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The Art of Arachne: An in-depth guide (4.23)

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6.8

by updated

Smite God: Arachne

Tap Mouse over an item or ability icon for detailed info

Arachne Build

Core

Warrior Tabi

Heartseeker

Hastened Katana

Shifter's Shield

The Executioner

Choose a 6th Item

Spirit Robe

Hide of the Urchin

Magi's Cloak

Mantle of Discord

Breastplate of Regrowth

Runeforged Hammer

Qin's Sais

Winged Blade

Brawler's Beat Stick

Stone Cutting Sword

Masamune

Hydra's Lament

Standard Build

Warrior Tabi

Heartseeker

Hastened Katana

Shifter's Shield

The Executioner

Runeforged Hammer

Conquest Start

Bluestone Pendant

Bumba's Mask

Healing Potion

Mana Potion

Clash Start

Bluestone Pendant

Combat Boots

Always get

Purification Beads

Arachne's Skill Order

Venomous Bite

1 X

2 3 6 7 9

Cocoon

2 A

4 11 13 16 19

Web

3 B

1 8 12 15 18

Night Crawler

4 Y

5 10 14 17 20

2 3 6 7 9

Venomous Bite

1 X

Upon activation, Arachne's next basic attack within 5s does additional damage and infects the target with Venom, dealing damage over time, lowering their healing received and healing Arachne every 0.5s for 3s.

Ability Type: Buff, Damage
Initial Damage: 50 / 75 / 100 / 125 / 150 (+35% of your Physical Power)
Damage Per Tick: 10 / 18 / 26 / 34 / 42 (+8% of your Physical Power)
Healing Reduction: 40%
Healing Per Tick: 8 / 15 / 22 / 29 / 36
Cost: 60 / 65 / 70 / 75 / 80
Cooldown: 15 / 14 / 13 / 12 / 11s

4 11 13 16 19

Cocoon

2 A

Arachne spindles her webbing, increasing her Attack Speed for 4s. If 3 enhanced Basic Attacks hit the same target, that target is Stunned and have their active cooldowns increased.

Ability Type: Buff, Stun
Attack Speed: 20 / 30 / 40 / 50 / 60%
Stun: 1 / 1.1 / 1.2 / 1.3 / 1.4s
Cooldown Increase: 2s
Cost: 70
Cooldown: 14s

1 8 12 15 18

Web

3 B

Arachne shoots a line of Web forward. She is Immune to Slows and moves faster on Web. If the Web reaches max range a Web trap will spawn. Enemy gods who walk through the trap or get hit by the projectile are Slowed by 15%, revealed to Arachne, leave a trail of Web behind them, and are attacked by Pet Broodlings. Arachne can only have 3 Web traps or projectiles active at a time.

Ability Type: Line, Slow, Damage
Slow Duration: 4 / 4.5 / 5 / 5.5 / 6s
Movement Speed: 40%
Broodlings: 2 / 2 / 2 / 2 / 3
Broodling Damage: 20 / 30 / 40 / 50 / 60(+20% of your Physical Power) per hit
Web Lifetime: 240s
Cost: 50 / 55 / 60 / 65 / 70
Cooldown: 14 / 13.5 / 13 / 12.5 / 12s

5 10 14 17 20

Night Crawler

4 Y

Arachne flips up to her infinite web, hanging upside down above the lane and increasing her movement speed. She may leap off the web to deal damage to all enemies in the target area and create a large web around the target area. The web area provides the same slow to enemies and benefit to Arachne as her Web Trail.

Arachne may activate Ability 1 and 2 while running on this web.

Ability Type: Circle, Slow, Damage
Damage: 150 / 250 / 350 / 450 / 550 (110% of your Physical Power)
Duration On Web: 5s
Movement Speed: 40%
Damage Radius: 15
Web Radius: 25
Cost: 100
Cooldown: 90 / 85 / 80 / 75 / 70s

Welcome

Hello, and welcome to my guide on Arachne. I'm Whooped, a long-time player and student of the game. When I first started Smite, most of my knowledge and builds came from guides on Smitefire. Even today as an experienced player, I still read guides on multiple Gods because with new insight comes new perspective. This guide is my way of giving back to a community that helped me out when I was new. So with that, I hope you're able to learn from this guide and take your game on Arachne to the next level.

Note: If you are unfamiliar with some of the terms I use, click on the glossary below for clarification.

Glossary

My stats on Arachne

Build Explanation

Core 5 Items

Choose a 6th item from the list below:

Offense

Defense

Magi's Blessing

Hybrid

Utility

Shield of Regrowth

Which item should you choose as your 6th?

This build gives you power, flat pen, percentage pen reduction, increased speed, health, and includes passives that give you insane burst potential, protections, and added chase potential. Choose a 6th item that works best for your situation and don't be afraid to choose defense and/or utility over power if it's better in your particular case.

There isn't a one-build-fits-all that works for all situations. Counter-building is an important aspect that shouldn't be overlooked. It's a common misconception that you have to maximize your damage output by building all offense. I'm a huge believer in finding a balance that favors power but doesn't neglect much-needed utility and survivability.

For an offensive boost:

	Use Runeforged Hammer as your base sixth item, i.e., unless there’s something better to use for the situation. Reason You’ll mostly be engaging with your Web, which procs Runeforged Hammer’s passive (15% bonus damage from you). It'll also proc when a teammate effects the enemy with crowd control. It provides insane levels of burst and compliments Arachne's Venomous Bite and her passive extremely well. You also get added utility via health.
	Only use Hydra's Lament if you're very comfortable with auto attack canceling. Reason Auto attack canceling is resetting your attack chain to increase your dps. Arachne's third auto attack in her attack chain is slower than her first two auto attacks, so resetting the chain (by using an ability) after two auto attacks would maximize her dps potential. For example:(3+a+a+2+a+a+1+a+a). If you aren't familiar with this, I would suggest practicing it before using Hydra's Lament, as the passive from Runeforged Hammer will yield you more damage output than Hydra's if you aren't taking full advantage of auto attack canceling.
	Use Qin's Sais against tanky compositions in which CC isn’t that much of a problem. Reason Qin’s is a powerful offensive item and its passive lends itself well to versing tanky Gods. There isn’t a single item better for this type of situation, especially since it’s being paired with The Executioner.
	Use Brawler's Beat Stick against healers, like Hel and Aphrodite, etc. Reason Brawler’s counters healers pretty hard, including lifesteal items and Meditation.
	Use Stone Cutting Sword when the other team is disproportionately physical. Reason Getting basics on an enemy decreases their physical protection and adds to your physical protection. It also has the added utility of movement speed. Note: Since Stone Cutting Sword, Heartseeker, and Hastened Katana all provide movement speed, it’s acceptable to replace Warrior Tabi with Stone Cutting Sword at the end of the build and use the sixth item slot for something else.

For more survivaility:

	Use Spirit Robe when the other team does most of its damage based off of a hard CC, such as an Ares ult or a blink-Geb-ult initiate, etc. Reason Spirit Robe provides enough defense to stay relevant in fights, but its true potential shines when you’re hit with a hard CC, as it mitigates 15% of damage for the next 3s. This is important if the other team tends to only initiate with hard CC and then follows up.
	Use Hide of the Urchin Hide when you’re behind and being punished, but your team is managing to stay afloat. Do not get this item last. Reason It’s an extremely effective defensive item as long as you’re able to add stacks. Do not choose this item if you aren’t confident you can do so. The potential of this item is 60 physical and magical protections. It also provides both mana and health. Note: If you’re going to get Hide, don’t wait until the sixth item slot to do so. I would get it fourth and get Shifter’s last.
Magi's Blessing	Use Magi's Blessing when the other team has a lot of hard CC. Reason The beauty of Arachne is that she has an amazing escape that makes her CC immune. She also will have Purification as a relic. That means she can get out of a lot of tricky situations. However, if she isn’t able to get out of a hard CC effect, she’s almost guaranteed to die. Because of this, when the enemy team has a lot of CC, such as stuns on almost every kit, you’ll need the extra lifeline. Note: the CC immunity isn’t just for escaping; it’s also used to secure kills. I have been in many situations where I was in the process of killing someone when I was hard CC’d by their teammate and wasn’t able to get the kill. Similarly, I’ve been in situations in which I had Magi’s, yet I was able to secure the kill because I was immune to the enemy’s hard CC when they tried to aid their teammate.
	Use Mantle of Discord when you’re being punished late-game or you're heavily pressured and forced to partake in team fights. Reason Mantle is a very good defensive item as it provides 60 physical and magical protections. It also has a get-out-of-jail free card via its passive that stuns enemies when you drop below 30% health. I usually pick this up as my final item when I need the extra defense but do not want to build stacks late-game.

For power, utility, and added protections:

Use when you’re generally ahead and team fights are inevitable, or as a replacement for Warrior Tabi late-game.

Reason

For more utility:

Use when the enemy team’s slows are becoming a problem for you.

Reason

Shield of Regrowth

Use Shield of Regrowth when you want the extra chase potential or get-away potential after using .

Reason

Items not used:

I've put a lot of time and consideration into this build because I'm being held accountable, not just by myself, but from everyone that uses my suggested build. Any genuine feedback is appreciated and welcomed.

Why not Ichaival?

Why not Ninja Tabi?

Why not Bloodforge?

Advantages / Disadvantages

+ Great CC
+ Best escape in the game
+ Insane single-target damage
+ Great sustain
+ Attack speed stim
+ Ult is CC immune
+ Can tower dive

Explanation

- Very susceptible to enemy peel
- Dependent on being able to land her one
- Her escape is her ult
- Minimal team fight presence

Explanation

New Perspective

Instead of thinking of Arachne's ult () as a damaging ability that can be used as an escape, think of it as an escaping ability that can be used to damage. It may sound minor, but this mindset will change your entire approach to playing Arachne. Out of 10 ultimates: Approx:

7 of them will be used to escape
2 of them will be used to finish a kill
1 of them will be used to initiate

Abilities

Her kit is put together rather nicely and each ability compliments the other very well.

Passive

Your basic attacks gain 1.5% physical damage for every 5% of your target's missing health, which can scale up to 28.5% extra damage per basic.

My thoughts

	1 - Venomous Bite Your next basic (within five seconds) does initial damage, applies tick damage, and it heals you. My thoughts Venomous Bite is a very powerful ability because it has burst damage, tick damage, and heals you. Initial damage is x + 35% of your power. Tick damage is x + 10% of your power (per tick, six ticks in total). Healing is x + 10% of your power (per tick, six ticks in total). x = set amount based on the level of the ability It allows you to delete people quickly and gives you great sustain. Arachne is dependent on being able to land her one, but this isn't a problem if you manage to Cocoon them.
	2 - Cocoon You gain increased attack speed and if you land your next three basics within six seconds, it cocoons them. My thoughts This is a powerful CC effect when paired with Venomous Bite because it gives her an easy way to land her one. It also gives you more opportunity to get basics in, which usually ends in their death.
	3 - Web You shoot a web that consists of two spiders. If the projectile web hits an enemy, or if they walk into the web on their own, the web will break and the spiders will begin to attack them. It applies a 25% slow. My thoughts This is an awesome ability because it provides a slow for a significant period of time. It also leaves behind a trail of web, which makes you faster and immune to slows when you're on it.
	4 - Night Crawler You hang above the lane, cc immune, and are able to move with increased speed and leap down, doing AoE damage when you land. My thoughts This is the best escape in the game, in my opinion. As I mentioned earlier, I view this as an awesome escape ability, not a damaging ability that I happen to use for escaping. When I have my ultimate up, it allows me to play more aggressive and apply more pressure on the enemy.

Combos

Arachne's combo isn't difficult. It's usually just , , and then . Knowing when to use each ability and when to stray from the combo, however, can separate a good Arachne player from an average one.

Normal Approach

Shoot your Web at the target from behind, the side, or, if chasing, where you anticipate them to be.
If you hit them with your web, use the trail from the web to catch up to the player.
Pop Cocoon and proceed to basic attack the enemy. Make sure, while attacking, that you pivot to their front so you block their path when they try to run away.
Once you cocoon them, pop Venomous Bite and continue to basic attack them until they die, or until you need to back off or escape.

Adjusted Approaches (Examples)

If you need health: 3+1+2: Use web, land venomous bite for sustain and then proceed to cocoon them and finish them off.
If they use Purification Beads, don't use Cocoon until the effect is over. Instead, use venomous bite.
Likewise, if they use Aegis Amulet, don't use Venomous Bite. You can, though, still use cocoon.
If they jump over a wall but are extremely low health, you can pop Night Crawler. You won't be able to crawl over the wall, but you can leap over it.

Matchups

Items that counter Arachne:

	Witchblade is a hard counter to Arachne because she relies on basics to deal damage and it decreases the attack speed of enemies within 55 units by 20%. Verdict It will impact you more prior to you completing The Executioner. It still won't stop you, but it's definitely something to be mindful of.
	Winged Blade gives them +300 health, 20% CC reduction, and increases their movement speed by 10%. Further, its passive immunes them to slows and, if hit by one, gives them additional movement speed. Verdict This item seems like it was made to counter Arachne. You still can get around it, though. Either bait its passive proc by hitting them with your three and waiting for your cooldown to refresh (since your three will take less time than the reset on the passive), or you can initiate without your three.
	Midgardian Mail is another item built to counter Arachne. It is, perhaps, the most impactful item against her. It provides them with 30 physical protections, +350 health, and its passive gives it a 30% chance to slow your attack speed and movement speed by 30% for two seconds. Verdict That's insane. Given that Arachne uses basics to deal damage, you're guaranteed to slow your attack speed and movement speed if you attempt to attack someone with Midgardian Mail. Just keep that in mind before you attack. Note (chance to slow yourself) 1 basic = 30%; 2 = 51%; 3 = 66%; 4 = 76%; 5 = 84%; 6 = 89%; 7 = 92%
	Hide of the Nemean Lion is a counter because it gives them +80 physical protections and reflects 25% of all basic attack damage back to you. Verdict It can be an annoying item to verse. Just make sure you engage with appropriate health and that you land your one.

Abilities that counter Arachne

Arachne is essentially strong against any God in a 1v1 situation. Positioning and situational awareness, then, are more important than matchup as far as knowing when, where, and how to approach. So, instead of individual matchups, I'll list a few abilities that give Arachne trouble, ranging from mildly annoying to "uh oh" in no particular order.

Note: I'm leaving out ultimates and regular escapes.

Assassins

Hunters

Mages

Very annoying
Very annoying

Very annoying

Very annoying

Warriors

Guardians

Very annoying

Very annoying

Very annoying

Things to consider

Thank you for reading my guide. I hope it helps you become a better Smite player in general and a better Arachne player in particular. Just remember that Arachne requires a great deal of patience and positioning. Your primary source of contribution is to catch players, even if just barely, out of position, and punish them for it. She's a very satisfying God to play when things are going your way.

Change log

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(401) |

Oops, saw boogie's comment earlier and meant to look this over.

Firstly, I like how you explain things and lay out basic information, e.g. glossary and whatnot. I also like that you're a veteran player and have a history of using SF, and wrote this to give back to the community. Greatly appreciated.

Spot-on descriptions. Also, nice stats on Arachne, just curious, what mode(s) do you mostly play with her, or are you all over the place? I've just started playing her more, but about half of that (24 games total, 63 win % and 3.16 KDA) has been in Arena (in Conquest, I barely ever play Jungle).

Base my feedback on my general build knowledge, and understand I'm not trying to supersede your experience.

Core ( Hastened Katana): I feel this is often unnecessary for Arachne. As you say in your commentary under Runeforged Hammer, you're often initiating with your web, so the enemy will often be slowed. This, combined with the added movespeed you get from it and Heartseeker, should be plenty, especially as your build gets closer to completion... Cocoon's stun and her quick 3-attack chain basic progression should also help keep them close. I don't think it hurts to have it as an option, but I just don't think it's core.
Core ( Shifter's Shield): This is probably okay as core, but I'd also consider this one optional, especially if facing 3 magical + 2 physical enemies. In some cases, I'd personally consider Hide of the Urchin (4th item or earlier) OR Spirit Robe (possible 4th-6th item) instead of Shifter's.
Optional 6th ( Runeforged Hammer): I totally throw this item to the side all the time, but it's good that you consider this one, especially for Arachne. I should try this sometime.
Optional 6th ( Hide of the Urchin): Mentioned earlier, but I don't think this should be a 6th item. If you get it, you get it 4th or earlier, due to the need to build stacks to get optimal effect. Not saying you CAN'T build it 6th, but I'd choose this when I feel that I'm going to be taking a lot of damage (due to difficult matchups or whatever). If so, you'll want that protection earlier anyway. (Oh, okay, I see in your explanation of Urchin to get it earlier...I'd suggest separating that at the top item breakdown so it's clearer for people just glancing at the build list)
Optional 6th ( Qin's Sais): Honestly, I'm amazed this isn't a core item. Her basic attack progression (0.5 / 1 / 1) is well-suited to getting good effect from the passive. As a single item, it's also probably the single best DPS item you can get. You don't mention Qin's being good for her due to that progression, and I think it would be a good mention, at least. I would consider this core.
Combos section: You might want to update the terms for Purification/Aegis (you still say Sanctuary). Good write-up on the combos.

So, to me, core items to get every time would be (to be replaced late-game with ), , and . (I did see your writeup on "Why not Ninja Tabi?", but feel it's important to get anyway if you get Qin's) is more important in Conquest, but possibly less in some other modes (not that it's ever bad...maybe it's still core). This opens options up for a lot more situational considerations instead of just a 6th item. Feel that it's a bit more flexible that way. That said, I really, really want to try out Tabi Heart Qin's Urchin Exe Runeforged...

Honestly though, I like your commentary for the reasons behind building the items. I also like your "new perspective" on her ult, and that's my experience as well...I use it way more often as an escape than as an initiation or kill finisher.

Good job on the guide! +1 Want to hear your feedback though.

Hey, Branmuffin. Thanks for the reply. I've read some of your guides in the past. You've helped me grow as a player, especially with your guide on item choices. Like you, I play most modes evenly (the only mode I don't queue is Siege).

is a comfort pick for me. I've tried this build with many variations. I settled on HK because, although Arachne can punish squishies with or without HK, it gives me a little wiggle room when dealing with tanks.

I've wrestled with Qin's or Exe a lot. And, to be honest, it's still something I question. I ultimately decided on Exe for me, personally, because of the gold cost.

Tabi, Heart, Exe, Urchin, Qin's, and RF sounds fun.

(401) |

Hey Whooped,

Thanks for the kind words, and glad I've been able to help!

And you know what, in a recent Arena match, at a certain point, I did feel like getting . Once you've used on a specific target, if you finish them, you don't have that slow anymore, and so I absolutely see the use of being able to stick to another enemy.

I've not used it and had success, but yes, it's very nice to have. I think in a Conquest situation it might be less needed, since you'll really be looking to single out individual gods, and should be enough.

Anyway, + is extremely nice.

(46) |

I see you've put a lot of work into this guide. Good job. Guide looks really good. I don't play , but the builds make sense to me.

Thanks for the kind words. It was fun building the guide. It was a learning experience for sure.

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The Art of Arachne: An in-depth guide (4.23)

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Table of Contents

Welcome

Build Explanation

Advantages / Disadvantages

Abilities

Combos

Matchups

Things to consider

The Art of Arachne: An in-depth guide (4.23)

Smite God: Arachne

Arachne Build

Core

Choose a 6th Item

Standard Build

Conquest Start

Clash Start

Always get

Arachne's Skill Order

Venomous Bite

Cocoon

Web

Night Crawler

Welcome

Build Explanation

Which item should you choose as your 6th?

For an offensive boost:

For more survivaility:

For power, utility, and added protections:

For more utility:

Items not used:

Advantages / Disadvantages

New Perspective

Abilities

Passive

1 - Venomous Bite

2 - Cocoon

3 - Web

4 - Night Crawler

Combos

Matchups

Items that counter Arachne:

Abilities that counter Arachne

Things to consider

Things to consider

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