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DISCLAIMER: This guide is NOT finished. It will probably never be finished and will constantly be updated. As of now, it only includes information for Arena matches as Arena is very straight forward for Zeus, but a great deal of the general gameplay applies to all modes. I will eventually add more focused builds and possibilities that are more efficient for other modes, but for now, again, this guide is written with Arena in mind first and foremost.
So thanks for having a read of my guide. Zeus immediately caught my eye when I first started playing Smite back in June and has consistently been a regular pick for me since then. After a brief hiatus, I returned to Smite to see the new Arena mode and immediately found Zeus to be pretty much a perfect fit for the map. He fits almost any team comp and is an exceptionally dangerous god to have to face - especially if his team is good about protecting him. The amount of raw AOE burst he can throw out is disgusting and woe be to you and your team if you let him get any momentum.
-Pros-
+ Extremely high AOE burst damage potential
+ Aegis Shield is an amazing utility ability
+ Respectable creep clearing ability
+ Spammy/Low cooldowns
+++ Samuel L. Jackson sums it up pretty well here
-Cons-
- VERY squishy if built for maximum damage. Aegis Shield helps somewhat, but...
- No reliable escape mechanism. Again, Aegis Shield helps mitigate this somewhat, but against any earnest attempt to focus you down, you are going to die unless you get them peeled off of you.
- Poor 1v1 performance against most non-mage gods and even some mages as well (He Bo and Agni especially). This is mitigated somewhat with use of a Polynomicon. More in the items section on that.
It's typically safe to pick Zeus in almost any given team make-up that isn't already heavy on casters. Most people seem to be averse to playing casters in Arena anyway so you'll often see a lot of bruisers, tanks, and melee assassins. This couldn't be any more of a perfect time to pick Zeus. Again, though, if you find your team already has two or more mages on it, picking Zeus is probably not going to be a safe bet unless you build a bit more tanky. In that case, however, you're almost always better served by just playing a dedicated tank-oriented god.
Note that the builds above are only generic suggestions and are fairly standard mage builds in general. As with any god, you should always adapt your build according to how your game is going. That being said, I will confess that I don't deviate very much from the Squishy build save for the last item which is really a pure luxury slot to fill in any gaps you might have in your current match.
I'll break down all of the potential, applicable item choices and give my opinion as to their worth. As with anything, though, you are best using your own judgment. If you think you can find a use for an item I could not then, by all means, try. Guides are meant to guide, after all, not dictate!
I purposely did not put ability items in my build. They are PURELY at your own discretion and you'll almost always get a completely different pair with each match. Here's my take on them, though:
In a word, Zeus gameplay in Arena is what I would consider opportunistic. You generally don't want to be in front and especially not once you start racking up kills. You'll get focused down and that's no fun.
Until you get your ult, you are more or less worthless to your team. Like most mages, Zeus is very reliant on levels to be effective. If you see an early engagement out of the gates, support, but don't commit. Once you get your ult, you can start committing to fights with your team as you'll actually have some meaningful damage. Eventually, with a few points into Chain Lightning, you can assert more authority and establish yourself as more of a threat.
Stay at the edges of a fight and make sure there's always an allied champion between you and the opposing team. Poke with Chain Lightning as you can and Detonate Charge when you can pop someone. Playing Zeus is honestly VERY straight forward since he has no combos other than 'stack charges and detonate them.'
If you get jumped by a melee god, though, don't panic. While it's generally a waste to use Lightning Storm on a single god, it's sometimes worth casting it on top of yourself when somebody is on you. You are likely to score a kill if they're particularly dogged or, at the very least, you'll get them off of you... with three charges on them to pop.
Again, though, use your judgment. If you're just going to get popped nearly instantly anyway, don't waste your ult. If you don't have many orb stacks, it's probably worth just saving your cooldown and eating the death. In Arena, the respawn counter is MUCH shorter than your ult's cooldown.
That's really it. Zeus is a mage of the truest sort so play him accordingly.
Zeus is awesome. Play him. Seriously.
If you liked my guide, don't forget to give it a thumbs up. If you don't like my guide, feel free to give it a thumbs down, but if you do, PLEASE post in the comments section why. If you are going to leave negative feedback, please make it more meaningful than 'guide sucks, you suck.' Tell me why you think it sucks and what you think I should do to fix it.
As always, enjoy playing Smite and tell your friends to play it too!
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