He Bo- Time to get Wet and Knock People Up!

Introduction to He Bo

Hey guys and girls, welcome to my guide on He Bo. He Bo has a great damage output and also quite a bit of Crowd Control. He is a magical power caster, so he should go mid lane and also build magical power. Of course, he is also completely viable in any other lane. He is also amzing at farming and has a HUGE teamfight ultimate, being able to reach 1.2k damage if built properly.
PROS
-Great Farmer
-Great Harassment
-Has a huge teamfight presence
-Good utility
-Can get to places faster
-Spammable ability
-Abilities are all AoE
-Can be built tanky and still have great damge
CONS
-Escapes are alright, one having to blow his ultimate and one is just a speed buff.
-Somewhat item reliant
-Can't trade aswell as some other Gods.
-Small delays on abilities may make you miss them
-Very mana hungry early game, Book of Thoth or Meditation is near essential.

LORE
As God of the Yellow River, He-Bo tamed the massive and turbulent waters with humility and sacrifice. Now, the forces of the great river are at his command!

Throughout history, no river has been the source of more nourishment or more destruction than China's Yellow River. Its basin valley was the cradle that birthed Chinese civilization, feeding fields with water and millions of tons of collected sediments, which give the river its yellow hue. The river is also treacherous and prone to flooding, destroying shoreline settlements and drowning thousands.

Long ago, Feng Yi, a mortal man living along the riverside, watched in dismay as a storm stirred the waters and gorged the banks. It would not be long before this mighty river consumed his village. Both humble and wise, Feng Yi tied rocks to his belt before casting himself into the waters. This act of sacrifice did more than appease the angry river, it promoted Feng Yi to Godhood over it. Thus, he became He Bo.

Much time passed, and He Bo grew proud of his great river, so proud that he declared the Yellow River the biggest body of water anywhere. A passerby asked if He Bo had seen the North Sea, but He Bo dismissed the comment, for heavy rains were falling and the river was roaring and full. As time wore on, thought of the North Sea tickled his mind, so he made the journey. There, the Dragon King of the Northern Sea warmly met him. Viewing the endless expanse of water, He Bo was humbled and returned to his River wiser.

For He Bo, there are no greater virtues than wisdom and humility. With the force of the Yellow River at his command, He Bo will remind his enemies what it means to be humble.

So without further ado, let's get on with the build.

PLEASE DO NOTE: This is called a guide for a reason, it is here to just guide you. If you feel like you can go a slightly different and more efficient way that suits you better, then go for it, as it will most likely leave you at the same place this guide intends for you to be at. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO FOLLOW THIS GUIDE LIKE THE BIBLE.

Changelog

Please do note that this is referring to my timezone, Australian Eastern Standard Time.
August 31^st
-Guide is created!
September 2^nd
-Editted item build to show 3 of each item
-Added second build. Special thanks to Asmoday for the suggestion!
-Added Timeline
-Added 'Purchasable abilities' section
-Grammatical and spelling checkthrough of whole guide
September 3^rd
-Started work on God matchups
-Experimenting with Warlock's Sash. Special thanks to Fastball2600 for the feedback.
September 4^th
-Finished God Matchups chapter.
-FIRST GUIDE THAT HAS REACHED 70%! Small steps, and we'll soon break 90!
-Reached most viewed guide on Smitefire! 1,500 views!!! A pretty momentous day in my eyes.
September 10^th
-Fixed up skill sequence
-Remade the item builds to add Recovery, Snowball and also my Normal build.
-Complete rework of item chapter.
-Reached 3500 views!
September 13^th
-Added a few suggestions, Big thanks to AMAZING MONKEY for the suggestions! Specifically Elixirs and Purification Beads.
September 18^th
-Added a little note to the introduction regarding minor item change suggestions.
October 6^th
-Added Lore.
-Added tips and tricks for each God in the God Matchups Chapter.
-Added comboes in Abilities chapter.
December 22^nd- I SURVIVED THE END OF THE WORLD MUAHAHA!
-Finally added Spear of the Magus to starting items section.
-Guide History now renamed Changelog.
April 25^th
-Added changes from Assault patch. These are:

He Bo's Floodwaters now affect allies aswell.

May 2^nd
-Added changes from Fenrir patch. These are:

Steady Flow buff updated from 5% to 10%

May 12^th
-Removed Spear of the Magus from starting items.
-Added more Gods to the God match-ups section. These are:
Poseidon
Neith
Freya

Abilities

He Bo's skills are great for farming and also having a consistent damage output to a whole team, as his abilities are all AoE (Area of Effect) and have a relatively short cooldown.

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Water Cannon
This ability is your 'spamming' skill in teamfights. It deals AoE damage to everyone in a cone in front of you. Also, this ability is one half of what makes you a great farmer. I max this second after Waterspout mainly because of the larger range on Waterspout.
Tips and Tricks
-Don't harass early game with this ability, but to instead harass with your Waterspout.
-This ability has a really short delay, talking 0.2 seconds, so be weary of that or else you may miss.
-The cooldown on Water Cannon is very low, so spam it like hell during teamfights.

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Flood Waters
This ability provides great utility and a decent escape. It also makes as a great initiation tool for your team. He Bo summons a river in front of him. When walking on top of Flood Waters, your and your allies' movement speed increases. When enemies walk on top of it, they are slowed. This ability is mainly for the utility, so I max this last.
Tips and Tricks
-Use this ability to escape. Throw it out in front of you. You will move significantly faster and your 'chaser' will be slowed.
-Use this ability to get back to lane faster.
-Use this ability to start your combo so it will be easier for you to land your abilities and also to chase if the God starts to run. It also helps stack your passive.
-Use this ability to help initiate teamfights, as your allies also get the boost.

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Waterspout
This ability, HOLY ****. I consider this to be his bread and butter, and this is an AMAZING ability. It's the Chuck Norris and Bruce Lee of abilities. It summons a spout of water at taget location, damaging them and knocking them up. It's great damage, makes him an AMAZING farmer, has AMAZING harass, good range, very good crowd control, it's just so useful all around. This ability gives me muscle spasms and makes me **** my pants. I max this ability first because of all the reasons above.
Tips and Tricks
-This ability has a small delay, so if the enemy is close to the edge of the ability, it will most likely miss.
-You can use this ability over walls, so you can try to steal buffs or even quickly grab some creeps when you are passing by a lane.

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Crushing Wave
And now we come to his ultimate, Crushing Wave. He Bo turns into a giant wave and charges forward, greatly damaging all enemies it passes through. This ability is very good, as it can offer a last minute escape aswell as a major teamfight damaging tool. Usually I get about 1.2k damage on this ability when fully built and comboed with his other abilities. I max this at the usual ultimate levels.
Tips and Tricks
-This ability charges you forward, so using this ability through a team at the beginning of a teamfight may leave you in a sticky situation.
-This ability travels in a wave, pun intended, and not instant, so it is possible for your target to outrun the ability despite the indicator saying it will hit.
-Use this ability when all the enemies are low, killing them and possibly getting some multi kills.

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Steady Flow
This is He Bo's passive ability. This ability rewards your for chaining your abilities, increasing your magical power by 10% everytime you cast an ability, stacking 3 times. This passive is very good, but is unnoticed as it isn't like Cupid's passive where it's a 'physical' change.

MAIN COMBOES

Main harrass combo
into into

Use this combo to harrass after level 5, when you should have sufficient mana to constantly spam your abilities. We open up with Flood Waters to get our passive, Steady Flow going. Then, we use Waterspout to knock-up the target and give enough time to get their and finish off the combo with Water Cannon.

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Pre-level 5 harrass combo
into

We use this combo before level 5 because using the Main Harrass Combo will make you run out of mana pretty fast before level 5. Same idea as the Main Harrass Combo, Waterspout gives enough time for you to go up and Water Cannon the target.

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Kill Combo
into into into into whenever it's off cooldown.

I sound like a broken record, but Flood Waters is used to get your passive going and to help land your abilities, then Waterspout to hold them in place to get you Water Cannon off. Then use Crushing Wave for that last extra burst of damage. If your target somehow survives the combo, than use your Water Cannon whenever it is off cooldown until your target dies.

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Teamfight
until your team engages with enemy. Then Main Kill Combo when engaged.

Use Waterspout before the teamfight to wittle the enemy team down. Once you engage, use the Main Kill Combo.

Items

He Bo's build is pretty straightforward, building what a magical powered caster usually builds. However, what I usually like to do is substitute some of my damage for tankiness, just so I can go up close and use Water Cannon in temafights.

Starting Items
Boots of the Magi Healing Potion Healing Potion Healing Potion
This is what I usually start with, and I honestly can't think of any other scenarios where I would want something else. The only other one I can think of is:
Reinforced Boots Healing Potion Healing Potion Healing Potion
For when you are against an Anubis or any other God that can harass well.

Build 1: Recovery Build
Only use this build if you have died before you have gone back for the first time and you have gotten behind on farm and kills.
For this build, you will need to purchase a Book of Thoth as a substitute for Meditation and then the rest of the build will be the same.

Build 2: Snowball
Use this build only if you have killed your opponent early game and is certain you will not die and therefore snowball out of control.
For this build, you will be purchasing a Doom Orb. This is the best snowball item in the game. This should give enough mana regen so you won't have to purchase Meditation.
For newcomers, a snowball item is an item that will stack and give you bonus stats but have a consequences.

Build 3: Normal Build
This is the typical build I use if the game is just going normally. In this build, I get a Warlock's Sash just for the great stats overall. Farming is a sinch for He Bo, so you do not need to panic about going farm crazy. Also, I recommend Meditation with this build because you will have no mana regen with this build.

THE SITUATIONAL ITEMS
Hide of the LeviathanHide of the Leviathan
I usually get this item just for the extra tankiness. Your overall damage will go down slightly with this item, but this will make sure you will not get focussed and die instantly in teamfights.

Gem of Isolation
This is a nice item to have in general. I typically purchase this when I'm doing well in general. This item isn't core, it's just nice to have the extra slow.

Magi's Blessing
I only get this item if an opposing AP caster has managed to get some kills elsewhere and therefore kill you nearly instantly. Note that if the opposing AP is 'just fed' as opposed to extremely fed and uncontrollable, then get a Void Stone to deal with him instead.

Void Stone
I usually always get this item alongside with Hide of Leviathan. If the whole enemy team is building Magic Resist to counter your team/ you or if you feel the enemy AP Caster is doing a bit too much damage to you, I highly recommend you get this.

Obsidian Shard
Pretty straight forward. Enemy is building Magic Resist and you feel the enemy AP caster isn't a threat whatsoever, this is your item.

Potion of Magical Might Elixir of Power Elixir of Defense
First of all, BIG THANK YOU to Amazing Monkey for bringing up the point of elixirs! ELixirs are generally items you want to get when you complete your build. Of course, this being a somewhat expensive build, you may not get the chance to finish it. But if you get super fed/super farmed (you should be getting super-farmed either way), you can get these little buddies. Of course, it depends on what you need. If you want a bit more magical damage, then go for an Potion of Magical Might. If you want a LOT, and we are talking a LOT, then go for an Elixir of Power. And of course, if you want that tankiness, then go for an Elixir of Defense. Note that I only recommend getting an Elixir of Power or an Elixir of Defense after your build because they do cost quite a bit of gold. It may be a good idea to get an elixir of magical might sometime during the early game just to get that little extra edge on your opponent.

Purchasable Abilities

For purchasable abilities, there are only two that I highly recommend.

Meditation
Pretty simple. He Bo is incredibly mana hungry early game, that is if you spam your abilities. By grabbing Meditation, this will solve all your mana problems and you won't have to purchase a Book of Thoth, being able to substitute it for more damage or Tankiness. Note that you ONLY want this early game, as by late game mana should not be a problem.

Aegis Amulet
This ability is pretty useful in general. It can actually allow you to initiate fights with your ultimate without instantly dying afterwards. It can also save you from taking huge amounts of damage from other big teamfight ultimates, such as Ymir's. I recommend getting this mid to late game, as that is when most of the teamfights occur.

Purification Beads
This is an all-round good ability. If you get fed or farmed, then the enemy team will most likely focus their damage on you, and if they focus their damage, then that means their CC will come along too. And what do you get if they focuss CC at you? Purification Beads!! Yes, this is a pretty useful ability. This, most of the time, will get you out of a lot of sticky situations. Ymir stuns and ults? No Problem! Cupid initiates on your team? No Problem! Anubis got you in a snare? No Problem! If you're having CC problems, then this is your ability.

Farming

Farming is incredibly easy with He Bo. Early game, you want to damage the melee creeps with Water Cannon and the ranged creeps with Waterspout By mid game, you should easily be one-hitting the ranged creeps at the back with your Waterspout. You want to be using Waterspout on the ranged creeps and Water Cannon twice on the melee creeps. By late game, farming should be a sinch, one shot ranged creeps with Waterspout and also greatly damage the melee creeps with Water Cannon.

Teamfights

With He Bo, you usually want to harass the enemy with Waterspout a few times before engaging.

When you decide to engage, the enemy team will most likely have a big disadvantage with their health. You want to throw Flood Waters right through the enemy team and spam Waterspout and Water Cannon whenever they are off cooldown. When the opposing team is low, swim through them, pun intended again, with your ultimate, Crushing Wave. By then a majority of the enemy team should be dead.

DO NOT TRY TO FOCUS ANY CARRIES IN THE BACK OF THE ENEMY TEAM. You'll get focussed and killed immediately.

God Match-ups

Ra
Still to come.

Ao Kuang
This is a a near impossible match-up. He will out-harass you, he will outrange you, he will dodge all your abilities with the extra mobility he gets from Slither. Just try to avoid this match-up if possible. Heck, if you can at least beat a decent Ao Kuang player, then I bow to you.
Tips against Ao Kuang
-Play aggressive in this match-up. You will be able to deny him farm if you stand behind his creeps. You'll still be getting gold, while Ao Kuang will be pushed to his tower.
-Try to bait Tornadoes, moving out last second before Ao Kuang casts it. If you successfuly do this repeatedly, he'll run out of mana and most likely go back, then you can further deny him creeps by pushing the lane.


Agni
Still to come.

Artemis
A relatively easy match-up, you just have to play smart. Don't go in front of your minions to try to harass her, or else you'll end up taking more damage. Eventually she'll come and try to CS, so that's when you should harass.
Tips against Artemis
-STAY BEHIND YOUR CREEPS! If you do this, she'll have no way of harrassing you without burning mana. Her abilities are quite costly, so she will quickly have to go back.
-Be careful when she reaches level 5. This is where most Artemis players will become more aggressive and go for the kill on you. Go back and buy if you haven't done so already.


Kali
I've only seen this happen once, and my god was this a graping. This is an incredibly easy match-up for you. She shouldn't be able to get close to you. Even if she does, you will out damage her, unless if she has her ultimate, but even then you can juke her with your ultimate.
Tips against Kali
-Zone her. If she comes even near your creeps, unload the combo Waterspout into Water Cannon. This will out damage her heal.

Anubis
This is a 50-50 match-up. It's just the better player wins. On one hand, he has better harass than you, but on the other hand he's a sitting duck for you to land all your abilities when he's using his abilities.
Tips against Anubis
-Be mobile. Never stand still. If you keep on walking from side to side, he'll most like miss his snare. No snare = No harrass.


Cupid
Still to come.

Sobek
Like Kali, I've only seen this once, and also like Kali, this is easy as hell. He can't get close, and if he does, he has no escape. If he tries to initiate on you, you will deal more damage. Even with his ult you'll out-damage him.
Tips against Sobek
-Once again, STAY MOBILE. If he can't land his dash, you will take no damage and he will take a truck load. When he misses his dash, do the main harrass combo.


Hades
This guy is pretty easy. He can harass you, but you will harass him harder. Like Sobek aswell, he will have no escape if he attempts to initiate, so after he blows all his abilities, just start to wail on him.
Tips against Hades
-Watch out for level 5. He'll start to be slightly more aggressive. However, if he hasn't harrassed you much pre-level 5, then he won't kill you with his main kill combo.
-If he hasn't built any magic resistance against you, then you'll be able to kill him if he dives in.


Hel
This is an annoying match-up, but it's bareable. He Bo outranges her, so you should be fine to harass, it's just her sustain which is annoying, but your cooldowns are shorter, so eventually she'll get low enough.
Tips against Hel
-Harrass her as much as you can. One of your abilities does as much as one of her heals. Too bad you have two major damaging abilities, one on an incredibly low cooldown, and she has only one major heal. Keep harrassing and eventually the damage will add up.

Zeus
Still to come.

Poseidon
This is a fairly even match-up. He does out-damage you if you do decide to trade however. His sustain is low, so constant waterspouts should bring him low enough. Also, he has relatively long cooldowns, so constant harassing will win you this match-up.
Tips against Poseidon
-Dodge. Best way to put it. His abilities are either slow-moving or damage over-time, so they shouldn't be too hard to dodge. If you suck at dodging, then start with Reinforced Boots.
-His Tidal Surge generally hits for about four-fifths of He Bo's health, so be weary of that.
-Every Poseidon I have faced immediately goes for the kill as soon as he hits 5. Try to force him out before then to get a level on him and make him reconsider about trying to kill you.

Neith
Like every physical power carry, you will harass better than them but will not duel better than them. She has a heal, but the amount is very small, easy to dodge and Neith players generally don't max it first, so it shouldn't be too much of a hassle. However, she does have a penetrating skillshot, so she may be able to get some harass even if you stay behind creeps.
Tips against Neith
-Always recall out of sight and not near enemy minions. She WILL pick you off with her ultimate if you recall in the open.
-Although less effective against Neith than most physical power carries, stay behind your creeps. Her main damage is from basic attacks, so get minions to block them.
-Bait the Backflip with Water Cannon before you fully dedicate into the kill. Waterspout should have enough range to reach her after she backflips.

Freya
The key to winning this match-up is positioning. At level 5, she will try to kill you if you are at half health, because believe me, her ultimate HURTS.
Tips against Freya
- Valkyrie's Discretion will turn the tides of any duel. Just be wary of it, as you don't have any way to get away if you over-dedicate.
-The position you want to be in is behind your minions but to the right. This way, Freya can't hurt you. If you stay behind your minions, you'll still get hurt from the AoE of Pulse.
-Every time she uses Pulse, you will have 6 seconds of free harass or denying farm. She can't harass back as she will not have any ranged damage output except her ulti (which she probably won't waste just to harass).

Conclusion

Thank you guys and girls very much for reading through my very first guide on one of these guide posting websites. If you want to add me anywhere on these MOBA games, feel free to, username being the same, HiFromBuddha. So anyway, thank you guys so much for reading through my guide, and I may post some more guides in the future.

Also, please leave any constructive criticism or remarks in the comment section. As this is my first guide, your feedback will improve the quality of possible future guides by a lot.

And for the third time, Thank you everyone so much.