Loki, the trickster god

Loki... not much you need to know about him, just that he ****ing one shots you. Well, not literally, but his combo will definetly kill you if you're not a tank.
In this guide, I'm going to try to teach you how to be effective with him, and I will give you tips and tricks on how you can stay alive, because, let's be honest, killing with Loki is not that hard.

PROS: - High damage
- High mobility
- Invisibility
- Good split push potential

CONS: - Easy to counter
- EXTREMELY squishy
- Lacks team fight potential
- Sanctuary will deny a lot of kills

1. My personal build is the first one, you basically a lot of CDR and all the pen you can get. I don't get Jotunn's Wrath on Loki anymore, since Hydra's is better to get earlier and also cheaper. Now I replace Jotunn's Wrath with Breastplate of Valor or Ancile, because I need to be a bit more tankier, since we're in a meta where most of the gods build tanky. One defense item will not hurt Loki's damage that much, you can still basically "one shot" a squishy target. You need a power item at the end since you kinda lack power. I mostly get Bloodforge, but I don't mind getting Shifter's Shield or Stone Cutting Sword. They're all good items which will provide you a lot more survivability and a lot of power to back your pen with. Also, the movement speed from Stone Cutting Sword is really nice, and it has some pen too. If you get that late into the game, switch Breastplate of Valor/Ancile for Mantle of Discord/Spirit Robe (Spirit Robe mostly for the CC reduction).

2. The second build is just for the lolz. I like to run that build when I'm drunk. The crits are just hilarious. If you get fed, you can one hit people with your 3 if you crit them. Even though I like this build very much, it's not reliable on Loki, because crits don't matter that much, since you're a 2-3 shotter anyway. And to rely on chance is not my type of play, since I'm not the luckiest player :D. But crit can work on casual play, like Clash or Joust. You have 15% CDR, which is enough, but not ideal, and Titan's Bane will help you a lot. 60% of critical chance is the minimum I'd go with a crit build. This is fixed, because 20% or 40% critical chance is too low to be somewhat reliable and you'd rather not crit most of the times.

3. The last build is basically what every solo Loki does. You get the Trans at the beggining, you put 4 points in your decoy, and you play passive. Loki solo is boring, Trans start is boring and split pushing is boring. That's why I don't like to play solo Loki. That build is pretty reliable, the damage is ok, and you never have to worry about your mana, since Trans will give you all the mana you need. The Crusher is optional, I put it there only for split push purposes, you can replace it with Bloodforge or Shifter's Shield (if you happen to be against a cheeky Nu Wa). Also, the first active you should get is Sunder, since it will help you a lot against the warrior you're gonna encounter in solo lane. Get Ancile instead of Breastplate of Valor if you happen to encounter a Hades, Zhong Kui or any magical character in the solo lane.

0. His PASSIVE is named "BEHIND YOU", and all you need to know is that it's trash. You get 20% more damage on BASIC ATTACK hits BEHIND your enemy. The passive is garbage because it's not that big of a buff, you have to be behind your enemy and it doesn't apply to any of Loki's abilities. And another thing I saw a lot of people saying and it's not true is that Loki's passive gives you crit. That is not true. Loki's passive will not crit from behind, it will not give you 20% critical chance. Just no, forget it. It only aplies to his basic attacks.

1. His first ability is called "Vanish", and I think this is the thing that is the most annoying for people when they play against a Loki. It basically makes you invisible for 4 seconds. But the best thing about this is that you do A LOT of damage from the bleed effect, even more damage than the third skill gives you. You also move 35% faster, you're immune to slows and enemies will deal 25% less damage to you (but don't count on that, since you're a very squishy target). It sounds like the perfect ability, but it really isn't, because you can't tower dive, since towers/phoenixes will reveal you and any dot damage, root (yes, root, roots have visual effects, so even though you're still invisible, you're not really), stun or silence will reveal you also. You can also use this ability to escape after you get a kill with your ult.

2. His second ability is called "Decoy", and this is a simple ability. It's just a decoy that taunts nearby minions and deals damage to them. Bear in mind that this will also deal damage to enemies, even more than your 3 ability, but decoy kills are very rare, since it takes a bit of time to explode. This is Loki's main clear ability. If you're running the Trans build, you will only put 4 points in this skill because you will insta clear the back minions, and the front minions will be one basic attack away from dying. This ability can also be used to body block, but it's very hard to master this. You can try, but you'll rarely succeed in body blocking someone with your decoy. I max this last, after all the skills, because I like the damage, and I don't play a lot of Conquest, so I don't need much lane clear. You can put a point in this skill if you want to feel safer.

3. His third ability is called "Aimed Strike" and it's Loki's burst ability. This ability will give you A LOT of burst damage and will slow enemies by 25% (though I'd not count on that, since they should be dead if they're not tanky and you actually land the basic attack). I like to level this over his first ability because the cooldown gets lower as you level it, it's burst, so if the enemy doesn't get to use their Sanctuary, they will most likely die, and for "kill secures" (Kappa).

4. His ultimate is called "Assassinate" and it's Loki's "execute" ability. This ability will teleport you behind your target, dealing a lot of damage and stunning them for 1 second. This will also teleport you where you aimed it, so you can use it as an escape as well (don't be afraid to use it as an escape, it's just an ability, and it will save you a lot of times). Bear in mind that this ability is best used at executing enemies, and it's not good for initiation. If you use it for initiation, you're basically going on a suicide mission, and you can also not get the kill if the enemy has his Sanctuary up. This ability is best used as a finisher. The only situation where I'd imagine myself using this ability to initiate would be if I'm against a squishy target alone in lane, and their Sanctuary is down. You max this ability after your 3 and 1, because you're gonna get a lot more from your 3 and your 1 than from your ult. Your ult already has a lot of damage, since the scaling is very good.

Loki's team work is not very good, because the enemies will be aware of you in team fights and will shut you down immediately. You have to be very cautious in team fights and NEVER go for the "suicide kill". What you have to do in a team fight is, firstly, wait for your teammates to initiate, and then engage, but, as I said, very cautious. Your job in a team fight, as Loki, is to shut down their squishy targets. And another thing as Loki is to NEVER initiate the team fight, and the ultimate should be used as an escape in case you're in trouble.

If you want to play Loki in ranked, I'd say Loki ADC will be the best role for him. If you're decent with Loki, you should easily shut down the enemy ADC all the game and get ahead of him. He's squishy, he can't afford to get defense against you, and he will not. Also, I'd never recommend playing Loki in higher ranks, because there, the players know very well what they're doing and what to do against a Loki, and, as I said, he's very easy to counter and to shut down.

Loki's combos are very important in order to be effective and get the most out of his damage. Bear in mind that Hydra's Lament will increase his damage by A LOT, since you can get 2 to 4 procs on it.

1. A very effective combo is going invisible, basic attack your enemy, then doing the 3, then basic attacking again, then 2, then basic attack, then ult, if the target is not dead. So 1-basic, 3-basic, 2-basic, 4-basic. You do the 2 only for Hydra's proc and maybe for body blocking. Late game, you won't need the ult to kill a squishy, so you just 1-basic, 3-basic, 2-basic and they should be already dead.

2. The ult initiation combo goes like this: you go invisible, then you ult, then you basic, then you 3, then you basic, then 2, then basic. So 1-4-basic-3-basic-2-basic. This is effective at killing squishy targets, but bear in mind that your escape potential is very low and you have to be sure that they don't have Sanctuary up, or your kill will be negated...

1. Learn how to juke like a master. As a Loki, you will need to juke a lot.
2. Use your actives smart. If you know you have no escape, never use Sanctuary or Purification.
3. Learn how to do the combos fast.
4. You should NEVER do your 3 while you're invisible. This will reveal your position and the enemy will be aware of you.
5. Loki COUNTERS WARDS. If you go through a ward while you're invisible, the wards will not see you.
6. Don't be like me, and don't get mad if someone "secures" your kill. Smite is a team based game.
7. Be careful with the gods that will counter you. Some gods would be: Athena, Aphrodite, Fafnir, Freya, Hades, Hou Yi, Hun Batz, Khepri, Kumbhakarna, Nox, Tyr, Ymir. A lot more gods counter Loki, these are just the hard counters.
8. Be a good Loki and try to help your team. Split push ONLY if your team asks for it and you're losing.
9. Find your playstyle. Not all players play Loki the same. If you want to max the 1, then max the 1. It will deal more damage than 3. I max the 3 for the burst. If you're more like an initiation Loki or a split push Loki, you can do that, if it works. If you see that your KDA is negative, you clearly have something that's wrong in your playstyle.
10. You can use skills to proc Hydra's Lament on towers/phoenixes. If you see a Loki doing his 3 on a tower, it's because of Hydra's proc.

Thank you for reading my guide! If you have anything to add on top of what I already said, you're welcome to do it. If you have any advices, you can share them. Bear in mind that I'm in no regard the best Loki or something like that, just a somewhat good one that tries to help newer players understand Loki and what a good Loki should do.