Natures Protection - Sylvanus Arena/Clash/Joust Guide

This Passive is extremely good against hunters and other gods such as Mercury, Kali, Bakasura, Freya, Bellona and many more Auto Attack Gods.
Midgardian Mail can still be an option as the passive does have a cooldown too but it is not 100% needed.

A Common tactic with Verdant Growth is to throw one down behind the tower at the start of the game, because as it says it will grow into a full flower and provide MP5 so if any teammates need mana they can back off into the tower and gain some MP5. You will want to combo this with Nature's Grasp because the stun will allow you to secure the pull.

This is Sylvanus heal ability and it also gives a lot of damage with it "Damage: 10/15/20/25/30 (+10% of your magical power) every 1s for 5s" If you combo this with Wrath of Terra it will do a ton of damage to the enemies in the Area. Wisps is an AoE ability (Area of Effect). The Heal does take time to happen as the Wisps have to travel from Sylvanus to your allies and vice versa to enemies.

Nature's Grasp is a pull ability and Is one of the hardest abilities to land on moving targets as it moves so slow. Combining this with Verdants Growth or using it after an ally stun can be deadly. Obviously there is a way to prevent this with Purification Beads but Beads have a big cool down but so does Nature's Grasp. Nature's Grasp has a cool down of 20/19/18/17/16 seconds. You lower the cool down by leveling the ability but you only want to really level Nature's Grasp last.

Wrath of Terra is Sylvanus really useful ult. This ult can be insanely useful in team fights and It can also be combined with Awilix Gravity Surge and do not forget that is does insane damage "60/70/80/90/100 (+25% of your magical power) every 1s for 5s". You can combine the ultimate with Blink Rune to engage in team fights.


Wisps Provides a huge AoE Heal which is amazing in keeping allies alive and sustaining. The MP5 from Verdant Growth can be really useful to not just yourself but allies. Engaging with Wrath of Terra will surely bring kills especially if you go in with Blink Rune.


Sylvanus has no escape and with things like Frostbound Hammer being in the game it can make it easy to lockdown Sylvanus especially with the all the crowd control in the game. In S4 Anti heal items are the one of the most picked up items and this will completely shut down Wisps in team fights so make sure to use Wisps when the anti heal effects wear off.

I have been playing Sylvanus for a while, I had him Diamond on Xbox and Currently God Rank 6 on PC. On PC I am currently 40th in World in Joust by Elo and 300th in Clash. Sylvanus is my current main and Learning him is pretty easy but I see a lot of people miss build on him. You can find my smite guru here...

A Common mistake that people seem to do is rush Lotus Crown, Personally I do not always build Lotus Crown and You should never use my build in every single game. In Smite Items vary and You would not build Jade Crown 2nd/3rd Against 3+ Magical (Maybe if they have a fed Loki/ Kali etc)....

SMITE is all about counter building and learning which items counter which is vital.
For Example Hide of the Nemean Lion is a counter to auto based gods and crit for example a Mercury which 90% of the time will have Deathbringer and Rage this will make him take damage from hitting you.

Here I will tell you who Sylvanus is good and bad against and why...

Sylvanus is good against

Ah Muzen Cab
Ah Muzen Cab has low mobility and no escape. If you pull him with Nature's Grasp he will surely be dead if your team follow up.

Bakasura
Bakasura is auto based and his potential on killing Sylvanus is low, granted he does not get really fed. Sylvanus has Nature's Protection protecting him from Bakasura not only that but he can use Wisps to heal him over time and Surely enough you should get away. A good buy against a Bakasura is Winged Blade because Winged Blade offers health and movement speed but it makes you immune to slows. A Bakasura without Hastened Katana will struggle to stick to you with that movement speed and also if he builds Frostbound Hammer the passive on Winged Blade will make it not slow you.

Loki
Now everyone hates a Loki and Sylvanus is really good vs Loki. If Loki comes up behind Sylvanus you can turn around and root him with Verdant Growth and If Loki has already used Vanish then you will most likely get away. Nature's Protection also applies here and will root him if he continues to auto you. Good items vs Loki are Hide of the Nemean Lion for his crit and high auto damage and Mystical Mail. People often think Mystical Mail??? How does that counter loki apart from the Physical Protection? Well if a loki tries to use Vanish to sneak up on an ally you are close by or tries to escape an engagement Mystical Mail passive will hopefully hit him and you will be able to see him whilst he is invisible. Sylvanus can also use Wisps for the same reason if Loki tries to use Vanish make sure to use Wisps so you can spot him.

Kali
Now if you have read the above this one is pretty straight forward and I have not much to say but the same applies for Kali as it does for Bakasura.

Mercury
Now if you have read the above this one is pretty straight forward and I have not much to say but the same applies for Mercury as it does for Bakasura.

Artio
I personally would say that Sylvanus is really good against Artio. Her cripple is useless and the fact that Sylvanus is really good at rooting and keeping enemies away from allies really hurts Artio.

Ravana
Read Bakasura

Bellona
Read Bakasura

Sylvanus is bad against

Sobek
Sobek has Charge Prey and this ability is really frustrating when you are Sylvanus. Because you are the teams support you will most likely not have Purification Beads and once Sobek hits Charge Prey you have no escape and best option is to most likely use Wrath of Terra to knock all enemies up and Give a little bit of time and Activate Wisps so you can heal over time.
Another big counter that Sobek has vs Sylvanus is Sickening Strike which when hit on a god it gives Healing Reduction for 4s.

Odin
Ring of Spears is a Sylvanus killer. Not only does it trap Sylvanus inside the ring with no escape for 6s it also reduces healing by 100% meaning Sylvanus has hardly any survivability apart from Wrath of Terra and allies. Ring of Spears will most likely force a Phantom Veil pick up which is forcing away an important relic from Sylvanus

Geb
Geb is a counter that not many people think of. 95% of the time a Geb will have Blink Rune which allows him to engage and use Cataclysm which stuns. Stone Shield also allows Geb to shield allies from the Dot damage that Sylvanus making it hard to do damage.

Serqet
Serqet has amazing mobility and lockdown potential making it super hard for a Sylvanus to get away from her. Not only does she have high burst damage but her ultimate Last Breath does high damage and allows her to push Sylvanus in any direction she pleases. Thats not all Last Breath gives a massive 100% Healing Reduction making it impossible for Sylvanus to heal through the damage.

Now here I will explain what items are vital and what are situational.

Key - Will Say "Rating"
Highly Important
Good
Situational
Bad

We will start with Boots
Shoes of the Magi - Rating
I would only ever build Shoes of the Magi if you have low team damage or are against a lot of squishy enemies.

Shoes of Focus - Rating
The reasoning why Shoes of the focus are so good on Sylvanus is because of the 10% cooldown, The extra magical power and the Mana. Sylvanus is a huge Mana hog.

Reinforced Shoes - Rating
I would only ever build Reinforced Shoes if they have high early game burst such as an Ares or a lot of counters like Odin or Sobek for example.

Travelers Shoes - Rating
If this was a conquest guide Travelers Shoes would be Highly Important but this is not so they get a Bad rating because they are not needed in any other gamemode but Conquest and Are a bad pickup.

Onto Defensive Items Breastplate

Hide of the Urchin - Rating
Hide of the Urchin without doubt is an insane pickup for Sylvanus the Health and Mana are really vital for Sylvanus, Not only that but when you reach 10 stacks you gain a ton of Magical and Physical Defense. A Great pick up in my opinion

Spirit Robe - Rating
Now Spirit Robe may not be a 100% Pick up but it is really good on Sylvanus. The +40 Magical and Physical protections are superb, The 10% Cooldown is vital and the 20% Crowd Control reduction is the best part. With Sylvanus having no escape potential the Crowd Control Reduction that Spirit Robe offers a high survival chance.

Breastplate of Valor - Rating
Now the 20% Cooldown Reduction that Breastplate of Valor offers is definitely Highly Important but here is the catch. It is a Physical Protection only item and offers 0 Magical Protection. It offers +10 MP5 and 300 Mana which is what Sylvanus really needs in the early game but that is not to say build it 2nd item. I personally rarely build Breastplate of Valor just because I like to build things such as Gauntlet of Thebes, Heartward Amulet, Sovereignty to help keep the team alive but if they have 3 Physical Gods it is definitely a great 2nd/3rd Item pick up.

Void Stone - Rating
Void Stone gives Magical Protection and Magical Power and is perfect for a Bruiser like build and it also offers a passive of "Enemy gods within 55 units have their Magical Protection reduced by 20." So for instance if you have high burst mages like Anubis, He Bo, Thoth and Scylla for example then this helps burst down them tanky guardians and warriors. Reason why I gave it a Situational is because it is not always required.

Jade Emperor's Crown - Rating
For me it is very rare that I will not pick up Jade Emperor's Crown. It offers 20 Magical Power, 60 Physical Protection and 100 Health. It has a passive of "Enemy gods within 55 units have their Physical Power reduced by 30." This is a really good 3rd/4th Item when shutting down those Hunters or Assassins. Making Engagements a lot safer for allies.

Lotus Crown - Rating
Reason why I gave this highly important is because this is probably the most picked up item on Sylvanus. Personally I hardly pick it up but it is a really good item on Syl. Syl is Mana crazy and it does offer +20 MP5 which is amazing and works really well with Verdant Growth. It has a passive that "Any god affected by your ability heals gains 20 increased Physical and Magical Protection for 5 seconds." Keeping the team alive and safe.

Winged Blade - Rating
Winged Blade is the perfect item for Sylvanus it offers health and movement speed but it makes you immune to slows. So things like Frostbound Hammer have a hard time locking you down. It gives 300 Health and 20% Crowd Control Reduction like Spirit Robe making this a vital pick up.

Shogun's Kusari - Rating
Shogun's Kusari is really situational, hover your mouse over the name and you will see what it provides. The passive is what makes it situational "Allied gods within 70 units have their Attack Speed increased by 25%." Here is an example where this item would be of use, if you have a Rama and Arachne on your team. Both of them require attack speed and if you build Shoguns it will allow them to build other items too. Not only that but Attack speed works well on Sylvanus.

Stone of Binding - Rating
Stone of Binding will get a rating of half situational and good. It offers 20 Magical Power and 30 Physical and Magical Protection. That is not all it only costs $1700 making it a really really cheap pick up and it's passive is "Successfully hitting an enemy god with Crowd Control will place a buff on all allies within 70 units of you. The buff provides 10 Penetration for 5s." So when Sylvanus engages into a teamfight with Wrath of Terra any allies near him with gain 10 Penetration for 5s offering more damage to the team. Not only that but if you pull someone with Nature's Grasp it also applies, same with the root on Verdant Growth

Relic Dagger - Rating
The 10% Cooldown that Relic Dagger offers and the Passive are the most important things about this item. You would only really build this item if you have 30% cooldown reduction and need this to max cooldown and you have Blink Rune or Magic Shell.

Magi's Blessing - Rating
I really like Magi's Blessing on Sylvanus, Not only does it cost a low $2050 but it's passive "Absorbs a single hard Crowd Control effect or Root once every 70 seconds. When this occurs, the owner also receives 1s of Crowd Control immunity.
" makes it that bit harder to kill Sylvanus only down side to Magi's is that it offers +15 of Each Protections but it is better than nothing and that passive can save you.

Witchblade - Rating
Witch is only picked up for the passive 99% of the time and the other 1% will be for the 15 lifesteal. Like Magi's Blessing it only costs $2050 and it's passive is "Enemy gods within 55 units have their Attack Speed reduced by 20%." which makes it Situational, you would only pick this up against heavily auto based enemies.

Now onto power items Rod of Tahuti
Gem of Isolation - Rating
Gem of Isolation in my eyes is one of few viable power items on Sylvanus, if you want power you will usually go for Bruiser items like Void Shield and Jade Emperor's Crown. But Gem of Isolation does offer 250 Health and 10% Crowd Control Reduction that a passive that "Enemies hit by your damaging abilities will move 25% slower for 2s."

Rod of Asclepius - Rating
Rod of Asclepius is hands down the most overrated item on Sylvanus, Do not be fooled by the passive "Allied gods within 70 units have their Healing increased by 10%. If you are in combat, their Healing is increased by an additional 10%." because Anti Heal is so meta right now that the passive wont even matter and this is usually 95% of the reason why people pick it up. Yes the 10% Movement speed is nice and the 250 Health but why pick this up for $2600 when you can get a Winged Blade for $1850 and it is a lot better. However this item is Rated only if they do not build Anti Heal which is rare.

I am hoping to have more guides out soon, Up next will most likely be Awilix.
Sorry if I missed anything please comment feedback and I will respond :)

All Graphic Work done by Myself and I hope it will not be copyrighted on other Sylvanus Guides!

Please get in contact if you would like graphic work done for your guides!

That is all thank you for reading...