The Suntouched

Hi there! Thatshyguy here. This is my first guide ever so please pardon any mistakes I may have made and please do leave your feedback!

So who is Hou Yi?

Hou Yi is a hunter (or an ADC). He has the highest base damage out of all other hunters, and the lowest base attack speed to compensate for it. He has one of the coolest kits in the game (I mean come on you're shooting suns out of the sky for God's sake). He also has a very unique passive which let's him counter crit based hunters quite well.

Pros

High ability damage
Huge zoning potential with his ultimate
Passive counters crit based hunters
Shoots sun out of the sky

Cons

Low attack speed compared to other hunters
Needs his Mark of The Golden Crow to utilize his kit to the fullest potential
High skill ceiling
Has to talk to his wife Chang'e through her rabbit

Passive- Suntouched
After taking a critical hit, Hou Yi can't be critically hit again for 3s.

Ricochet
Hou Yi fires a powerful shot that can ricochet off of walls. After firing, if this arrow bounces off of a wall it will travel 70 units from that point and gain +40% bonus damage per bounce up to a maximum of 2 bounces. This arrow will stun if the target has Mark of the Golden Crow.

Damage: 75/120/165/210/255 (+65% of your physical power)
Ability Type: Line Target
Cooldown: 10 seconds
Stun Duration: 1s
Range: 70
Cost: 60/65/70/75/80 mana

Mark of the Golden Crow
Hou Yi marks an enemy with Mark of the Golden Crow. Marked enemies take extra damage for every 10% of their missing health from Hou Yi's abilities and basic attacks. Also, marked enemies, including stealthed gods, are visible to Hou Yi on the minimap. The mark lasts for 10s.

Damage Increase: 1/2/3/4/5% for every 10% of missing health
Ability Type: Debuff
Cooldown: 18 seconds
Range: 50
Cost: 50 mana

Divebomb
Hou Yi launches into the air, and for a short time may target some distance away to quickly dive towards the ground damaging any enemies in the immediate area. If the target has Mark of the Golden Crow they are knocked back.

Damage: 70/110/150/190/230 (+60% of your physical power)
Ability Type: Leap
Cooldown: 15 seconds
Radius: 20
Cost: 70/75/80/85/90 mana

Sunbreaker
Hou Yi shoots nine arrows into the sky, striking one sun with each arrow. The nine suns come crashing down one by one, slowing and dealing damage in a target area over time. A target with Mark of the Golden Crow will have their movement speed slowed by an additional 20%.

Damage: 80/90/100/110/120 (+25% of your physical power) every 0.5s
Ability Type: Area
Duration: 4.5s
Slow: 20%
Slow Duration: .5s per Hit
Cooldown: 90 seconds
Radius: 30
Cost: 100 mana

Final Build

Transcendence

The go to item for ability based hunters. Gives Hou Yi plenty of power for those nice scaling abilities plus a lot of mana to spam them.

Warrior Tabi

More early game power for a mere 1550 gold.

Wind Demon

So core on most hunters after patch 4.1 where it got some attack speed. It did receive a subsequent nerf to its power, however the passive still remains which is very useful.

Asi

One of my favorite lifesteal items, it's good throughout the game. Gives some attack speed and flat penetration for your early game at a cheap price. Also the passive is extremely useful.

Titan's Bane

Very core on ability based hunters. Hou Yi has pretty high base damage on his abilities and Titan's Bane allows them to hit harder. Also extremely key in taking down objectives.

Qin's Sais

Good Power with some attack speed and a strong passive which let's you shred through tanky gods with ease.

Optional Items

Executioner

Gives a little less power than Qin's Sais but has some extra attack speed if you want to build more auto attack based. Has a nice passive which reduces a percentage of the enemy's protections. I would suggest against building this and Titan's Bane together because of how percentage penetration is calculated in Smite.

Malice and Deathbringer

High power crit items if you want to build more crit on Hou Yi.

Odysseus' Bow

Has a high attack speed and a passive which makes lane clearing easier and puts some pressure on the enemy ADC. The passive scales well with the high power Transcendence provides.

Rage

Low power crit item for those who want to build more crit. Should ideally be built with Deathbringer or Malice to get the most out of its passive. Rather underwhelming as an item on its own.

Hope you liked the guide! I will be updating it as the season progresses. Also if anyone know how to add pictures or ability links like the other guides, please let me know how! Do leave any feedback you might have. Good hunting!