Bacchus - Physical Bruiser Build

Currently, I've been reading guides on Smitefire, and it seems like all of the Bacchus guides on here are Magic based orientated. The only exception between the top-rated Bacchus thread on the forums which focuses more on the beat-face Fighter type then the Bruiser-type that has a huge amount of defense as well as offense.

This guide will focus more on the Combination of strengths of Bacchus then just the flat out eat-face builds that people have become custom to. While it is not as ability focused as MD builds, I feel AD Bacchus have several advantages that make him more liable to use.

Credit to
* Lickalottapuss - Reading his Odin Guide both inspired and gave me idea's for my own.
* Major0ChAoS - One of the first AD Bacchus thread, giving me the guts to post mine.

History of Editing
* Original - Added everything from the original.
* 2/18/13 - Changed Several Things based on recent nerfs


Sorry I've Been Away for so long guys, school and stuff and just got back into Smite.
Played my first game and I found this guide was EXTREMELY outdated.

Bacchus has many pro's and con's to using him, but for this build I will be focusing on the pro's and con's of the Physical Bacchus build. After all, its more fun to beat their faces in with a Turkey Leg after forcing them to get drunk off your juice. Mainly the Pro's would be the high amount of early Damage and the and how hard it is to actually counter against him in lane. The Con's would hurt his gameplay and might push away some people from playing with him.

-Update (2/18/2013)-
Bacchus has changed a lot, and this isn't directly related to him personally. With the removal of Green and Yellow Buffs from the map as well as Meditate's Passive changed (why you guys gatta cry so much?!), Bacchus has been nerfed indirectly. Getting drunk and staying drunk is much harder with extremely high levels of your Chug {1}, and Harrassing has become much more difficult in lane because of how much harder it is to maintain decent health levels. Other then those minor drawbacks, I still feel Bacchus remains a viable choice as an AD Bruiser Build. (I will be making a Ymir Shortly after this).

Pro's to Physical Bacchus

1. Early Game Damage: Bacchus has a huge amount of early game damage, which is one of his highlights of the builds, as well as the thing many people cry 'OVERPOWERED!' about without really knowing anything about his weaknesses before complaining.
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2. Easy Lane Dominance: Pared up with another damage tank like Odin or a ranged damage like Artemis or Cupid, it is extremely easy to command lane dominance early. with Green Buff, you are nearly unstoppable!
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3. Amount of CC's: Bacchus has a huge amount of Combat control and can literally destroy the whole enemy team in the team fight by messing up their controls. This is one of the key points of Physical Bacchus, hitting the enemy while he is down.
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4. Self-Boosting Power: One of the reasons why I pick Bacchus over other Physical gods is the amount of self-boost he has with abilities compared to others. At level 2, you have +50 Physical Power! At level 20, you have +135 Physical power!!!

Con's of Physical Bacchus

1. No Abilities Scale with Physical: Sadly, Bacchus has no abilities that scale with Physical power. Magic Bacchus has a slight advantage over Physical Bacchus because of this, that +60% of Magic Bonus doesn't end up being enough to justify magic builds.
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2. Melee Ranged Attacks: While being called overpowered a lot, there is no changing the face that he is only melee ranged. Sure, he has a Crowd Control Jump that helps, but if they sneak under the turret, there is no chasing them unless you have an ally that has ranged attacks.
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3. Mana Issues with Chug: Ever sense the nerf came out for Meditate, Bacchus has been having a hard time maintaining his mana. One of the reasons why Bacchus has fallen off so hard is because of the Mana drain he has constantly keeping drunk. Someone would argue that taking Mana would help, but building Mana only alleviates the problem a little. Mana is a HUGE problem early and mid game, and sometimes even late game if used recklessly.

There are other Cons and Pros that I would add, but I know a LOT of Bacchus haters would disagree with me. You can't really know the full list of Pros and Cons of Bacchus without playing him, so if you really want to get the feel, you can always play practice games with him to see how he is like.

Drunk-O-Meter: Basically this is your early game free item. Almost the equivalent to a free 2000 gold item, but there is a limitation to this. Ever since Meditates nerf, it is much harder to remained Smashed from the very beginning of the game. If you can, TRY to start right, so that you can nab blue buff so you can keep yourself drunk thoughout early game. +40 Physical power and 10% damage reduction is what makes Bacchus so deadly early game. The reason why people call Bacchus overpowered is his nearly free +50 physical power at the beginning of the game, and the damage reduction that helps him take Minion hits more often then others.
. Chug: Self-buffs Bacchus 10/15/20/25/30 and increases his Drunk-O-Meter passive. You are unable to use any skills or attack while using this ability, so to not use this in the middle of a fight unless you want yourself to be defenseless while self-buffing. The best time to use this ability is right before you use Belly flop, as you will be able to wail on them while they are in the air with your extra Physical power. This DOES stack with Bacchus's Ultimate ability. Use this ability sparingly late game, as it will chug down ~25% of your mana, since you won't be building Mana Items like MP Bacchus.
. Belly Flop: Damages the opponent if you land on them, as well as putting them into the air for free attacks with your turkey leg. If you are tipsy, they will also be slowed by 30% for 3 seconds after they land. This is your KEY initiator tool. If you are fighting against someone who hasn't played against Bacchus before, they will make it easy for you to hit them with this ability, and make them helpless for a second as well as slow them down for another 3 seconds. Easy kill after level 2 if they don't know how to stop you.
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-Update (2/18/2013)-
After the update and finding people who know how to counter Bacchus, as well as new recent gods that have been released, you have to decide if it is worth it to initiate with the Belly Flop or to save it for an escape tool. Fighting against Hades, Ares, or other such characters you might want to save them in case they end up using their ultimate for a quick escape until you decide to buy Beads or Aegis. Against Neith or other Jump gods, sometimes its better to wait for them to jump away to jump onto them. Other champions, just bellyflop onto em and wail on them. Just watch out for Vulcan's Turrets....
. Belch of the Gods: Damage is minimal, but the stun and the Heal nerf is a decent ability to have. The only reason I ever consider this ability is it has allowed my ally to kill secure for the second they are down on the ground. One second of stun allows roughly 2-3 attacks after they are down depending on how close you are. The healing nerf is life-saving if you are fighting against Hel or Guan, as their heals will be healing for about 200-300 instead of the normal 400-600 that they could have healed. I can't tell you how many times I've been attacked for 'hacking' after killing a Hel/Guan after belching on them and nerfing their healing to the point they wont survive.
. Intoxicate: Your ultimate ability you unlock at level 5. THIS is your main tool in a team fight as well as most fights you will have against someone. You can completely turn the tides of a team fight into your favor by landing your ultimate on all 5 of them before the fight begins, and is one of the reasons I have one games for my team we had no business of winning. The ability is very misleading, and it's not just a 20% slow but it MESSES UP YOUR CONTROLS! Not only does it give your team a whopping advantage as it is, but if you are completely smashed, which there is no reason you shouldn't be, it will give you 35 extra physical power. At level 20, without items, you will have 212 (97 without buff abilities) Physical power! There is no reason you shouldn't be hitting hard.

After the update, I have looked at and evaluated the items, and have come up with a different setting for rating items, as I have become much more flexible when building items to fight against people. My personal Build has altered quite a bit, with "Mandatory Items", "Lifesteal Items", and "Situational Items".

Mandatory items are, just that, Mandatory. Mainly because of the fact that the Mandatory items are the key to his Damage and Tank-ness to the build. Lifesteal items come down to three items to choose from, as the forth I consider situation, and with your Heal Nerf from your bletch, you might not even need it. Situational Items, like Mandatory Items, are just what the name suggests.

Reinforced Boots // Warrior's Tabi
Reinforced Boots // Warrior's Tabi
Warriors Tabi and Reinforced Boots are generally based on preference and movement speed. I, personally feel, that you get more for your money from Reinforced Boots but those who argue damage would like the extra 30 Physical power given to them buy the Warrior's Tabi. The boots are your choice, but it is practically given that you will be picking Boots or Tabi for your shoes, as the others don't rightly help Bacchus as much as these two.

Buying Warrior's Tabi gives you:
* 30 Physical power
* 21% Movement Speed
* 6% Critical Damage
* 6% Attack Speed

Buying Reinforced Boots gives you:
* 25 Armor and Magic Resist
* 21%//33% Movement Speed
* 30% CC Reduction
* 15 HP Regeneration

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Ankh of the Golem
While the Item has been Nerfed since the last time I have played, dropping the bonus damage from 1.5% down to 1% of the users maximum health, I still feel that this is one of the top Bruiser Build item that a Bruiser can buy. Thanks to Bacchus's Natural Tank from his passive and armor/resistance per level bonus, Ankh giving even MORE armor, MORE health, MORE attack speed AND Physical power is always welcome. End game this item can give around 30-40 Physical power, and is still considered one of the top-notch items in game for Bacchus, Odin, Ymir, and other Physical Fighter builds.

Buying this Item gives you:
* 30 Physical Protection
* 300 Health Bonus
* 15% Attack Speed
* 30 to 40 Physical Power

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Meditation
Meditation // Hand of the Gods
I hate to say it, I really do, but Bacchus is absolutely horrible with Mana when it comes to early game and it only gets worse as the game goes on and you decide to level up your Chug {1} Ability. When it comes to Mana, you will be constantly drinking your Q, and you don't want to spend 3 minutes chugging at base while your lane partner is getting raped when you B back to your base. It is absolutely NEEDED when you play Bacchus, even if you get the Blue buff.... If you decide to go for the Blue buff, then you will need to switch this to Hand of the Gods so you can get Blue Buff easier. Without green buff, blue is really where you're going to want to go. Either way, you're going to be forced to burn an Ability Slot to be able to maintain lane with Mana. Thank you Hi-Rez, for the indirect nerf to one of my favorite Pantheons in this game....

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Eye of Retaliation
Eye of Retaliation
This item is decent if you find yourself focused a lot. I've found myself in a lot of positions where I was about to loss against an Artemis or Xbal or other ranged carries, and I end up winning only because of the +1 Power per 2% missing at rank 3. Giving me 12% Physical life steal is decent, but there are better Life Stealing items out there. Still, this can get you out of a sticky situation when you crit for 1500+ Damage and heal about 200 Health per attack, when your natural tank-ness makes it so they only deal 500ish damage to you. Again the life steal isn't anything to look at, I mainly only use it against fed carries and barely escape 1 on 1 thanks to the missing health....

Buying this Item gives you:

* 50 Physical power
* 12% Lifesteal
* 1 Physical Power per 2% Missing HP.

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Devourer's Gloves
Devourer's Gloves

Stack items, I never did like. This one is decent though, giving you stacking Physical power and Life steal per minion kill. With the final total of 20% Life steal and 50 Physical power, it is flat out better then Retaliation by 8% Life steal but weaker if you have low HP. Stacking Items are always decent, and this one is one of the best ones for Melee
Characters like Bacchus. I generally pick something else, but this is good.

Buying this Item gives you:
* 30 +20 Physical Power
* 10 +10% Lifesteal

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Soul Eater

Generally, this is my favorite life stealing item. It doesn't give Physical power sadly, so Physical Enthusiasts out there might want to take Gloves or Retaliation over this item, but what it lacks in Damage it makes up for in increased health, life steal, and attack speed to hit more often. Generally, I take this item if I am grabbing Grip or Executioner mainly for the attack speed and extra 300 HP survivibility. Don't confuse extra health to immortal though, 300 helps a lot but when you're focused down like you might be, you won't survive 5 ultimate's to the face. Again, most might Vote for Gloves over this because of the Power, but the attack speed shouldn't be overlooked just because it has no damage. Need I note, that it gives 10 Physical power and 10% Life steal to any allies out there? Say Thanks Kali/Bastet?

Buying this Item gives you:
* 300 Health Bonus
* 25% Lifesteal
* 10% Attack Speed
* 10 Physical Power

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Deathbringer
** If you Need more damage, buy Deathbringer.

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Demonic Grasp
** If you have a Magic-Based team, buy Demonic Grasp. Good thing about having both Magic and Physical Damage is that you can go either Grip or Executioner for more damage.


The Executioner
** If you have a Physical-Based team, buy The Executioner. Good thing about having both Magic and Physical Damage is that you can go either Grip or Executioner for more damage.

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Fatalis
** If you are having trouble keeping up with the opponent, Fatalis hits faster and gives you bonus movement speed when trying to keep up with them.



Frostbound Hammer
** If you are having trouble keeping up with the opponent, Frostbound Hammer hits harder and gives you more Hitpoints for survival to slow down the opponent.

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Qin's Blade
** Having trouble with HP tanks, this will whiddle their health down faster then you can say 'goodbye'. I've killed so many Tanks with this, it's not even funny.

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Reinforced Boots
Reinforced Boots: The main reason I would suggest this over Warrior's Tabi is the fact that adding even more attack power into your early game would seem rather redundant. The only thing you will be missing out on is critical chance, and that extra 6% isn't really that high. I would rather have early game survival so you can be more dominating rather then that little extra attack power. If your lane partner is competent, there is no reason you shouldn't need that little extra damage to hit someone to death.


The Executioner: I generally try to get this item first if the enemy is smart and tries to start building physical defense against my attacks. Either I buy this first after boots, or I buy this after Quints blades. If you've every fought an Odin without Physical penetration. Great item choice if your opponents try to counter your offense with defense (by the way, 60 points his HUGE for an item like this).


Frostbound Hammer: I like getting his item before Qin's Blades because I would rather have them slow early game then have them escape with a sliver of health because I didn't get lucky with that 10% chance. Most of the time, the enemy shouldn't have enough HP to warrant a Qin's Blade until later.


Qin's Blades: Main reason I get this item is to fight against the annoying tanks that have huge amounts of armor and physical defense to counter your offense. Now you can sliver down their health surprisingly quickly with this item, and thanks to taking this after Frostbound Hammer, you won't have to worry to much about them running away either.


Ankh of the Golem: Attack Speed, Defense, Health, and power equal to 1.5% of your Maximum health, what ISN'T to like about this item? End game, this item will give you roughly 45-50 Physical Power, which is one of the top Non-creepfarm items. Nothing to sneeze at if you want to build tanky AND damage at the same time.

Witch Stone
Witch Stone: I would buy this sooner if fighting against Physical gods in lane, but this is usually the last item I buy when buying items. Attack Speed, Physical Protection, Damage AND Reducing enemy attack speed and Physical Power? Nothing says "Frack you Attack Damage Carry" by making the fight one sided into your favor. Saved my *** so many times against end-game Baka or Arachne.

Meditation
Meditation: This is practically REQUIRED for Bacchus at the beginning of the game, as this will practically guarantee that you will have full mana despite spamming your first ability to stay smashed all of the time. In case of the off chance you DO run out of mana too, you could also use it for a quick refresh of Mana to pound on your enemies some more. All in all, it is practically required on Bacchus early game.


Aegis Amulet: I've only ever used this if I was fighting against Hades or Ares, though most of the time after lane phase I've never had trouble with them. Against Hades, I usually have my jump unless I get over eager and use it to initiate and this saves my butt, but that is more of a personal problem. Note to self: STOP JUMPING ONTO HADES ULTIMATE! >.<''


Hand of the Gods: This is a great item to start the game with, often getting you to level 2 before the enemy if you are able to nab green buff. I ONLY recommend this item if NOT fighting a team with Hades, Ares, or some other ulti that would completely destroy you and your team otherwise. Quick Green/Yellow buff before jumping back into the lane always helps surviving and harassing the enemy and often times leads to winning the lane sooner if you didn't. Also, helps you survive those 'oh ****' moments that they decide to get gutsy.


Purification Beads: This is only recommended against fighting an ultimate that would incompatibility you otherwise. If the enemy Bacchus uses his ultimate against you, Purification Beads will help you run/fight coherently without ripping out your hair in frustration. Also, stops other, small stuns and abilities that might hamper you anyway.

Just because I am sick and tired of people crying and complaining about Bacchus's unfair advantage, here is what I will have to say to you in terms of countering. I have personally been able to shut down enemy Bacchus as well as BECOME shut down to the enemy team as well because of this. Some of these will work, some of these might not but have worked against less experienced Bacchus players. So please, before commenting on how Bacchus is OP, I will give you several ways to 'counter' him.

1. SLOWS AND STUNS ARE NOT HIS FRIEND!: Early game, if Bacchus gets stunned in the middle of Belly-flopping into the center of your minions, he IS going to take a load of damage to the face, despite having the 10% damage reduction and HP buff. If you are Ymir or Anubis, or someone who can stun and see your ally get Belly-flopped, do NOT run away. Instead, turn around and Stun them before they can hurt your squishy, and either wail on him for punishment or let your ally get away before the stun ends while minions hurt him. Passive Play is often the best answer to countering him, because if he can't get kills, he might fall off later on in the game. (Just don't give him your tower!).
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2. Counterjungle Green buff/Yellow Buff: I know people are going to yell at me for suggesting this, but if Bacchus is right side and you are left side, it's sometimes better to out damage them at their green buff before they can take this. This is why I liek Artemis as my partner, because she will lay down a trap for enemies at the common entrances, but if there is no Enemy Artemis, there is no real defense to know they care coming for you. Counter Jungling green buff early will make it so he cannot harass as much as he can early game. Also: Middle Lane should take the yellow buff as much as he can, to prevent a HoG Bacchus from taking the defense buff as well.
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3. Be careful not to get overconfident!: If you get Bacchus down to about 10% of his HP, its best not to tunnel vision him if he is running away. Between his Bletch, Jump, and self attack buff, and his ally, you will often get into a worse position then when you started. If he runs away, focus on his ally and beat them down. Your best bet early game is to punish Bacchus if he advances, then try and kill his ally while he licks his wounds. Playing as Hades/Guan/Ymir or other champions, I have been able to counter-dominate his. I've also been counter dominated by Ymir/Bastet and Anubis/Baka.
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4. BUY PURIFICATION BEADS FOR THE LOVE OF GODS!: No, this is NOT a joke. If you are complaining about Bacchus ruining team fights with his ultimate, then you obviously are having the same problem against Ares and HIS ultimate. Ares is to Aegis as Bacchus is to Beads. While Beads will not negate the magical damage (which can be healed by the groul healer after you've sobered up like Guan/Hel/Ra), it will prevent you from stumbling around while the other teams hurt you. It wont get ride of slows, but at least you'll be able to walk in a straight line! If you have trouble with his ultimate, Beads are what will save your bacon.

As I said, some of these might work, and some of these might not work. If you have a way to 'counter' Bacchus as well, please feel free to share it and tell me about it. The ones that have worked for me the most is Counterjungling Green buff with Baka or someone else and Stunning them when they become to bold.

Now Please, no more of this "Dumbass Noob that can't play worth **** without a broken god" comments. I'm getting tired of them, and I've given several ways to punish Bacchus players when they try to attack you. Just remember, if your a tank, keep your squishy alive by stopping Bacchus's assaults, and in turn, they will eventually out damage Bacchus in lane (starting around level 5 or 6.)