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Deity Merlin Guide

Mid Conquest

9 5 20,312

by updated

Smite God: Merlin

Tap Mouse over an item or ability icon for detailed info

Merlin Build

Starter Build

Notes not the best starter for the early game but with cooldown and mana regen to survive.

gives a little amount of intelligence to deal more damage to minions and gods.

as doesnt have any kind of CC inmune ability we will need this relic in most games to be safe enough.

Sands of Time

Gem

Health Potion

Purification Beads

Full build

Notes best starter on the late game we get massive cooldown + intelligence that allows us to spam abilities without losing mana.

its going to be our main sustain, with this item we wont have any issue with mana for the rest of the game and appart of that with his passive we will be scaling on the intelligence stat during the full game.

for great intelligence and flat penetration on the early game.

for lifesteal more cooldown and flat penetration to destroy mages.

gives us our power spike because of his massive passive, this item is core in every mage build and will make us destroy every other carry in the game.

for a great extra damage with his passive that is very usefull for as his kit is based on ticks.

gives us the neccesary penetration to shred tanks in seconds, another core item for every mage build next to .

Pendulum of Ages

Book of Thoth

Spear of Desolation

Soul Gem

Rod of Tahuti

Spear of the Magus

Obsidian Shard

Purification Beads

Situational items

Notes instead of if the enemy has heavy healing (e.g., , , or high Lifesteal builds).

instead of in case they dont have much tanks so you can do more flat damage.

or in case they have gods like , , etc so you need a second passive relic to survive their ults.

Divine Ruin

The Cosmic Horror

Time-Lock Aegis

Blinking Abyss

God Aspect De-Activated

Aspect of Pandemonium

Elemental Mastery has a reduced cooldown and each time it is used, a random Stance is selected with 2 random primary abilities, Flicker will always persist. Using Elemental Mastery provides an intelligence buff for a short duration.

Merlin's Skill Order Notes We will start upgrading Eclipse / Radiate / Frostbolt as is going to give us the best push for the early game and poke damage. Then, we upgrade Vortex / Dragonfire / Blizzard for a better combo damage. Appart from that, we upgrade Elemental Mastery every time we can so can change stances every time sooner and for the last Flicker to be able to dash sooner.

Notes

We will start upgrading Eclipse / Radiate / Frostbolt as is going to give us the best push for the early game and poke damage. Then, we upgrade Vortex / Dragonfire / Blizzard for a better combo damage. Appart from that, we upgrade Elemental Mastery every time we can so can change stances every time sooner and for the last Flicker to be able to dash sooner.

Eclipse / Radiate / Frostbolt

1 X

1 4 6 7 10

Vortex / Dragonfire / Blizzard

2 A

2 8 11 12 14

Flicker

3 B

3 15 16 18 19

Elemental Mastery

4 Y

5 9 13 17 20

1 4 6 7 10

Eclipse / Radiate / Frostbolt

1 X

Eclipse (Arcane Stance): Conjure a celestial orb that grows in size as it travels, dealing Magical Damage repeatedly to enemies in an area and marking them.

Marked enemies take additional Magical Damage if they stay within the outer range of Eclipse.

Radiate (Fire Stance): Channel a beam of intense fire for 2s that deals Magical Damage every 0.25s.

Each time Radiate hits an enemy, it also applies a Burn, dealing additional Magical Damage over time.

Frostbolt (Ice Stance): Fire a Frostbolt that explodes when it hits an enemy, dealing Magical Damage in a small area.

This ability deals an additional 15% damage if the enemy hit is slowed.

2 8 11 12 14

Vortex / Dragonfire / Blizzard

2 A

Vortex (Arcane Stance): Deploy a field of arcane energy. After a delay, the Vortex deals Magical Damage and Pulls enemies towards the center.

Dragonfire (Fire Stance): Summon forth two ethereal dragons that deal Magical Damage to enemies every 0.25s.

If caught in the center of the area, enemies are afflicted by the Radiate Burn and gods have their Protections reduced.

Blizzard (Ice Stance): Create a Blizzard, dealing Magical Damage repeatedly to enemies in an area.

Enemies hit are debuffed with a stacking Slow.

3 15 16 18 19

Flicker

3 B

You quickly Teleport a short distance. Depending on your current Stance, you gain different effects when using this ability.

Arcane: Heal 30% of the damage taken within the last 4s.
Fire: For 4s, your basic attacks apply the Radiate Burn to enemies hit.
Ice: Ability Cooldowns are reduced by 2s.

Range: 4.8m
Cooldown: 24 / 23 / 22 / 21 / 20s
Cost: 70

Additional Notes:

Ice stance ability cooldown reduction does not apply to Flicker.

5 9 13 17 20

Elemental Mastery

4 Y

Tap into your inner potential, exploding with energy in your current stance dealing Magical Damage to enemies hit.

After the explosion reaches its apex, it collapses in on itself dealing Magical Damage again.
Enemies suffer different effects depending on which stance's energy they are being hit by.

Damage: 0 / 80 / 110 / 140 / 170 / 210
Damage Scaling: 15% Intelligence
Slow: 0/20/20/20/20/20}%
Slow Duration: 0 / 2 / 2 / 2 / 2 / 2s
Radius: 4m
Cooldown: 40 / 35 / 30 / 25 / 20s
Cost: 40 / 40 / 50 / 60 / 70 / 80

Additional Notes:

During the explosion time, you can choose which stance to enter into next:
Arcane - Enemies hit are Knocked Up
Fire - Enemies hit are afflicted by the Radiate Burn
Ice - Enemies hit are Slowed

Merlin Threats

Tap each threat level to view Merlin’s threats

Max

Major

Even

Minor

Tiny

Merlin Synergies

Tap each synergy level to view Merlin’s synergies

Ideal

Strong

Low

None

Introduction

Hi, my name is Ragna and I started playing Smite 1 on PC in 2021. I started playing in little community tournaments and after a lot of training and work I manage to play professional tournaments on Atlanta as the Smite Content Cup in 2024.

Now, in Smite 2 I have reached Deity every single split and I have competed in tournaments like Smite Vegas Qualifiers (ending in 5th position of EU) and right now Smite Prime, so Im always getting updated about the best metas on the game.

Apart from that I have a Twitch channel Ragna_smite where we play Smite 2 every single day and we do coaching for the subs to help them to improve on Smite 2, answering questions, talking about the game, etc.

Hope you find this guide as a good starting point for the midlane and to improve your Merlin skills.

Here are my socials:

Abilities

Merlin's Abilities

Passive -

Using an ability provides 1 stack of Overload, up to a maximum of 3 stacks. Firing a Basic Attack consumes a stack to deal bonus Magical Damage that can also trigger Ability Item effects.

Because of this passive, you should always try to weave Basic Attacks between your ability casts. The fact that it triggers ability effects makes it incredibly powerful when paired with items like .

Ability 1 -

Arcane (): Conjures a growing orb that passes through walls, dealing damage and marking enemies to take extra damage while in the outer range.
Fire (): Channels a beam of fire that deals damage and applies a Burn effect.
Ice (): Fires an exploding bolt that deals 15% bonus damage to Slowed enemies.

This slot is your primary damage and wave clear tool across all stances. You want to prioritize maximizing this ability's output depending on the stance you are currently using.

Ability 2 -

Arcane (): Deploys a field that pulls enemies towards the center after a short delay.
Fire (): Summons two dragons; enemies caught in the center take Burn damage and have their Protections reduced.
Ice (): Creates an area that repeatedly damages and applies a stacking Slow to enemies inside.

This is your setup and area-denial ability. You will generally cast this ability before your Ability 1 to guarantee maximum damage (e.g., using Blizzard to slow an enemy so your Frostbolt deals bonus damage).

Ability 3 -

A short-range Teleport that provides different bonus effects depending on your stance.
Arcane: Heals you based on a percentage of recent damage taken.
Fire: Causes your Basic Attacks to apply a Burn for 4 seconds.
Ice: Reduces your other ability cooldowns by 5 seconds.

This is your only escape, so use it carefully. However, for advanced players, the Ice Stance cooldown reduction allows you to play aggressively, teleporting forward to instantly refresh your abilities for a surprise burst kill.

Ultimate -

explodes with energy in his current stance, dealing damage, then the energy collapses to deal damage again. During the explosion time, you can choose which stance to enter next. The energy effect depends on your previous stance: Arcane Knocks Up, Fire applies a Burn, and Ice Slows.

Unlike other stance switchers, this ability actually does massive area damage and crowd control. Dropping this in the middle of a team fight before transitioning to a new element is crucial for maximizing your impact.

Example Combos

Ice Stance Burst: (Apply Slow) -> (Trigger 15% bonus damage on slowed targets) -> Basic Attack ()

Fire Stance Shred: (Reduce Protections in the center) -> (Channel intense fire)

Arcane Control: (Pull enemies to center) -> (Damage and mark) -> Basic Attack ()

The Stance-Dance Nuke: -> -> (Switch to Fire, dealing Ice Slow damage) -> ->

How to play Merlin

Gameplay Start / Early Game

Start by clearing the first wave using Blizzard and Frostbolt in Ice Stance, or Dragonfire and Radiate in Fire Stance. Aim to hit the entire wave. Ice is generally safer and clears from a further distance.
Move to your side camps with your jungler. Remember to use your basic attacks between abilities to trigger your Overload passive, dealing extra damage and saving mana while clearing the camp.
Return to lane and focus on efficient clear and safe poke. Merlin needs time to scale. Use Arcane Stance ( Vortex into Eclipse) to easily poke the enemy mid-laner around the minion wave without overcommitting.
Be mindful of your Mana. Because Merlin has access to so many abilities through stance switching, you can empty your mana pool extremely fast. Don't spam abilities if you don't need to; rely on your Overload empowered basic attacks to finish off low-health minions.
Save Flicker purely for escaping. Do not use your teleport aggressively to chase a kill early on, as you have no other mobility and will be an easy target for the enemy jungler if they gank you.

Mid Game:

You enter your prime in the mid-game once you have your core cooldown and power items online, like Soul Gem and Spear of Desolation. Your full combo rotation now deals devastating area damage.
Roam with your Jungler and Support. When rotating to side lanes, initiate with Ice Stance to apply a long-range slow with Blizzard, making it easier for your teammates to catch the enemy.
Master "The Stance-Dance." When a fight breaks out, drop your abilities in one stance, immediately use Elemental Mastery to deal the transition explosion damage, and unleash a second set of abilities in the new stance to completely overwhelm the enemy.
Use walls to your advantage. Abilities like Eclipse pass through terrain. You can steal enemy jungle camps or poke enemies under their towers from complete safety.

Late Game:

In the late game, Merlin is a walking artillery cannon. Your primary job is to deal massive Area of Effect damage from a safe distance while staying alive.
Your primary goals in teamfights are:
- Poke and zone enemies from a distance using Ice and Arcane stances.
- Wait for your tank to lock someone down, then switch to Fire Stance to melt them with Dragonfire and Radiate.
Do not teleport forward. Leaping into the frontline with Flicker will get you killed instantly by late-game hunters and assassins. Keep it strictly to reposition backward or over a wall when dived.
During Fire Giant sieges, you are the primary objective shredder. Stay in Fire Stance to maximize your DPS on the boss. The protection reduction from Dragonfire helps your entire team kill the Fire Giant faster.
When attacking Phoenixes, drop Blizzard or Vortex right on the enemy defenders. The massive area denial forces them to walk away from their tower, giving your team free hits on the structure.
If an Assassin like Susano or Fenrir jumps on you, do not panic. Drop your Arcane or Ice abilities directly at your feet, hit Elemental Mastery to knock them up or slow them with the stance switch, and immediately Flicker to safety while they take massive damage.
Master the control on when and which stance you need to change for each situation and be sure you will be a top Merlin player.

How to ward as a Midlaner

Early/Mid Game

Here you can see the best spots to ward as a Midlaner.

These wards will help you to be safe during the first instances of the game, giving you the information about if your getting ganked from the solo or duo side.

Very Passive Situation

These wards will help you recover if you come from a bad spot i which maybe you are getting ganked a lot or invaded

Late Game

These wards are use to help your team on teamfight situations or fire gigant pulls, there are a lot of possibilities take those ones who you consider that suits the best to your game situation.

Siege / Defense Phoenix

For this situation there are only two main spots to have a ward, as you can see them rotating from one lane to the others, maybe you could even put one at lane to see if minions are approaching the phoenix but it isn't that important as knowing which lane they are going to siege.

As with that information you could be able to be on the right position before your enemies giving you a great advantage for the teamfight.

Regardless of the role, wards are the most important consumable you can buy, so don't forget to buy two wards after each back!

Deity Merlin Guide

Smite God: Merlin