Glass Cannon/Diamond hard Tank

Hello guys, this is my 4th guide posted here. Anyone who has read my guides before knows that the following will be provided in great detail including a section devoted solely to escape management. If you have not read my guides before I hope you enjoy my guides and I'm open to criticism and feedback, if a down vote takes place please tell me why. With that out of the way enjoy my Hades guide :DD My guide is not yet complete and should be very soon.

Now Hades is quite an interesting God due to the fact you can play him either as a mage or tank role although I usually play the tank role the most. Hades to the community I have noticed either hate him or love. Some call him unique and balanced and others have called him utterly useless, I agree in some aspects he can be somewhat useless, but the magic doesn't come from the God and his abilities, but by the way a player manipulates his Hades and I have seen quite some awful Hades players. The worst I've seen is 4 kills and 20 deaths AS TANK HADES!!! I pride myself on rarely dying as Hades where I have gone games in a row not dying and if I do die it's usually 1 death or 2. The maximum amount of deaths I've had are about 3-4 excluding when I began using Hades. If you know how to play tanky Hades and coordinate with your team properly, The God of the Underworld will never die unless they team up and wombo combo you. I will show how I play Hades and how to never die and be as elusive as an assassin. I mostly play the tanky Hades role, although I've played Hades mage, this guide will mostly be in detail about making Hades tanky.

Pros
1.Multirole as Guardian/Mage
2.Can heal himself with Devour Souls
3.His passive Blight has secondary effects to his abilities
4.His ult Pillar of Agony is amazing and can be gamechanging if used correctly
5.his Shroud of Darkness combined with Blight can do wonders if timed(devoted section later)
6.Can be pretty tanky built well
7.Can function as a glass cannon


Cons
1.Very slow movement speed(recalling can be annoying)
2.If built tanky his damage really drops off, needs a teammate in which to coordinate with for maximum effect.
3.His abilities have a decently lengthy cooldown, but that's what CDR is for if you choose to build it
4.Although Pillar of Agony is amazing, it has two simple weakness that can be exploited quite easily(escape abilities, focusing on damaging Hades while ulting to kill)
5.May not be as tanky or "guardianlike" as other known guardians.(Perspective is really up to you)

Hades has quite an interesting an unique kit due to his passive Blight

Now this passive is what makes Hades what he is. Blight applies a shroud of darkness around an enemy everytime you hit them with a basic attack. This darkness can be refreshed again if you hit a chosen target. Every ability hades has does it's thing without an enemy being blighted, but once you hit an enemy WHO IS blighted, secondary effects can take place.


This ability is great because you can use it in a variety of ways which consist of escape, attack and initiation. The most simple use is as an escape which if you are being chased you use this ability to travel underground and appear further up. You can use this as normal attack or to initiate a team attack. Now the special thing about this ability is that if you hit enemies with it, the passive Blight can be activated. You won't have to hit enemies with a basic to initiate blight.


Now honestly after Pillar of Agony this is my favorite ability of Hades. Quite a few Hades players consider this ability useless or if they do use it, it's rarely and not used efficiently. The tactical uses with this are several. This ability has two uses with the 2nd assuming they have Blight. Without Blight this silences enemies not allowing them to use their abilities. While this is useful for maybe escape of stopping a burst attack, the real gem comes when you hit an enemy who is blighted. When they are blighted it adds a secondary effect called fear which causes the enemy god to walk towards you in a random pattern taking away control from them for the duration. Armed with this you can use this is in soo many ways. Being chased you can Blight then [shroud of darkness]] so they are feared and off your tail for a bit. Use it to bring an enemy towards you and your teammate to allow team shots. If you have a hunter teammate building crits, the fear enough should give them time to kill or near kill the enemy god. Another way which is a bit more complicated given the timing, but if they are in front of your tower, you can pop em with this so they walk towards the tower inside it's radius. My favorite way is to use this in combination with Pillar of Agony so they remain inside longer. So much can be done with this if used right. Get used to timing the fear and bringing enemies towards your teammate especially if they are building crit and you will become loved(and hated by enemies).


This ability is decent. I use this ability mostly for minion clearing and chasing near death Gods and finishing them off with this. Without Blight this ability is just a simple damage dealer, don't really use this without an enemy being blighted. When an enemy is blighted then this ability shows it's wonders. Hitting blighted enemies will make them explode and heal you at an amount pertaining to the amount of blighted enemies. So basically you wanna clear minion wave by going Death From Above to Blight as many minions as possible and THEN you use Devour Souls on as much of them so you can heal up more and clear many minions. If positioned perfectly, you can wipe a minion wave with that combo and heal up a nice chunk of HP. Also I have used it by chasing a god with low hp by catching up to him with Death From Above so they get blighted then Devour Souls


NOW this is the ability that makes Hades infamous. One of my favorite ults in the game and just pure fun to use. This ability sucks everyone in it's radius inwards doing damaging nonstop for a decent amount of time. If you build tanky it still does nice damage. So if you build this glass cannon style, you can do wonders. Now this ability is amazing not because of the damage potential, but because of what your team can do to the victims trapped inside the vortex of death. I believe what makes a good Hades player is the degree in which he can use this ability. When to time it, when to not tunnel vision, when to wait, choosing to use it relative to the amount of enemy gods present. On top of that if the enemies are blighted their protections decrease and you also gain protections as you use this. A really good Hades player can be identified when you see that almost every time they use Pillar of Agony it results in a double kill or more. Or if it's just one death, the rest of the enemies around the killed god will be extremely low in hp needing to withdraw. Assuming they are building tanky and using this when one or more allies are behind you ready to go HAM once you use it. That's the thing with tanky Hades, his damage is low so you need these allies with you. Never use this by yourself if you are alone as tanky Hades. Unless they are low on HP most likely it won't kill them and it will be a waste, but if you are using glass cannon Hades then it's different story. You can use that alone and if timed right with HP already depleted from the enemies, you can get double kills and more. I will include a small section on the two weaknesses of Pillar of Agony.

As you read, the Pillar of Agony is an amazing ability if used correctly. As amazing and game changing as it is, it has two simple exploits. When you are being sucked in you can't simply walk away or jump away, but that doesn't mean the enemy is completely stuck with no hope. They can still use abilities even when being sucked in and use them to escape. For example, Agni and his Path of Flames can easily escape the ult. All Gods who have dash or jumping abilities can simply get out of the ult if they are clever. So if you happen to suck in gods who have jumps or dashes, then this ult becomes pretty useless and you become vulnerable. To alleviate this, if you use it and gods escape leaving no one in your vortex, just literally cancel the attack immediately to reduce the time you are vulnerable, especially if you are using glass cannon Hades.

The second exploit of Pillar of Agony is that even though gods are taking damage and being sucked in, like I mentioned before with escapes, their abilities still remain intact AND they can still basic attack. So if you catch hunters in your vortex who are building crits, they can simply basic attack you to kill you quicker before you kill them. It's a very risky, but bold move on the part of the enemies. So if you are building tanky and you have no allies around while they attack you, basically you will die or get away with little HP. You can see a trend in the rate players use it depending on the way someone is building Hades. I've noticed that if you are building tanky they won't attack you because you have so much HP and defense that they rather just use an escape ability to get out, BUT if you are building glass cannon, the enemies caught inside will most definitely try to attack you. You are doing a **** load of damage while building glass cannon so this raises the desperation in enemies to kill you, but since you are building glass cannon it will be much easier to kill you before you complete the ult. Notice how when you build glass cannon style, the enemies caught within will simply attack you instead of escaping.

One thing I pride myself on is death rate with Hades. I rarely die when I play Hades and if I do the average is usually 1 or 2 deaths. I usually play Hades multiple times a day and I usually go games in a row without dying. Everyday I go multiple games without dying and if I do I am pretty hard on myself because it was mostly a mistake on my part. Other times I die are out of my control like when getting teamed up on by 3 or more people without a teammate around to help me. So this will be about escaping and learning to survive and sustain. With the right amount of timing and when to attack and not push will make you immortal like Hades really is. Below are combos that are used to escape.


Simple, just use this to escape a chase and put distance between your pursuer. You can even use this through some walls to aid the escape. Although it's great that you can use this through walls, it doesn't work as well as other gods abilities that can go through walls. While gods like Janus, Scylla, Fenrir can go thru walls pretty easily, you will come to notice Hades can't go through them which as much ease.


If you are being chased or you want to create an opportunity to make an escape make it mandatory to Blight first then use Shroud of Darkness to cast fear on the enemy. While they are moving uncontrollably you can run away and Death From Below to put distance and escape.

Remember Hades has pretty slow movement speed so it is important to time the abilities so pursuers can't catch up.

Use your 1 first to cast Blight on targeted enemies then use Devour Souls while they are blighted to cause explosive damage and heal yourself as well as allies in range.



Use Death From Below to Blight enemies then while they are blighted quickly pop Shroud of Darkness to cause fear on chosen enemies and bring them towards your and teammates, even the towers if distance permits. Then use Devour Souls for some extra damage or to pick off enemies who are low in HP.



Now this is your ultra combo of fun and rage(what the enemies will be experiencing)
Use Death From Below to cast Blight then Shroud of Darkness to cause fear and you quickly pop Pillar of Agony to end the combo. Now this combo is how you can flip the script if your team is on the losing side, but it requires two key aspects which are timing and coordination. Know when to time it and coordinate with your team to use it when they are near your, let them know a few seconds beforehand so you give them ample time to get ready and position themselves. Only use it when you know your team is ready and try to trap multiple gods inside it, as many as you can. Don't waste your ult on just one person, use this to trap two or more gods for maximum effect.

If my starter seemed a bit confusing, I'll cover it here. Usually when I build pure tank Hades, I just buy Shoes of Focus right of the bat and I perform well enough without the extra potions or other starter items. Saying that I could be playing Devil's advocate, but honestly I do just fine buying it right of the bat when I going tanky mode. This method most likely you won't follow or approve of so basically you can create your own starter kit that's different than mine, but I added the more broken down starter kit that instead of tier 3 shoes, you buy 2nd tier to have gold for potions and wards. This method is much more impressionable to most people, but I can survive just going all Shoes of Focus and begin building my CDR from the start. Plus if I blight minions then I can always use Devour Souls to heal any lost HP. So in essence I don't really need to buy potions and I can always get the mana camp when playing Siege or Conquest to satisfy the mana hunger. Like I said, you guys don't have to follow this method of going buying Shoes of Focus right of the bat.

Shoes of Focus-Since he is magical any power increase is a plus and this is to begin building CDR.

Mail of Renewal-It is like a weaker version of Breastplate of Valor that offers less CDR(15%) and less physical protections(40), but what it gives instead of mana is health and plus it has a passive.

Sovereignty Gives you decent health and physical protections plus it's passive increases allies' HP5 and magical protections.

Bulwark of Hope Gives you a nice chunk of health and decent magical protections.

Ethereal Staff-One of the best items you can give if you are building pure tank. Gives you a whopping amount of +600 health and +300 mana and it's passive allows 2% of your max health is converted to magical power which will be great since you will a nice chunk of health by lv.20.

Stone of Gaia I use this for sustain and it gives magical protection and small amount of health.

Mystical Mail this gives you good health and nice physical protections, plus it's passive does 40 magical damage to enemies within 25 units.

Well the build above is how I USUALLY go, the order is random here because every player is different so players might prefer certain items built first and last, so the order is up your creative ends. You don't even need to go by this build, you can build your own build with a few items from mine, it's all according to you and the enemies faced :D

Actives(Tank)

1. Aegis Pendant- This will just further make you as hard as diamond. In the event that you are about to die which should be rare unless it's the entire team doing ults and abilities on you, use this. This will make you invulnerable to damage for 2 secs, but they come with a few catches. 1. You cannot attack while activated, all you can do is move. 2.Crowd control still applies. So activate this is if you are about to die or being chased and this should give you a quick window to run to any nearby teammates or towers. This is technical, but if you happen to have Death From Below not on cooldown use this chance to time it as soon as the effect wears off.

2. Shell of Absorption-This just again further increases tankiness. Activating this will put a protection buff(45) to all allies and yourself for 5 seconds and also damage taken is reduced by 15% as well. So if you are in clear communication with your team, you can make a grand push and activate this AS SOON as you initiate so by the time you attack, you and your team can take advantage of attacking enemies for the entire duration of the 5 secs. Combine this with fire giant buffs and it's over.

3. Teleport to Gods- I don't always buy this, but when I do(Dos Equis pun not intended) it's usually because of an event concerning my entire team. Let's say your team is making a hard push where it's the whole team, but you are too far back or at base to catch up in time? No problem, use this when you see your team pushing hard and you are too far away. Chances are if your team was pushing successfully without you, imagine when a Pure Tank Hades with all his abilities ready to go appears along with the push.

Actives(Glass Cannon)
Combat Blink- This active would be advisable because since you are focusing pure damage, your defense will be lacking and a concentrated attack by even one well developed god can take you down easily. You will obviously have much more close call frequencies building glass cannon than tank, so when that happens and Death From Below is not enough to help you escape, you use this!

Greater Purification- Same reasons as above, if you were to get caught in CC, you would pretty much be dead or close to death. If an Ares or Xing Tian ults you successfully you will most likely die depending on the amount of players attacking you at the moment, even if it is just Ares and some other person use caution and activate this if caught.

Starter
Magic Shoes-2nd tier purchase leading up to Shoes of the Magi Also get potion for both mana and health to improve sustain. Also buy at least one Ward and put it next to a pathway that leads from the jungle into the lane you are covering.

Core
Shoes of the Magi- Buy for magical power, magical penetration and some movement speed bonus, pretty straightforward.

Book of Thoth Buy this early to start building stacks quickly and since you are building glass cannon doing Death From Below Devour Souls combo will clear a minion wave like nothing filling up stacks quickly and healing you since they were blighted.

Chronos' Pendant- Buy this for a nice magical power increase and a nice CDR. This will allow you to use Pillar of Agony more often and your other abilities and since you are building glass cannon, this can be quite a lethal combination in the hands of a well timed Hades player.

Damage
Bancroft's Talon- This gives you a great amount of magical power and also includes lifesteal with it. The passive is great since the lower your health is, the more magical power damage you do and since you are glass, your health will be low numerous times which will in a sense benefit you if played right.

Gem of Isolation-This gives you a decent amount of health and mana which is a plus since you are weak in defense and it gives you a nice chunk of magical power. It's passive makes enemies hit by your abilities suffer moving 25% slower. Using this you can set up kills and get kills with timing. This item is really good with Hades kit.

Obsidian Shard Pretty straightforward, magical damage and magical penetration :D

Soul Reaver Gives you outstanding magical power and gives you a mana boost. It's passive allows enemy gods hit by your abilities to also suffer 15% of their maximum health. If more than one god is hit, then it is applied to the god with the most HP.

Rod of Tahuti-You already know why, no need to explain.

HMMMMMM, now this is the main ingredient in what separates great Hades players from the good, the casual, and the bad players. A Hades who coordinates well with his team can change late game and possibly win the game for the team who is on the losing side. It is best you play Hades with people you know or communicate well with for optimum results. You can set up soooo many kills for your team with Pillar of Agony and Shroud of Darkness, it is these two moves that makes or breaks skilled Hades players. If you have a hunter or mage with you and the enemies are about half hp or below, you can use Death From Below to Blight enemies and follow up with Shroud of Darkness to fear them and cause them to walk towards you giving your damage dealing hunter or mage enough time to kill or severely injure the victims. Always look for chances to fear the enemy towards you for your allies to damage unhindered.

Now the true part comes in timing the Pillar of Agony Because you are building tank, using it alone with no team around will most likely not kill anyone due to the low damage. So always make sure to use it when the team is near you, that's 1. When you initiate it, make sure to use it on two or more enemies, NEVER ON 1 alone, that's 2. Finally the most integral part is coordinating with the team, let them know a few seconds beforehand to allow them to get ready and position themselves to pounce. Use it when you know the team is ready or if in party, they will tell you when. Learn to time this and you will learn to control the field with a equally coordinated team.

Well I see I may have gone just a tad overboard with excessive details and hopefully you guys made it to the end(without skimming) and actually like the guide. I usually go into so much detail because I've seen quite a few guides that are a bit vague or not answer some questions. I also like to makes sections on technical aspects such escaping or certain combos and when to do them. Not a lot of ppl offer advice on escapes and surviving especially with gods that have no escapes. While these are always harder, to me there is ALWAYS a way you find to escape using the abilities you possess with other environmental aspects. I may not be the person who has the most kills on a team or dominates, but one thing I do pride myself in is my survivability with just about any class. I have had many games where I go without dying and usually I'm the one with the least deaths on the team. Sure I may not have the most kills, but one thing I won't do is feed them and give them kills. I'm not saying I ALWAYS have the least deaths, but for most of the time when I play, I usually do. This holds true to when I play guardians, I have recently came to realize I am a much better guardian than anything else. I run a decent mage game as well, but lately I noticed I contribute a lot more as a guardian than anything else. My next guide will include Xing Tian who I currently use the most. I know you are supposed to not die, but I think there are levels in which you can die. For most people everything is kills kills kills and more kills, my thing is focusing on not dying and here is the thing, I can stay back and be cautious successfully enough to not waste time just recalling back and forth or retreating when only half your health is gone. Try and use this mindset if you are running guardian, pride yourself on not dying. You will feel good seeing the post game results and that you had 0 deaths while everyone else died, plus it's good because you are out on the field longer to support your team.