General Arena Strategies for Vulcan

TL;DR material


As a preface to this post it is an addendum to my Vulcan guide here, https://www.smitefire.com/smite/guide/vulcan-i-dont-meld-minds-but-i-do-melt-faces-arena-22091, which you can feel free to go over if you are interested in trying out Vulcan. It isn't necessary, but it would be appreciated. :)

Ok, so here are some key points to go over for Arena play for Vulcan. Some of these I am sure you can use in other modes as well.

Yes, Vulcan is a mage. Yes, Vulcan can do some great damage if a lot of things come together. If you want to be successful with him, as the saying goes, patience is a virtue.

The things:

Hitting with your abilities. Again, hitting with your abilities. Even when I am not rusty from playing other characters too much before coming back to him it can be a chore at times hitting with them if the other team is even half way decent. Really work on getting down this skill(Any damage related information here is specifically for the primary build).

The 1 can be pretty consistent if you just get in good practice. When the opportunity presents itself and you take good angles you can chase down, do damage with it and possibly set up a gun or throw your bomb right after. Depending on what stage of the game it is you can either secure the kill with basics, or just gift wrapped a kill for a teammate.

Late game depending on where their health is you can usually get a third or fourth to close to half health off depending on squishy or not, protections(except when tanks actually go full tanky), etc. with just the Backfire. Combined with the Magma Bomb late game you have a pretty good shot at finishing them off if you hit with both. Just pay attention to where the other members of the other team are before committing to it.

Setting down your Inferno Cannon is not optimal when chasing with the Backfire but if you have gotten them enough and pepper them with a couple of basics you might get them early and do lots of damage late and can still follow up with the Magma Bomb if they are still running. I am by no means suggesting this as a regular tactic but if you have minimal chance of being ganked or killed and can possibly secure a kill or set one up for a teammate, by all means, go for it.

The Inferno Cannon may not seem very sexy compared to a lot of the other abilities out there other gods have but it is a nice and consistent tool in your arsenal. At any point in the game make sure to place it plenty far back from enemy minions and whenever possible after your minions have gotten to you so that you can ensure enemy minions do not just destroy it right after you place it.

Even early game if you are trying to keep minions from coming your Backfire and Magma Bomb are not going to do much damage to them so if none of your minions are present but you want to place the turret anyways make sure you place it far enough back for you to clear enemy minions before they get to your Inferno Cannon.

Mid and late game your clear is going to usually be enough to get rid of them but don't use your abilities too recklessly on minions unless no one else is keeping them from your portal(which is really toooooooooo much of a problem in some games, to the point you can be up in kills sometimes up to 10 or so but still be losing because none of your teammates are taking care of minions).

I usually try to keep the Inferno Cannon in the mid lane because depending on where each team is will change how far i place it but this helps you optimize it for attacking both minions and the other team as needed and makes it usually pretty easy to tag them with your Backfire.

The Magma Bomb is not as difficult to hit with as the Earthshaker but it can be challenging when the battles get crazy and everyone is dashing everywhere. Learning to lead your aim, as with your Backfire, is very essential with your Magma Bomb. A hit and a miss on your Magma Bomb is a lot of damage or damage potential lost. You can take huge chunks of health off of members of the other team, depending on what phase of the game it is. Early they will be decent chunks, and late you can take close to half health, depending on who you are attacking. Sometimes, even when you know it's not going to do much damage, ie a tank, if you hit them right with it you can bounce them towards teammates that will be more than happy to do a lot more damage to them. You can also use this to aid your teammates or yourself to escape when needed by bouncing them away from you and/or them.

The Earthshaker, your ult...so cool and yet can be so hard to connect with. It is easier to aim and connect with the closer your too it(at least in my opinion) and becomes harder to hit with farther away. Sometimes I can be on point with it and others I am way off and don't come close to hitting anyone. It helps a bit to have clear line of site but even then it can be tricky. It is definitely harder to hit with if trying to gauge distance through a frantic battle with some of their team running.

Early game, not much damage, so try to set it up when your team is close and engaged or already has them down. By late game you can almost kill a lot of characters so if you don't jump the gun and just hit them because you can when they have no damage you can make sure you don't waste that damage potential by just watching them run into their base because you hit them with your Earthshaker at full health with none of your team there to clean up.

Strategy. Ok, so again, yes Vulcan is a mage!! Let's go just wreck everyone with massive damage. Ok, so slow your roll on that note. Yes, Vulcan can do major damage given time and playing smart you can do big damage in chunks, but you will have to work at it to be able to do that consistently.

Aside from his ult(which i have discussed the pain of connecting with) he has no large AOE that will decimate everyone it hits. His abilities will do consistent damage(taking character and build into account) as long as you connect with them.

I know this seems like a simple and unnecessary statement given that everyone has to hit with their abilities to get their kills, but a lot of characters can still get kills if their aim is not precise. This is almost always NOT the case for Vulcan. The only exceptions to this are the Earthshaker and after you get a precise hit with your Backfire on a member of the other team and they are dumb enough to stay in range of your Inferno Cannon. You do have a bit of a window with the Magma Bomb, but even though it is AOE it is much smaller than a lot of other AOE's in the game.

Being a mage, you are very squishy. Your purpose is to do damage. Regardless of your build, as Vulcan it is your duty to damage everyone you can. This is the enemy team and minions as needed. It is also your duty to harass the enemy team as much as possible while doing this.

Early your wave clear is not strong, but it is better than a lot of characters and by late game your minion clear is great. Your kit is set up to also allow you to be a key piece in shutting down the enemy minotaur and to also help your team's minotaur. Okay, so maybe his abilities are not as good as maybe Jormungandr's for doing this, but they are up to the task if you are paying attention to the battle. To be able to help your minotaur get through the portal you have to be able to affect multiple members of the enemy team.



Maybe some of you out there might be thinking, why go through all the trouble, it's just a minion. Even if it is worth 15 points, that's hardly worth it. That would be where you are wrong. I had a match just today that if I had been able to push the minotaur through the one opportunity i had, we would have won by 13 points instead of losing by 2.


Whenever possible you want to have team support, but if there is a good chance I can get in and disrupt the enemy team just enough as it's close to the portal and get out so it can go through I will take it. If I die but it gets through that is still a 10 point swing for our side. While not optimal, 10 points is 10 points. That being said also be mindful of how the battle is going at that point. There may be some situations where your helping your team will be more important than those points. It wouldn't help if you got the minotaur got through but then 8 of their minions go through your portal and 2 of your team dies and there's a good shot you could have helped keep them alive and killed all those minions.

When you actually work on getting the minotaur through you can scatter the other team with your Magma Bomb, you can set your Inferno Cannon and you can mark a target with your Backfire. Different situations it might work for you to do those progressions in different orders. If you are farther from the portal you might set Inferno Cannon and mark with Backfireand then hit with the Magma Bomb. If you are closer you might scatter the other team first.

Be prepared because sometimes the other team will just leave the minotaur and come after you, so if you get away they did your work for you, but if not you still got 10 points for your team(notice how i did not suggest sticking around to fight at all in this scenario). If only some or 1 of the team come, assess your ability to engage and complete the task or just run(for example if you have them hurt and can time it right, you could have them walk right into your Earthshaker and maybe kill/get them running/soften them up for your team).

Ok, so the getting to know the other team part. First off, you don't want to. Stay back as much as possible and refresh your Inferno Cannon as needed and be ready with your Backfire to mark(even if you don't have Inferno Cannon up, hit someone every time you can with it(yes, optimally you want to be able to have Inferno Cannon up already or to place one asap after hitting with it, but sometimes you might be about to die or a teammate might be about to die or minions might be going to your portal or it might be that bit you need to kill a member of the other team). Am i saying just use it willy nilly every time it's up? No, but make sure you use it every time the benefit outweighs your grumpy frown when you are stubbornly waiting on your turret cool down. If you happen to miss, just git gud(ie work more on your aim).

Also, don't be stingy with your Inferno Cannon. Reset them whenever you feel you need to. Try not to do them at crazy angles and places unless it is necessary. Sometimes you might have enemies coming at you sideways or chasing teammates, etc, etc. You can Backfire, Inferno Cannon, hit with magma cannon(in whichever order you need to. cool downs will dictate this usually). Try to keep them in the middle of the map and at angles behind or near the pillars that will make it a little more difficult to hit and don't place them right in the line of minions(if the turret is not there enemy minions can focus on your team, you and your minions and get peppered by your turret instead of running right up and destroying it).

In it's own way, it is just as important to make sure you hit with your maga bomb as it is with your Earthshaker. You will get an opportunity to use your Magma Bomb much more in the match than your Earthshaker so you can see a lot of damage go down the drain with his Magma Bomb as well if you just start lofting up bombs without aiming properly. Your Magma Bomb has the potential to save your teammates, secure kills and shift the flow of battle even when you don't get kills. I know a bit of this information is a rehash from earlier but it is just that important to your strategy.

Escapes. So, surprisingly Vulcan is not too shabby at escaping. His passive gives him situational movement and mp5, both of which can aid him in escaping. If you find an enemy or enemies charging at you or even appearing out of nowhere to gank you, don't panic(yeah, i still do it sometimes. smite flight or fight..work in progress). You have options.

For relics you have Aegis Amulet Purification Beads and for odin's out there you have Phantom Veil.

Your abilities can help you in a pinch as well. Your 3 can bounce them away if you see them coming. If you don't and they are suddenly on you..again, don't panic. you have a couple of options. Depending on point in the game, your health, their health, if they have backup if you have back up, etc. you can handle it different ways.

Option 1, you can smack them with your Backfire, plant Inferno Cannon and keep yourself in view of your target. They may keep attacking you while you are hitting them with basics and your Inferno Cannon is hitting them. If they do this, if needed, hit your Magma Bombright at your feet or wherever you need to aim it to push them off you and run. It's not perfect but I have gotten away plenty with this. You can pretty much use this strategy any time short of being cc'ed to help you get away(unless you opted for Purification Beads.

Option 2. If it is a melee attacker smack them with the Backfire, set your Inferno Cannon facing the direction you are running and if they get on you, then do your magma cannon at your feet as previously discussed and Aegis Amulet and if cc'd Purification Beadswould be available if up.

Option 3. If a ranged attacker, hit them with the Backfire if you can, set Inferno Cannon as you run and dodge like crazy again Aegis Amulet and/or Purification Beads as needed.

If you follow these strategies you should be able to hold your own pretty well in arena. This doesn't account for ****py teams, but you can still do well even on a bad team if you are patient and pick your spots. Do you see some Vulcan's running around on the front lines or being ultra aggressive? Yes. Do you see some of them doing pretty well? Yes.

If you can use that play style, more power to you. I would at least advise that you follow this guide in arena with him until you are comfortable enough to start freelancing like that. If you try to do those things before really getting Vulcan down you will most likely be a detriment to your team and main reason for losses. Even if you do get comfortable enough to have success being in front and freelancing you might have some good games, but you will definitely have some bad ones as well.

Using the strategies here you should have consistent success. Will you always rack up most kills? No. Will you sometimes not have many kills? Yes. I will tell you since coming into this build my damage is usually at or near the top for opposing team members and for minions as well, even if the kills are not there and i'm getting plenty of assists as well.

This is gonna need a tl dr or probably just a place in your guide.

Also welcome to the essay club.
Members: Bran and me XD

lol. Well, the reason i put it here was because i modified it in my guide to be less bulky, yet it still looks to the naked eye like i need to trim, but i'm like..i minimized the hell out of it already...

Suggest creating a TL;DR statement or few in the open, and the longer, more in-depth stuff in a spoiler.

Check out Salad's Awilix guide...in the ability chapter, as an example. Note you don't have to put both TL;DR and In Depth in spoilers...like I said, keep a shorter version out in the open.

You should also again try to organize these thoughts into clearer subjects. Let me know if you have any questions on BBCoding.

What is this post? General Arena Strategies for Vulcan? You've got to be kidding me.

it was just as an addendum mainly for my guide since i cleaned it up(but still bulky anyways) and linked this topic for those looking at the guide.

Kriega, if he wants to create this, he can, don't get on his case.

You Don't have to explain yourself to him. Just keep doing what you're doing.

Thanks. to you and Bran. I know, and i will. Just trying to see if maybe he'll stick his head out of that box if I give a rational reason.

However, it is recommend you trim all the fluff from this, spruce it up with some bb code (https://www.smitefire.com/smite/guide/spruce-up-your-words-a-guide-to-bb-coding-15438) and add it to your vulcan guide.