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Saint of War, Saint of the Team

0 1 9,247
by DeadLight63 updated October 12, 2015

Smite God: Guan Yu

Build Guide Discussion 5 More Guides
Tap Mouse over an item or ability icon for detailed info

Guan Yu Build

Starting Build

Build Item Boots Boots
Build Item Iron Mail Iron Mail
Build Item Healing Potion Healing Potion
2
Build Item Mana Potion Mana Potion
2

First Three Items

Build Item Mystical Mail Mystical Mail
Build Item Stone of Gaia Stone of Gaia
Build Item Reinforced Greaves Reinforced Greaves

Physical Pentetration Options

Build Item Titan's Bane Titan's Bane
Build Item Jotunn's Wrath Jotunn's Wrath

Physical & Magical Defensive Options

Build Item Hide of the Urchin Hide of the Urchin
Build Item Spirit Robe Spirit Robe

Additional Offensive Items

Build Item Transcendence Transcendence
Build Item Frostbound Hammer Frostbound Hammer

Actives

Build Item Weakening Curse Weakening Curse
Build Item Teleport to Gods Teleport to Gods
Build Item Shield of the Underworld Shield of the Underworld
Build Item Salvation Salvation

Situational Items

Build Item Breastplate of Valor Breastplate of Valor
Build Item Bulwark of Hope Bulwark of Hope
Build Item Heartward Amulet Heartward Amulet
Build Item Sovereignty Sovereignty

Consumables to Keep Stocked

Build Item Mana Potion Mana Potion
Build Item Ward Ward
Build Item Sentry Ward Sentry Ward

Guan Yu's Skill Order

Conviction

1 X Y
Conviction
1 4 8 12 16

Warrior's Will

2 A B
Warrior's Will
3 10 15 18 19

Taolu Assault

3 B A
Taolu Assault
2 6 7 11 14

Cavalry Charge

4 Y X
Cavalry Charge
5 9 13 17 20
Conviction
1 4 8 12 16

Conviction

1 X
Guan Yu's courageous leadership is infectious and, when focused, heals himself and his allies. Healing friendly gods reduces all Cooldowns by 2s for Guan Yu and 1s for his allies.

Ability Type: Circle, Heal
Healing: 40 / 60 / 80 / 100 / 120
Boosted Healing: 1.7x Normal Healing
Radius: 30
Cost: 45
Cooldown: 14s
Warrior's Will
3 10 15 18 19

Warrior's Will

2 A
Guan Yu charges forward, his Green Dragon Crescent Blade extended in front of him. All enemies in his path take damage and are Slowed. Hitting enemy gods lowers all of Guan Yu's Cooldowns by 2s. Guan Yu is immune to Roots, Cripples, and Knockups while dashing.

Ability Type: Dash, Slow, Damage
Damage: 80 / 135 / 190 / 245 / 300 (+60% of your Physical Power)
Slow: 20%
Slow Duration: 2s
Boosted Slow: 40%
Cost: 60 / 65 / 70 / 75 / 80
Cooldown: 13s
Taolu Assault
2 6 7 11 14

Taolu Assault

3 B
Guan Yu spins his blade in a controlled but furious display, slicing enemies for damage every .3s for 3s. Each hit steals enemy Protections, giving them to Guan Yu. Guan Yu is immune to Knockback for the duration.

Ability Type: Line, Debuff, Damage
Damage per Hit: 17 / 27 / 37 / 47 / 57 (+20% of your Physical Power)
Protections Stolen: 2 / 4 / 6 / 8 / 10 (Max. 3 Stacks)
Protection Duration: 5s
Boosted Protections Stolen: 3 / 6 / 9 / 12 / 15 (Max. 3 Stacks)
Cost: 60 / 65 / 70 / 75 / 80
Cooldown: 13s
Cavalry Charge
5 9 13 17 20

Cavalry Charge

4 Y
Guan Yu mounts his warhorse and charges for 4s. While mounted, he can steer and attack and is immune to Crowd Control. Enemies hit take damage and are Slowed. Each hit increases damage from consecutive hits against that target by 20%. Enemies hit on the dismount are Stunned. You can dismount at any time by canceling.

Ability Type: Circle, Stun, Damage
Damage: 75 / 100 / 125 / 150 / 175 (+30% of your Physical Power)
Damage Escalation: 20% per hit
Slow: 25% for 2s
Stun: 1.1 / 1.2 / 1.3 / 1.4 / 1.5s
Boosted CC: 40% Slow and 2s Stun
Cost: 80 / 90 / 100 / 110 / 120
Cooldown: 90s

Introduction

Hello, my name is DeadLight63, and welcome to my second attempt at a Guan Yu, character guide.

If you're only just now jumping into Smite, Guan Yu is phsical melee character, under the Warrior classification. Gods in this class are typically between the Assassin and Guardian classes, capable of good sustainability, while still maintaing a modest level of damage output. For the most part, what role they most fufill, is up to the player.

In this guide, we will be a more defensive option, more in line with the guardians.

About Guan Yu

First up, let's familirate ourselves with Guan Yu and his abilities.



Passive:
Painless

As implied, Painless is a Passive ability that always affects Guan Yu, incapable of being interuppted or prevented. When playing as Guan Yu, you will notice the image of a metal dragon, along with a small basin underneath it. As Guan Yu takes damage, this basin will fill with blood from the dragon. The more blood there is in the basin, the more effective Guan Yu's healing ability, Conviction, will become. At maximum, Painless can double the heal's effectivity. It should be noted that even the smallest bit of damage counts, mean that a tick of damage from a damage over time counts as one individual strike. Also, as a warning, high damage abilities, such as an ultimate, will still only count as ONE
tick of damage. With this in mind, it may be a good idea to take small amounts of damage in order to power up your healing capabilities, while avoiding larger amounts of damage output. All in all, it will take 20 hits for the heal to become twice as strong.



Ability Number 1:
Conviction

Conviction is an area of effect healing spell. As stated before, it can be up to twice as powerful depending on how much damage Guan Yu has taken prior to activating it. A side note, using Conviction succesfully on a friendly god will decrease all of Guan Yu's cooldown's by 2 seconds.



Ability #2:
Warrior's Will

Warrior's Will is a dash attack that instantly deals damage to any enemy gods hit, and slowing them by 25%. Similarly to Conviction, a succesful hit on an enemy god with Warrior's Will decreases all of Guan Yu's cooldowns by another 2 seconds. As a side note, this ability makes Guan Yu immune to knockups, roots, and cripples for it's duration.




Ability #3:
Taolu Assault

Taolu Assault Is a damage over time time ablitiy, dealing damage every .3 seconds over the next 3 seconds. While using this ability, Guan Yu will steal a portion of the enemy's protections and gain them himself. This can stack up to three times and lasts a total of three seconds. As a side note, Guan Yu is invincible to knockback while using this ability.



Ability #4:
Calvary Charge

Upon activation of Calvary Charge, Guan Yu will summon the Red Hare, and strike from horseback for the next 4 seconds. Each attack gradually increases in damage and applies a 25% slow to any opponents hit. In addition, Guan Yu benefits from complete crowd control immunity, and a gernerous movement speed buff while atop his horse. Upon dismounting, Guan Yu will deal one final strike that will stun any enemy that it hits. As a side note, hitting an enemy with the horse during the dismount will also stun them. This ability can also be cancelled early in order to take advantage of a quick stun.

Useful Items

While I can sit here and tell you what to buy all day, without some solid reasoning, I'm not going to convince anyone. So, let's take a look at why some items are near neccesary on Guan Yu.


Mystical Mail




Mystical Mail is a physical defensive item that grants 300 additional health, and 60 physical protections. This however, is not what makes it stand out. Rather, it is the Aura, which causes enemies standing too close to you to take damage over time in the form of magic damage. Seeing as Guan Yu is a melee character who will need to be on the front lines, this piece of defense is very well suited to Guan Yu's needs. If facing against off against gods with severe physical damage output, this should be your first item completed.




Stone of Gaia


The Stone of Gaia is a magical defense Item that grants an additional 100 health, 70 magical protections, 25 Health Per 5 Seconds, and 10 Mana Per 5 Seconds. In additon to all of this, it also comes with a Passive that will additionaly regenerate 2% of your maximum health every 5 seconds. This item grants massive levels of sustainability to Guan Yu. In addition, it helps him save Conviction for his allies, as he can rely on the regeneration instead of healing himself. If the enemy team is mostly magic dealers, and are doing most of the damage, complete this item first. Otherwise, finish Mystical Mail before completion.





Reinforced Greaves



Reinforced Greaves are one of four boots on offer for phyical gods. While they do not carry the offensive or mobility advantages the other boots may offer, they benefit from an addtional 150 health, and 30% reduced effect to all forms of crowd control. And, while not substantial, the extra 15 points of physical power, can prove useful in some situations. More often though, it will go mostly unnoticed. These boots are the best option to increase your durability in combat, while still increasing your movement speed to remain consistent with your opponents. Of the three items list here, Reinforced Greaves is the one you will want to complete last, as Mystical Mail and Stone of Gaia carry more benefits during the early game.

Offensive Options

But, even the most durable of fortresses are ultimately useless without any kind of offensive punch to them. For that reason, we do have a few offensive items on offer.



Titan's Bane



One of my personal favorites, the Titan's Bane is a physical offense item that grants it's user an addtional 30 physical power. Much like with the Mystical Mail, however, this is not what makes it stand out. Though, instead of an Aura, it is the Passive. With Titan's Bane equipped, all of your physical attacks and abilities will have 30% penetration. This means that all of Guan Yu's offensive abilites will penetrate some of your opponent's armor. Pairing this item with Taolu Assault can allow you to shred through your opponent while maintaing enough protections to negate most damage coming your way.



Jotunn's Wrath



Unlike most other items we've listed here, Jotunn's Wrath does not benefit from a Passive. Instead, it boosts a wide variety of stats, granting 40 phsyical power, 150 additional mana, 25% cooldown reduction, and 11 physical penetration. This massive boost to utility grants Guan Yu much more options in combat, as he can prepare his abilites much sooner, and use them more often thanks to the increase in mana. It also offers more physical power than the Titan's Bane, though you will miss out on some penetration.

It should be pointed out that I reccommend taking only ONE of the two itmes listend above. This will help keep your build clear for more situational items and further items in the build.







Transcendence



Transcendence is a physical item that grants it's user 35 physical power, 300 mana, and 6 mana per five seconds. In addition, it holds a Passive that grants 15 mana per stack, and converts 3% of your maximum mana to physical power. Transcendence can hold up to a maximum of 50 stacks, and will gain 5 stacks for god kills, and 1 stack for minion kills and god assists. As this build does not have many other offensive choices, this item helps grant Guan Yu some additional power he'll need later in the game.



Frostbound Hammer


Though technically more of a defensive item, the Frostbound Hammer is offensive item that grants it's user an additional 400 health, and 25 physical power. In additon, it carries a Passive, which causes enemy gods hit by your basic attacks to suffer a 30% movement penalty and a 15% attack speed penalty. This item can be useful in adding durability to Guan Yu, in addition to weakening an enemy god's chances to escape a fight.

Again, I reccomemned taking only one of these two listed Items above. However, whichever one you choose, I must reccomend building it last, as you will want to build more defenses first.

Final Defensive Choice

As we want to keep Guan Yu as defensive and durable as possible, we will need to equip one more item that can boost our physical, and magical protections. For this purpose, we have two choices on selection. And, depending on your current and future build choices, which one you select should match your other selections.



Hide of the Urchin


Hide of the Urchin benefits from more overal stats than it's competitor, offering it's user 45 physical and magical protections, and a 250 point boost to both your health, and mana. In addition, it carries a Passive that will increase both of your protections by 2 for every stack you aquire. Stacks are attained by killing enemy gods, (2 Stacks) or by assisting in kills. (1 Stack) You are given a maximum number of 10 stacks, offering up to 20 more protections. This item works best with Titan's Bane and Transcendence.



Spirit Robe


Spirit Robe offers less overall protections than it's competitor, with 40 protections in both physical and magical, but also benefits from a 15% cooldown reduction. In addition, it benefits from a Passive that will increase your damage mitigation by 15% when hit with a hard crowd control effect. This effect will last for three seconds and is refreshed every ten seconds. This item is most effective when paired with Jotunn's Wrath and Frostbound Hammer.

Build Order

The order in which you complete your items should be in the following order:

Mystical Mail or Stone of Gaia


Whichever Defensive Option You Did Not Finish First

Reinforced Greaves

Titan's Bane or Jotunn's Wrath

Hide of The Urchin or Spirit Robe

Transcendence or Frostbound Hammer

Laning Phase Scenarios

In the Laning Phase, you should attempt to be defensive. Unlike other supports, you will not benefit from Watcher's Gift when using this build. You will also have less clearing power until about level 7. Instead, focus on being a barrier between your enemies and your carry.


Let's say and enemy Athena dashes through the minions and attempts to Taunt your carry. Your course of action should be to use Warrior's Will to dash in and get close to your carry. Activate Taolu Assaultto do some quick damage to Athena. Let's assume that with her is Neith, who attempts to root your carry in place. Your best bet will be to dash straight at Neith and attempt to get off some basic attacks. Most likely, she will attempt to Backflip in order to get away from you. After both of these cases, you will have taken some damage. Use the stacks gained from Painless, and activate Conviction when you are near your carry to heal back any damage they took. Don't be afraid to use it more times if your carry needs it. If you keep stocked up on mana potions, you should be able to make liberal use of your heal.


Next, let's say that you and your carry have managed to push Athena and Neith towards their tower, and Bastet leaps in from the jungle in an attempt to gank you. The enemy now has you outnumbered and will try to take advantage of this. However, do not panic. If you have it ready, activate Calvary Charge and focus on whichever enemy god is the lowest on health. If your carry has stayed to help you fight, when your ultimate ends and you get your stun off, aim for the lowest enemy god health and activate Taolu Assault. This will lower their health enough to allow your carry to pick up the kill. If your carry decided to retreat due to low health or mana, then use Warrior's Will to dash towards them, preferably through the enemy gods to slow them down. After this, use Conviction to heal back any damage your carry has sustained. If your ally is targeted by an ultimate, serve as a body block.

Esentially, you will want to play Guan Yu as a reactionary force, rather than an instigator during the laning phase. Allow the enemy to make their move first before counterattcking and stopping them in their tracks.

Later Game Teamwork

Later in the game, you will want to retain some of the reactionary force we discussed early, but you will also need to take into account what the rest of your team looks like.

If your solo player decided to play someone tankier, such as Sun Wukong, you can afford to be a bit more defensive and stay in reserve, waiting until he engages in order to charge in with him. You can also hang back with your less durable allies, allowing you to heal them and drive away anyone getting too close. In cases like this, wait until your solo goes in, and follow your team into battle. Try to take as many blows as you can to charge Painless to maximize yours and your teammates sustainability. When the enemy starts to target one god in particular, react by activating Calvary Charge. If your teammate is in good condition, you may stay on horseback and continously attack. If they are badly wounded, cancel the ability early to hit as many enemies as you can with your stun, quickly activate Warrior's Will to further slow them, and use Conviction as soon as possible. From that point on, serve as a body block so your teammate can safely exit the fight.


However, if your solo player decided to go with someone who is less durable, such as Loki, you will have to be willing to go on the initiative. In this case, your best option will be to use Calvary Charge when the enemy is grouped up. Hit as many as you can, but focus on the ones with the lowest health if you can. Upon dismounting, quickly activate Taolu Assault to do some damage to your opponents. If all goes well, your team will have engaged with you, and you'll force the enemy to retreat, or fight a losing battle. If the enemy begins to gain the upper hand, dash back to your teammates and activate Conviction to get your team the health they need to escape the fight.

Overall Advantages/Disadvantages

Advantages


-Provides High Sustainablily to your Team
-Good Balance of Damage Output and Durability
-Can Tank Towers if Aided by Team
-Ultimate Serves as an Excellent Engage or Disengage
-Mobility is Among the Best for the Warrior Class
-Benefits from Taking Damage


Disadvantages


-Little to No Ranged Options
-Basic Attacks are Rather Unreliable
-Can Lose Out to Heavy Attack Speed Gods
-Mana Conservation Problems Early Game

Summary

Guan Yu is a durable, and reliable Warrior that can dish out plenty of damage to opponents, and sponge up even more. Combine this with Painless and Conviction, and you will be near unkillable when working well with your team. His mobility and sustainability allow him to aid his teammates throughout a battle, while still being a force to reckon with for the enemy team. When partnered with his team, Guan Yu can provide the edge thanks to his ultimate, and his constant ability to heal.

Unfortunately, this power and durability does come at a cost. You will need to be close to do any sort of damage to your opponent. With no ranged options to speak of, Guan Yu is near useless if kept at a distance. Combine this with minial effectivity from his basic attacks, and you may suffer should you deplete your mana reserves. Still, Guan Yu is a durable god, and can make his team durable as well. With proper timing, and well executed strategy, your team will able to ride to victory.

If the enemy team is charging your position, and is looking to fight, mount Red Hare and sound the charge. Because until they've seen the Saint of War...


They SAINT Seen Anything Yet.

Farewell

Thank you very much for reading my guide, and I hope to see you on the battlefield. Until then, Farewell.

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1
DeadLight63 | September 24, 2015 5:25pm
Saberxbro wrote:



In addition to that, it's generally a good idea to upgrade an item to Tier 3 before you start on a new item. In Smite, you want the passives that T3 items have. Unless you're Divios in the Worlds, and you're just bullying an aphrodite in lane.


Made some massive improvements to the guide. Feedback on this would be much appreciated.
1
WalrusLyfe (5) | August 25, 2015 10:49am
Saberxbro wrote:



In addition to that, it's generally a good idea to upgrade an item to Tier 3 before you start on a new item. In Smite, you want the passives that T3 items have. Unless you're Divios in the Worlds, and you're just bullying an aphrodite in lane.

What you just said has no relevance to what I was saying like at all. I said that this build is pretty bad for a support player and is more of a solo build. Alsso the Aphrodite comment thing wasn't relevant either and I don't think you understood what I meant. In this build there has to be sov and heartward in the core unless youre Aphrodite and in that case you don't build like that. The build is pretty poor tbh.
1
Rokkir | August 24, 2015 4:44pm
You really shouldnt start with Conviction. you will have no clear at all and its better off just to go steel mail and potion/ward. Reinforced Greaves are complete rubbish aswell as Meditation.
1
Saberxbro | August 24, 2015 1:54pm
WalrusLyfe wrote:

This is not a support build this is more of a solo build, for a support you must have sov and heartward unless youre Aphrodite. The guide is kind of brief.


In addition to that, it's generally a good idea to upgrade an item to Tier 3 before you start on a new item. In Smite, you want the passives that T3 items have. Unless you're Divios in the Worlds, and you're just bullying an aphrodite in lane.
1
WalrusLyfe (5) | August 24, 2015 10:25am
This is not a support build this is more of a solo build, for a support you must have sov and heartward unless youre Aphrodite. The guide is kind of brief.
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