Bringing Aphro back in the meta!!!

Hi everybody and welcome to my guide for the most beautiful goddess, Aphrodite. This is my first guide here on smite fire so im not very familiar with the mechanics of the website (Also english is not my first language so i hope its good enough).Also if you want to see more you can visit my youtube channel: Jorrogaming: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0Va31RoVMB3bVmC2SKsmzQ[/url]
for more god guides, builds and gameplay. Want some APHRO swag? I just uploaded a Aphro video to Youtube so go check it out!!

I make this guide to prove that Aphro is not as underpowered as everyone thinks she is.She is actually very good if you know how to build and play her right. That is what i will be trying to teach you all in this guide. Almost every tier list i have seen and watched ranked poor Aphro in the B, C or even D tier and that is, in my opinion, just not true! I have a rank 10 (diamond) Aphro and i have literally played her in every role (expect ADC :(). In this guide i will talk about the 4 different builds and play styles that go with them. So, let the birds fly!!!

Pros:
-Powerful heals
-Nice combo with you 1, your 3 and your 2
-Amazing ult that can save one extra teammate
-Kiss for days
-fast cooldown if you build CDR
-Good lane clear
-Amazing kiss link that allows more
movement speed and damage
-nice DOT form birds
-Good damage on Back off
-AMAZING SKINS!!!!!!

Cons:
-Very squishy early game
-NO escape (no dash or jump)
-Can only heal and ult ONE teammate
-not able to solo a enemy easily
-needs a teammate to achieve full use

Now we're going to talk about Aphro's skills and look at their use and of course, combo potential!!!

Passive: loving embrace
your passive allows you to link up with a teammate trough your kiss and make them your soulmate, thus allowing you other abilities to have additional affects (which i will talk about later). Her passive also grants your soulmate 30% of your regenerated mana, this is especially nice in the support role although it honestly a small and underpowered buff so don't rely on it.



1:Kiss:(level third)
Kiss is the first ability Aphro has in her arsenal and it one hell of a ability. Kiss doesn't do damage but of you kiss a teammate you will link up with them and allow your other abilities to affect your teammates as well! Kiss is also a stun if you hit a enemy. The stun that kiss provides gives you enough time to get your other abilities off for more damage and a good combo (which i will later discuss further). If you build CDR on Aphro this ability will have an even shorter cooldown and will even be spammable at max CDR!

-Solo: Kiss is mainly used as a stun in the solo lane to get off extra damage on your lane opponent. try and stun them mid wave to let your damaging abilities hit them and the wave at the same time for maximum use.

-Support,mid,jungle: In these roles,(especially support) kiss is used to link up with a teammate, if its your ADC in support or your jungle in mid (and vice versa). Don't wait or forget to use this ability!! I see a lot of players kiss someone only when they are already in danger or about to die. DON"T DO THIS!!!! If you see your ADC, jungle, mid or even solo, coming your way, just kiss them it will allow for more movement speed and even jealousy damage when you stun the enemy with your kiss so that you can catch up to fleeing opponents and allow your soulmate to do more damage through the jealousy bonus.




2:Back off:(level second)
Back off is your second ability and your secondary source of damage. You slam down on the ground in a circle around you, doing damage and pushing enemies in the radius a few feet back. if you are linked with your soulmate the same effect will apply with them as well, pushing enemies near them back (only the damage will not be as strong as with your back off but i still need to test that).

-Solo, jungle and mid:
Back off is a essential part of your lane clear early game when your 3 can't clear the wave (jungle camp) in full yet. use your three and then move between the enemy creeps and archers to hit the full wave with back off. also try and poke your lane opponent (or enemy jungler or buff camp) with Back off and also push them away from the wave so that they have to approach the wave again and take more time clearing it.

-Support:
Back off in the support role should be used to push the enemy support and ADC back from the wave and keep them at a safe distance and allow your ADC and yourself more breathing room if the enemy duo lane is very aggressive. Back off can also help bring the wave down in health to allow your ADC to last hit them easily and proc your watcher's gift easily and allow for the return of health and mana (which you definitely need!!).




3:Love birds: (level first)
Love birds is your third ability and your primary source of damage and most importantly, your healing source! You cast birds in front of you that apply a dot to enemy minions, jungle camps and enemy camps. Birds also heal you and your soulmate if you are linked with them. WARNING: Your birds move very slow, its not an instant effect like Back off so if you try and hit a opponent try and stun them first and then use your 3. Always use love birds to clear the wave first and then use Back off to clear it early game. Mid to late game your birds will be enough to clear the wave on its own. If you lane with a teammate, never forget to kiss and use your 3 on the wave to heal them and damage the minions at the same time. your 3 also heals on its own, without hitting anything. if a teammate desperately needs healing juts kiss them and cast your birds and that should relieve some pressure.

-Solo,mid,jungle: In these 3 roles your birds are your wave clear and poke at the same time. try and stun your opponent mid wave to poke them with birds, as the stun from kiss will buy your birds enough time to reach them and apply the dot.

-Support:
Your 3 is also your wave clear in the support role, but as you play in duo you should pay great attention to the health of your ADC. If they are low, heal them and clear the wave at the same time to achieve full use. also try and stun the enemy ADC with kiss so that your own ADC will deal more damage with jealousy bonus and you will be able to hit them with your 3 or 2.

4: Undying love (ult): (level when available)
Your ult, Undying love is in my opnion, one of the best ults in the game. Its a sanctuary and beads in one. The ult grants you damage immunity and also cc immunity for a certain amount of time. Your ult also has a fairly short cooldown which makes it a perfect counter to Ares or Hades ult. If you have a soulmate the ult also applies to them which allows for al lot of plays and saves from ults like Awilix or Poseidon.

-Solo and mid:
In these two roles your ult should be used as a safety measure if you get ulted or are sure your dead if you don't use your ult. don't pop it too soon though wait for the right moment or you might still wind up dead.

-Support and jungle:
These two roles should use your ult to save teammates or themselves in early teamfights or in lane.as a support, your ult is a handy tool to save teammates from enemy ultimates or other deadly CC when you rotate around the map. same goes for jungle, look for teammates in need and heal them and if that is not enough, ult them if needed, don't forget to link them up with kiss or else the ult will only proc on you and you would have wasted an valuable ult.

Early game:
Early game is a tricky time for you, you're still very squishy and don't have much damage yet. it doesn't matter what role your in, BE CAREFUL! smart junglers will try to gank you early and a smart lane opponent will put pressure on you to put you behind. That is why you should always buy....WARDS!!!!! Wards are key for a good aphrodite, you get vision and that will allow you to be more aggressive knowing ganks are at a minimal risk of happening.Use your 3 and 2 on the wave to clear it and around level 9 you should be able to clear the wave with only your birds. Also try to rotate as much as possible and heal your allies as much as possible, try and focus your support most (except when you are the support of course) because they need to tank the most damage. A Aphro that constantly heals her teammates is a huge threat.

Mid game:
You should have at least three items by know and your heals should also be online. That means you've become a THREAT, a huge one at that! You will be able to heal people almost to full depending on their health pools and your build. That means the enemy team will try and KILL you almost immediately in a teamfight! I would recommend to stay between de backline (hunters, mages) and the frontline (warriors, guardians). With this strategy you can stay close to your tanks to heal them and you're also close to your backline of they are getting back doored or ganked and need help. Also your support will be able to protect you if you stay close.Never initiate with Aphro, let others do that, you are a second backbone and should be a quick healer for your team or a finisher for low health enemies.(if you play support let your solo lane initiate, and vice versa)

Late game:
In the late game you have become a all healing powerhouse capable of healing quickly and providing damage and movement speed bonus for your team. Mid game and late game don't differ from strategy that much, just be more careful for sneaky assassins lik Serqet and fenrir who can almost solo you if you're not careful. Stay close to your team and don't wonder off alone, that will make you an easy target!!! this strategy is for every game mode , not just conquest. If you play it right you will almost never die. Positioning is KEY on Aphro!

Now im going to talk about some gods Aphro is good against or bad against.

lets start with the good match ups:

-Loki:
If you're against a Loki you can rejoice! Loki has a hard time against a Aphro because her ult mitigates a Loki ult! Also, her Back off pushes a attacking Loki back a few feet, rendering his abilities useless. Loki is all about one shot and if you proc your ult or Back off right you should have no trouble. WARNING: don't use your ult when he comes out of stealth regularly, your ult should be used to COUNTER his ult!! A smart loki will try and trick you in using your ult prematurly and kill you with a follow up ult right after. if you play your cards (ult) right though, loki is going to have a bad time!

-Ares:
Ares is infamous for his nasty ult with low cooldown and game changing capabilities.But with an Aphro on your side you will be that much safer. if you don't use your ult on anything else, your ult has lower cooldown than his ult, thus countering it. also you will be able to kiss a teammate and also save THEM from the ares ult, thus making it less viable. His chains are also countered by your heal, and back off can push his flame wave back and render his chase useless.

-Bakasura
Bakasura is a very bursty assassin but has absolutely NOTHING against a good Aphro player.Your Back off will destroy his minions from his ult and push him back as well, making his long basic attacks useless. your kiss stun will also stop him in his ramaging path and stop his chase. your heal counters his over time damage and your ult can clear the slow he puts on you!


Now for counters:

-Chang'e
Chang'e is a HARD Aphro counter, able to reduce your heal yet also heal herself, making your sustain les strong. If you find yourself against a Chang'e, play safe and don't let her get her ult or anti-heal off (stay under tower if need be).Try and stun her and get the guaranteed damage off, or push her back with the Back off. If she sticks with you try and retreat because it will only hurt harder if you stay because of the anti-heal she produces.focus on staying even leven, clear the wave first, DON'T focus on her!

-Fenrir
Fenrir in my opinion is the most annoying assassin to deal with as Aphrodite. His brutalize does massive damage to your small health pool early game and it will still shred through you mid and late game. his ult is also hard to predict. in short, too much burst damage!! If you see a Fenrir, stay back and try and stay close to your team, they can block the Fenrir ult or burst him down if he initiates first or is out of position.
Don't go after Fenrir on your own, it can turn ugly, especially if your ult is down and his is up.
(beads for his ult required)

-Hercules
Hercules has too much CC for you to deal with. If you get combood by his 2 and 1, you're in trouble! Your ult can blok the pluck but not his driving strike and ult when he uses it right after your ult. remember, his ult does MASSIVE damage to you health early game.if he is smart he will use it early to try and kill you and get a lead and then it will be even harder to come back after that.
(beads is always nice)

-Freya
Freya is not considered a Aphro counter but if she has fatalis and auto attacks you, your as good as dead!If you're alone without a team, she WILL burst you down and fast! try and stay away from her in a 1v1 an stay close to your team to avoid getting bursted.(sanctuary or sprint can help)

-Chaac
Chaac is not a bursty warrior but he will HURT when he catches you in his slow! Try and avoid being close to him for his slow will make you a sitting duck for him an his team to burst you to death.
(sprint is a good idea)

In this section i will discuss builds and their items. (items previously mentioned in another build will not be explained twice, just read the description from the previous build)

Build 1: My personal build

-Shoes of focus:
Shoes of focus are amazing on Aphrodite. they give you movement, mana, power and CDR, four stats that Aphro likes. Pen boots is also an option but cooldown in my opinion, is better for more spammable abilities!If you're support you can go with travelers shoes.

-Warlocks Sash:
Warlock Sash is a very good item and highly recommended for Aphro. it gives health and mana and of course magical power. the health in particular is good for Aphro because of her squishy nature.Look to buy this item second to get stacks early (its a lot of stacks!!)

-Rod of Asclepius
The BEST item for Aphro in my opinion, extra heals, extra health, extra movement speed and magical power!!! This item alone makes Aphro a threat and i would recommend it to any Aphro player. Some players would argue that lotus crown is a better alternative but honestly i find lotus crown to be lacking. Lotus crown is good for healers like Chang'e and Hel who have a large healing radius, with Aphro its only 2 people! Back to rod, it also helps you escape and be very evasive due to the 10% movement speed which makes you much faster than other mages,tanks and hunters. The healing buff is also great and increases your healing by 25%!!

-Spirit Robe
You may be thinking, why a tank item, she is a mage not a tank! Well, i build ALL my gods a little bit tanky or bursty depending on the class. Aphro is no exception! Spirit robe gives you 40 protections plus 10% CDR and nice damage mitigation which is what makes this item so good on Aphro. The damage mitigation will do wonders against bursty hunters or assassins who try and kill you. Also the CCR is great for easy escapes form say, a chain from ares.

-Mantle of discord
From me this item is the BEST defense item for Aphro because of the passive it brings. i would recommend it just as much as rod! This item has saved my life more times than i can count because of the stun it gives you when your health gets low. It wil stop AA assassins or nearby hunters dead in their tracks for 1 second allowing you a chance to get away. With extra movement speed form rod this will be a life saver.

-Rod of Tahuti
Aphro likes rods (in more ways than one, pun intended) and rod of tahuti especially because of the massive power and power boost that it brings. it will increase your damage but mostly increase your heal which scales with your power so having some damage always helps to burst low health mages like zeus or scylla down.


Build 2: Want to be more tanky?

-Travelers shoes:
if you play support, this is the build for you, and the shoes for you. Travelers shoes allows you to rotate quickly around the map and gank lanes faster and help teammates faster. also the HP5 helps a lot between fights to help you sustain. The gold from hitting an enemy also decreases your gold loss from being a support.

-Breastplate of valor:
Breastplate of valor gives you a lot of things Aphro needs: defense, mana and CDR. It helps you withstand a lot of assaults from the enemy teams physical damage dealers and the CDR helps you spam your abilities more often. Mana is a problem in the early game and this item helps with that.

-Bulwark of hope:
Another item support Aphro likes. it gives CCR, health (which is important) and magical defense and lets not forget the passive that helps you tank incoming damage and functions as a safety net and indicator that you need to heal FAST!! overall a good item against magical opponents.

-Gauntlet of Thebes
Honestly, this is a luxury pick, its up to you if you want it, if you don't, pick mantle of discord for extra defense, passive and CDR. Gauntlet of Thebes helps you with your Health and healing increase, plus it gives HP5 which stacks with travelers shoes to make you a regeneration and healing machine while still remaining tanky!!

Build 3: Only for the brave bursty mages!!

-Shoes of the magi:
These Shoes give you a lot of power and pen, not to forget the movement speed. the extra damage will help you clear faster and do more poke and damage to your lane opponent. you miss out on CDR though so keep that in mind.

-Chronos pendant:
This is a very strong item on Aphro, it provides a lot of power and a lot of CDR for more powerful and more abilities that you can spam. The MP5 also comes in handy with Aphro.

-Book of thoth:
Book of thoth is a very powerful damage item which you should stack early to get a lot of power and a lot of mana. if you stack early you will be able to do a lot of damage early because of the early power spike.

-Obsidian Shard:
Obsidian Shard gives you power and pen to take down tankier targets that have a lot of protections, protections you need to break down!! The pen also helps with targets who are squishy and don't have a lot of protections against your flat pen.


Build 4:Want to be a full healer? (WARNING: build isn't tested yet!!)

-Stone of Gaia:
Stone of Gaia gives you a lot of health and HP% which combines with rod and gauntlet to give you even more heals and regeneration. the health will keep you from immediately being bursted and also regens 2% of your max health every 5 seconds to keep you topped and ready for a lot of team fights.

-Mail of renewal:
This build is for heals, not for damage thus other people on your team will kill the enemies, giving you assists and with this item you gain 15% procent of your health and mana back, this item can irritate the enemy team A LOT!!! (try it!!!)


Start:
for the start you pick the starter item depending on your role. Always buy mana and multi potions (you don't need health potions, you heal!!).


Actives:

For actives there are 4 that are good for Aphro:

-Beads: for extra safety against CC and ults
-Sanctuary: For protections against ults lik poseidon
-Sprint: getting away from slows or ganks
-Meditation: for extra heals and mana

The rest are also viable but the 4 above are in my opinion the best of the bunch

As a summary:

Aphro is a very good healer and team fighter who favors both defense and offensive items to be most efficient.Look to be careful early game and avoid gods that counter you (see counter section). In team fights, make sure to stay close to your support and backline both to keep everyone alive and well! Also try and build a little bit of health on Aphro because of the low health pool you will be squishy!!!

I hope you enjoyed this Aphrodite guide, my goal was to show that, with the right build Aphro can be viable again, i hope i achieved that! Please try it out and if you have any questions or comments please post them down below!!!

May the power of love be with you!!!