Croc Rocket - Sobek Guide (S5)

Guardians are the tanks of smite. The main roles of the Guardian are (1) to tank/mitigate incoming damage, (2) to peel for the teammates, and (3) to interrupt enemy gods. Despite the game mode, Guardians are the support in any fight.

(1) To tank/mitigate damage --
When the enemy team is attacking, the Guardian wants to be hit by as many of the enemy gods' abilities as possible. This will spare the squishies on your team (mage, hunter, assassin) and allow them to fight uninhibited.

(2) To peel for the teammates --
When the enemy team is attacking, the Guardian wants to protect teammates by CC'ing the enemy gods. This allows your teammates to escape, reset, and continue fighting.

(3) To interrupt enemy gods --
When an enemy god is using or preparing an ability, the Guardian will use CC to stop, delay, or cancel the incoming enemy ability. This will allow your teammates to go on the offensive as the enemy's kit is on cooldown.

**Make sure to pay extra attention to your squishies (Mage, Hunter, Assassin). They need more help than a Warrior or another Guardian.

Each Guardian has their own unique way of fulfilling their role.

• To tank/mitigate damage --
  Sobek naturally has a higher health total and more protections than other classes. To capitalize on this, you want defensive items that grant additional health and protections to increase longevity in team fights. Sustain is key for Guardians. Damage WILL happen. Your job is to handle that damage and carry on in spite. Luckily, Sobek's third ability, Sickening Strike, heals him! And Sobek's passive, Blessing of the Nile, grants additional protections for successful basic attacks and abilities.
  
  
• To peel for teammates --
  Sobek has fantastic peel! His first ability, Charge Prey is perfect for literally throwing an enemy away from a teammate. Sobek's second ability, Tail Whip, is also a great tool for pushing an enemy away from a teammate. Lurking In The Waters can be used to slow down enemies and discourage enemy pursuit. Squishies love a Guardian that can hit their peel <3
  
  
• To interrupt enemy gods --
  As mentioned above, Sobek can use Charge Prey and Tail Whip to peel for a teammate. These abilities can also be used to interrupt enemy abilities. If an enemy is using an ability that is active or channeling, Sobek can pluck them out of it with Charge Prey. Likewise, Sobek can use Tail Whip to interrupt an active or channeled enemy ability. Additionally, Sickening Strike has an anti-heal property and can be used to minimize enemy healing.

**Some abilities (and Purification Beads) will make the enemy immune to types of CC, so Charge Prey, Tail Whip, and Lurking In The Waters won't push, pull, or slow them.

General Health: 571 (+81) Mana: 245 (+35) Speed: 365 (+0) Range: 12 (+0) Attack/Sec: 0.86 (+1.4%)

Regen HP5: 6.75 (+0.75) MP5: 4.93 (+0.43) Protection Magical: 31 (+0.9) Physical: 22 (+3)

Basic Attack Damage: 40 + 1.5 (+20% of Magical Power) Progression: None . . . .

Pros: Great Peel for Teammates Sustain Anti-Heal Solid Damage Ult Out of CC Protctions from Passive Synergy with several ADCs & Jungs (e.g., Ullr & Awilix) Can't Be Ignored

Cons: Difficult to Pluck Mana Hungry Potential to be banned in ranked Missing Charge Prey can be fatal Can Be Predictable to Experienced Players . .

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Starter

Guardian's Blessing is a cornerstone item for most Guardians. It provides health, protections, hp & mana for minion assists, mana regen, and additional gold per minion assist. With this item, you want to get the ASSIST for the minions instead of the kill. This item stacks upon minion assists and evolves to give even more gold per minion assist.


Item 1

Gauntlet of Thebes is one of my favorite items to use on Guardians. It provides much needed health, protections for each stack, and upon evolution it provides additional protections for you and nearby teammates. I build this item first because of the health, HP5, and eventual aura. Keep in mind, if you build this first you will be slow as you do not have boots yet.

Item 2

Shoes of Focus provides highly valuable mana for your early game as well as cooldown, which will allow you to engage more often as well as increase the likelihood that your peel is ready when it needs to be.

Item 3

Emperor's Armor is a preferred item of mine. It decreases the speed at which enemy towers/phoenixes fire, and increases the speed at which allied towers/phoenixes fire. This will allow Sobek to tower dive enemies, and in turn allow your teammates to either push tower or finish off an enemy cowering under tower. Most importantly though, it provides health and physical protections, which will be key in mitigating damage against a physical ADC.

ALTERNATIVE
Genji's Guard is a good alternative if you are vs a Hyper Carry (i.e., magic based Carry). It provides magical protections, cooldown, MP5, and health. Definitely a good item for sustain on Sobek. The passive can further decrease cooldowns.

ALTERNATIVE
Pestilence is necessary when the opposing team has healers. It provides good magical protections, health, and reduces healing of nearby enemies. Build as Item 3 vs a Hyper Carry with a healer on their team.

Item 4

Bulwark of Hope is a commonly used item as it provides health, magical protections, and a shield (based on your health total) upon entering dangerously low health. At this point in the game, players are rotating more and team fights are starting to happen. Adding magical protections is essential since you will more than likely be encountering an enemy Mage now. Furthermore, the shield will help greatly when using Lurking In The Waters as it allots you that little bit of extra time you need for full damage.

ALTERNATIVE
Jade Emperor's Crown provides physical protection, health, and some magical power. It also decreases the physical power of nearby enemies. Build this as Item 4 if you are vs a Hyper Carry (and built magical protections for Item 3).

ALTERNATIVE
Pestilence is necessary when the opposing team has healers. It provides good magical protections, health, and reduces healing of nearby enemies. Build as Item 4 vs a physical Carry with a healer on their team.

Item 5

Mantle of Discord is a sound defensive item that provides solid protections and more cooldown. Around this time, you may find yourself waiting for your abilities to cooldown. This item will improve your cooldown times and grant a stun upon entering dangerously low health. The stun can get you out of tricky situations where you are being focused, or it can stun enemies while you are using Lurking In The Waters to ensure full damage.

Item 6

Void Stone gives more health, magical protection, and magical power while also lowering nearby enemies' magical defense. This item will help with chipping away at Guardians and Warriors who have build magical defense. It can not only increase the damage you do, but it can also increase the damage your teammates do in team fights by making enemies more susceptible to magical damage.

Relics

Horrific Emblem is used to slow enemies to confirm kills and to peel for teammates. I find it very useful early game to punish my opponents when they overextend. Usually my first relic.

Heavenly Shoes
Heavenly Shoes is super useful for getting teammates out of sticky situations. This relic can also be used to chase down retreating enemies and to negate CC. Usually my second relic.

ALTERNATIVE
Magic Shell provides you and your teammates with a small shield that helps mitigate damage. Great for mitigating damage from enemy ultimates. Upgraded, this relic absorbs two Basic Attacks, which can be incredibly useful vs Basic Attack based gods. However, this item can be difficult to use effectively.

Meditation CloakALTERNATIVE
Meditation Cloak is great for more sustain. It restores health and mana for teammates, and when upgraded it reduces mana cost and 1 second of cooldown. A good alternative if you find yourself returning to fountain too much, low on health, or OoM often.

ALTERNATIVE
Shield of Thorns can be used to reflect damage back at your attacker, thus detouring them from attacking and allowing you to either escape or move in closer. Upgraded, this relic limits the amount of health enemies can regenerate from Lifesteal when attacking you. And since Lifesteal is huge in the meta right now, this is a viable relic.

Sobek needs a Chef skin. A white Chef's hat, with a white Chef's top, and a giant spatula.