Nu Wa - Arena guide

This is my second guide since I've joined Smitefire and I hope it will be better than my 1st one here on Freya(that guide will get a face-lift soon).


I've been playing Nu Wa a lot since her release and I got the basics of how to play her and I understand what's my role in a teamfight. So, I thought of making a guide for her.


Any constructive criticism is more than welcome ,this way I'll learn what I'm doing wrong or what's lacking .


As for the skill build ,I'm currently using the default one in the game .
When I thought of possible skill builds I didn't had access to the game and when I had access to the game I forgot about different skill builds so I got used to the default one.
I might try different skill builds in time .

Anyway , in Smite she is a Mage with a very unique kit ,able to hide gerself from the enemies and also hide her teammates .She may not put out a whole lot of damage ,but she can be a huge presence in a teamfight .

Pros High movement speed . Stealth . Ability useful for tanking/blocking. Great initiator ultimate . Phasing through minions .

Cons Main damaging ability is hard to hit Low damage output Squishy No leap/dash Low waveclear

- it provides Nu Wa with 10hp5, which is fine, but not great and not that useful in Arena game mode .
- it also gives Nu Wa bonuses when using her abilities, which I will explain later on for each of them.
- when activating all crystals(spamming all your abilities in a 10 seconds window) you will gain "Snake form"(basically you will lose your legs and gain a snake tail) and all the effects/bonuses from the crystals will be available for another 10 seconds .



- this is Nu Wa's most useful skill for teamplay, it makes Nu Wa and her teammates in fog's area invisible as long as they are attacked or as they attack/use abilities.
- the fog itself can be seen and enemies will have a clue of where you are.
- this crystal assigned to this skill provides Nu Wa 10/15/20/25/30% movement speed .
- the damage on enemies caught inside fogis not much but it's welcome (50 at max rank+10% of Nu Wa's magical power).
- use this to hide chased teammates while slowing enemies (thanks to the last patch) using Gem of Isolation's slow.
- use this to hide allies ready to attack such as an Anubis when he is ready to Mummify someone or an Odin ready to ultimate.
- the speed buff is useful for chasing and securing a kill without placing Nu Wa in danger.
- this ability also allows you phase through minions.

Note: Change this skill's cast mode to instant.



- while I first thought this skill will be useless due to minions damage not being scaled with your magical power, it's very useful for blocking enemies or tanking camps and tower diving(not that useful in Arena unless you overextend by chasing someone).
- there are plenty of scenarios to use these minions for blocking enemies, you may come out behind the enemy and place the minions behind them immediately following by an ultimate and closing one way out for the enemies caught inside.
- being chased by an enemy relying on basic attacks will really make your minions shine, place them right in front of you if fog is active and you will phase through them while the enemy will be stuck long enough to secure your escape.
- hunters/ Freya/ Chronos will also hate your minions, place them right in front of you and stay safe behind them while doing free damage.
- these minions are very useful for clearing camps too, just let them take all the damage for you while you clear the camp with no damage taken.
- the crystal assigned to this ability provides a 10/15/20/25/30 physical protection aura.



- now this is Nu Wa's main way to deliver damage.
- it does damage 220 damage+60% of your magical power when maxed.
- this ability also stuns the enemy for 1 second.
- the closer you are to where you use the ability can increase the damage by up to 50%.
- this also applies "Ignite" on the enemy, dealing over time damage equal to 25+10% of your magical power.
- sounds great so far, but this ability can be hard to hit if the enemy is on the move 24/7 as there is a delay between the moment you activate it and the moment when the ability hits the enemy.
- if you have played Freya or Chronos before, it will not be that difficult to hit as it has ~ the same delay as Banish or Time Rift
- you should try and keep this as a 2nd stun in case there is a teammate like Ymir or Aphrodite.
- the crystal assigned to this ability makes your attack splash between other targets within 15 feet for 50% of the damage.
- this will be your best way to clear waves/camps.



- this ultimate is so useful for almost anything, saving teammates, setting up kills, slow a fleeing enemy, ensuring the kill.
- it slows the enemy for 55% at the max rank (quite a lot), combine that with Gem of Isolation's passive and the enemy will have a hard time escaping from it.
- the damage is ok (300 + 50% of your magical power), its main use is the slow though.
- it has a nice radius and the pillars can block enemies, overall, a great initiator for your team.
- the crystal assigned to this ability will make your attack deal double the damage .

This is the build I use when I see that my team mates have a few masteries with the gods they're playing and I assume they know how to take advantage of my support .
This build will lack the mobility and attack speed from the 2nd build ,but it will provide more utility for my team .




- pick this up over Shoes of the Magi for the 15% cooldown reduction it provides.
- the cooldown reduction will be more useful than 15 penetration since your role will not to be doing all the damage.



- thanks to the mana it provides you can stay much more in the battle and keep spamming your abilities.
- maxing the cooldown reduction is just what Nu Wa needs at this point , she will have her ultimate up more often and your team mates will be invisible most of the time.
- 70 physical protection is a lot, not enough to stay in the front line but enough to allow you to bodyblock sometimes.



- its passive is debuffing all the enemies' magical protection in a 15 feet area by 25 .
- along with 50 magical protection Nu Wa also gets 50 magical power .
- the debuff is awesome and it works well with the lack of penetration from the 1st item.
- I find magical protection so important because mages with area damage will be most likely the only ones able to damage me when in fog.



- the passive on this item is awesome ,it slows enemies hit by your abilities by 25% of their movement speed.
- this will make Nu Wa's ultimate so useful in team fights.
- this item will also make your fog slow(thanks to Kali patch) so that any enemy caught in your fog will be slowed ,great for slowing enemies chasing you or your teammates.



- this item gives Nu Wa 100 magical power.
- 12% lifesteal + Nu Wa's HP5 will keep her in the battle longer.
- I pick this item because it's very cheap and it gives me 100 magical power.
- with its passive and the protections you've got from earlier items you can stay in battle even with 50% hp, gaining extra magical power (1 magical power for 1% of your missing health), becoming stronger as you lose hp.



- it provides the you with 125 magical power and it increases magical power by 25% of the magical power you've got.







- I get this directly at T3 right after Shoes of Focus are done.
- it's very useful to always have a slow handy and while Nu Wa's ultimate is on cooldown this active will sure get the job done .
- you can also use this as an extra slow when enemies are out of your ultimate, setting up kills for your team.



- I don't usually max this but feel free to do as you will.
- buy this after Shoes of Focus are done .
- it will prove very useful when a team mate or yourself are in danger and you will have no mana to mist out of the enemy's sight .
- if there is a lot of cc threat in the enemy team you should pick Purification Beads over this.





- get 3 right at the match start to keep Nu Wa in the battle before returning to base to grab tier 3 Shoes of Focus and actives .
- if you don't plan on grabbing meditation or you need other actives you should always have one of these handy, it may save your life or end the enemy's life.



- grabbing this only after the build is completed , this is an expensive build so you may not"afford it" earlier on .





- debuffs physical enemies' attack speed by 15% and their physical power by 15
- gives Nu Wa 15% more speed and 15% more attack speed .
- increases physical protection by 40 .
- pretty cheap .



- provides 60 physical protection along with 30 magical power which is pretty decent .
- I only use this against fully or 4/5 physical enemies .





- gives Nu Wa 70 magical protection
- Nu Wa's hp5 is will be increased by 25, stacking with her passive it will go above 35 .That is quite a lot .
- it also gives Nu Wa 10 mp5
- great passive ,regenerating 2% of her hp every 5 seconds .



- 450 hp and 60 magical protection will make you a real tank if all the enemies are magical .
- great passive .



- since we've got Breastplate of Valorout of the question in case of all magical enemies, you'll need to squeeze in this item to max Nu Wa's cooldown reduction.
- I haven't encountered this scenario yet, but if I would, I would prioritize cooldown reduction over protections, buying this as the 2nd item after Shoes of Focus.





- it provides 300 mana
- 90 magical power and 25% lifesteal is also a nice addition(added the aura effects to this).
- great passive for you and your magical team mates ,as it provides additional 20 magical power and 10% lifesteal in an aura of 70 feet.



- another great item to be considered if you want to be very aggressive ,its passive will absorb a single hard crowd control every 45 seconds along with providing the owner 1 second of crowd control immunity .
- that's a free Purification Beads every 45 seconds .
- this item also gives Nu Wasome protections that may prove useful in the match .






- as I mentioned before, it's a must in case of an Ares/ Hades/ Fenrir/ Athena on the enemy team.
- if you feel this is more useful than meditation, do get it as main active.



- it can be useful to boost your team's speed in order to better initiate a teamfight so I consider this pretty useful and a good alternative active.
- if there is a support around, it will be even more useful thanks to the 25% heal buff to your allies.

With this build(team player), your role will be supporting your team by leading them in and out of fights, saving your teammates or setting up kills.

As the match starts, you won't be in desperate need of any buffs, although none can do any harm either. If you could take mana buff, it would be great, but don't be a greedy player and take it away from your tank who will sure need it more than you.

Speed buff is my 2nd choice when it comes to starter buffs, if possible, grab that one .

If you've got mana buff, let your teammates farm and attempt to rush some minions at the portal, a few extra tickets can't do nothing but help your team .The enemies will be most likely clearing camps in the right side at this point .

Just for fun, you may cloak and attempt to try and steal the speed buff from the enemy team, just wait for last hit, use your 3 and spam a few VELs while going back to your team mates.





Get teammates out of trouble by getting them inside fog and, if available, Weakening Curse while you can body-block a few hits until your teammate is safe, rewarding you with a VVT.

You can also slow an enemy down by getting him inside fog after Gem of Isolation is done .

If a teammate is chased by several enemies you may even throw your ultimate followed by Weakening Curse to slow down enemies while you cloak your teammate, getting him out of trouble.

This may not seem much, but saving lives = saving x5 tickets and it may result in a win. And a 0/0/15 win is always better than a 4/1/5 loss .





Heavy slows are Nu Wa's specialty in Arena with this build. A heavy slow every 36 seconds(if I did the math right).

There are many scenarios to initiate, but my favourite one is coming from behind the enemy team, throwing my ultimate on them and immediately closing a way out by placing the minions between the pillars, followed by a stunned enemy at my choice. This way I just set up 2/3/4 kills for my team .

You may also just cloak, get close to enemies, throw your ultimate and stun with flame strike someone while getting behind him and placing minions down (to block him and to reach snake form).

Leading teammates in the battle while being hidden from the enemy sight will always give you the upper hand as hunters and melee gods will have a hard time hitting you. Hide gods like Anubis, Athena, Chronos, basically any god with hard crowd control, lead them in and keep them safe.

Always place minions in front of you when doing this, they will tank some damage for you and your teammate(s) in the fog .

Keep your minions for when they are needed, don't just throw them against a minion wave just because you are too lazy to clear it, you may be chased by a Kali in the next 10 seconds and you will have nothing to slow her down.

You should go and clear some camps for your team to get some buffs since you are less likely to be seen when going for the camps area. After doing so, you can surprise enemies by coming out from behind them invisible and ultimate them .Let your teammates know that you are about to attack .

Your flame strike has a only 7.2 seconds cooldown (I really suck at math) so you should always try to hit enemies with it, followed by a few basic attacks.

Don't overextend though. Even if that enemy doesn't die and he manages to return to base, you will only face 4 enemies in the next 10 seconds, a good combo may result in 4 kills for your team instead of you dying while trying to kill the 1st enemy.

Once you have activated your ultimate, try to activate your other abilities too in a 10 second window, as reaching the snake form will refresh all your crystal effects for another 10 seconds. 10 more seconds of double basic attack damage, splash damage, movement speed and physical protection buff .

Don't forget Weakening Curse reduces the enemy heals by 100%(basically no healing), so don't hesitate to use it in case your team tries to kill the enemy Xbalanque and you see a Hel coming to his help, ready to heal him.

Mid and late game my favourite buff is the speed buff, especially for it's attack speed buff (10%).

Simple way to better explain the best locations to place your ultimate:


Immediately follow by placing down minions in front of you, closing the way to the enemy base(behind you).



Stand ready to stun any enemies looking to escape.

I know I could've placed that better, but you get the point.

Sorry about my primitive graphics by the way.

- I love having Bacchus as a teammate .

Combo : Belch of the Gods>flame strike> Intoxicate>pillars of heaven> Weakening Curse (once the slow from your ultimate is ended) and your team will have 5 drunk snails on the plate .
It may not seem like much, but the enemies will be defenseless, desperate to get away but too slow to do so.


- another team mate I like having in my team .

Combo : Frost Breath>flame strike> Ice Wall>pillars of heaven(take advantage of Ymir's wall)> Shards of Ice .BAM!


- Zeus and Nu Wa can work together very well.

Combo: pillars of heaven> Lightning Storm
Also helpful with leading Zeus in to throw Chain Lightning, or to immediately flame strike an enemy stunned by Zeus for him to get more basic attacks and secure the kill.


- I like having Athena in my team no matter what god I'm playing.

Combo: fog> Defender of Olympus(on you, obviously)> Confound>flame strike> Shield Wall>pillars of heaven .Ouch .

This is a build I use when I feel I feel that kills/damage is my main purpose .
Since Nu Wa lacks damaging abilities she will rely on her basic attacks to do damage and secure kills .
She may not put do a lot of damage but once you use your ultimate you will gain x2 damage on basic attacks, getting her in snake for will keep the bonus for another 10 seconds.

- I start my build with this item thanks to the movement speed and early mana so much needed .
- except Demonic Grip I use no other Magical penetration item in this build, this made me choose this over Shoes of Focus.
- if the enemy team has many mages swap this with Shoes of Focus and get Focused Void Stone later on.



- this item is pretty cheap so you will finish it pretty fast.
- the passive is great as it will apply a Magical Protection debuff on enemies hit by your basic attacks of 7% and additional 5 for each hit stacking up to 3 stacks (so 7% +15 less protections).
- so useful against tanks.



- I get this over Telkhines Ring for many reasons, but especially for its passive.
- at this point basic attack will be your main way to deal damage.
- this item's passive will allow you to keep on attacking the enemy even if he is running. Unlike Chronos who has never heard of attack movement speed debuff or Freya who has a slow on her Pulse, not allowing the enemy to run away, Nu Wa has no such thing and this is why I pick this item over others as the 3rd.
- I'm not grabbing this item as before Demonic Grip because it provides no magical power and I don't want to fall behind that early in the game.
- at this point you should afford a Potion of Magical Might, grab one during this item or when this item is finished to make up for the loss of power.
- it's a pretty cheap item too .



- sounds odd, I know, an item for supports. But I love it.
- I enjoy being fast, allowing me to take free rides and damaging some enemies without being in danger. So yes, I get this for the speed.
- 70 magical power is as good as any item and I get extra speed too, great deal in my opinion.
- if you feel you don't need this speed and there is no healer around to put this item's passive to good use, go ahead and pick Gem of Isolation for the slow or Pythagorem's Piece for 90 magical power and 25% lifesteal.


- the passive is my main reason to pick this item .
- this will make killing an enemy even easier.
- the effect lasts for 5 seconds so Nu Wa can stealth now and keep that bonus on the next basic attack until she reaches an enemy .
- as Nu Wa's basics don't do a lot of damage, this is needed.



- what better way to end this build than with tons of raw magical power.
- the passive is amazing ,increasing your magical power by 25% from what you already have.
- this will make Polynomicon hurt even more.




- can get you out of trouble and can get enemies in trouble by reducing your cooldowns by 5 seconds at rank 3 .
- it will save you if your mist just finished and enemies are after you .



- I don't usually grab this ,but feel free to get it if you want to chase kills or escape from an enemy chasing you .
- this is very good to have before Hastened Fatalis since you will no longer be slowed when you use your basic attacks.






- I grab two right at the match start to keep me going until I will reach enough gold to get Shoes of the Magi or Purification Beads in case of serious cc threat .



- I grab one right after Hastened Fatalis is done and another one after the build is done if the game is still going .
- as mentioned before, Hastened Fatalis has no magical power addition and Nu Wa will need this to keep up.






- this is also a very useful item thanks to that 100 magical power addition.
- it's pretty cheap.
- good alternative for Rod of Asclepius or Hastened Fatalis if you are looking for more damage.



- also a good alternative if you are looking for more magical power instead of movement or attack speed.
- also buffs your teammates' magical power and lifesteal.



- best choice if you get focused by the enemy mage(s).
- good choice to boost your magical penetration if you went for Shoes of Focus as starter item.



- if you feel you need some cooldown reduction but still want to do some damage, grab this item.
- the mp5 is great on this item(25) .



- want your ultimate to slow even more to get a guaranteed kill every time you use it?Get this item then.
- the hp and mana may not be much but will be useful.

There isn't as much to tell here comparing to the 1st build. Pretty much just play the game.

Right at the match start grab 2/3 Mana Potions and try to get the speed buff for yourself. People don't usually find this buff all that fascinating so most likely no one will want it.

Now, I don't usually grab actives when using this build, but if you are the "very aggressive" type of player you should get Purification Beads early in the game.

Don't focus on killing enemies only and help your teammates by keeping them in fog as much as possible.

Don't use your ultimate for greedy purposes (like using it on an escaping Zeus with less than 100 hp) when you can still use it as a mass slow.

You've got no protections so remember that you're squishy, don't stay in front of your teammates for too long, take some rides from time to time, so some damage and get back between your teammates. The speed will help you with these "rides".

A good combo is starting with your ultimate and following with flame strike on the squishiest god, getting you a kill after a few basic attacks. Before the effects from the crystals expire do use your minions to keep the bonuses for another 10 seconds.

Over the course of the game I usually get the speed buff only except for right after Hastened Fatalis is built, in which case I'll try and grab the damage buff.

You can clear camps for free, thanks to minions taking damage for you, and without the risk of being seen so go and do your team a service and get them some free buffs. Even if no one gets them, it's better for no one to have them instead of the enemy.

I hope you enjoyed reading this guide and that you've found the info you needed.
Feel free to point out if there is something wrong here (grammar/info).

Thanks

Thanks to TormentedTurnip for his help with BB coding .
If this guide looks good it's all thanks to him and his patience in teaching me how to use the BB codes.