iAcorns Jungle Assassin Fenrir

Hello everyone.

This is my first guide, and if it goes well maybe I will write some more. I have some pretty solid builds for other characters but this is my current favourite. If you'd like to check out my youtube channel and videos you can look me up at youtube.com/insaneacorn. I'm still fresh to Smite but I have a background in Dota so it didn't take long to pick up this moba.

Anyways without further ado, here is Fenrir!

Fenrir is an awesome wolf deity from the Norse mythology. I won't go into his lore but he is basically a badass melee bruiser. He is very versatile and can be built in a variety of ways and playstyles. Some like him tanky but my way is more of a glass cannon hit and run, ganking style. Basically a jungle assassin!

Why should you play him as an assassin character when there is Loki who can do this job? Or even Thanatos. Well it's because his abilities have brilliant synergy with a jungle style of play. Plus if the game is not going as well as you'd like you can easily switch to a bruiser build with a few item replacements. I am going to assume you are a competent player though, who knows jungle mechanics and how to pull of a gank.

When should you play fenrir? Basically if you are in need of a jungler and your entire team is not physical. If they are (and trust me, it happens) then I recommend going for a mage to balance it a bit. Otherwise Fenrir is always a great choice.

SHOPPING

I won't do a section on each of his abilities. This will take far too much time and you should already know them by now. I will explain my reasoning though.

To begin with Fenrir should spend ALL of his gold in order to be ready for the next 3-5 minutes.

First buy a Hand of the Gods to help with those early camps. After the first few minutes you can easily clear camps with your abilities so when it's off cooldown feel free to pop it to speed the process up a tad.

Next on the list is Bumba's Mask. This is essential for any jungler as it restores health once the buff minion is killed. It helps you stay in the jungle for longer instead of having to go back to base every few camps.

One level in Warrior Tabi for that movement boost and because boots is usually your first priority in a build, unless you're rushing something. As a jungler you can usually take your time as you don't need stacking items. These usually take far too long to finish.

Next your regen should be two Healing Potions or one of each. So far I haven't really needed one of each as when I am out of mana I usually have enough gold to buy my next item so the trip is worth it.

THE JUNGLE
You have several options of starting, depending on how cooperative your team is. A good way of starting is at the mid camps with your teams mid laner, and maybe one other god at the most. If four of you are at one camp, you are doing it wrong! Take the camp as quick as you can. Use Brutalize if you need to. It should be off cooldown for the next camp. Once the mid camp is clear your solo lane and you should move to the blue buff. Pop your HOG in order to clear it fast enough and GIVE IT TO YOUR SOLO LANER! He will need it more than you do as he has opposition. By this point you should be at level 2 and you can put a point into your Seething Howl ability. This is VITAL to your role as a jungler as it provides both physical power and lifesteal. At this point you should be a level above the enemy in lane (if they're stupid), and you can try and make a play. If you don't think it is possible stay in lane until you hit level 3.

Once you are level 3 you can proceed to the jungle to do the speed buff. Why the speed? It gives you DPS in the form of attack speed and you can traverse the jungle quickly with the movement speed. If you used your HOG then it is probably still on cooldown. Make sure to leave your lane with full runes and initiate with your 3, then pop your 2 in order to get that lifesteal. It should be super easy! Continue to do the camps as normal. If there is a camp on your side that is abailable, you should go take it. Pop your healing potions to stay in lane and remember that your second ability should be used after the brutalize. Also Fenrirs passive relies on basic attack hits. Initiate into the camps with 5 runes on your brutalize to do cleave (sorry, this is a dota term but it just makes sense in my eyes) damage. If you don't have 5 runes just basic attack until you do, then brutalize.

And finally always keep an eye on your minimap. This is just the basics of jungling. You need to gank when you see the opportunity. Notify your team of dropped buffs and try to shut down the enemy jungler if you can as well. It's really a lot of work.

JUNGLE TIPS
A few things to help you in the jungle:
1) Identical buffs refresh themselves. When your speed is getting low you can do another one to refresh it.

2) Gank middle from the camps. Your Unchained skill is an amazing escape tool, but it can also be used to take the enemy by surprise. Simple walk into the camps, select your 1 ability and target the other side of the wall, into the lane. When the enemy walks into it JUMP! It will stun them for a short time and you should be able to get an easy kill.

3) Ward often. Ward everywhere. Wards help your team immensely! Everybody should be buying them and placing them at junctions. Map vision helps avoid ganks and keeps you safe. Plus you can organize your own and bring pain to the enemy team.

Fenrir relies heavily on his Brutalize ability so this is what we shall max first. Taking it at levels 1 and 3 and then following the build above. Since this is his main damage dealer it makes sense to max this out. Fortunately even if you're playing a bruiser, he usually maxes this out first... Fenrirs build really doesn't change much.

Now comes the part which can confuse lower level players. Why take Seething Howl over Unchained? Unchained actually does damage when Seething Howl is "just a buff". The thing about unchained is that it is not used for damage. Sure it's a handy to have the damage in some cases but it is primarily an escape tool. Fenrir is squishy in this build and having a level at 4 is all you need to get you into a gank, or out of a sticky situation.

As for Seething Howl and why it is so brilliant. Didn't you read the above section on how to jungle? It has an amazing lifesteal which will keep you in fights and in the jungle. It also gives physical power which is useful with your other abilities. Later on you have to make a choice. Do you want to use your 5 runes on a Brutalize that also does cleave damage, or as a way to increase your Brutalize damage on a single target. Remember Brutalize also deals +50% of your physical power.

As for his ultimate Ragnarok it should be picked up at the standard 5, 9, 13, 17 and 20. It does crazy damage and should be used to get a finishing blow when all other abilities are on cooldown. Or as a way to deal insane damage with your team or one of your towers.

This is the part that makes Fenrir a versatile character. Depending on what items you get he can fill any role he wants. But as stated earlier this is a glass cannon hit and run style jungler.

I won't go over the starting items again as that would be a complete waste of time. So I will start with his choice of boots. The Warrior Tabi. Why choose these? They give Physical power, attack speed and at max level some protections. No other boots can give a good offense. Sure the Ninja Tabi is great but we will get our cooldown reduction later. Honestly the tiny bit of cooldown reduction you get is not worth it compared to the protections and physical power. I don't care if you are an expert Fenrir. If you buy Ninja Tabi into Jotunn's Wrath then you're doing it wrong ;)

Next up is Jotunn's Wrath. An item which gives some nice stat boosts, especially to mana since you will be running dry on it if you are not careful. But what we care about most is the 25% cooldown reduction. We're well on our way to the maximum of 40%. Remember your 3 is the main damage dealer. The more often this is off cooldown the more damage you can do. Also having a shorter Ragnarok is always nice.

Now we fill the critical strike necessity. We can do this with Malice. If you feel like going your own way and getting only ONE crit item then buy rage instead as gives a better crit chance on average. However since we are buying Deathbringer later, Malice is the superior choice for the higher crit chance and extra physical power. Crit's aren't super important on a skill based burst God like Fenrir but the items give the most straight up physical power.

Qin's Sais is what I am claiming to be the replacement for Hydra's Lament. It gives decent stats that you can't turn your nose up at, but mainly it's because the passive deals more damage the lower health the target is. Your combo of Seething Howl + buffs + Brutalize should leave the enemy missing a fair bit of HP that qui's sais can capitalize on nicely.

The last item I picked is more of a luxury than anything. What we are missing in this build is defense and magi's blessing covers that just fine. It gives protection and CC reduction but best of all the passive nullifies one hard CC effect. For example Loki's ultimate will not stun, which allows you to avoid his next strike. Or Thors stun! You can replace this with anything you think you need to be honest. It should fill the slot left by your Bumba's Mask. Please take note of the enemy lineup. This item is GOLD against certain Gods. If you find yourself dying because of bullsh*t stuns then this is the defense for you.

SITUATIONAL ITEMS
I thought I would add this section to clarify things to absolute beginners. Everything in an item build is situational. If something isn't going right, the enemy has probably built a counter. Hold TAB and look at their build. If they have built physical defense you will need penetration. You can get this with a Titan's Bane. You could get a focused voidblade if you really want but in the most recent patch it is now a very underwhelming item.

Now for crits. If you are not planning on buying a Deathbringer with Malice like this build suggests then always buy a Rage. It gives decent stats and a scaling chance to crit. Crits are not super duper necessary for fenrir as most of his damage comes from abilities. But these items also give wonderful physical power. And believe it or not. Crits really do come in handy. You can talk theory all you like but in practice this is a very different game.

As for the defensive item magi's blessing, if the enemy team does not have hard CC then a Hide of the Urchin is always a safe bet. I was recommended a Runic Shield which can also work depending on the lineup. Honestly defense items are tricky, as a tank you don't need to worry about it but as a damage dealer you need to find the one item that fits your situation.

Finally with the most recent patch, eye of retaliation is a stupidly good item! It grants a lot of physical power and some good protection. If you are doing relatively well feel free to put this in your build instead of Qins, or as the final item.

ACTIVE ITEMS
This won't be a super long section. I just wanted to go over a few of the options and why I chose Hand of the Gods over Fist of the Gods in late game. Basically the latter is pretty useless most of the time. the stun is so short it hardly matters. Unless you are an absolute pro at the game and you know how to use it I'd suggest a straight up Hand of the Gods. It can be used every 60 seconds and you can easily snipe away the Gold Fury or Fire Giant. And that is way more important than some silly high cooldown stun!

As for your other active, you are free to fill in with what you need. sprint is always nice but for the build and absolute damage Girdle of Inner Power is the way to go.

I know this is not the prettiest guide out there but it is currently 2am. I will come back and edit this build after some feedback, and probably add some nice visuals so you're not hit by a wall of text. But for now it has all the information you need. If somebody wants to do the math on the Hydras item then feel free but honestly they both work pretty well.

Enjoy and thank you for reading.

17/02/2014
Changed Item Build: Removed Hydra's Lament + Bloodforge
After some extensive testing I have found that Hydra's Lament is a bit lacking in terms of power. It's nice don't get me wrong and it IS a valid build at the lower levels up to about the 20's. I know this because I can pull this build off and get insane scores. However there are items that can do better. Also Bloodforge is a great item but doesn't make a whole lot of difference if you can't go toe to toe with the enemy. As a glass cannon i realize this mistake and removed it.

Changed Item Build: Added Malice + Deathbringer + Qin's Sais
Malice + Deathbringer were already part of the build and I did state that they were situational. Let me clarify here. If you are buying ONE crit item then get Rage. If you are buying TWO crit items then get Malice + Deathbringer.

Added Situational section to the build section at the top of the guide. It was already written down plain as day but this just helps clarify things.

Updated Item Text

25/02/2014
Clarified why Ninja Tabi is stupid in this build

Added eye of retaliation to Situational

Added Active Items section to Item Build

Swapped out Fist of the Gods for Hand of the Gods

removed Voidblade from situational