Awilix- Claws and Effect (Arena)

Hi. I'm Ahrah, and this is Awilix.

Awilix is the Mayan goddess of the moon, and a tricky assassin in the world of SMITE. Here's a quick guide to improve playing her in Arena.


Awilix's kit (in a nutshell):

Increased mobility
Extra damage in her Auto Attack chain
A line attack with knock-up
An ult that pulls enemies out of the air

She's commonly played as a Jungler, and does well with teammates with knock-up crowd control.

Pros
-Deals High Damage
-Takes down enemies quickly
-High mobility and chase potential
-A little extra range on basic attacks
-Medium CC
-Very fun to play


Cons
-Squishy
-Mana hungry
-Relies on combo
-Weak against cripples
-Not as versatile as other assassins

Passive: Initiative

If Awilix strikes first from out of combat, she increases her physical power by 30% for 2.5 seconds


This is a simple passive. Once you deal damage to a minion, god, or jungle monster, Awilix has 30 extra physical power. After 2.5 seconds, the buff will fade, and you will return to your natural power level (with items) This buff won’t return to you until you exit combat. The passive indicator will let you know when the buff is active.


Ability 1: Summon Suku

Awilix mounts her Panther Suku, gaining movement speed but decreasing strafe speed. Awilix may leap off of Suku to deal damage to all enemies in the target area. Canceling this ability before leaping will not trigger its cooldown.

Damage: 80/130/180/230/280 (+80% physical power)
Movement Speed: 25%
Cost: 50/55/60/65/70 mana
Cooldown: 15 seconds.

This is a bit more of a utility type ability. While you move faster, you move slower when strafing left, right, or backwards. Most Awilix players will use this ability to travel to and from the fountain, and traverse from jungle camp to jungle camp. It costs mana whenever you hop on, but the cooldown will only trigger if you use Suku to jump. The best use of that jump is to initiate and and activate your passive, or to escape a really bad jam.


Ability 2: Feather Step

Awilix flips over the last enemy she hit within 1.5s, rooting, crippling, and dealing damage as she passes over them. The damage dealt is modified based on the next attack in Awilix's basic attack progression. If the next attack is her third attack, then she also hits all targets in the area around her.

Damage: 60/90/120/150/180 (+50% physical power)
Root and Cripple duration: 0.6 seconds
Attack Progression Bonus: 1x/1.5x/2x
Cost: 60/65/70/75/80 mana
Cooldown: 8 seconds.

This is Awilix's main ability to use in combat, so max it first. Since it deals damage based on your basic attack progression, it deals 1.5 times the damage after hitting one basic attack, and 2 times the damage (plus an AoE around the target) after two basic attacks. It also roots and cripples the target, preventing them from escaping (in a short window) and also repositions you on the other side of the target.

Keep in mind you can only flip over an enemy if they’re within melee range (16 units).


Ability 3: Moonlight Charge

Suku comes to Awilix's aid, rushing forward and damaging all enemies. If hit from the side or behind, enemies are also knocked up into the air.

Damage: 90/130/170/210/250 (+60% physical power)
Cost: 85 mana
Cooldown: 12 seconds.

Moonlight Charge does decent damage, so it can be used to clear a minion wave. But Awilix mainly uses it for the decent knock up. Since you can’t knock up anyone unless you hit them from behind or the side, it’s wise to use Summon Suku or Feather Step to reposition yourself. It also works in conduction with your ultimate, which is:


Ultimate: Gravity Surge

Awilix calls upon the power of the moon, immediately pulling to her the closest enemy god she is facing that is either Leaping or Knocked Up into the air. The target god takes damage when it lands. Awilix is then bathed in moonlight, gaining bonus attack speed and Physical Power for 5s.

Damage: 200/250/300/350/400 (+80% physical power)
Power Buff: 20/30/40/50/60
Attack Speed Buff: 30/40/50/60/70%
Cost: 90 mana
Cooldown: 90 seconds

This is what Awilix excels at: Countering jumps. She will not only pull enemies who are knocked up, but also cancel any leaps a god is currently using. Check the Matchup sections to see what abilities are affected by Gravity Surge

In addition to the pull, Awilix gets a lot of power and attack speed. Even if you don’t successfully pull someone, you do get a wicked steroid for 5 seconds for an easy way to box against someone.

Warrior Tabi

A common pair of boots for an assassin. It has the largest physical power from any pair of boots, and that's really all your interested in. That's not to say the other boots aren't worth it, however. Ninja Tabi makes a decent substitute, if you want to buy more damage items and put less emphasis on attack speed. Reinforced Greaves could serve for a bruiser-ish build, or even talaria's shoes if you want more movement speed.

Hydra's Lament

The first two levels of this item are relatively cheap, at around 850 gold. I buy it because it reduces cooldowns and makes a basic attack hit harder after an ability use. Try syncing it up with Initiative for some extra kick.

Jotunn's Wrath

More cooldown reduction and physical power, but with some added penetration and mana along you to stay in the fray a little longer.



Ichaival

My attack speed item of choice. Suited for ADCs and Assassins alike, it gives 30% attack speed, so that you can land your basic attacks faster for the extra damage on Feather Step. Along with the power stealing passive and penetration, it helps tip the scales like Nemesis's passive.

Hastened Fatalis

The same attack speed as Ichaival and Qin's Sais, but adds movement speed and lets you stay on top of fleeing enemies. If you wanna make sure you hit your basic attacks, pick this up.

Qin's Sais

Here's what you want for shredding tanks and bruisers. Power, attack speed, and more damage based on the target's HP. It'll cost a lot of gold, though.



Titan's Bane

If you want to pierce through physical protection without buying Qin's Sais, you can always get Titan's Bane. More physical power and penetration keeps it plain and simple.

The Crusher

The physical power and penetration aren't half bad. Normally, it'd be a better choice in Conquest or Siege, due to its passive, but it does provide more physical power than Titan's Bane.

Rage

With any attack speed items/buffs you get, the crit-chance passive it provides makes sure you'll land some reliable crits and make your killing combo all the more deadly. It's pretty cheap for a crit item, so I almost always buy it.

Deathbringer

Probably the best crit item, if you ask anyone. By boosting the damage you deal with crits by 50%, you won't land them as often as Rage, but when they do hit, your enemy will know it. It's also the most expensive physical power item in SMITE, so if you have the extra gold to buy it, go ahead.



If you feel like you really want to keep yourself alive, swap out one or two of the bonus damage items for one of these.

magi's blessing + Winged Blade

These items are good for protecting yourself from gods with lots of the same type of CC.

For hard CC (stuns, pulls, fears) gods: Ymir, Sylvanus, Eset, get magi's blessing

For soft CC (mainly slows) gods: Ah Puch, Bastet, Guan Yu, picking up Winged Blade will help.


Witchblade, Void Shield, Runic Shield, Shifter's Shield

These items are mainly for protections while still providing some offensive benefit.

Magic gods bothering you? Pick up Runic Shield.

Physical? Void Shield.

ADC's laying the hurt with AAs? Boom. Witchblade.

Wanna just play it safe? Then Shifter's Shield is for you.


On it's their own, these items provide:

+160 Physical Power
+18% Movement Speed
+30% Attack Speed
+40% Cooldown Reduction
+150 Mana
+54 Physical Penetration
+30% Crit Chance

Total gold: 12,645

These items make up my favorite build for Awilix, and one I use very often.

Awilix can be built for an ability based play-style (AP) or a play-style centered around her basic attacks (AD).

Any of her skills can be used to damage the enemy and jungle camps.

Awilix chains her abilites together. The order goes

Summon Suku -> 2 BASIC ATTACKS -> Feather Step -> Moonlight Charge -> Gravity Surge -> MORE BASIC ATTACKS

If your ultimate is on cooldown, just skip to using basic attacks some more.

The idea is to trigger your Initiative while you pounce on your enemy with Summon Suku. Two basic attacks allow you to use Feather Step for double the damage, and while you’re behind the enemy, using Moonlight Charge knocks them up for a Gravity Surge. More basic attacks with the steroid it give you, it’s sure to seriously injure (if not kill) your enemy.

It’s rather simple. 1, 2, 3, 4.

When playing Arena, look for openings. Look to see if the mage has 20% HP, or if the ADC is taking a jungle buff alone. When you see an opportunity, ask your self: "Can I take this guy alone?" If the answer is 'yes', advance and see how close to a kill you can get. If not, look to see if your team is ready to back you up. Use the chaos of teamfights to your advantage, and pick off or harass an enemy while a tank or bruiser holds the attention of your foes.

But still, arena is influenced by minions. Moonlight Charge can clear a wave of minions at full rank, and Feather Step triggers on minions. If nobody else is killing minions, Awilix can do it.

That also means you can clear jungle camps by using only Feather Step or Moonlight Charge. In Arena, you can take either the red or purple buff for yourself, and leave blue for a teammate.

Focus gods that don't have an escape. Gods with dashes will have no problem getting away from you, but gods with leaps can be punished by Gravity Surge.

Gods with neither jumps nor dashes, Nox, He Bo, Ah Muzen Cab are some of the best targets, often because no escapes are often on squishy gods. But be wary as they have more firepower to make up for it.


Now, as middle game slowly transitions into late game, you may find yourself falling off. Enemies may wisen up and by Greater Purification or Greater Aegis to counter your abilities, or adapt their strategies by hanging around their teammates. While you may find it harder to kill as the game goes on, it'll be easier to be killed. Straying from your team makes you an easier target to pick off. 1v1 skirmishes will be rarer and tipped a little less in your favor, so but you still make a great asset in teamfights.

Awilix works well with other gods that have knock ups in their kits. Here are some abilities that your teammates can use to set up for Gravity Surge

- He Bo’s Waterspout

- Bacchus’s Belly Flop

- Sun Wukong’s 72 Transformations (Ox form)

- Geb’s Shock Wave

- Anhur’s Disperse

- Hercules’s Earthbreaker

- Hou Yi’s Divebomb (With Mark of the Golden Crow)

- Vamana’s Clear The Path

- Vulcan’s Meatball- I mean; Magma Bomb

- Sylvanus’s Wrath of Terra

- Chaac’s Storm Call

- Sobek’s Charge Prey and Tail Whip

- Kukulkan’s Spirit of the Nine Winds

- Kumbhakarna’s Epic Uppercut (landing)

- Tyr’s Fearless

- Poseidon’s Release The Kraken!


Counters

Enemies that can jump. You can use Gravity Surge on enemy gods using these abilities:

- Anhur’s Disperse

- Neith’s Backflip

- Hun Batz’s Somersault

- Bastet’s Pounce

- Ullr’s Glory Bound

- Bacchus’s Belly Flop

- Fenrir’s Unchained

- Hou Yi’s Divebomb

- Serqet’s Ambush

- Kali’s Nimble Strike

- Odin’s Lunge

Believe it or not, this ability also works on:

Awilix’s own Summon Suku and Feather Step
Scylla’s Sentinel
Chaac’s Torrent
Hades’s Death From Below


Countered by


Gods are CC immune during their leaps, so don’t try to waste your ultimate on:

Bellona’s Eagles Rally
Osiris’s Lord of the Afterlife
Xbalanque’s Rising Jaguar

Gods with Cripples. Cripples prevent you from using Summon Suku or Feather Step

- Ah Muzen Cab’s Stinger

- Ares’s Shackles

- Artemis’s Transgressors Fate

- Bakasura’s Regurgitate

- Cupid’s Fields Of Love

- Poseidon’s Whirlpool

- Rama’s Rolling Assault + Basic attack

- Scylla’s Sic 'Em

So, Awilix makes for a high damage assassin that excels in bursting down enemies before they know what's coming. She does great with the help of teammates with knock up, but still does well on her own. Her ultimate makes for a good counter for jumping, but struggles against gods with cripples. Play smart, you're an assassin.

Good luck!