Solo Loki - Peeka Boo! (Updated for S2)

Hello everyone and welcome to my guide on how to play ADC Loki, Loki is my most played god and I enjoy playing him in both solo lane and as an ADC.
Here are some pros and cons for playing Loki as an ADC:

Pros:
+ Crazy burst damage
+ Easy to snowball a lane
+ Nearly immune to ganks
+ Chews up hunters, mages and assassins
+ Can solo really well with excellent wave clear
+ Can backdoor phoenixes

Cons:
- Not very useful in teamfights
- Can’t solo Gold Fury / Fire Giant
- Can’t kill support until late game
- Getting behind on XP in extremely punishing

The aim of paying Loki in Solo is to snowball your lane early so you can rotate a lot and help other lanes, you ideally need a to get your 2nd item before starting to gank other lanes so getting early kills and farm is essential.

They key to succeeding as Loki is to know your kit and use it properly against gods,

Passive - Behind You! - Loki deals more damage from his basic attacks when hitting enemies from behind. His basic attacks also utilize a five swing progressive chain.

This is what makes Loki, Loki and should always be taken into consideration when engaging enemies.

(1) Vanish - Loki disappears in a puff of smoke. While invisible, he moves faster, removes and gains immunity to Slow effects, and takes 25% less damage. His next basic attack from stealth (or for 2s after) applies a bleed to his target, dealing damage every 0.5s and reveals Loki.


This can be used in several different ways, it is commonly used to initiate but it can also be used to escape a losing fight and avoid ganks due it’s damage reduction and immunity to slows, for example, if a god such as Nemesis or Bakasura uses their ult to slow you to gank, your Vanish can be used to remove the slow and escape, it can also be used to escape AoE abilities that slow you such as Anubis’ and Poseidon’s AoEs.

When being chased Vanish is extremely powerful, when running away you should Vanish then take a sharp right or left or even change direction completely to confuse the enemy and dodge any attacks made on you after vanishing, for example when running through the jungle enter one passageway then Vanish and take a completely different one to avoid pursuers.

Another use for Vanish is to poke with it due to the bleed, you should use Vanish then attack the opposing laner once and retreat straight away, they will almost always waste their escape if they have one and take considerable damage.

I max this Last.

(2) Decoy - Loki spawns a decoy version of himself that taunts all nearby enemy minions. After a short time, the decoy explodes dealing damage to all enemies in the radius.

Always get Decoy first, it is enables you to clear the Jungle camps at the beginning while taking minimal damage and it enables you to push lane, it should always be placed over the archer minions to maximize damage so the melee run to it and when it explodes it hits all the minions.

It’s worth noting that it is also a solid object so gods cannot run through it, it appears almost instantly so it can be used to block a pursuer or slow down someone you’re chasing although this can be hard to pull off. Another use for Decoy is to place it in a phoenix or tower to take the hits so you can get it down fast.

I max Decoy first so it has the lowest mana cost possible enabling you to stay in lane for as long as possible, it also makes it one hit all the minions apart from the tank ones.

(3) Aimed Strike - Upon activation, Loki's next basic attack does additional damage within a short time. The enemy hit is also slowed.


This enables you to kill the opposing laner when used in conjunction with your Vanish, hit Vanish then Aimed strike and open, you get a big bleed on them and then they are slowed enabling you to get your basic attacks off, it should also be used on cooldown when fighting someone for the damage increase and slow. This should not be used for poke as it consumes too much mana, only Vanish should be used when poking.

I max this second for the increased damage.


Assassinate - Upon activation, Loki teleports to his ground target location. If an enemy god is within the radius, Loki will backstab that target doing damage and stunning them.


This is your kill button, although when desperate it can be used as an escape but only should be used in this way necessary, it is used differently depending against who your are fighting against, when against someone with weak or no escape you use it to initiate, you Vanish, Aimed Strike then Assassinate and wail on them with your basic attacks for the kill, when against someone with an escape you open without Assassinate and then when they escape, for example Neith uses her Backflip or Anhur uses his leap, you then use it to stun and then kill.

I max this as soon as possible.

You will usually gank middle as you will have trouble killing a Warrior in solo lane, leave that to the jungler, it’s the same opener as when using Assasinate to kill the opposing solo lane, Vanish in the Jungle, hit Aimed Strike and then Assassinate the mage, this should only be done when the lane is pushed, it is also possible to Gank ADC lane if you feel confident you can escape the support, be wary, this can cause you to spend a long amount of time away from lane and should mostly be left to the jungler.

You should only do this when your lane is pushed and you have Jotunn's Wrath and Warrior Tabi.

I start off with Bluestone Pendant, Boots, 2 Healing Potions and Hand of the Gods.

I then rush Transcendence, to start building stacks, it's amazing on Loki as it gives you a lot of mana and power.

I then get Jotunn's Wrath, for the CDR, power and pen.

Then I finish Warrior Tabi for the movement speed and power.


Next I move on to titans bane, this item enables you to one shot someone who isn't building tanky.


The last two items I build are Death Bringer and Malice for big crits.


For actives I suggest always getting Wrath of the Gods to help with securing Gold Fury and Fire Giant, then your second active is one of three depending on the team you're playing against.
Greater Purification if the enemy team has strong CC effects such as Anubis, Ymir or Ares.
Aegis Pendant if you're going to be dying to a high damage bursters a lot and the invunrability can allow you to bide time until your Vanish is up.
Greater Blink, this is more useful than combat blink because Vanish keeps you out of combat long enough to use it when you are running away, but it isn't just used defensively, it is a really good active to initiate a fight

Alternative Items can be taken at any time after you finish Warrior Tabi but will always replace your last 2 items, you will then take another alternative item or either Brawler's Beat Stick or The Crusher depending on if they have strong healing or not as only building one crit item ins't effective.

Magi's Blessing - If there is a lot of CC.
Runic Shield - When struggling against a magical solo.
Void Shield - When Struggling against a Physical Solo.
Shifter's Shield - When you're dying a lot to everyone.