Ao Kuang vs He Bo

As the title suggests, I am comparing the two as I like both gods and they have become my favourite ones to play as! I was just wondering if you could give me hints and tips of which one you think I should play as my main?

I played He Bo first and loved the nuke potential he has and that he can destroy enemies really fast! Spouting an enemy and hitting them with the cannon is so rewarding and he cannot be stopped in the jungle easily, he is just great!! When playing He Bo I tend to get some really good kills and can hold my own in mid lane after I get past level 5, before this I do struggle and usually lose a kill!

However, I have recently got into Ao Kuang and, don't ask me how, but haven't lost a lane in a conquest game with him yet!!! He has amazing lane presence and can wipe out minions so easily, he's just great to play as! I usually play him passively and farm like crazy! I ended up one of my first games as level 19 when the next leveled player (on either team) was 15!!!!
Having played Ao a few times, I don't tend to get lots of kills, usually 3 I think, while I on average die 1 time, but I get an average of about 6 assists. I don't really use Ao to nuke down enemies, I use him to split push lanes and help initiate ganks on enemies with gem of Iso and tornado (or a sneaky spirits tempest)!

I did, however, just play against a Neith and really struggled as she just stopped me getting to the positions I wanted to and denying me positioning on my tornados and punished me whenever I got close to the edge of my tower!!! After a gank from a side lane, I started to get on top and pushed the lane, but I'd given away 3 kills to her (I had more gold though) but finally managed to get back into it!
I did buy a breastplate as 3rd item but feel this wasn't the best choice as I should have just stuck to my build (Doom orb, boots of celerity, book of thoth), what do you think?

Just wondering on who you think I should focus more on? As I say, I really like playing them both, but I have been enjoying Ao's style a bit more recently although I love knocking people up and getting them wet!!

Try more gods man, don't limit yourself to those two gods, although I use Ao Kuang too. The problem is, with ao, you mainly use tornadoes and thats it, not much skill involved compared to other gods. I recommend trying gods like agni and anubis which require more skill to use, which will result in overall improvement in playing. But all and all, hebo actually beats ao, as a harasser is the weakness of a pusher, since the pusher will be higher up the lane, allowing easy harrassement. But ao is fun to play at times, but just try other gods. I play sobek too!

I just started learning Ao Kuang, and man is it satisfying when you actually hit someone with your ult. The sneaky dragon will kill them all! He Bo you have to be too close for my comfort, I'm sure I would die all the time. XD

different play styles, i like both, Ao is a safer play god, he bo can deal faster dmg out late game though and is more risky. id also take into account what my team comp is before picking.

I prefer Ao. He is my second most played God( my secondary), and I haven't tried He Bo( only on that crazy He Bo MOTD). My thoughts:

Try out some new mages. Maybe Anubis, Agni, Poseidon, Ra, Zeus. My favorite mages are Anubis and Ao Kuang.

Ao Kuang is more like a passive mage( zoning, tornadoes, mana, tornadoes). Try to get lots of Mana Items, then you can make use of his passive. Ao can lose a lane to very agressive mages, like He Bo and swAgni. If the enemie is passive, no worries, poke him with your tornadoes and your squall.

I don't have some He Bo tips, for now.

He Bo. Don't you know anything? (reference to an awesome book)

Although I will admit, if you have a He Bo vs. Ao Kuang match-up, Ao will win.

Okay, well, dont be that guy to instalock ao or hebo as soon as the match starts. Any mage is viable for any comp if played right. At the moment, the top 3 mages most used are: Poseidon, Agni hel/ra.

I play a lot of ranked and stuff, I know some stuff but in this case Ao is better. He Bo's skill set makes him more of a ap carry on right or left lane. He can clear waves but he can get violated rpetty easily. In teamfights his presence is really weak if not fed. He can get shut down pretty easily due to him having to be up close to deal some damage.

Ao kuang, is much better. He doesnt have utility but his 3 makes him a viable lane clearer, his kit allows him to lay back and deal a lot of damage on people.

For mid and in competitive play I feel like ao kuang is a bit more viable. But casual, go for anybody as long as you dont feed and you meet the team comp's requirements.

Short version:
If you want to do heavy damage and focus on killing other gods pick He Bo.
If you want to play a bit more passive and focus on farming and helping teammates pick Ao Kuang.

Long Version:
I don't play He Bo too often, but he is pretty fun to play as. He deals really heavy damage but he can be hard to use because his main damage comes from Water Cannon and Waterspout wits both have a really small hitbox and a small delay. His ultimate Crushing Wave is deadly because of its huge hitbox and heavy damage and his Flood Waters is a pretty good escape compared to other mages. He also might be easier to use then Ao Kuang (don't quote me on that).

I LOVE Ao Kuang. He is one of my favorite gods to play as and might be the one I'm best at playing as. His pushing is unmatched by almost all other gods and he is great at harassing if you got the mana for it. He is not the best mage at killing other gods, but he is great at helping others kill gods. He can use his Squall to slow enemy, his Tornadoes to cut off their escape and his ultimate Spirits Temperance to finish of a kill or win a team fights (if it hits). However I would not recommend him for new players because he can be hard to use and even harder to master.

As a He Bo player, and someone who often plays Ao Kuang, I can tell you that Ao Kuang is safer and easier than He Bo, but doesn't deal as much damage.

I think they downsized Hebo's ultimate and made it similar to Poseidon's 1. It's literally just a small, compact wave now. It's not even a full sized tsunami hitbox like what it used to be.

~Ragingstorm