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I choose this start for Aphrodite because it mirrors the current meta as well as sets her up for doing what she does best: out sustaining her opponents. The beads are also a must in this meta, with early tanks being a huge threat to Aphrodite.
Sands of Time
Lost Artifact
Healing Potion
Mana Potion
Purification Beads
Horn Shard
I always go Charon's Coin on Aphrodite as opposed to Doom Orb because the % pen scales better into the late game, and the survivability throughout the game is better, plus you still get the MP5 and ADDITIONALLY HP5. From there, the Spear of Desolation gives you much needed CDR and flat penetration, same for Last Gasp. The final items are essential in almost all mage builds in this season, and Aphrodite benefits from them as well. (Tahuti still scales on her healing, BTW.) These actives are relatively average for the mid-lane, but I cannot stress enough their usefulness and ability to turn the fight in your favor if used properly.
Pendulum of Ages
Charon's Coin
Spear of Desolation
Last Gasp
Perfected Rod of Tahuti
Soul Reaver
Temporal Beads
Aegis of Judgement
I feel Aphrodite lacks reason to upgrade her ultimate if you are confident in your ability to time it properly, so for mid her leveling priority is 3-2-1-4; prioritizing damage above marginally better survivability.
Y
B
A
X
These are just a baseline for what she should be building throughout the game, as well as health/mana potions as needed. Please ward mid harpy paths, you'll thank me when you don't get dove. The potions are nice for late game to round out CDR and the elixir is just if the game makes it to that point.
Ward
Sentry Ward
Potion of Power
Elixir of Power
Lastly, you may very well have to build anti-heal in today's meta, so I would replace the Last Gasp with a Divine Ruin. If you absolutely must, Ethereal Staff is still a viable option for Aphrodite but honestly rounding out with a Soul Reaver is almost aways the better choice.
Divine Ruin
Ethereal Staff
Phantom Shell
Hello everyone, I have been playing Aphrodite for quite a few years now and am really excited to share these conquest builds with everyone now that she can officially be played as a viable support in conquest. Before her healing was removed from magical power scaling, it could be really difficult to effectively use her as a support god, but now that this is no longer a problem she has seen a lot of support gameplay as high as ranked SPL games. Anyhow, let's get into Aphrodite :).
Side-Note
I will not be including an ability overview for Aphrodite , but here are some recent, really useful links on how to play her and examples of her in both roles in conquest! :)
Abilities: (God Reveal)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fB_AuiHgGa8 - HiRez
*These have changed a bit, but the updated versions with the new stats can be found here:
https://smite.fandom.com/wiki/Aphrodite - notice it's not even SMITE's official page, they have yet to update it after the recent buffs/nerfs...
Mid:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgIYcd4KkpI&t=926s - Icon <3
Support:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbw76Ov7a_8&t=1s - Inbound <3
Aphrodite has always and will always thrive on items with Cooldown Reduction, MP5, and Power/Penetration. Since the rework of her kiss, however, she now thrives with the combination of Cooldown Reduction, Protections, CCR, and MP5 as well. This makes for very versatile builds for Aphrodite, and that can be seen by her now stronger than ever flex-pick status. Items like Chronos' Pendant used to be insanely popular on Aphrodite in past seasons, but I would recommend AGAINST using this item. Sure, the CDR is great and it can be a great way to maximize healing, but I think striving for items that weave CDR into either power/pen or protections/CCR/health is going to be better for Aphrodite in this meta. Basically, Chronos' Pendant is only useful in the Joust in my experience/opinion, and for longer conquest games it is worth going a more mage/tank specialization route than the utility mage style that was popular, though ineffective, in seasons 6 and 7. ALSO please never EVER build Rejuvenating Heart on Aphrodite, the passive is practically useless on here (and most gods in the game, tbh) and Rod Asclepius/Last Gasp are so much better for healing and damage respectively.
Other than that mini Chronos' Pendant rant, I would like to say that there are many items that work on Aphrodite past the ones I have listed in my builds, such as Winged Blade, Relic Dagger, and Breastplate of Regrowth (and even Warlock's Staff if you're going solo). I find these to be some other really good situational items on her as they can counter some of her worst bullies. I do believe that Aphrodite has a relatively narrow scope of what she can afford to build and still be effective, but in most casual scenarios it should be fine to play with the possibilities :).
Pros:
Aphrodite has always been my favorite smite god because throughout the seasons, she has always been a sustain force to be reckoned with. Through buffs and nerfs, I have played her for her almost unparalleled ability to keep herself and teammates alive MUCH longer than otherwise. She is one of the best sustain gods in the game, and can pump out some very decent damage with now ALL of her abilities. She is also insanely tanky when built as such and can do the same thing keeping an ally alive as she can in her damage builds but also frontline as well. Her role-versatility can be very fun to play with and very rewarding when matched with gods that work with her well. It is also worth noting that her late-game is terrifying, (as with most gods) but when she has low cooldowns and has stacked movement speed and has that Ultimate up every 45 seconds she is nigh un-killable, as is her soul mate. Her support is arguably stronger than her mid currently, and this is just due to the fact that she is able to have more survivability in the support role while doing more healing at the expense of much less damage...
Cons:
Aphrodite's main drawback is that she can be shut down in her mid tole if the enemy team decides to make her the focus of their offense. This can somewhat be countered by building wards (I CANNOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH ON HER IN MID) or the occasional defense item in the mid role, but if the enemy builds early anti-heal, she will have a hard time progressing to the later stages of the game. She also has no escape ability save for her Ultimate, and this can be baited out if you are not careful and watching enemy movement. It is worth noting that Aphrodite's early game is low-key dreadful and it is important to keep farming effectively and being careful until about level 10, when she really starts to come into her own in a conquest game. This defensive play style early can be boring for some players, but I recommend waiting it out and reaping the rewards into the late game by combining your skills with teammates and dominating a game.
Aphrodite is very good (again) at self/team sustaining, and surprisingly strong in lane. Her clear is excellent and she has a decent laning phase once she hits about level 6. I would say for player skills, try to make sure you are hitting her 1-3-2 ability combo consistently, and for her 4 (Ultimate), practice using it at the minimum .8 second invulnerability duration to get the most out of leveling your other abilities first. This small change will make a huge difference in Aphrodite's long-term survivability and her damage output through the mid-game. Other than that, make sure to watch the map, don't EVER go down a lane too far when alone, and try to always be looking to link with a teammate once you hit mid-game. Being paired with someone arguably doubles your survivability and kill potential on Aphrodite, so always be looking to make the most of here unique team-linking mechanic.
SIDE-NOTE:
Please do NOT play Aphrodite in Solo Lane. She gets bullied by basically everyone and will almost always lose lane (seriously 90% of solo matchups end horribly for her). I have chosen to not even include a build as she is literally not useful here, and is able to make much better use of her team-utility in the Support/Mid roles. You've been warned...:/
Overall, since the patch 10.3, Aphrodite has proven herself as a versatile powerhouse, and even since the minor nerfs she faced in 10.4 she will likely continue to excel in both the Mid and Support roles for seasons to come (unless Hi-Rez wants to deliver on their threat to continue nerfing her, in which case she will go back into hibernation LOL). Aphrodite is a polarizing character in this game, with fanbases either loving or hating her. I am happy to say that I love playing Aphrodite, and she matches my play style perfectly and I recommend every player, new or veteran, give her a try and see how she feels on your keyboard. :)
PLEASE feel free to comment on this post, with questions, constructive feedback, or discussions you would like to have about Aphrodite. I love hearing what people have to say about my favorite god. Good luck everyone I hope you found this *In-Depth* Guide helpful! :)
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As for Doom Orb, I am aware that this is generally the go to 1st tier 3 item built on mids in 10.4, but feel that on Aphro it is better to play the long game and stack Charon's Coin instead.
Weird cause Magus, Doom Orb, Rod, are all stronger than Coin right now, and no one in high level play is really going Coin over any of those 3 items. The extra 8% pen is not really worth it.
I think Charon's Coin scales better into the late game with sustained extra movement speed
It only has 2% more than unstacked Doom Orb when evolved, and basically the same as a stacked doom orb (coin 8% vs orb's 9%).
Also, the higher % penetration of Charon's is valuable throughout the game, especially given it should be as close to maxed out as possible since the nerf to % pen.
And said changes did not change Doom Orb, Magus, Rod, even Myrddin being superior items. The only 16% magical pen item that's remotely decent right now is Typhon's, in sac shroud builds or maybe like a Kukulkan Book of Thoth build (no one else should consider Thoth post nerfs).
Oh and one last thing is you're overrating Coin stacks. There is no realy reason to rush this item 1st. Deso, Rod, or Doom Orb are all better early options.