Help me build the perfect Aphro.

Hey Guys!

I need help constructing the perfect build for my Goddess of Beauty. I'm just confused on the terminology of Smite. Should I be getting items that deal DoT? or Should I use Pen?

Also what items should I be getting and what should I start out with in every mode?

Con?
Arena:
Siege:
Joust

Sigh, I hope someone can help.

there is some pretty good builds and guides that should help give you an idea on what to build. I don't play much aphrodite I do know you need good power along with cdr and maybe some protections

Will follow up with some explanations or something in a bit...we got you covered.

Alright, let's see.

First, let's consider Aphrodite's kit to help consider her strengths and weaknesses.

• Her passive gives protections the more people (friends AND enemies) she has around her. This means she can at least have a bit more survivability when in teamfights. It does nothing for her offense or for her team utility...just self survival.
  
  
• Kiss provides a movement speed boost when she's attached to an ally with it. When she's attached and she hits an enemy with it, it not only stuns (short 1 second stun) but also induces "jealousy" which gives a nice damage increase to her ally. This fits with the concept that her best effectiveness is when she's with an ally rather than alone. Does 0 damage itself though.
  
  
• Back Off! does decent damage in a small radius around her (and an ally if attached), as well as providing a 25% slow for 2 seconds. It's basically to get enemies off her back, or give her extra poke potential by way of her ally.
  
  
• Love Birds is her core ability. Does decent damage, is her wave clear, and very importantly heals both her and and attached ally. It's a slow line ability, so unless close to an enemy, is a bit unreliable for damage. (Best if you can combo with Kiss (stun) or Back Off! (slow) to help this connect)
  
  
• Her ultimate, Undying Love, gives her and an attached ally invulnerability for a short time (0.8 to 2 seconds). This is like having a combined Purification Beads + Aegis Amulet, while also being able to still act, which makes it an incredibly powerful utility ability. However, it does 0 damage.

What we can get from this is that she has very limited damage potential, as only 2 of her 4 abilities deal damage. She's got great health sustain from her healing, and her greatest potential comes when she's attached to an ally.

What her kit alsodoesn't have is a true escape of any kind...no leap, no dash, no teleport. Not enough CC to help her escape...and only a movespeed boost when she's got a teammate with her. Not enough damage to duel an enemy. Overall...pretty lacking kit.

You'd think from this that it means she should be a good Support in Conquest, but unfortunately, it's not a suggested role for her, at least depending on game mode. In Conquest, most Supports are able to either build tanky with good CC (and her CC is very lacking overall), or provide high pressure with good base damage and poke function (gods like Ne Zha). Neither of those are strengths of her kit.

So you should consider (and advise to us) what game mode(s) you play.

• Conquest: She can be played in Mid, but is probably best in Solo. This seems counter-intuitive, because she wants to be attached to a teammate, and in Solo, she's basically alone. However, Love Birds is great for wave clear, and her health sustain means she can stay almost indefinitely in lane, as long as she doesn't run out of mana. This is conducive to doing decently well in Solo and out-pushing or out-lasting the enemy Solo.
  
  
• Other game modes: In this, she can be played in more of a utility Support role, with main function providing healing support for her teammates.

So for builds, and to answer your questions...

Items that deal DoT: In terms of items, there's nothing there that DEALS DoT for mages. You'll rely on your DoT ability, Love Birds, for that. To ENHANCE the DoT damage potential, the key item that fits well is Spear of the Magus. It provides flat pen, and stacking protection reduction per tick, and those are guaranteed stacks if you connect with the ability. Protection reduction not only enhances your damage potential, but also the damage potential of any other magical teammate (mages and guardians). So if you're looking for damage potential, Spear of the Magus is probably your core item there. It also covers your mention of pen.

• Conquest Solo builds: Typically you'll focus on your Love Birds as your core item, as it covers wave clear, long range poke, and self healing. Because the healing is so strong, you can rely on that while building some specific protection items to specifically counter the enemy laner...things like Breastplate of Valor (physical enemies) or Genji's Guard (magical enemies). As the game transitions from the early game to a point where you're teaming up with teammates instead of being alone, you'll want to consider the utility items...things like Rod of Asclepius (which enhances her healing for her and teammates, while also providing extra move speed and some health).
  
  One other thing to keep in mind...her healing scales with power, so any added power items will increase her healing potential. Also, watch out in reverse, as enemies will often counter her with anti-heal items such as Pestilence, Divine Ruin, and Brawler's Beat Stick (as well as certain enemy abilities that reduce healing).
  
  
• Non-Conquest Utility builds: You'll focus on CDR as a main core component of her kit. This can be defensive ( Breastplate of Valor, Genji's Guard, Spirit Robe, Mantle of Discord), utility ( Shogun's Kusari, Shoes of Focus, Pythagorem's Piece, Shield of Regrowth, Soul Gem), and/or offensive ( Chronos' Pendant, Spear of Desolation).
  
  You typically will build Rod of Asclepius somewhere in the build for the added MS and healing boost.
  
  Then you decide if you want to be more tanky with other health/protection items, or more of an offensive focus, where you get things like Spear of the Magus, Rod of Tahuti, etc.

I'll point out this build, but you'll want to pay attention to the comment by Kriega as well. https://www.smitefire.com/smite/guide/aprhodite-conquest-solo-mid-build-5-22-21085#discussion

If you have any other specific questions, pose them here and we can help clarify.

Just remember that Aphrodite is not a support. Yeah, you can play and have some fun in this role but only in casuals please. She fits much better as mid or solo.