Aura in Joust?

So a lot of the time I play guardians in Joust. I've gotten a couple people tell me I should build Auras (specifically sovereignty and Heartward.)
What do you guys think, I want to know what is better, rushing breastplate of Valor or sovereignty in a Joust game. (And for Heartward, either pestilence or another defensive item.)


(How I see it)
(I can see the use of Shogun's Kusari, Void Stone, Witch Blade and I like using them). And I can see why someone will say get Heartward or sovereignty . We're usually sticking together some regen in mana or health, and defense fine. But... At the same time I feel that sustain isn't incredibly important, as you can tp back to base quickly to grab items and heal up. Money isn't as big as an issue as it would be in conquest because it's 8 gold per second. And finally it's 30 defense (Either magical or physical) On your two squishy team members (If your team is a guardian, mage, and hunter team.) But is it worth it when your opponent plays Anubis and the 30 defense feels like paper machete? It also doesn't help that you can get something a bit more expensive, say breast plate of valor for 200 more, and basically tank a lot of physical damage, don't worry about mana for a very long time, and of course you can in the long run help your teammates 20% more due to CDR. (Basically). And it's not like I've tested rushing sovereignty before either. Half the time I sat there like, I could've saved you but I needed one second less on my one (If I play sylvanus). I coulda knocked them up with my ult, if it was up and this save you. I feel like I wouldn't have died if I had more defense for myself. And of course I usually get meditation for my taemmates for sustain and in a way it saves them sometimes too. And of course I'm body blocking my friendly hunter the best I can so they don't take on much of the damage anyway.
Also 30 defense I believe in late game is truly nothing, same with 25 hp5. Late game I'm bound to sell this item out for breastplate or Nemean, and I end up losing money because of it. I've been told I'm a selfish guardian, for playing a sylvanus with no auras. (Unless you include kusari or voidstone towards late game if we're doing well. If we're not I tend to build another defensive item for myself.)

Hey Damius,

I've been playing a lot more Joust lately. I've thought about this too. Here's my opinion.

Let's assume we're not facing weird/bad comps of 3 magical or 3 physical enemies. As with other modes like Conquest, I'd put a lot more weight into Sovereignty over Heartward Amulet. If we're talking about 2 physical gods, I'd almost always say Sov is worth it, either as a 2nd or 3rd item (depending on the Guardian, CDR can be extremely helpful early for some of them). Remember that minions and towers also do physical damage, and when fights break out in the midst of minions, that protection will help some...and the added health means you'll have higher effective health even against magical gods.

Really, it's not so much about the sustain/HP5...it's about giving your teammates some protection, and yourself a very good amount.

Only if there were 2 magical gods and the physical god wasn't much of a threat would I even consider Heartward Amulet. The MP5 is too low to really be helpful, and yeah, magical protection falls off harder than physical as the game progresses. In a case where I wasn't all that concerned about a single physical god, I'd get Shoes of Focus first and consider Heartward 2nd, and just rely a bit later on Spirit Robe for my physical protection sometime afterward.

One other thing I actually find helpful if I know my teammates have plenty of clear is get Watcher's Gift, especially if I know my clear sucks...e.g. Bacchus. Yes, it sets me back a bit, but the sustain on that thing is extremely nice early-game. If I get Shoes and some potions, it can easily allow me to stay out until both of my teammates have backed at least once each.

So you would still by watchers in joust. I just feel like it takes a long time to get items online so buying watchers makes it take longer to buy core items

Everyone plays differently. I personally feel it helps my early game, but others might not like it.

Hello Damius,

I have a lot of knowledge about Joust almost have 560 games of it on record and have most of the guardians close to Rank 3 support is my thing.

One big factor to know what to build is the enemy team comp for joust being 3v3 is really weird. There's always a majority of what type of gods are there is no neutral or in between team comps. As Bran said getting Watcher's Gift as a starter will help you in a long run with gold allowing you to buy items more quickly. If the enemy team is more physical then rush Sovereignty if more magical then build Heartward Amulet.

If you're on the fense of what to chose on one of them you could get "both" at the same time if you pick Gauntlet of Thebes bonus protections for your team and you get insane amount of health in the end. I only get Void Stone if I don't want to build anymore pen items or be a tanky bastard. Tbh I only pick up Shogun's Kusari by team comp and if your team is crushing like hell. While the other item choices are up to you do you want to do more damage, have more health, be more supportive, or be a tanky bastard.

It's hard to not last hit the minions. I mean unless your Bacchus and your clear isn't great. I go to blue buff they either take it before I can get there or do not come and help me take it. So you don't think it makes it harder to get core items online when you buy watcher? Maybe I need to look at watchers again

I apologize for not saying thanks for the help earlier. Been a bit busy!
So yeah thank you all for the replies1 ^.^