Tyr The Unyielding (All Purpose Guide) *Incomplete*

Hey everyone,
So I've been playing Tyr a bit and am a little bummed I don't see many guides on him out there (though the guides by DylanBamzy and Kaotik_Kolektor are very helpful and I highly suggest giving them a look), so I decided I'm gonna take a shot at a guide and share what I've learned with anyone else whos looking to get a bit of insight into this really cool god.

Since I'm still new to the Smitefire community and Smite itself I'm sure I'm gonna miss something or mis-speak so please provide feedback to help improve the guide and make it a better source material for everyone.

Let me know what you guys think and I hope to see you on the battlefield!

Pros:

Good mobility
High defense
Decent damage
Multiple escapes
Stances (changes the way abilities work)
Very good survivability
Decent CC
Sock Puppetyr Skin! (not really a pro but its hilarious)
Very well rounded and versatile

Cons:

Low damaged compared to some other builds
Rough early game (Tyr excels mid and late game but no so much in the early stage)
Cannot deal with root and silence effects (seriously, you see that sh*t you run like hell!)
Very high learning curve

So Tyr is one of the few gods that has a "stance", meaning one of his abilities is replaced with the option to change from either "Assault Stance" to "Guard Stance" and vice versa via his "Change Stance" Ability. So lets look at all his abilities (if you count the stances as different he has 5) and then see how they work together both in combos for you and your team.



Unyielding (Passive Buff)-
"Stuns, Taunts, Fears, Intoxicate, and Mesmerize cannot affect Tyr for longer than 1s."

This here is the reason Tyr is feared, why he can Solo Lane so well, why you can just keep on tanking, and why whole teams will single you out personally to be ganked because they know your gonna be a huge pain otherwise.



Fearless (Assault Stance)-
"Tyr charges forward, immune to knockup, damaging enemies."

Assault Stance: Tyr pushes all enemies along with him, hitting them 2 times and knocking them up in the air.

This is the bread to your "bread and butter", and trust me you'll see why within the first few minutes of using him. The Assault version of Fearless is quite possibly Tyr's best move. The cast animation consists of Tyr charging in a straight line towards an enemy, shoving them back for the entire duration of the cast (or less depending at what point during the animation you catch them), and delivering three blows, the last of which is a small toss when they get knocked up and tossed back a bit. What makes this ability great is it can be used in a number of ways:

Combat initiator
Crowd Control (CC for short)
Escape
Damage

Fearless (Guard Stance)-
"Tyr charges forward, immune to knockup, damaging enemies."

Guard Stance: Tyr hits each enemy only once, passing through them.

While not as useful as its assault brother don't doubt the power of the dash. The main difference between Guard and Assault Fearless is Guard lets you skate on some otherwise really nasty situations. I can't count the number of times I had an Ymir or Bellona try to cut me off and was able to just run (literally) right through them. This ability can really shine in a lot of areas:

Combat initiator
Escapes
Juking (tricking someone into thinking your going one way and you go another)
Trolling (and no, I don't mean screwing with people for laughs but aggravating the other team to throw off their rhythm...the screwing with them is just an added bonus)
Gap Closer

Power Cleave (Assault Stance)-
"Tyr makes a massive melee attack, hitting all enemies within a 180 degree cone."

Assault Stance: Enemies that are knocked up in the air are knocked away.

And this would be the butter to your "bread and butter". This is a short range cone damaging ability and can do a nice chunk of damaged to soft targets. A great what to use this is to lead into an attack with Fearless (Assault Stance) and follow up with Power Cleave. As an added bonus if you time it right when the enemy(s) are still in mid air from the Fearless you can throw them further away. Not really really a lot of each points to make on this but I'll try to list a few I've noticed:

Can scare off an enemy chasing you or a teammate if your on the run
Can hit through things like Ymirs Ice Wall

Power Cleave (Guard Stance)-
"Tyr makes a massive melee attack, hitting all enemies within a 180 degree cone."

Guard Stance: Tyr heals twice for the first enemy hit, and once for each additional enemy (max 3).

This is quite possibly Tyrs most useful ability. The animation is the same as Power Cleave (Assault Stance) but you a chuck for health for each enemy (up to 3). This is amazing for sustaining yourself in a tough fight. Several fights I've been were won because when close to death I could hit a few minions and restore enough health to win the fight or scare them into retreating. And not really really a lot of each points to make on this but I'll try to list a few I've noticed:

Players not familiar with Tyr may not be about to tell the two Power Cleaves apart so you can sometimes get the jump up them with a little life steal

Change Stance (Assault/Guard)-
"Tyr changes between Assault and Guard stances. Changing stances refreshes the cooldown on Fearless and Power Cleave."

Assault Stance: Gain Physical Power.

Guard Stance: Gain Protections.

So the main thing to know about this is that the stance your in give you either added physical protection or added physical power. Since Tyr loves to traffic light when he switches stances a observant player will know which stance your in at a glace but sometimes you can get the jump on people. A very important thing to note that is not apparent at first is that the cooldown timer for Fearless and Power Cleave are different in each stance.

For example, if you Fearless (Assault Stance) and miss you can change stances and use Fearless (Guard) immediately afterwards. The Assault Stance Fearless will still be on cooldown if you switch back right away but its almost gives you 5 abilities to use back to back.


Lawbringer (Ultimate)-

"Tyr leaps through the air, bringing indiscriminate justice upon all enemies in the target area, and slowing them."

So this is Tyrs most complicated ability (don't worry, its only complicated compared to his other abilities). So when activating his Ultimate there is a bit of a cast time before he makes his leap. The tricky part of this is timing it well when your chasing down an enemy on the run. A neat thinking about his Ultimate is because its a leap you can leap over/through things in the environment like walls and pillars (just for giggles I jumped into an enemy spawn at the end of an arena match so I'd be in the ending cut scene!). While this is Tyrs most complicated ability it is also his most versatile. His Ultimate can be used for a whole slue or things:

Combat Initiator
Escape
Finisher (killing blow)
Gap Closer
Get around the environment
Getting on the other side of an enemy(s)

Combos-

One of the reason Tyr is a lot of fun is that you can combo all of his moves together. The main combo is your Fearless (Assault Stance) into your Power Cleave (Assault Stance). Now thats all well and good but a move fun and better variation is to lead with Fearless (Assault Stance) into Power Cleave (Assault Stance) and as the enemy is still falling use Change Stance and follow up with another Power Cleave (Guard Stance) and then break away with Fearless (Guard Stance). This is an amazing advantage that Tyr has against almost all other guards because you almost always have an out or an ace up your pocket. And in case your wondering yes, you can lead with Lawbringer and pull a 5-6 hit chain (if you feel like throw an auto attack in if you time it well) which is a great way to wreck someone without an escape that isn't prepared.

Core Items:



This is a good core item for Tyr giving a good chuck physical power and speed. For your typical Bruiser loadout this is gonna be your best bet. While you can rock some Reinforced Shoes those will serve you better on a more defense heavy/tanky build so I don't recommend them except for in situations where you need the extra padding.



Breastplate of Valor Should be the first item you max. This is linchpin to the build and will make or break your chance or playing Tyr to his full potential. When this really comes into play is the CR (Cooldown Reduction) and how its gonna give you the maximum chances to harass the other team and escape. Combining this with Jotunn's Wrath will max your CR at 40 giving you the shortest delay between ability uses and this will allow you to pull enemies around and get out of dodge when you need to.



Jotunn's Wrath is the second half of your CD combo and is also one of the best all around items in the game. Giving Physical Power, Mana, Physical Penetration, and Cooldown Reduction make this item a must have for Tyr. While this won't make you a one shot killing machine it will help make each blow Tyr deals hurt that much more and keep you on the field where you need to by that much longer.



Hide of The Urchin is a bit of a weird item at first. At a glance it doesn't seem like the item you'd wanna go for since you have other damage resistance items like Mantle of Discord. The Saving grace for this item is the Mana and Health bonus you get, giving you a bit more padding and fuel to keep you in battle. The trick to this item is to stay in or near the thick of the fighting, your god killers you get you the stack you need to build it up into a much better item in to time flat.