Heat me up - In-depth Sol Guide (Season 3)

Hey and welcome to my Sol guide for season 3. I'm nanoyam and this is my first guide here in Smitefire. I've been playing Smite since beta, and I'm quite experienced with other moba games too. Most of the times I find myself playing Conquest, but I really do enjoy playing other modes too. I started playing with Sol since her first day, and from the first game, I fell absolutely in love with this god. On my journey to mastery level X, I've become very familiar with Sol, and I really wanted to share some of my knowledge with you. In this guide, I'll be introducing you Sol's kit in its entirety. Along with the basics, I'll cover everything you need to know to play Sol successfully. Starting from how to use your abilities efficiently, then explaining how items and relics improve the playstyle and finally the way to control the battleground. This guide is mainly focused on Conquest mid lane, but similar build can also be used in other roles or even in the other game modes. Just to remind you. There are also other ways to build Sol and make her viable. Mine is just based on my experience and on my knowledge. This entire guide is based around the builds I personally recommend, and some information may not be so vital when building her differently. But this doesn't mean your feedback would not be appreciated. Please leave a comment behind if you find some information incorrect or you have suggests on my guide. Thank you. -nano

Season 3 and Sol

Active Items are now called Relics. There are now few new options to adjust Sol's playstyle and I'll explain the ones providing Sol the most benefit. Stellar Burst will no longer be counted as a basic attack when used during item procs. "This ability no longer counts as an in-hand attack for activating items, and deals normal ability damage." There are some major changes coming with new items and I'll be updating this guide during the first few weeks of Season 3 Conquest map is getting remodeled a bit which may bring some minor changes to Sol's gameplay.

PROS

CONS

+Good mobility +Strong auto-attacks +Good escape/immunity with Disapparate +High single target damage +Extra sustain with selfheal Radiance +No mana issues if played correctly

SPACE

SPACE

-Very squishy - Disapparate can be tricky to use -No CC -Ability usage needs practice to use smoothly -Not as good AoE Damage as other mages -Not CC friendly

Unstable Manifestation (PASSIVE) This is really what defines Sol. Passive gives Sol +1% Magical Power and +1.2% Attack Speed for every 4% Heat. At 100% heat she also gains 25% damage boost to her auto-attack damage. So, at 100% heat Sol gains +25% additional magical power, +30% additional attack speed and +25% damage boost to AA.

Heat is gained through auto-attacks and abilities. Still best way to boost heat and auto-attack damage is to use Radiance since it gives the highest amount of heat and best improvement to AA. Heat decreases quickly if not kept up.


Auto-attack raises heat by 5%


Radiance This ability leaves a small area under Sol's feet which damages enemies within over time and heals Sol. As mentioned above Radiance is Sol's main ability to raise up heat and auto-attack damage. It does a good amount of damage to enemies but it's still mostly used for quick heating. Due to the short range landing Radiance under enemy feet needs training and can sometimes be risky. Radiance heals Sol by the amount of missing health. This can be a savior in many situations and should always be used at low health. This ability is leveled up after Stellar Burst.

Radiance raises Heat by 40/50/60/70/80%



Stellar Burst As Sol this is your primary ability to harass and deal damage to enemies. This ability makes Sol's next basic attack explode damaging enemies around and after a short while exploding again damaging and slowing enemies. Stellar Burst hits the first enemy it impacts and needs a little practice when used to harass enemies behind minions. This ability is picked up first to help clear jungle camps at the start.

Stellar Burst raises Heat by 10%



Disapparate is Sol's only escape ability, and also hardest to master and use correctly. I like to call this ability as fail safe mechanism. It can be used to escape, avoid enemy ultimates and damage enemies. This ability has many uses, which means you need to understand what it does and when. When activating this ability, Sol gains movement speed buff and ignores all slows and movement penalties, leaving a damaging trail behind for 3 seconds. After this Sol loses this extra movement speed but becomes fully immune to everything. At the same time when Sol becomes fully immune the trail behind explodes damaging enemies. Incorporeal form lasts for 3 seconds and during the immunity Sol is still able to move. When Sol loses corporeal form and gains the immunity, she may not use any other abilities, potions, actives etc., but she can leave this form early.

Enemies with low HP recalling under towers are easy targets for Sol. Activate Disapparate just moments before going under the tower and bursting your target down with Stellar Burst. The damage immunity you gain after that will help you survive with a good amount of health.

Disapparate raises Heat by 10%



Supernova is Sol's Ultimate. Sol can move during her ult, which strikes 8 times following your cursor. Each strike has a knockup effect, but cannot affect the same target twice. Strikes are not instant, so anticipation is needed. This is Sol's most powerful ability and can be very effective in teamfights, especially those in narrow spaces such as between jungle camps. Supernova synergizes well with some allies' ultimates. For example, Odin's Ring of Spears traps enemies, making it easier for Sol to land her ult. Vice versa, Sol can help Odin by knocking enemies up, allowing him to position himself well and trap multiple enemies.

Supernova raises Heat by 10%

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So, as Sol you want to level up Stellar Burst first. It does highest amount of damage and it has best utility in teamfights. Radiance should be maxed second. Even though Radiance provides healing and best amount of heat for Sol's auto-attack damage it has no such use at early game. At laning phase Stellar Burst will always deal highest amount of damage.

Supernova is of course leveled up whenever possible. (Levels 5/9/13/17/20) Disapparate is leveled up last. From Sol's abilities Disapparate is the one that gives greatest utility in late game and at early stage it has less use.

Builds depend on playstyle, lane positioning, and mode. This build is meant mostly for Conquest mid-lane, although a similar build can be used in any other role, as my focus will be to take advantage of her auto attack. The build isn't set in stone, as you always want to consider possible counter-building depending on the situation and your matchups.






I consider these items core for Sol, based on my playstyle and reliance on her auto attack. They should almost always be built, no matter the situation, as they provide necessary stats to maximize her effectiveness in this role. Here are the explanations and tips for each item.


Shoes of the Magi Even though Sol has high inherent movement speed, I still recommend rushing Shoes of the Magi to start. With a low price, this provides Sol a good amount of magical power and magical penetration, and makes it easier to avoid enemy abilities. Also, this delays the need to level Disapparate earlier. Why don't I choose Shoes of Focus? With this build's main reliance on auto-attacks, the extra mana isn't that important, since she isn't mana hungry. Although CDR is useful, the focus on her auto attack makes power and penetration vital.

Polynomicon The lifesteal this item provides gives Sol a lot of early sustain for lane presence. It adds a good amount of magical power and extra mana. More importantly, the passive synergizes well with Sol's basic attacks (after using an ability, the next basic attack will deal +75% additional magical damage)). Polynomicon works most efficiently when used at full heat and right after using Radiance.

Demonic Grip This item provides Magical Power, Attack Speed, and Protection Reduction, all vital stats whenever relying on basic attacks. Even with full heat, Sol needs attack speed to make auto-attacks more efficient.

Rod of Tahuti Although this guide is built around basic attacks, Rod of Tahuti provides the largest amount of magical power of any item in the game, enhancing the damage from all attacks. No mage, not even Sol, can ignore it. The biggest downside of this item is the price and building it too early leaves you behind in items. Get some penetration and power before buying this, so you get the most utility from it.






Spear of the Magus This item provides some magical power, 15 flat penetration and a stacking penetration passive. Even with the core items providing penetration and protection reduction ( Shoes of the Magi and Demonic Grip), additional penetration can have a huge effect on Sol's damage output. Most of Sol's abilities like Stellar Burst and Supernova hit multiple times, which makes
Spear of the Magus an excellent item for Sol's playstyle. Although, this item doesn't provide any percentual penetration and works best when dealing against light protection.

Spear of Desolation Provides great amount of magical power and penetration. The items passive reduces all your cooldowns by 8 seconds whenever you get a kill. But, the downside of this item is the ridiculouss price. Getting this item requires you to be even a bit fed and ahead in gold. But, even with a high price, this items provides Sol over double the amount of magical power and bit more flat penetration than what Spear of the Magus would provide. So it's worth of consideration. The passive works efficiently only if you're the one taking the kill, but in fair teamfights you should be fine.

Obsidian Shard can be considered when enemy team has more than 1 going with heavy protections. Obsidian Shard provides good amount of magical power and it's passive drops 33% of enemys protection, which helps when enemy is building a lot of magical protection. With lighther protection you may want to consider Spear of the Magus over this.

Void Stone I only recommend this item if the enemy team is doing heavy magical damage, building heavy magical protection, and you are far behind in levels and kills. Spear of the Magus should always be considered over this item in any other circumstance, as the amount of penetration this item provides is significantly lower than Spear of the Magus.







Spear of Desolation Provides great amount of magical power, penetration and a passive reducing all your cooldowns by 8 seconds whenever you get a kill. This costs quite amount of gold, and that's why it's considered as a last item pick. Altough it can be picked earlier in game too (check Penetration Items).

Chronos' Pendant Provides a good amount of magical power and some mana regen. Chronos' Pendant also has a passive which reduces cooldowns by 20%. Although in my guide I'm focused to build Sol mainly relying on her strong basic attacks, getting Chronos' Pendant allows you to deal more burst damage by using your abilities more often. This item is considered as a last item for Sol, since it provides utility for late game situations.

Soul Reaver Provides nice amount of magical power and mana for Sol's late game. With it's passive, it utilizes your playstyle by providing additional damage every minute. This item is considered as a last item pick, since it offers the greatest benefit in teamfights.







Divine Ruin An alternative lifesteal item to Polynomicon. The specific situation in which you would get
Divine Ruin is when dealing with enemies who have a lot of inherent healing, or have built a lot of lifesteal to support their sustain. When you hit enemies, the passive decreases enemy healing and regeneration by 40% for 8 seconds, which makes this a huge counter item. Only consider in these cases.

Bancroft's Talon The other alternative lifesteal item to Polynomicon. This provides a good amount of magical power, increasing the more damaged you are. This item can be considered if you are often below 100% health and you don't have many chances to return to base. Bursty mages and ultimates like Nu Wa's Fire Shards can lead into this. This works quite well in balance with Radiance, as you will be very functional at lower health. Of course, operating at low health isn't the safest idea, so getting this item is a bit of a gamble. (Can be a great item in Assault mode)

Doom Orb is an item providing power to Sol's early game. With decent amount of magical power, mana and mana regen it makes stack farming a bit easier. When it's fully stacked it provides high damage potential to all abilities and boosts early fights. However, when you get killed, you lose half of the stacks. This item is a risky pick. Sometimes this item may get you to focus list, since the damage you lose when you die, is significant. Only consider this if you're dealing against opponents you know you have chance to deal against.

Hastened Fatalis Mostly used by basic-attack assassins, hunters, and melee mages such as Ao Kuang and Freya. This item provides a huge attack speed boost for Sol's basic attacks and even more movement speed. The passive is why you would purchase this item, though. Hitting enemies with your basic attacks allows you to move without the move speed penalty making you much more mobile and difficult to hit through an entire encounter. The hardest part starts when you notice that hitting enemies with basic attacks may require training. As such, Hastened Fatalis is almost never recommended for new players. The lack of magical power or any other vital stat requires you to be able to aim and predict enemy movement to get the most out of this item.

Telkhines Ring This item can be considered to replace Polynomicon, if you are going to strongly rely on Sol's basic attack. Telkhines Ring Provides a decent amount of magical power and attack speed. The passive gives a small damage boost to auto-attacks. I'm sure some may consider this item weak. I still recommend giving it a try. After all, items should be chosen to suit in your playstyle. At the late game Telkhines Ring can be replaced by Polynomicon or Hastened Fatalis.

Recommended relics are the ones, I think benefits Sol the most from early to late game. One of these should always be picked up first, depending who you're against to. Both are really safe picks and provides Sol great sustain on the field.

Purification

Sol has good mobility, and with Disapparate, she also gains full immunity to everything for 3 seconds. Unfortunately, before and after that, Sol is very vulnerable. Since CC is Sol's worst enemy, buying Purification early helps your survival. I recommend buying this every game.

Sanctuary

Provides immunity to all damage for 2 seconds but prevents you attacking or taking actions. Altough, you are able to move while it's active. This relic works well with Disapparate, and can provide Sol a great way to avoid incoming damage and escape. The downside of this item is that it cannot be used while under CC, so it’s best when used with Greater Purification, which you would activate immediately before Greater Aegis.

Sunder

This relic can provide Sol a huge burst potential when needed. Altough, it needs your aiming and can be missed easily, and so on it becomes a risky pick. This relic should never be picked up first, since other relics have better use at start.

Sprint

Provides Sol and her allies with nice movement boost and immunity to slows. Consider this relic whenever you feel that extra movement speed is needed. It's useful for example when team needs to retreat quickly from a fight.

Sol has strongly taken her place in conquest mid lane. And if you are a new Sol player, I would highly recommend playing her mid-lane until you're comfortable with her kit. Mid-lane provides Sol with personal minion waves to practice your skills, and extra experience from side jungle camps. Also, teammates are able to gank or help your lane if needed. (Of course, I don't recommend practicing in Conquest or any other normal/ranked modes before testing her in Practice Mode, co-op, etc.) Sol also has great potential to go solo lane. Sol isn't often seen in the role of adc or jungler and picking her for those roles is not recommended, since it may have bad influence to your team combo.




Early game with Sol in the mid-lane starts like any other game in mid. Attack the red camp (damage buff) with your ADC and Support, and take the buff. After that, go directly to your lane and clear the first minion wave. Soon after that, your jungler should work with you to clear the side jungle camps. For the first 7-10 minutes, you'll rotate between your lane and jungle camps while poking your opponent. Stellar Burst works perfectly when damaging enemies in lane, and Radiance helps with keeping health up. Sol has no major issues with mana, which helps if you are somehow forced to stay in lane, needing to heal yourself or damage enemies. If your jungler is too busy to help you with side jungle camps, Sol can easily deal with them alone and prevent enemies from taking them. When alone, though, just be aware of any enemies nearby...keep the jungle warded.

Baiting your opponent by allowing the minion wave to push you back near your tower can help your jungler to gank your lane, while pushing near the enemy tower makes you equally vulnerable to ganks. Rather than push to damage the tower in the early game, your best bet is to poke and keep your opponent at low health, forcing the enemy to return to base and lose out on XP/gold. The main focus is to gain control over your lane and outplay your opponent. If you decide to play aggressively, I recommend buying an early Ward at the start to prevent ganks to your lane. Sol lacks reliable CC or escape when surprised and this may be fatal. Map control is the key to winning.

At early game, you should also keep on eye on your opponents movement. Whenever your enemy leaves the lane, make sure to warn others and in some cases you're also forced to follow them in order to prevent ganks in other lanes. Just remember not to let enemy minions push too far. Sometimes keeping the mid lane pushed may be enough to keep enemy god in lane and prevent him from ganking other lanes. If not, you need to evaluate which is best for your team. To push first mid tower or follow the enemy and lose precious gold and xp. If you decide to stay in lane, make sure to ward both sides.









Mid-game usually starts around 7-12 minutes. In an ideal situation, you have already taken down the first tower in your lane, which will allow you to begin to rotate to other lanes and help your teammates. This will keep your opponent busy with incoming minions, and gives you more potential to gank other lanes. If you find your opponent standing under the tower and playing extremely conservatively, you can help/gank other lanes earlier.

As Sol, you should take advantage of your high movement speed combined with Disapparate when rotating between lanes, if you feel safe enough. If your Duo lane is getting overpowered by the enemy and your Jungler is busy helping the solo lane, you can help the Duo lane to push towers. Sol, in particular, can be deadly to towers, as Radiance already gives a superior boost for Sol's basic-attacks. Combined with your ADC's damage, towers should melt.

Clearing jungle camps and keeping your lane pushed is important, so be sure to continue rotating. With her good mobility, Sol should have no worries getting from one place to another. Although rotating is important, it’s also important to maintain control of your own lane, as that is still your responsibility. Farming is still your main source of gold and XP, and losing minion waves to the tower can put you behind as you near late-game.

During mid-game, the importance of warding becomes more obvious. Certain points should always be warded by you or your team. Keeping at least the upper area of the Gold Fury warded allows you to respond quickly and defend it, as well as spotting the jungler or enemies from the Duo lane as they begin to rotate.










There is no obvious transition between mid and late-game. Late-game is usually once people have hit level 15-20 and when players already have full or nearly full builds. In the late-game, there is no more “own” lanes; controlling the map is everyone’s job. Finishing off towers and phoenixes and controlling objectives requires the whole team to commit. Even though Sol has good mobility and better sustain than other mages, she is still vulnerable and easily focused if outnumbered. Late-game is all about winning teamfights and taking down objectives.

During late-game, make sure you stick with your teammates so you can add your support in all teamfights. Sol can be really destructive what comes to teamfights or taking down objectives. Late game is truly the time to shine - make your way to victory :)












Sol has tons of potential and can be very destructive in teamfights, especially after obtaining her core items. Sol's abilities can make her quite bursty if needed, and her strong AA allows her to remain useful in teamfights even when her skills are on cooldown.

Radiance deals a decent amount of damage, but it may not be wise to save it only for that. Radiance is Sol's primary ability to raise heat, and should be used before entering teamfights to Bring Up the Heat! It can also be used to maintain heat during an extended teamfight. And although Sol receives lifesteal from Polynomicon, which should be enough to maintain her health when not focused, Radiance can help especially when you're damaged, as it can heal a significant portion of lost health.

Sol should never initiate a teamfight. Even with Disapparate, it's too risky to face multiple enemies as the first one in. After Disapparate fades, Sol is very vulnerable to burst damage and CC, and her quick death is of no use to your team. Remember that CC is Sol's biggest weakness.

So, what is your role in a teamfight? Firstly, whenever you notice that a fight is imminent, activate Radiance and land a few auto-attacks. If possible try to max your heat. Let your tank engage and use Stellar Burst to slow enemies. Continue to use your AA and Stellar Burst whenever possible. Supernova can be used to prevent enemies from escaping or just to finish them off. Save Disapparate mainly for defensive purposes. If the fight isn't going as planned, you can activate it and try to help get your teammates out alive by leaving a wide zig-zag trail to damage enemies (Who would like to run into fire?). Radiance is useful to use if you're about to go in melee range.

As Sol you should never be scared to attack or just land abilities. You'll know when it's time to leave, and the best way is to do it with style.

Sol has strong burst and high single target damage, however she also has her weaknesses. In this section, I'll cover the basics of each potential matchup Sol may face in mid-lane.

I'm only covering the idea of how to deal against each matcups abilities, so it's good to remember that the way the enemy builds can change the playstyle drastically and so some of the information showed here may not be vital. There are no "easy" matchups, if you have no clue about other gods than just the one that you're playing. Know the enemy better than he knows himself.

More information coming soon! Feel free to leave a comment if you feel I missed something important!










MORE INFORMATION COMING SOON!

As mentioned before, Sol is very squishy and vulnerable to any kind of CC. However she still has strong tool to avoid, escape and become immune to damage. Besides this, she also has self-heal, slow and high damage output.

So, How the heck I can counter this... Living fireball? In order to take her down, you must know when she is in her most vulnerable state, which is exactly when Disapparate ends and she losts her immunity and extra movement speed.