Need advice for a mage

Hi all !

I reffered in another topic that I'm looking for a mage .

I was thinking about these mages who coaught my interest:

- Kukulkan
- Hades
- Vulcan


I was wondering if you guys have any advice in terms build for these gods , tactics etc...
Also why are Hades and Kukulkan on sale?

sometimes gods are on sale because of an event. Sweveral god including Artemis and I believe the 2 you mentioned to have always been cheaper.

I think you're right but nonetheless I need the same advice :p

I have 5 mages mastered, and for the most part, they all have pros and cons like everything, two of the three you listed, I happen to have mastered before I discovered you could look up God builds.. so I'll break it down and hope you still view this thread haha


Vulcan - I have tampered with him on free weekends and once on rotation. he is very good at catching the ones that get away, as well as being able to leave his "sentry gun" on a tower and running off. he is a little heavy and doesn't really have a dash/jump that'll get you away from things, some will say his backfire is effective to lunge back from action, but it's half (if that) of a normal dash and instead of facing away like most, you face the enemy which is confusing for a bit. he has a knock-up with his magma bomb, and the "sentry gun," or inferno cannon are both pretty effective.. but, IMO- he's only SUPER effective if you're running in a group. his magma bomb can be hard to hit in haste, and the ultimate literally shows a target on the ground where it's going to hit, for both teams.. I use him, and he definitely can be a pesky little sob for the enemy, but until you get it down (I still haven't done anything amazing with him,) he's just going to cause you to regret an unlock.

Hades - one of if not the first God I mastered. his death from below(1) followed by devoured souls(3) clears lanes as quick as any, and if the enemy is hit with his basic attack or shroud of darkness(2), it adds 'blight.' blight will add an additional effect to the abilities cast, and devoured souls effect is healing. his ultimate can be a little tricky as while you can't be targeted by another ultimate, it creates a gravitational pull-like effect, and all abilities and basic attacks still land, so if you try to drop it like you would Ymir's, you will surely die and waste your ultimate.. he is one of few characters that have changed roles overtime- he used to be a guardian, and is now a Mage.. I personally build him tanky and use him for clearing lanes and cutting off enemy gods going for the kill.

Kulkulkan - saved the best for last.. while I had mastered gods before him, he is almost an entire mastery level above any other God I have unlocked. he is a solid lane clearing God, a solid pusher, and can be THE reason you win or they rage quit. he is the reason I actually got into smite. built wrong, he can mess an enemy teams strategy up, built correctly, he can destroy the team single handedly.. his ultimate can be tricky to land, as it has a delay/hesitation after casting and it's a straight line, but hit anyone with it and half of their life (with magical protection,) is gone. he can clear an entire minion line in one well placed whirlwind(3), and anyone that's played longer than a couple days knows to turn around if that tornado is going.. he has a bolt-like projectile in 'zephyr' (1) that can clear a group of minions, or take a decent chunk of life mid-game and be the finishing blow late game. his slipstream(2) allows immunity for 1 second to slows and is like using the boots relic.. the cool thing about it is you can use it to run, or chase. I like to chase with my whirlwind prepped and drop it just ahead of the enemy.. his ult can kill low-health gods like baskura or Loki in late-end game, and takes at least half health when it hits to just about any in early game..



after typing all that on my iPhone, I REALLY hope someone benefits from this, and my biggest hope is it was the one that asked. if you ever want to practice with any of them, and you have XBO, add me and I'll help guide as to how to build and combo with them..

inFamoUsmOKa

oh, and I think it's just to get your collection started, Cupid, Artemis, Ratataskor are also cheap..

As an experienced player I'll endorse infamous' answer. Kukulkan is the easiest to play out of the three. I will mention though that Hades can be played as a mid or solo laner which makes him more flexible.

Oops I missed the build question.

However it's fun to 100-0 people with 1 Kuku ulty


Normally if you build mages you build them like this nowadays (I believe):
start:
Vampiric Shroud- Lost Artifact pots (if possible) for starts and a relic of your choice (msot used ones for first is aegis or purification on mages)

aftert that you build Doom Orb- Shoes of Focus- Chronos' Pendant- Pythagorem's Piece- Obsidian Shard/spear of magus (I don't know which one is more favoured atm and it also depends a bit on the mage you play and opponents)- Rod of Tahuti.

later most peopel switch out soom orb for something else as it is a great item early however if you die in late game it's a bit useless. So most people build something like Soul Reaver. some people build another stacking item instead like warlock's sash (if they want HP) or Book of Thoth (if they want mana, or if it's kukulkan)

@Devampi, just to clarify, Doom Orb is good on safe mages like Janus, Agni and Chronos who have good escapes and/or are less likely to die often. Gods like Kukulkan that are powerhouses but lack escapes are better off stacking an item like warlock's sash or Book of Thoth (however because of Kukulkan's passive you're going to want Book of Thoth).

Also good to note, Shoes of the Magi are also very viable atm if you want damage over cooldowns (better early-mid game, worse mid-late game) and Pythagorem's Piece is a very optional item, you probably actually want penetration before that for the damage. Some good options before or after Rod of Tahuti are any of the lifesteal items (each has their own context), Soul Reaver as devampi mentioned, or if you're super ahead Spear of Desolation.

reason I take focus and pytho is that in most cases I want full CDR (otherwise I would take bancrofts)

Full cdr is nice but it's not always worth it if you give up early dominance and get a life steal item when you don't need one (as is the case with quite a few mid laners).