Artemis S6 Guide: The new hunting season! (S6 / Update: 6.5)

Introduction

Hello ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to my Artemis guide for S6. This guide made a leap from S4/U4.20 to S6/U6.5. A portion of the information was deprecated, but that is now resolved. In case you find any issues or incorrect information still lingering around, please do let me know! Happy reading!

Here's a quick overview of what you can expect to find in this guide:

Table of Content: 1. Pros & Cons: Also known as Strenghts & Weaknesses, you'll read all about what Artemis is good at, and what she lacks. 2. Abilities: Ability description, ability leveling sequence, and how/when to use your abilities will be described here. 3. Items & builds: The items you should build and in what order, item description, situational items and counterbuilds will be described here. 4. Matchups & synergies: How to deal with enemy gods and what gods Artemis works well with, will be described here. 5. Gameplay information, tips & tricks: How to behave as Artemis during games and different phases in said games, and (useful) tips you may not have known before, will be described here. 6. Summary: A quick summary of all the information described throughout the guide. Additional information: 1. Lore: For those interested only. 2. Changelog: For quick and easy reference of the latest updates to the guide, or those that are interested in following the progression line the guide has been through.

Certified Season4 Top-Guide This Artemis guide, "Artemis S4 Guide: The new hunting season!", was chosen as top guide for SmiteFire's very own Season 4 guide contest, taking the #1 spot in the hunter category guides. A huge thank you from me to everyone who has supported this guide from the start!

// Pros & Cons \\ // Ability Description \\ // Combos \\ // Builds & Items \\ // Gameplay - Early, Mid, Late \\ // Summary \\ // Lore, Base stats, Changelog \\

Pros & Cons

........... Pros ........... High damage potential High attack speed Very strong late game Very strong ultimate ability .

.......... Cons .......... No escape ability Squishy, very susceptible to ganks Weak clear Very weak early game .

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+ Artemis has very high, if not the highest, damage potential. This potential will only come to light later in the game, however.

+ Artemishas arguably the strongest attack speed steroid of all hunters, due to Vengeful Assault. It not only provides a huge 80% boost at max level, but lasts for 5 seconds, which is more than enough time to erase most enemies.

+ Due to the very high attack speed, and Artemis passive Still Target, she is can have one of the strongest late games of all hunters. Hence why many players suggest attempting to shut down an Artemis early in the game.

+ Artemis' ultimate ability, Calydonian Boar, has great teamfight utility, and a fair amount of damage. Therefore, it's one of the most effective ultimate abilities in the game.

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- Artemis has no escape ability, such as a dash or leap, and therefore lacks a lot of mobility*. Being focused, ganked or CC'd therefore poses a large risk to Artemis.

- Due to the inherent squishy** nature of hunters, Artemis herself is also very squishy. This increases the danger of focus, ganks or CC even more.

- Despite Artemis high attack speed and high damage potential, she has one of the weakest clears*** among all hunters. To put this in perspective, her clearing ability ( Suppress The Insolent) can just about kill the back archers of a minion wave instantly at max rank. (Note: this is prone to the build you're using, as well.)

- As mentioned, Artemis's power only shows later in the game. Because of her late game power, she is balanced out due to a very weak early game. Her early clear is very weak, her power is very limited and so is her CC and mobility.

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*Mobility: The ability to move around an area, dictated in how far one can travel in a given timeframe.
**Squishy: Weak, soft. Not being able to sustain much from special conditions. (Damage, for example)
***Clear: The ability to clear an area. The faster one can clear an area, the better his/her clear potential.

Did you know?
Artemis received a base power buff. Due to this, her clearing ability Suppress The Insolent can just about clear the back archers of a minion wave. Before this buff, her clearing ability could not kill them immediately, which made her clear the worst among all hunters.

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// Pros & Cons \\ // Ability Description \\ // Combos \\ // Builds & Items \\ // Gameplay - Early, Mid, Late \\ // Summary \\ // Lore, Base stats, Changelog \\

Skills / Abilities

The key to learning any god is knowing what each ability actually does and knowing where the effectiveness of this ability comes into play. You won't be taking the stage by attempting to hit air with your waveclear ability. This chapter is devoted to explaining exactly that. Additionally, this chapter will also describe some possible combos that can be performed with Artemis' abilities.

Still Target Ability description Ability uses Description: Passive / Self / Buff Still Target is Artemis's passive. It is automatically active at any given time, and applies a buff to Artemis herself. Increased damage to targets affected by Crowd Control. Increment of 15% against enemy gods. Increment of 30% against enemy minions. Applies to: self This passive allows Artemis to deal increased damage to enemies affected by Crowd Control. Artemis has 3 CC effects built into her own kit, and can use CC effects applied by teammates, too. This makes Artemis an increased threat to anyone who is affected by CC, which will play in your favour. It's effectiveness is partially depending on your teammates, and also on how well you can apply your own CC.

Transgressor's Fate Ability description Ability uses Description: Active / Enemy / CC (root + cripple) / Damage Artemis' first ability is Transgressor's Fate. This ability provides a root and cripple (CC)* and damage. When activating this ability, it is placed in the form of a "trap" on the ground. Do note that this ability does not affect minions. Aside from being Artemis' main CC tool, it's a very good combo ability. It can be effectively used in a combo with Calydonian Boar as well as other forms of (hard) CC, provided by other gods. Roots, cripples and damages enemies who trigger the trap. Damage per tick: 25/40/55/70/85 base, + 30% of your Physical Power. CC duration: 2s Cost to cast: 45 mana Cooldown: 18/16/14/12/10s base Applies to: Enemies This ability provides a decent amount of CC. However, the limitation of having maximum 3 traps up at a given time, the low damage, and the easy counter make this ability relatively weak and useless in most scenarios. If an enemy does walk in, however, they make for a nice and easy target for basic attacks. They're also vulnerable to your passive ability and/or other abilities. Be careful when placing this trap, as enemies who trigger it and take damage from it, will turn minion aggro** on you, regardless of where the trap was set off. This ability's main usage is only the root. The damage is too low to justify leveling this ability early. Because of this, this ability will be leveled last. Usage: How and when. How to use: Zoning Enemies don't like to be trapped. By placing this on the ground, you can zone* an enemy and force them to change their path. You could for example place this at the entrance of a jungle path to force enemies to walk around, use an ability to get over the traps, or trigger the trap before being able to pass. Closing distance A trapped enemy is an easy target. If the enemy got trapped in a trap you placed a while ago, you might even be able to trap them twice. If your enemy is trapped, take advantage and close the gap between you and him to attack him while he's immobilized! Creating distance Instead of closing the distance, you can also create some distance. While the enemy is trapped, if they don't have any CC immunity available they can't move, giving you some time to create distance between you and your enemy. Saving or helping teammates You cannot only close or create the distance for yourself. You can also do so for your teammates. This can help teammates escape or get a kill in some circumstances. Detecting enemies from anywhere This is a bit luck-based, but if you place a trap anywhere on the map and an enemy walks in, you'll be able to see the damage numbers pop up from anywhere on the map and be able to tell where the enemy is located. Very useful to avoid ganks** or warn teammates. Another hint is by looking at Artemis as a character. If you're not in combat and Artemis suddenly goes into combat stance (bow straight, looking ready to fire), an enemy has most likely run into a trap of yours. Use this cue to look around and detect where the enemy is at! When to use: While running away Whenever you're running away to escape an enemy. What a time to be alive! Simply place that trap of yours right under your feet and if the enemy isn't cautious enough they'll walk right into it! During combat When you're fighting an enemy, they won't just simply stand still. You can change that. Observe the enemy's movement and place a trap accordingly. The enemy, to busy attacking you, will walk right into it, making him an easy target for you. When laning/farming While you're laning/farming, it's a good time to place some traps around. Unsuspecting enemies may just walk straight into them. Also placing them in strategic positions (read above, "how to") should be done during this time. Before recalling While more useful in cropped up areas, such as Arena, this can be done in any gamemode, except Assault. When you want to recall, drop a trap before you do so. This isn't necessary if you already have 3 traps placed, however. When you're recalled, your trap can do all sorts of magical things. You may get a lucky kill or save a teammate with this trap without you realizing it!

Vengeful Assault Ability description Ability uses Description: Active / Self / Buff Artemis' second ability is Vengeful Assault. This is the ability that helps Artemis a lot in the battlefield, due to the buffs it provides. When pressing this skill key, it is automatically activated for a short duration, applying the buffs immediately. Grants you an attack speed and movement speed increasing buff. Attack speed increase: 40/50/60/70/80% Movement speed increase: 20% Buff duration: 3/3.5/4/4.5/5s Cost to cast: 60/65/70/75/80 mana Cooldown: 18/17/16/15/14s base Applies to: self With this ability, you can allow yourself to chase/escape easier due to the movement speed, and deal high damage in a short time frame due to the high attack speed buff. As this is Artemis' main boxing tool, by it being a great buff ability, it is high on the leveling list. However, since Artemis is fairly weak during the early game, and you should only start fighting enemy gods later in the game, you should not level this ability first, but prioritize it second. Usage: How and when. How to use: Closing and creating distance The speed boost that this ability provides will help you cover some distance a bit faster. This allows you to use it as a chase/"escape" tool. You won't win a marathon with it, but it's something. Rapidly eliminate enemies This ability is what makes Artemis so special: the insane attack speed. With this ability, you can near instantly erase an enemy who's a bit low on protections, granted you can land the shots. Increased objective takedown Pretty straightforward: more attack speed equals more attacks in a given time frame equals more damage in said time frame. This will help dealing more damage overall to objectives. When to use: While farming Use this while clearing camps/minion waves to eliminate them faster. This reduces the risk of enemies swooping them from under your noses, and you'll have some extra time to do other things. While fighting Using this in a fight will allow you to eliminate your enemies faster, doing so before they eliminate you. That is, if you can hit your target. While walking Plain and simple. When you're walking towards any objective of yours, using this ability will allow you to reach the destination faster. When attacking objectives Vengeful Assault will help to take down objectives faster, so whenever you're putting some shots into a tower or phoenix, activate this ability if you can. It is advised that, if you know that the enemy is on their way to you, that you save Vengeful Assault as a means of escape rather than burning it on the tower, unless you're certain you can destroy the tower with Vengeful Assault active.

Suppress the Insolent Ability description Ability uses Description: Active / Enemy / CC (slow) / Damage Suppress The Insolent is Artemis' main ability. You'll be using this ability throughout the entire game. It is your clearing ability as well as poking*** ability. It does damage, and CC's the enemy in the form of a slow. Damages and slows enemies. Also applies to minions. Damage: 80/130/180/230/280 base, +40% of your Physical power Slow: 25% Slow duration: 2s Cooldown: 10s base Cost to cast: 70/75/80/85/90 mana This ability is what you'll be using constantly. It is fairly costly for Artemis' low base mana pool in that regard, increasing the need for mana items. Its low damage also make it a relatively "bad" idea to count solely on your abilities as Artemis, though it's not impossible. Artemis' main clear and poking ability. This has the greatest importance in your kit during general play, especially the early game, when you should take it safe and slow. By these rules, you should give this ability the highest priority and level it first. Usage: How and when. How to use: Wave and camp clearing Use this ability as your main wave clearing ability. Prioritize the archers of a minion wave. Hit any other targets with this ability as well, if possible. Can also be used to clear camps faster, just make sure to try and hit every camp enemy with this ability for the quickest takedown! Poking the enemy. Poke your enemy with this. It'll do a bit more than tickling though, it'll do actual damage. Damage that will hopefully force your enemy out of lane eventually. When your enemy is gone, that buys you some time to farm or do other things. Slow down enemies, chase or escape potential You can use Suppress The Insolent to slow down your enemy. This can help in both escape and chase scenarios, as the enemy will be slowed unless they have something to remove the slow. Zoning A bit far-fetched, but you can actually use this ability for zoning out an enemy. Nobody likes to take damage, so using this ability can force an enemy to back off for a bit. Most usable in small pathways, such as the jungle paths. You can use this zoning advantage for all sorts of purposes, be it to separate an enemy from the pack, or making it a bit safer for yourself, there's a lot to be done with this, potentially. Note: Don't rely on this to much for zoning potential. While it does work, some enemies may just prefer to take a hit and get to you, rather than moving out of the way and giving you some time to regain your footing. When to use: While laning/jungling This ability should be used both during the laning phase as well as when you're jungling. Primarily used for clear, but can also be used for poke/zoning. While chasing/escaping The slow from this ability can help in both situations. Especially effective when combined with the speed boost from Vengeful Assault. During combat You should always use this ability while in combat, at any time is it up. When the ability gets off of Cooldown during combat, immediately cast it on your enemy.

Calydonian Boar Ability description Ability uses Description: Active (Ultimate) / Enemy / CC (stun) / Damage / CC immunity Calydonian Boar deserves a spot as one of the best Ultimate abilities in the game. The utility this ability provide is insane, for an already fairly powerful hunter as Artemis. This ability has the highest damage from all abilities available to Artemis, but on top of that also stuns all the enemies it hits. Because of this, it's usable in a variety of ways. Damages and stuns enemies, while granting Artemis CC immunity. Damage: 150/225/300/375/450 base, + 100% of your Physical power. Stun duration: 1/1.1/1.2/1.3/1.4/1.5s Boar lifetime: 6s Cooldown: 90s base Cost to cast: 80/90/100/110/120 mana The stun is great for setting up kills for yourself or teammates. Since the boar acts as a pet, it can be used as mobile cover, aid in battle, etc.... There's a wide variety of ways to use this ability. As this is an ultimate, you cannot level it whenever. It is a very powerful tool, and since each level increases its decent damage and stun duration, it's very important to level this ability. Therefore, you should level this ability whenever it's available. Usage: How and when. How to use: Powerful CC tool Enemy being a bit to much of a slippery snake, like the dreaded Medusa? No problem, for you have your trustworthy Calydonian Boar. Use this ability to stun your opponent and get some easy shots in. Extended range Calydonian Boar does damage. If an enemy is just out of range, but there's another enemy between you and the enemy that's out of range, using Calydonian Boar and letting him "chain" his dash may just end up having the enemy that's out of range get hit. Useful for securing kills on enemies who are just out of your range in such a scenario. Escape / Chase tool Pretty straight forward. The stun that this ability provides will allow you to catch up to or escape from enemies. Note: This tool is way more reliable as an escape tool than a chase tool. While it is possible to use as a chase tool, it's a bit finicky. This is primarily due to the casting time of the ability. While chasing an enemy and casting Calydonian Boar, by the time the boar is actually able to move, the enemy may've already moved out of range, especially when they hear you cast it. CC immunity tool Ymir chasing you? 100% certain he'll freeze you when he gets to close? Enemy team waiting to annihilate you as soon as he does? No problem, for Calydonian Boar gives you a short CC-immunity effect. While not advised to spend such a powerful ult on this, it may just save your life, which is in any case better than death. Split-Push Pro : Tower tanking Admittedly you'll hardly ever see this done, but it is a possibility: Using Calydonian Boar to tank a few tower shots so you can safely (split-)push*** it. However, it's advised against it to use a powerful ultimate for such goals. When to use: Combat and/or teamfights Use this ability during teamfights, or a 1 on 1 battle. The stuns will give you an incredible advantage, that even your team will probably profit highly from. Can also save your life should you get focused by 5 people, as this ultimate can stun all of them. And for the fans: the penta-kill potential with this ability is incredible. During chases/escapes Using this during a chase or escape is a viable strategy, as the stun allows you to catch up or run away much more easily.

Ability combos Combo #1 Combo #2 Combo #3 Combo #4 Combo: Transgressor's fate + Basic attacks This combo is pretty straightforward. Simply cast and drop Transgressor's Fate anywhere in your vicinity*. Once an enemy triggers the trap, proceed to engage the target with basic attacks while the target cannot move. This will not only allow you to do more and easy damage, it will also stack your passive, increasing your critical hit chance and increasing your damage output even more. Estimated difficulty rating: MEDIUM. Reasoning: This combo is flagged medium not because it's hard to pull off, but requires some luck to be on your side. This combo cannot be executed as long as the enemy does not run into your trap, or you're to far out of range when the trap is triggered. Place Transgressor's Fate Attack (AA) trapped enemy Combo: Transgressor's fate + Basic attacks & Vengeful Assault This combo is very identical to the first one, except that this time you will be combining Vengeful Assault with your basic attacks. Start the combo process as is described in the first combo by placing Transgressor's Fate anywhere in your vicinity. When an enemy triggers the trap and becomes rooted, activate Vengeful Assault and use basic attacks. The result will be identical to the first come, except that you'll attack faster and have more overall damage. Estimated difficulty rating: MEDIUM. Reasoning: This combo is flagged medium not because it's hard to pull off, but requires some luck to be on your side. This combo cannot be executed as long as the enemy does not run into your trap, or you're to far out of range when the trap is triggered. Place Transgressor's Fate Activate Vengeful Assault Attack (AA) trapped enemy Combo: Transgressor's fate + Basic attacks (& Vengeful Assault) + Suppress the Insolent (+ Basic attacks) Expanding on previous combo(s), this combo is almost identical to the previous ones, but uses Suppress The Insolent as well, to increase the damage even more at the end of the combo. Also, due to the slow Suppress The Insolent provides, you can then engage with basic attacks even more for the time being, as the slow will make hitting them easier. Estimated difficulty rating: MEDIUM. Reasoning: This combo is flagged medium not because it's hard to pull off, but requires some luck to be on your side. This combo cannot be executed as long as the enemy does not run into your trap, or you're to far out of range when the trap is triggered. Place Transgressor's Fate If preferred, active Vengeful Assault Attack (AA) trapped enemy Use Suppress The Insolent If preferred, attack (AA) enemy (during slow duration). Combo: Calydonian Boar + Any above combo The title should explain this pretty well. Simply start by using Calydonian Boar. Approach your enemy, and drop Transgressor's Fate directly underneath them while they're stunned. From here, just continue the combo with one of the aforementioned ones. Estimated difficulty rating: EASY. Reasoning: This combo is flagged easy instead of medium. This is because once the enemy is stunned and immobilized it should not be hard to pull of any of the other combo's after it. Use Calydonian Boar to stun the enemy. Place Transgressor's Fate under enemy. Continue with one of the aforementioned combo's.

The Words (*) *CC: Or Crowd Control, is your ability to, simply said, control a crowd. This would mean having the ability to force something/somebody or mutliple objects/people into doing something as you demand it. **Aggro: Aggressiveness. "To pull Aggro": Making something/somebody aggressive towards you. ***Poke: To touch something/somebody gently. Usually done to cause a reaction. Mostly doesn't have any permanent/lethal consequences. In the context of SMITE this would be damaging enemies from a safe distance to force them to retreat. *Vicinity: An area, an area around a certain location. "Your vicinity": the area around you. *Zone / zoning: To zone something/somebody is to force them to take a certain path or to got to a certain area. A zone is a named area (e.g. "jungle" zone). **Gank: Similar to "flanking". To attack an (unsuspecting) enemy from the side or back. ***Split-push: To push (an objective) from different angles, forcing potential enemies/defenders to split their defenses.

Did you know?
That Artemis' passive gives her a 15% damage buff to enemies affected by any form of CC? Thus, items that apply a CC effect are stronger on her than most other gods.

// Pros & Cons \\ // Ability Description \\ // Combos \\ // Builds & Items \\ // Gameplay - Early, Mid, Late \\ // Summary \\ // Lore, Base stats, Changelog \\

Builds & Items

Artemis belongs to the hunter class. This class' nature is all about having the highest possible damage output. Defense items are rarely seen on this class, though they are sometimes bought in certain scenarios. Most builds for this class are pre-defined, as the hunter class and hunter gods work in ways that hardly allow room for much variation.

Note: Following builds are examples/suggestions. Therefore they should be treated as such. You're not obligated to follow them to the slightest detail. Experimenting is, in fact, strongly encouraged. It'd also be greatly appreciated if you could share your changes and experience with certain builds with the community, as it can only help us all.

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	Hunter's Blessing is a starter item. It provides a small amount of MP5 which will help you sustain your mana pool at the start. It also provides a flat basic attack damage bonus, which is perfect for some extra early game damage. This will help you clear faster and, in case you do get into a fight, a larger damage output. This item can also evolve, gaining stacks towards its evolution by killing minions or enemy gods. When the item evolves, it grants an attack speed bonus of 15%, and another 15 flat basic attack damage bonus. This item complements Artemis extremely well, and should therefore always be bought as your starter item. (Exception: Assault. Build straight into Bloodforge.) You sell this item in the late game, when you get 5 other items, to make room for another, 6th item.
	Ninja Tabi is just the type of shoes that complement Artemis' playstyle. While she would still benefit a lot from Warrior Tabi, Ninja Tabi takes the cake here for various reasons. The main reason is that Ninja Tabi is typically the basic attacker's shoe(s), it increases attack speed while also still providing some decent power. Due to a buff in S3, it now also provides extra mana, which is something that Artemis doesn't say no to, especially in the early game. Since the addition of Elixir of Speed, you may swap your boots in the late game for another item + the elixir, should you so desire to do so and have enough gold to spare.
	The Executioner is your core penetration item.. The Executioner takes away protections (works for both you and teammates), allowing you to deal an increased amount of damage. The higher the enemy's protections, the more noticeable the effect will be. It also provides some Physical Power and Attack speed. Its passive works incredibly well with Artemis due to her attack speed steroid ( Vengeful Assault).
	This is your core item with the Devo's build. Devourer's Gauntlet is a very strong lifesteal item. The power it provides needs to be stacked in order to reach full potential, which is why you should buy it early. The power and good amount of lifesteal will help you sustain in lane, and increase your chances of survival during fights against enemy gods.
	If you're going with critical hits, Deathbringer is a staple in your build. It provides Physical Power and increased Critical Hit chance, but will also increase the damage of your critical hits by 30%, and as such, is not to be missed in Crit builds.
	This is your core item with the Transcendence build. Transcendence provides a large amount of power, mana and more MP5. Additionally, it also provides some cooldown bonus. It is very powerful combined with Asi. It is a stacking item, granting extra mana as it increases in stacks. Additionally, you gain bonus Physical Power equal to 3% of your total Mana pool.

	Poisoned Star is another critical hit item. It applies debuffs to the enemy upon landing a critical hit. It will slow them down and decrease their damage output by 20%, making this a great boxing** tool. This item works extremely well with Artemis' passive, and is therefore highly recommended. The slowdown is CC, which will activate your passive and increase your damage by an additional 15%.
	This item is one that complement high attack speed gods/builds, or those who have a short progression chain ( Kali, for example). Since Artemis has an insane attack speed steroid, it being 80%, this item will still show a lot of benefit when built with her. For the most part, it's a pretty standard item, providing some power and attack speed. However, there's the passive, and that is what makes Qin's Sais, Qin's Sais. The passive makes you deal a scaling percentage of your enemies' health points (scaling from 3 to 5%, depending on the target's maximum amount of HP), regardless of protections. If you're facing enemy gods who still seem to be a tower of indestructible force even though you've bought The Executioner, pick Qin's Sais up.
	Bloodforge is a luxury item. It's pretty expensive, but it also comes with some nice benefits. When playing Assault, you buy Bloodforge straight from the start for this very reason. In any other mode, you buy Devourer's Gauntlet (or Asi) first (due to it being a lot cheaper), and replace it for Bloodforge afterwards, should you find yourself having enough gold for that. It has an a lower amount of lifesteal than Devourer's Gauntlet, but a lot more power and will give you a shield upon killing an enemy god.
	Wind Demon is Poisoned Star's cousin, though it does almost the exact opposite. Instead of applying debuffs to your enemy, it applies buffs to you. It is an item that fits Artemis pretty well, though you have to be a bit wary when attempting to buy this item. The reason being for this that it needs to fit in your build. When attempting to buy this item, make sure you do not overcap attack speed. You're likely to overcap attack speed when you have 2 or more items of the following combined: Asi, The Executioner, Qin's Sais. If you do decide to purchase this item, it will give you more critical hit chance, and attack and movement speed.
	Asi is a valuable sustaining tool. It provides sustain in the form of lifesteal (and a decent amount at that). It also provides Physical Power to deal more damage, a flat amount of penetration to ignore some of the enemy's protections and therefore increase your damage even more, and also provides a fairly large attack speed bonus. Asi in an incredible item to buy for Artemis, and works extremely well when combined with Transcendence.
	Warrior Tabi acts as a replacement for Ninja Tabi if you chose this over the other. You'd generally pick Warrior Tabi if you have one or more of the following, usually through other items: Attack speed, mana and/or mana sustain. You would also buy Warrior Tabi instead of Ninja Tabi if you want more power. However, aside from giving a good starting power boost and movement speed, this item grants nothing else and costs a bit more than Ninja Tabi.
	Odysseus' Bow is the pinnacle of attack speed items. Sporting a whopping 40% attack speed, this item will boost your arrow-rate by a ton. Additionally, it has a lightning chaining effect that activates on every fourth basic attack. This lightning hits your target and 4 nearby enemies for 30 damage, +50% of your physical power. A good fit in lots of builds, but be careful not to exceed the attack speed cap by too much.
	An "evolving" item, Rage sets you up with some power and 30% critical strike chance from the start. However, as you gain kills, the item will "evolve", increasing your critical hit chance with each kill you gain. For every kill you get, Rage will get a stack, increasing your critical strike chance by 2% each stack. Max. 5 stacks. The total amount of critical strike chance is 40% after stacking, which is a lot. Recommended in case you find 40% from 2 critical hit items to be too low for your preference.

	Spirit Robe is an overall really good item. It doesn't cost to much and provides decent protections of both kinds. It also gives some CDR. The two main reasons why this is in here is that for one it, it is cheap, and the second being the CCR and passive. Since Artemis has no escape, CC is your worst enemy. Spirit Robe can counter some of that CC by giving you CCR**** and also some damage mitigation when you get hit by hard crowd control effects. This'll help you survive easier against a CC-heavy enemy team. Do note that this item's use will be nullified if you get hit by to much CC, but in such case there's no item that can save you, anyway.
	While Magi's Cloak is very weak, it has one major benefit. This being that it has a sort of Purification Beads effect that activates when you get hit by hard CC effects. This can help a lot against gods like Loki, so when facing one of these it may be worth picking this item up. It also provides some health, and a small amount of protections for both physical and magical attacks.
	Toxic Blade is your anti-heal option. Toxic Blade applies anti-heal upon hitting basic attacks. It also brings the benefit of more health and attack speed, which will also help in combat, as well as movement speed which can help during escapes or chases. On top of that, the item also holds a flat 10 penetration. This would make this a valuable item to buy as an alternative option during the early game in case a healer is bothering you.
	Winged Blade is certainly another very good option for Artemis. This item provides CCR, but focuses mainly on slows with its passive, making you immune for slows when you're hit by one. This makes it a viable option for surviving during escapes against enemies that rely on slows to catch up to you, like Nemesis, for example. It will also make you move faster and increase your health, which makes it have similar benefits to Toxic Blade, minus the attack speed.
	Mantle of Discord provides some amazing defenses, both physical and magical. It also brings some CDR with it. The passive on this item makes it so that whenever you drop below 30% health, enemies around you are stunned for 1s. This gives you a small amount of time to attempt an escape or turn the tide of battle and kill the enemy before they get back to their senses. This item is very expensive, however.
	Great amount of protections, mana, mana regeneration and CDR. Breastplate of Valor is perhaps the best personal Physical Protection item you can get in the game. The downside, however, is that it only provides physical protections. Warning: As a hunter, you should only buy a single-type protection item if you face a full team of that type (e.g. 5 Physical). Defense items already cut into your total damage, which is bad for a hunter, and by getting a single-type protection item you only cover one type of protection and would need to buy a second item for the other, decreasing your damage even more. If the enemy team is balanced (3-2 or 4-1), consider buying a multi-protection defense item instead.
	Bulwark of Hope is a high-protection magical defense item, and also gives health and crowd control reduction. You could say it's somewhat the magical counterpart of Breastplate of Valor. It also gives you a shield when you drop below a certain amount of health, which can help a lot when trying to escape. Warning: As a hunter, you should only buy a single-type protection item if you face a full team of that type (e.g. 5 Physical). Defense items already cut into your total damage, which is bad for a hunter, and by getting a single-type protection item you only cover one type of protection and would need to buy a second item for the other, decreasing your damage even more. If the enemy team is balanced (3-2 or 4-1), consider buying a multi-protection defense item instead.

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Wards is something very important. It can and will save your life if you warded on the right spots, preventing ganks. As Artemis, you have no escape, so any gank that is attempted on you may prove fatal. Should you be in need of wards (e.g. high enemy jungler activity near your lane), then you should buy these. If the enemy jungler, or nobody on the enemy team for that matter, makes for any danger of sudden ganks, there is no immediate need to buy these and would be better off buying potions for sustain. Wards are also a good option to gain vision over important objectives, such as the Fire Giant and Gold Fury, so when the game reaches a point that these objectives become more relevant, usually mid game (Gold Fury) and late game (Fire Giant), consider buying some Wards and place them there.	Sentry Wards are almost identical to Wards, with only 3 differences. 2 of these is that you can only carry one at a time, instead of 2 with the default Ward, and that they cost a bit more. You do, however, have the added bonus of being capable to find enemy wards with this. If you see an enemy ward being placed (upon enemy ward placement, if you're looking at it you can see the ward appear for a split second), use the Sentry Ward on that location and destroy it. This will make the passage a lot safer to pass through, since the enemy won't be able to see you, and if the enemy is unsuspecting of your actions, you may have just opened a backdoor, perfect for your assassin to go for a gank.
Healing Potions are potions that will heal you over time when consumed. They heal 250 HP over 25 seconds, meaning 10 HP per second. You'll need these to heal back up from enemy poking, any minion damage you may receive, and any battles you get yourself into. Use these to stay in lane longer, as you will need as much farm as you can get, especially when playing Artemis, since you only start to become really strong when you get your items online.	Mana Potions are the mana counterpart of the Healing Potion. It regenerates mana instead of health, for a total of 150 mana over 25 seconds, meaning 6 mana per second. You buy these for the same reason as you buy Healing Potions: sustain, with the ultimate goal of being capable of staying in lane as long as possible and get as much farm as possible.
Chalice of Healing is the chalice form of the Healing Potion. It heals for the same amount as the Healing Potion. The chalice only allows 3 uses per time, before you have to recall to the fountain, which is the limiting factor, since you can have up to 5 Healing Potions. You do, however, get infinite chalice uses once you've purchased it, since it'll refill for free every time you leave the fountain. The initial cost is higher, having the same cost as 6 Healing Potions, but in the long run this will save you a lot of gold since you don't have to re-buy Healing Potions every time.	Chalice of Mana is the chalice form of the Mana Potion. It heals for the same amount as the Mana Potion. The chalice only allows 3 uses per time, before you have to recall to the fountain, which is the limiting factor, since you can have up to 5 Mana Potions. You do, however, get infinite chalice uses once you've purchased it, since it'll refill for free every time you leave the fountain. The initial cost is higher, having the same cost as 6 Mana Potions, but in the long run this will save you a lot of gold since you don't have to re-buy Mana Potions every time.
Chalice of the Oracle is basically the liquid form of Wards, really. Should nobody on your team buy any Wards, this option may prove more interesting than buying individual Wards. The initial cost is higher, having the cost of 8 Wards, but in the long run this will save you a lot of gold since you don't have to re-buy Wards every time. It will provide an infinite uses of Wards ones bought, since it will refill automatically for free every time you leave the fountain. It doesn't have a Sentry Ward functionality though, so if you need a Sentry Ward you'll have to buy that seperately.

Purification Beads is an item that you should always attempt to get when playing Artemis, depending on the enemy team. If the enemy has almost no CC or no CC at all, do NOT get this and grab a more useful relic instead, such as Aegis Amulet. The upgraded version of this relic decreases its cooldown.	Aegis Amulet is a relic that will always be useful. It will make you invulnerable to damage for 2 seconds. It isn't stated, but it also cleanses any soft CC effects you may have on you at the moment you activate this relic, such as a slow. The upgraded version of this relic decreases the cooldown.
This is the formerly called "Sprint". It gives a 40% increased movement speed to you and allies near you. This is a good option to attempt escapes, but is most effective when combined with Purification Beads or Aegis Amulet, since it doesn't make you CC immune. You should not grab this relic unless nobody else on your team has it and Purification Beads isn't a necessity for you. If anybody else has this relic, or you need Purification Beads more, get Purification Beads instead. The upgraded version of this relic gives you a Fatalis effect while it is active.	Phantom Veil is a fairly good relic, but you should only grab it when both of the following conditions are met: Nobody else on your team has this. The enemy team has a god that can place obstacles. (e.g. Odin's Ring of Spears, Ymir's Ice Wall, ...) This relic will allow you to pass through those obstacles without the need of a leap, which Artemis doesn't have, and can mean the difference between life or death inside a Ring of Spears. The upgraded version of this relic reduces its cooldown.

Note: These are builds submitted by other users. They may or may not work entirely. Use these at your own risk. If you want your own build to be shown here as well, feel free to leave it in the comments or PM me your build. Build "results" would also be appreciated to shape an idea of your build's capabilities.

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*CDR : Cool Down Reduction in full, this lowers the time it takes for your abilities to cool down, allowing them to be used more often.
**boxing : A 1 on 1 battle.
***DoT : Damage over Time in full, this indicates that something will spread a set value of damage over multiple seconds, minutes or hours, but usually seconds.
****CCR : Crowd Control Reduction in full, this lowers the duration of Crowd Control (CC) effects on you. This does not affect all forms of CC (examples: Knock-ups, Ymir's Ice Wall).

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Did you know?
Artemis is one of the few hunters who can over-cap on attack speed. This is due to her Vengeful Assault, which already gives her an 80% attack speed boost at max rank. Be careful with your items!

// Pros & Cons \\ // Ability Description \\ // Combos \\ // Builds & Items \\ // Gameplay - Early, Mid, Late \\ // Summary \\ // Lore, Base stats, Changelog \\

Gameplay - How to play

Each and every God has a specific role in the game. The roles are "Solo - Warrior", "Mid - Mage", "Jungle - Assassin", "Support - Guardian", "(Attack Damage) Carry [ADC] - Hunter". These are the most common role-type associations, but may sometimes vary. (e.g. Ymir (guardian) as jungle.) As the ADC, because Artemis is classified as a hunter, you have the main goal of carrying your team, as well as some other goals throughout the games. Let's go over all of these and teach you what to do, when to do and how to do it in the most efficient way, when playing Artemis, throughout your games.

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Early game summary
Farming: Yes	Objectives: Limited	Rotations: No	Jungling: Limited
Level: 1-9

Farming

During the early game, farming is your one and only priority. You should be doing nothing else but farming. You can occasionally enter the jungle, with the ultimate goal of clearing a camp and getting even more farm only. During the farming lane, it's also advised to apply poke damage with Suppress The Insolent as much as possible to force your enemy away and make it easier on yourself. Note: ONLY use Suppress The Insolent as poke when you have just cleared a minion wave. This to ensure that Suppress The Insolent is off of CD when the next minion wave arrives and that you don't take minion aggro. Focus minion waves mainly, and apply the poke damage only if possible without sacrificing minion damage, because your farm is still the most important.

Objectives

During the early game, you have only a few objectives yet. The only objectives you have at this point are clearing buff camps to help your team (e.g. damage buff for mid), contesting Gold Fury's oracles and possibly even secure it to prevent the enemy from gaining such a powerful advantage ( Ward vision), and getting as much farm as possible. Other than that, you have no other obligations besides the obvious "stay alive".

Rotations

None. Do not leave your lane at all unless it's to clear a quick jungle camp. At this point you are not strong enough to even think about potentially letting a minion wave get soaked up by your tower. You need all the farm you can get because at this point in the game you're still a very weak character. Stay in your lane!

Jungling

You should avoid entering the jungle as much as possible. Not only do you leave your lane when you enter it, you also run a higher risk of getting caught out by sudden enemy movements onto your position, and have a greater chance of dying. Your only times you enter the jungle should be limited to clearing damage or "protection reduction" buff for your mid or support. Other than that, avoid the jungle at all cost.

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Mid game summary
Farming: Yes	Objectives: Limited	Rotations: Limited	Jungling: Limited
Level: 10-15

Farming

During the midgame, you should still prioritize farming over anything else. However, by this point you're a little stronger which grants you a bit more freedom on what you are allowed and what you're not allowed to do. Still, try to stick to your own lane as much as possible, and get as much farm as you can get to attempt to reach your own lategame as soon as possible.

Teamfights will also start to occur during this time. If this is the case, you should attempt to aid your team during these battles. Clear the next upcoming wave of minions first, to ensure your own farm stays on par or better than the enemy ADC. After you cleared the wave, immediately make your way over to the teamfight location and assist your team. Do not stand at the frontline, that's where the support will go, and neither on the backline, that's where your warrior will go to fight off any enemy jungler gank attempts. Stick in the middle together with your mage and damage and kill off the enemy team from a distance.

Objectives

You have acquired some new objectives at this point. Though very limited, you should attempt to strive for these objectives to weaken your enemy. The objectives from the early game still apply, and you've acquired 2 new ones:

• Attempt to take T1 tower (first tower in lane). Do not get greedy, your life is more important!
• Secure oracles, prevent the enemy from gaining vision over the Gold Fury. Only do so when your path is safe, the jungle is still very dangerous!

Follow these objectives, but remember that your farm and your life still take priority in any case!

Rotations

Limit this as much as possible. At this point you're allowed to do rotations only from ADC lane to mid lane and back. You should only do this under following conditions:

• Your lane is "safe", meaning you have pushed enemy ADC and/or support back.
• Middle lane is in need of assistance. Then and only then should you attempt to make an intervention in middle lane.
• The enemy jungler is nowhere nearby. You should be 100% certain about this. If the enemy jungler catches you isolated on your way from ADC to mid, you are an easy target.

If all these conditions are met, you are allowed to rotate to middle lane and provide assistance. Return as fast as possible to ADC lane, however. Your farm and life still take top priority!

Jungling

Keep jungling limited to the same limits as in the early game. You're only allowed to extend your jungle path up to mid harpies' camp and the Gold Fury's oracles. Do not move past that point in the jungle.

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Late game summary
Farming: Yes & No	Objectives: Yes	Rotations: Yes	Jungling: Yes
Level: 16-20+

Farming

You should still prioritize farming up to level 20 and until you have full build. After this, farm does not matter for you anymore. Leave the minion farm for another teammate, probably your support, to catch up if they need it. After this point, you should still kill minions to push lanes or to prevent the enemy from taking your towers, but don't need to farm actively anymore.

At this point, teamfights will also happen. Participate in each and every one of these, your team needs you there, just like when a teamfight would happen during midgame. Do not stand at the frontline, that's where the support will go, and neither on the backline, that's where your warrior will go to fight off any enemy jungler gank attempts. Stick in the middle together with your mage and damage and kill off the enemy team from a distance.

Objectives

Everything becomes your objective now, you're the carry after all. You have a lot of objectives at this point, some which you can attempt to do alone, others which you will most likely require your team's aid for. Here's the list of objectives:

• Secure Oracle & Gold Fury, if not already done.
• Secure demon portal (FG portal) and Fire Giant.
• Push your lane and aid in the pushes of other lanes.
• Kill as many enemies as you can. The more you wipe the enemy team, the better. Don't get to greedy though, you're still a hunter, and that means you're still squishy.
• Defeat the enemy titan.

The ultimate goal is to defeat the enemy titan. The lane pushing is a requirement to do so. (Titan is invulnerable as long as all Phoenixes are still standing.) The other objectives, such as Fire Giant, Gold Fury and killing, are only means to help you achieving your ultimate goal, they'll make the job a lot easier.

Rotations

Yes, yes and yes. At this point, you become like a second jungler. You should attempt to assist in each and every other lane that is in need of help, or that need to be pushed. Do be careful not to get caught out alone, however, make sure there's always somebody with you, preferably your support.

Jungling

Very much so. You can now roam the jungle anywhere, and attempt to defeat any camp you wish. Stick with a teammate, however, preferably support, to aid you should you get caught off-guard. When attempting to take a higher objective, such as Gold Fury or Fire Giant, ensure that the area is clear and your teammates are nearby to assist you.

You can enter enemy jungle territory (towards the enemy titan's side), but be extra careful and always have an escape plan at the ready should things go a bit sideways.

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This would be how to behave during a game in general. Remember that things will vary depending on game to game, but this is what you should generally strive for while playing to ensure best results. Remember that whatever action you attempt during the game, you always have 3 major objectives, that you should strive for at all costs. Fail at either of these and you're at a guaranteed loss, unless the carry be carried:

• Get max level and full build as fast as possible!
• Stay alive as much as possible, no matter what. Even if things look dark, never just stand around thinking "oh I'm pretty much dead anyway", ALWAYS attempt to survive, no matter the conditions.
• Defeat the enemy titan as fast as possible. Sure, if you're beating the enemy it may sound like fun to "drag it out" and kill them more, but if the enemies finally catch up that plan may quickly turn against you.

And as an extra: never give up. In SMITE, wonders do happen.

// Pros & Cons \\ // Ability Description \\ // Combos \\ // Builds & Items \\ // Gameplay - Early, Mid, Late \\ // Summary \\ // Lore, Base stats, Changelog \\

Summary

So by now you should know how to play Artemis along great lines. I do want you to remember that this is a guide, and as such is only meant as a helping tool and should be treated as such. You are in no way obliged to follow this guide, use this guide's build, or listen to anything I've written down in this guide, you're free to do as you desire in that regard. As for now, let's quickly summarize what we've gone over:

• Artemis' pros & cons
  • Weak early game, but strong late game due to the hunter class' nature.
  • Great ultimate with a lot of perks. Abilities are very flexible and can be used in a variety of ways.
  • No escape moves make this god tricky to play for newer players who tend to get into trouble more easily.
• Artemis' abilities
  • Can be used in a variety of ways.
  • Good amount of CC available in her kit, but some of it is tricky to master and use effectively ( Transgressor's Fate).
  • No escape ability, but some abilities can be used as a "make-shift escape". (Not really an escape but can aid very well in escaping)
  • Lots of utility, and less focused on damage.
• Artemis' item selection
  • Benefits a lot from attack speed, crit, power and penetration.
  • Very reliant on items. Items chosen in the game will shape her to what she will be at the end of the game.
• Artemis' social life
  • Very late game focused, making her weak against gods who have a strong early game.
  • Will get bullied by gods with great (early) clear.
  • Her utility can give her an upper-hand against almost any type of god, provided said god does not counter the utility provided by Artemis's kit.
• Artemis' style, that's the style!
  • Plays like most other hunters.
  • Safe early game, aggressive late game.
  • Limited due to no real escape ability.

This will mark the end of all relevant information in this guide. You can continue scrolling down, where you'll find Artemis's lore, her base stats and the changelog to this guide. This information is mostly irrelevant to the common reader however, and will most likely be used for those who want to read more about Artemis, experiment with Artemis stats a bit more, or those who want to keep up with this guide's status with ease.

// Pros & Cons \\ // Ability Description \\ // Combos \\ // Builds & Items \\ // Gameplay - Early, Mid, Late \\ // Summary \\ // Lore, Base stats, Changelog \\

Lore, Stats, Guide changelog

Lore:

"Armed with a magical bow, Artemis is the unrivaled Goddess of the Hunt!

Daughter of Zeus and Leta, Artemis and her twin brother Apollo are products of Zeus’ infidelity to his wife Hera. Insulted, Hera cursed Leta while she was pregnant, forbidding her to give birth on land or sea. Fortunately, she found an island that did not touch the ocean floor, so it was neither land nor sea, and thus bore her children. Artemis was born first, then miraculously aided as midwife in the birthing of her brother.

Artemis spent her childhood in the hills and forests, training with her bow and hunting beasts. As she grew older and more beautiful, she also grew proud and ruthless when slighted or dishonored, especially against those that claimed to be better hunters than she. Adonis boasted this very thing and Artemis sent a wild boar to skewer him. The twin demigods Otos and Ephialtes, who could not be killed except by each other, threatened to kidnap Artemis and force her to marry one of them, but were tricked when Artemis, appearing as a doe, dashed between them. As they thrust with their spears they impaled each other. Finally, Actaeon, after peeping at Artemis while she bathed, was transformed into a stag and devoured by his own hunting dogs. Such is the wrath of Artemis.

Her name is invoked by hunters seeking prey and by midwives during childbirth. Sacrifices are made in her name before a new military campaign. Adolescent girls are sent to her shrine to serve for one year. Beautiful, deadly, and chaste, Artemis is a focused woman and a fearsome warrior."


Base Stats:

Stats
Offensive	Defensive	Other
Mana: 205 (+34) Damage: 35 (+2.5) +100% of Physical Power Range: 55 (+0) Attack/sec: 0.95 (+1.7%)	Health: 450 (+75) Physical Protection: 12 (+3) Magical Protection: 30 (+0.9) Hp5: 8 (+0.68) Mp5: 4.4 (+0.25)	Speed: 365 (+0) Progression: None
Note: Numbers in parentheses are the amount gained at each level.

Changelog:

May 27, 2019 [ Update 3 - V4.0(0) ] Updated guide to represent SMITE Version 6.5 (S6|U6.5) (4.20 -> 6.5) Changed build sets to represent current optimal S6 build paths. Updated guide information to represent current correct information as of SMITE U6.5. Brawler's Beat Stick, Titan's Bane and Jotunn's Wrath are no longer considered viable per this guide. Removed the match-up & Synergy chapter. This chapter was incomplete, and due to constant changes to existing gods, and the addition of new gods, would prove impossible to maintain properly. Fixed various visual decrepencies in the guide, the Abilities chapter specifically. Fixed several spelling / grammatical errors across the guide. This guide took a large leap in state of representation, going from S4|U4.20 to S6|U6.5. Information was changed to reflect current game state as accurately as possible, but errors or incompatible content may still linger. If you spot this, please bring this to my attention. October 17, 2017 [ Update 2 - V3.0(0) ] Updated guide to represent Version 4.19 (4.13 -> 4.19) Huge visual update for the entire Abilities chapter. Removed Malice and Frostbound Hammer, added Odysseus' Bow and Rage. Visual adjustments to make the guide prettier overall and make navigation easier. Added quicktags for quick and easy navigation throughout the guide. Revised build(s) to represent some of the most optimal states for patch 4.19. Addition of information: Guide awards, chapter summary. Removed items "statistics" chapter. Probably a few other things. July 26, 2017 [ Update 1 - V2.0(0) ] Updated guide to represent Version 4.13 (4.02 -> 4.13) Added Hou Yi and Izanami as "against" to match-ups. February 20, 2017 [ Update 0 - V1.0(0) ] Initial guide release.

// Pros & Cons \\ // Ability Description \\ // Combos \\ // Builds & Items \\ // Gameplay - Early, Mid, Late \\ // Summary \\ // Lore, Base stats, Changelog \\