Ra, The Fleetfooted Tank

So, this is my very first guide on Smitefire. How exciting! Please feel free to leave feedback and advice. Any criticism is much appreciated, so I know how I can improve my build or strategy.

Now, I play my Ra as a tanky mage. This means, being in the thick of battle and supporting my teammates or being an annoyance to my opponents. I've had much more success with this build compared to my old one, a more glass-cannon build. I play my Ra in the middle lane. Most people think of Ra as an squishy god, and in truth he is. But not if you build him like I do. I've seen many people rush head on thinking I am an easy kill only to be either pushed away with minimum HP or dead, while I'm sitting in my heal ray with half HP.

Anyhow, lets carry on to the build itself.

I have two builds I tend to roll with, one for when I face a magical god in the middle lane and one for when I go toe to toe with a phsyical god.

When I'm facing a magical god, I start off with Stone of Gaia level 2. This provides a good amount of magical defence and health regen. When I know I can afford level 3 of the stone and atleast R1 boots I go B. After that I finish boots and go for my sash so I can stack it quick. When the sash is completed i build my Gem, the bread and butter of my Ra. It's because of this item Ra excels in being a tanky mage. Thanks to his amazing slow in his 2, Ra can kite and slow other gods to a crawl, making it easier for you and your teammates to land skillshots.
I like to build a Chronos partly due to the MP5 it gives, but mostly due to the CD reduction. I want to be able to use my skills as often as possible. Lastly, the Bulwark fits nicely in my build since I like to be in the thick of battle and the shield can be very useful when you have low hp.

My physical defence build on Ra varies a bit from the prior build. I start with Reinforced and go directly into Wall of Absolution, which gives a good chunk of physical defence, MP5 and magic damage. What's not to like? The build continues on not so differently compared to the magical build, but we build Void stone and Breastplat of Valor instead. I build Void stone because the passive helps when facing with physical dealers, since the majority will be close up smacking you in the face. I like BoV because it has the CD reduction.

Ra's Passive gives him movement speed for every ability he uses, stacking up to 3 times. His passive is in my opinion one of the greatest in the game. The sheer amount of speed is just absrud when combined with his slow. If you know how to play him, it's quite easy to dodge most skillshots.

The skill I both level first and max first is Ra's 3, Solar Blessing. Many people go with Celestial Beam as their first skill, but if you build tanky and level up your 3, you will see that practicly no one can touch you. Your regen is strong, your defence gets buffed while standing in the beam (keep in mind some gods can put their skills on the beam therefore negating the healing done), you and your allies deal increased damage while in the beam whilst enemies deal less damage. All in all, it's an incredible skill.

I max Ra's 1, Celestial Beam, second. This does good damage and can clear a creep wave when you've invested a few ranks in it. It has the chance to proc multiple times on an opponent, especially when they are running away. This can lead to many unexpected kills. But you are building tanky and will be better off leveling your 3. This helps in so many ways.

Lastly, max Ra's 2, Divine Light. This ability combined with GoI will make it incredibly easy to land your skillshots, 1 and 4. Max this last though, since it's only the damage and mana cost that increases each rank and the damage is considerably lower than Celestial Beam.

Ra's ultimate is called Searing Pain. This skillshot requires Ra to stand still for a moment to charge his power, and then shoot a powerful beam of light. This beam packs quite a punch and is best used either in combination with GoI + Divine Light slow or picking of a fleeing enemy with low HP. I max this whenever I can EXCEPT when I can max my 3. With CD reduction, his ultimate can have 30-35 sec cooldown so don't be afraid to go for some snipes here and then.

Keep in mind, both Ra's 1 and his 4 can go through walls, which can lead to some amazing snipes.

Pros:
- Very mobile god
- With this build can stand toe to toe with many gods
- Good pusher
- Powerful burst
- Factotum
- Rewarding feeling when ulti hits

Cons:
- Has to stand still during ulti cast
- Some people find Ra's skillshots hard to master

Ra is my favourite god by far. He can be so much and yet excel on almost every area (maybe not AD Carry, although I've seen people pull it off). He has damage, CC, healing, tanking capability if built right, escape abilities (passive) and so on. I definatly recommend playing this god, since he is a lot of fun and very versatile.

I've been mid a bunch of times as Ra and been up against a majority of the gods in this game. Here's my opinion about the gods and how to counter them. I wont cover all gods in the game, just the one I go up against from time to time.

AGNI
Agni can be quite a pain due to his ability to harass you. If Agni uses Path of Flames through your minion wave, place down your 3, use your 2 to slow him down and step into the fire for half a second. This makes your minions attack Agni and early game minions do a lot of damage. When you get your ultimate you will want to save it until Agni is low on HP and has Path of Flames on CD.

AO KUANG/b]

Ao Kuang is in my opinion the easiest god to face in the middle lane. He will outpush you in the beginning but after a few levels in your 3 and later your 1, you will push him back. Make sure to buy an Aegis for when Ao uses his ultimate. This will negate most of his damage. Also, do not make the mistake and stand in his tornadoes. They hurt. A lot.

RA

A mirror-matched lane can be tricky. If the opposing Ra decides to level upp his 1, you should be able to outpush him early on if you put your heal down on your melee creeps. Since you are building early magic defence you can take quite a punch from Ra. Conserve your mana until you get your ultimate and you should be all set.

KALI

Oh boy. Kali can be either the biggest annoyance you will ever face, or a breeze to deal with. It all depends on if she uses her heal before she uses her 2 on your creeps. If she does, she will heal back a lot of HP and it will be a stalemate unless one decides to go in full ham aggresive trying to kill the other. If not, she will push you back but wont be able to heal. When she pops her ultimate, use your 3 and stand in it. She will barely tickle you.

HADES

Personally I never have a problem with Hades. Most Hades players are very predictable in thier pattern. Leap in, use 3 on your archers and heal up, run back. When you see him getting ready to leap in, pop your 2 on your archers and your 3, and then place yourself next to the archers. If he leaps in he will not only be slowed and hurt by your skills, he will get aggro from the minions. When he ulti's, either pop beads or use your 3 followed up by an ulti in Hades face.

Anhur

Since you focus on your 3, which buffs your auto attacks, Anhur can counter you with his passive. He pushes hard and hits hard. Not fun at all to face in mid. Call ganks a lot and stay clear from the sides of the lane. Be wary, for most Anhur players will try to pin you to his obelisk. Move sideways a lot to avoid this. If he uses his leap and you have plenty of HP, this is the time to go in for the kill. Slow, heal, Celestial beam and auto attack him. If he runs away, ulti in his back.

ARACHNE

Most mages seem to fear Arachne, I welcome her with open arms. If her ult is on CD, it's go time. When she moves in for the face hump (lifesteal + silence), put down your 3 and just stand in it. You will heal more then she damages you. When her facehump is down, she has barely anything to kill you with. May very well be one of the easist mid's to face.

ANUBIS

Anubis can do a lot of damage very fast. I suggest buying beads early on for his Mummify. Be careful where you put down your 3, since his Grasping hands can be put down on the same place to efficiently counter you. When he uses his ulti, wiggle waggle around and try to dodge it. Since he has no escape, slow him and call for ganks a lot.

HEL

I've only encountered Hel mid once, and she left after a lvl 2 gank from my team. So I can't say much about her.