How to play Vamana + Conquest Tips

Hello fellow Smite lovers! Today I'm going to be putting out a simple guide for Vamana. There are other builds out there which are possibly better than this build however this has worked fine for me getting into Platinum rank.

I would like to say thank you to the kind players who commented to help improve the build with tips and build changes. I would also like to thank https://www.smitefire.com/smite/guide/a-guide-to-creating-a-guide-11941 this smitefire post for helping create the god guide with tips on making smitefire guides.

Hope this helps as much as possible!

If you have any comments on the guide, ares that were good, areas that were not so good or need improving, please comment and add your ideas. I will read all comments to improve the guide as much as possible.

Have a new build that is better than the one shown? Suggest it with reasoning!

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Section 1: Items
Section 2: Situational Items + Tip and Stats
Section 3: Game Summary (Early, Mid and Late)
Section 3: Includes Bonus Tips
Section 4: Buff camp, lane minions and objective (Gold Fury, Pyromancer and Fire Giant) information.

The starter items!
I have chosen to start with Warrior's Blessing Warriors Blessing and Round Shield round shield, the reason for is that Warrior's blessing is just an all round good item to have and round shield is the start of Berserker's shield. Two Healing Potion health pots are bought for sustain and a Mana Potion mana pot to help before you take your mana buff. If you use mana well with Vamana you could also purchase a Multi Potion multi potion which would be more useful.

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Berserker's shield:
I start this this item as it gives early physical power and attack speed which increases boxing potential and helps with killing minions. The physcial protection help if your up against other warriors or assassins and finally the passive. Berserker's shield has a really strong passive that allows for Vamana to have healing and it's insanely good. The healing allows for out boxing and if your low on health without any pots, you can sit and poke at the minions for loads of health. Berserker's Shield keeps sustain high with the use of your mana buff.

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Warrior Tabi:
The next item I build into is Warrior Tabi. This can be switched out for Ninja Tabi however it doesn't really make much of a difference. I build warrior's tabi simply for the extra damage and the movement speed.

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Void Shield:
The third item you could purchase is [Void Shield] void shield. This depends on your matchup! If your enemy is a physical character then void shield is fine. However, if the enemy is magical other picks such as Oni Hunter's Garb and Stone Cutting Sword would be recommended. Void Shield or Stone Cutting Sword is purchased for penetration / physical protection reduction. Why? well these items help bruise the enemy solo laner when fighting, Void Shield also gives more physical power and makes you tanky with the bonus health and protections. Oni Hunter's Garb is purchased for the high magical protections, extra health and high amoutns of mp5.

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Hastened Katana:
Fourth item you want to grab is Hastened Katana, here is where the game becomes fun. Hastened Katana is so good on Vamana as it also proc's in his ultimate stance meaning he can heal a **** ton while also being speedy. In some cases even sprint cannot outrun Vamana. As well as removing the basic attack penalty, Hastened Katana also gives more physical power, attack speed and movement speed. Vamana highly depends on basic attacking his enemies. Player debate purchasing Frostbound Hammer instead of getting hastened katana it does give you more tanky health however the 30% decreased speed doesn't work as well as Hastened Katana extra 10% movement speed and the basic attack penalty removed.

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Mantle of Discord:
By the time your reaching your fifth item, your getting into the late mid game and beginning to rotate more for team fights and objectives. However, the enemy team if not behind will still bruise Vamana if not careful. Mantle of Discord adds extra protections to Vamana making him tanky as his base stats are already pretty high.

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Oni Hunter's Garb: (Updated from being Ancile)
Finally (if the enemy solo laner is physical) you will purchase this mainly for the magical defence. Reason being, the enemy mid laner will still hit high damage on you without it. Berserker's Shield and Void Shield are giving you 65 physical protections while Mantle of Discord is only adding 60 protections to your magical. In some situations you might be required to purchase Pestilence instead to counter healing characters however Oni Hunter's Garb gives extra magical protection which is required to remove that mid laner burst, as well as extra health for more survival. Oni Hunter's Garb also includes a passive which gains you damage mitigation which maxes out at 9%, damage mitigation cannot be ignore even by penetration so in combo with items like Spirit Robe the mitigation can prevent a lot of damage.

If your enemy match was magical and you should purchase this instead of Void Shield. Then switch your later magical protection item for either Stone Cutting Sword if your ahead or Hide of the Nemean to make the attack damage carries damage themselves.

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Some people like quin's sais so... If you find Berserker's Shield no longer working well for you, you are able to switch this item out for quin's sais. This will work well with Stone Cutting Sword and allow for Vamana to do high damage even against the enemy support and solo laner.

How to counter high amounts of enemy healing.

Example enemy gods: Baron Samedi, Chang'e, Aphrodite, Hel, Ra, Anubis, Ah Puch, Camazotz (you get the idea)

Items such as Pestilence (reduces enemy healing by 25% within 55 units) and Beatstick (reduces healing by 40% as well as regeneration via hitting abilities on enemies).

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How to counter high amounts of CC.

Example enemy gods: Kumbhakarna, Baron Samedi, Nox, Chronos, Terra, Athena (etc.)

Items such as Oni Hunter's Garb, Spirit Robe, Mystical Mail, Bulwark of Hope and Winged Blade.
All of the items above include Crowd Control Reduction which reduces the time that you're stunned for. The math is simple according to Smite Forums, 1 second stun with 40$ Crowd Control Reduction would make the stun = 1 / 60 * 40 making it only 0.66 seconds.

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How to counter high amounts of enemy slows.

Exmaple enemy gods: Ah Puch, Kukulkan, Da Ji, Thanatos, Osiris, Loki (etc)

Items such as Winged Blade, Heavenly Wings(upgraded version), purchasing extra movement speed or using Horrific Emblem to counter slow the enemy.

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How to counter running out of mana.

Items such as Blackthorn Hammer (this item gives you +50 mp5 once you drop below half of your maximum mana as well as giving you 200 mana as well as giving an extra 450 health and 10% cdr.

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How to counter high amounts of defence.

Situation: The enemy solo laner decides to build high asf defence and the enemy support also builds a lot of physical defence (example 200+ physical protections).

Items such as Titan's Bane is very effective against even the highest amount of defence. This penetration item ignores protections instead of shredding them, this is also based off percentage (%) for example, enemies with 200 protections will have 40% of their protections ignored by this item alone. Stone Cutting Sword is another good item which decreases enemy protections by 10 due to hitting basic attacks up to 3 stacks, this means the total protections being removed is 30. The Executioner is another really strong item for vsing protection builders, this item reduces enemy protections by % similar to titan's bane, this is proc'd via basic attack by 12% up to 3 times (total 36%).

Regular items like The Crusher, Jotunn's Wrath and [[brawler's beat stick] are also decent, but not as effective vs high protections.

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How to make it harder for attack damage characters from wanting to burst you.

Example enemy gods: Any hunter, some mages like Freya and Chronos

Items such as Hide of the Nemean Lion this item is really effective against enemies and very good on Vamana the item secures mana sustain and gives high amounts of physical protections (+70). However, the main reason for having it includes 25% reflection damage (only works on basic attacks) this will cause the damage carries to damage themselves if trying to burst you down. This extra damage can cause about 600+ damage late game. The next item is similar to Hide of the Nemean Lion and it's thorns this item is a relic that also reflects 40% of all incoming damage (including abilities) however there is a maximum amount of damage that can be reflected. However, thorns is also very effective as it's upgraded version reduces lifesteal to 50% on you. For magical gods, Oni Hunter's Garb is very effective as it gives health, protections and mitigation. Mitigation is the best type of protections to have as it cannot be avoid (mitigation also reduces the damage of true damage) this makes it a good counter for characters like Serqet who's ultimate is true damage. Another item to purchase is Spirit Robe which gives 15% damage mitigation.

Early game:
Most new solo laners find the early game of conquest hard. Only one ability which doesn't clear and the enemy solo laner is usually more experienced and bullies them. Vamana doesn't have the strongest early game, but also not the worst. You will start by putting one point into your third ability Umbrellarang. This is also the ability you will try to max out first, followed by your second ability armoured umbrella.

The lane minions should come at around 21 seconds into the game. Try to get your third ability Umbrellarang to double hit all the minions, (don't worry about poking till about level 5). I also recommend you stand near the enemy tower's jungle out of sight and use your three Umbrellarang while the minions are still under the enemy tower. The reason for doing this is so that when your minions and the enemy minions meet in lane, your ability will have around 3 seconds off the next use. This helps that low early game clear.

After using your third ability Umbrellarang and getting the double hits on the minions, take out the back archer minions first. Many don't realise but they do 25 damage whereas the front minions only do 10 damage. It's surprising to see how much of a difference it makes when you clear the archers. Another trick to clearing better.

After about 2 waves of clear your jungler should come to clear your blue buff. Try hard to clear in time to get the xp, getting to level 2 before the enemy can be very beneficial. BE AWARE OF YOUR ENEMIES LEVEL. If your enemy hits level 2 before you, and you don't realise it can turn into an easy death. Also getting higher level allows for better clear.

If you clear the lane first, and have no mana buff up. Don't be scared to start poking the enemy. This usually causes them to target you, however you should have some remaining minions that will help you damage your foe. Using your minions to kill an enemy between level 1-3 can get you the first kill. Remember start health is around 500 and the lane minions hit for a max of 115 damage per second. Minions are scary man!

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Mid game:
Skipping forward to the point where you have Berserker's Shield, Warrior Tabi and Void Shield or Oni Hunter's Garb. Your pretty tanky and should be clearing lane fine. Don't be scared to box your target and bully them more now. If he's winning, pop your ultimate and life will be restored. You don't even need to chase the enemy but it can give you full health easily. Also, with the new Vamana buff he can last under tower for about 10seconds in ultimate form at this point.

Whenever you back, purchase 1 Healing Potion and 1 Ward. 100 gold isn't going to put you behind but usually puts you infront. Having the healing potion can change fights in your favour. When engaging into a boxing match against your foe, pop the Healing Potion healing potion towards the start as it's more efficient. The Wardward should be place either near the enemies blue buff or your blue buff. This prevents your buff from being stolen, it also allows you to know when the enemy jungler is rotating.

Don't forget the use teleport glyph when its needed. If the enemy is pushing your tower with creeps but your low hp and don't have mana. Back to base, instantly use your teleport glyph back to lane, while the animation is activating purchase or finish any items. This is insanely useful! Don't forget either, basic attacking minions recovers a lot of health back because of Berserker's Shield passive.

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End game:
By the time you've reached end game, you will be fighting a lot more in team fights. This build keeps Vamana rather tanky + his ultimate's buffs but also allows him to bruise. Try to target the enemy mage / hunter or jungler in this order, but also keep your team alive. Learn that Vamana is also rather tanky and can tower dive if you have team mates backing you up. Tanking the tower is also a high priority if your team is pushing and the support isn't tanking. Once you hit half health, use your ultimate to regain health and extend space the enemies from your team as the enemy team will start to back away. Don't forget to reset the tower every so often, Vamana isn't god-mode, at least not all the time!

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Bonus tips:
Early game, if you're being out cleared don't be scared to back off under tower as long as your hitting the minions with the tower. This slightly puts you behind your doe but rather clear and be alive than try to clear without your minions and die :? When you do get good clear, try to clear the enemy lane near the enemy tower so your minions push up to the tower and cause pressure for the enemy. Also sometimes the enemy will go for blue while your lane minions clash, clear before you go for your blue buff as he will need to clear lane before ganking you at blue. This is just for extra security or if the enemy jungler tries to steal, the solo laner cannot out number you.

Archer minions do 25 damage compared to front line minions which do 10 damage, therefore take them out first!

Each minion gives you 6 gold per kill, however if under tower range (your tower) the minions only drop 3 gold per death.

Purchase at least one health pot and a ward every time you back. Ward positions where the enemy jungler may gank from. Either near blue buff or between your jungler and the enemy jungle (behind fire giant)

Max your third ability for the best and safest minion clear.

Don't forget to upgrade your teleport glyph mid to late game, this upgrade allows you to teleport to Ward meaning you can engage in fights faster and even prevent object kills such as fire giant.

One of the main things you need to learn is to pay attention to your mini map! Some pro players say they take a glimpse at their mini map every 5 seconds to keep aware of whats happening. Also keep a general idea for where the enemy jungler is and listen for your team mates when they call, e.g. if the mid laner says enemy missing middle be careful (your) lane, then you need to think that whoever is missing will be in your jungle. This could lead to someone trying to gank me or trying to steal your blue buff. In this case clear minions while facing the jungle so you don't get surprise ganked. Being ganked knowing your going to be ganked allows you to process whats going on, surprise ganks usually cause death.

If you're ganked by the enemy jungler and the solo laner pushes you, either use your 1 and hide under tower while indicating for your team to rotate, or hit the ultimate up for 99% safety. If you believe you can get a kill even if it causes your death, trading isn't terrible its just not as good as surviving.

Pay attention to your team and their character picks as well as builds. If one of your teammates is slacking then getting your jungler to provide more support for them is a good idea.

Pay attention to the enemy team and their builds. Check to see if they're building anything that counters you e.g. anti-heal to reduce Berserker's shields passive and your ultimate (however you ultimate shield kinda prevent's anti-heal from doing much). If the enemy is build slow items that is causing you to die, switching items out for other items like Wing Blade will help. There isn't just one build for each god.

If your new to Vamana, understand that his 3 ability slows the enemy god it hits, his 1 knocksup the enemy god it hits and his 2 is a decently range ability that can be used to poke your enemy if they sit under the tower behind their minions.

Tips for using his 1, you his 1 to hit the enemy god, just as they're in the air click 1 to cancel the ability, turn around to the enemy and hit them while mid air for maximum damage. The 1 is very useful against the enemy hunter as it prevent them from being able to burst you while you get to bruise them. This either causes them to leave the team fight or die. Vamana's 1st ability can also be used to cancel abilities for example, Bellona's 2nd ability that spins her hammer around can be cancelled by knocking her up with Vamana's 1 ability.

Another tip, don't try to 1 v 3, Vamana is very good and in most cases with the help of his ultimate can win 1 v 2's mid to late game. However, he isn't completely broken and therefore is over taken by multiple enemies bursting him down. Just don't be cocky!

General:
When playing conquest many miss understand the importance of every little bit of farm. So here is a quick tutorial on how gold, xp and health works for jungle monsters. I will also discuss gold fury and fire giant.

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Elder Harpy and Regular Harpy:
Jungle camps consist of one Elder Harpy and two Regular Harpies. The Elder Harpy when killed give 30 gold and 34 xp, its health starts at 410 and gains 55 health every minute of playing the game.
The regular harpies when killed give 22 gold and 22 xp, its health starts at 150 and also gains 55 health every minute.

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Jungle Camp Buff Holder:
Buff camps consist of one buff holder and two smaller creeps. The Buff Holder gives 48 gold and 116 xp. Their start health is 470 and gain 125 health per minute.

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Manticore (Red Buff Minions) + Centaur (Speed Buff) + Chirmera (Void Buff) + Satyr (Mana Buff)
These buff camps are all the same stats, two are three of each enemy to defeat when taking the buffs, these creeps drop 16 gold and 20 xp. They start at 115 health and gain 72 per minute.

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Oracle:
The oracle's are the minions of the gold fury, found the opposite side of the gold fury in her lair. These also provide a free ward on the gold fury that cannot be destroyed even via sentry ward and requires both minions to be defeated by your team. They drop 33 gold and 40 xp. The ward vision is active for 90 seconds.

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Gold Furry:
This enemy is underestimated. Firstly, the Gold Fury's protection stats! The gold fury has 20 physical / magical protections to start with, she gains 1 protection of each per minute this should allow you to easily calculate how many protections she has.

For her gold, she drops 150 gold straight after death and continues to give the whole team 6 gold per minute. The max gold this can collect is 350 gold therefore 58 minutes of +6 gold per minute.

Fpr her xp, she drops 100 gold xp straight after death and continues to give the whole team 5 xp per minute. The max xp this can collect is 250 xp therefore 50 minutes of +5 xp per minute.

This is why gold fury is contested before fire giant and is worth trying to steal for a death. Alone the stats are not worth much but based on five players. She drops 2500 gold for the team and 1750 xp for the team. Not so bad after all!

Bonus: Gold Fury reduces lifesteal by 50% to prevent solo kills, doesn't seem to work however! When killing the Gold Fury remember to pull her as close as possible to your side of the jungle, the reason for doing this is to make it harder for enemies to snipe the Gold Fury due to long range and (depending on distance) makes her visuals go off screen making her invisible to the enemies until they get closer to her.

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Pyromancer:
Again another under rated enemy by newer players.
Firstly the stats of the Pyromancer! The Pyromancer starts with 2250 health and gains 250 health per minute. (ONLY FOR THE PERSON WHO LANDS THE LAST HIT ON HIM) He gives that teammate 100 base gold and +3 gold per minute they also gain +5 xp per minute the max amount isn't actually told therefore I'm assuming its either for the end of the game or similar to Gold Furies times.

Now for his buff. The buff is given to the team who kills the pyromancer, this buff provides 40% extra movement speed to all team mates even if they're dead. This buff is only activated for 15 seconds upon leaving your fountain (spawn shop area), the 15 seconds are removed if you enter combat.
This buff also lasts for 90 seconds total.

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Fire Giant:
Finally, the big boss man. Many players know that the fire giant is the strongest of the three neutral bosses on the conquest map and they also know he gives them a buff, however many don't know what the buff actually does or how valuable it is.

Stats
Fire giant has 6000 health from start and gains 225 health every minute. He also has 90 physical protections and 50 magical protections. Like Gold Fury he reduces lifesteal by 50%.

Fire giants basic attacks hit rather hard and reduce the damage receiving god's healing by 40% while also reducing their damage by 20%. This is why many want the tank to actually take fire giants damage so the damage characters don't get the damage debuff.

Fire giant also has a line attack that he uses. As Vamana you may need to tank fire giant therefore knowing how to do this is vital. Firstly, be the first on your team to attack him, you will want to tank next to him for about 2 seconds then start moving towards the centre of him. This is done as he will use his line attack (voiding all your team mates as you stood next to him) and you move to also dodge it.
Line attack does 500 magical damage, reduces movement speed by 80% and knock ups for 1.5 seconds. (Be careful!)
After his line attack has gone, move back towards his side and repeat this method.

All i'm going to say if don't be scared of him but don't underestimate him either. The build includes a decent amount of protections therefore he wont actually be hitting you for 500 damage.

Killing him gives all team mates 150 gold and +6 gold per minute as well as 200 xp and +5 xp every minute. Killing him also allows team mates (only who are alive) to receive a buff, at 25 minutes. the fire giant evolves and the buff becomes stronger than before.

The buff: Fire giant buff gives 50 physical power / 70 magical power + 20% damage buff vs towers and phoenixes + 4% health / mana regeneration per 5 seconds. This last for 4 minutes