Apollo - Running away to victory

Hey guys,
here is my guide for Apollo, the god of music and one of the most fun gods to play for me.
Its a little basic at the moment, but I´ll add more things over time.
I will focus a little more on his ability-side, cause I feel that a lot of players do not play Apollo the way he should/could be played.
Also its my first guide, so please...be gentle! xD
Have fun reading it, hopefully it will help some of you.....

Pro

+ 3 abilities can be used to escape, making him a very difficult god to catch
+ High damage output if played right
+ High penetration
+ Okay wave-clearer
+ Scales okay
+ Fun to play

Cons

- Squishy (obviously)
- Ultimate is difficult to aim
- Not great in teamfights

Passive


Audacity

After 10 successful basic attacks, Apollo gains Audacity, attacking with both hands and increasing his attack speed by 100% for the next 5 attacks (hit or miss) he makes.

Explanation: A huge pump for your auto attack! Stack it up a quickly as possible and than use it wisely While on Audacity Appolo can do massive amounts of damage in a short period of time! Be careful to aim! Never just shoot at random while on Audacity...its a waste!

---

Active


So Beautiful
Apollo strums a single cord on his Lyre. It's so beautiful it hurts, and all enemies in a long range line take damage.
Ability: Line Affects: Enemy Damage: Physical Damage: 80/135/190/245/300 (+80% of your physical power) Cost: 60/65/70/75/80 Cooldown: 15/14/13/12/11s

Explanation: So beautiful is Apollos main damage ability. It goes in a straight line, hitting through all enemies in front of him. The ability can be used to clear minions quickly. Its also his only ability that cannot be used to run away.

Order: I recommend getting it early to get a little push and some damage-capacity. I take it at level 2 and max it second.

---

Serenade
Apollo uses his amazing voice to mesmerize all nearby enemies. Any damage done breaks the effect.
Ability: Area Affects: Enemies Radius: 20 Mesmerize: .7/1.1/1.5/1.9/2.3s Cost: 75 Cooldown: 17/16/15/14/13s

Explanation: This ability is great and its way underused in games. Here are the does and donts when using this:
DONT: Just cast it in a teamfight. The mesmerizing will be broken by any damage taken
DO: Single out enemies. Use it in teamfight against enemy damage dealers. Also try to interrupt enemy attacks with it, e.g. Herkules Rock throw. Use it also to cover escaping allies!
DONT: Cast it and immediately start atacking
DO: Cast it, position youself right, cutting off the enemiy escape and kill him
DONT: Use it while running away.
DO: Turn around, use it to make sure your enemy is hit and THAN run away! You will suprise your enemy and since its AOE he will be unable to dodge it. See also: Combos
So beautiful is basically a stop button. Use it when **** is getting serious and youre up against multiple enemies in close quarter. Its a livesaver!

Order: Since Serenade is an escape move as well and offers some offensive potential I recommend getting it first. I get Serenade 3 and max it 3 (yes, before my Ulti)

---

The Moves
Apollo runs forward and slides on his knees, dealing damage, knocking aside all enemies and adding a stack of Audacity for each enemy hit. At the end of the slide, the movement speed is decreased for enemies and increased for himself and allies.
Ability: Line Affects: Enemy Damage: Physical Damage: 50/85/120/155/190 (+50% of your physical power) Movement Speed Buff/Debuff: 5/10/15/20/25% Buff Duration: 2s Cost: 70 Cooldown: 15s

Explanation: Its a pretty standart dash, with a nice little feature on the end. Be aware that using it offensively will get you toe to toe with your enemies, normally not a good position for you. Just use it when the fight is almost over to catch up to fleeing enemies.
Defensively its like any other dash.
It can also be used to clear waves, though I recommend using So Beautiful, since The Moves offers defensive options as well.

Order: Take it first and max it first

---

Across The Sky
Apollo rides his chariot across the sky, choosing when to land, dealing damage every .2s for .8s and knocking back enemies when he lands.
Ability: Ground Target Affects: Enemy Damage: Physical Radius: 20 Damage per Tick: 70/95/120/145/170 (+30% of your physical power) Cost: 10 + 50 per second Cooldown: 110/105/100/95/90s

Explanation: Like most of Apollos moves ATS can be used offensively or defensiveley (or just for movement)

- Offensively: Very usefull to hunt down fleeing enemies, since you can follow them over the whole map. Just be sure that you have an escape posibility open! If you see that its not working out, just turn around and fly away.
-Defensively: Since the animation for calling the charriot is pretty long (and you will take damage during it), be sure to use it when you forsee that things are getting out of hand. Its a very usefull tools for ganks, if youre quick enough.
-Mobility: Its a great way to get from one end to the map to the other. Costs not too much mana and is a nice little suprise to crash down on enemies.

BEWARE: Enemies can see you when you fly around and you will lose constant mana! Dont take too long. Get where you need to be and get down!

The build I offered at the beginning is just a very short standartbuild I often start with.
Here are some explanations and some nice ideas to mix it up:




Heartseeker

Maybe the only god I regularly use heartseeker with is Apollo. He is the only god that has the escape-possibilities to survive the massive aggro you draw by buying this item. He can also kill minions effecively enough to gather stacks quickly.
Of course its a gamble, but if you take it it can carry you to victory.





Bow/Rage/Deathbringer

All three items are giving Apollo the punch he needs. Alltogether they maximize his crit chance and doing tons of damage, even to heavy enemies.




Jotunn's Wrath

I have seen some enemy Apollos using it quite nicely. It gets him a nice physical boost, but I dont think the CD-reduction really contributes that much to Apollos Build



Transcendence

Apollo can be pretty mana-hungry. If you feel like Potions arent gonna cut it you might think about buying one of those.

Apollo can play reasonably well agaainst most gods, but here are some he doesnt like:

Odin:
Yeah, Odins Ulti cancels out The Moves and Serenade. If you play against him keep your distance, watch out for his jump. If you get caught, immidiately call your taxi (Across the sky) or dash around and hope he wont catch you.

Ares
Pretty much the same. If you get pulled youre ****ed. On the other hand the rest of his abilities can be easily avoided (dash out of chains and so on). Just buy Aegis or beads.

Combos

Basic offensive combo against single enemies:
The moves -> Serenade -> So beautiful
Cover the distance with The moves, Mesmerize him and position yourself to cut off his escape and kill him

Basic get-the-****-away combo
Serenade -> The moves
With this combo you can get away from 90% of all fight. Just be sure to hit your enemies with Serenade.

Basic Teamfight combo
Across the sky -> So beautiful

Just some very short hints. Most of you should know this, but here we go:

Laning phase:

Apollo is not great in mid. Play him togeteher with another god on the sides.
Push, Gank and clear as usual!
Watch your minimap. Dont dive towers if youre not 100% sure to get a kill.
Steal buffs if possible.

Teamfights:

Stay out (mostly). Help out fleeing allies with serenade!
Auto and So beautifull from the outside. Watch your positioning!
Hunt down fleeing enemies with ATS and the moves.

Endgame:

You know the drill!

I will not take too long here, cause most of you know the game already. Some tipps:

- Dont jungle..if you have to, at least dont jungle early or mid
- Beware of CC...a stunned Apollo is a dead Apollo! Get the Beads and watch for enemies who can stun you!
- If you want a buff take blue or red
- Keep at least one escape ability off cooldown
- If you die as much as with other gods you play, chances are youre playing him wrong
- Dont forget you can use Across the sky to quickly cover the distance, get to FG or GH, gank run just get to your lane quicker.
- Apollo can eat a lot of mana! If youre short, get more potions or even consider Meditation
- You rarely need Healing potions, dont bother!


Have fun playing and good hunt!