The Hall Of Stats

1: the normal build is something like bluestone/bumbas --> Warrior Tabi --> Frostbound hammer --> Ichaival --> Mail of Renewal (ITS OP NOW) --> Qin's Sais --> defense items (sell Ichaival in the end game). Jotunn's is a fine item on her IMO, Midgardian mail is also good, Urchin is decent (but Renewal/Spirit Robe is better IMO) the only problem I have with the build is the boots (warrior tabi is so much damage for a low price, even Ninja tabi is good when you go Frostbound hammer) and lifesteal is not really needed (Soul eater could be decent though).

2: If you mean what to lvl you are correct and it is a decent way to engage as well, but saving the ult is also good.

HOG is pretty useless on any god now after the nerf, so for solo go like Teleport (to wards) and beads/shell/curse

4: over 500 is decent I would say

1 I gotta agree on the build only thing that really is out of place is the boots (those are mostly gotten by supports after they reach full build and most supports even go Shoes of Focus anyway or keep traveller's boots. I don't know about midguardian I don't like it much but looking at their team it;s a good choice (as a lot of aa based gods) Still IMO Witchblade was a better option (because aura reduction and power reduction)

2. I haven't played Bellona still the prio looks good to me

3. Bellonna is mostly played in those 2 yeah (only HoG isn't used on any jungler it's only good if you are planning on counterjungling hard but still it;s a waste of an active slot). Sometimes you do see a ADC bellonna tough (Belonna is S tier because she can be played in multiple roles just like Fenrir atm)

4. 500g/m is pretty nice however ingame you should compare your gold with your opponents (instead of creep score net worth is given making it easier to compare your lead in gold. and also making it hard/impossible to look at how good you are LHing)

Thanks for the feedback, I think I only ended up buying those boots since I had enough gold for them but I agree Warrior Tabi / Ninja Tabi looks like the superior choice. I've gone through some of the items and am testing out a random bunch of them atm, though I've generally avoided items with attack speed because I don't really value it on her (I feel like her damage comes from her ability rotation more so than the autos afterwards, so the only real benefit of building AS would be more healing from Scourge --> feel free to correct me if I'm wrong).

In terms of counterbuilding, am I correct when saying Bulwark of Hope is best against a fed Mage and Mail of Renewal / Hide of the Nemean Lion (similar to Thornmail in League of Legends) are the strongest against a fed Hunter? I still don't really know what any of the Gods' abilities are, but as long as I know their role that basic knowledge should be good enough to help me itemise against them if they get ahead :P

You're on the right track, its pretty impressive that you're doing so good at such an early level lol, it took me well past level 30 to analyze my builds and look at my skill order like that.

You may be a little confused to whether Bellona is auto attack based or more ability based. Her Bludgeon is the only ability that will hit hard early to mid game. She keeps her relevance late game through team fights and outboxing hunters. You may also be thinking if CDR isnt that great on her, why get Mail of Renewal? It's because that item just has bloated stats and is gotten for the passive and phys prot.

She can be used in solo or jungle. Solo starts include: Steel Mail (into Mystical Mail, Bluestone Pendant and power pot or Short Bow, and Death's Toll and power pot or Short Bow. Or if you're laning against a magical god and want to start defense, tier two Stone of Gaia works. In the jungle, Bumba's Mask and power pot is probably what you want to start with.

My build will usually go like Ninja Tabi, Ichaival, Frostbound Hammer, Mail of Renewal, Midgardian Mail, and the last item could be anything from Runeforged Hammer to Hide of the Urchin. Then sell Ichaival for The Executioner. Bulwark of Hope is a good item against a fed mage but I'd say the passive is a bit unreliable. I'd rather get Pestilence for the more useful anti healing aura. Or if there's a mage that's fed that is something like Freya or Chronos, Runic Shield would be your best bet. Physical protection is more valuable and more readily available due to its options. Hide of the Nemean Lion is an item I'd only get if there are 2+ hunters that are building crit. Otherwise, Midgardian Mail or Mystical Mail (gotten early game) is a better choice. Midgardian Mail's passive stacks with Frostbound Hammer so you could probably make out why it's so good.

Oh trust me, it took me well past level 30 on League too, but now that I have experience playing that game I know to pay attention a little sooner in SMITE ;)

Makes sense, I had noticed the damage of the rotation tends to fall off during the late game (since none of her ratios are extremely high and I don't build full damage to begin with), so sticking to a Hunter and killing him with autos is probably a good goal to aim for at that point.

Considering the "power pot" start, I assume you're referring to the Potion of Physical Might? I'm a bit surprised you can buy and use that at level 1, usage of it is restricted before level 9 in League since it was considered too strong. Will try that instead of the standard Bluestone Pendant + Boots + active start (recommended) which I've used so far.

As far as jungling goes, I think I'll delay looking into that (a.k.a. figuring out optimal jungle paths) until I've learned all about the gods and items in the game. Thanks for the help! :)

hey a red (sry we don't see someone with a red name a lot except for Mowen) welcome.

I think there is a big difference between the power pots in LoL then in smite. in LoL they give more stuff (like a adc with wrath gains 25 ad and 10% lifesteal for 3 mins) however in smite they only give 20 (or 50 when you are a mage) which is as much as most starter items and if you die you lost 400 gold (in LoL the pot stays even after dying). They can be strong but a small mistake and you can get behind far.

One thing you will notice is that certain roles have pretty stale builds (mostly the duo lane but even other lanes can feel this).

jungle is close to LoL but nowadays without an active (like LoL's smite) making the red pot start possible again.

Also warrior's can be very different some rely more on AA and others more on abilities. only for me I feel that abilities make a bigger difference for most then basics (or you need to get Qin's Sais)

Wooh, finally an admin. It's been a while since Mowen visited.

I don't have anything constructive to say, sorry.

Yeah, I didn't link it cause I typed that on my phone and had forgotten the full name.

Last thing, the "recommended items" are kind of trash compared to what other mobas have in store for you. I'd recommend asking here or r/smite. If you don't have that much time, smite.guru and smitestuff.com will give you the most popular builds for each god. No problemo, have fun smiting!

I don't think he expected anything else :^)

So, waiting for world and playing smite? Or escaping the juggernaut patch? Lol

Anyway, i gotta say that bellona's playstyle might be most similar to irelia, greet early game and being tanky late game to keep those hunter/marksman away. Don't follow my build though for conquest, so squishy (ninja>jotunn>exec>that damage and both protections item>rage>deathbringer). Haven't play conquest for a long time (arena ftw) (LoL and DOTA2 needs an official gamemode like this)