Alycia Fear's Guide to Scylla [S6]

For those who may not know why I use this skill order (or why it is so common on Scylla), it is because of her passive Quick Learner. The first and main goal of leveling up Scylla's skills should be to get Crush at max rank as soon as possible for several reasons.

• Crush is Scylla's main wave clear
• At Max Rank Crush will shred enemy protections
• Thanks to Quick Learner, once Crush is maxed out you get 25 Magical Power for free.

At Rank 8, you aren't able to put your last point into Crush, so the only alternative would be to spend the point in Sic 'Em or Sentinel. However, if you did this, you wouldn't be able to spend that point into her ult. As a sort of 'loophole,' you skip putting a point in at Rank 8 and instead put it in at Rank 9, where you are also able to level up I'm a Monster.

Below is the combo order for Assassinating a target:

1.) Blink
2.) Sic 'Em
3.) Drop Crush
4.) Basic Attack
5.) Detonate Crush
6.) Sentinel

So now, let's go step-by-step and break each of them down.

Step 1: Blink
This step isn't necessary or mandatory, especially if Blink Rune is on Cooldown or if it just isn't necessary in a situation. Using Blink helps to give you an edge in an attack to take your target off guard. So if you see an opening to get some value out of Blink, then go for it. Otherwise, feel free to skip this step.

Step 2: Sic 'Em
Once you are in range of your target root them with Sic 'Em.

Step 3: Drop Crush
Next, drop Crush at their feet (making sure to center it on them as best you can). I typically do not detonate Crush for its max rank Protection Shred which helps with Step 4. Holding crush can also be useful when your target uses Aegis Amulet.

Step 4: Basic Attack
Once Crush has been placed at your target's feet, hit them with a basic attack. Normally Scylla's basic attacks do very little damage, but with Polynomicon, it can take a sizable chunk of health.

Step 5: Detonate Crush
Before you detonate, Crush, it is worth noting that sometimes you might want to wait 1 or 2 more seconds in case your target uses Aegis Amulet during this combo. Sometimes you should wait to Detonate Crush, and sometimes you should Detonate ASAP in case of a leap or dash, but ultimately this will just come down to luck and some good guesswork.

Step 6: Sentinel
Once complete, go ahead and use Sentinel to escape to safety (if necessary).

Note
This build is susceptible to many of the same weaknesses as other assassins such as Purification Beads and Aegis Amulet, grouped teams, or high-CC/tanky team comps. In these situations, however, this build can still be effective when played in the back-line mage role, and can even be used against enemies who might dive you on the backline.

I strongly recommend that you practice this build and combo either in PvE or in Casual matches to get a feel for what kind of numbers it can dish out against specific gods and builds.
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You should always keep track of your cooldowns (both ability and item), and Mantle of Discord is no exception. This item can be handy if you're in a tight situation. In some cases (especially when abilities are on cooldown, and you are in a 1v1 fight) to stay close to your opponent and let them damage you (fighting with only basics) until they proc Mantle of Discord. Once the stun fires off, you can hopefully either retaliate or escape. Just be aware they can cleanse the stun with Purification Beads.

Again, this item is not perfect in every situation, but if you do happen to have it in your build, try and use it to your advantage. Sometimes you can even use its passive to avoid using Purification Beads (albeit this can be dangerous)

*Note: This video was one I posted long before I ever considered making this guide (I originally posted it so that I could show this play to a friend).

However, even though I never intended this video for a guide, I feel it can still serve as an excellent example of this build in practice. I recommend keeping an eye on the extra damage that Polynomicon can deal against the various gods in the team fight.

Specifically, these kills:

• First kill (Isis)
• Second kill (Bakasura)
• Fifth kill (Bakasura)

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*Note: This video is one I recorded long ago but figured it could serve as an excellent example as to how this build has other applications outside of being used offensively.

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*Note: This video shows just how much burst damage this build has. For starters, notice that despite me missing Sic 'Em against Nox, Polynomicon still dealt enough damage to allow me to get the kill (further proving that this item essentially acts a 3rd damaging ability for Scylla).

It is also worth noting that I built Warlock's Staff and had less power in this game than I was able to achieve in my 5.13 demo of the combo (meaning this will be all the more deadly).

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*Note: This video serves as another example of how this build can be used, even without Blink Rune.

This video also serves as an example of the importance of warding. If warding has value in a mode like Clash, then imagine how much more crucial it is for Conquest.

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*Note: This video shows three different examples of Polynomicon at work on Scylla, and also show that once you get someone with Sic 'Em they're almost as good as dead.

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Scylla 101: A Course for BeginnersGod Type and Class
Scylla is a god in the 'Mage' class meaning that she deals out Magical Damage. The only other class that deals with Magical Damage are Guardians. The difference in Mages and Guardians is that Mages are typically more 'squishy,' but dish out a lot more damage, whereas Guardians are typically more 'tanky' with less damage output. Scylla lives up to her Mage status. She is extremely squishy with a ridiculous amount of damage behind her (dare I say she is the definition of 'Glass Cannon'). Her abilities and basic attacks are all ranged, meaning she is capable of attacking from a relatively safe distance.

Scylla is very much a late-game god. What this means is that she will struggle to be of use during the early game as her damage output is next to nothing. If she falls behind, then she can potentially be useless for the rest of the match, but on the flip side, if Scylla gets ahead in a game, she can be an absolute nightmare for the enemy team. This fact is significant for new players to keep in mind as the last thing you want is to fall behind with her.

The next important classification of Scylla is that she is an 'Ability-Based' god, meaning most of her damage output will come from her Abilities. The other type is 'Attack-Based' or gods who get most of their damage output from basic attacks. Typically only Hunters are 'Attack-Based'; however, certain mages such as Sol or Chronos can be exceptions. All that to say don't expect to get many kills from her basic attacks. You should use her basic attacks when you can, but be sure you are continually using her Abilities.

Abilities (Basics)
All gods in Smite have 3 'basic' abilities and 1 Ultimate ability (except for 'Stance' gods, but since Scylla is not a 'Stance' god, I will not be discussing that here). Listed below are all 4 of Scylla's abilities, and a basic rundown of what they do and how to use them.

*Note: Please see the Scylla 201 section for a more in-depth look at these abilities and how they're affected by her passive.

Scylla's first ability is Sic 'Em. This ability is considered 'projectile' based, meaning that it takes time to travel its full distance. Because it's 'projectile' based, you should lead your target. If you're aiming at a god running to the right, you should aim it slightly ahead of your target to make sure it lands. This ability will deal damage to hit enemies and will also Root and Cripple them (meaning they are stuck in place and they will have to use a cleanse to escape early). It is also important to note that this ability will stop the moment it hits a target, which means that if you aim it at an enemy god, but a minion is in the way, the ability will land on the minion. Keep this in mind when using it and make sure you have a clear shot of your target. The next thing to note is that this ability does not travel through walls, so make sure not to accidentally clip the corner of a wall when aiming at a target. Otherwise, the ability could end up wasted.

Scylla's second ability is Crush and is typically her main source of damage, so much so that many consider Crush to be her 'second Ultimate.' Crush is a large 'Area of Effect' circle that has a short cast time to reach its location. After 5s, it will detonate and damage all enemies in its radius. The important thing to note about this ability for new players is that once Crush is on the field, you can activate the ability again to detonate it early (with no penalty to the damage dealt). It is also worth noting that this ability provides a slow to enemies so you can also use it zone away enemy gods and slow down any 'would be' pursuers.

Scylla's third ability is Sentinel and is her primary method of escape. When cast, this ability will place out her hound Zoey which will act as a temporary ward. After 5s, Zoey retreats, and the ability wears off. However, if you activate the ability again (while it is currently active), Scylla will dash to the location of her hound. It is important to note that even after dashing to Zoey, she will still stay active, providing ward vision. This ward is useful because it allows you to retreat without needing to turn around and see if an enemy is following you. Instead, check the mini-map as she will light up any gods that get near her. This ability also provides MP5, meaning that your mana will regenerate at a quicker rate. You will typically want to save this ability as an escape so that if things start going bad for you, you can dash to safety; however, you can still use this ability offensively to close the distance on a weakened enemy god. Just bear in mind the long cooldown on this ability, which could make you a sitting duck for a counter-attack.

Scylla's fourth ability is her ultimate I'm a Monster. When it comes to team fights, this ability is quite possibly the most dangerous and powerful one in all of Smite, and if left unchecked by the enemy could spell an easy Pentakill. See the next section, "I'm a Monster," for more information about this ability.

I'm a Monster
Here I will give an in-depth and base-level explanation of Scylla's Ultimate for those who may not quite understand all the jargon of the Abilities description.

The first thing to note about this ability is that it is an instant-cast (concerning activation) by default. Instant-cast means that it will go off the moment you push the button (where her other three abilities give you an indicator before actually using it). I note this so that you don't accidentally use the ability thinking you will get a targeter first and end up wasting it.

Once activated (as the description says), Scylla will 'reveal her true nature.' All of her hounds come out, and she grows quite large and gains movement speed (of course, meaning that she will move faster in this form). She becomes CC Immune, which means that there is no ability in the game that can stop her from moving and doing her thing. The only way to stop her is via walls, body-blocking, or right out killing her.

This form lasts for 6 seconds, and I should note that while that sounds short, in Smite time, that is quite long. When I first played her, I would always panic and think that I had to use her Ultimate attack ASAP. Because of this, I would immediately attack without accurately aiming the ability, which caused me to end up wasting it much of the time. Practice this ability in Jungle Practice and get familiar with just how long it lasts.

While in this form, you will notice a circular targeter (slightly smaller than Crush's radius) on the ground, which indicates where your Ultimate will land, meaning that you have 6s to move around and accurately aim the actual damaging attack. You will also see a 'Ring' around the targeter that slowly shrinks around it, which indicates how much time you have left on your Ultimate, so it is worth keeping an eye on it.

Once you have your targeter set on someone, click the 'Attack' button and unleash her power. Without going into exact details and numbers, let me just put it this way: This ability hurts. A lot. Most squishy gods can lose upwards of 80% of their health from a single strike of this ability. Once fired, the Ultimate ends, and you revert to your standard form. However, If you kill an enemy god with her Ultimate instead of it ending, the 6s timer will reset (it only resets back to 6s, the time does NOT stack), and you will be allowed to use the attack again. There is no limit to the number of times that this 'Reset' can happen.

With her ultimate, you could hit multiple enemy gods, and if even one of them dies, you get to use it again (and the survivors of the first strike are almost guaranteed to die after the second one). And with the timer resetting, you can chase down the enemy gods one by one, striking again after each kill.

It is worth noting that even if you kill two or more gods with a single hit, you still only get one additional use of the ability, so the resets will not stack on multi-kills.

Tips & Tricks
#1: Using Crush to clear lane
To maximize Crush on minion waves, throw out the ability ahead of the minions when possible, which will slow the minions in the front, allowing the back of the wave to get inside Crush's perimeter before the front minions leave it. If possible, use 1 or 2 basic attacks on the minions in the front to keep them inside Crush longer. Once the full wave is inside of Crush, detonate it. It is also worth noting that Crush can be detonated remotely from any distance, so don't feel like you need to stay close to it to activate it.

#2: You don't have to dash to Zoey immediately
After the first cast of Sentinel, you will notice a blue ring around you that slowly shrinks, which indicates how much longer you have on Sentinel. One use for the indicator is that you can wait until just before the ring wears off before you dash to her location.

While you may want to immediately dash to Zoey after casting it to get to safety or get over a wall, it is worth noting you don't have to do so instantly. If you're going over a barrier to get to a new location, wait for a split second and see if her ward picks up any enemies on the other side, which may help you from dashing into a less-than-favorable situation.

If an enemy god is chasing you and you know they have their own 'distance-closing' ability, you could try throwing Sentinel to the right while you run left. Wait out about 4s or so and see what the enemy god did. If they stopped following, then you're probably safe to just let Sentinel wear off. If they're still pursuing you, then activate Sentinel again, and you will dash a much farther distance than if you had used it immediately.

#3: You can cancel Scylla's Ultimate early
Typically this isn't something you want to do, but in some cases, it is the best decision to make; however, knowing when to cancel and when to strike is something you will learn through experience. The main reason I would ever cancel my ultimate is if I'm certain that I would die before getting another strike off. If that's the case, then there is no point in trying, and I should instead retreat. If there is already a good amount of distance between the enemy and me, then I will use the bonus movement speed from the Ultimate to escape. But if I feel I may not move fast enough to get to safety before I die, then I would cancel the ult and immediately Sentinel away. Again, this is something that will come through experience, but I want to note it here so that you know it is an option.

The video below serves as an example of a situation where you might want to consider canceling your ult early. I saw that my health was dangerously low and knew that if I were to strike again, I would likely die while performing the casting animation.

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Scylla 201: An In-Depth look at Quick Learner

Scylla's passive is Quick Learner and has quite a few different effects when compared to the passives of other gods. The first and most notable of effects is the free Magical Power that it gives you. For each ability at Max Rank (that is, you have put 5 points into it), you gain +25 Magical Power. Once you reach Level 20 and have upgraded all of your abilities, you get a total of +100 Magical Power for absolutely free. Additionally, once one of her abilities reaches Max Rank, that ability gains an additional effect making it even more powerful. Below I will go through just what this entails for each of her abilities.

Once Sic 'Em reaches max rank, it will root two additional enemies that are near the first target, meaning that it is possible for you to damage, root, and cripple three enemy gods at once. But it doesn't stop there. It also means that if you land this ability on a minion, but an enemy god is near that minion, then you could still potentially end up rooting the enemy god. Keep this in mind when using this ability as it is possible to capture a group of enemies.

Once Crush reaches max rank, it gains a two-fold effect. The first (but less important) effect is that any enemy god who takes damage from Crush will have a slow applied for an additional 1 second. The second effect (which is the real hitter) is that any enemy inside of Crush will have their Magical Protections reduced by an incredible 25% making enemies inside of Crush very very squishy.

Even Scylla's dash gets an upgrade at max rank. Once Sentinel reaches max rank, it gains a two-fold effect. Firstly, you can cast it farther (though nothing too extreme), and the warded vision that it provides will now see through walls and other line of sight blockers. While this is not a game-changer, it is still good none the less.

If everything listed above wasn't good enough, even her ultimate gets a boost at max rank. The additional effect is simple but terrifying. Once I'm a Monster hits max rank, the Movement Speed bonus she gets from it doubles to +70% at max rank, which makes it that much easier for her to chase down her prey while in her ult form.

AlyciaFear 07/21/2018 AlyciaFear 06/06/2019

If you're reading this section, then you're likely curious as to who I am and if I'm even qualified to put up this guide. Well, I will start by saying that Scylla is hands down my favorite god in Smite, and she is quite honestly the only reason I still play the game. According to the Forge for Smite API, I have a total in-game time of 1,166 hours and 42 minutes on Scylla. If you got a list of the top 10 people with the most playtime on Scylla, I would not be surprised if you found my name. I will go ahead and add now though that I am in no way claiming to be the best Scylla player or even extremely skilled with her, just that I have a lot of time on her (and as I'm sure most of you know, time does not equal skill). I will, however, post my stats for her to give you at least some data on my Scylla experience. But like everyone, I have my good days and my bad days, and I'm sure I still have plenty of room to improve. I will also note that these stats are cumulative and what appears on Smite for me as of 06/06/2019. These go back since I first started playing Smite, which means they also include the era where I was utterly terrible at this game as well as the Tank Scylla era (we don't talk about that). I don't claim to be the best Scylla in the world by any means. But I do have years of experience on her, so take that for what you will. I still have plenty of room for improvement, but I do hope you are at least able to learn at least one tip or trick from me and get some use out of this guide.

07/21/2018 - Assassin Scylla [5.13] guide published.

06/06/2019 - Assassin Scylla [5.13] guide overhaul and major update. Guide renamed to Alycia Fear's Guide to Scylla [6.6]

06/07/2019 - Added "Sieging with Poly" video to "Why Polyomicon and Mantle?" section.

12/31/2019 -
* Updated guide to better reflect my current Scylla builds.
* Removed Poly & Mantle sections and restructured Items list.
* Performed a full revision to correct a couple hundred grammar and spelling errors.