(01/24 UPDATED) Her name is Freya, remember it...

Freya is the first hybrid god in Smite. As a hybrid character, there is many ways to play her. In this guide, i will show you differents builds that means differents gameplays.

In her description, Freya is considered as a melee mage. As a mage, she has a huge ammount of damages BUT she is very squishy. As a melee god, she can fight others melee gods without having to take her distances: Freya is a decent character who can face nearly any situation without having big issues. Also, remember that Freya is a big carry : if she is fed at early game, she will become unstoppable at mid and late game.
Play Video WARNING: This guide isn't finish, i will add more informations in the next days. Feel free to tell me what i should add.



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Pros:

- Can use a physical, magical or hybrid build
- Do very good damages
- Can escape with her "banish" and her ult
- Have a really decent Crowd Control
- Can be a good kind of "support" with many other gods
- Her ultimate hurt A LOT
- Can tower dive like a BOSS

Cons:

- VERY squishy (especially in early game)
- Her Banish can hurt her own team in bad hands
- Her ultimate has a little escape
- Can't hang herself a lane
- An ennemy with Aegis Amulet will hurt you a lot

Brisingamen's Blessing

A passive that is very efficient and made for her. As said in the descripton, the more you gain magical power, the more you gain free physical power. For a hybrid character, this is just an amazing passive where Freya can deal big damages and counter tanks or gods with magical/physical protection.

Irradiate

A very powerfull skill but if on the paper it looks awesome; this skill is very situational: with all those gods who have an escape (jump, dash,...) it will be a little hard to hit them if they haven't a slow.

But it can save your life against another melee god. If you have enough power, they will think twice before attacking you. In my build, i take it at the level 4 to deal some damages but because it is situational and because the other skills are for me usefull, i prefer build it at the middle/late game where it is more efficient for me.
EDIT: Now that this skill can be used with Pulse, use both skills to deal massive damages BUT, don't do this often : your mana will be down faster than you think.

Oh and because this is a "buff" for 5 seconds, the more you get attack speed, the more you hit with this skill. Remember that attack speed will be one of tour best friend to show to your ennemies who rules...

Pulse

Your main skill. You will use it for many situations. An ennemy trying to escape ? Use Pulse. You wanna kill many minions in a short time ? Use Pulse. You wanna deal many damages to a melee god before he come to you ? Guess what you have to use...

The good damages + the slow make this skill THE skill to build first. As i said, it is very efficient to use against melee god. Why ? If you use it on the ennemy and you move back at the same time, the slow will be a big issue to the ennemy jsut because he will lose many health BEFORE attacking you. He is still trying to attack you ? Finish him with Irradiate... As i said before, having atack speed will increase the number of time that you use this ability (so it increase the ammount in damage that you can do before the buff stop).
In my build, i take it in early game and try to level up this skill because it is the most usefull.

Banish

THIS is why so many people will love or hate you. An ennemy is trying to kill you or one of your friend ? Use Banish. An ennemy is trying to escape to you or to your team ?... Ok i think you get the idea.

But if in the paper it seems amazing, remember that this skill offer a free Aegis Amulet to your ennemy: if you use it to an ennemy who could be killed but who can escape because you banish him, prepare to see a lot of words like "noob", "unistall",... or other beautifull expressions. So yes, knowing when using this ability will show the difference between a GOOD and a BAD Freya.

Also, this ability will be very usefull to melee some gods: use it on an ennemy, wait until the effect is over, use Irradiate, make them bleed and fear you. (Warning, this can be countered by any god with an escape (so by the majority of gods...)

In my build, i take it in level 2 and i try to level up one more time, that is enough to escape from ennemies or to help your team to go near of one of them. Then i prefer build it in the last levels to increase Irradiate's damages.

Valkyrie's Discretion

The ultimate, the skill that will make your ennemies rage quit, the power that some persons call "OP". With this ultimate, the ennemies will fear you. The huge damage is a decent key to finish your prey who is escaping, to escape to ultimates (Odin is still crying about this...) and to tower dive like a boss. OP ? Not really because a simple Aegis Amulet will ruin all your ultimate. And both have the same cooldown...

So against a god who think or against a god with some/many magical protection, you will see that this ultimate can be very powerfull but also not very hard to counter.

As you can see, i put 3 kind of builds: a magical build, a physical build and a hybrid build. As i said before, Freya can take many roles in your team. When you face a freya, you can't know what she will do until you see her build. But what are the differences between those 3 builds ?

- Magical build: Be described as a mage, be a mage... Here, it is very simple: your power will come to your abilities, without mana or your Pulse or Irradiate, you are useless, you are even nearly dead. The good things about this build will be your amazing damages for all your abilities, and your ultimate will be so strong that if you see an ennemy with half life, you know he has not much time to live... But as a mage, you are weak, your biggest utility on teamfight will be your damages. Be countered by a tank with magical resistance or who can kill you quickly and you will be useless. Even if the majority of all Freya use a magical build, remember that you are like He bo: you have the possibility to make big damages but you are so weak that you have to be very carefull...

Pros : You will deal a lot of damages, your ultimate will have more damages than the 2 others builds, you will be a big mana hunger for a shorter time than the 2 other builds and you will have a better potential of farming

Cons : You will the most squishiest than the other builds, you will be countered by gods with magical protection.

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- Physical build: Because assassins are also cool, be one of them. Here you will do many damages, even more than the magical build from your Irradiate and your Pulse. The life steal and the big ammount of damages will make you less squishy and more dangerous. You can take more risks with this build. Wonderfull isn't it ?
But i have to warn you. Remember that you are a mana hunger in early game. Well you will be that mana hunger for a longer time. With thoses items, you haven't more mana or MP5. You will have to use your skills carefully and having a good teammate to help you. Also, don't think you will be the king of melee gods. You are a hybrid god and you haven't the advantage with your skills on other gods born to melee like Kali or Bakasura. Remember that you will be scary at mid/late game but you have to make some kills or avoiding the maximum of death if you want to use that build.

Pros : You will be less squishy thanks to the life steal, you will deal more damages than the magical build because of the crits (you can't have crits with magical power) and you will not be totally useless if you have nearly no mana

Cons : You will be more mana hunger and have to take MANY mana potions, your ultimate will be weaker than the 2 other builds and you can be countered by physical protection

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- Hybrid build: As a hybrid god, why not playing with a hybrid build ? Here, Freya will be efficient any time of the game and will be hardly countered. Here, i start with a magical build. Why ? Because it will kill minions faster, and you will hurt a lot : remember that you aren't the only god squishy at the early game. Then Qin's Blades will help you to be more efficient with your early magical build AND your late physical build. Finally, i finish with higgh damages and life steal to be less squishy and more dangerous.
With this build, you can face tanks or magical/physical resistance and you will be more effciant at any time, anywhere. Personnaly, i love this build even if it looks like a weird build.

Pros : You will have a good farm, good damages, good survivability, enough mana and health, you will be effective during all the match, you will less be feared to be countered by tanks or gods with protection.

Cons : Less magical damages than the magical build, less physical damages and survivability than the physical build, still a little mana hunger for a longer time than the magical build.

HYBRID BUILD[/ho1]

NORMAL BUILD

This is the hybrid build that i use the most. Here i start with Demonic Grip to be more dangerous at early game with stronger damages against magical gods (who can be very annoying like Hades or dangerous like He Bo). Then, i take Rd of Tahuti which is for me a very strong item at mid game. Having it early will give to you a little advantage on damages compared to others gods. Then, the time to farm is over and it's time to fight so this is why i take items to reduce mostly gods resistance. Here The Executioner, the Qin's Blades and the Void Stone are a very good combo that provide many penetration against tank or off tank. But the point is of this build is also to have MANY attack speed (Here you'll gain a +50% attack speed.

YOU DESIRE MORE SURVIVABILITY ?

Reinforced BootsWarlock's SashEye of Retaliation

An alternative to the first build. As i said multiple times, Freya is a squishy god and some people prefer having a build with less damages but a better defense. Here 4 items will offer you a good defense. At the end of your build, you will hurt a little less than the first build but your chances to die will be lower.

STRONGER MAGICAL START

Warlock's Sash

Just another alternative of the normal hybrid build for those who prefer a better magical power. I also put in this build the Warlock's Sash to have a very good mana sustain + many magical power.

MAGICAL BUILD

NORMAL MAGICAL BUILD

This is the build i use the most in a pure magical build. Here, the goal is to have the maximum of magical power with some penetration in order to counter tanks.

MORE RISKY BUILD

Warlock's Sash

Here you will get more magical power to become a beast, an unstoppable god in the battlefield. But taking the Doom Orb isn't always a good choice: if you die only one time, you lose ALL your stacks and a HUGE ammount of magical power. The challenge here is to never die/dying a little time if you don't wanna start as a beast to finish as a prey. If you have a bad starting, if you die more than 3-4 times, you should sell the Doom Orb which will be useless.
It's also a risky build because i take here the boots only as the 3rd item: you will have a big advantage at early game but you have to be very carefull of ganks or just by your ennemies because of your lack of speed.

You can take the boots as the 2nd item and the Warlock's Sash as the 3rd item if you find the boots too usefull to get.

QIN + POLY COMBO

Warlock's Sash

Why adding a Qin's Blades in a magical build ? Because it deal good magical damages even if it also give 30 physical power. I already heard about a combo with the Polynomicon and the Qin's Blades to deal a huge bonus of magical power nearly any time you attack. I tried it and it destroy everybody, even the tanks. I recommand it to be the most dangerous of your team at the late game.

PHYSICAL BUILD

NORMAL PHYSICAL BUILD

Devourer's Gloves

Here is my usual build when i play with a physical build. Here, the Devourer's Gloves is very important because Freya is very squishy: giving her a life steal will help you a lot to harass your ennemies and to acting like an assassin. I also put a Rage for more critical chance, which can be considered like a must have in a physical build. Also, the attack speed is the point of this build to gain more health by seconds (life steal) and to deal more damages in a short time.

MORE RISKY BUILD

Eye of Retaliation

As the more risky magical build, you will have a decent advantage at early game which allow you to snowball faster (gaining power faster than the others) but it's still risky because only one death remove all your stacks from the Heartseeker

ARENA BUILD

In Arena, you have to kill, kill and kill people. In this build, physical power is what i want to increase first, but critical chance is also a priority. With this build, in late game, the combo attack speed + critical chance will destroy any god thanks to the huge damages done in a few seconds.

Very usefull abilities :

- Purification Beads: Freya is squishy and any stun, slow,... means death many times. To counter them, Purification Beads seems the ability that you should have nearly each match. Remember that spending 250 golds can sometimes save your life...

- Girdle of Might: Like the Heavenly Agility, this will help you and your team. For yourself, you can use it just before you use your ultimate to do more damages. Also, this buff your magical and physical power and as you know, Pulse and Irradiate use physical and magical power. Also, it can change any teamfight by making your collegues more powerfull and can make the difference.

- Aegis Amulet: Now that this ability protect you for pulls, take it with Freya if you see a god like Hades or Ares. It will maximize your chances to survive when you play a squishy god like Freya.

- Sprint: Anti-slow, offers you great escape,... This ability will be very usefull in many situations. Consider it like a better version than Heavenly Agility but only for yourself.

Good abilities :

- Creeping Curse: It's a very usefull item to finish your ennemies who are trying to escape. But you already have Pulse to slow. Anyway, having this item can be a good choice if you wanna a giant slow which can offer you free kills.

- Heavenly Agility: An excellent ability which can be used for different reasons: you want to escape with your friends ? You want to catch an ennemy and use your Irradiate to finish him ? If no one in your team took it, buying this ability can help your whole team a lot.

Useless abilities:

- Meditation: Even if you are a mage, don't take this. Yes, you are a mana hunger at early game. But you will not use it at mid and late game. You find your mana is too low ? Get mana potions, it will do nearly the same effect and you will have a free slot for another ability.

- Hand of the Gods: You are not a jungler, if you need a buff call your teammates at the early game to help you or do it yourself at mid/late game.

Early game :
Freya is a good god that can be played in side lanes. I don't recommand to play her in mid lane if you face someone who have a better farming that you or until you master Freya.

As i said before, Freya is too squishy to be aggressive without a good coordination with her teammate. If you are sure of what you do, you can try to kill your ennemies thanks to your friend but if you are not sure, kill as many creeps as you can to gain levels. The goal here is to be level 5 before your ennemies and taking an advantage. When you got your ultimate, save it for the better moment: if your ennemy is low hp, if your teammate use his ultimate on the ennemies, when an ennemy is fleeing and he has not many health. Don't hesitate to use your Valkyrie's Discretion if you have to escape: wasting an ultimate is still better than giving a kill to your ennemies.

Mid game:
Here, you should be level 10-12. You should start to hurt and you'll have the possibility to be more aggressive. At this moment of the game, you should help your team if you see a lane that is pushed by your ennemies. If your lane is safe and you have an equal/higher level then the ennemies who are pushing, go helping them : that will give a better opportunity to your team to destroy a tower/phoenix and earning more golds. If you have less levels, take all buffs that you can to not be useless in your team.

Stay often with your team, this is where Freya shine. In teamfights, let your friends to initiate then attack with your Pulse or Irradiate. If you see an ennemy with low health who is trying to escape and that your team can't kill him, use your Valkyrie's Discretion to finish him. Also, don't forget to buy wards to put at the Fire Giant and at the Gold Fury, that can help your team a lot.

Late game:
Here, you should be a beast, if you have played well you should deal huge damages. The late game is where Freya shines the most. NEVER BE ALONE, follow your team and when the fight begins, Start with Pulse to hurt a lot while being safe, then use your Irradiate if someone is tryig to attack you or your ultimate if someone is escaping. Don't forget to use your Banish if an ennemy have the possibility to destroy your entire team in a few seconds (only if he is not being focus by your friends because here, you will help more the ennemy that your team).

Your best friends:

- Tanks : Why ? At early game in side lanes, your only goal is to farm. If you play with good tanks, they will protect you and you will farm without issues until you will have enough power to destroy all of them. Gods like Ares or Odin are good teammates for Freya.

- Other gods with slow : if you take Pulse, and another god like Anubis have also a slow... forget the Creeping Curse you already have it !

- Gods with decent farming : At early game, Freya has to farm and haven't a good farming in the first levels. Playing with gods like Ra or Ao Kuang will allow you to use less mana and to aim your ennemies. Remember that Pulse do very good damages at early game and even more with Spear of the Magus; but you have to be cery carefull because of your very low health.

Your worst ennemies:

- Zeus: Zeus will be your nightmare. His Aegis shield will hurt you a lot: hit Zeus while he use this skill with Pulse or Irradiate and you will take a charge. And you all know what it feels when you have 3 charges. Also, you thought you are invincible when you use your ultimate ? Well no: if you have 3 charges and you use your ultimate, you can still be hurt by his Detonate Charge.

- Hel: All your damages that you will do, she will heal. All the slow that you can do, she will cancel it... Against this god, pushing will be your main problem.

- Hide of the Nemean Lion: Yes, it isn't a god but you will hate it. Any damages from your melee attack, by your Irradiate or your Pulse will be reflected and against an ennemy who has it, you will cry a lot... Be carefull at what the ennemies took and always check if anyone have it : he will be the god to avoid.

- Loki: You are squishy and he love gods like you. Always try to know where he is because he only need 3 seconds to kill you if you are not carefull.

In this mode, Freya can be a very good god who can make her team win. Here, she have 3 utilities :

- Have an exellent farming
- Can do huge damages after a couple of minutes
- Can save her teammates with her Banish

Thanks to her Pulse, Freya will be a very good farmer while being at a safe distance from the ennemy team. Remember that creeps are very important in this game mode, you have to kill the maximum of creeps, that can cahge everything.

Also, her Banish is here a benediction for your teammates (if you know how to use it). You see a teammate with low hp with ana ennemy behind ? Use Banih and you will save 5 tickets... You see an Ares doing his ultimate to your teammates ? Use Banish where he pulls your friends and you should save them...
But always remembre taht Freya is squishy. Stay behind your team, farm a lot and help your team when a fight begin. That's all.

For this game mode, i tested the 3 types of build and the physical build seems here the best because your levels will increase really fast and you will not have the many problems with mana (a little at the begining but that's all). Also, this build is he best for "a late game" phase and in the Arena mode, "late game" will come quickly. When i got my Qin's Blades, the number of kills incresed a lot because of the HUGE damages of Pulse. But with a physical build, your ultimate will not hurt a lot and you should use it to save your life and not loosing 5 tickets.

Always remember that you are a carry, don't be very aggressive at the beginning (until around 5 minutes) until you team start to fight. Your devastating powers will come at mid/late game so don't worry if you only get assist and nearly no kills : you will be one of the strongest gods at the end.

- Remember that you are very squishy at early game, let your teammate fight and protect you while you farm (also, help him when he needs help...)

- In a teamfight, use your Banish on the ennemy who is the most dangerous. This can make your team win the battle in a short time.

- If you play with Ares or other gods who can regroup ennemies, DON'T USE YOUR ULTIMATE NOW. Just use your Pulse to deal big damages and if an ennemy is trying to escape, then use your ultimate. Here you will do more damages, and will not waste your ultimate if the ennemy can escape after your ultimate. Too many players make this mistake and some times, the ennemy can back to his base with low life but still alive...

- Some Gods like Anhur or Vamana have an ultimate that can being useless if they are bannished. If you see one of them who start his ultimate, use your Banish and see them raging !

Thanks for watching this guide. If you have any suggestions to do, tell me what do you think about this guide it will help me to improve it a lot.
Oh and also, tell me if you see any "weird" words,... My english isn't perfect so feel free to write what should i change.

(Futures updates : i will create an item section to show what items are good for her; i will improve a lot the presentation of the guide and i will add a gameplay phase section where i will explain what i generally do at early/mid/late game)

10/23/2012 -- Guide created
10/24/2012 -- Improvement of the presentation, added more builds
10/25/2012 -- Added new builds, improvement of the presentation
10/26/2012 -- Added the section "Explanation of the builds" and impovement of the introduction (new picture and new video)
10/29/2012 -- Added new tips and tricks, new "worst ennemy" and modification of the "normal magical build" (Thanks to Asmoday)
11/02/2012 -- Added "Arena" section, modifications on "abilities" section, modifications in "Your worst ennemies" section, modification of the physical build.
11/04/2012 -- Added "gameplay phase" section, modifications at the "stronger magical start" build (hybrid build)
11/05/2012 -- Added an "arena build" (physical build) (Thanks to UnknownPandr)
01/19/2013 -- Added many modifications to the guide to fit with all new patches since November.