Poison Paradise - Serqet - Conquest - Jungle

VVGH and Welcome to my Madame Blade, aka Serqet Jungle guide for Conquest. In this, I go through my preferred build for the Goddess of Venom and Poisons. I'll give some of my tips, tricks and leveling idea's I've come across with my time playing as this extremely mobile Goddess. I'll also go through some of the Pro's and Con's of using Serqet, along with how to start clearing the jungle with her. I'll touch on what to expect to encounter and what can happen if things go wrong for you (This is my first guide, so please go easy and give me any suggestions and critiques you can).

In the Jungle there are are few things to keep in mind. Here are the top things you should keep in mind.

Bumba's Mask is an item that is required for any person taking on the jungle role. This item gives you extra damage against all jungle camps in the form of True Damage. Your basics will deal an extra 15 damage, and your abilities will deal an extra 15% in damage. Despite the gold sharing attributes of this item being removed for season 4, it still provides great sustain and damage against jungle camps and this is why you'll often see other roles besides Jungle taking up this item in addition to their other starter item since this is now only 500 gold instead of 800. Currently as of 4.3, only the person closest to the jungle camps minions when they die will get the benefit of this item. This benefit is some healing, some mana restoration (25 per camp monster) and a bit of extra gold (4 per camp monster).

Be aware of the map and player movements. Your eyes have to be constantly flickering between the map and the area around you. Since you can only see directly whats in front of you, map awareness is a very important aspect, especially for jungle players where sight is extremely limited. In Smite, you'll see enemies on the map who are close behind you even if you can't see them on your screen.

Jungle players are usually assassins. Keeping this in mind, you'll see most assassins thrive in the jungle as most have 1, and in some cases, even 2 moves that allow them to move with extreme haste. Serqet has two mobility moves, Deathbane, which is a dash that can critically hit, and Ambush which roots her in place upon activation and then lets her leap forward and even over small walls. Awilix has a mount, Suko, that has no duration and gives her an extreme forward movement speed boost with an optional jump. Most other assassins will have a leap, like Bakasura, or a dash, like Ratatoskr. Loki has a vanish that increases his movement speed and makes him immune to slows.

Assassins are capable of extremely high single target player damage and can control fights in 1 vs 1 situations like no other gods in the game. This is because of abilities that root or stun, such as Serqet's Cobra's Kiss and Last Breath, or Awilix and her ultimate, Feather Step.

A few mages can act as a Jungle Player, such as Ao Kuang, who's ultimate, King of the Eastern Seas, gives him a good, nearly cross map, jump if he land's his execute, and his vanish, Water Illusion which gives him a small teleport.

Serqet is one of the most mobile physical gods in the game with 2 mobility moves, one being a leap and the other a dash (that can critically hit no less). She is an escape artist to put it mildly. Along with her mobility she can output high single target damage. Using her kit properly and chaining her first two abilities followed by a basic attack to activate her passive Catalyst, is your basic combo and can dish out some serious damage if used properly. She also has the unique ability to apply True Damage with her Ultimate Last Breath. True damage will apply the exact damage you see listed in your skill summary. It can't be mitigated, but a good chunk of it can be blocked by a well timed Sanctuary or Aphrodite's ultimate. There are other abilities that have damage immunity in them and 2 such abilities belong to Ravana and Chang'e.

Serqet is also one of the few assassins that can, while behind a few levels and even an item or two, can still compete in a fight with someone who is ahead of her. The sheer amount of CC you have in your kit along with the high single target damage, you'll often be able to dump your entire kit on someone and kill them despite them having the advantage over you. However for this to work, you want your ENTIRE kit as your ult will provide the key damage and CC needed to compete in such a situation.

The main side effect, and the most detrimental aspect of playing Serqet, is that you have an extremely low Health and mana pool, making you extremely squishy early game, and you are liable to run out of mana at just the wrong time trying to escape an enemy who has blood in their eyes. The second, unfortunate aspect of Serqet, is that since she has two mobility moves (A dash and a leap), if anything cripples her, such as Nox's Shadow Lock, Cupid's Fields Of Love or Poseidon's Whirlpool, she is completely and utterly screwed, especially if your Purification, or if you have it, Magi's Blessing, had already been used earlier and is on cooldown.

Skill Details

Serqet's Passive, Catalyst, is an interesting way to deal additional damage to an enemy in a hurry. When you dash through someone with Deathbane or give someone a smooch with Cobra's Kiss, it applies lingering poisons on that god that can be consumed with a simple basic attack. This basic attack consumes those lingering poisons and deals additional damage to that player.

Her first ability, Deathbane, is a dashing move that can critically hit. Serqet dashes side to side three times in quick succession. She is immune to knockup while dashing. Deathbane Poison reduces a target's physical protection for a short time, after which it remains in a lingering dormant state for 20 seconds.

Her second ability, Cobra's Kiss, is a double projectile shot. Cobra's Kiss Poision drives gods to madness, forcing them to attack nearby allies, doing the damage again, or walk harmlessly towards Serqet. After the madness, Cobra's Kiss remains in a lingering dormant state for 20 seconds (Try hitting two enemy gods with a single use of this ability, the results are amusing to say the least).

Her third ability, Ambush, is a leap. Serqet vanishes, rooting herself in place. She may leap once, revealing herself and dealing damage to enemies. She will stay hidden until she leaps or cancels this ability. Enemy gods within range 12.5 will also reveal her (the white circle around her you see when using this ability).

Serqet's Ultimate Ability, Last Breath, stuns then deals True Damage to the targeted player or minion. Serqet leaps to an enemy, applying the Last Breath poison, then pushing them 30 units away. The Last Breath poison deals damage over the next 5 seconds, and prevents healing. If an enemy dies while infected with Last Breath, they will explode, applying the poison to all nearby enemies.

Having Fun with Her Skills

Serqet's skills are very fun to use and provide great entertainment as you watch the enemy team try to pin you down. If you are paying attention to details, you'll notice I don't have a point assigned to the level 8 slot above. The reason for this is that is my standard 'Point Skip' level and the mechanics behind the Skill Diagrams here won't let me show that. Point Skipping is most commonly used on Scylla as her passive basically requires you to point skip to use her properly.

I find that at level 8, this is an opportune time to focus a skill and get a bonus later on down the road. At level 8, do not level any skill, rather wait till level 9 and you'll be able to put a point in Deathbane again and Last Breath.

Thus, I find this skill leveling the best:

1. Deathbane
2. Cobra's Kiss
3. Ambush
4. Deathbane
5. Last Breath

At level 6, focus your skills like this (with the above mentioned point skip at level 8), which also just so happens to be the order your skills are displayed on your ability bar (aside from the ult which will usually always take priority in leveling):

Skill Tactics

The most popular combo you will see a Serqet use involves Blink. She will Blink in, or sometimes leap in with Ambush, followed by applying Cobra's Kiss with a compressed Deathbane so it hits 3 times and possibly critically strikes 3 times, then Catalyzes the poisons with a single basic attack. If that wasn't enough to finish off an enemy, using Last Breath will usually finish it. Kicking the infected target under a friendly tower or phoenix wouldn't hurt either. Plus, if any minions or other players are nearby, they will also be infected with the Last Breath Poison causing them to take the True Damage as well. If an infected person dies in a team fight that is close quarters, this will usually ensure that the enemy team will go from full health and fighting potential to a severely weakened enemy team. Using Serqet's Ultimate on a guardian can have amazing effects since they can't mitigate that damage.

You can also start with Last Breath, pull them back with Cobra's Kiss followed immediately by a compressed Deathbane and that usually makes them blow up in a cloud of poison, espeically if you have crit online and get lucky with your Deathbane.

Serqet is one of the lucky few where an ability can crit, and not only can it crit, it can do so up to 3 times. Thus it is important, at least in my opinion, to get something that gives you an early crit chance. I personally use Poisoned Star for this. This item provides many good things for our queen of poisons. The attack speed this item provides allows her to make use of her passive, Catalyst, easier. And the Crit Chance allows Deathbane to crit far earlier then the enemy might be expecting. Such a chance also helps with your early jungle and lane clear if you get lucky. If you get really lucky and crit against an enemy player, you'll hamper their damage and movement speed making it harder to combat you and/or make an escape.

Picking up Titan's Bane next gives you good penetration against the more protected enemy players. Optionally, if the enemy team lacks early protections, Jotunn's Wrath is a good option as well as it provides decent power, penetration, and a nice 20% Cooldown Reduction.

For my 4th item I prefer to pick up Deathbringer. This item gives your Crits more punch and really starts to bring your kit up to speed and gives you great burst. The power is nothing to sneeze at on this item either.

My last 2 items are usually situational. Depending on what I need and what I already built, I'll pick up Titan's Bane/ Jotunn's Wrath (whichever I haven't gotten already) or Brawler's Beat Stick if the enemy team has decent healing, along with Malice. Although, depending on my status in the game I may pick up Hydra's Lament or a defensive item like Magi's Blessing, Spirit Robe or Mantle of Discord. The first 2 giving you more options when you get hit with a hard cc effect or the latter giving you great CDR along with an auto low health beads/stun and decent protections.

I've suggested Hydra's Lament here cause it works extremely well with her passive. Dumping kit and getting her passive proc along with a Hydra's proc will almost guarantee a one shot kill depending on your target, or at the very least force them to back out. This item also has a secondary passive of Mana Regen which Serqet desperately needs along with a decent spike of CDR.

For your Relics you have several options. The most common on Serqet is Aegis Amulet, Purification Beads and Blink Rune, the latter being used if you are ahead and being extremely aggressive. Blink also gives you an extra option for engaging and escaping. Other options are Sundering Spear, Cursed Ankh and Bracer of Undoing. Each giving you unique options. Sundering Spear providing you with a good finish or engage depending on how you use it. Cursed Ankh is good for when you go against someone with a good heal and didn't pick up another anti heal option. Bracer of Undoing is a good panic button and also a good option for when you need your abilities back now, rather then later in a few seconds. I've used all these options and they all provide unique play styles around them and are good options. Keep in mind that you'll want to upgrade these Relics when you think you need to, and for sure during the late game when you are fully built. The additional effects or extra cooldown on these relics can prove invaluable.

Note: While most junglers can use and Thrive with the use of Heartseeker, I find it doesn't work the way I would like it to on Serqet. If you do buy it, I would suggest swapping it out mid to late game for something else like Malice or a defensive item.

There are a few tips and tricks I've picked up on for keeping up in regards to levels and gold.

After level 10, Deathbane is a good way to poke enemy gods and have good lane clear. Until you are fully built with the items I've suggested and not the replacements, then you may get lucky and be able to clear a lane with one dash. But until then, what I like to do is use Deathbane to go through the line of minions and immediately use Ambush to jump back to where the friendly minions are located. I've used this in both Conquest and Clash. If a lane is built up with minions, you'll sometimes find 6 or even 9 archers that line up incredibly nicely for a compressed Deathbane and it usually gives you a good half level, if not more.

Keep in mind that Ambush is a leap and can go over decently sized walls. I've often cleared one Mid harpy camp, blinked over the wall, Deathbane'ed the line of minions to help out mid a little, then used Ambush to go over the next wall and start to clear the other harpy camp. This also works while traversing the Jungle to get to buff camps easier, and to steal buffs from enemy players.

Be careful around gods who have silences, cripples or taunts. Every single one of your abilities can be silenced and halted except your ultimate, but only if you are already in the process of applying the poison. I've had far to many cases of being silenced or crippled mid dash or leap and been brought crashing down to earth. That usually happens with the whole kit down so you can't do much of anything except rely on a well timed ult from Khepri or a Confound from Athena. Being smacked out of a mobility move is deadly 99% of the time.

Cobra's Kiss is a double shot with a small delay between the first and second shot. If you really want to mess with the enemy team, hit their hunter and assassin with one shot each and watch the chaos ensue. Since this ability causes enemy players to attack each other if close enough, gods that rely on basic attacks (since this is what they use to attack each other) will shred their teammates, giving you easy kills, and possibly even a double kill.

Last Breath is a true damage ability so it can easily take down the enemy guardians a notch or two and make them more vulnerable. If a player or minion dies while infected with this poison, they will explode passing on that poison to any other enemy minions or players in the area. This makes Serqet deadly in a team fight. If she can lure the enemy team to one area and get a kill with Last Breath still infected in her target, the poison will spread to everyone nearby, making her ultimate extremely deadly for team fights. This also kicks your target 20 units away, so if someone gets to close to you while under your tower, ult them and get them down a little. This tidbit is extremely deadly early game.

Serqet is not a great team player. She is designed, in my opinion, to be a 'Me, Myself and I' type person who will occasionally save her teammates from enemy players. She does not thrive in team fights and will die very quickly unless you are prepared to start dodging. Start a team fight then make your get away, or hide until the end and clean up the remains. Never stick around if you can help it.

Serqet can also single-handedly pull off a titan defense given the right circumstances. Using her ult on a minion and killing it outright spreads her poison extremely well. Often spreading it too all of the enemy minions in the area and any enemy player that is nearby as well. If you get lucky, you'll often get enemy players not only poisoned once, but can often re-infect them. I've saved many a game doing just this.

Currently, as of 4.3, there is one viable item start to jungling for items on ability based gods like Serqet. You will be starting Bumba's Mask and Bluestone Pendant. These two items together provide amazing early clear on what is generally considered a mid to late game goddess. It also provides great early poke and very easily turns around a pre level 5 fight. Along with these two items, generally speaking, if you lack a heal in your kit, you'll take 2 Mana Potions and 2 Health Potions. If you have a heal, like Ne Zha, generally speaking, you can get away with 3 Mana Potions and 1 Health Potion. However if you take the latter option, I suggest you avoid being overly aggressive early game.

Now you have a few options on WHERE to start your game. In season 3 it was usually required to start in Solo. While you can still do that, you now have more options open to you due to how the jungle now spawns (at 30 seconds when lane minions meet). Currently, the most popular way to start is in Mid. Less common starts, involve starting in the jungle at buff camps or in Solo lane.

The first 5 minutes of any game played is the KEY point for any jungler. This is where you make it or break it for the rest of the game. During this time, if you can get a kill on the enemy jungler, you'll have an easier time all game. This is also the best opportunity to do early ganks invade the enemy jungle. Here I'll go over the Mid and Solo starts as those are the 2 most common and most viable starts.

Mid Start

Starting in mid is currently the most common start for junglers. Here you'll quickly help clear lane with your mage. Early clear is absolutely key here. Serqet is best paired up with mages who have good early clear, such as Ra, Chang'e (Yes I'm serious, she has great clear on low CD), Anubis, Poseidon, Kukulkan, Zeus, and if they have Soul Stone, Scylla and Thoth have decent early clear as well.

There are 2 possible outcomes for this start. Either you win your lane clear or you don't. If you Win the clear with decent room to spare (IE they still have 3 or more minions to kill), then feel free to invade the enemy Red or Yellow buff. This will put their Mid or Jungle behind significantly and give you a major advantage. Rinse and repeat for another wave, possibly 2 if you feel like you need to, going after buffs between each wave or Mid Harpies. If you Lose the clear, DO NOT follow them into the jungle. By the time you get to the buff they are invading (if they do that), there is a good chance they will be level 2 before you are and have more options available to them and they most likely will get a kill off you and your teammate.

Solo Start

Starting in Solo is basically the same as it was in Season 3. You clear wave, go for Fire Elementals, back to lane for a wave, go for Blue Buff with your Solo Laner, then go for your Yellow Buff alone. Beware going into the jungle after the first wave, especially if the enemy mid/jungle managed to invade your Yellow. I have seen many cases where the mid and jungle pay a visit to the solo area of the jungle to try and snag the blue or even an early gank on solo.

Generally speaking once you get your 3rd or 4th item online, you start to become a force to be reckoned with, especially in 1 vs 1 situations where you should dominate. This is especially true if you have your ult available to you.

Serqet is also a very single target person, and unless she is in the right place at the right time, she is a horrible team fighting player that can easily be locked down and picked off. However that being said, if her kit and ult is used properly, it can turn a team fight around in a very short time.

And as I gave in an example earlier, she can turn a sure fire loss, into a defensive play that could give your team the win. Especially when she can manipulate onto what she applies her Last Breath poison.

She does not excel in lane at all. In fact, if you are fighting with her in a lane, you better have a teammate there to back you up as she needs those small spaces to properly duck, dodge and weave her way thru a team fight and pick off the players that matter.