Arena Aphrodite: Tanky Support

Hi everyone, I'm JeepCrew, and this is my Arena Aphrodite guide. While I'm still relatively new (lvl 24, lvl 10 Aphrodite mastery), I focus almost all of my time to arenas with her and would love any and all feedback and input. Aphrodite is a fantastic god, and she is by far the most fun in my opinion because she helps your team sustain longer, escape possible deaths, and assist in securing kills when played correctly. It's a great feeling when you see a Scylla maneuvering for I'm a Monster on a teammate and are able to hit your escaping ally with Kiss and a quick Undying Love so they can get away and deny that evil Scylla a kill.

I put a fair amount of effort into this guide and again would love any and all feedback. Please give the strategy and build a couple tries before downvoting and let me know what you would change. Above all, thank you for taking the time to read this guide and best of luck.

This build/setup is designed to make Aphrodite very tough to bring down. Your purpose on your team is to help your team sustain, get kills, escape death, and harass enemies. This build will not (most likely) get you 10 kills. What it will do is help your teammates get those kills, survive longer in fights, draw fire away from weaker teammates, and help push your team to victory. Again, this is not a magic-heavy build so don't look for huge numbers scrolling when you hit an enemy with Love Birds. You have been warned. Thanks! :)

Pros + Great single-target healing ability + Quick cooldowns after max CDR + Can clear lane minions easily + Excellent support and ability to help teammates sustain longer + Good at helping to secure kills for teammates

Cons - Squishy and mana-hungry at the start - Long cooldowns before completing first 2 items - Passive is semi-useless - Love Birds can be hard to hit the intended target with - Tend to be targeted down early until you can build your defenses to survive

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Loving Embrace Passive: Loving Embrace: Gaining Aphrodite's favor is a blessing in that 30% of all mana gained by Aphrodite is granted to her soul mate.

With having your whole team usually around and supporting all of them, as well as the many returns to base in arena combat, this passive is not very useful. You will be constantly switching who your Kiss is attached to so the 30% of your mana gain they receive won't be much.

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Kiss: Aphrodite blows a kiss to an allied god, making them her soul mate and giving them both 4/8/12/16/20% increased movement speed. If it hits an ally, it has no cooldown. If the kiss hits an enemy god, they are stunned for 1s and Aphrodite's soul mate gets jealous, increasing their damage by 4/8/12/16/20% for 8s.

This is your bread and butter spell. Both you and your target get increased movement speed and your heal from Love Birds, shield from Undying Love, and slow with Back Off! affect your linked ally. Use this to help an ally escape when they are being chased, give your tank some extra closing speed, or give your squishier allies some extra speed to keep their distance. If you can, try to be linked to someone at all times. Offensively you can use Kiss to stun escaping enemies so your teammates can try and finish them off, interrupt casts, or stun enemies chasing your teammates. When you stun an enemy your linked ally gets a damage buff. I personally don't typically focus on this aspect as I like being able to toss Kiss around often to spread heals or help others depending on the situation, but it's certainly a nice buff to help finish off an enemy or bring one down quicker.


The cooldown of this ability is dependent upon IF you hit someone and if so, who it was. It will NOT activate it's cooldown if you hit an ally god with it. It WILL activate it's cooldown if you miss hitting anyone OR hit an enemy god. This means you should try at all times to hit an ally BEFORE hitting an enemy. This way you will stay linked to your ally as well as get the stun on the enemy. Should you miss your target or hit the enemy without being linked, you now are running around without your speed boost as well as not being able to heal an ally.

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Back Off!: Agitated by all the attention, Aphrodite commands enemies to get away from her, doing damage around her and knocking them back.

Back Off! looks like it's a mostly defensive ability but that could not be further from the truth. The knockback is not a large distance but it can be useful to escape. Late game, after you have become relatively hard to bring down, use this to protect teammates. Hit your ally with Kiss (remember the increased movement speed?), jump in between them and their pursuer and hit Back Off! to give them some breathing room and take a couple hits if you have enough HP. I can't count how many times I have helped a teammate escape and have had the enemy pursue too long and themselves get killed.

Remember how I said this sounds like a mostly defensive ability but in reality it isn't? There are 2 main ways to use this for offense. The first is knocking an enemy into tower range when they are trying to finish off an ally. If they over-pursue and either get near tower range or even dive in, position yourself with them between you and the tower and use Back Off! to knock them into or further into tower range. It's a nice little surprise extra damage and possible kill.

The main way this can be used for offense is sneaky. What the tooltip doesn't tell you is that if you are linked to an ally with Kiss a smaller AoE bursts from them at the same time and instead of knocking back, it damages and slows nearby enemies. An AoE slow emanating from a teammate in the middle of a group of enemies? Love it! Use this often. While the damage isn't too much until you build Rod of Tahuti it could be that extra bit between the enemy surviving or your ally getting that kill. Both the slow from your ally and the knockback from you can be used to get the killing blow and is more reliable of a hit than Love Birds

• Push enemies into tower range.
• Get between your ally and a pursuing enemy and push them back / body block.
• Use the slow created at your linked ally as much as your mana will allow. This will help you get more assists which means more money for items quicker.
• Get ahead of a fleeing enemy and knock them back towards your pursuing teammates.

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Love Birds: Aphrodite calls forth a flock of beautiful doves that fly forward in the area in front of her. The doves circle around all enemies in the path, damaging enemies every .5s for 3s. Aphrodite and her soul mate are healed for the same amount.

This is most-likely the reason you play Aphrodite. Whenever you cast Love Birds you heal both yourself and the ally you are linked to. The range is pretty good offensively but the nature of the spell makes it relatively hard to accurately hit targets the further away they are. The doves travel down the telegraph like Ra's Celestial Beam though it's harder to tell exactly where the doves are as they travel. Don't expect to hit enemies at distance every time. The easy part is clearing the lanes of minions since they line up nice and easy for you. At first this can be mana-heavy so try to get the blue buff if you can and use it relatively sparingly at first depending on the situation. It has a long cooldown until you build your first two items but late game, this is a great harasser as well as healing.

• Use it to clear groups of minions or damage siege minions.
• It's a heal over time ability so use it proactively. It takes 3 seconds for the full amount of hp to be healed, so don't expect a burst to save an ally. Use it when combat is initiated to get the CD going to use it again in the same fight.
• Especially useful when an ally god like Ares or Hades uses their ultimate to bring groups of enemies together. Time your cast right and get that guarantee hit on several enemies.

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Undying Love: Aphrodite pledges undying love to herself and her Soul Mate. While this is active, her and her Soul Mate are invulnerable to all damage for a short duration. All crowd control effects are also removed when activated.

The game-changer. Not much upsets enemies more than using their ultimate to secure a kill only to have their target get wrapped in a pretty pink shield right before it hits. Each time you activate Undying Love both you and your linked ally are shielded. This is especially useful for incoming group AoE damage or CC.

• Can be used to break Ares's ultimate before being pulled in and get out of Hades's ultimate as well in addition to Fenrir's. Don't use this as a sole replacement for Greater Purification as you may need to use beads to break a cc as well as shield someone else, or yourself, shortly after.
• Don't be afraid to use it often. After reaching max CD you can use this every 42 seconds which goes by faster than you think. Don't throw it around simply because it is off CD but if it's ready and you see an opportunity to mitigate a lot of damage or save someone, use it.

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Start with Magic Shoes and one or two Mana Potions if you would like. When I started I would buy 2 Mana Potions but have since decided against it. I tend to go back to base more often than not to upgrade items or regain mana and not buying them means I'm 100 gold closer to finishing the boots/first parts of the breastplate. If there's a god with a troublesome ability like Ares's ultimate or Hades's ultimate get Purification Beads for that one or two ultimate uses before being able to complete both CDR items and upgrade to Greater Purification.

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Not much to say here. Due to the fast-paced nature of arena combat you want to get to max CD as soon as you can. The movement speed will help keep you out of range or aid in escaping early in the game. Many players seem to buy either starting items or start building their damage items at the start to try and get an early kill. This item will help keep you safe as well as working towards that CDR cap.



The physical resistance is large and the CDR is awesome. It would be nice to have the same item but with magic resistance instead in the off-chance that the enemy team is magic-heavy but that doesn't tend to happen too often. After completing Shoes of Focus and Breastplate of Valor you've hit CDR cap and the game is afoot.

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At this point the game has usually started in earnest. Depending on whether you are tied or ahead of the enemy team or if your team is behind the exactly order could change. For the sake of this guide I will assume things are going well and the game is close or your team is ahead. Rod of Asclepius seems like it was made specifically for Aphrodite. A large amount of magic power (which we aren't building a ton of), 200hp (more survivability), 10% more movement speed (escape!) and 15% boost to healing are all perfect for Aphrodite. Below is the amount healed at level 10 with and without Rod of Asclepius and only Shoes of Focus and Breastplate of Valor. In-game amount might vary depending on buffs from teammates or debuffs from enemies:

Level 10 without Rod of Asclepius: Level 10 with Rod of Asclepius:

45-46 per tick; total: 273 65-66 per tick; total: 393

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This is just a great all-around item. Balanced physical and magic defense and a balanced increase to your health and mana pools help your sustain and ability to survive. Add the item's special ability, +2 to each protection per kill or assist (max 10 stacks; 20 total), and you just got quite a bit harder to take down.



Up until this point, you have basically been throwing out your attacks to either harass or slow enemies seeing as you have not had much magic power. Also your defenses have been quite a bit heavy on the physical side. Void Stone helps fix those problems. Now you have a more balanced protection build (183 physical and 125 magic at lvl 20) and a nice boost to your magic power. At this point, you're pretty hard to take down solo using Love Birds, Back Off!, and Kiss to help yourself escape to base or the safety of allies.

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Usually I'm not able to completely finish building this item before the end of the game. Most of the time the game is basically over by the time I finish building Restored Artifact. This helps give a late-game boost to mp5 and help you stay out longer. A decent alternative, if it's looking like you won't be able to finish the item, is to get a Potion of Magical Might to boost your magic abilities at the end of the game. Many times one or both teams have very few tickets left and the time to go back to base to get the rod for the last few tickets might be too much time to be away from your teammates. If you manage to kill enough minions, assist in enough kills, and get enough kills yourself to be able to purchase it, then **** gets real. Below is a comparison of the amount healed without a last item, the amount healed with Restored Artifact, and the amount healed with Rod of Tahuti:

Level 20 without items: Level 20 with Restored Artifact: Level 20 with Rod of Tahuti:

72-73 per tick; total: 435 81 per tick; total: 486 106 per tick; total: 636 (!!!)

Early game there isn't a lot for you to do. Kiss your tank or ADC but hang back and let them do their thing. Early on you are squishy and your heals have a long cooldown period so realistically you would only get 1 heal off during a fight unless it was really extended. If you see them charge in or get aggressive, follow them and heal when you can but be sure to stay far from the fray. Your Love Birds are better suited for helping push back minions than trying to fight so if possible, snap look to hit minions with it but be sure to try and stay in range of your linked ally.

Aphrodite is mana hungry especially early so if possible, try to get the blue buff at the start. With that, you can pretty much spam your heal (still long cd) without losing much mana if any. By the time Love Birds is off cooldown you've gained back all the mana it cost. Remember: your job here is to help others get kills/survive, not to be a brawler or get top kills.

Once you have completed both Shoes of Focus and Breastplate of Valor then you can really start being the support your team wants. Hitting CDR cap brings Love Birds to a 7.2 second cooldown. Again, your role is to assist, so be sure to be linked to someone at all times if possible, start using Back Off! to help damage and slow enemies your linked ally is fighting, and spam Love Birds. You're still a little low on mana pool as the game continues until Hide of the Urchin helps with that so be mindful of your mana. If your team has pushed the enemies to their base or you feel like they will be attacking soon, be sure to use the VBS system to let them know you are low on mana (VVM) and if you're going to be going back to regain health/mana (VVB).

At this point you are still relatively squishy but you can use all your abilities to help escape trouble if need be. Positioning is very important. While your teammates tend to get tunnel vision when they are in battle, you need to have your head on a swivel. Look for incoming enemies that are trying to sneak in from the sides or behind. Watch for abilities telegraph what is coming such as Ao Kuang's ultimate or Scylla's I'm a Monster and try to negate those on an ally with a quick Kiss and Undying Love. At all times, try to stay out of the middle of a team fight. Use Love Birds to heal your allies and harass the enemy.

Once you have finished all but the Rod of Tahuti you will be pretty hard to take down. At this point, if you aren't being focused, you can start getting into the fray a bit and possibly even help initiate. Most players tend to think you will be going magic damage and try to solo you down. That would be a big mistake on their part. While they may have a hard time bringing you down, you will have at least an equally hard time doing it to them. Try to run towards teammates to have them help you out. Don't unneccesarily put yourself into bad situations but don't think you're still a fragile flower in battle. Use Back Off! to knock enemies back towards teammates, Kiss to stun enemies (as long as you're already linked to an ally!), and body block if you feel comfortable enough.

I've mentioned it before but I'll mention it again: if at all possible do NOT use Kiss on an enemy before using it on an ally. Hitting an ally with it does not trigger it's cooldown so you can you it on them, then instantly hit your enemy target.

Kiss is a relatively inexpensive spell to cast so starting mid-game do not be afraid to spread it around as need be. Early on you want to minimize that if possible to save mana for Love Birds but come mid-game that's less of a problem. Use it to aid an escaping ally by giving them a speed boost. Switch your link to a damaged ally, heal, then switch back so your first target still gets the speed and such but you helped top off an ally that can now go into a fight with a bit more health.

Kiss can also be used to help allies escape from CCs. If Fenrir grabs an ally and they are in range, you can Kiss your ally while they are in Fenrir's mouth, hit Undying Love and bubble them out of it. Same goes with Ares's and Hades's ults.

Back Off! is your friend. When I first started I almost exclusively used it to knock people back from me defensively. While this is still a great use of it, be sure to use it as much if not more for offense. Knock enemies into your tower range, get them between you and pursuing teammates and knock them back into your teammates. When your linked ally charges into the other team, hit Back Off! and damage the surrounding enemies and slow them to help your teammates out. One important note: If the telegraph of your knockback and the telegraph of the slow from your ally overlap on an enemy, your knockback takes priority and they do not take damage from both abilities. This can sometimes screw your whole plan up by knocking back an enemy away from your ally. Be aware of your positioning and back off from the enemy if need be and you think the slow would be more beneficial (it usually is).

Once your defenses are built up do not be afraid to body block or take some hits to save teammates. If an ally is trying to escape, hit them with Kiss, heal, get between them and their attacker and hit Back Off!, and if possible try to use your body to slow down the pursuer. Take a stun from Scylla or basic attacks from Cupid or Artemis (keep an eye on her damage as it can sometimes be too much to do this without the risk of your own death). The damage they will do to you will not be a lot usually (stun can be bad if other enemies are around) and you just saved your team 5 tickets as well as denying their team some gold.

Use Love Birds to clear minions when you can. Not only will this help offset your gold income, but many people ignore minions when they see an enemy nearby. They're a big part of this game mode. Do NOT ignore them. Each minion that enters your gate takes 1 ticket away from your team and a siege minion takes 15! Many times your allies are not in immediate danger but not at full health. Don't be afraid to Kiss them and use Love Birds on minions, or nothing at all, instead of waiting for a fight to start and trying to hit an enemy. It's better to do no damage with Love Birds and have an ally start a fight with more health than to wait and be behind in the fight from the start.

Your job is to help your teammates get kills. Even if your team is behind do not think that it's your job to carry. Be patient, use your skills wisely, and try not to kill-steal. Later on it can sometimes be hard to do that. Try using Back Off! to slow the fleeing enemy but before you think it would kill them. You want the damage and the slow but for your ally to get the kill. Don't think about magic penetration. You're not meant to do lots of damage but instead help teammates do more, last longer, and secure kills.

Aphrodite is one of the most fun, and sometimes I think least-understood, gods out there. You literally hold the lives of your allies in your hands and can be the the only difference between life and death. While stressful it is extremely rewarding to turn the tides of a fight by healing your allies, slowing and damaging enemies, denying ultimates or kills with undying embrace, and keeping enemies from getting their kills. While most of your teammates focus on killing one or two people at a time, you have to survey the battlefield, decide where you would be best utilized, and help out wherever needed. It's hectic keeping an eye on all 4 of your teammates, while trying to make sure you're not over-extended and about to be flanked, and being close enough to the fight to help, but not so close that suddenly you are surrounded and getting focused down.

I hope you have enjoyed reading and learned something from this wall of text guide and that you give Aphrodite a chance to become a god in your regular rotation. As mentioned before, please feel free to comment/rate and if you see any incorrect information or ways of making something more clear, please feel free to let me know. My in-game name is JeepCrew as well so contact me in-game if you would like or have any questions.

Thanks again and good luck in arenas!

Credits to:

Big thanks to Jhoijhoi for his/her formatting and guide-making guide as well as templates: Jhoijhoi's Guide

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