Ares- PULL THEM F***ERS IN!!

Hello future (and current) Ares players! This guide is meant to help new players understand the role Ares plays in his team as well as how to take advantage of his abilities and ultimately how to counter him as well. This guide will provide explanaitions for everything I talk about, so if it seems like alot to read...just look at the builds up top and go ham :)


Edit: I will be adding Videos and such soon....let me know in the comment section if I am missing anything or if there is anything specific you guys want me to post on. Thank you :)

The items i use are listed above!! This section explains why I pick them and alternatives for the above items!

I always start with Stone of Gaia. It gives me a decent amount of Magic Protection and HP5 and MP5 to start off which pretty much allows me to stay in lane as long as I need to. i usually grab a rank of meditation and a health pot as well to start off the game, which also aids in lane stay. I don't start with the Mark of the vanguard because frankly, Ares does not need it; his Bolster Defenses is all the tankiness you need early on.

I pick up Boots of Celerity because the extra speed allows Ares to roam around and gank more effectively and the cooldown reduction is a nice added bonus since his ability No Escape already has a pretty short cooldown anyway.

Wether the team is Physical damage heavy or not, it is always imperative to pick up the Void Stone because it adds to Ares passive giving him an additional 30 magic power plus the 50 magic power you get from the items itself. It also reduces your enemies magic protection which makes this item AMAZING!!! on Ares.

Sovereignty is a cute item because it give you some much needed health, an extra aura for your passive, and provides your team with physical and magical protection.

When against a heavy magic damage team I usually pick up the Bukwark of Hope next. I can't tell you how many times this item has saved me in clutch situations, plus since you are an initiator and your job is to be in the heat of battle, chances are alot of enemy cooldowns are going to be spent on you, so that one second of 50% reduced damage can mean the difference between pulling their entire team into a Hades+Poseidon wombo combo, or being that bastard floating in the air with some chains getting one shotted by a fed Ra.

Sometimes you will run into a team that has a bunch of assassins like Ne Zha, Fenrir and Loki; when this happens I usually forgo the Bulwark of hope in favor of the Witch Stone. Not the best item you can get on Ares, but since you will be in the thick of battle, all of the assassins will be nerfed a bit by the aura and it will give you some much needed physical protection that combined with Bolster defenses will make you almost impervious to their damage.

The Mystical Mark is just icing on the cake for Ares. This adds a third aura to Ares passive in addition to doing passive dps in an AOE around ares. Since Ares is great at keeping enemies close to him, comboing this with searing flesh can really leave a mark on opposing enemy Gods.

Other items I would consider picking up are:
The Winged wand: Nice for ganking, makes it even harder for enemies to keep you away from them.

Gem of isolation: Gives your Searing Flesh a slow which is hilarious when comboed with Creeping Curse.

The cool part about this build is that it works well in all game modes (so far) and that they work so well with Ares' abilities and his passive.

This section will explain my skill pick order on Ares =D

I always start off with Shackles because Ares is basically as useful as a rudder on a ducks *** early on so he might as well help his lane mate harass a bit. I do NOT max out Shackles early on because while it can potentially do more damage than Searing Flesh it is not as dependable early on.

I grab Searing Flesh at level 2 and start maxing it out as soon as possible. If you can grab a dude with a couple chains and go ham on him with Searing Flesh, you can consider him...."well done"....sorry, had to(hate inc). This ability also combos very well with your ultimate as after you pull in your prey they are stunned for a short time allowing you to begin going ham on them before they even react.

Along with Searing Flesh I max out Bolster Defense, because as much as I like whomping on enemy Gods, you got to remember, Ares is a tank and tanks gotta be....tanky...Plus Bolster Defense also effects minions(as well as ally gods) which makes lane pushing a bit easier and also adds pressure on the enemy side as the minions become slightly harder to last hit.

Every time you can level up No escape...do it...This is the main reason why someone on your team will leave right as he sees an Ares was randomed in Assault on the opposite team. This ability is SUPER strong. It combos very well with alot of high damage Aoe's in Smite and is a huge game changer. I usually grab Blink early on to help me get close enough to grab the entire enemy team. Only problem is, it is also one of the easiest ultimate abilites to counter in the game. :*(

Pros
Innate tankiness with bolster defenses
Super hard to get away from
Does great damage for a tank
Game changing ultimate
God of war....nuff said
Cons
****py early laning phase
movement speed is very meh before boots
Ulti can be countered hard with Aegis Amulet and Purification beads
Gotta be good at initiating team fights to do well with him
No escape mechanisms...Not that he needs one
If you lose a game...he will want to kill you

Ares is not unlike most initiators, he's got a way of getting himself to the enemy(in the form of blink/No escape) and he's got a way of beefing himself up before he goes in (Bolster defenses). In addition to that, he can pull off some serious damage on his own with Searing Flesh making him a very intimidating God to have to face. The following is a general guide for Conquest..although some aspects of this guide can be applied in other game modes.

Early on it is not advisable to go balls deep after the enemy, although sometimes...it actually works. Because in truth, Ares is unfortunately at a disadvantage early on, which is why I start with the Stone of Gaia; it helps you stay in lane indefinetly to farm as much as you like. I usually lane with a physical damage carry like Neith or Artemis, because i can Shackle an enemy, reducing their movement speed, making it very easy for my lane partner to land auto attacks and spells on the enemy. So, early on...stay in your lane(obviously unless a team mate decides to take it outside and some skirmishes start up in the jungle)and help your carry get farmed.

Mid game, once you got some items and you feel your testosterone level slowly begin to rise, you can start roaming and ganking lanes. It should be very easy...literally all you have to do is blink into a lane, ulti, and go ape sh*t on the God's you pull in. After you successfully gank a lane you should definetely push it. Buff up the minions and go straight for that tower.

Late game, this is where you shine baby! This is where your Ao Kuang has like 800 magic power...this is where your Freya is two shotting everyone...this is where we fight!! This is where they DIE!.....anyway..... At this point in time you should be tanky as hell and you should be dealing a significant amount of aoe damage. Now is when you gotta keep tabs on which enemies have ways of getting out of your chains and the cooldowns of those items/abilities. Whatch out for Purification Beads and the Aegis Amulet especially!! See if you can get them to blow their cooldowns before you really start the fight. Thankfully, at this point your No Escape has a very short cooldown in comparisson to those actives, so as long as you are aware of when they blow them...you should be good.

Now it merits mentioning that you can be the greatest Ares in the world and your team can still be a bit underskilled....but that dosnt matter because you are Ares and you can solo the enemy team anyway :D...no but seriously...sometimes you will run into toxic players that don't want to work together and you may not be able to pull off epic plays very often in a single game...thats fine...block them and move on. Ares is best suited for a well coordinated team that communicates everything from mias to enemy cooldowns, but it is very possible to do well and even win with players such as those...It's all on you to do the best you can to win the game...so get pumped and PULL THEM F***ERS IN!!

It's no secret that Ares is a very strong champion feared by many new players. What does tend to be a secret is how to counter Ares hard to avoid getting man handled in a team fight.

First off, there are two actives that work very well in countering Ares Ultimate skill.

Purification Beads and Aegis Amulet

Purification Beads removes CC's and makes you immune to them for 3 seconds so it's a bit easier to use...the second you see a giant yellow chain wrap around your god, hit it, and you will be A-okay.

Aegis Amulet makes you invulnerable for 1.5 seconds but you cannot take any actions while under this effect. This one works too, but your timing has to be perfect, you got to use it just before Ares pulls everyone in to remain in the same spot.

There is an item called Magi's Blessing that can absorb an ability every 30 seconds, this can also counter Ares' ultimate, but is alot less reliable and it is easily visable when it is active.

Laning against Ares:

Ares SUCKS early on...just harass his partner alot because he wont really be able to do much til at least level 4. The shackles are easy to dodge, so do so if you can, and if you can't..well as long as he doesn't stack chains on you, they don't do any significant damage anyway. Later on, expect Ares to by moving around the jungle alot looking for lanes to gank, because while he can make his minions harder to kill, his actual pushing ability is lacking, so don't expect him to stay put for too long.

Characters that can counter Ares hard innately include but are not limited to :

Neith
Appollo(dammned Chariot >.<)
Freya
Ne Zha
Ymir
Odin
Thor