No squashing this scorpion- First Season 4 update

Hey there and thanks for the comment. It pleases me that you found my guide helpful!

I am pretty sure I have never bought Blackthorn Hammer on anyone to be honest. I do like the stats on it though. When I am looking for items, I always try to look for multipurpose use, like Void Shield for example. It gives me power, physical protections, while reducing enemies within aura so it acts like a penetration item. This item works great on squishy physical enemies if you have no other penetration items (I used to run just Void Shield for awhile). So in that sense, Blackthorn Hammer fits my criteria of a good multipurpose item for her. Instead of protections, you get quite a bit of health and mana while gaining a passive that reduces cooldowns when under 30% health. The passive can indeed help you out in certain situations, but I think it could be risky for Serqet and she also could use other things as well.

My reasoning is, Serqet is a get in, do damage and leave via 1 of her 2 escape abilities. With that in mind you usually initiate with Deathbane, basic attack then use Cobra's Kiss basic attack some more then escape with Ambush. Granted you could start with Ambush into Cobra's Kiss then escape through them with Deathbane. You can get off quite a bit of damage in that short amount of time while escaping with relative ease from harm (unless CC'ed and or crippled) which makes the passive of Blackthorn Hammer less effective in my opinion as you probably should still have 1 escape available making you potentially not hit the 30% threshold as often. If you do go all in all the time and use Ambush as an initiator as well as Deathbane then I could see the passive being more useful, as you will have no escape and more chance for damage to hit that 30% health threshold to trigger the passive. It would all depend on your play style. If you go all in combo, I would see more use and consider it. If you leave an escape for well an escape, then I see less benefits from it and would advise against it.

Moving on to your suggested build. According to Smite builder, you would have 2630 health (great), 200 power (solid), 40% crit chance (good), 10% CDR (poor). So obviously, you substitute increased health for protections for survival which I am generally okay with. The power is decent and slightly more power than my average build under build 2 (200-195) which was my most often build (haven't actually played her in awhile).

The biggest thing I would think I would have issue is, is the low CDR%. Her cooldowns are quite long. At 10% CDR, Deathbane is 9 seconds, Cobra's Kiss and Ambush is 16.2 seconds and Last Breath is 81 seconds. Yes you do get passive reduction from Blackthorn Hammer but it can only be used every 60s, it is only 3s and it is situationally active, but honestly doesn't seem like much on paper. My suggestion to you would be to use either Blackthorn Hammer or Mail of Renewal but not both together. I can see why you want to use both together, as the more health you have, the more you get from Mail of Renewal's passive, but you miss out on potential items for more CDR because the other items listed are basically core for her. I would replace one of those with Jotunn's Wrath as you will get everything Serqet loves in that item. My other suggestion would be the build order. Obviously, Warrior Tabi is first. After that, I would get Jotunn's Wrath then I would get Blackthorn Hammer then Crits then Titan's Bane. If you get Mail of Renewal instead of Blackthorn Hammer, I would consider getting it later when there is greater kill potential to use the passive more.

In regards to your suggested build, I would not get Mail of Renewal and Blackthorn Hammer back to back. I would get 1 or the other second. Mail of renewall if you really need the early CDR, otherwise I would lean toward Blackthorn Hammer more as item 2 since it gives more health and mana and actually gives power. Then I would go into crits then maybe Mail of Renewal after Crit completion if squishy enemies. If not squishy, Titan's Bane then Mail of Renewal.

Overall, I see where you are going with it. I could see having some success with it as it compares well with my normal average build that I usually get. I feel like you should could use some more CDR though, but it really depends on play style and how the match is going. If you are constantly in fights, the extra CDR will be extremely beneficial to her as you will be able to contribute more often with lower the cooldowns. If fights are few and far between you could get away with less CDR as you won't be needing/using your abilities as often making CDR less efficient.


This got a little longer than I thought so....

TL:DR- Using Blackthorn Hammer depends on your play style. If aggressive and use all abilities on combos, get it. If you leave an escape for escape, I advise against. Your suggested build could do alright depending on playstyle and how often team fights happen. If fights are less often, you should be okay. If fights are prevalent, I would advise subbing Mail of Renewal or Blackthorn Hammer for extra CDR.

Hmmm I guess I never really thought about Runeforged Hammer on Serqet. With her madness from her 2 and her ultimate she could utilize it for additional damage as well as the additional damage due to her passive. I will have to try it out and see how it does. Thanks for the recommendation!

Good to hear! Glad it helped you out somewhat.

Hey Greenevers! Thanks for the comment.

I choose Cobra's Kiss over Deathbane mostly by personal choice now. I think when I first took her up, I didn't use a constricted Deathbane which would produce the 3 hits when battling Gods because early game, she is squishy and more or less gets ganged up on. I used Deathbane more like Hercule's 2,1 combo. I would use Cobra's Kiss then move to other side and Deathbane through them to safety. However, I use Cobra's Kiss from a distance so getting close enough to land the 3 hit Deathbane can be tough and dangerous.

At this point, I think you could do either way, with more emphasis on Deathnbane. I thought I put that in the guide, but I must have just written about it in the comments because Branmuffin also mentioned that. Thanks for bringing that up, will note that in the guide after the contest is over, so I don't get nicked for an updated guide.

I really thought that Cobra's Kiss made you attack and do damage to teammates. I did secure a kill once a while ago when I used it on two gods and they attacked each other, but thinking back it could have been because of the DoT from Bluestone Pendantor just the madness damage. Just assumed it was because of them attacking each other. Learn something new every day. Just a thought, if indeed you can't use it to attack their own teammates, Cobra's Kiss is quite a bit more underwhelming than Deathbane

Combo questions

Second combo- I don't think it's unnecessarily harder to use the 3 hit Deathbane after Last Breath. You can push them into the wall, or towards your teammates. Example in Joust, you can push the target closer to your side with LB, if they don't have an escape they more or less have to walk back towards you to get away. If well coordinated, your teammates are nearby hitting him from one side while you are on the other side prepping for a 3 hit Deathbane . If they do have an escape, then it is tougher to land it and if that is the case, it is just unfortunate. Another thing is I use Cobra's Kiss from a distance so by the time I can get close enough to use Deathbane the madness is done and they can attack you. If you use Last Breath after the kiss, it can give you a better opportunity to land Deathbane.

1st and 3rd combo being basically the same- Yeah they basically are, but I thought it better to have it than not to have it. I had something similar with my Nike guide where I would just say use Plan of Action either on Rend or Sentinel of Zeus and found it harder to understand. So I am more or less erring on the side of caution with those two combos.

Point 2: I would think that you could consider Combo 2 as an all-in combo. Possibly in different orders. But in regards to how you would fight an isolated jungle opponent. I would initiate with Cobra's Kiss then Last Breath (if available) as they are hopefully fleeing, use Ambush to land some more damage, then Auto attack a little to consume the 3 poisons. Hopefully at the point they are either dead or really damage, if the latter finish them off with Deathbane. If that doesn't work, well I don't know what to tell you haha.

Point 3- I will mention Serq's passive with these combos, especially since they got buffed some I think. Since she isn't an AA god, her passive can be forgotten, but it can deal some good damage when used correctly.

Thanks for the input! Hopefully I answered most everything. That is all for now or else I will be Branmuffin Jr with my response!

Thanks! Glad you like it. Yeah I play Serqet in an unconventional way, but it can work out most of the time. She does take a bit getting used to as she is squishy so knowing when to jump in and when to not is vital to survival and takes some practice. That is why I build heavier protection until you get a hang of her, then you can experiment a little more as you become familiar with her.

In regards to the contest, I hope I do well, but there are some really good Assassin guides here that are much more impressive than mine, but thank you for the comment. I worked hard on it and it has come a ways since the guides inception, but I would rather just have the guide out here so people that are scared of using Serq can have something to reference and hopefully perform well with.

Whoa, I was actually expecting more out of you haha!

Oh god, I think I've infected you.

Thanks! Fixed. No matter how much one looks at it, you just gloss over things like that.

Hey newbie,

Hmmm, interesting...let's talk about the individual things.

Gaia is just going to do nothing different for you from full health compared to Renewal. Renewal gives you 10% CDR and the same health...the only benefit from Gaia is if you were to stay out for a long time, to allow the regen to have enough effect. So with your K/D and whatnot, you shouldn't see negative impact on using Renewal at all...unless you stay out while hurt and engage again. Staying out when you're at 1/2 health is just not a great idea anyway, and a quick jaunt back to base to heal up is best anyway...and if you need 1+ minutes to heal up enough so that you're back at or close to full health...it's not like you're going to want to engage again anyway. Gaia, in the end, is just not a good choice in these modes. You don't want to have to stay out for a long time JUST to get the regen from Gaia.

Specifically, though, to make Renewal beneficial, you and/or your teammates are going to need to get kills...you can help engage on a specific target, do some damage, and get out, and if you took some damage, you'll benefit the same from either a kill or an assist.

Mantle of Discord would be a good idea...significantly more CDR when combined with Renewal, and more balanced protections. Since you have to be close to do your damage anyway, the passive from Discord should be useful.

Yes, crit is expensive, and it takes 2 items to make it more useful. This really emphasizes that when you go crit, you really need to focus more on damage than protections...get your kills quickly and get out, rather than soaking up damage. Everything is a tradeoff...when you get one item, you have to sacrifice SOMETHING. So yeah...finding a balance is tough, and because every match is different, you're always going to be juggling to find that balance.

Hmmm...actually, I really like that build you're tinkering with. I would really like to see how that one goes. FYI, in Arena, since it's really a quick match, one thing you could substitute to make things a bit cheaper would be to sub Rage in for Malice. Will save you a few hundred...less damage, but slightly more crits.

Let me know how that one goes!

Thanks for the comments. I wasn't sure on how how to spruce up the Background part so I decided to just put a spoiler in, which you bring up good points of most people just care about the gameplay and not the lore it comes from.

I added a space then : between the ability and the description hopefully to make the spacing better. In regards to Last Breath you can control which direction she flings them in which I now noted under that ability

Skill order: I will try out upgrading Deathbane first to see if I like it. It might just be personal preference.

Coding: Hmmmm I'm seeing [/columns] at the end of my code on both the build and combos..so not sure what's the deal and when I added another combo it did the same thing but further indented.

Runeforged Hammer Yeah misread that description lol. Removed it from Alternatives.

Ulitmate Combo: I use elongated Deathbane at the end just in case Last Breath doesn't look like it will finish them off. Frankly if it won't kill them, probably should get out the fight hence Deathbane.

Again, thanks for the comments and help. Yeah you are right that this does not cover Conquest. I don't play Conquest so I figured I shouldn't comment on it since not experienced in it.

The benefits of my first build is Cost I think. With

Warrior Tabi instead of Reinforced and Witchblade instead of Deathbringer it costs only 11900 gold. Which I can easily do with around score of 125-150 left in the game. And if I do have excess gold, I can always switch out Bluestone Pendant with any of the other items.

Another benefit is that no one suspects a high defense/health Serqet. With a health of almost 2600, I believe Stone of Gaia is perfect for it. Not only for the Health regen, but also the Mana regen. I tried a couple jousts without it and I seemed to be running for my life more or ran out of Mana when pursuing. I had mixed results without Gaia but with everything else the same. One game we overpowered and I went 6-0 and the next I was 5-7. To my recollection with my tanky build I didn't die more than 5 times with most times between 0-3. What would be an effective health to warrant Stone of Gaia?

I don't use Reinforced Greaves as much anymore, I use it in Joust more if my teammates are Hunter and Mage.

I know there isn't any/much Magical protection which I mention could give troubles, but with the high health and regen, I haven't had much issue with burst damage Mages unless Im locked down by CC.

I guess the more I think about it the more I'm not big on Crit with Serq since she is Ability based. Yeah the extra crit chance and damage is nice on Deathbane but otherwise it's wasted.


I like the idea of doing damage nearby with Mystical Mail then also reducing protections with Void Shield while having some lingering damage with Bluestone Pendant even if I include Witchblade or runic shield in the build it further helps me with weakening my opponent making it easier to secure kills for me or teammates.

I appreciate the thought of the other builds. I will try them out and get back with my thoughts. In all, I feel more consistent and safe in my build. I appreciate your comments and I will use your ideas to tweak my build. I just play unconventional Serqet apparently lol.

I know you don't do assassins much, but try it out to see if you want. Maybe that will change your mind.

Looking through my game history I have around 40 games with my tanky build some the same some with Alternatives.. Figuring out my K/D/A for it, I came up with 6/2/8. I compared that to my Smite Guru matches with K/D/A and my average for that is 5/4/9. Not terribly different besides a whole kill more but 2 deaths less but also 90 more games for Build 2 than Build 1 so could . Just some extra info. Granted I'm not sure if that is actually a good K/D/A.

Thanks for the comments. I got rid of the orange and toned it down after I read it a few more times I noticed that it is ugly and hard to read. Hopefully this will make it easier. Im not very good at the other BBcoding so that's all I could do.

I have considered Jotunn's Wrath in the build, and probably will try it out instead of Crit item.

I have switched out Reinforced Greaves with Warrior Tabi as well for a little extra power.