Mercury In-Depth Analysis/Guide

Hello, my name is JeepCrew. I ran across this guide posted on the Smite subreddit. I contacted the author and got his permission to post it on Smitefire. All I have done is formatted and copied over all the information.

This is the second guide I have created from a posting on Reddit. If you have a guide you would like to make but don't have the time/knowledge/drive to format and make one on Smitefire, hit me up and let's talk about bringing your guide to the masses.

All content and opinions/information of this guide were made by Cairindock. Without further ado, here is Cairndock's guide to Mercury!

Hello, my IGN is Cairindock. I have been playing Mercury since the day he came out (even during the times when he wasn't great I stuck with him). I really like to play highly mobile fighters or assassins and Mercury is incredibly mobile and equally deadly. He can literally wipe a squishy character off the map before they even knew what was going on. I am currently mastery 8 with him, almost to mastery 9, and overall I am successful with him. I'm here to provide some knowledge that I have tested myself to help you become a better Mercury player. But hey, if you're just here to read up on Mercury for curiosity's sake, alrighty! I have noticed a disturbing lack of Mercury players on Smite as of late, and I am going to try to convince you that he is not only very strong, but also very fun. If you have any questions/comments/criticism, please ask in the comments section at the bottom! Oh and if I do repeat myself at all in this guide, I apologize! I hope you enjoy the read! :)

Mercury is a melee assassin and late game hyper-carry that specializes in both mobility and single target damage. He is most often found in the jungle, but can be a formidable lane opponent and split-pusher as well. Mercury is an assassin that focuses the most on his melee attacks for his damage output, with his abilities as a backup/finisher.


Mercurial. A word that evokes volatility, quickness, and cunning. But to compare anything to the speed and wit of the Messenger God Mercury would be to compare a hot day to the searing forge of Vulcan, or a blooming rose to the glory of Venus. It is but a pale comparison. Mercury can leap the space between lightning and thunder, outfox the fox king, and reach tomorrow before the sun. As an infant, Mercury escaped the watchful eye of his half-brother, Apollo, stole his cattle, fashioned a lyre from a tortoise shell, and snuck in a nap, all before Apollo found him missing. His father, Jupiter, found the child's mischief boisterously entertaining, and awarded him the task of delivering messages for the Gods, traveling between the Heavens, the Earth, and even to the depths of the Underworld.

Now war looms and Mercury races to keep the lines of communication open, though he is often caught in the thick of battle. No stranger to combat, he once slew the monster Argus, the demon with one hundred watchful eyes, using speed and guile alone. But this war is different. The foes are stronger, the stakes higher, and Mercury a pivotal cog in the machine. Should he fail to deliver even a single order the balance could tip, and the time left for this world would be truly mercurial.

Pros + Easy to learn + Very mobile and can be hard to catch + Good ganking ability + Made You Look applies on-hit effects and crits + Can split-push almost as well as his brother Apollo + A literal machine gun of crits come late game + One of the most upbeat and enthusiastic gods in the game

Cons - Squishy - If caught without Special Delivery he can/will be instagibbed - Made You Look will sometimes not work on jungle camps if used from a certain distance - Can be seen charging his ultimate so it can be hard to land at first

For every 1ft traveled, Mercury gains a 0.1% physical power bonus on his next basic attack (max 50%). Mercury also gains additional physical power equal to 25% of movement speed from items or abilities.

What I do to keep this passive stacked is as simple as constantly stepping from side to side or just flat out constantly moving. It can fill your meter surprisingly fast, plus it makes you just that much harder to aim at. Then once you attack next, it's going to do a large amount of damage. This passive has given me critical hits as high as 1200+ damage.

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Mercury moves up to 55ft in the blink of an eye, instantaneously dealing 90/115/140/165/190 (+50% of your basic attack power) damage to every enemy within a 7.5/10/12.5/15/17.5 ft radius of the target area. Each hit is considered a basic attack, may trigger item effects, and can critical hit. Cost: 50 mana. Cooldown: 8 seconds

This is my primary farming ability (if I am laning) and just an overall good damage ability because it can crit and it can apply on-hit effects such as Frostbound Hammer's slow or any lifesteal proc. One trick that I have learned to do a large amount of damage to an enemy is to dash at them with Special Delivery and throw them into a direction. Then, as they are landing, place my Made You Look right below them. This does a large amount of damage, and will often send the enemy god running. This trick does take practice, but not a lot. Practicing on Ra Bot or a friend should suffice! This ability is also very useful in the jungle because, once you have leveled it up a bit, it has a large radius and does a good chunk of damage to jungle camps. Mid-late game it can even instantly kill the entire camp. Finally, I also use this item to just get that last tiny bit of damage to get the kill on a fleeing enemy. MADE YOU LOOK!

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Passively, Mercury gains 2/4/6/8/10% increased movement speed. When active, Mercury increases his attack speed by 30/40/50/60/70% for 3/3.5/4/4.5/5s. Cost: 60/65/70/75/80 mana. Cooldown: 18/17/16/15/14 seconds

This is a simple attack speed steroid that you should activate when fighting an enemy. The passive movement speed that it gives you makes you (obviously) more mobile and it increases your attack damage a little bit! Very simple, but very effective ability. GOTTA GO FAST!

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Mercury dashes forward, knocking aside minions and dealing 70/115/160/205/250 (+60% of your physical power) damage to them, grabbing the first enemy god he encounters and spinning them. The enemy god takes 10/15/20/25/30 (+15% of your physical power) damage every 0.25s for 1s until the effect ends, and Mercury throws the god in the direction of his choice. Cost: 70/75/80/85/90 mana. Cooldown: 15 seconds

This skill can be either a godsend or a ticket to your death. THIS ABILITY IS NOT AN ENGAGE. Engaging with this ability will most likely get you caught out and killed because even though you are stunning the enemy god, you are also stunning yourself. Anyone could jump you and you wouldn't be able to do much about it. However, it can be used to ensure that a straggler doesn't get away. I would recommend just saving it as an escape, because it's quite a good one. You are free to use it as an engage, but I would definitely really think it through before you do and be at least 90% sure that you can ensure a kill if you do.

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Mercury gathers energy for a powerful dash, with the range extending as he does so (up to 500 ft). After a 0.5s buildup, he travels the distance faster than the speed of sound, dealing 200/275/350/425/500 (+80% of your physical power) damage to all enemies, stunning them and spinning them around in a random direction for 1.5s. Cost: 80/90/100/110/120 mana. Cooldown: 90 seconds

CLAP! We've all heard that ominous sound, and we all have heard the Sonic Boom that follows. This ultimate is much more versatile than what it makes itself out to be. I have used it to execute a fleeing enemy, escape, disorient the enemy gods in a team fight, and also to save an ally god from an enemy god by hitting and disorienting them. Very fun, damaging, and useful ultimate ability. Oh and you can fire this ultimate even while crippled!

When leveling my abilities, I usually grab Made You Look first, then Special Delivery because it does extra damage to monsters plus it's a useful escape. Then I'll grab Made You Look again because I am not looking to go all in quite yet. Level 4 I will get Maximum Velocity, and, of course, level 5 I will get Sonic Boom. From there my priority is Sonic Boom → Made You Look → Maximum Velocity → Special Delivery, but sometimes I will save a point at level 8 so that I can max out Made You Look as soon as possible.

Sprint: I'll grab this if their team doesn't have too much CC/damage. The sprint active also increases Mercury's attack damage a little bit! Woo!

Beads: I grab this one in most of my games along with Aegis Pendant because it is definitely better to be safe than sorry!

Aegis: I grab Aegis Pendant most often because Mercury is naturally fast so he can usually outrun a lot of dangers.

Greater Providence: Sometimes if we need more vision I'll get this but not often. I'd rather just buy Wards and have an empty active slot.

meditation

Meditation: Do NOT get this for any game mode except for Assault because Salvation (Level 3 Meditation) is the secret to winning that game mode.

Fist/Hand of the Gods: Always if I'm jungling; sometimes if I'm laning. I tend to grab Fist of the Gods if I'm laning because of the stun.

Death's Toll: This is a good item really for any attack damage based god because it gives you sustain in the early game. You could opt to go for Bumba's Mask instead which is perfectly alright; it really boils down to one's preference. Experiment! If you are laning as Mercury, however, Death's Toll would be the one you should choose.

Warrior Tabi: These are the boots that I feel are most effective on Mercury because Ninja Tabi are for attack damage gods that have longer cooldowns. Mercury's cooldowns are actually relatively short, so he doesn't necessarily have a need for cooldown reduction. Mercury benefits more from the +15 physical penetration.

Heartseeker: I love this item on Mercury because first off: you can easily stack this item simply by staying a little bit back and using Made You Look on the minions. If you don't kill them, they will be enough for you to go to each one of them and give them a little quick love tap. Second, it gives movement speed which means even more attack damage because of Mercury's passive! Now you shouldn't just automatically jump for this item every single time; make a judgement. If you have enough money to purchase this item, but have already died 2-3 times, I would skip it for now and purchase Rage or golden dagger. Speaking of golden dagger...

golden dagger

Golden Bow ("Golden Dagger" name fixed in Janus patch): I think this item gets a bad rap. I think that it may not be right for every character, but I've found that this item pairs incredibly with Mercury's Made You Look because everyone that is within the radius of this ability takes a good chunk of damage. BUT! It also applies on-hit effects! This means that everyone hit by this ability will proc the golden dagger passive. This is really useful for farming minions and/or stacking your Heartseeker! However, this item does tend to fall off once late game comes around, so you may want to sell it for another crit/attack speed/lifesteal/penetration item come endgame. This is definitely a good item to help you ease into Mercury's playstyle. When Falling Behind: I use this item to rack up some minion waves quickly. Plus the 10% crit and 5% move speed can help you come back.

Rage: Once Mercury starts acquiring crit items such as Rage, Deathbringer, Malice (in some cases), etc, that's when he turns from a pest into a monster. I will sometimes grab this item as my second item if I feel like I am too far behind for Heartseeker because Made You Look can actually critically hit! This can lead to some huge damage in some cases especially if Mercury has had a chance to stack his passive. Note: My opinions on this item are BEFORE the nerf coming on 5/28/14

Deathbringer: This item is required on most attack damage characters in the current meta. In Mercury's hands, combined with his attack speed steroid, he can just tear down anything in his way. I have had Mercury crit for around 1200 damage from one strike because of this item combined with his passive. I get this in in 99.9% of my games.

Bloodforge: This one has saved my life several times because of that lifesteal. Mercury can quickly stack up its passive due to his attack speed steroid which leads to insane amounts of damage and insane amounts of lifesteal. I get this in games that I am caught up or ahead of the enemy team.

Asi: I like to call this one "Plan B". Asi is for when you are falling behind and you need a cheaper source of lifesteal. This item is very cost-efficient for what it offers. Plus its passive (sometimes) catches people off-guard if they go all in on you. When Falling Behind: Cheap lifesteal, attack speed, and penetration that has a passive that can give you a sudden advantage.

Titan's Bane: This simple item will often seal your victory if you build it last. This can ensure that no one (even guardians will have to think twice about engaging you) will be able to withstand your flurry of fists. I buy this as my final item most of the time unless the enemy team is stacking armor. When this happens, I have built Titan's Bane as early as my second item to ensure that I don't become irrelevant to that game.

Qin's Sais: After its nerf, I still build this item in order to shred health stacking gods. Short, sweet, and better yet, gets the job done very quickly and very well.

Ninja Tabi: Having lower cooldowns is never a bad thing. It lowers the chance of you being caught without an escape and it can increase your DPS, however Mercury is not an ability-reliant god. He is a boxer in that he gets right in your face and beats the heck out of you. His abilities are more for either ensuring you win the fight or ensuring you can escape from a fight you can't win.

Devourer's Gauntlet: This is almost the alter-ego of Heartseeker. Attack damage carries will usually get either Heartseeker or Devourer's Gauntlet depending on how they want to play. Heartseeker is for snowballing out of control and making insane plays, but you lose half of your stacks upon death. This item is more for if you want a safer laning phase because it gives you permanent attack damage and lifesteal, although not as much attack damage as Heartseeker. Not at all a bad choice! When Falling Behind: I don't personally recommend this item because it can take a while to fully stack it. With that said, this could be a good replacement for Heartseeker because of the permanent stacks of attack damage and lifesteal/

The Executioner: I actually get this item quite a bit on Mercury, but I included it on this list because I don't consider it a core item. Stacking this item will utterly shred armor, but frankly I often find myself not needing it. The Titan's Bane usually is enough to get the job done, and it's cheaper. Note: My opinions on this item are BEFORE the buff coming on 5/28/14

Jotunn's Wrath: This is actually one of my favorite items in the game, just not on Mercury. Again, his cooldowns aren't necessarily long, mana should not be an issue because you shouldn't be using your abilities as your primary source of damage, and finally Titan's Bane plus your Warrior Tabi should give you enough penetration to get the job done. Hun Batz and Bastet are two examples of gods that have this as a core item.

Transcendence: Another item that I really like but don't usually get on Mercury because I feel it's too pricey for what it offers. I mean, this item has a higher attack damage potential than Heartseeker, and the stacks are permanent, but it's simply too expensive for me to get unless I�m pretty far ahead. Oh and a lot of people might think you�re trolling if you pick this up.

Hydra's Lament: This item goes very well with your Special Delivery because after they land you can hit them with your basic attack for huge amounts of damage. But, alas, it is quite expensive so I usually only get this when I'm pretty far ahead of the enemy team.

Malice: When the new Malice was released, I would pick it up instead of Rage. My view at the time was that I don't necessarily need the attack speed on Rage because I have an attack speed steroid (which is a valid argument because you don't want to build attack speed items to the point where Maximum Velocity gets less and less efficient). I still get this item from time to time, but because of the price I usually only get it if I'm ahead or doing well.

Soul Eater: This item (as opposed to Asi and Bloodforge) is more for keeping yourself and your team in the game rather than getting kills and taking down towers. I do get it from time to time, but it's pretty situational.

Hastened Fatalis: Mercury players are generally divided on this item. One side says that this item is great on Mercury and is a core item. The other says that he doesn't need it at all to get the job done. I am of the "he doesn't need it" school of thought. Yes, it offers movement and attack speed and yes, its passive makes you stick to your target, but Mercury can already do that naturally. Made You Look is an area of effect damage ability, Maximum Velocity gives passive movement speed, Special Delivery is a dash that can stun an enemy god, and Sonic Boom is a long range dash that is used either as an execute or an escape. Hastened Fatalis is not bad on him, it�s just not needed. Although this item can be fun to use, Greater Sprint has the same passive, but for only 900 gold.

Brawler's Beat Stick: Not too much to say about this item. I get it only when there is either a large amount of heals on their team or a particularly tanky or annoying Hercules. Great item, just not required in every match.

Frostbound Hammer: This item will make you a bit more tanky, and Made You Look will proc the passive slow, but again Mercury doesn't necessarily need to slow someone to keep up with them and kill them. It doesn�t hurt, but it�s not needed.

Winged Blade: One of the biggest downsides to Mercury is that slows will directly weaken his attack damage. I get this item if I'm dealing with, well, a god with a lot of slows ( Osiris, Vamana, Odin, etc.) Plus the +10% in cooldown reduction/attack speed/movement speed is pretty nifty.

magi's blessing

Magi's Blessing: This is the defensive item that I grab most often. The passive is incredibly strong against a wide variety of crowd controls such as Arachne's Cocoon, Anubis' Mummify, Agni's Noxious Fumes combo, plus any other hard CC. It will not, however, block a soft CC such as a slow or a pull. It also gives you a little tankiness which is always nice.

HIde of the Urchin: This is one of, if not, my favorite defensive item. It gives a little bit of everything plus it stacks, AND it's not particularly expensive. However, equipping it on Mercury may not be the best idea only because you tend to grab a defensive item if you are falling behind. If you're falling behind, you're not getting kills. No kills/assists = no stacks. Now, if you just wanted to build a tankier Mercury, then by all means go ahead! Again: great item in general; might be a poor choice on Mercury depending on why you are building it.

Shifter's Shield: Ugh, I can't make up my mind on whether I like this item or not. It is very versatile, but when I have built it on a warrior I don't really notice the effects. This one will have to take some more testing to figure out unfortunately.

He Bo: I�m sure that I�m not the only one that groans a bit when they see an enemy He Bo loading into the game. He is a very strong/very hard-to-get-to mage that can either keep you away from him just long enough so that he gets away or just straight up kill you. Everything in He Bo�s kit is not fun for Mercury. His Water Cannon is a melee range water burst that does heavy damage, so if you do end up getting in He Bo�s face, it will not be without consequence. He Bo�s Atlas of the Yellow River is a path that he creates that gives him and his allies movement speed while slowing down enemies, so Mercury hates that. His Waterspout (if this is a good He Bo) will ensure that you will never get close enough to him being a knockup that does a good amount of damage. Finally, his ultimate ability: Crushing Wave. It does a HUGE amount of damage very fast that also doubles as an escape. OH and also, He Bo has very low cooldowns, which just makes it that much harder to get to him. I would definitely ban this god or plan and building pretty defensively.

Vulcan: Although not as bad as He Bo, if Vulcan is being played by an experienced player you will need to play very cautiously. Those turrets that he lays down can do a deceptive amount of damage, his grenade can either keep you away from him or keep you within his turret�s range, his shotgun blast is a knockback for him and damage to you, but it also targets you for the turret so the turret will focus you. This target also makes the turret do even more damage! Fun! And his ultimate is a long-range missile that can potentially kill an entire team in one shot in the right conditions. Vulcan may not be a perma-ban, but he should definitely be considered.

Thanatos: Thanatos, when played correctly, is a huge pain in Mercury�s neck because Thanatos is a great counter-jungler (counter-jungling is going into the enemy team�s jungle and killing their buff camps. This sends the jungler back by denying them experience and gold and can really be detrimental to the team.) Thanatos can run into your jungle, take a camp or two, then run back out without you being any the wiser. Catching him doesn�t necessarily make it any better (at least 1 on 1) because Thanatos can prove to be a particularly formidable opponent. His Death Scythe is a scythe throw that does up to 380 base damage plus 10% of your maximum health in damage. Not only that, but it�s also a big slow, and it heals Thanatos for 75% of the total damage dealt if he hits an enemy with it. His Scent of Death gives him slow immunity, movement speed, and physical penetration. The movement speed, by the way, doubles if chasing a god that has been marked by his passive: Quoted: (Enemy gods within his ultimate�s execute threshold are revealed to Thanatos. Dealing the killing blow to enemies also empowers Thanatos, healing him based on the max hp of his target: 20% if it's a god and reducing his active cooldowns by 5s, or 10% if it's a minion. Additionally, all of Thanatos� abilities cost health and mana to use.) His Soul Reap is an area of effect silence and wave clear ability. Finally, Hovering Death is what makes Thanatos, well, Thanatos. His ult is: Quoted: Thanatos flaps his wings and goes airborne for 5s, unable to be hit. During this time, he can see through the Fog of War, moves unimpeded with 150% additional speed and can click to pounce to his target location, dealing 90/125/160/195/230 (+80% of your physical power) damage. Enemies below a 24/28/32/36/40% health threshold are instantly killed. All others are stunned for 1s. Consumes 10% of Thanatos� max hp when used. This can instantly kill you if you have low enough health but Thanatos tends to also use it as an escape if the fight is not going his way.

This is what I've completed so far! This will be an ongoing project as I find out more and more so stay tuned! Feel free to criticize, comment, or question anything about this :) Thank you so much for reading!