Jousterino Three V. Threeno (Joust 3v3)

Alright let's be honest with each other here. We have all gone into joust and just played whatever god because we wanted to play him. Maybe we put some thought into the damage type or if we had a tank, but honestly, we never put a whole lot of thought into it.

Well I'm here to tell you that everything you do is wrong. I'd like to change the current general Joust meta to be more like that of Conquest. You queue up and hope for the role you like.

Before we get started I'd like to give my readers a sense of credibility towards my work. My in game handle is Firake and my stats are a little terrible. Let's just say I used to be less than spectacular at Smite.

You can search for my Hi-Rez account here.

Here is my profile on tiermonster.

Joust 3v3 is my most played game mode (by a small margin with conquest) and I hope to improve the general quality of the average Joust game.



(as a side not I was never good with Ullr even though he is my second most played god. His stats are horrible and I have since stopped playing with him)

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Tanks in joust focus on buying tank items as fast as possible, without delaying them by buying GP5 items such as Watcher's Gift and Midas Boots (P). These are pointless because you already have 8 GP5, and delay your Sovereignty unnecessarily.

In Joust, tanks are able to quickly focus on absorbing as much damage as possible without needing to worry about utility items until later in the game. Assuming the enemy team is of a normal comp, Sovereignty should be the first item you get on all gods in the Tank role.

God's that perform well in this role are:
Ymir
Geb
Athena
Sylvanus
Guan Yu
Tyr
Fenrir
Hades
Kumbhakarna
Sun Wukong
and others...

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The jungler in joust is by far the most important. The jungler focuses on controlling the jungle and taking objectives. Primarily, this will be an Assassin, but sometimes can be mage.

God's that excel in the Jungler role are:

Ne Zha
Arachne
Loki
Bastet
Freya
Serqet
Nemesis
Bakasura
Awilix
Fenrir
Mercury
and others...

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The Lane clearer focuses on farming the lane and preventing any gold from reaching the tower. This person will only leave the lane to pick up buffs, buy items, or help in fights. The clearer should never solo jungle camps. Usually, this role includes Mages and Hunters, and sometimes Assassins.

I won't list the gods that perform well here as there are about a million of them.

First, the Tank and the Lane Clearer will make their way to the blue buff (the first buff on the right), and the Jungler will head to Speed (first buff on the left). Both will clear their respective buffs, and move on.

The Jungler, now, can either try and steal the enemy red buff or go to lane. The duo pair can also either choose to take red or go to lane. Once in lane, both groups will start to clear the lane and poke the enemy. Once the players hit level 5, they should start to recall and buy items; this should be your first back unless you have been fighting significantly. Try and also stagger your recalls so that you don't leave the lane unattended or with only 1 defender.

Now, the Jungler will start to roam and take buffs. He / she will leave the lane for the most part and only come in for ganks. This phase of the game is crucial because it involves the most farming. The Lane Clearer should try and wait for the Jungler to be in lane to clear, but it is not a priority.

After the Jungler hits level 20 and gets a full build he / she will be staying in lane and letting the Clearer take buffs to get that last push. The Tank should be hardy enough to not need a significant amount of gold, now, and he should try and kill the enemy team alongside his Jungler. If you are ahead in this phase, it is important to make sure that the enemy does not get any buffs so that they cannot come back from their deficit. If you are behind, your primary objective is to secure your own blue and speed buff. This will slowly add up as the enemy will have maxed out their builds and levels causing you to potentially be able to come back.

Remember that at this point in the game, any small mistake can be magnified to create a loss.

Starting Build

Blink

x4

x4

You'll probably notice the lack of Hand of the Gods, Watcher's Gift, and that there isn't a Ward there.

This is because you want to be as tanky as possible even when tank items are impossible. Another option would be to go Steel Mail and Pots, but that gives you much less sustain in lane and little magical defense. Buying early wards isn't helpful as you can visually see incoming invades, and Hand of the Gods is only helpful if you're Lane Clearer does not have sufficient clear to make it to lane on time.

Another thing worth noting is my choice of Blink for an active. It should be stated that this is mostly a place holder and only works well on certain gods (ie Ymir, Tyr, etc.). I would recommend getting Shell, Creeping Curse, or even Purification Beads depending on what team composition you are fighting. However, gods such as Geb and Ares should get blink on their first back as it gives them powerful initiation.

After buying your items, head to the mana buff located to the right of the phoenix. You're going to clear this with you're Lane Clearer and move on.

You now have two options:
1) Clear the red buff giving you *some* extra damage in lane
2) Go to lane early to catch more lane minions

I can say that saving red is more beneficial if you're tank is a guardian that and clearing it is more beneficial if you're tank is a warrior, but it really comes down to how aggressively you plan to play in the lane.

Your job now is to protect your team. Make sure that you are ahead of them at all times. It is specifically your job to be ahead of your team, not for your team to be behind you. Even if you disagree with their positioning, staying behind will likely result in both of their deaths.

Note: When I say ahead, I mean towards the enemies, not the direction that the team is walking.

It is also you're job to ensure successful recall attempts, and to initiate when you see a possible kill.

After around 3 minutes, the Junglers will start to gank. You will need to buy wards to put near the rocks on either entrance to the jungle. This will give you knowledge of which buff the Jungler is going to, and if they are coming to gank.

Late game, you should have Sovereignty, Stone of Gaia, and Magi's Blessing as a bare minimum. The rest of your items should be built as counters to the enemy team.

It is you're job to tank the tower and phoenix if your team gets a deicide, or a significant advantage. If you cannot, make sure to tell them with [VVN] (No!).

Starting Build

Note that if your god is a mage, you'll want to buy Vampiric Shroud instead of Death's Toll.

Now you're going to head to the speed buff which is located to the left of the phoenix. You will clear this buff solo and head to lane. Your teammates may choose to leave red for you, or take it for the Tank. If they leave it, clear it solo after the first wave.

The first few minutes while the Jungle Camps are respawning are the most tedious, and the main reason you bought the potions. You will be trying to push the wave (if you're Loki or Arachne) and poke the enemy while you're mage clears the minions.

Once you have about 20 seconds left on your speed buff, you can check if the enemy speed buff is available. If it is, take it for yourself. The next portion of the game is going to be very... speedy.

For the rest of the game you are going to be taking whatever jungle camps you can and being in lane only when there is nothing available to take, or when there is a fight.

There are two reasons:
1) If you control the jungle, you'll be ahead of the enemy jungler
2) If you aren't in lane, your teammates only have to split the minions 2 ways, making them ahead of their 3-way-splitting opposition

The effect of this is the jungler being very far ahead in gold and 1-2 levels ahead in XP. The Laners will be ahead in XP mainly, but not so much gold. The players on your team will also be getting all of the buffs, giving them small advantages.

Your full build should be either high penetration and attack speed, or high penetration and crits, depending on the god you picked and the enemy team composition.

It is very important that the Lane Clearer you picked can effectively clear the lane by the time you leave, and you may have to delay leaving the lane if he/she can't. You don't want your team to get pushed under tower and lose farm.

Starting Build

Or if you are a hunter:


First, you will go to the mana buff to the right of the phoenix with your support. Clear it and either go to lane or the red buff.

You're job from now on is to clear the lane as fast as possible and poke the enemy. If you don't have good mana sustain, focus on clearing the waves.

If you're jungler comes to gank have you're primary damage skill ready to burst the enemy down, you don't want it on cooldown from clearing the wave.

On most gods, you're going to want to build high burst and penetration allowing you to easily take out towers and enemy damage dealers. Ensure that there are no situational items that need to be bought before going full damage.

Late game, your #1 priority is staying alive, closely followed by taking the phoenix. Even if you're behind, your team can easily take the tower if one or both of the damage dealers has high pen ( Obsidian Shard or Titan's Bane). Make sure you take advantage of wards and take objectives when your enemies are securing buffs.

DO NOT, I REPEAT, DO NOT WAIT FOR THE CREEP WAVE TO TAKE THE TOWER

Your late game damage and tankiness is more than enough for you to take it with only gods, waiting for the creeps will only increase your chances of getting caught out of position.

Ne Zha is an excellent god in 3v3 because of her crazy ability to stun and burst the opposing Jungler without them being able to do anything to stop it. She also has insane camp clear and high movement speed, resulting in easier jungle control. When playing against Ne Zha, it is important to have beads to prevent her ult combo. If you get caught in the jungle by Ne Zha, it is a life saver.

Agni is a great Lane Clearer because he can stun and burst enemy junglers coming into lane, effectively preventing a potential gank. He also has great mobility make it hard to kill him when he has teammates nearby.

Ymir is my favorite Tank in 3v3 because of his non-ultimate CC, and his blocking skills. Walling off the enemy jungler when they come to gank is an amazing skill to have, as well as using your ultimate to peel enemies from your squishy teammates. People often forget that Ymir's ult does insane damage even without building damage.

Invading the enemy blue buff early is an advanced strategy that employs surprise to get an early lead on your enemy. If you are thinking of invading, make sure you're team has at least one good early game god, and the enemy team has less than you.

For example, invading would be good on a team comp of Ymir, Ne Zha, Ra vs. Geb, Apollo, Nemesis.

If you invade, you want to make sure that you either get the blue buff, the red buff, or a kill. Quickly clear the wave in lane and move on to securing your own buff camps. If the enemy simply invades your camps after it, you have lost and gained nothing but mana and active cooldowns.


To start the invade, have your tank blink in and CC as many people as possible. Have the Jungler follow up with using Hand of the Gods on the camp to secure the buff. You're next priority is to kill the enemy Jungler to make it easier to control the jungle later in the game. Do not attempt to dive towers this early, or the enemy could turn the invade on you and come out ahead.

After that, move on to securing the left red buff, clearing the lane, and then securing your own camps. You may choose to have the Jungler solo the blue buff.

Hopefully this guide has enlightened you to some potential strategies on 3v3 Joust. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns call the reply box below!