Smite Merlin Build Guide: Doctor Strange has Arrived (S6 Conquest Jungle)

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Smite God: Merlin

Tap Mouse over an item or ability icon for detailed info

Merlin Build

Starters

Assassin's Blessing

Shoes

Healing Potion

Mana Potion

Core Items

Notes I personally choose over for the extra mana and CDR. Though that's just preference. You can build if you want, I can see that for early game pen. Also I build shoes first because a jungler needs to be able to get around quick. Also I would definately get for the CDR.

Shoes of Focus

Bancroft's Talon

Chronos' Pendant

Damage Dealers

Notes All of these items are all REALLY good for magic power. These are here for choice of what you want. Obviously you'd want and for the magic pen. Doom Orb is an overall good item for because of the MP5, magic power, and mana. Finally, should be used for movement and the magic power.

Spear of Desolation

Shaman's Ring

Doom Orb

Spear of the Magus

Situational Items

Notes These items should be used depending on the enemy team comp. I highly recommend Gem of Iso for its CCR if you're going against someone like or . is also really for early game power and CDR, and as an added bonus it gives you 40 magic protections. Finally I recommend the if you feel that you're dying too much throughout the game. It gives you +60 magic protection and +150 Health. is anti-heal. Best used against healers like . is tank shredder. and are both extra lifesteal.

Pythagorem's Piece

Soul Gem

Void Stone

Obsidian Shard

Divine Ruin

Rod of Tahuti

Build 1 (Standard)

Notes This is my personal Merlin build. I try to build CDR as all of his abilities have pretty long cooldowns. and should be all you need in terms of CDR. is just an added bonus to max out your CDR, +100 Magic power, and the +15 magic pen. is really good for early game power and lifesteal. is really good for CCR and the extra health. You want to be able to do as much damage as possible. Finally, replace blessing with .

Shoes of Focus

Bancroft's Talon

Chronos' Pendant

Spear of Desolation

Gem of Isolation

Doom Orb

Build 2 (Tank Shredder)

Shoes of the Magi

Bancroft's Talon

Chronos' Pendant

Spear of Desolation

Divine Ruin

Obsidian Shard

Relics

Notes I know that you can't have 3 relics equipped but these are the ones that I find to be really useful. Meditation Cloak should be used to regain health and mana, though I think it's more useful for getting mana back. is for getting out of stuns like or ults. Blink Rune is the one I'm kind of iffy on since Merlin has his escape . I'd say only use Blink Rune if you aren't building CDR.

Purification Beads

Blink Rune

Build 3

Shoes of Focus

Bancroft's Talon

Spear of the Magus

Chronos' Pendant

Shaman's Ring

Gem of Isolation

Build 4 (Major Damage)

Shoes of the Magi

Bancroft's Talon

Spear of Desolation

Rod of Tahuti

Chronos' Pendant

Gem of Isolation

Build 5 (Major Damage 2)

Shoes of Focus

Spear of the Magus

Bancroft's Talon

Spear of Desolation

Gem of Isolation

Rod of Tahuti

Build 6 (Lifesteal)

Notes If anyone is wondering where went, the Shoes, Piece, and Spear of Deso all give you +10% CDR. You wouldn't need the pendant at that point. finishes off the CDR and gives you +150 health, +65 magic power, and of course, lifesteal.

Shoes of Focus

Bancroft's Talon

Spear of the Magus

Pythagorem's Piece

Spear of Desolation

Soul Gem

Merlin's Skill Order

Eclipse / Radiate / Frostbolt

1 X

1 3 6 7 10

Vortex / Dragonfire / Blizzard

2 A

2 8 11 12 14

Flicker

3 B

4 15 16 18 19

Elemental Mastery

4 Y

5 9 13 17 20

Merlin Threats

Tap each threat level to view Merlin’s threats

Max

Major

Even

Minor

Tiny

Introduction

Welcome to my first SmiteFire Build/Guide. I've this site a lot in the past and now I would like to help newcomers to Smite. So let's get into my Jungle build for Merlin

I believe that Merlin is one of the most underatted junglers in Smite. People seem to think that because he's a mage that he must be played either in Mid or Solo Lane. This couldn't be farther from the truth, and my proof is Ao Kuang (Who is my main jungler btw.) All of his abilities do really good damage and has good range for crowd control. He's one of the few junglers who can fend for himself late game, and he's really good when teaming up for a team gank late game. So let's get into to everything else and I hope this helps everyone out there that wants to try out Merlin in the jungle!

Pros/Cons

Pros:

Cons:

Abilities and Stances

Merlin is a Stance Changer, so he technically doesn't have an ult. There are 3 stances that Merlin can use... Fire,Ice,and Arcane (Magic)
Fire Stance does the most damage out of the stances and is the stance I recommend if you're ganking a lane. However, this comes at a cost as you need to get slightly get closer to an enemy if you use Radiate. This shouldn't be too much of an issue because you should be doing a ton of damage. Recommended combo in this stance is Dragonfire quickly followed by Radiate for max damage potential.
Ice Stance is best for clearing jungle camps and minion waves if you're in lane. If you hit enemy gods with the combo Blizard then Frostbolt, they will be slowed and damaged.
Arcane Stance is best for dealing with multiple gods at once. The combo of Vortex then Eclipse can devastate multiple gods. This combo is especially in Duo Lane.
Flicker is Merlin's escape, it basically speaks for itself.
Elemental Mastery is Merlin's stance change. Merlin has this at the start of the game, albeit all it can do is change the stance. Once you reach level 5 his "ult" will evolve. In your stance change, an explosion AND implosion will occur. Here's how it works... let's say you're in Arcane Stance and you switch stances. When you use the stance change an explosion will occur with differing effects depending on what stance you're in. If you're in Arcane stance you will knock the enemy up, and if you change to Fire Stance, the following implosion will burn enemies caught in the AOE. Switching to Ice Stance will slow enemies in the AOE. Ans that's it for Merlin's abilities.

Conclusion

So what do y'all think? Please leave comments and let me know if this build helped you out or if there are any changes I need to make. Again, this is my first build so let me know how I did. Thanks!

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(143) |

Please don't build pythags on Merlin or cap CDR in your build at 40%. exists.

You also have yet to fix some of the builds.

(143) |

Stone of Fal should not be listed, it is terrible in it's current state.

Spear of the Magus should be listed in all the builds. Not having it shows a massive failure in understanding Merlin's kit.

(394) |

Hi Mr. Dark Lord of the Sith. Got some feedback.

"The one problem with the ring is that it's 2700 gold." Negative. The other problem is that it's a basic attacker's item. Merlin is not that. This is not a good item for him, and I have no clue why it's in here. If you need/want additional MS, the best option is likely to be Shaman's Ring.
I'd argue that Hide of the Urchin for a mage jungler is just not good, at least in Merlin's case. This seems like an extremely weird pick.
Tank shredder build has Obsidian Shard before both Spear of Desolation and Divine Ruin. This is bad, and indicates (no offense) that you don't fully understand the penetration hierarchy. As a % pen item that scales on enemy protections, Shard should be purchased late, unless it ends up being the only pen item.
Please don't get Meditation for a jungler.
If you're going for the jungle, I'd argue your first skill priority is going to be your 1, since it will usually provide the most burst potential. The 2 is better for localized fights and for wave/jungle clear with stationary minions. The 2 will be important to get first for the clear function, but I don't know that you'd want to MAX it first...you might switch over after rank 4 perhaps, and start maxing the 1 before finishing the 2. Just a suggestion.
Further to the jungle function, I'd personally expect that you would want better control for ganks. Not sure why neither of your example builds has Gem of Isolation in it, but that would really help you control the positioning of the enemy, and help teammates also focus and kill.
In a jungle role, your gank potential will want to maximize as much damage as possible, and that will probably involve more stance changes, and the closer damage that comes with Elemental Mastery. Figure you'll probably want to level that anytime you can, and you're delaying this quite a bit through your skill leveling. It obviously also comes with significant CDR per rank, which is also helpful.

You were right, maxing the 1 before the 2 is better. Thanks. Also, is now part of the 1st example build. After testing my Tank Shredder build against a jungler I can say it works when you build Spear and Ruin BEFORE Shard. Thank you again for the feedback. This is my first build so I wasn't expecting it to be perfect. More builds to come in the future.

I’ll make changes asap. Oh and about the ability scaling, I agree with in scaling the stance change, I should get to work on that. I choose to scale Merlin’s 2 before his 1 because of the clear and it covers more ground ( is the one excepttion)His 2 seems more important to max to me anyway becasue of its damage output. I will experiment with maxing 1 first and see if it’s a better way of building. Thank you for the feedback. I will also work on editing the build in general because I just played a game and I thought that the builds do need changing. Thank you again. P.S. The Senate is better than the High Ground ;)

(394) |

LOL, awesome, Palpatine, glad you're open to feedback.

Also, you really need a different avatar for your account. Here are some suggestions:

Load more comments (9 more replies) →

This is beautiful. Btw I added some extra builds including a lifesteal build and a build that focuses on damage. I'm always open to feedback and criticism.

(394) |

Alright, some further issues, sorry.

In terms of damage dealer item listing, should probably be listed there. should be listed in situational items. just sucks, IMO. should probably also be listed in situational.

With regard to the additional builds:

Build 4: Don't like Fal in there at all. Major damage should probably drop Fal and additionally involve Rod of Tahuti. However, I just don't like this build at all. Not nearly enough CDR, and Merlin IMO really wants more CDR.
Build 5: Typhon's Fang should NEVERNEVERNEVER be the first - OR the ONLY - lifesteal item. It is strictly a secondary situational lifesteal item. I also don't think Merlin will get as much out of it as some other magical gods, though it can work...but you want either Bancroft's Talon or Pythagorem's Piece as the first lifesteal. Typhon's should also not be prioritized over some pen (Magus) or control (Gem) or CDR (Chronos).
Build 6: Same situation with Typhon's, but at least in this build it's after Bancroft's. However, it's again one of those things where the other items are just more important. Still think Spear of the Magus is a core item, and just having Spear of Desolation is insufficient.

These builds should NOT just be thrown out there. There really, really needs to be better thought going into these, before being published.

Sorry for the late reply, and sorry for the **** builds. This is my first time and clearly I need WAY more experience in making builds. I see what you mean by never putting as the only or first lifesteal. It's not that great. In regards to personally I don't see what's so bad about it. I mean, it gives you decent magic power and protection + CDR. If you could explain that to me that would be greatly appreciated. I know you need CDR on Merlin since I'm trying to make him my main jungler. That was completely foolish of me to not include more CDR on the Major Damage Build. Finally about the two Spears. I watched the developer update stream and saw that they changed . Saying they increased the price +150 gold isn;t enough to warrant not using it, but I'm also sure they stated that they nerfed its passive so instead of decreasing protections by 10 it decrease by 5. Also overall I think is a better item than Magus. It has 35 more magic power and +10% CDR. That's my opinion though, and of course you and everyone else can argue the other way around. But hey I appreciate that you are willing to EXPLAIN what I did wrong instead just saying that the builds are ****, then don't explain why, and finally saying that I don't understand or his kit. (Unlike someone else.)

I read the stats on wrong. They decreased the pen from 15 to 10.

(143) |

Still a core item on Merlin and should always be built.

So I'm about to republish this guide with altered builds. is in many more builds now and as you said it is a core item. Lifesteal build was adjusted and now includes and . Major Damage build has received an overhaul and I made a second Major Damage build. I'm always open to feedback and criticism and I will always adjust my builds based on feedback. Keep in mind I am busy currently in my personal life so I won't be able to fix them immediately but I will when I can.

(394) |

Excellent. Glad you're willing to accept feedback, but it's also alright for you to question that feedback, test things out yourself, etc. This is what the site is meant to do...help people learn. Not just tell them, "build this," but also advise as to WHY.

Alright, I'm going to explain a bit of the other questions you had above.

Stone of Fal: The base stats are okay. 40 magical protection isn't a ton, but it's helpful. But if you combine everything together (70 power, 40 magical protection, 10% CDR, and the passive that situationally reduces magical burst damage (not physical)), you have to ask yourself what you're willing to give up in your build to fit this one in. After you identify core (which IMO is Shoes, Magus, Gem of Iso and Chronos), then you consider what fits in for the last 2 items, and why/when you build them. Is Fal really going to be a more appealing choice than Tahuti, or Shaman's, or a lifesteal item that gives you some sustain, etc.? And that passive can definitely be helpful, but in a lot of ways it leaves something to be desired. That's my opinion, but it's also a lot of other people's. You barely see it being built, and there's probably a reason for it.
Spear of the Magus: Yes, this got nerfed. 15 pen went down to 10, and the price went up some. That's because it was OP. It's a bit better balanced now. Understand that that initial pen isn't the point here. Most of Merlin's abilities do ticking damage...and quickly. The passive is the main point here. It provides up to 50 protection reduction once stacked. This is the equivalent of 50 pen for you, and 50 pen for other magical teammates that are attacking the same target.

Two other considerations here. 1) An enemy that builds 0 protection items, at level 20, is going to have 48 magical protection. This means you will deal TRUE damage to those enemies with this item. 2) Outside of Obsidian Shard being used on an enemy that has 200 magical protections, give me an example of ANY item that provides 50 pen. The answer is nothing. This is an extremely powerful item, and is PERFECT for a god with easily-applied ticking damage. That's Merlin to a T. I would argue that anyone that doesn't build Magus as a standard item on him (except in extreme circumstances) doesn't understand the mechanics well enough.
Spear of Desolation & CDR: If we now consider that in most cases, Chronos' Pendant is a core item, you're already getting 20% (and higher due to passive) CDR. If you itemize also with Shoes of Focus, you're at 30%. For mages, this is a sweet spot in most cases. Why? Later in a match, you can always grab Potion of Magical Might, which also provides 10% CDR. Also, there are other items you can get that also provide CDR that arguably have stats that will be more helpful. With no healing in his kit, Pythagorem's Piece and Soul Gem both have 10% CDR. You seem to like Stone of Fal. That also has 10%.

And in any case, you don't ever HAVE to max CDR. Every item has some form of inefficiency, or way to counter. In the case of CDR, you're not getting the most out of that stat unless you're casting immediately as it comes off CD. When you disengage from a fight you won, maybe you want to push a tower. Lifesteal on minions in these cases might get your health back up a bit, making it safer for you to stay out, or engage in another fight that might be happening. That's just one example. But you see where I'm going.

The stats on Deso are fine, but they're not necessarily more important at that stage of a game, compared to other item options. If you want to build it, that's fine, but other items are also very functional. And if you're comparing to Spear of the Magus, in almost no situation would I say Deso is the better item. I would only consider as an add-on, late-game, to buy Deso in ADDITION to Magus. Possibly as a replacement to Shoes after you pick up Elixir of Speed or something.

Well ok then

(394) |

Okay one minor adjustment to my statements above. In a jungle role, you can perhaps delay til a bit later, with the point of looking to provide more up-front burst damage, which typically means a higher focus on early pen. Of course, is the typical pen item and remains very strong, but additional pen from either or can also be good...with a late-game focus on CDR for universal pressure.

(71) |

I would give an +1 just by title :v

(143) |

This is why you weren't a contest judge, because you're judging guides by their title without bothering an attempt to look at the builds. How about instead of upvoting bad builds you archive the troll builds on your alt account?

(81) |

I suggest you take a calming breath and a step back there, Simon Kriega.

Load more comments (2 more replies) →

(17) |

Gordon Ramsey's long lost son

(81) |

Who said he was lost? I think he was intentionally misplaced.

(71) |

First of all, I'm not a jugde because I chose not be a judge, I was "invited to the party".

Second, I said "I would give" and not "I gave", there's such a big difference between the phrases.

And for last, I don't have alternative accounts. I don't even know which account you're talking about, but if it isn't xmysterionz, it is not mine.

Now my question: how about instead attack people (with wrong information) you don't go give some feedback away or just take care of your (and only your) life?

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