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I like to go Sentinel's Gift on Athena because she's dashing in a lot to setup for her team, so having the extra prots from this starter will give you more survivability.
Glowing Emerald will lead into Gauntlet of Thebes which I consider to be the best support item in the game.
Then you just get 5 hp pots and 2 wards for lane. The hp pots will allow you to sustain until you have to back for Thebes, and the wards help prevent early jungle ganks.
The first two items are pretty standard for supports. Guantlet of thebes and Sentinel's Embrace for allies since they give protection auras. I usually go Compassion on more backline supports. But heavier engage supports such as Athena I go into sentinels.
Relic Dagger, Spirit Robe, and Magi's Cloak give Athena cooldown to help get her abilities up quicker.
Spirit Robe is very good when engaging because it allows you to be tanky since you're in the frontlines. Magi's Cloak also helps you with that since you can absorb a hard crowd control when going in.
Finally Stone of Binding is used to debuff the enemies that you taunt so your allies can get more damage off on them.
You want max Confound because it increases taunt duration by 2x at max rank. After that when you can put points into Defender of Olympus and max Shield Wall then lastly Preemptive Strike.
Emblem of Increasing Peril is really good to help keep Athena CC up. After you taunt someone, if they beads it you can wait for the beads to end the slow them with this relic to continue the CC chain.
Phantom Shell is a really nice relic to increase your tankiness as well as your allies, and it allows you to pass through player made walls. Both of these relics combined are great multi-use relics.
These relics are more situational depending on team comp. But for example, if you're against an Ao Kuang, then Temporal Beads is needed to prevent him from snowballing off of you. For Athena in particular, if they have a heavy crowd control (CC) comp, then beads may be needed for him.
Heavenly Wings is also good if they have a lot of slows. I like going Entangling Wings, but if you have multiple ADCS then Hastened Wings is better.
Bracer's a nice pickup if you have immobile characters that might benefit from the movement speed they get from it. Also really good with mage ADCs, such as Olorun, Sol, and Freya.
Finally, Blink Rune is really good to help with your engage if you can afford to get this relic and don't need any of the others selected.
This can be pretty complex, so it's hard to get it all down through text. But a few pivots you could do with your build are:
Heartward Amulet if they're 3 or 4+ magical damage, in place of Sovereignty. Erosion if they have a lot of shielding, for example if they have a Charon which can replace Stone of Binding.
Spectral Armor is a need to go if the enemy has any crit on their team.
Hey there, I go by Dashboarrd and I'm a Grandmaster Support Conquest player. I've competed in the SCC (Smite Challenger Circuit) and I have won SOC (Smite Open Circuit). I have also won plenty of gem tourneys during the weekends, such as Iced and Vulpis. I have put many hours into Smite and in particular Athena. I hope this guide can give you some new direction with Athena if you're struggling with her, or just improve your overall Athena gameplay.
You can reach out to me via the following channels:
Ability 1 - Preemptive Strike
Athena's dash is a very good engage tool. Use it as a budget Blink Rune where you can close the gap for your taunt. As a tip, try playing a corner with this ability pre-charged then send it once you see a target in range. |
Ability 2 - Confound
Athena's best and most known ability. This is probably one of the best CC's in the game. Use this in combination with Preemptive Strike to create the best engage in the game. You can use this as peel but you should mainly be aggressive with it by engaging and starting fights for your team. Make sure to max this ability first since you get 2x taunt duration and 2 seconds less on your cooldown. |
Ability 3 - Shield Wall
Get it level 1 since it has the most optimal clear. With this Athena can do a 3 camp clear. Since it has a 20% slow added onto it, use it as a soft form of CC for peel or chase. Use it in combination with Confound after you've already taunted to extend your CC duration with a slow for a few seconds afterwards. |
Ultimate - Defender of Olympus
This ult grants both you and your selected teammate a buff. The buff proves 30% damage mitigation and gives 20% movement speed to your ally. I would use this as a way to get into a fight quicker, especially across the map. I would also use it as a form of peel, where you can make your ally take heavily reduced damage in a teamfight if they get gone on. You can also ult immediately after you dash taunt to make yourself a big tanky target which will help your team to freecast if they're focused on you. |
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