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Ares: The Chains That Bind You(7.8 Arena)

28 2 126,153
9.4
by silentshell updated August 7, 2020

Smite God: Ares

Build Guide Discussion 43 More Guides
Choose a Build: Blink Ult Builds
Blink Ult Builds Balanced Builds
Tap Mouse over an item or ability icon for detailed info

Ares Build

Blink Ult Basic Build

Notes

Notes

Build Item Shoes of Focus Shoes of Focus
Build Item Relic Dagger Relic Dagger
Build Item Gauntlet of Thebes Gauntlet of Thebes
Build Item Pridwen Pridwen
Build Item Void Stone Void Stone
Build Item Pythagorem's Piece Pythagorem's Piece

Aggressive Blink Ult Build

Notes if facing more magical threat and tanks building protections early, can build Void Stone instead of Stone of Binding.

Notes

if facing more magical threat and tanks building protections early, can build Void Stone instead of Stone of Binding.

Build Item Shoes of Focus Shoes of Focus
Build Item Relic Dagger Relic Dagger
Build Item Stone of Binding Stone of Binding
Build Item Pridwen Pridwen
Build Item Gem of Isolation Gem of Isolation
Build Item Spear of the Magus Spear of the Magus

Blink Ult Healing Threat Example

Build Item Reinforced Shoes Reinforced Shoes
Build Item Relic Dagger Relic Dagger
Build Item Contagion Contagion
Build Item Pridwen Pridwen
Build Item Void Stone Void Stone
Build Item Spirit Robe Spirit Robe

Blink Ult Tank Threat Example

Build Item Shoes of Focus Shoes of Focus
Build Item Relic Dagger Relic Dagger
Build Item Stone of Binding Stone of Binding
Build Item Pridwen Pridwen
Build Item Void Stone Void Stone
Build Item Spear of the Magus Spear of the Magus

Boots

Build Item Shoes of Focus Shoes of Focus
Build Item Reinforced Shoes Reinforced Shoes

Core

Notes build Pridwen as your 4th item.

Notes

build Pridwen as your 4th item.

Build Item Relic Dagger Relic Dagger
Build Item Pridwen Pridwen

3rd Item

Build Item Gauntlet of Thebes Gauntlet of Thebes
Build Item Stone of Binding Stone of Binding
Build Item Contagion Contagion
Build Item Pestilence Pestilence
Build Item Genji's Guard Genji's Guard
Build Item Shogun's Kusari Shogun's Kusari
Build Item Spirit Robe Spirit Robe
Build Item Bulwark of Hope Bulwark of Hope
Build Item Void Stone Void Stone

5th and 6th Item Choices

Build Item Spear of the Magus Spear of the Magus
Build Item Gem of Isolation Gem of Isolation
Build Item Void Stone Void Stone
Build Item Ethereal Staff Ethereal Staff
Build Item Spirit Robe Spirit Robe
Build Item Oni Hunter's Garb Oni Hunter's Garb
Build Item Winged Blade Winged Blade
Build Item Witchblade Witchblade
Build Item Mantle of Discord Mantle of Discord
Build Item Magi's Cloak Magi's Cloak
Build Item Midgardian Mail Midgardian Mail
Build Item Hide of the Nemean Lion Hide of the Nemean Lion
Build Item Bulwark of Hope Bulwark of Hope
Build Item Shogun's Kusari Shogun's Kusari

Core Relic In Blink Builds

Build Item Blink Rune Blink Rune

Other Relics to Consider

Build Item Aegis Amulet Aegis Amulet
Build Item Purification Beads Purification Beads
Build Item Heavenly Wings Heavenly Wings

Ares's Skill Order

Shackles

1 X Y
Shackles
1 4 6 7 10

Bolster Defenses

2 A B
Bolster Defenses
3 15 16 18 19

Searing Flesh

3 B A
Searing Flesh
2 8 11 12 14

No Escape

4 Y X
No Escape
5 9 13 17 20
Shackles
1 4 6 7 10

Shackles

1 X
Chains extend from Ares' shield, doing damage to all enemies in its path. Hitting a god shackles them to Ares, Cripples them, preventing movement abilities, dealing the same damage every second while slowing them by 15% and buffing Ares. While shackled, Ares can fire another chain for free within 2s. Jungle Camps take an extra +40% damage.

Ability Type: Line, Cripple, Damage
Minion Damage: 70 / 90 / 110 / 130 / 150 (+15% of your Magical Power)
God Damage per Tick: 20 / 40 / 60 / 80 / 100 (+15% of your Magical Power)
Speed Buff per Target Shackled: 15%
Duration: 4s
Max Shackles: 3
Cost: 70 / 75 / 80 / 85 / 90
Cooldown: 15 / 14.5 / 14 / 13.5 / 13s
Bolster Defenses
3 15 16 18 19

Bolster Defenses

2 A
Ares strengthens the defenses of himself and all nearby allies for 6s, granting Basic Attack Damage, Protections, HP5, and reducing Crowd Control durations. For each shackled enemy, the Protection Buffs are increased.

Ability Type: Circle, Buff
Protections: 20 / 25 / 30 / 35 / 40
CC Reduction: 30%
HP5: 25 / 30 / 35 / 40 / 45
Shackle Bonus: 7
Radius: 35
Cost: 40 / 45 / 50 / 55 / 60
Cooldown: 15s
Searing Flesh
2 8 11 12 14

Searing Flesh

3 B
Flames pour forth from Ares' shield, engulfing enemies in a cone in front of him causing damage every .5s for 4s. Ares is immune to Knockback for the duration.

Ability Type: Cone, Damage
Damage Per Tick: 15 / 20 / 25 / 30 / 35 (+7% of your Magical Power)
% Max Health Per Tick (Gods): 1 / 1 / 2 / 2 / 3%
% Max Health Per Tick (Minions): 4%
Cost: 55 / 60 / 65 / 70 / 75
Cooldown: 12s
No Escape
5 9 13 17 20

No Escape

4 Y
Ares throws chains out to all enemy gods in an area around him. All enemies hit by the chains are pulled to Ares after 2.5s, taking damage and are stunned.

Ability Type: Area
Damage: 200 / 275 / 350 / 425 / 500 (+40% of your Magical Power)
Stun: 1s
Radius: 35
Cost: 80 / 85 / 90 / 95 / 100
Cooldown: 100s

Introduction

Hello everyone! silentshell here for my 3rd Smitefire Arena guide. Ares kit allows for, in my opinion, the most aggressive play style for any guardian in SMITE. The way he is set up, when properly built up, Ares can constantly harass the other team in solo and/or teamfights, secure his own kills, set up teammates for kills, and optimally he can pull the entire enemy team where you want them so that you and your team can maximize damage to them.


Ares also fills the traditional tanky role for his teams quite well. Again, with proper build he can take damage and attention from enemy team members to free up teammates to wreck havoc on them. He can also use his kit to slow/harass enemies trying to chase down teammates. He is just, overall, a very good choice in Arena if you can get his play style down.

Note: In my blink ult builds i have Void Stone Spirit Robe Bulwark of Hope and Shogun's Kusari as options in the 3rd item slot and in the 5th-6th item slot. In my experience these are items that can work well situationally early or late depending on what you are trying to do with your build and what your focus will be. Obviously, if you have picked one of those items in the 3rd slot then it would not be available in the 5th or 6th spot of your build.

Abilities

hover over ability icons for ability descriptions


Items



Shoes of Focus are the core 1st item in most builds I run on Ares. This doesn't mean that you can't try out Reinforced Shoes because you can still get along fine with 30% cdr through the rest of your build. Just don't wait too long to start building it if you opt to go with the latter option. Pridwen is a core item in my balanced builds and my blink ult builds. The 20% cdr and the dual protections coupled with the ult shield make it a priority for me. In the blink ult builds, even with the nerf to Blink Rune, Relic Dagger and blink ult builds are still viable in arena. i haven't really noticed much difference to them since the nerf, honestly.


As for relics, in my blink ult builds, personally I normally will go Blink Rune and then either Purification Beads or Aegis Amulet depending on whether damage or cc is the higher threat in a match. In the balance builds you will usually be fine sticking with aegis and Purification Beads but from time to time for either build style i will use Heavenly Wings

Play style for Ares in Arena

When I play Ares in Arena I almost have what I feel is an assassin's mentality. Obviously, you need to be aware of the positions of members of the opposing team, but you have to be ready to strike pretty quickly. Some things to consider are to be ready to latch on to enemies that are low on health, separated from their team or dependent on your build just plain susceptible to your attacks. When taking stock of situations throughout the match when picking isolated targets consider your angles because a lot of times enemies can be taken completely unawares by your attack and that will make it that much easier to take them out.


It is very important to hit your individual targets with all 3 of the Shackles and even if you don't kill them after following up with Searing Flesh you may still be able to kill them with a few basics or have gift wrapped them for one of your teammates. Even when the enemy team is together if you correctly identify a target you can melt them down pretty well and possibly kill them yourself and get out of danger before the enemy team can take you out.


The flip side of Ares being so versatile is that you have to pick the right spots to engage and to defend. Recognize when to advance and lock down enemies to secure kills for yourself or your team and when to lock them down to allow yourself or other team members to escape bad situations. Not being able to recognize when to strike and when to run and when to assist with securing kills vs assist with escaping can make all the difference in closely contested matches. As with any god in SMITE, unchecked aggression will lead to some very bad matches for yourself and/or your team.

Blink Ult Builds

These builds will be your primary type of build in Arena. If you can get the play style for Ares down, these builds are typically the best way to go. These builds have 30-40% cdr built into these concepts allowing Ares to really shine in that mode.

Boots
Shoes of Focus or Reinforced Shoes

Core
relic daggger will always be your 2nd item and Pridwen should lock up your 4th item slot. There are a lot of different options, as listed in this guide, for the 3rd spot. I usually run with Stone of Binding, Gauntlet of Thebes, or Contagion there but there are plenty of viable options depending on what you are trying to do.

Like with the 3rd slot the 5th and 6th item choices can allow you to balance offense/defense, go all out with your aggression or layer on those protections even more.

Balanced Builds

These are builds that allow for more offensive capability in your Arena matches without feeling pigeon holed into using a blink ult build. Sometimes i do get kind of bored with just blink ulting all the time. The fact that you can be successful with a blink ult build shows that there are a lot of times in Arena when you don't necessarily have to build heavy defenses. Making a more balanced build, without being centered around blink ulting, can not only be viable but successful as well. An exception to this for me a lot of times is when facing healing threats. I still tend to build more defensively in those situations.

Tips

Ares can be very fun to play if you can get his kit down. Here is some basic information to hopefully help you on your way to having lots of fun with him.


1. Get your aim with your Shackles down as soon as possible. If you can hit multiple targets you can help your team out a lot and if you can hit one target with all 3 chains and hit them with Searing Flesh you can do a lot of damage, if not kill them during the fight.


2. keep your team buffed up with Bolster Defenses as much as possible and also use it right before using No Escape whenever you can.


3. When escaping use Shackles on any pursuers so you can get away. There may also be the possibility to secure a kill by hitting them with Searing Flesh if they are low as well.


4. Try to make sure and use Bolster Defenses prior to No Escape whenever possible. Always try to get as many of the enemy in your ult as possible. Sometimes when going in to try the ult you will take significant damage, just retreat, reset and try again if you need to. Enemies can cut you down pretty quickly if you are missing a lot of health already.


Combos

Combos

1. Shackles to Searing Flesh
you can slow them significantly and add to the damage from Shackles with Searing Flesh often times getting an easy kill or securing a kill for another teammate.


2. Searing Flesh to Shackles running into a team fight you can use Searing Flesh and then pick out a single or multiple targets to hit with Shackles and then depending on if they stay grouped together/amount of health left you can hit them all with Searing Flesh or focus on the most damaged enemy at that point.


3. Shackles to Searing Flesh to No Escape
same concept as combo 1 but a lot of times the enemy you focused will run towards team members and you can hit all of them together.


4. Searing Flesh to Shackles to No Escape
same basic principle as combo number 3.


5. No Escape(remember to Bolster Defenses prior to no escape whenever possible) to Shackles to Searing Flesh
this combo will draw enemies in then you keep them closer with the slow from Shackles and then melt them all the way with
Searing Flesh if you or your teammate(s) have not already killed them at that point.


6. No Escape Searing Flesh Shackles
same basic principle as combo 5.


7. [[blink rune}] and then combo number 5 or 6.


8. On running targets if you feel the situation warrants you can use your Blink Rune to close on a running target and shackle Searing Flesh. This would be more a strategy to use at the end of a match when either you are about to win or you just need every kill you can get to try and make up a gap in points. Anytime you use this combo don't blink into the middle of the party to get that single kill unless you have team strong team support. Just do it if your target has no health and you are sure you can finish them before they get to base or their team.


I prefer combos 1, 3 and 5 but dependent on cool downs you may have to go with combos 2, 4 and 6(or you just might prefer those).

Conclusion

Remember, Ares can really light up the enemy team if built and played properly in Arena. Even if he is a more aggressive guardian the same basic concepts apply to playing him that apply for pretty much any other SMITE character. He will really shine if you can recognize when to advance and when to retreat, and when to use your abilities in the proper sequence dependent on the situation to unlock your kit to its fullest potential. So what are you waiting for? Go get in an arena match, pick Ares and sally forth!!

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1
Kriega1 (143) | June 8, 2020 9:00am
Uhhh, Charon's Coin on Ares? What??
1
silentshell (5) | June 8, 2020 9:30am
Kriega1 wrote:
Uhhh, Charon's Coin on Ares? What??

Yeah, it has worked pretty well for me when i have used it usually. It was on here when you commented on it the first time too, but you didn't have an issue with it then. Has something changed. I had even spoken to Bran about it and he felt pythag's and charon's was a good combo. Are you maybe looking at where i had it paired with ethereal staff on my balanced builds? I have used either/or with Charon's and just liked it better personally on those setups.
1
Kriega1 (143) | June 8, 2020 10:01am
Nothing changed, I just didn't see it the first time.

Please do not recommend to new players to build Charons on Ares.

If you want damage, you can go for Divine, Magus or Deso. (Or Pythags/Ethereal/Reaver).
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1
Branmuffin17 (394) | March 4, 2020 8:25am
You mean overcapping, right? And which builds are you talking about? I looked briefly and unless I'm having a brain fart, I don't see anything above 40%.
1
Cooldillan (3) | March 4, 2020 8:41am
I have posted this to the wrong build big brain
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1
silentshell (5) | February 26, 2020 6:46am
okay, so as i was getting Soul Gem wiped from my guide I found the oversight that i had not properly updated concepts on the rest of my builds. I changed a few builds where I had placed Spear of the Magus by removing it since it was not built in a way that could make it more viable. I noticed for some reason I had not worked my balanced builds with cdr as i thought i had and have a couple of builds that i changed so i could include Spear of the Magus and have it be more viable(i feel like it is an item that still works well for me but i have seen the benefits of the Charon's Coin Pythagorem's Piece combo at the end of some of my builds and have gone ahead and used magus sparingly). It has been a crazy week and so for anyone looking at my guide like "he changed this and this, but all of this other stuff still looks like hot garbage." my bad...
1
silentshell (5) | February 24, 2020 4:53pm
Branmuffin17 wrote:
Hey Silent,

Good to see you branching out.

So let's see...although his scaling is good, I'm not sure Shoes of the Magi is worth it right now in most cases, unless you dedicate yourself more strongly to offense. I do see you choose Spear of the Magus later in your build quite often, and that's okay, but I also think if you go that route, you should also focus even more on penetration to make that item (and Magi) more worthwhile. When you build very little pen, the damage you're outputting is stunted to some degree. And most of those builds with Magus only have 1 pen item (itself)...the one I'm more supportive of is the "aggressive" build that includes Void Stone as well.

Further on Magi, a lot of your builds don't get ANY CDR until late in the build, and I think choosing Focus as your example is going to be a lot more functional in those cases as well.

I would 100% NOT include Ob Shard right now as a build option. If you really want that 20% pen, Charon's seems like the better option to me.

I also may suggest that you delay further points in your ult until you've gotten at least 3 points into Searing Flesh, to get that increased damage output on that ability. I often will delay more points in the ult until I've maxed both Shackles AND Flesh.

And you may have some specific reasons for identifying items in all of the build positions, but I often prefer a presentation where you allow obvious flexibility...meaning, if you identify items being early core (item #1, item #2 should always be these), then what you're basically saying is that you can't buy any of the items listed for #4 as item #5 or 6.


Thanks for all the input Bran, but as i was telling Setolino that first page i have since gotten rid of was more from my impression that most players thought cdr was not all that great on him for some reason. I just ran with my preference for cdr on my first set of builds and i guess i should just label them standard builds instead of cooldown builds since people generally feel how i do about cdr on him in arena it seems. I will also be modifying the balanced offense/defense for cdr. I wasn't sure that Charon's Coin would be a good option on him. I figured it would be more mage centered. I was also wondering if with the changes to items if Soul Reaver might not be a bad pickup on him paired with things like Void Stone Pythagorem's Piece Spear of the Magus Stone of Binding Taking thoughts of that into account and what you were talking about maybe a couple of sample builds might be

Shoes of Focus Gauntlet of Thebes pridwin Void Stone Pythagorem's Piece Charon's Coin
this would be against more magical comp
Shoes of Focus Gauntlet of Thebes Stone of Binding Breastplate of Valor Pythagorem's Piece Charon's Coin against more physical comp?

on the item positions i basically have done that based on a lot of different input i have gotten and seen as i have lurked on this site and tried to balance that into what i felt would be the best positions for those items. I thought about putting different items in multiple positions but thought that would be too confusing for some people. I just modified the skill tree. Hopefully it doesn't seem wonky with how i spread it out. I felt like given your input i have the skill progression workable with your input.
1
Kriega1 (143) | February 24, 2020 2:37pm
I don't think Magus isn't good on Ares, at all. You're only getting like 3-4 ticks of his 3 with maxed out magus passive if you hit everything.
1
Branmuffin17 (394) | February 25, 2020 7:41pm
So I think Spear of the Magus might be okay on him, but only in damage-focused builds. You can get, I think, 3 ticks of damage for a single connect on Shackles, if it deals damage at time 0, 1, and 2 seconds...I forget on that. But when you go for single target, if your timing is good, you're going to get 7 or more ticks if you time your shackles well. Combine that with the multiple hits from Searing as Kriega mentioned, and the 10 flat pen, and it's...not bad. You'll probably be better served with other items and being more tanky now that Magus has been nerfed hard, but this can definitely be an extra source of functional damage. It's very situational at best, but you can get away with a lot more in Arena.
1
Gulfwulf (81) | February 26, 2020 9:22am
I believe shackles does an initial hit and then dot. We can test it in jungle practice on the Odin bot to be absolutely sure if necessary.
1
silentshell (5) | February 24, 2020 4:57pm
Kriega1 wrote:
I don't think Magus isn't good on Ares, at all. You're only getting like 3-4 ticks of his 3 with maxed out magus passive if you hit everything.

I am guessing that you mean you don't think Magus is good on Ares? accidental double negative? I can see what you and Bran are saying. I had just been having a lot of pretty good results with it in my builts for the most part so i figured it was still a good item despite the nerf. I have been looking at going Pythagorem's Piece and Soul Gem at the 5 and 6 and that has seemed to work pretty well. With Bran's input I am thinking that pythag's and charon's ending out the build would probably work well too. I had asked Bran but also was wondering what do you think about Soul Reaver on him as an end build option in some situations?
1
Branmuffin17 (394) | February 25, 2020 7:31pm
So, suggestion, never go Soul Gem on Ares. Absolutely consider Pythag's...it's still a very solid item IMO, and the aura is obviously synergistic for Ares' passive.

But considering both Pythag's and SG is just a no-no to me...generally few gods go for double lifesteal...Anubis, maybe other specific mages going with Typhon's 2nd, and some hunters. Ares, especially in Arena, doesn't need 2 spots for LS.

As for going Pythag's and Charon's, that is a much better combo, I think.
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1
Gulfwulf (81) | February 24, 2020 9:46pm
I'd only get Reaver if you're facing a tanky team and your teammates are having issues bursting them down, which isn't usually the case in Arena.
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1
Setolino (18) | February 24, 2020 11:27am
None of your example builds have a maxed out cdr build.
Maybe add one considering spamming his ult is what makes Ares such a strong pick in Arena to begin with.
If you dont go full cdr on him he goes from S-tier to B-tier in arena.
1
Branmuffin17 (394) | February 25, 2020 7:25pm
I don't know, Seto...I pretty much never go max CDR in Arena with Ares, and I typically have good success. The key for me is often just aligning blink CD as closely as possible, which means getting Relic Dagger. Not that I don't often use the ult without blink. Right now, I'd say my CDR items are Shoes of Focus (sometimes), Relic Dagger, and maybe Witchblade situationally. I often try to incorporate Pythagorem's Piece for group function, and otherwise go prot items.

I'd argue just having Relic and using him properly often means he's almost S-tier just as-is.
1
Setolino (18) | February 25, 2020 11:40pm
Ye Relic Dagger is also a must on Ares, don't see how that makes his CDR built not as op tho. I would argue it makes it even stronger. You can rinse and repeat the force ults/beads into blink engage even more often like that, it makes it more difficult to aligning blink CD with your ult, but I would say it is worth it.
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1
silentshell (5) | February 24, 2020 4:38pm
Setolino wrote:

None of your example builds have a maxed out cdr build.
Maybe add one considering spamming his ult is what makes Ares such a strong pick in Arena to begin with.
If you dont go full cdr on him he goes from S-tier to B-tier in arena.


Setolino,

The first tab, now deleted, was more for building no cooldowns or minimal cooldowns but I got rid of it because cdr is actually how i do like to run but i wanted to have options for anyone who did not run cdr. If you were talking about the cooldown builds, I just moved the example builds to the top and moved the item choices to the bottom, but in that tab, the 1st three example builds all had 40% cdr before i even changed things up on that tab. I was not aware of the drop from s-tier to b-tier, but previously when talking to members on this site the impression that i got was that cooldowns in general were meh on him. Based on how i like to run him and the feedback from you i will modify my builds in the balanced section where i pretty much have ethereal staff as the bridge item from early defense to late offense.
1
Setolino (18) | February 25, 2020 12:56am
Max Cooldown in conquest is meh on him, considering he is really great with aura items and that leave not as much space for other items.

In arena however the teams are constantly clumped up, so forcing beads and ults with him is much easier. If your ult is faster up than their ult and beads after forcing it, you can pull them in the next engagment before theirs are up again. That won't be possible if you didn't max out your cooldown.
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1
Branmuffin17 (394) | February 24, 2020 9:55am
Hey Silent,

Good to see you branching out.

So let's see...although his scaling is good, I'm not sure Shoes of the Magi is worth it right now in most cases, unless you dedicate yourself more strongly to offense. I do see you choose Spear of the Magus later in your build quite often, and that's okay, but I also think if you go that route, you should also focus even more on penetration to make that item (and Magi) more worthwhile. When you build very little pen, the damage you're outputting is stunted to some degree. And most of those builds with Magus only have 1 pen item (itself)...the one I'm more supportive of is the "aggressive" build that includes Void Stone as well.

Further on Magi, a lot of your builds don't get ANY CDR until late in the build, and I think choosing Focus as your example is going to be a lot more functional in those cases as well.

I would 100% NOT include Ob Shard right now as a build option. If you really want that 20% pen, Charon's seems like the better option to me.

I also may suggest that you delay further points in your ult until you've gotten at least 3 points into Searing Flesh, to get that increased damage output on that ability. I often will delay more points in the ult until I've maxed both Shackles AND Flesh.

And you may have some specific reasons for identifying items in all of the build positions, but I often prefer a presentation where you allow obvious flexibility...meaning, if you identify items being early core (item #1, item #2 should always be these), then what you're basically saying is that you can't buy any of the items listed for #4 as item #5 or 6.
1
Gulfwulf (81) | February 24, 2020 11:08am
I've already sent Silent a pm about his presentation, Bran. I'll send you a copy so you can tell me if you agree.
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