Khepri: Supporting With The Walking Hug Bug!

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I already talked a lot about items and you should already have an idea of how to counterbuild based on what i said above... but let's sum it up!


Sentinel's Embrace: this is the starter you want the most in the game modes where you want to sustain yourself: Joust, Conquest and even Assault. Absolutely avoidable in Arena and Slash, not cause it's bad but cause there are starters being MUCH MUCH better!
It will restore mana and health upon getting assist on minions. In late game it will provide a huge passive aura that will increase the protection of allies (based on the number of allies around you).
Note: the other upgrade Sentinel's Boon isnt a bad item at all especially when you can get minions assist quite often (you should REALLLY build this in Assault). It provide an insane amount of self-sustain and extra tankiness but doenst provide anything to allies! Get this if your team is safe and you risk to die each team fight! While it might be good even for a very selfish build in arena (that i DONT suggest) it can be stopped by anti-healing... so it's not really useful.


War Banner: this is the starter you want the most when you can get a lot of assist on minions and you also want mobility (but you dont need sustain). It really shines in Arena and, as exaplined better in the builds guides above, it can be decent in Slash and Joust but in both cases it's kinda niche!
Note: the other upgrade Spartan Flag isnt really worth it to be honest.


Heroism: this is a great item that i explained multiple times above. It will grant a nearby ally a HUGE shield based on YOUR health. It will most likely save someone every time and has a very low CD. Enemies will need to really commit even to just kill a squishy!
Note: Compassion is also a very good option but redirect the damage to you. reducing the damage taken from allies is still quite good!


Tainted Breastplate: the item is a very solid starter but only once upgraded. Reducing the enemy healing by 50% is usually insane especially when paired with other anti-healing items. Tainted Steel is sadly not really good so dont rush for it.
Note: Tainted Amulet is also a very good option in case you prefer having magical protections! The passive in my opinion is a bit less efficient cause -50% healing is better than -30% healing + 100% healing on yourself based on the stolen 30%.


Prophetic Cloak: Prophetic Cloak is basically a better version of Gauntlet of Thebes. The main difference is the time required to stack it, since it takes a lot of time. On Khepri it is quite easy to stack it so i would always get it tho! You will also get the value from aura stack as soon as you get them. In order to get a the same value of Gauntlet of Thebes you need 5 stacks of each protection on Prophetic Cloak (since the auras of both items at that point will give 10 protections)!


Gauntlet of Thebes: This is item is still quite good and in some situations you can pair it with Prophetic Cloak. It provide a lot of tankiness (health and both protections) in early game and, once stacked, provide a TON of protections to yourself and an aura for allies. It really stack fast so dont worry too much about it!


Gladiator's Shield: this is an aggressive item that will improve your damage based on your protections. Khepri isnt a god with high amount of damage but this item really helps with it since it procs on ALL your base abilities and it's great to proc the effect with Rising Dawn!
It will also provide CDR which basically make you wanna go for this over Breastplate of Valor!


Breastplate of Determination: You should be pairing this in case you go for Gauntlet of Thebes, so you will retain the 20% CDR that you would get by pairing Gladiator's Shield + Prophetic Cloak. it's a good burst of CDR from a single item and the upgrade provides really lot of protections. A lot more safe than Gladiator's Shield but provides less pressure that you already lack as a backliner.
Note: the other upgrade Breastplate of Vigilance isnt terrible but it proc only on the ult that is already a defensive tool.


Shogun's Kusari: this item provides you with MP5, 10% CDR and magical protections. Most of all it has a unconditional passive that boost the atk speed of your ADC for free and by a big amount! This item is really good and you should almost always buy it when you have an ADC in your team. Try to rush it even before Gladiator's Shield when you have 2 AA based gods or in Joust in case you really wanna help your ADC and get some mana regen!


Talisman of Energy: This is some sort of a niche item. In fact you basically only want this in Arena... but in that game mode this is VERY MUST-BUILD ITEM. Get this right after Prophetic Cloak no matter what!
The passive greatly boost the movement speed of all allies and it's gonna be mostly up on everyone every team fight! It's a HUGE item there: build it!
The item also provide with atk speed that will help AA carries and provide a huge amount of mana regen... making this a GREAT item for assault and quite decent for Slash a well.
You can also consider this in Joust in case you chase/retreat often!


Genji's Guard: usually Shogun's Kusari is better cause of the passive but in case you dont have anything that can make use of the atk speed passive then you can consider getting this item. This will give you the same amount of CDR of Shogun's Kusari so the difference just stand in the passive!


Winged Blade: this item is insane against some very slowing comps. It's basically a small sprint with a much lower CD! Absolutely insane in Arena and Slash to cleanse whole party from annoying slowing abilities like Ne Zha's ring and Ah Muzen Cab's bees and grant everyone a burst of movement speed! Remember you have to get it by it, it wont trigger if just an ally got it by it!
Down here you can see a list of gods against which i HIGHLY recommend building Winged Blade!





Midgardian Mail: this is the best item to counter AA-based gods (especially hunters that can just kill you from range in late game). You are gonna slow both their movement speed, making them easier to target, and also atk speed.
I usually suggest this over Spectral Armor.


Spectral Armor: the item really counters crit but requires few stacks before actually help a lot even your allies with its passive. If the enemy comp has 2 gods going for crit, you can definitely consider this over Midgardian Mail.


Spirit Robe: This is a very good item and you definitely want this to survive into some comps that can chain CC you down. Mitigation after a CC will boost your survivability by ton so in case of heavy lockdown, go for this!
The item is especially good in Arena, Slash and Assault cause you can be focused down (especially as the only tank).
Down here you can see a list of gods against which i HIGHLY recommend building Spirit Robe!





Magi's Cloak: this is another niche item that can be viable more for the passive from the glyph rather than the base item itself. Gainig a burst of movement speed toward a target can really be massive in long map game modes! Also provide you with CDR and Khepri really needs it!


Spear of the Magus: very useful item in Joust when you want to increase the damage from your other team mates. Still good in Arena and Slash but put you more on risk! You can really nuke a tank fast when you pluck him with spear of the magus... especially if you hit with sunderign blast before that!


Stone of Binding: the items is very strong especially in early game or in late game against squishies. The item might be a bit less efficient than Spear of the Magus (beside in early game as mentioned above), but will still provide you with protections and so you will be tankier compared to Spear of the Magus.


Tablet of Destinies: this might be take a bit to fully stack and that's why you shuld be getting it right after Prophetic Cloak. Once stacked it will deal a very solid amount of true damage to enemies which will vastly improve your damage. Also provides you with health making you still quite chonky! This is usually a niche item but against very tanky enemy comps you can make a good use of it!


Soul Reaver: a great item to deal with enemy tanks even if you dont have %penetration since you can easily proc this with 3 abilities! Keep in mind that the ideal scenario is the one you can see right above for Tablet of Destinies. This item actually also buff Tablet of Destinies since it gives you a good amount of mana for its passive!


Ethereal Staff: this is another niche item. In Joust mostly turns out being great against double tank comps cause you are gonna drastically reduce their health.
Overall you aint getting any prot from this item but you still getting some power (and in Joust going FULL tank isnt ideal), CCR and health!


Relic Dagger: This item is quite niche but can turn out being insane once you upgrade your relics. In some games you can only win the fights if you have both your relics up so you can definitely get this item that greatly reduce the CD of relics. It also gives you good stats like CDR and movement speed!


Absolution: the item sadly proc on your ult that is already an emergency defence tool. The cleanse provided can be great but it's insanely niche. A good example of when you might want this is agaisnt Persephone to conter her ult... but you still need to use your own ult to counter it and you might end up wasting it.


Manticore's Spikes: this is a very solid item that can be deadly agaisnt big health targets. Allies can pick you the spike dropped by you to deal a smaller amount of damage. Overall you can consider this as a small Soul Reaver that still requires you to pick up something from the ground that might be a bit unefficient during a fight.


Amulet of Silence: this item is worth going in some specific situation when you need extra magical protections for your team. You could see this item in the Joust build against a double guardian (and you can consider it against a single aggressive guardian + mage too). It's also great in Conquest due to the passive regeneration and extra early prots in early game!
Note: the other upgrade Amulet of Silence is quite good as well especially when you want to possibly interrupt enemies abilities!
You really want one of the two tanks building this in Assault where early prots and regenerative auras matter A LOT!


Sovereignty: i'm not a huge fan of this item cause in my opinion there too many better items. Said that it can still be usefull in Assault and Joust (against a comp with heavy physical damage. In this case rush it in early game cause it will fall off later on). You can also make use of it in Conquest but Gauntlet of Thebes and Prophetic Cloak are generally better.
You really want one of the two tanks building this in Assault where early prots and regenerative auras matter A LOT!


Contagion and Pestilence: these are simply the only way you have to reduce enemy healing. If you need antihealing, go for one of these items! They have a different passive: Contagion will deal a solid amount of damage to enemies after you get CCd, while Pestilence further reduce the anti-healing effect after getting attacked!
Note: the passive doesnt stack with the other equivalent so dont get both!


Divine Ruin: this can be viable mostly for Joust when you dont really need to go full tank. If you need antihealing you can definitely go for this item in order to get a bit of power/pen as well!


Entangling Wings: this is my favourite support relic. You will grant all your team a ton of movement speed, making this alredy great to run away or chase enemies... AND with the upgrade you are also gonna mass root all enemies in range making this item GREAT even when used aggresively! Get this!
Note: the other upgrade Hastened Wings isnt bad at all especially when you have 2 or 3 AA based allies!


Sundering Blast: this is one of the most powerful relics right now. You can really blast down any tank with 1 use of this! You will istantly deal a big chunk of their health and also increase the damage they take!
Note: the other upgrade, Sundering Siphon isnt terrible but not worth over Sundering Blast


Belt of the Berserker: one of the best relics. You can heavy counter anything that dive to your allies in the backline by slowing them and reducing their damage!
Note: the other upgrade Emblem of Trembling Terror is conditional and worth more for chasing!


Cloak of Ascetic: niche relic. You can build this in Joust or Assault for extra early game sustain (doesnt heal too much but replenish your mana). Also really helps to avoid executes tresholds!
Once upgraded it also reduce the CD of abilities but it takes extra golds for this, making this item good only in early in specific game modes or in the very late game.
Note: the other upgrade Cloak of the Avatar isnt terrible but the passive is more niche than Cloak of Ascetic. you can get it to peel away warriors and assassin from the backline


Corrupted Blink Rune: not a great item for Khepri but can still be useful to catch enemies unprepared.
Note: the other upgrade Scorching Blink Rune is basically useless...


Fortifying Shell: this can be a very good items against AA based comps or generally when you want to play defensively. Providing an AoE absord to close team mates.
Note: the other upgrade Phantom Shell is very niche and should basically only be bought against Odin for his ult.


Bracer of Brilliance: this item actually is great in Arena and potentially even in Joust. You can simply put it and down and offer a buffing area to all of you team mates passing on it. 20% bonus damage and 20% movement speed are A LOT! In other game modes where you cant actively going on this relic area, the item isnt great.
Note: the other upgrade Bracer of Illumination is actually much more usefull in Conquest since it acts as a sentry ward with extra visibility.


Blighted Ankh: this is the only relic to counter healing from enemy team. If you think the antiheal items Contagion and Pestilence arent enough, get this relic!
Note: both upgrades are really good but Drowned Ankh is plain worse cause enemies wont really stand on the pool.


Temporal Beads: This is even more a niche item. you should be getting this relic that cleanse CC in case of certain enemy ults (like Fenrir, Ares, Da Ji and Bastet. Mainly the first one.)
Note: the other upgrade Chaotic Beads is quite bad. Not worth it.

Passive - Fortitude
Passive: Fortitude is an amazing passive ability that will shine mostly in out of combat scenarios.
The passive will in fact stack a shield of 2% health on each pulse every 5 seconds to ALL nearby allies stacking up 5 times (max 10% of maximum health of the ally). The pulsing rate is slowed down to 10 seconds after you take damage and enter combat.
Starting a fight with a whole team affected by 10% of their max health as shield is great! It's going to be obviously unlikely that you will have your whole team under your fully stacked passive effect but it will still be a significant help.

Tip: remember that your passive will still pulse during teeam fights even if every 10 seconds. When you see your passive meter about to be pulsing, try to get close to at least 1 ally to make a use of it!
It will only be a 2% shield of course but if you are close to another frontliner, you will shield him for 2% of his max health.
Said that, dont put yourself in danger or ignore a more squishy ally just to make use of your passive. The rest of your kit, or even just bodyblock enemies (or their AA) to save a squishy ally, will be more useful then your passive!

Note: Every game mode has some pro & cons about your passive.
In Arena you will most likely be close to many of your allies so you will shield many of them! On the other hand you will often be in combat reducing the pulse rate of your passive.
In Conquest you can make a better use of the pulse rate since you wont be in fight as much as in arena BUT you wont be able to shield many allies.
In your duo lane the shield in early game gonna really be cool tho!
In Assault the passive gonna also be great since nobody can go back heal up in the fountain and will act as some sort of sustain. Especially you playing defensively and stay out of combat.
Slash and Joust are basically a mix between everything said above!

Abduct
Abduct: you will dash forward and grab an enemy for a few seconds (based on the level of the ability).
This ability will grant you protections but they are not really worth leveling up the ability. If enemies interrupt this ability you are gonna be in danger cause you dont have anything else to run away. The protection only stay while you are grabbind an enemy, so after you get interrupt, you wont retain them.
For this reason, level up Abduct as last and ALWAYS be careful of when you use this.
This ability also interrupt enemies abilities since you will silence them during the grab. The silence is there from the first level so you dont need to level it up for it!

Tip: trying to engage in a 5v5 scenario (like Arena or Assault) will most likely end up with enemies interrupting this and you will take ton of damage from them since you are going to be a punching bag (or bug eheh). This is mainly why Khepri doesnt really shine as a frontliner. Try instead to peel away melee enemies from a squishy target. In a 2v2 scenario this ability is simply great cause they cant interrupt you and if they actually do you wont be dying cause 5 enemies smash you down.

Tip: you can cancel this ability earlier! Sometimes you just want to interrupt an enemy god so you can dash in, grab, cancel the ability and go away!


Rising Dawn
Rising Dawn in my opinion one of the best abilities in the game. The utility from this ability is unmatchable.
You can debuff enemies, making them lose up to 25% of their physical protections. This is gonna make your physical carries dealing TON of extra damage especially to enemy tanks.
You also gonna buff all allies that get hit by this, granting them up to 30% mitigation... and it's A TON of mitigation!
Since you have multiple effect depending of what you hit (ally or enemy), you can play each fight differently. (look down here for the tip!)
Rising Dawn is an ability that you MAY want to level up as first depending on the game mode/comp.
In Conquest you surely want to level up this as first cause you want to clear as much as you can.
In Arena you dont really need to clear but this ability can still turn out being great for another frontliner that goes in against 5 enemies. Said that i suggest to level this up as second in Arena (Level up Solar Flare as first)
In Assault you dont really need to clear but since nobody can go back and heal up, drastically reducing the coming damage might be super helpful. If there are telegraphed BIG AoE ult/abilities, consider leveling Rising Dawn up... otherwise level up Solar Flare
In Slash and Joust really depends about the comp. Do you need to help with clear? If yes, level this up, otherwise level up Solar Flare


Tip: You can go aggressive, use Rising Dawn on an enemy tank and let your hunter melt it... or you can stay passive, play as backliner, and use Rising Dawn in order to protect allies from either the enemy hunter or from big and telegraphed magical AoE abilities.

Tip this item is actually great to gain stacks of Prophetic Cloak as well as proc item effects like Tablet of Destinies, Gladiator's Shield, Soul Reaver and Divine Ruin!

Tip: remember that Khepri shines the most as BACKLINER and not as frontliner for above reasons!

Solar Flare
Solar Flare You will drop down a sun beam that will root all enemies in the targeter area after a short delay. The delay is fairly easy to understand and you will learn how to successfully land this ability easily.
Overall it's a quite solid ability and the only way for you to actually zone enemies. The area isn't huge but can be big enough to root 2 or 3 enemies... especially if you are fightning in a jungle (Conquest, Slash or even Joust).
Solar Flare is the ability you wanna level up most of the time when you dont need to clear. (for more detailed information about what to level up, check above in the risind dawn paragraph or down below in the gameplay chapter)

Tip: after hitting an enemy with Solar Flare you can follow up with Abduct to extend the CC on a single target. Try to wait till the root from Solar Flare is almost depleted to maximize the duration of the lockdown.

Tip: a very efficient way to use this ability is peeling away melee enemies from your squishy allies. They wont be able to chase them if they are rooted and they can only deal damage in melee!

Tip: you can also bait escapes with this ability. If an enemy gets rooted, most of the time he will use his escape. Consider rooting a target and then grab someone else with Abduct: they wont expect that! (especially cause if you dont do that, they would waste an escape for nothing)

Tip: Enemies with escapes usually tend to be confident about escaping your Abduct after being rooted. Against enemies with escape try not to wait for Solar Flare to actually root them and istantly use Abduct to grab them. Only do this if you are really confident about hitting the grab tho... otherwise just go for targets without escape!


Scarab's Blessing
Scarab's Blessing is your ultimate. After casting it, the ally will get bonus movement speed and, if it dies, he will get revived at your position.
Scarab's Blessing can also be cast through walls but the range is quite short: be careful!
You want to max out Scarab's Blessing this whenever is possible maily due to the increased bonus health upon reviving!
Sometimes using this ult efficiently is tricky (especially when you are not playing with friends but with randoms). Your positioning gonna be a key aspect of your ult.


Tip: sometimes you want to ult someone and then run away, leaving the fight and revive it as far as you can but this can be end up losing the fight. If you are too far from the fight, you will basically provide nothing to anyone and you will put your team in a numberical disadvantage. On the other hand, if you are too close, you might revive your ally too close and he might die again afterward. If you are winning the fight you can simply stay far from everyone otherwise it's better to stay close. Even if the ally you ulted will die again, they will still need to kill him and he might able to use abilities as well before dying a second time.

Tip: remember that the target also get a HUGE boost of speed once ulted. Sometimes you can just use Scarab's Blessing to increase the speed of an ally in order to chase and kill an enemy!

Positioning and Team FightningKhepri shines as a true support. That means that you usually want to stay behind your allies (or on their side) in order to peel warriors/assassins away from them through Abduct or Solar Flare and also help the mitigate the huge upcoming AoE Abilities or AA from hunters thanks to Rising Dawn.
Said that, you have a HUGE model. You can definitely go in and bodyblock auto attacks or even blocking enemies retreat in jungles with your massive and well-rounded body!
In scenarios without many enemies around (so that you wont get squashed right after it), you can also just go in and grab someone with Abduct!
In a team fight you also must consider the position when you use Scarab's Blessing. Try to stay around your team if the fight isnt going in your favour, in that way you can still help them while reviving someone. If they revivde ally dies again, he might still be able to use some abilities after getting revided and enemies still cant ignore him!

TimingThe only delayed ability is Solar Flare but, once you play a bit with this god, you wont have any issue landing it. Timing is still an important factor for this ability. First of all for the classic combo: try to wait till the root is almost depleted before using Abduct to maximize the single target CC chain. And as second, as said above, enemies will try to escape when they see you approaching them after getting rooted by Solar Flare. Try not to wait for Solar Flare to actually root them and istantly use Abduct to get them. Only do this if you are really confident about hitting the grab tho! (only agaisnt enemies with escapes obviously!)

Lane, Wave Clear and Ability Maxing OrderYour clear isnt great but the mitigation from Rising Dawn affect your minions too. Usually you cant hit both whole waves (your one and the enemy one) but you can still hit all enemy minions and your melee ones! Try to do that! (outside of conquest is not really important)
About the level order, go for this:
Conquest: Rising Dawn
Arena: Solar Flare
Slash: Solar Flare (rarely Rising Dawn)
Assault: Solar Flare
Joust: Rising Dawn or Solar Flare
(if you need more information, check above in the kit & tips chapter under the Rising Dawn paragraph!)

WardingIn the game modes where you may get ganked (and you allies killed), you should REALLY buy Ward.
Try to place Ward (in the early game you also gain access to the Vision Shard for free) at crossroads close to your lane, where usually enemies must pass in order to reach you! (keep in mind they can still leep behind a wall... you are not 100% safe but vision is super important in game modes like Conquest, Joust and in Slash)
In late game you can also buy Chalice of the Oracle that will give you 2 wards each time you get back to fountain!
There are also Sentry Ward that will allow you to destroy enemy Ward in its range. Consider buying it if you know that enemies have a ward in a specific position that you want to remove!

Note: in Arena you can definitely skip Ward usage but i tell you a secret: gods that use stealth usually try to stealth from the buff area to sneak behind your team and kill the backline! Even in Arena, when the enemy team has stealth gods, consider buying Ward (at least in the later stages of the game when assassins can nuke an allied) and use it at the red buff spawn point! Knowing where the stealth god is coming will help you (and your team mates) to stay alive and counter it!

Gank!Your gank potential is not too bad.
Even if you cant jump from behind a wall and actually pick up an enemy, you can come from behind. If you arent confidend about ganking them from behind, you can still help your ally! (in Conquest you should leave duo lane if the enemy support isnt there and your ADC can efficiently farming minions! Rotate to mid lane and go help and, potentially, gank!)
You still have a huge lockdown with Solar Flare and Abduct so the enemies might no be prepared!

ZoningYour zoning is not great. You dont have big aoe zoning abilities.... BUT Solar Flare may serve this purpose. You can easily zone narrowed areas (like the jungle in Conquest or Slash) with it!
Your HUGE model can also act as a wall. Trust me. Khepri is BIG BUG! Bodyblock enemies!