

Thanks for reading the whole guide! Please up-vote!