*Not a true guide for assault, more like item suggestions based on some common sense, in-depth thinking about items, and the still somewhat limited personal experience I've had.*
*edited and added to builds, and revised intro*
This is a long post, so bear with me, and whether you're new to assault noob, or you know what you're doing, the following may help.
The purpose of this is to provide basic item suggestions for all general classes of gods, with specific thought regarding your team's (as well as the enemy team's) composition. As a basic rule, I personally feel that this will allow even those with little familiarity with the items break away from the auto item upgrade system, with suggestions that will trump the auto buy. Since different gods within the same class have a huge variety of different skills and strengths/weaknesses, as you become more familiar with the gods, your build priorities and choices may differ.
If you like what you see, how to use it in real world...? My suggestion, just do what I do, copy as a text file onto your phone, find out which god you are, find out your team's composition, find out the enemy's composition, and during the loading screen and each time you die, you can consult the list for your specific class/situation quickly.
First, some key notes/tips I've learned:
Healing is key. If your team has a Ra, Cupid, Chang'e, even Guan Yu, pay attention to their hearts, area of healing, etc., and maximize that potential. It'll keep your team in the fight a LOT longer.
Salvation is totally #1. I note Meditation since it's the first step to getting Salv. I don't usually start out with Salv, as I go with a variety of starting items, but it'll usually be one of the next things I upgrade. Some people don't realize that if everyone gets it, it can be a game changer.
BE FREAKING AWARE OF THE ODDS!!! Even as a noob, this drives me crazy. People get all excited because they get a deicide, and push to destroy a tower or two. Then, the enemy respawns, and they're not paying attention, still pushing...one of ours died during the previous battle, and people aren't at full HP, so all of a sudden there's a 4 on 5, and we're WAY away from any of our towers. Deicide the other way! So always play it safe! Destroy a tower or whatever, and then fall back and wait for your team to be at full strength again...don't be caught outnumbered!
My build list is based on knowing both your team and the enemy team's composition. At the point where both teams' Gods are revealed, that should be right where you start thinking about what you'll need. Is your team balanced? Are you the only tank, or only magical/physical? Same for the enemy team. Obviously, you wouldn't get Reinforced Greaves (both phys and mag protection) if the enemy team is comprised of 4+ magical Gods. You basically just threw away a major stat. If you want the CC reduction, get Magi's Blessing (major stat is CC reduction) or work in Spirit Robe down the line, or get upgraded Purification if that is sufficient. If your whole team is physical, expect the enemy to build for physical defense, and work in penetration items (e.g. Warrior Tabi, Jotunn's Wrath, Titan's Bane). This is probably the biggest key to building efficiently.
Some specific build adjustments I've made as my list develops:
For physical gods, I'm thinking Qin's Sais are better with higher HP/tank enemies, and The Executioner when there are more enemy squishies and my team is mostly physical, to take advantage of group damage.
This also applies in a different way to assassins vs. hunters. Both usually benefit from high crit. The 3 main items there are Deathbringer, Rage, and Malice. In general, I usually see people build Deathbringer first, so I'm not going to argue with that. However, when it comes to Rage and Malice, they have different qualities. For assassins, who are generally all up in other peoples' business, I think Rage makes better sense, because you are likely going to hit multiple times in succession, and Malice's resetting DOT proc means extra damage can go to waste. However, with a hunter that is likely to do more hit-and-runs, a single crit with extra DOT damage makes a lot more sense. Same with warriors, as I built them more as tanks with less attack speed.
So here we go. Feedback is always appreciated. Made this list really for myself, but if it helps others, great!
*note* Couldn't figure out with the editing options how to create numbers with subs beneath, so I've just colored the main steps in ORANGE, and subsequent lines are situational alternatives.
Warrior Builds: I see some people build their warriors for straight up damage. I personally play all warriors pretty tanky, and try to focus on taking some damage and attention for higher damage teammates to do their thing. General build focuses approximately first half on defense and second half on power/crit. For physical gods, warriors seem more reliant on abilities to provide the damage, so instead of concentrating on attack speed (e.g. Qin's Sais), I focus more on power and penetration, so the attacks I do land do more damage.
Warrior, 2+ enemy tanks:
Main needs: protection, sustain
Actives: Meditation/Salvation, Beads or Sprint or Girdle of Support
If already have, Malice (power, crit, basic attack crit DOT)
If already have, and prefer more penetration, Titan's Bane (power, penetration)
Assassin Builds: I'm still learning how to play assassins. I mostly suck, though every time I roll Bastet, I get excited. Anyway, these builds start with maneuverability, and the general focus is on basic attacks (attack speed, crits, lifesteal). More lifesteal with tanky enemies, more crits with squishies. I know some assassin builds are much more reliant on abilities, so of course, these are all subjective.
Assassin, 4+ physical, 2+ tanks:
Main needs: maneuverability, power, crit, penetration, attack speed, lifesteal
Actives: Meditation/Salvation, Aegis or Beads or Girdle of Inner Power
Consumables: Healing Potion (Multi Potion for Thanatos / Thor / Hun Batz), Potion of Physical Might
Warrior Tabi (power, attack/move speed, penetration)
If my team is mostly physical, and enemy team has little physical protection, consider The Executioner (power, attack speed, basic attack decreases enemy protection)
If my team is mostly physical, and enemy team has high physical protection, Titan's Bane (power, penetration)
If enemy healer, consider Brawler's Beat Stick (power, penetration, basic hit decreases enemy healing/regen)
If my team is mostly physical, and enemy team has high physical protection, Titan's Bane (power, penetration)
If enemy healer, consider Brawler's Beat Stick (power, penetration, basic hit decreases enemy healing/regen)
Hunter Builds: Mainly focusing on attack speed and crit. Pretty similar to assassins, but using Malice instead of Rage because it's easier to get one or two shots in and back off, letting Malice's DOT take more effect.
If already have, my team is mostly physical, and enemy team has high physical protection, Titan's Bane (power, penetration)
If enemy healer, consider Brawler's Beat Stick (power, penetration, basic hit decreases enemy healing/regen)
Mage Builds: I see a lot of people start with shoes of some kind. Reason I don't choose them first is because mages can play further back, and often have a bit of an escape skill (even Ra's #2 can help him get away). I would just suggest starting a bit conservatively/safely, because being able to spam Ao Kuang's stupid tornadoes or Ra's Solar Blessing with CDR25 is a pisser for the other team to deal with...and MP5 is always wonderful to have. Also, if there are enemy assassins, they love to target the mages, so things like Hide of the Nemean Lion help with my survivability and this makes their builds (usually high damage) work against them.
Guardian Builds: I play these as tanky as possible. Since almost all of them have strong CC abilities, I've decided that I'll be the best teammate possible and try to control the field so they can get the kills. Since my damage is going to be low, things like attack speed, lifesteal, etc. aren't very useful, so more utility items are suggested. Also, I assume I'll mainly be attacking assassins and other tanks, as hunters and mages have more mobility and can hit me from far away.
If already have, and lots of enemy assassins/hunters, Hide of the Nemean Lion (physical protection, health, reflect damage)
If already have, and 2+ enemy warriors, Midgardian Mail (physical protection, health, chance to slow enemy move/attack speed)
If already have, and am only tank, consider Sovereignty (physical protection, group protection)
If no physical protection needed, and enemy CC, consider Spirit Robe (magical protection, CDR10, damage reduction when hit w/ CC ability)
If no physical protection needed, and enemy healing mage, consider Pestilence (magical protection, health, aura enemy healing reduction)
If no physical protection needed, and my team is mainly magical, consider Void Stone (magical protection, power, aura enemy magical protection reduction)
Nice guide. I play a ton of Assault, and this guide highlights a lot of the basics that should be known when playing Assault. Just because it's a very casual game mode, doesn't mean there aren't strategies that'll make your team more effective in the long haul, especially since you can't port back to base for healing and items.
Your build list is decent for the most part, I'd definitely switch a few items out for others in certain areas, but builds are almost always subjective, so if that's what you get, and it works for you, more power to you.
Also, I would add a little part about heal reduction because it helps out a ton when going against a team with a good healer. Items like Divine Ruin and Weakening Curse are perfect for shutting down healers, whether they're team healers like Hel and Aphrodite or self healers like Hercules and Zhong Kui.
Thanks! Great to have feedback, and that I'm at least on the right track. The general builds seem to work pretty well on a regular basis, so when I don't do very well, it's at least more on my current level of skill, or that I'm playing too conservatively/passively (was told that last night when playing ***ba or Ymir...forget which one), or when I get too restless/aggressive as an assassin.
Just curious, are there general themes in my builds where you personally would change specific things for others? General concepts would be fine...like...Witchblade always over Asi, or Qin's Sais before almost anything else when hunter or assassin...and why. Trying to understand everything on a deeper level.
Also, I didn't know how effective heal reduction items would be, but sounds like they might be more important than just concentrating on faster/better damage. Will maybe see about trying that out in a match.
I'm not an expert at any means at telling people what they should build on gods/goddesses in this game, which is why I've never really attempted to write a guide for anything in this game. However, there are things that I usually buy for certain classes that work well for me. Some examples that differ would be:
-I almost never buy Breastplate of Valor on Warriors. I always replace it with Jotunn's Wrath, even if I'm building more tanky on them. I just prefer what it gives to warriors than Breastplate does.
-On some Assassins, I also like to get Jotunn's Wrath, such as on Hun Batz, Fenrir, and some others. The CDR on some of their skills, especially on Fear No Evil is very helpful. Also, building crit on them is very nice with Deathbringer, but also either Rage or Malice (I haven't used Malice much, but some are saying it's nice.
-I also get Bancroft's Talon a lot on mages. It's a very nice item to have.
- Asi can be nice to get on some Assassins, but I do omit it from my build on some. It's not a bad choice if your Assassin does a lot with basic attacks, but sometimes I just don't feel the need for it over other items.
Other than these few things that I do different, your builds are pretty good for a general idea. Like I said, builds are almost always subjective, so what works well for me may not be the best for you or others.
And as for heal reduction, it's pretty nice to have. Weakening Curse not only slows the enemies in an area when activated, but also prevents them from healing for the 5 second duration, which is extremely helpful when you're dealing with an enemy Hel, Hercules, or something. Items like Divine Ruin also stack with healing reduction skills, such as Chang'e's Moonflower Dance, which reduces enemy healing by 50%, while Divine Ruin reduces enemy healing by 40%, which leads to a ton of healing reduction that's going to severely cripple the enemy's healing ability, are also very nice to have. Definitely well worth looking into.
Also, building crit on them is very nice with Deathbringer, but also either Rage or Malice (I haven't used Malice much, but some are saying it's nice.
Since the Malice got a boost of its passive and the Rage losing it's attack speed boost. they are pretty equal but the rage passive is increased crit chance and the malice will give a part of the damage of the crit in 3 second (refreshing it) that's why people like it now more. (I used to take malice on less auto attack based hunters and rage on auto attack hunters, but now I don't do that anymore)
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