Spicy plays!! Agni Middle Lane Conquest Guide (Patch 5.13)

One thing that should be noted about Agni's design is that he is one of the oldest mages in SMITE. Therefore, on paper, his kit sounds super busted. And then that paper burned, oddly enough.
In game, Agni is meant to be a burst mage that plays in tight corridors or at mid-to-long-ranges, applying hard AoE CC and devastating damage. With great follow-up and being able to stay relevant at all stages of the game, Agni fits into any and all compositions and can also be seen as the star of a team fight.

Noxious Fumes

Path of Flames

Noxious Fumes

Flame Wave

Rain Fire

Rain Fire

Flame Wave

Now, with an ever shifting meta, and a slew of item changes, one could expect some changes to how to build a mage like Agni. However, in my eyes, only 1 item need be swapped out. And don't buy masks. Without further ado, let's get into the possible items in your build.

1. The Warlock's Staff start is for the late game. The health, mana, and power it gives is great, but takes a while to stack. Choose this if a patient player, or already ahead in the game. This item will go towards a more bursty build.
2. The Chronos' Pendant start is for a utility based build. This is because that kind of build really works well with cooldown. If going this build, you have to be more support centric, using your abilities more for setup than kills.
3. The Bancroft's Talon start is for an exceptional early game. It's all about bullying the opponent, as you will be able to finish the item after one back if you're farming really well. From there, it is up to you, but I suggest a flat-pen and selfish build, but not bursty.

Warlock's Staff

Shoes of the Magi

Shoes of Focus

1. They both have the same amount of power, so they contribute almost equally to your damage and scalings.
2. Shoes of the Magi has +10 pen, which can mean about 10-20 extra damage early game. Magical protections are at around 50 late game, so you are by theory doing 20% more damage with penetration than without. Meant for burst builds.
3. Shoes of Focus gives 10% cooldown. To help understand, a 20 second bomb for Rain Fire will have 10% of its original cooldown taken out, reducing it to 18 seconds. Because there are three bombs, it therefore goes from 60 second ult to 54 second ult. This is significant, as this means 10% more ability casts. It also gives +250 mana, which means at least 3 more ability casts, which can equate to more waves and more farm than your opponent. Meant for utility builds.

Path of Flames

Heartward Amulet

Meditation

Soul Reaver

Flame Wave

Noxious Fumes

1. Your magical lifesteal from items is increased by 40%. What this means is that, if Typhon's Fang gives 10% lifesteal, and you basic attack someone for 200 damage, you will receive 20 health. Increasing that by 40%, that means you actually have 14% lifesteal, so you would actually heal for 28 health.
2. You gain magical power equal to 200% of your lifesteal benefit. So if Typhon's Fang gives 10% lifesteal, you would gain 20 extra power. This passive is not affected by the first passive, because the first part does not physically increase your lifesteal stat, just how much healing you gain from said lifesteal.

Now it is time to take Agni into the Middle Lane. The purpose of a MidLaner is to be the most influential in a fight. Either through massive damage output or insane CC setup, they are meant to be the one packing a punch. That is why the middle lane is the literal center of the map, meant for the centers of attention. Here is how to play in this area. Walls of text incoming.

1. First, there are one of two starts to go. The more popular one is to help clear the Yellow Speed Buff Camp with the jungler. This provides a good amount of early gold and xp that, if the other midlane did not take advantage of, can put you at level 2 after about a wave and a half. You can also start straight in the midlane, clearing the wave as fast as possible before the enemy comes. The minion wave gives the most xp in the early game, so it can help get you online earlier.
2. Next, you would go to your red camp after clearing your wave. Ping your jungler to help you, as it is not wise to do so by yourself or you will have to back after. Securing your red buff is crucial, as it gives extra power by a flat and percentage amount. After your buff, go back to lane and clear wave.
3. At this point, the mid Harpies should still be up if not already done by the jungler. If done with wave, check the left one, because that is the side opposite of the opponent jungler. This is because the jungler will always look to either shut down the solo or mid, and they do this with the assistance of their speed buff, on the right side of the map. If it is there, clear quickly and get back to wave. If not, return to lane. Also, your jungler might lead you to his Harpy camp. This is again to XP and Gold share, helping you both and providing assistance if a fight does start. Return back to lane afterwards.
4. Now we are fully in the laning phase, only leaving when there is no wave and camps are up. Once you reach level 5, you should be looking towards poking your enemy and calling/going for ganks.
   • Calling your ganks involves using VGS and pinging your jungler to aggress on the enemy mid laner. Wait for the greenlight response from your jungler and start to either back off if they are by your tower, or push up if they are by their tower. Either poke with a Rain Fire or Flame Wave, and followup with a Noxious Fumes for an easy stun. This results in setup for your jungler for their whole kit combo, and should result in either a relic burned by the enemy, or a kill. However, the enemey jungler could be doing the same on you, so a 2v2 in midlane can happen, and the jungle will most definitely look to shut you down.
   • Additionally, you can also gank at this point. Usually, you should be looking to gank the duo lane. Do this by calling VGS to gank the duo lane, and ask for help from the jungler to come with you. Try to stun with a long range Rain Fire into a Noxious Fumes, bomus if hit over a wall so they can't see you and catch them surprise. From there, have the duo lane push up for a chain CC and a kill on the ADC or support. Once you have left the midlane however, it will become obvious to the enemy midlane and jungler that you are ganking the duo lane, so they will look to gank on you. Be prepared for a team fight in the duo lane. Once you do land a CC and some damage, rotate onto your own support in case this happens.

1. When talking about ganks, not only should you keep pressure on the duo lane, but start looking towards the solo lane too. The solo laners have been farming all game, and it will be clear who has been trouble. If your solo laner is ahead in level and gold, then the gank should be looking for a tower or Pyromancer kill. Don't forget to ping for both the solo laner and the jungler for assistance before committing. If the solo laner already has killed a tower, then go for Pyromancer and immediately back. The movement speed buff it gives when exiting the base can help towards a second rotation towards Gold Fury or a mid tower.
2. When looking for Gold Fury, first ensure you have vision on it. This can be done through the oracle camp or some wards. Then, start to look for a gank on duo. Pressure onto either their purple or red buffs. These are crucial for you because your CC works the best in tight spaces that are the same amount of space as your AoEs. Focus the mid and ADC, as they are the damage dealers that can be able to actually down the Gold Fury if the fight breaks out early. The jungler will try to backline, which means you must stay behind your support, but not too stranded by yourself so you can get picked easily. After a kill or two, the enemies will back off as they will not have enough damage or steal potential to contest.
3. Most importantly, ward up. The most beneficial places to ward are
   • The mid lane in front of the first tower. This covers three pathways: the mid lane, the left jungle, and the right jungle entrances. Through the map movement of the enemies, you can see if they are going for a buff or a gank.
   • The Red Buffs of both you and your enemy. Your red buff means you are watching your backline. The enemy red buff could signify a gank to mid if you see the jungler and support going down from the red towards the mid camps.
   • Near the Pyromancer. This signifies if the solo lane has left lane to rotate into mid, which does happen and usually means a team fight to secure a tower, and also where the jungler is, as that is their side of the jungle mainly. It can also notify the solo laner if he is about to get ganked or his blue buff taken.
   Don't forget to ping VFF (Enemy missing) and VII (Enemy incoming) if you do spot something on the map.

1. This point in the game is where the Fire Giant becomes the main focus. MAke sure there are at least two wards by it: One sentry on the actual pit so the enemy doesn't have vision, and one by the blue or speed camp, to see if people are incoming or grouped up. For a teamfight to start, wait for the initiation by your support. This will usually be a Hard CC like a stun. From this, use your ult-stun combo over a wall to catch two people, meaning your solo laner can go in and frontline most of the damage. Save your dash and relics to be able to get out. Most likely, almost, if not all, ults and relics will be on cooldown by the end of the fight. If you guys did win the fight, and there are still three or four of you, go for Fire Giant. If not, rush towards either mid or solo lane for a Tier 2 tower. This opens up a phoenix for the next push. After the phoenix, you can either end the game or pressure even more for complete obliteration.
2. When killing phoenixes, look for more than just a phoenix. If you have the time, go for two. The ones on the side lanes are better to get because the fire minions are often overlooked until too late. The mid phoenix should be killed after a good teamfight, so you can apply greater pressure and get some damage on the Titan. If looking for the duo lane phoenix, try to fight by their back harpy camps, as that tis the best place for your bomb stuns, and provides a lot of cover by the red buff and escapes into Gold Fury pit or middle lane. Lastly, ward up by their left and right phoenixes, in those little crevices that lead into their jungle. If pushed back to your phoenixes, ward in your own spaces.

It was great revisiting this guide and updating it. I love Agni's design and appeal and am happy to see him as the most balanced god in game, but in the meta too :D! Getting back into guide making after this mid season patch has been great, and this is the first god guide to be updated in a long line of them.
If you have any questions, go ahead and ask in the comments or PM me for more info. Hopefully this guide can help you make some spicy plays ;D.
This has been IceColdPappsi, Fireball style.


PS, matchup section upcoming.