Ne Zha Arena For Beginners

Righteous Spirit means you get stacks if you hit basics or abilities. These then give you crit chance, or can be used with Flaming Spear to heal you. These stacks disappear if you stay out of combat too long, but are relatively easily rebuilt.

Universe Ring Toss is your most important early game ability. It provides safe poke and a slow, makes you faster, reduces enemy protections and can allow you to hit enemies even if there are minions or other gods in the way. It can also go around corners.

Flaming Spear basically makes your basics hurt a lot more. If activated it also uses any passive stacks you have to heal you. This second function is IMO more useful, and can save your life against pesky things like DOT damage or Neith and Nu Wa ults.

Armillary Sash is essentially a ranged stun and a chase. The damage can crit, meaning items like Deathbringer can make it that much more dangerous. It does pull you into the enemy however, so if used carelessly can put you in a dangerous position.

Wind Fire Wheels is the ability that can almost 100 to 0 people with. This is Ne Zha's signature and most important ability. You basically take an enemy off the map for a few seconds and hit them. This means that although it does huge damage it can also be used for the CC if needed. It is also a good setup ability, as you team can see where you will land (just note that so can your enemies). It is a fairly long range dash too, meaning it can be used as an emergency escape, though you should try and avoid using it this way if you can (using it is usually better than dying though).

Your first two items should pretty much always be Warrior Tabi and Jotunn's Wrath. The first gives you much needed movement speed and power, the second gives you mana and CDR. Although Ne Zha's passive buffs hit basics he is ultimately an ability-based assassin, which is why the Jotunn's is so important.

Your third item probably should be Deathbringer, however if you are going for a full-pen no-crit build then Titan's Bane is probably best.


Although there are numerous crit items Deathbringer provides the most burst and will give you a massive power spike as not only your inhands but also your Armillary Sash and Wind Fire Wheels will all become considerably more dangerous.


Of the crit items Titan's Bane means that you can realistically look at seriously damaging tanky targets. It is also cheap, meaning you can get onto the rest of your build quicker.

The rest of the build is often a mix and match, but the items can generally be thrown into three categories.

CC immune abilities render your Wind Fire Wheels useless and you will take nobody up into the air. Although you can connect with your Armillary Sash the stun will not apply so you will more often than not simply walk into danger. Furthermore you will move towards where they were when you sashed, so they can move out of the way and avoid the damage.

Although your Wind Fire Wheels takes both you and your target off the map, making you untargetable, DOT effects still apply, meaning you or them can die halfway through the ult. Additionally Nu Wa's Fire Shards can hit you as you take to the sky.

Medium
Although Ne Zha's passive and flaming spear both buff his inhands boxing an Arachne is generally a bad idea, because her kit is completely focused on her basics. She does count as a squishy though, so an Armillary Sash into Wind Fire Wheels will usually kill her or at least weaken her enough that you can win the inhand battle straight after. If you need to run from her then be careful; her Night Crawler will catch up to you and her Web will slow you. On the other hand if her ult is down she has no escape, and you can chase with [Universe Ring Toss]] or Armillary Sash. If she ult initiates onto a teammate then sash her immediately; she has no escape and your burst plus your teammates can usually send her packing or to the ground.

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Hard
Awilix played well is dangerous to anyone, let alone a squishy with bad mobility like Ne Zha. Her Summon Suku means she can run you down or escape you, her Feather Step means she can easily outbox you and her Moonlight Charge/ Gravity Surge combo means you can't really turn your back and that she can pull you away from your team into a bad position from a distance. Her burst is probably as good as yours but unlike you she can still kill you relatively easily even if she misses an ability. Your only hope is to Armillary Sash and then Wind Fire Wheels to kill her outright, but sashing an Awilix who is somersaulting over your head can be difficult.

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Easy
You and Bakasura both have a heal ( Flaming Spear, Eat Minion) and inhand steroids (he has Insatiable Hunger, Butcher Blades and Regurgitate; you have Righteous Spirit and Flaming Spear. You also both have little mobility, as he only has one leap ( Take Down). You however have a lot more CC and his heal depends on minions being close by. Your sash can still hit him despite the cripple from his ult (not at the start; he is CC immune for a bit). If you can outlast or engage him after the original burst from his usual Take Down into Butcher Blades and Regurgitate then he has little left and can usually be killed.

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Medium
Early game her Cat Call will simply kill you. Late game it's still pretty annoying. Combine that with easy-confirm long distance poke and DOT as well as better mobility than you means she can poke you out fairly easily, especially since she usually builds into a lot of pen so ends up doing practically true damage. Her leap back ability means she will often jump into dangerous situations though; if you can hit her with your Armillary Sash or Wind Fire Wheels when she jumps in you can sometimes stop her jump back ability, keeping her in a bad spot. Basically she wins the 1v1, but stopping her pounce back will kill her; fortunately in arena there's usually someone close by.

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Easy
Fenrir is often played very aggressively, especially in the early game. His main source of damage however is his Brutalize, which you can interrupt with your Armillary Sash. Fenrir is build tankily more than most other assassins though, meaning using Armillary Sash straight into Wind Fire Wheels will do considerably less damage unless you have more pen items than just Jotunn's Wrath. His stun on Unchained is quite annoying and his Ragnarok can put you in a very bad spot if you don't have beads but ultimaely you cancel out his main source of damage.

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Easy
You and Hun Batz both rely on crit and you both have decent chase potential. You have an edge on CC slightly as your sash can be used to interrupt his overhand smash and stop him chasing your team with Sacred Monkey though you both have a slow. The real issue is his Fear No Evil. If he hits you with it and you don't have beads then he can usually kill in the time it takes the CC to end. Furthermore the ult zones away potential help. His ult is basically the only especially dangerous thing about him though, so buy beads and as long as you are careful he can be bursty but not too much of an issue.

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Medium
Her stun is easier to land than yours and with Hastened Fatalis it's difficult to run away from her. She generally builds lifesteal more than defence though so your Wind Fire Wheels will still chunk her down but you will lose if you try and box her basics. Your Armillary Sash is a stun and can hit her in her Destruction, though sashing into that is not advisable unless you need to to save a life or something. Treat her like Bakasura - if she jumps in then sash her and your team can follow up (she only has one escape really unless she wastes her ult). Her ult is a lot more dangerous than Baka's though.

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Easy
Ah Loki, bane of the arena. Loki's game plan pretty much involves bursting someone then disappearing. This usually takes a couple of abilities and some basics though, meaning he can kill people fast but not fast enough (i.e. it takes him about two seconds on a squishy, which is enough time to react to). Plus everybody hates Loki so will be happy to punish him if you can catch him. He has two weaknesses - he is usually alone, and he has basically no CC unless he wastes his ult.
Loki has two ways to kill - Vanish and Assassinate. If he vanishes watch your team. When he reappears sash him immediately, then ult if needed. Do the same thing when he teleports with his ult (you need faster reactions for this though as it can be quite sudden). If you do this even if you don't kill him your team will be waiting for him upon landing or hit him during your stun. The fact he targets your backline means it's difficult for help to reach him. If he ults you then pop beads and do the same. If he reappears behind you then sash and ult.
Do this enough and you can shut Loki down, unless your team completely ignores him. Even then though by the time you have something like Deathbringer online you can simply kill him yourself with your Armillary Sash Wind Fire Wheels combo as he rarely builds armour.

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Medium
Mercury is one of the rarer assassins around. He is actually quite similar to Ne Zha. His Made You Look and your Universe Ring Toss are both decent poke abilities. His Maximum Velocity and your Flaming Spear both buff your basics. You both have a CC dash with his Special Delivery and your Armillary Sash (which counts as a projectile then a dash; it's weird mechanically). This means you both have similar potential when it comes to trading basics, though you have a heal bonus. Your poke is on a similar level; his poke usually does more damage unless you get two targets standing next to each other, but your poke slows and has a buff for you and a debuff for then. The main difference between you is your ults. Your Wind Fire Wheels does more damage overall but his Sonic Boom offers massive mobility too. Conclusion? You have somewhat better fight potential but his mobility and chase are much better than yours (your chase is't too shabby but your mobility is another thing).

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Medium
You both do the same things and target the same people. It depends partially on skill but a lot on whose team is more together. You can sash the enemy Ne Zha when he comes back down from his Wind Fire Wheels or, if you time it right, when he uses his Armillary Sash(this is difficult though). There are immunity frames here though so you need to time it for when he hits his target at the end of the sash sequence. Ultimately you won't be able to stop him from sashing or ulting, so your job is to punish him after he does those things. Ne Zha is squishy and makes a good target for Ne Zha, so try and stay near your team. That way even if you are killed they can usually avenge you.

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Hard
Ne Zha, with no escapes, is an ideal target for Nemesis, especially since practically all of his abilities require close proximity to the enemy. Because the base is so near and you have more money for more damage and such, Winged Blade is rarely bought in arena and her slows can be annoying. Fortunately she is relatively squishy (although she usually build some armour or health); even if she steals your protections with her Divine Judgement though that ability alone won't give her that many. If you go Armillary Sash into Wind Fire Wheels she rarely has enough time to activate her Retribution. Basically try and avoid initiating her unless she is weak or you are sure you can find a kill, but otherwise try and stay out of her way. Sash her to keep her off allies but don't hard commit unless you can find a kill. Remember that she can both run away from you and chase you down easily.

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Hard
The anarchist squirrel has CC on three of his abilities and a debuff on the fourth. He also has heals and mobility. Ratatoskr is seriously a pain and it's difficult to kill him, especially since he often builds armour, meaning that you can't 100 to 0 him and he can seriously hurt you. What you can do well though is annoy him back and foil his plans to kill your team. You can use Armillary Sash to interrupt his flurry or stop him from following up on the stun from Acorn Blast. Although you can't really stop him from using Through the Cosmos you can sash him when he comes down to stop his follow up. With any luck your team will also pile in on him whilst you've stunned him and kill the pest. If you get the opportunity to kill him then great, but otherwise you should focus on stopping him disrupting your team.

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Easy
Serqet has one of the lowest health pools in the game and also rarely builds protection. She is therefore one of the easiest characters for you to one-shot. By contrast she does massive damage, and her Last Breath- Cobra's Kiss- Deathbane-basics combo can simply wipe you off the board fast. She also has incredibly high mobility and chase potential. However, none of her abilities alone can kill you (though Last Breath will seriously hurt you) meaning if you beads out her combo then unless you were already low her kill potential on you is quite low. By contrast your kill potential on her is always high if you have your Wind Fire Wheels, but late game even just Armillary Sash and a couple of basics will kill her. Her most deadly point is midgame, but she never really has more kill potential on you than you do on her unless you fall behind or she gets far ahead.

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Hard
Susano's abilities do strong AOE damage so it's easy for him to hit you. He is powerful early game, which is when you are weakest and his mobility is on the other end of the spectrum to yours. Add to that his considerable CC abilities and Susano becomes the sort of character who can stop a Ne Zha gaining levels and effectively keep them out of the game. To counter this you play especially carefully early game until you have enough potential to burst him down. Additionally you Armillary Sash throughout the game can stop him from using one of his many movement abilities and escaping, allowing your team to hit the otherwise elusive assassin (this is a similar to how you can deal with Loki except Susano is far more mobile.

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Medium
Thanatos is an early game powerhouse, meaning you have to be extra careful during this time (you should already be careful as early Ne Zha is already weak]]. He has decent lifesteal in his kit (also some lifesteal items like Bloodforge are used with him), making boxing him with your inhands more risky but he rarely builds tanky like Thor or Fenrir, meaning you still have decent burst potential on him, especially in the later game. Because so many of his abilities require him to get in close it is easy for him to position badly and your Armillary Sash can take advantage of that. When chasing kills his Hovering Death can put him particularly out of place on your side of the map, and you can punish this by stunning or ulting him. Basically this matchup depends on how late the game is.

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Hard
Good things about this matchup - your Armillary Sash can interrupt his Berserker Barrage.

Bad things about this matchup - he has more mobility, more teamfight prescence and more hard CC than you. He can build tanky and still do plenty enough damage to kill you, whilst any protections he builds can severely hamper your fight against him. His Tectonic Rift is safe to use and can keep you out of a fight and deny you kills or trap you in one so you die, whilst his Anvil of Dawn can follow you halfway across the map. He can chase you and escape you; you can't do either much to him. Thor is probably the most dangerous assassin for a Ne Zha and a decent one can simply shut you down and out.

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A note on Guardians:
Unless you build a lot of pen and even then Guardians are not really your main targets, and a lot of them have little kill potential on you. Because of this Guardians here are also ranked on how well they stop you from killing others, as well as damage etc.

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Medium
If he uses his Shackles and Searing Flesh on you you can die very easily. If you get caught by his No Escape you will also die a lot. He does however usually play very offensively and can put hmself too far forwards. As well as buying Purification a trick is to stay away from your team (not too far but out of the range of his No Escape. Then, when he does use No Escape you will see pretty much the entire enemy team looking at him as they wait for the pull and stun. At this point you have a great chance to attack squishies in the backline, so you've got a good chance to kill them and even if you don't you can stop them from annihilating your teammates who were pulled in. Squishy, not mobile, high-powered ult burst mages are your ideal targets here, such as Kukulkan.

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Easy
Her Preemptive Strike is readable and blockable, her Shield Wall does damage but it's not particularly dangerous unless you are low. Her Defender of Olympus is not particularly effective in the arena as the mobility it gives is limited and the damage requires a coordinated teammate, something far rarer in arena than in most other game modes. Her Confound is great though; it can pull you into a bad spot or keep you from getting a kill. Unfortunately for her that's pretty much her only particularly dangerous ability.

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Medium
Bacchus is tanky, one of the more damaging guardians and has a number of annoying CC and debuff tools. Like Ares however he tends to dive in, leaving his backline uprotected. Unlike Ares though he is a lot harder to kill, so sash him for the CC if the situation requires but don't bother using Wind Fire Wheels unless he's really low. When playing Bacchus he tends to dive groups so don't stay too close to your team. If you see him coming for you then run towards your base, either to safety or a better initiation spot.

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Medium
Cabrakan is another higher damage guardian and because you have no leap or dash his Tremors and Tectonic Shift are especially good against you. His kit also has damage mitigation, a speed buff and stuns, making him dangerous if he focuses you. You can however use Armillary Sash to cancel out his Tremors (he is immobile when using them so it's an easy shot), which are his main source of damage and his damaging abilities all have a very short range (except the ult, though the range on that is still not huge). As with all offensive guardians, try and hit his backline and only really target him if a)you can save a life or b)he is too far forwards (or c) you want to stop him fromusing Tremors.

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Hard
Fafnir's mixture of buffs, leaps and projectiles mean that he can stay on his backline but still be offensive. He also does decent damage, especially in his dragon form and additionally can greatly improve the damage output of his teammates (especially hunters) with his Coerce. His Dragonic Corruption means that even if he gets out of position he can still buy considerable time for him to either get rescued by teammates or have his Underhanded Tactics to come of cooldown. Fafnir can sometimes kill you (or at least do good damage), is very difficult to kill and can make it a lot more difficult for you to kill his team.

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Easy
His Roll Out is hard to aim and slow, meaning it's not so good in emergencies and it's difficult to target its damage. His Shock Wave is a good and easy to disruptor but it has low damage and the knockup duration is short. His Stone Shield is a good ability though. Note that it can purify the stun from you Armillary Sash and will stay on someone even if you use Wind Fire Wheels to give them extra health, though late game your damage is insane so it has limited effectiveness. The stun from his Cataclysm is dangerous but short ranged, and he will usually use it on groups. Against you he provides disruption and peel but there are other gods better at both jobs.

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