Oh, and you asked about what's changed in the last year. Hmmm, a lot. I'm not the expert on all of this, and I only started playing Conquest recently, but I'll summarize some of the main things I can think of...
First, to see which gods are favored right now, going to point you to the Tier List section of the Conquest guide, here. Got links/references there to Incon, Weak3n, and others.
Hunters are back in the OP meta. They're being used again, not just ADC but also solo lane, and sometimes mid. Final builds have a lot more variety, but starting options are again extremely limited, with the Throwing Dagger -> Golden Bow start being almost necessary to counter the enemy for early lane clear, though the Transcendence start also sees some play (some still swear by it).
Jungle's back to old-school damage/mana/speed buffs.
Some gods have perhaps too much in their kit...mostly the newer ones. Susano has a lot of control and mobility, and the reworked Ratatoskr also has a ton.
Yup, a ton of new gods in the year since you've been gone.
Well Zilby just forwarded me something talking about the practical use of Sovereignty. So, I think Breastplate of Valor is still somewhat meta, but isn't necessarily the best early physical protection choice. Other than that, I think my info is okay... =P
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