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Attackler's Blessing is not for Conquest but for other modes.
And Hunter's blessing is kinda mandatory for his start in conquest.
Hunter's Blessing
Attacker's Blessing
Warrior's Blessing
Purification Beads
Aegis Amulet
Heavenly Wings
Magic Shell
Hunter's Blessing
Spiked Gauntlet
Multi Potion
Hand of the Gods
Purification Beads
or
not good as it uses to be then pick
instead of it.
Devourer's Gauntlet
Ninja Tabi
The Executioner
Atalanta's Bow
Qin's Sais
Titan's Bane
is a bit much overdoing. Then pick
or
as 6th item.
or
Devourer's Gauntlet
Ninja Tabi
Atalanta's Bow
Runeforged Hammer
Ichaival
Frostbound Hammer
This build is for the player that cant land many auto attacks and also find season shift thing too confusing so they just need to spam abilities more. So This is your full cdr ability + aa hybrid build.
Devourer's Gauntlet
Ninja Tabi
Odysseus' Bow
Fail-Not
Jotunn's Wrath
Atalanta's Bow
Toxic Dagger & Brawler Beatstick -> Anti-Heal & More Pen
Atalanta's Bow & Wİnd Demon -> More movement speed while boxing your opponent.
Deathbringer -> If you wanna go with really huge Crit chance spike
Berserker Shield -> Against heavily physical team comps (very situational item)
Winged Blade -> Against heavily slow cc team comps
Blackthorn -> For mana and health but its kinda unnecessary for Cern
Hydra Lament -> Im not sure yet but if this stack with Runeforged Hammer's effect then your 2+Basics combo would be devastating but again ım not sure and even if ı was sure about it it would've been very situational and niche pick for Cern
Titan's Bane -> For more flat pen.
Magi's Cloak -> If enemy team has a very hard cc team comp.
Toxic Blade
Brawler's Beat Stick
Atalanta's Bow
Demon Blade
Deathbringer
Winged Blade
Blackthorn Hammer
Hydra's Lament
Titan's Bane
Magi's Cloak
Fail-Not
Tap each threat level to view Cernunnos’s threats
First of all, English is not my main language so please excuse some of my grammar mistakes :)
Hi.. I'm not a high ranked (above diamond) or pro player(cuz ı don't trust my current PC build and internet service for higher-ranked games). I'm mostly a casual and golden ranked player and I'm at 10+ mastery level with Cernunnos. Tho I'm not an advanced competitive Smite player, at the same time ı watch and follow professional players, analysts, and educator streamers. And try to follow the current meta since 5.17.

I'm gonna try to cover Cernunnos's guide as a pure ADC for multiple game modes.
Cernunnos is the most unique hunter imo. Cuz of his
Its not a stance swap for abilities but it's a stance swap for basic auto attacks. Yes, Freya and Xbalanque have similar things but those are just buffs. Not swapping.
On the other side for Cernnunnos;
Blue Stance (winter) -> Slows enemy
Green Stance (spring) -> Life steal
Yellow Stance (autumn) -> Kinda works as penetration/protection shred.
Red Stance ( Summer) -> Extra physical power boost (kinda complimented to crit builds)
So that's why Cernunnos is a very versatile aa build hunter. And Very unique and fun to play. Also one of the best adc gods in close combat too. His basics felt like melee attacks sometimes.
It's kinda bit hard to first play and adjusting but not so hard to master it imo. He is not like Ullr or Hou Yi.
Let's move on.

His kit is pretty straight forward. Nothing tricky about it. So ı don't think we need to talk over it so much. The only deal with Cern is his build decisions. Which season stance that you're gonna compliment with your build that's the most important thing about it.
And as a side note: The only downfall and disadvantaged side of Cern is his ultimate imo. It ain't have legit damage. Also, the radius of it is kinda small, it's easy to juke cuz it's telegraphed way earlier. And it's a very slow burn ability. Also in the early game, it's almost useless cuz you're not gonna be fast enough to kill 1 or 2 pigs in 2 seconds. So don't use it for execution in the early game. Use for setup.
It's more like a kill secure or escape tool for early game but very helpful at late game.
Also, magi's cloak and beads can counter. And the saddest part, you don't have cc immunity while ulting (like Artemis) so don't trust your ult that much.
Trust your 2 + Basics combo more. It's annoying for the enemy.
There are not much of Combos for Cernunnos. Only 2 of 'em.
Short one ->
+
Bigger one ->
+
+
And ıf there is no one around and its just you and your enemy in 1 vs 1 then you could implament your
into these combos (its one of the highest damage number dashes in the game but ı think you should use it for escape or chase.

______________________________________________
Cern aint have much ability base combos but he can pull off combos via his
You see since his winter stance has slow this allowed you to get benefit from
and you can even amplify his winter stance effect with
And items like
would complement both your spring and autumn stances (cuz of lifesteal and pen). And crit items such as
or
would be great for your summer stance.
All combos you need are the correct items and your
. Also a decent amount of attack speed.

Be patient at early game cuz even after recent buff to your
your early clear and early game presence still not so impressive. So at the early stages kept your distance don't engage in rush and farm a lot.
And after mid to late game turn on your artillery mode. Cuz of your slows, root, and ultimate it's not easy to get you. You can be brave but you can't be stupid, you can't handle that cuz you don't have cc immunity and since your
is both linear and ground target ability (which means you cant arrange distance easily like Hachiman's #2. Minions or another enemy could block it and interrupt your long shot with it. Also, it cant be implemented behind walls too. So Ymir, Thor, Terra, Anhur can easily block.
You're a mechanical aa base hunter with one simple but effective setup but still, most of the efficiency of Cernunnos comes from his aim. make sure your auto attacks are landing.
Be aggressive at mid to late game as possible but don't put yourself into impossible tasks. You're a countable god after all.
And as a sidenote, Cern is better with old school pure supports such as Khepri, Ganesha, Geb, Ares, Sylvanus, Bacchus. Rushdown supports like Cerberus, Jormungandr, Cthulhu, Fenrir, Kuzenbo, Sobek not gonna be cool with him.
Also utility guardians like Athena, Artio can be tricky, they can work with him but it has to be good. Cuz Cern can deal damage but since his ultimate is a bit situational and he ain't have cc immunity; old school pure supports can cover his disadvantages better.
CONS:
- No cc immunity
- Ultimate has execution issues and even if you can execute then there is a "not rewarding enough" problem. Cuz Hera's #2 basically is your ultimate. But it's a decent team fight ult tho
- You're an auto-attack base hunter such as Xbalanque or Jing Wei but you're not safe as those 2.
- Early Game could be a messy task.
PROS
- You're not an ability dependent, mana hungry hunter.
- You're probably one of the most unique gods in the history of The Smite
- After the early game, your lane pressure is amazing
- You've got a good amount of cc and setup. And safe enough.
- Versatile in terms of items. He could make work many many items.
- Cern is a sleeper god right now. He is gonna shine again soon.

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So, let's go over some basics. Hunters typically require these two things in their builds:
1) Large Percentage Penetration -
2) DPS - Pick either
So let's go over your builds. I'm only going to comment on any glaring issues. For optimization, you'll want to go to BranMuffin17.
1) Spring Stance Base Mid Game Build - This seems ok. But I'm sure it could be further optimized.
2) Winter Stance Base Mid Game Build - No DPS option. You need
No reason to build
3) Autumn & Summer Stance Base Mid Game Build: That
4) Hybrid Auto Attack Base Mid Game Build: Missing
5) Ability & AA Hybrid Mid Game Build: Missing
6) Spring Stance Base Late Game Build: Seems ok, though I would get
7) Winter Stance Base Late Game Build: Missing
I'll stop there for now. I think you have too many builds. I would like for you to cut it down to about 1/3 or 1/4 of what you have right now.
These should be your cookie cutter builds
Let me know if you have questions.
And about "4)" part. That build had Exe.
Thx again.
And about build number. Im kinda "overclassfier" kinda dude :D Its kinda habbit , but ı'll try to cut shortly (as ı can) .
And about the question;
It might seem like that but I dont think so.
People still dont use Cern at his all potential (and even ı dont). Generaly peopel stuck with Spring Stance for all game and only went Summer & Autumn stances for killing blows.
But if you consider Winter Stance too. Runeforge will proc with your every basic attack and add crit on to that. Runeforge is one of the rare 50+ physical power item in the game. And its adding %15 more power if enemy effected by a CC . So Winter Stance Basic ATtack + His 2 + Another Basic is very lethal thru mid to late game thx to Runeforged Hammer. And Add Crit chance into this combo ? One of 'emm will be have extra crit damage via rage.
With regard to Cern, if you stay in Winter stance, you consistently apply a slow, which means that the Rune passive damage boost will be consistently applied.
With Art, she's got CC in multiple abilities, but also it was seeing use for her in combination with a crit build, as
So, Rune can work with crits or Qin's builds. Depends on who you're building in on, and in this case, Cern easily uses the passive in any build.
He may value the Poison Star passive as a personal preference. Its not dps optimal with Wind Demon and
I'd love to hear your reasons behind these choices OP
For Cernunnos I do believe Runeforged is a solid choice however.
2 pen item in almost everybuild and runeforged hammer amplify upcoming damages of these 2 pen item via its passive and ıchaival gave us physical power increase at each hit or odyseus bow is gonna hit like an ultimate in late game. Qin's Sais kinda bit unnecessary imo.
But ı totaly can understand qin's sais pick over Cern against tanky team compositions.
And just 2 tanky god team comps not tanky enough to force me to buy qin's sais. But of course this is just imo and subjective.
And ı just compare qin builds and my builds over build comparison sheet (updated 6.4 version u can find on reddit) . And qin bring anything special. When ı had 2 life steal 2 pen item and when rune forge amplify damage and odyseus bow hits 2-3 extra ticks that hit harden my ultimate ? Qin sais aint needed imo
Understand that Qin's represents a huge DPS boost, and is considered a core component of an ADC build that doesn't focus on crits. When you build high attack speed (e.g. Ninja, Exe, O-Bow), Qin's is the true defining item for DPS there.
In a high attack speed one yes, but there's also just general power/pen based Ability hunter builds that may get a lone O-bow for attack speed.
Still plenty of builds with qins. The only ones missing qins mainly seemed to be builds that had rage in them (but no other crit), or were crit focused builds.
- Spring Stance Base Mid Game Build: Devo's + Asi can be fine for super high sustain. That said, if I do double-lifesteal, I'd prefer to get the 2nd one later than 3rd. O-Bow is built way too early. It should be a cake topper to a build with
Qin's Sais. And you're saying to use Spring Stance mid, meaning even MORE lifesteal? No. Use Spring stance to make up for some lifesteal you DON'T have. Better order: Devo's, Ninja, Exe, Qin's, O-Bow, Rune / Asi in whichever order you want, and with Devo's as first item, you don't need to be in Spring to begin.
- Winter Stance Base Mid Game Build: If you're going to be in winter stance, why aren't you taking advantage of getting
Runeforged Hammer earlier? Why is Exe first? (Or is it last? No explanation on this) And with Winter, you don't need Frost. I don't get the concept here. If you want to focus on Winter mid-game, better build order: Ninja, Asi, Rune, Exe, Qin's, situational, and stay in Winter to get the consistent Rune bonus.
- Autumn & Summer Stance Base Mid Game Build: O-Bow again built too early, and shouldn't be built in combination with crits. Crits want power. O-Bow has 0 power. PS followed by Rage isn't optimal. You'll either choose PS + DB, or Rage + DB, but for Cern, who has no AS steroid, Rage is probably not suggested at all. DB should be your option...with a late Wind Demon after DB (as replacement to. If you go crit w/ PS, it provides the slow that you can use to incorporate
Runeforged Hammer. But you're not doing that here. This build in particular has major issues.
- Hybrid Auto Attack Base Mid Game Build: Again with 2 lifesteal items in the first 3 items. Again, it's potentially okay if you are going for a high sustain build (BaRRa partially recommended as an option in his recent Jing video), but not suggested in most cases. Also, how exactly is this a "hybrid" build? What's hybrid about it? Hybrid normally refers to either bruiser builds (e.g. both offensive and defensive items) or builds that incorporate ability and basic attack focus (e.g. CDR + basic attack items). This is not hybrid in any sense. This build also doesn't have Exe, which is bad.
- Ability & AA Hybrid Mid Game Build: Again with hybrid, but at least this time it has a somewhat hybrid-y item in
The Crusher, which gets some additional function from ability use. Wouldn't call it hybrid personally, though. If you want to incorporate Crusher, you might go Devo's, Ninja, Crusher, Exe, Qin's, situational. If you want it to be more ability/AA hybrid, you might go Trans, Ninja, Asi, Crusher, Exe, Qin's.
- Spring Stance Base Late Game Build: 3x lifesteal...no, please don't. This build has, again, major issues. Not even going to propose something different. Just delete this one, would be my suggestion.
- Winter Stance Base Late: Why Witchblade as the replacement item? Don't get Witch. You're still missing the bulk of the damage from Qin's, and Witch doesn't have any power. When you build extra AS, you do that to get more out of Qin's. Without Qin's, your DPS suffers in a high AS build.
- Autumn/Summer Late: Adding Silver doesn't make up for the major issues of the base build.
- Hybrid Late: Finally get Exe here...but the theme is that the base build is just not great without Qin's.
- Ability/AA Hybrid Late: Adding PS to this build is awful. Only 1 crit item is not efficient.
- Assault Build: Starting with
Asi is okay, I guess. Gives you a lot of early sustain. Qin's still needs to be in there, and you probably don't need BF late. Still missing Qin's.
- Full CDR Build: The name isn't quite accurate. It's 30% CDR, not the max 40%. A full CDR build might be Jotunn's, Ninja or Warrior, Soul Eater, Crusher, Titan's, and, well, Witch or Ancile, I guess, though I don't see a need to go 40% CDR on Cern.
- Favorite Build: PS first item is awful. PS as only crit item is awful. No Qin's again is just a lack of understanding of how to build an AS build. This just is not a good build if you're looking to maximize potential.
No offense meant by any of this, just hunter building needs to be better understood here. If you want further explanation, I'm willing to provide further feedback. You can also reference my Items Guide (more specifically the Basic Attack Progression / Physical Damage Spikes chapter), which will give you a good amount of info.Also, you don't need to do mid and late-game builds. Just use the mid build base, and add a 7th item. In the notes, just say to replace Tabi with the 7th item.
Thats's sounds like an awful build for Cern.
" but if you're focusing first and foremost on CDR that build provides function for abilities." - I tried something like this, still didn't work. Rama arena build based around making his ult hit as hard as possible, problem is... it's his ult, 2nd, it makes the rest of his kit terrible. See, projects like this just don't work, which is why we suggest viable builds instead that benefit a character's kit.
Winter stance.... Yes ı wanna take advantage of winter stance but Cern is a valid hunter when he can shoot fast. So Executioner first bring me early attack speed and pen. Im try to make my opponents slow not myself.
Spring Stance Late Game... In my notes ı also said "3 lifesteal would be too much yo could trade bloodforge with crit item" .. So no biggie.
Full CDR ... %30 CDR is a great number for an aa base hunter. So again no biggie.
ANd Favorite Build is heavily subjective and ı had great success with it .. So its irrelevant.
But ı kinda agree with other correction on other builds.
Regarding building Exe first...you'll actually get even better DPS than Exe if you build
If we greatly switch it up to show you how much Trans build potential has, you switch the strategy a bit. Trans, Ninja, Asi, Exe, Qin's, Ichaival. Don't worry about Rune and its bonus damage. This build gives you 801 DPS. Just showing you how much Trans can do for you.
And your favorite build...yes, being a favorite is subjective. Having "great success" with it is...perhaps also subjective, and dependent on matchups (what skill level do you typically play against, and how good are your teammates?). I'm not trying to attack you here, but when you brush something off and say it's irrelevant, I question why, when your win% with him is sub 50%, and you've got a 140 kill/193 death/1.73 KDA with him. The build has very specific issues, and you could do BETTER than you're doing now if you address those and improve on the build. It's always good to keep an open mind.
This most recent match has you dealing good numbers with your build. But I'll argue that the