Vamana, 3 Steps

"Vishnu, disguised as the monk Vamana and carrying a wooden umbrella only asked for as much land as he could cover in three steps." (Smite)

Vamana is a highly survivable god. Newbs will like that they die less often than with some other gods, veterans will like that mid and late game they can go where they please and bully their enemies.

I was looking for a god that could absorb a good amount of damage but still knock some enemies around. Vamana seemed like a perfect fit. Naturally I tried some of the other guides here once I purchased Vamana but it seemed like I was never able to finish kills. So, I developed my own build. I developed it over several days and tossed out more than a few ideas before I came to this final build. I am still always looking for a better builds so if you have any ideas I'm all ears. I may also update the guide with changes as I continue to experiment with different items. I hope you like it and it works as well for you as it has for me.

Pros and Cons (of the build and god):

Pros: -Ult heals him -Has an escape -Has a long range harass -Physical damage based abilities -Ult makes hims naturally tanky without items -Turret dives better than most gods -Slows down most enemies enough to keep them in attack range -Enemies have trouble getting away even when ulted -Has a good amount of mana

Cons: -Other tanks still have better stuns -Item dependent -Enemies run when ulted -Still has trouble finishing other tanks. -Cant use abilities when ulted

Early:

On tough lanes, use abilities to ensure you're still picking up minion kills. On easier lanes harass enemies down. Whatever you do, make sure you have mana for your escape and your ult. Speaking of your ult, expect people to run. It will rarely help you get any kills at this point.

-Ask for right lane and ask your lane partner to help you get the health buff as soon as it spawns. It will really help you in the laning phase. Bring a potion anyways, just in case.


Mid:

Your ability to gank gods will increase tremendously once you get your Frostbound Hammer. People will still try and run from you when you use your ultimate but they can no longer get away so easily. Avoid trying to gank enemy tanks alone as these can turn into long chases that just leave you empty handed, or worse- surrounded.

Late:

Your role is still as a tank. Although you have power to gank enemy gods, restrain yourself and team up when possible. Your job is to absorb damage and take whatever heat you can off your real damage dealers.

Attacking reduces your movement speed so one of the things this build focuses on is speeding you up and slowing down enemies so that attacking doesn't slow you out of attack range. The Frostbound Hammer and Heavenly Agility also give your allies increased escape ability. Vamana doesn't have any support abilities that really do this. Some might say his (1) is a stun but it's not very strong, and using it means using your escape. Not to mention you can't use abilities when in your ultimate form.

Please remember, only take level 1 Reinforced Boots then max Heartseeker.

Heartseeker
You have your escape if you get in trouble. So it's ok to rush this out for the added damage. It really pays to get this up and can increase your lane presence a lot.


Reinforced BootsReinforced Boots
Most people max their boots first, so you need these to keep up with your enemies, even if you have Frostbound Hammer. The reduced crowd control duration is helpful too and has saved me as many times as my Clear The Path or Colossal Fury.

Frostbound Hammer
This is what the build focuses around. You don't have the burst damage to kill enemies so instead of bursting just slow them the heck down and don't let them go. Combo with Heavenly Agility or Creeping Curse to ensure you're really irritating your enemies.


Gauntlet of Thebes
Why Gauntlet of Thebes? I'm assuming you still want to tank. At level 20 you'll have 2505 hp. Gauntlet of Thebes gives a 980 HP boost. That's over 1/3 the damage you can take plus HP regen. There just aren't other items that do that, through HP, or protection.


Sovereignty
By now you are certainly having a lot of team fights. Sovereignty is perfect, epic even in that scenario due to the support it gives to team mates. That's on top of the solid defense it gives, both in HP and physical protection, not to mention Sleeping Giants, your passive, get's a decent piece of physical damage from it.


Ankh of the Golem
A little life steal is perfect for your ult, as you're able to damage surrounding enemies. I've actually been considering taking this item sooner. So that could be perhaps the first pending change. It's just really strong.

Overview:



Umbrellarang vs Armored Umbrella: The reason I recommend leveling Armored Umbrella first is that it quickly gets it's damage off which makes it a little stronger when trying to damage or kill enemy gods. Not to mention its cool down lowers each level. Umbrellarang is still a strong choice to level first, especially if you're having trouble pushing minions.


Also, Armored Umbrella can hit a whole line of minions if you use it on the side of them. If you don't how to do this yet you may prefer Umbrellarang.

Passive: Sleeping Giant

When Vamana is not in Colossal form, taking damage from gods causes the cooldown to decrease by 1 s. When Vamana is in Colossal form, taking damage from gods increases the duration by .5 s, up to a max of 10 s. Additionally, 15% of Vamana's Physical Protection is converted to Physical Power.


Clear The Path

Vamana opens his umbrella in front of him and sprints forward, doing 70/110/150/190/230 (+40% of your physical power) physical damage to all enemies and knocking them into the air.

Cost: 70/75/80/85/90 mana.

Cooldown: 15 s.

Armored Umbrella

Vamana infuses his umbrella with his armor, reinforcing it while he strikes forth, doing 85/140/195/250/305 (+100% of your physical power) physical damage to all enemies in a cone.

Cost: 60/70/80/90/100 mana.

Cooldown: 15/14/13/12/11 s.


Umbrellarang

Vamana spins an umbrella out infront of him, hitting everyone in its path for 50/85/120/155/190 (+20% of your physical power) physical damage and slowing your enemies attack and movement speeds by 25% for 3s. After reaching its destination, the umbrella returns back to Vamana, hitting everyone in its path again.

Cost: 60/70/80/90/100 mana.

Cooldown: 13 s.

Colossal Fury

Vamana grows to an enormous giant for 6 or more seconds (depending on Sleeping Giant). While Vamana is enraged, he is immune to slows, gains, 5/10/15/20/25 protections, 35/55/75/95/115 physical power and regens 5% of his max health every second and his basic attacks now damage all nearby enemies. You can right click to deactivate his giant form early.

Cost: 100 mana.

Cooldown: 90 s.

Health: -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ 4185 (+2005)
Mana: -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ 1230
Movement: -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ 420 (+70)
Range: -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ 12
Attack Speed: -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ 1.4s
Magic Power: -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ 0
Physical Power: -~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ 268 (+191)
Magic Protection: -~-~-~-~-~-~-~ 75 (+25)
Physical Protection: -~-~-~-~-~ 223 (+150)
Health Regeneration: -~-~-~-~-~ 62 (+44)
Mana Regeneration: -~-~-~-~-~-~ 13 (Of course meditate for mana)