Need advice on hunters - Newb question

Hi folks,

I have just started playing smite, and have been mostly playing as hunters, Neith and Freya (I bought Freya with reward money).

What I wanted to know is, is my role as a hunter to deal with minion waves and just support other gods on my team, or should I be aiming to get as many enemy god kills as possible. I have been playing Arena mainly, as I find Conquest very complicated, but will play more Conquest when I get used to the mechanics. It seems to me that if i go chasing god kills, i die a lot more than if i hang back and deal with minions and pick off the odd enemy god with my special attack. I'm asking because I notice the huge number of enemy god kills the other players get compared to me.

Any advice much appreciated with regard to how to approach playing hunters as well :)

Thanks.

Hunters are HUGE damage dealers, and should be looking to score kills, however as they're so weak they can't just rush in by themselves and expect to kill everyone.

It should be the job of the tanker CC heavy characters (guardians and warriors) to support you, setting up kill opportunities whilst keeping enemies away from you.
Stick with your tankier teammates and wait for opportunities to attack enemies who are in a vulnerable position, rather than going In by yourself looking for kills.

Thanks for reply CakeSlapping.

Ok, I will give it a go. From what I've seen so far, there seems to be a scramble to get kills, with everyone just piling in (this is in Arena). This depends a bit on who you get picked to play with. Having looked at it, those are the games where I get fewest kills. Guess there are lots of other newbs on PS4 at the moment :)

As you are palying arena farming minions isn't a bad idea as hunters aren't as trong in the early game then they are in mid-late game.

Still you should try to help your team by dealing damage but make sure you aren't putting yourself in a bad situation or you will get yourself picked off. stay close to your team and try to deal damage if possible to their squishy targets.

Also Freya isn't really considered a hunter but more an assassin. In conquest she is normally has the jungle role

Thanks for that Devampi :)

Arena mechanics are very different from Conquest, and that will affect how you play your god, no matter which god you play.

In Arena, it is important to not die.
In Conquest, having a 14-12-8 score, with about 20k player damage above anyone else might be good.
In Arena, this isn't.
Player damage means nothing if you can't secure the kill and the enemy just run in the base to heal it.
Having 14 kills means nothing if you have 12 deaths.

So, that means you have to play more safe and attack the correct target.

CakeSlapping advice to stick with your tank (or initiator whoever it is) is good, but don't follow him blindly.
Enemy players will not necesserly attack your tank, they may ignore him and go right for you.
If you aren't prepared, your escape is on CD, or you are bad positioned, you will get killed and you were not useful for your team.

If you want to be very useful, you need to focus on gods while not being focused.
This means you need to know your limit and don't overextend.
Not getting many kills and not being top damage is not the end of the world.

Also, if you find yourself being focused too much, buying a defensive item is not a bad idea.
In Conquest you would only receive trash talk, but in Arena, surviving is the key.



About minions, Devampi's advice to farm minions might be good, but be careful.
If you are hitting minions, but don't last hit it (and your minions do), they you are hindering your team more than you're helping.
That's why it is often better to let the mage clear the minions, as they can ensure the minions will be last hit.
So, at the start of the game, look in your roaster to see who will clear the minions more efficiently early game.
If that player isn't doing it, then sure you will have to do it, but he does clear, you should better focus on gods, even if your damage isn't what it will be late game.



Finally, about the 2 gods you are playing

Neith is one of the hunter that comes online the fastest, because of the damage from her abilities.
She also has a good CC, so you too can contribute in setting up kills.
Early game, you can use your Spirit Arrow to clear wave if your mage is not doing it, or if you are stacking (ex Transcendence is really good on her).
Mid-late game, don't use Spirit Arrow on minions, if you need to clear Unravel can do the job as well and you keep your CC for team fights.
If you are willing to sacrifice your escape for several seconds, using Back Flip is a good way for zoning enemies, by placing a weave.
Don't hesitate on using your World Weaver on an escaping enemy.
Too bad if it's a kill still, just use VVS, what's important is that the enemy didn't make it to the fountain.


Freya is all about killing gods.
If you picked her, I hope there is somebody else to clear minions, because she isn't good for that. So, you should focus on gods.
That's because if you use Pulse on minions, you won't have anything left for team fights, and attacking in melee range is very risky.
Be careful with Banish.
In good hands, it can setup kills and save your team mates.
In normal hands, it only helps enemy survive a burst.
Sometimes, you should sacrifice some of your damage to ensure a kill.
By using Pulse but not Irradiate, you are doing less damage, but you are slowing your targets forever, and during team fights, this AoE slow is sometimes more deadly that your burst.
Contrary to Neith, be careful when using Valkyrie's Discretion to secure a kill, because this is one of the best escape, but also your only escape.
Getting a kill and getting killed right after is not worth it.

Thanks Bullfrog323, some really good tips there; the point about slowing enemies using pulse in team fights will be useful from now on :)

I don't agree to the farming point if you are playing people like Neith or Apollo (people with a good clear. with those people you can take the mage role so the mage can use his higher damage in teamfights.

You are right, if you are using your ability to clear.

That's why I wrote to be careful, because if you are "farming" minions like in Conquest, and only using basic attack, it is imperative to last hit them.

With Neith, she can clear early game with her Spirit Arrow, but it is sometimes better to keep all your CC abilities against gods.
So, if they have a mage with a good clear like Kukulkan or Anubis, it could be preferable to let him clear and focus enemy gods.
Late game, her Unravel can clear as well, which she should do, since it's not her most damaging ability.

In the same idea, Loki should never use Decoy on the minions because it won't last hit them (unless he levels it 1st, which is not a good idea).
But late game, Decoy clears the 6 small minions easily, without lowering his god killing potential.

It all depends on your team composition and how efficiently you can kill minions.