A Guide to Guan Yu (solo lane)

This is My guide on how I play Guan yu (AT THIS MOMENT)

I've been testing this build in a range of solo conquest games and you can look at my results:

My IGN is Odynn

https://account.hirezstudios.com/smitegame/match-details.aspx?match=17116743
https://account.hirezstudios.com/smitegame/match-details.aspx?match=17115248

These are only two but you can check my stats for the other games I've played.

Note: If you don't have the time to read this guide because it's a wall of text then this is not the guide for you. I don't need colours

Guan is a mage carry, he isn't a tank and he's not a mage, he's basically a magical brawler.

Often amateur players initiate with warriors will at low levels, this is stupid.

Taolu assault:
Damage per Hit: 15 / 20 / 25 / 30 / 35 (+15% of your magical power)
Protection Buff/Debuff: 10
Buff/Debuff Max Stacks: 3
Buff/Debuff Duration: 3s

You use this to initiate or scare them off. If they are doing damage don't panic because 9/10 times he will be the one who panics. What you do is stay your ground THEN you can use warriors will.

When you are initiating for a kill (preferably at level 5) you use tactician's advantage, Taolu Assault then warriors will.

Right to this date (26/06/2013 In Australia) Starting off with midas boots is the best thing you can do. 5 mins in you will have around 2k gold to spend and buy mystical mark. If you are subject to harassment in the lane then play passive, I know it can be boring but when you have anhur & ymir or sobek & cupid then I suggest you hug your tower and farm in the tower. Now the reason why I've had success in many games is because I've had a decent jungler gank my lane to either secure or support a kill. I suggest going for the carry because the tank will just soak up the damage and counter-attack.

Counter-attacking is guan yu's specialty, at lvl 4 you can do an amazing amount of damage with your Taolu assault + warrior's will combo.

The Jungler Ganking situation

Now of course if you're solo laning left or right you will have a jungler roaming around (it will be more often with the patch's changes...) you will hope he will gank. Make sure you communicate with your jungler and use your ult when he's hiding in the jungle. This makes your enemy confused because they believe you can't take a 2v1, which you can anyway... After using your ult use the 3 + 2 combo and hope your jungler can take out the carry/support. The tank can't really do much without a carry (unless you're vamana/odin) so don't go for the tank if he's full hp...

After you have bought a couple of items it's time to start to roam around and secure/support some kills. I believe setting up a couple of wards in the right jungle for damage, mana and exp will shut down the enemy jungler by invading them. You can also help by pushing mid or the other side lane/your lane.

MIDAS BOOTS: Midas boots will give you more passive gold per 5. This item will be nerfed a tiny bit after the patch is deployed to 5 extra gold per 5 seconds and gold increased to 1700. This item will give you enough money lots of money... Note: you sell these at lvl 20.

Mystical mark will give you an aura which deals 40 magical damage in an aoe area and gives you physical prot and hp. This combined with your 3 will deal a lot of damage over time.

Void stone is just for the protection and little bit of damage. It's aura provides armor reduction so it's good in team fights, which is where guan yu shines.

Gem of isolation is basically slowing enemies on damaging abilities, this will give you a chance to catch up to your enemy, if they're fast. Remember, they may have beads/which has a long cooldown but you have taolu assault with like a 8 sec cooldown...

Breastplate of valor just gives you cooldown reduction, mana and physical protection which is perfect for a support/mage carry.

Spear of the magus is a penetration item which combines really nicely with taolu assault. penetration + armor reduction, you can actually take down tanks late game now.

Last of all we have shoes of focus which gives magical power, mana and a %15 cooldown on abilities.

That is pretty much all you need to know, feel free to add me on smite or comment for any questions