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

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

Aggro -- When a jungle camp, boss, or tower focuses on you. For example, a tank might take agrro from an attacking tower so his ADC (usually a hunter) can attack it.

Boxing -- When players exchange basic attacks.

Burst -- When you deal damage very quickly. For example, like Ra's ultimate, Thoth's ultimate, etc.

CC (Crowd Control) -- There are two forms of CC: hard CC and soft CC. Hard CC is in the form of Roots, Knockups, Knockbacks, Stuns, and Fears; Soft CC is in the form of silences, slows, and cripples, for example.

DPS -- Damage per second. Basically, a reference to auto-attacking Gods.

Flank -- Hitting the enemy from the side when they're focused on someone else.

HP5 / MP5 -- It means health (or mana) points restored per every five seconds.

KDA -- Kill, death, and assist ratio. It's calculated as one point per kill plus half-point per assist divided by deaths. For example, 2 kills, 2 assists and 2 deaths would result in a KDA of 1.5.

Peel -- Attacking the enemy so that your ally can get away. It's essentially providing cover fire.

Zoning -- Positioning yourself to make it difficult for enemies to approach a certain location. For example, in joust, a Ymir might position himself at the mouth of the red buff while his teammates take it.

My stats on Arachne

In case you're curious, my win percentage is 73% and my KDA is 3.72 on Arachne.

Core 5 Items Warrior Tabi Heartseeker Hastened Katana Shifter's Shield The Executioner

Choose a 6th item from the list below: Offense Runeforged Hammer Hydra's Lament Qin's Sais Brawler's Beat Stick Stone Cutting Sword Defense Spirit Robe Hide of the Urchin Mantle of Discord Magi's Blessing Hybrid Masamune Utility Winged Blade Shield of Regrowth

Which item should you choose as your 6th?

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 Masamune when you’re generally ahead and team fights are inevitable, or as a replacement for Warrior Tabi late-game. Reason Masamune is a good item because it has power with health and movement speed as added utility. This item is for when you’re securing kills but are generally doing so during team-fights or 1 on 2 situations.

For more utility:

Use Winged Blade when the enemy team’s slows are becoming a problem for you. Reason Winged Blade’s passive immunes you to slows and increases your movement speed when you’re hit by one (once per 30 seconds). This is especially effective when going against Poseidon’s Whirlpool or Gem of Isolation on Anubis or Ah Puch, among others. Use this when you are finding yourself getting killed because you’re being slowed, or because you’re not securing the kill due to not being able to chase. Note: If slows are leading to your death, don’t be afraid to use Purification. Sometimes people think it’s “wasted” if it’s not used on a hard CC, but soft CC, such as slows, can lead to deaths as well.

Shield of Regrowth

Use Shield of Regrowth when you want the extra chase potential or get-away potential after using Venomous Bite. Reason This is a luxury item that comes with 10 HP5 and MP5, cooldown reduction, and health. Its passive gives you 40% movement speed when you heal from an ability (Venomous Bite), so you’re able to either (1) get away faster than usual or (2) close the gap between them and you if they use a get-away, such as a Neith backflip or a Medusa dash, for example.

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? Ichaival does work well for Arachne in the sense that its passive does scale with Arachne's passive, 1st ability, and ultimate. It shouldn't go without saying that it's also inexpensive. In my opinion, although Ichavail is acceptable, it doesn't maximize Arachne's potential because (1) even at max stacks, it only adds 21 power and (2) aside from power, its passive doesn't apply to magical gods. The added penetration is nice, but even then, her first basic gets +0 power; her second, +7; her third, +14; and her fourth, +21. That is, it takes three basics to reach max stacks and a fourth basic to take advantage of it. It's an acceptable item, but I see more utility from something like Heartseeker, i.e., more power, same penetration, and movement speed. Why not Ninja Tabi? Good question. It's common for DPS Gods to choose Ninja Tabi instead of Warrior Tabi. However, we want the extra power to augment Arachne's 1st ability Venomous Bite. Given that her first ability has burst damage, tick damage, and healing that, in part, is based on power, it makes more sense to go with Warrior than Ninja. Why not Bloodforge? I view Bloodforge as an ok item to get on Arachne because its passive provides a nice shield and a small speed boost after securing a kill. However, Arachne already has lifesteal in her kit and the added lifesteal on Bloodforge doesn't increase Arachne's boxing potential because she'll win every one-on-one situation as it is. That means you'd essentially be paying 2,800 for just power. Because of that, in my opinion, there are many better options to choose from.

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

Explanation

Arachne has great CC because her kit includes a slow with Web and a stun with Cocoon. Her single-target damage output is disgusting when you're able to land your combo in full. Her kit, in addition to the slow and stun, also includes an attack speed stim, burst damage, tick damage, and healing. She has significant chase potential because of Web. She's also able to tower dive if you can hit the enemy with Web, as the spiders will tank the tower shots until you're able to deal damage to the enemy God yourself--which, by that time, it's too late for them and you'll be able to heal from Venomous Bite.

Explanation

In order to deal damage, Arachne has to be within melee range of her target. Because of this, and given that assassins, in general, are squishy, she becomes very susceptible to enemy peel. Further, she's also reliant on landing her one ( Venomous Bite) in order to stay relevant in fights, as it's her primary source of damage and the only way to sustain. An advantage of Arachne's is that she has an amazing escape--and she does. However, it's also her ultimate.

New Perspective Instead of thinking of Arachne's ult ( Night Crawler) 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

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 This is an amazing passive because it makes Arachne that much more powerful. Further, this is one of the reasons I love Runeforged Hammer on Arachne because it augments her passive.

	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.

3

2

1

Web

Cocoon

Venomous Bite

1. Shoot your Web at the target from behind, the side, or, if chasing, where you anticipate them to be.
   
2. If you hit them with your web, use the trail from the web to catch up to the player.
   
3. 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.
   
4. 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.

• 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.

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

Assassins Feather Step Pounce Incense Storm Kata Jet Stream Death Scythe Tectonic Rift Hunters Shifting Sands Masterful Shot Rising Jaguar Mages Noxious Fumes Grasping Hands Very annoying Back Off! Very annoying Moonlit Waltz Cleanse Hinder Shroud of Darkness Strife Portal Siphon Darkness Very annoying Shadow Lock Whirlpool Very annoying Sentinel Inferno Cannon

Warriors Driving Strike Earthbreaker Mitigate Wounds Raven Shout Fearless Clear The Path Guardians Shackles Ferocious Roar Confound Very annoying Belly Flop Seismic Crush Tail Whip Shell Spikes Mighty Yawn Very annoying Solar Flare Stone Shield Very annoying Crushing Earth Frost Breath