Guan Yu: Lead to Victory

First, me!

Hi! I'm TehWolfman. This is my first guide, but will not be my last. Just don't expect it to be polished is all I'm saying. I'm very much enjoying Smite so far and I can't wait to see what's in store in the future. I play an average about 20 games a day (most being victories) if I'm not busy and I don't have ****py team mates... but that's a different story! But enough about me, you came here for Guan Yu.


Guan Yu
Guan Yu is an incredibly fun God to play in Smite. He is a melee support tank that does magic damage. He has a large radius heal with a short cooldown, a gap closer that also applies a slow, a spell that deals constant damage in front of him, and an amazing ultimate that deals lots of damage and has hard crowd control. He is viable as a full tank or a bursty mage, but in this guide we will focus him doing both!

(11/1/2012)
[*] Added a Laning With chapter
[*] Added a Matchups chapter

PROS

Tanky
Solid healing ability
Very mobile late (if played right)
Great initiate
Good defender/diver because of his passive
Game changing Ultimate

CONS

hard early game
crazy mana hungry
missing Ultimate can be very very bad for team
difficult in a solo lane

Passive - Fortified Defense
Guan Yu gains +20 Physical and Magical Protection while he is near friendly or enemy structures.

Explanation:
This passive gives that little extra boost in the early game that Guan Yu needs during the laning phase while giving him a solid amount of tankiness in the late game. Enemy Gods will think twice before tower diving you if they can't take turret hits regardless of how low your health is. This passive also makes Guan Yu viable for backdooring phoenixes (if it comes down to that) and leading charges and tower dives.


1 - Tranquil Gift
Guan Yus tranquil leadership is infectious and, when focused, heals himself and his allies for 50 / 85 / 120 / 155 / 190 (+35% of your magical power). Healing friendly gods reduces all cooldowns by 2 s.

Cost: 60 / 70 / 80 / 90 / 100 mana.

Cooldown: 10 s.

Explanation:
Tranquil Gift becomes one of the most powerful heals currently in the game once Guan Yu gets items. It has an incredible radius, low cooldown, average mana cost, and doesn't interrupt his movement! Use this heal as often as possible in team fights. One clutch heal can turn an entire fight around. Trust me, as a person who primary plays support characters in other MOBA games, I've had this experience countless countless times. Stay near your team and keep them healed as often as you can.

Notes:

The cooldown reduction for healing allied Gods only counts once, not once for each God.
Tranquil Gift can heal minions and summoned creatures. Use this to help push lanes.

2 - Warrior's Will
Guan Yu charges forward, his Green Dragon Crescent Blade extended in front of him. After passing through the area, enemies are damaged for 80 / 135 / 190 / 245 / 300 (+50% of your magical power) magical damage and slowed by 25% for 2 s. Hitting enemy gods lowers all cooldowns by 2 s.

Cost: 60 / 70 / 80 / 90 / 100 mana.

Cooldown: 10 s.

Explanation:
Warrior's Will can be used as an initiator. It applies a slow and does a descent amount of damage with a short cooldown. This is also a great escape tool since you will pass through enemy minions and ally/enemy gods in case you need to get to safety as fast as possible. This is also where Guan Yu's mobility comes in as mentioned earlier. Since passing through enemy Gods reduces cooldowns by 2 seconds, you can practically spam this ability through most of the fight and give lots of room for your allies to apply other forms of stronger crowd control (stuns, snares, silences, knockbacks, knockups). Just don't be too crazy or you're gonna run OOM very quickly, even with full build.

Notes:

Warrior's Will doesn't need to connect for it to be a good initiate. It can easily get you in range for your 3 spell, which will apply a slow since you have Gem of Isolation.
Do NOT overestimate yourself in fights if the enemy team has high damage output. Keep this spell handy if you need to get out of a fight and fast.

3 - Taolu Assault
Guan Yu spins his blade in a controlled but furious display, slicing enemies for 15 / 20 / 25 / 30 / 35 (+15% of your magical power) magical damage every .4s for 4s. Each hit debuffs the enemies protections by 10 while buffing Guan Yu the same amount, up to 30, for 3s. Guan Yu is immune to knockback for the duration.

Cost: 60 / 65 / 70 / 75 / 80 mana.

Cooldown: 15 s.

Explanation:
Taolu Assault is your bread and butter. This spell does great damage and makes you much tankier on just 3 hits at a pretty good range considering Guan Yu is melee. Use this spell immediately after Warrior's Will during your initiate because they can't stop you unless you get stunned. Why? Because you're IMMUNE TO KNOCKBACKS! How insane is that?! Also when hit Gods lose 30 Physical and Magical Protection at the start of a fight it's a pretty big deal. When this spell hits enemy carries and tanks on top of what you gain from it and your full items (Void Stone, Breastplate of Valor, Mystical Mark) this very simple spell makes you a much larger threat than most people realize.

Taolu Assault Scenario:
Guan Yu has full build, let's say. After a fantastic initiate and Taulu Assault hits all 5 enemy Gods at least 3 times, that means -

Guan Yu now has +75, +60, +30 Physical Protection
Guan Yu now has +60, +30 Magical Protection
Enemy Gods now have -30 Physical Protection
Enemy Gods now have -30, -30 Magical Protection

FOR UP TO 7 SECONDS!

Notes:

Taolu Assault can be canceled early by right clicking if a heal or dash needs to be thrown out ASAP.
Taolu Assault is also great for clearing waves. 4-5 hits will kill archers while 6-8 can knock out footmen and ogres.
Take advantage of this spell's range. The slow applied from Gem of Isolation can let allies catch up easily. This works because the animation also doesn't effect your movement speed.

Ultimate - Tactician's Advantage
Guan Yu attacks 3 times. Enemies hit take damage of 75 / 100 / 125 / 150 / 175 (+20% of your magical power) magical damage and are slowed by 25% for 2 s. Enemies hit a 2nd time take damage +50% and are silenced for 2 s. Enemies hit a 3rd time take damage +100% and are stunned for 2 s. Guan Yu is immune to crowd control for the duration.

Cost: 80 / 90 / 100 / 110 / 120 mana.

Cooldown: 90 s.

Explanation:
Tactician's Advantage. Where do I start? What an ultimate! Honestly, this could be considered overpowered if it weren't a little tricky to land. But this ultimate can turn an entire team fight around or completely screw up an attack if it was used to initiate. This spell alone not only applies 1 form of soft CC and 2 forms of hard CC, it also makes Guan Yu COMPLETELY IMMUNE TO CROWD CONTROL! Amazing? You better f***ing believe it! The slow from hit 1 allows allies to follow up on your initiate. The silence from hit 2 makes it so enemies can't cast spells to get away or counter-initiate. The stun from hit 3 makes it so enemies just sit there helpless as you and your team demolish them. And to top it all off, it does great damage. Perfect ultimate for a tank.

Notes:

The damage bonuses from consecutive hits will reset if one is missed. However, the silence and stun will still be applied (I don't know if this is a bug though)
Since you become immune to CC, go for the enemy carries! They will cry!
The cooldown reductions from your 1 and 2 spells benefit your ultimate as well. If you miss this the first time, try and prolong the fight. You can possibly use it again!
Tactician's Advantage can be used to chase down as well (this is typically more for laning phase). Since Guan Yu leaps on each wind-up, he moves further than normal running. Don't let that pesky Wukong get away even after he jumps!

Skill Order

Taolu Assault > Tranquil Gift > Warrior's Will
Obviously rank your Ultimate whenever possible.


WHY?

This skill order allows Guan Yu to do very descent damage while still being majorly supporty and tanky. Focus on poking your enemies with Taolu Assault as often as possible while using Tranquil Gift to keep you, your lane partner, and your minion waves alive as much as you can without wasting too much mana. Taolu Assault has the most damage output of Guan Yu's abilities and really helps in laning phase both as poking and clearing minion waves. Why not Warrior's Will second? It's because the slow does not increase as this skill is ranked, only damage. Since this God was not primarily designed to deal damage, maxing this spell last does not make a big difference. It's much more important to get stronger heals and better wave clears in the early and mid game phases. This skill order is viable in a solo lane and a duo lane.

However -
There is an exception to this skill order particularly in the laning phase as a support. You may put points in Tranquil Gift early if and only if:

Your lane comp is forced to play passive early (ie: laning with Bakasura or Ymir).
Their lane comp is incredibly aggressive and for some reason your partner can't dodge.
or
Their lane comp is strong and you can't win trades even with good initiates (ie: Artemis/Ymir, Hades/Anubis, Thor/Freya)

Shop Abilities:

Remember Guan Yu is a support tank. My recommended abilities are:
Heavenly Agility
+35% Movement Speed to allies within 35 feet for 5 seconds.

and
Girdle of Might
+30 Physical Power and +50 Magical Power for 10 seconds to nearby allies.

These Abilities serve as a great boost to initiates and stomping enemy teams in fights.


Other Abilities include:
Aegis Amulet
Immunity to damage for 2 seconds while also being unable to take any actions.
Creeping Curse
Nearby enemies have -35% Movement Speed for 5 seconds.
Meditation
Restores 75% of maximum Mana.

This is my typical item build for any match with Guan Yu:

Warlock's SashBoots of the MagiBreastplate of ValorVoid StoneMystical MarkGem of Isolation



Explanation:

Warlock's Sash
This item is incredibly strong on most mage carry Gods. It's particularly strong on Guan Yu because it gives you bonus Health as a tank, bonus Mana as a hungry mage, and bonus Magical Power as a magic damage dealer per stack. Not to mention that these stacks are NOT lost on death. Rushing this item is a must regardless of what lane you're in or who you're against.

Boots of the Magi
Boots are a must on any God or any hero/champion/whatever for any MOBA game that exists ever. If you're new to the genre, learn that now. Store it in your brain. Why Magi boots exactly? Bonus Mana and Magical Power. Why not? I choose this over Reinforced Boots because your ultimate makes you immune to crowd control so reducing CC is virtually worthless. Grab level 3 boots second unless, and absolutely unless, you're having terrible mana issues in lane.

Breastplate of Valor
This is where you start becoming tanky. Lots of Physical Protection, more Mana, and cooldown reduction? Yes please! Now you might think cooldown reduction isn't necessary since you have the benefits of healing allies with your 1 and hitting enemies with your 2. This is true, but why not milk that as much as possible? Your allies will love you forever if you can keep healing them and keep slowing the enemy Gods. Build this item third to get the benefits as soon as you can.

Void Stone
More tankiness incoming! This will balance your defenses out and give you even more Magical Power. On top of all that it even reduces nearby enemy Gods' Magical Protection just by standing near them. Now not only are you doing more damage, but your ally Gods that do magic damage are benefiting too. This is a good fourth item unless your team doesn't have much magic damage or the enemy team doesn't deal much magic damage. Then it can be a good fifth or even sixth item.

Mystical Mark
Add on the Physical Protection and don't give two ****s about their melee assassins. At this point them being near you just to try and damage is just hurting them more while you have this item on along with your damage output. Taolu Assault and just laugh in their face. This item is worth getting fourth if the enemy team has ridiculous physical damage output. Otherwise, get it fifth.

Gem of Isolation
Top off your build with this great item that adds Health, Mana, and Magical Power while also applying slows to EVERY ONE OF YOUR SPELLS. If the enemy team was having trouble getting away from you before, they're absolutely screwed now. Makes you feel great, right? Fantastic final item. However if you're having way too much trouble chasing down enemies even by mid game, this can be grabbed fifth or even fourth if it's that bad. Work by the scenarios of the match. Oh and by the way, YES. More mana! I don't think you understand exactly just how often you will be spamming your spells at this point with all the cooldown reduction you'll be getting. Trust me, it's necessary.



Other viable items on Guan Yu

Silverfox Girdle
This is for if your team is just absolutely squishy and all they need is someone to absorb all the shots. Nothing wrong with that. Replace Mystical Mark with this.
Hide of the Leviathan
Some bonus Physical and Magical Protection along with Health and Mana. This can be used if your team already has great damage output but just needs someone a little more on the tanky side. Send back the Gem of Isolation for this.
Hide of the Nemean Lion
This is the item that is needed if there is just waaaaaaaay too much physical damage output from the enemy team. Physical Protection, health, and reflects damage. Yeah, this item will screw them over. Throw out that Void Stone for this.
Sovereignty
Same thing as the one above. A bit more Physical Protection and also gives nearby allies some of that protection. Give up that Void Stone for this.

Wall of Absolution
This is kind've another way of applying the same thing as Void Stone does, but gives you Physical Protection and the enemy Gods have to hit you. This will make your attacks and your allies that do magical damage stronger. Switch out either Mystical Mark or Gem of Isolation with this.
Circlet of Focus
Some Spell Vamp and a chance to make a spell free by using basic attacks. Since you'll be in the enemy teams faces most of the time, this isn't a bad idea. You will be less tanky, but if you have other tanks on the team it's worth it. You can shelf Breastplate of Valor or Mystical Mark for this.
Magi's Blessing
Magic Protection, Health, and Mana. Get this if the enemy team has a lot of magic damage and very little physical damage. Since mages rely on hitting spells and doing burst, blocking one of their spells in a combo will seriously screw them over. Especially if one of those spells applies hard CC. Replace Mystical Mark with this.
Polynomicon
If you have a lot of Magical Power then this is worth investing into. Extra damage on basic attacks after using a spell? Sure, I'll take it. Useful if used correctly. Toss the Breastplate of Valor or the Mystical Mark for this.
Rod of Tahuti
This item is only for carry Guan Yu and you just don't give a damn about their team or their damage output. You want to get in their face and wreck while throwing out tremendous heals. It's possible, but dangerous. Replace Mystical Mark or Breastplate of Valor with this.
Reinforced Boots
If the enemy team just has awful agonizing unavoidable crowd control, then and only then may you get this. Give up the Boots of the Magi for this.

Early Game:

Be in your lane and help your team mate. Try to stay close to your minions so you can get experience and gold without being in the way of enemy skills and auto-attacks (if ranged). Remember that this is where Guan Yu is weakest, so don't be a try hard. If you can, throw out some attacks but make sure you win the trades. Once you hit level five then you can start being really aggressive with your ultimate. If you ever have time, you can go and help out your mid-lane with ganks if needed. You should only do this if the enemy Gods are not present or your lane is pushing really hard. Be careful of enemy junglers if your lane is pushing hard. Since you are technically supporting you should also be buying wards. Remember you're trying to rush your Warlock's Sash so you can start getting stacks as soon as possible. Most importantly, DON'T FEED THE ENEMY TEAM!



Mid Game:

This is where skirmishes start. You should be trying to get key points like enemy towers and phoenixes and also Gold Fury. Do not go out on your own unless you're absolutely sure you can get away with what you're about to do (example: pushing a lane if the enemy team is pushing one and your team can defend properly). You are very valuable in fights as a healer and tank, so try and be involved as much as possible for more gold and experience. You shouldn't be trying to get kills for you, but for your team. Guan Yu can put out some serious damage, but he's not a true carry like Anubis, Ra, He Bo, or Zeus. Your damage and utility have gone up tremendously at this point so don't fall behind because you feel like being the hero of the game.



Late Game:

Your damage has started falling off, but your utility and tankiness shine brighter than Ra's ultimate. Stay with your team, CC their carries with your ult and 2, heal your allies with 1 in heavy fights. Focus more on pushing as a group for phoenixes, Fire Giant, and Minotaur. Make sure your team is getting jungle buffs to give them much more sustain. I can't say this enough, stay as a team! At this point you should have full build and your abilities to initiate fights. Your tankiness is superior to everyone else's, so you need to initiate. Heavenly Agility, 2, ultimate (if you have it), 3, heal, 2, heal, win. Simple.

COMING SOON

Considering that the game is still in Beta, players are letting multiple Gods go in multiple lanes. This is all strictly situational!


Solo Laning
Agni
Play with caution
Agni has great range and strong spells, especially once he hits 5. Getting in range of him will just allow him to use his full combo and knock you out during laning phase. And since he can sprint away you can't trade. Play passive and try to farm. Go in when your jungler/roamer ganks, but don't overestimate yourself.

Anhur
You don't win
Anhur can leap to get away from you, his spear goes through minions, and the obelisk will slow you down. He has incredible damage output just from auto attacks. If you can, switch lanes with someone. Otherwise just farm and hope for the best.

Anubis
Challenging, but even
Anubis is incredibly strong right now. However he does rely on his skillshot to stun you. If you can dodge that, you can make trades even since he has no real escape. If you get the jump on him, run around him in circles as he uses his ultimate and he can't hit you. This is all skill based.

Ao Kuang
GG
Ao Kuang is your absolute nightmare. He has incredible push and wave clear with those tornadoes. He can slow you with his 1 and speed himself up with his 2 to escape or chase. His ult has a huge range and can knock you and your team away. You absolutely must switch lanes with another God (preferably someone ranged) or you're gonna lose your towers quickly. If no one is available, ask your jungler/roamer to babysit for you. A fed Ao is devastating.

Arachne
Slight advantage, but still even
Arachne does beat you in pushing lane and she can deny you farm because her poison and spiderlings do pretty good damage. Good news is she has to get close to you to any damage, so just turn the tide on her when she goes in. Farm and poke when you can, but stay alive. You should win if you dodge her ultimate.

Ares
Hard lane
Ares' chains do strong damage and apply a slow. He can easily catch up to you and melt you with his 3 spell. Once he has his ultimate you absolutely must keep your distance unless you're absolutely 100% sure you can win. You can't kill him on your own, but try your best to deny him farm.

Artemis
Tough, but you can win
Artemis is not nearly as hard as Anhur in the laning phase. Her slow is a little hard to dodge, but she has no real escape mechanism. Dodge those traps and use your ultimate when she uses hers and that boar becomes useless because you're immune to crowd control. Her range gives her an advantage, but you should win this if you play right.

Bakasura
Harass him to ****
Bakasura has absolutely no damage in the early game, but can carry the game hard late. Don't let that happen! Harass him every chance you can get and he'll be forced to waste mana on consuming minions instead of attacking you back. If you can't kill him, you can certainly deny him from farming. You win this lane.

Bastet
Play pseudo-passive and you win
Bastet does some fair damage because of her bleed and can escape with her pounce. Her lane clear isn't superior to yours because Taolu Assault will increase your defenses from her bleed and she will just waste mana trying to kill you and trying to get away when you get in her face. You should win, but don't be crazy.

Cupid
Be careful
Cupid has superior range, wave clear, sustain, and escapes. His passive will wreck you and he can kill you easy just by kiting. Consider buying Reinforced Boots if you play against Cupid. Farm and defend your towers the best you can. The only advantage you have is that your ultimate cancels out his.

Freya
Dodge to win
Freya is mana hungry early on even though she has good wave clear. Her auto attacks with her 2 active should be easy to dodge because they're so loud. Predict her 3 spell with your dash and she'll waste it. Harass hard and she'll be forced to ultimate just to get away from you. You will win if you dodge her 2.

Guan Yu
Win
You read this guide. You're the better Guan Yu. You know exactly how to win. Just win.

Hades
Even
Hades does good damage early on and has fantastic sustain, but he falls off if he doesn't get fed. He's much more for utility. You'll never kill him, but he'll never kill you either since you can just dash out of his ultimate (or silence it if you really feel like it). Even in laning phase, but you can win late game if you don't feed.

He Bo
Laugh and win
He Bo is a very situational God and you should laugh in his face if you lane against him. All of his spells are short range and his slow is very easy to get out of. He's also incredibly squishy so you can completely destroy him once you hit 5. If He Bo is smart, he'll switch lanes before you get fed. If he doesn't, get in his face and laugh as all his health goes away.

Hel
Very hard, you need to farm
Hel is a tough God to face once she hits level 5. Her damage output and her health and mana sustain is absolutely insane and she also has great wave clear. You'll never be able to kill her unless she's downright terrible. Good news is that she shouldn't be able to kill you either. The trick is to stay away from your minions so you don't get the splash damage from her 1. Stay back and farm and go in when you get ganks. If Hel gets fed it's going to be hell for your team (no pun intended).

Kali
You win, but don't get cocky
Kali has strong damage early and great health sustain, but she should fall since she can't get kills on you. Ult her whenever possible and force her away, but don't keep chasing or she'll just turn around and wreck you while you can't get away because she has a speed buff. Deny all her farm and she can't do anything in the late game.

Odin
Trapped? Turn and destroy
Odin has pretty descent damage early for a tank God and he also has a good escape spell. Be careful about this because he can make trades even. However if he tries to go for a kill by trapping you in his ultimate, just turn and destroy him with yours. He'll be silenced and stunned as you turn the tide and most likely kill him or make him go back to base at the very least. Even with his good ultimate and attack speed buff, an Odin without items is completely useless late game. You'll win.

Ra
Even match
Getting in Ra's face is dangerous since he has a slow and it will be a lot easier to land his 1 spell. He can also ignore a good amount of your damage just by standing in his sunlight. But don't be discouraged. If you get a good ultimate, he can't stop you. When you're in his face, it's much easier to dodge his ult if he's trying to finish you off. A simple sidestep should do the trick. Be confident and try to farm and even out trades.

Sobek
Tanky/DPS battle
Sobek has good damage mostly from his ability to throw you into his minion waves and towers and keep you there with his knockback. His 3 spell will also make your heals less effective. Thing is that after he uses his full combo, he can't kill you unless for whatever dumb reason you can't get away from minions because he has no source of damage. His auto attacks are puny. A good Sobek will know that he shouldn't charge you unless he can 100% kill you, which should never happen. This is much more a farm battle where he has stronger clear, but you have stronger poke. Sobek will fall off late so prolong the match as long as possible if you have trouble.

Sun Wukong
All skill and dodging
Wukong is a pain, but he shouldn't be able to kill you. He has a better wave clear and poke (unless you dodge) and his ultimate will annoy the hell out of you. However because of your healing ability, you can make his poke do nothing but waste his mana hungry monkey butt. His escapes will allow you to not get kills, so focus on farming and not dying. Rely on ganks from your jungler/roamer. Otherwise, this is all skill based.

Thor
You have the advantage
Thor is a weak laner as solo, but his strength depends on the player behind him. Dodge his 1 and stay out of his 3 and you should win the trades. His cheap ultimate will deny you kills, but he'll also be forced to lose gold and experience while you keep clearing his lane and pushing. Please don't feed Thor. His damage falls off late, so don't be aggressive.

Vamana
Superior tank
Vamana is a major pain whether he gets fed or not. He has superior poke, good damage, tanky as all hell, and even has an escape if he gets in trouble. Your best bet is to farm and hope that you farm better than him. Just remember not to attack him while he's using his Ultimate. Go for the other Gods on his team because this guy can't be killed.

Ymir
He never dies
This guy gets so much health in the late game that it's just ridiculous. His defenses are naturally high and he has great initiates and kill secure abilities. The good news is that you beat him to dust when it comes to farming minions. He'll always be pushed, so your best bet is to farm and gank other lanes whenever possible. Ymir won't be able to punish you, but he can't kill you without his team. This lane is a tie.

Zeus
Chase down to win
Zeus is another situational God much like He Bo, though Zeus has much more range. He has good wave clear, but you can deal with that. Go in whenever you have the chance since he has no escape spells and can't kite you with such long cooldowns. Even if you stand in his ultimate he should not be doing much damage to you at all. Deny him farm and go for kills every chance you get. This is a very easy lane.

This was my guide to Guan Yu and I hope you enjoyed. I will be updating this guide as often as possible as more Gods, items, and patches go out. He is a very fun God to play and will probably be one of the best support Gods out there for a while. If you have any other questions or suggestions feel free to comment on this guide below or just message me in game. Now go and lead your team to victory!

IGN TehWolfman