Loki: It's All Just Right For Me (Arena Build)

This is the first guide I've ever done, so if you notice something out of the normal or just wrong, feel free to criticize me on it.

I feel like most people judge Loki based on his ability to turn invisible. So they think," Hey! That's OP! Hi-Rez, nerf it please!". Loki's invisibility is very predictable if you go a direction they know you are going to go. You have to be unpredictable, you have to be a trickster. It takes some skill to play Loki, and hopefully I can guide you through that.

Let's step into Loki's Pros, and Cons.

- Loki has a insane amount of burst, being able to put out hundreds of damage instantly.
- Loki can probably one-shot you with his entire combo, and if that doesn't kill you, the DoT(Damage over Time) from his 1 will.
- Loki can easily turn on you with his combo. For example, you are chasing a Loki with just that ONE last basic attack. You are playing Freya. Loki has all of cooldowns up. He pops Vanish and Aimed Strike then you are suddenly bursted down to about half health. The DoT takes you down to one quarter. Loki ults on you and you are dead. Do not underestimate his damage output.
- Loki can fool you with his invisibility. You can be chasing him then he will pop his invisibility. You think he will run towards his tower, so you use your abilities on where you think he is. When he actually went in to the jungle and went to his Tier 2 tower.
- He can KS like a motherf**ker. - Loki becomes a missile late-game. Where he uses his entire combo hoping to kill at least on person, then he just gets bursted down instantly. Much like Ne Zha.
- Loki cannot carry a team late-game. If your team depends on you to carry them, it won't work out. Almost all of his damage is dependent on cooldowns. He's kind of like a Physical Burst Mage. Fortunately, this can be helped slightly with Quins' Sais.
- Loki is ridiculousy squishy late-game. Unless you build Ancile and Void Shield.

Let's move on Loki's beautiful skill set now.

Behind You!
Loki does 20% more damage when attacking enemies from behind.
Vanish (1)
Loki disappears from sight. While invisible he gains 35% movement speed, is immune to slows and takes 25% less damage. His next auto attack in stealth or 2 seconds after, places a bleed on the target enemy. It does damage every .5 seconds for 2 seconds.
Damage Per Tick: 30/45/60/75/90
Damage Duration: 2 seconds.
Stealth Duration: 4 seconds.
Vanish Usage.
This can be used as an escape or an initiate. It ticks 4 times in total, this means that at max rank, it can to 360 damage without any items. This means it does more than his 3, which we will talk about later in this section. Note that he gets 35% movement speed and takes 25% less damage. This means you can escape very well with this ability. Although it doesn't mention it in the ability description, he can move THROUGH minions and both friendly and enemy gods.

Decoy (2) Decoy
Loki spawns a decoy of himself, minions are drawn towards it. After 3 seconds it explodes dealing damage to anyone around it.
Damage: 60/100/140/180/220
Decoy Lifetime: 3 seconds
Decoy Usage
Okay, while this ability may seem like just for wave clear, it isn't. There's a hidden talent this ability has. It can body block abilities. Like Ullr's Thrown Axe. Or Sobek's Charge Prey. If positioned right, it can definitely save your life.
Aimed Strike (3) Aimed Strike
Upon activation, Loki's next basic attack will do massive damage and slow them as well.
Damage:60/100/140/180/220
Buff Lifetime: 5 seconds
Slow: 25%
Slow Duration:3 seconds
Aimed Strike Usage
This is Loki's pride and joy, it will be your best friend in your insta-killing adventures and mishaps. It has 100% scaling with you phyiscal power. So if you have, let's say, 310 physical power, and ADC or Mage will be taking 530 damage on a 5 second cooldown. It's cooldown is 5 seconds because you will have full CDR, hopefully. This ability can be used while in Vanish to stack the bleed and an insane amount of damage on to your target. The amount of damage Loki can put out is shown just buy doing this 1 and 3 combo.
Assassinate (4)
Upon activation, Loki teleports to the ground target location. If an enemy god unfortunately finds him/herself in the radius, Loki will backstab them, dealing massive damage and stunning them.
Damage: 150/225/300/375/450
Stun: 1 second
Assassinate Usage
This will be what sets up your kills, or it can used to escape, or used to kill someone stupidly low. Think of it as a combat blink on a 54 second cooldown. This is used mainly as a way to set up kills. For example, you use your Vanish, then your Aimed Strike. You get your Assassinate ready, then once you find your target, you use your Assassinate to blink at your target. Then after backstabbing them, you basic attack them and the bleed from Vanish and the massive damage from Aimed Strike will most likely kill them. Always try to go for the squishiest target.

Now we move on to my choice of items.

The reason I chose Combat Boots and a Potion of Physical Might to start is because when you use the physical power potion along with the boots, that is already 30 physical power, added with Red buff which you hopefully pick up, that totals in at 42 physical power. Since Aimed Strike has 100% physical power scaling and it's level 2, you'll be hitting for 142 damage along with the 25% slow. That is incredibly powerful at around 1 to 2 minutes in your Arena match. Couple that with your one which does about 200 damage total, that is 342 damage on a squishy god. Very good start.

Now, at about maybe 5 minutes you should have a kill maybe 2 and have at least Jotunn's Wrath. The reason I chose Jotunns' as a second item is because 25% CDR is awesome at this point in the game, and the +11 Penetration is nice the, but I really did it for the +40 Physical Power. That's a lot of power. This is just an all-around good item for Loki to have.

About 7 minutes in the game is when you should have your Hydra's Lament. When I originally played Loki, I though that this item was stupid on him, but now, I know that it is just like having a second Aimed Strike on someone. Like. 175% of your base Physical Power, is pretty awesome.

We move forward about 10 minutes in the game now, at this point I would have already started building my situational items. Normally, after Hydra's Lament I would have Titan's Bane . I usually never build Qin's Sais on Loki, I think it's a waste when you can have Void Shield or Ancile, but I can see the reasoning behind it. The Executioner though, that's an item I build somewhat often. Having your basic attacks reduce physical protection by 8% and then some? It's amazing is what I think. About now is when you should start thinking about your actives. I go Enfeebling Curse if they're team is made of people like Ah Muzen Cab or Nemesis,or Weakening Curse if it's Hercules, Hel or, Aphrodite. Then the last spot is either Greater Aegis/ Aegis Pendant, or Purification Beads

Now about 15-20 minutes in to the game, is when you start thinking about your last item. Now, you don't ALWAYS have to have Deathbringer. That isn't a requirement in this build. If you feel like you need some more defense by all means go ahead. Just because you crit for 1000 damage doesn't mean you are invincible. Don't forget Loki's passive, Behind You! just by being behind someone you do an increased 20% damage.

Loki is probably one of the most teammate reliant gods in Smite. When he doesn't manage to kill his target, is caught out with his cooldowns up, or is just out of position, he needs his team to react quickly, and effectively. Attempt to coordinate with your team during these Arena matches, it will benefit you and your team if you get away with a kill.

To sum it all up, Loki is a god that is heavily burst-oriented, can instantly kill a squishy god, and has a 2 very nice escapes. He can put out massive damage with just 2 abilities Vanish and Aimed Strike . His late game is somewhat bad, because you end up becoming a missile. A chance to get a kill while almost certainly dying. All in all, Loki is very balanced. Hopefully this was a decent guide and you guys learned something from it. Just remember guys, It's All Just Right For Me!