Now, you might be saying "WTF" at some of the items in these builds. I will now explain the reasoning for each item, and when to build it.
Shoes
Shoes are possibly the most flexible of all the items in these builds, so I'll discuss all of them.
Shoes of the Magi can be a good option if you want to go for some early damage. I wouldn't really recommend these unless you're playing super aggressive,
and you're ahead.
Do not build these unless you know what you're getting.
Shoes of Focus are great. 10% CDR isn't much, but later on, it will get you closer to the cap. You're building defense later anyway, so the CDR is nice to have. I tend to build these most of the time, these are the most consistent option.
Travelers Shoes are what I prefer when I'm with a late game ADC. The gold bonus helps, and with the passive, you can rotate faster- which you'll want to be doing a lot of if your ADC is late game (Such as
Artemis, who needs a lot of farm)
Reinforced Shoes can be decent if you want to get some early game tankyness. I used to build these before they had the passive, and they are still decent- but don't expect to be tanking towers at level 6 with these.
Core Items (Utility)
Now, for the items.
Stone of Binding
Stone of Binding is something that you really can't overlook as Athena. It's cheap, provides 30 of each protection (only 10 less than
Spirit Robe) along with decent power and, in my opinion, has an often overlooked passive.
Why on athena?
Using
Confound will apply Taunt, a form of hard CC. If you're with your ADC, you're giving them 10 flat penetration. Having 10 flat pen this early in the game is basically like having a
Jotunn's Wrath or
Brawler's Beat Stick for free. This is a nice boost, especially if you have the void buff. The main reason for this item being first is because of its cost to power ratio. It falls off late game, and you'll probably be selling it, but what it offers early game makes it worth a pickup.
Emperor's Armour
Emperor's Armor Is an extremely undervalued item. It gives you an extra bit of tankyness (physical protection and health), and the passive is insane. Early/mid game, it makes pushing/defending much much easier, making it good if you're ahead
or behind- people don't understand how difficult it is to push a tower which has
Emperor's Armor's passive acting on it (It buffs your tower's attack speed by 40%- this includes phoenixes) , nor do they understand how easy it is for their tower to be pushed with the passive either (It slows enemey tower's attack speed by 30%). Whilst there may be better raw defensive items, this build isn't focused on diving the backline- and this item is effective with casuals, and is
extremely effective with a coordinated team.
Why on athena?
As Athena, your teammates will spam VGS and expect you to be everywhere, all the time, because of
Defender of Olympus. Because of this, you'll be helping to defend towers a lot, and also be helping to push with your teammates.
Emperor's Armor just gives you even more of a reason to rotate without feeling like you're ineffective, because the passive will always be useful for both attack, and defence.
Spirit Robe
Spirit Robe shouldn't really be a surprise to anybody. It's the tankiest item in the game in terms of what it offers- even after it was nerfed. CDR once again, something that is really important on Athena. The protections are a nice general defence boost, and the passive is very good.
Why on athena?
The damage reduction means that if you initiate a team fight with something like Blink or
Preemptive Strike and they focus you down with hard CC, it will be harder for them to do so with the passive of
Spirit Robe, as well as the CCR it offers.
Optional Items (Utility)
Slots 5 and 6 are situational items. This slot relies heavily on counter building, or what you feel like your team needs. I wont go into much detail, but I'll list some key items.
Genji's Guard- If you're against a magic heavy damage comp. It doesn't work so well against a magic burst comp (eg, Posideon), but it is still very very effective. Provides a lot of magical protection, and CDR along with the passive is very good, which you'll want to get
Confound online as much as possible.
This is an OK option.
Stone of Gaia- If the enemy team has knock-ups (Such as
He Bo, or
Vulcan) or other types of CC that trigger the passive, this is a must.
Preemptive Strike isn't the best dash in the world, and knockup can interupt it. If you have this item, you'll be more likely to stay alive after being knocked up (coupled with the passive from
Spirit Robe), giving you more time to charge up your dash and escape. Also helps you sustain, the regeneration per 5 seconds is very nice to have, as your kit doesn't have a heal, and you'll not be building lifesteal.
This is a GOOD option.
Void Stone- If your team has a magic heavy comp, or if you have a magical ADC such as
Freya. This is a very aggressive item, but don't forget, the aura won't work unless you're actually there!
This is an OK option.
Pestilence- If you're against magical healers that also do damage, such as
Ra, Aprodite, or even
Chang'e. Also effective if they have a healing support, such as Sylvanas. If nobody else has this and the enemy has relevant healing, pick it up.
This is a situational option.
Hide of the Nemean Lion and
Midgardian Mail- Against AA focused comps, or with a hyper carry god such as
Kali, or even gods such as
Arachne. Don't rely on them too much though, as the enemy will probably be building items such as
Stone Cutting Sword and Executioner. Dont forget,
Preemptive Strike gives you stacks of block, meaning you can absorb up to 3 basic attacks. Thats >1000 damage in the late game. Of these two,
Hide of the Nemean Lion is usually the better option.
This is a situational option.
Sovereignty- If you have a squishy comp, such as a mage/hunter solo. This can be fit in at any point in the build, but the passive isn't as valued as it once was. Only build it when you need it.
This is a situational option.
Mantle of Discord- Very good against a burst heavy comp. It offers you a whopping 60 of each protection, which is insane. The CDR once again gets you closer to the 40% cap, which is also useful. Perhabs the best bit about this is the passive, which gives you even more CC. As athena, you'll mainly be eating the enemies CC and setting up teamfights. So, it won't be too uncommon to trigger the passive. And, if you've used
Confound into your Sheild Wall, the enemies will be well within the radius.
This is a GOOD option.
Hide of the Urchin- is only really good if you know your team, and you build it early. Maybe
swap this around with your Spirit Robe to get the stacks, as it's not very good without them. This is a very good item, but only if you get the stacks online.
This is an OK option.
Shogun's Kusari- If you have a good AA comp, such as a
Kali jungle or
Kali solo, or an AA mid laner like
Chronos or even
Sol.
This is an OK option.
Points to note with this build
-You need to rotate as much as possible with
Defender of Olympus, and make use of
Emperor's Armor as much as possible.
-Apply
Confound as much as possible when with your adc, to trigger
Stone of Binding.
-Don't forget that, although you aren't squishy, you're nowhere near as tanky as you could be until you're at full build.
-Don't take unnecessary risks. Your abilities will be on a longer cooldown because of the slight lack of CDR, and you aren't as tanky as you'd like to think.
Core Items (Tanky Utility)
Just as a quick note, you'll probably want to build
Reinforced Shoes with this build, because you're aiming to be as tanky as possible. This build differs from the other because it focusses on a more aggressive playstyle.
Jade emperor's crown
Jade Emperor's Crown is a good item, giving you protections, power, health and the aura. This is a great item when focusing the enemies ADC, as it reduces their damage output, and also protects you from their damage. It's also decently priced.
Why on athena?
You will be pulling people with
Confound, which guarantees that this item will be effective. It's a more damage focused item, and also helps you to damage like
Stone of Binding does in the other build.
Void Stone
Void Stone is basically like a damage version of
Jade Emperor's Crown. It reduces magical protection of the enemy (in effect, providing all your allies with 20 flat magical pen), and offers magical protection. By this point, you'll probably be pretty tanky against most of the enemy team.
Why on athena?
Just a decent damage item. You've now got health, decent amounts of each protection and 2 great aura's.
Shield Wall and
Reach can give you decent damage numbers on their own, and coupled with this item's passive, you can reliably put out reasonable amounts of damage.
Mantle of Discord
Mantle of Discord is mentioned above, but this offers you pure tankyness. Why this and not
Hide of the Urchin you ask? Well, although you'll probably be able to easily get stacks on it,
Mantle of Discord offers us 10% CDR as well as the passive, and we've got health from the previous 3 items anyway, so it doesn't matter as much.
Why on athena?
It gives you all you could want at this point of the game. CDR to get
Shield Wall and
Confound online faster, as well as protections. Remember,
this build is focused on being in the thick of it, which also helps to get the most of of the item's passive.
In reading your writeup on Stone of Binding, want to just point out one thing with it...you use Confound as the example of activating the passive, but it's not just hard CC...her Preemptive Strike activates the passive too, via the slow.
Anyway, your first build is one I would almost never do, but your explanations make me want to try it =) I usually play her in a more traditional support build type, e.g. Watcher's + Lono's, Travelers, Sov or Jade, Genji or Void, Spirit, and 2 situationals, but I should branch out.
Anyway, good job.
I did not know that Stone of Binding was activated by Preemptive Strike. I always read it as only activating on "hard cc", but that was just me not reading enough, haha.
Again, I completely understand why you wouldn't build her that way. A lot of people don't like it, but again, it depends on how you want to play her. I play her a little bit more like Khepri, being less front liney.
I appreciate your comments and will take your criticism on board.
Thanks!
If you go up to the person, use Shield Wall and wait for the person to almost walk off the circle, Confound can actually keep them long enough for the second damage to go through. You can see Incon doing this all the time he plays Athena solo.
Other than that, REALLY solid guide. Congrats.
Yeah, I know what you mean. In fact, I do this sometimes too. The only problem I have is that, most of the time, (if you're against decent enemies) you'll be CC'd by the time you get the chance to use Confound.
Again, this is my first guide, and I tried to make it accessible to new players. I really appreciate your feedback and I'll be sure to think through more in the future.
Thank you for reading my guide!