Jungler Ares on Xbox One!

So I've logged quite a bit of time with Ares on Xbox Live and I've come to learn that he can be utilized very well in Conquest as a jungle or a support. First, lets talk about about his passive, Blessed Presence.

Blessed Presence is a buff which gets stronger with completed aura item that Ares owns. This buff grants him 30 additional Magical Power. As a jungler, you have to possess a lot of potential to do damage and the auras that you will be building with the items I have chosen will give you a total of 120 Magical Power on top of the items built just because of Ares' passive.

Ares' 1st ability (Shackles) might be his most powerful ability. Chains extend from Ares' shield, doing damage to all enemies in its path. Hitting a god shackles them to Ares, Cripples them, preventing movement abilities, dealing the same damage every second while slowing them and buffing Ares. While shackled, Ares can fire another chain for free within 2s. I love using this ability as a combo move after using his ultimate (No Escape) and then "Shackling" my opponents to weaken them further and then finishing them off with his 3rd ability (Searing Flesh).

Ares' 2nd ability (Bolster Defenses) I have found is very good during team fights. Ares strengthens the defenses of himself and all nearby allies, granting Protections and reducing Crowd Control durations. For each shackled enemy, the Protection Buffs are increased. So using this ability after using Ares' ultimate and then shackling an opponent will further increase his defenses against the shackled enemy while you still do damage to the enemy. I don't typically build much of this ability early on, especially as a support Ares but as team fights start to happen more frequently, the more helpful this ability becomes to not only yourself but your teammates as well.

Ares' 3rd ability (Searing Flesh) is really great at keeping enemies at bay and also helpful on doing a little damage to minions in lane as a support to help your carry out. Flames pour forth from Ares' shield, engulfing enemies in a cone in front of him causing damage every .5s for 4s. Ares is immune to Knockback for the duration. The range on this ability is low so don't think you can get away with shooting flames at someone from distance and expect results or even damage. Like I mentioned before, Searing Flesh is great for doing some damage to minions as a support in order to help your carry partner clear lane or to finish off a VERY weak opponent. Shackles is by far the most powerful of your abilities so hit those chains in succession to do the most damage and then go for the finishing blow with Searing Flesh!

Ares' 4th ability (No Escape) is his ultimate. It is awesome if your opponents haven't bought Greater Purification (the blue beads for those who don't know what that is) and will essentially bring all of the enemies in reach of his ultimate right to him when it finishes. Ares throws chains out to all enemy gods in an area around him. All enemies hit by the chains are pulled to Ares after 2.5s, taking damage and are stunned plus additional time for each enemy god hit by the ability. If the enemies you chain with No Escape use their active Greater Purification, you can alert your teammates to use one of their abilities to stun or root them in order to keep them from escaping a second time like Medusa if she's your carry or Neith or Cupid or anyone with a good stun, root, or slow. Regardless, this ability is very helpful in giving your teammates the ability or opportunity to get some kills and for you to get some assists (and kills if you are lucky).

So personally, I enjoy rotating where needed and playing in lane with solo, mid, or dual lanes in order to utilize Watcher's Gift as much as possible. Ares is not going to be very good at killing camps or minions single handedly so be aware of the fact that you will have to be aggressive jungling with him and get as many kills and or assists as possible when available in order to further level yourself in Conquest as well as gain gold for items. Depending on who you're jungling against or playing against you may have to swap out Breastplate of Valor for Spirit Robe as both give nice cooldown bonuses and Spirit Robe gives both magical and physical defenses. You are going to want some sort of protection early on so you aren't completely helpless against the likes of an Awilix or Ymir jungler or any jungler for that matter as well as defense for early team fights so that is why I have Breastplate of Valor and or Spirit Robe built as your second full item.

Bear in mind that Spirit Robe's 15% cooldown is good but not as good as Breastplate of Valor's 25% cooldown bonus so I like to buy Shoes of Focus if I know I'm going to buy Spirit Robe as my 2nd item to then give me a nice 30% cooldown before finishing off a full 40% cooldown bonus (40% is the max amount of cooldown bonus you can have) with Pythagorem's Piece which give you 15% Lifesteal, 10% Cooldown, +70 Magical Power, and an aura which helps boost Ares' passive as well as your teammates within 70 meters giving them +20 Magical Power and +10% Lifesteal if they successfully hit an enemy minion or player with an attack.

In general, this build is for the aggressive Ares' player. If you want to be a bit more tanky and focus more on defense, I would not suggest this build. This Ares build is for instigating and engaging the enemy into team fights and or quick ganks on weakened opponents. Utilize the auras and build that bonus Magical Power! Ares can be extremely useful in preventing enemies from escaping, use Shackles and No Escape to your advantage and you will have yourself a fun time jungling with Ares. If anyone has any comments or questions or input I would love to hear it. This is my first guide on SmiteFire and I will be doing a guide for Neith soon! Thanks for reading!