Ymisreble- Ymir Offensive Build

Hey guys, this is my 5th guide, and this one is obviously about Ymir!

In my experience, Ymir is a really well-made offensive tank. His abilities are great for slows, shutting down enemies, and amazing burst damage.

But without further ado, here is my Ymir guide!

Pros-
-A lot of slows
-Can shut down weaker gods really fast
-Good waveclear
-Decent early game
-Great single target damage
-Good poker
-Giant Hammer

Cons-
-Relatively slow
-Can be killed if ganked
-Bad AoE damage
-Hunters plow right through him

Warlock's Sash- This is a must have early game item. You need to build stacks as soon as possible, and this helps your overall magical power, health, and mana. This is a great all around item with amazing stats. I always choose this first.

Ethereal Staff-This is a great item once you have full stacks on your Warlocks sash. Early game it doesn't help too much, but I typically buy it second for the health and mana.

Soul Reaver- I buy this item either 3rd or 4th, depending on how long I'm in combat. If you find yourself in combat for a long time without returning to shop, then buy Chronos' Pendant before Soul Reaver, (For the cooldown reduction). If you find that you're popping in and going for the burst damage, then buy Soul Reaver 3rd, the added 15% maximum health damage is great, and the magical power and mana are good enough to back you up.

Chronos' Pendant- I usually buy this either 3rd or 4th, depending on how long i'm staying in a battle. Chronos' Pendant is great for cooldown reduction and the decent magical power, but the added +25 MP5 is amazing. It helps you stay in fights longer and use your abilities more.

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Offensive Situational Items

Book of Thoth- Book of Thoth is great for the magical power, mana increase, and the MP5. If you think you need this, then buy it around the time that you buy Warlock's Sash. That way you can build double stacks. The added 3% of maximum mana converted to magical power doesn't hurt either. (Banned in Assault)

Rod of Tahuti- This item should probably be in the "Must have" section, but I didn't put it there for one reason, and that's because the other items help you in more ways than this one. Rod of Tahuti only helps with magical power, while the four required items help in more than one area. You can switch out any of the "Must have" items for this, or add it onto your build, like you could switch this out for soul reaver, or even ethereal staff if you wanted. I usually always have this on Ymir, but sometimes you need protections more than power. Rod of Tahuti adds 100 magical power, with a 25% magical power increase. It's great for pure damage with your abilities, especially your ult. But if you're not using your ult much, then I wouldn't recommend this.

Shoes of Focus- I only use this for the movement speed and cooldown reduction. If you find yourself needing maximum cooldown reduction, or just more speed, then this is the item for you.

Polynomicon- It gives you a decent amount of magical power, lifesteal, and mana. Build only if you use basic attacks often though, otherwise it isn't that great.

Obsidian Shard- Adds a decent amount of magical power, but I only use it for the penetration (33%). You can choose to start with this, since it's relatively cheep, but it doesn't help much early game unless you're up against another tank or warrior.

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Defensive Situational Items

Stone of Gaia- I buy this mainly for the magical protection and health regen. It upgrades a lot of stats, and is an overall good tanky item. Hide of the Urchin is more balanced, so I would only by this for 3 reasons.
A) Their team is mostly magical damage
B) You keep dying by magical damage
C) You need the health regen

Few items have a decent health regen, and this is one of the best.

Hide of the Urchin- This item is a good overall defensive item. But buy it early, as it has stacks that build off of god kills or assists.

Magi's Blessing- I would buy this mainly for the crowd control reduction. It blocks crowd control every 45 seconds, so this would be great against someone with a lot of stuns or crowd control.

Mystical Mail- This is a great item to defend against physical damage, while dishing out some minor damage in return. Now don't think that mystical mail will kill someone, because it won't, but it could whittle their health down enough to make them back off. Other alternatives include: Hide of the Nemean Lion, Midguardian Mail, and Breastplate of Valor.

Spirit Robe- This is a unique item in the fact that it provides a lot of bonuses. It provides both magical and physical protection, but more magical protection. It also adds cooldown reduction (10%), and 150 health. It's passive is also pretty good, which provides 15% damage mitigation when hit with a hard crowd control effect.

WELL, it seems that my numerous build options weren't enough, so some prick had to go and add their input. And frankly I liked it so much that it now has it's own chapter! If you don't know where you are, then welcome to hell because this build wrecks!

Let's start with the items:

Warlock's Sash- I explained this item earlier, and it's basically anybody's worst nightmare if they're facing you. You gain 110 magical power, 600 health, and 400 mana with max stacks. This is gonna bring the hurt better than your favorite sports team that I don't care about. You can count on this item to really dish out some pain on your foes and their puny minions. You should build this first, since you need to build stacks as soon as possible.

Shoes of Focus- This item is a pretty good item for Ymir. It adds movement speed, magical power, mana, and cooldown reduction. Everything you need to become a successful atomic bom- I mean Ymir. I would build this when you need it, or around the early game, as coupled with Warlock's Sash you can start getting those kills and minions really fast and really easily.

The next item on this *****tain of a list is:

Polynomicon- Now this item is mainly optimized for your basic attacks, as when you use an ability (whether you land it or not), you gain 50% magical power added to your next basic attack. This does "stack" with your passive Frostbite, so if you manage to land an ability on some unlucky dumbass stupid enough of get close to your smelly armpits, then make sure they regret it more than they regretted eating goat cheese the night before.

Ethereal Staff- Now this item works well with Warlock's Sash, as it adds 600 health, 30 magical power, and 300 mana. You also gain 2% of your maximum health as magical power as well. This works well with a Ymir as he needs all the mana, health, and magical power he can get. I would get this whenever you need it, but around early game, so you can't go down very easily at all.

Hastened Fatalis- This item grants 30% attack speed and 10% movement speed, and if you land a FROSTBITTEN POLYNOMICAL ****ING BASIC ATTACK THEN YOU LOSE THE ****ING MOVEMENT SPEED DEBUFF SO YOU CAN GET HITTING THE SORRY SON OF A *****.

Rod of Tahuti- Rod of freaking Tahuti. The only item you need to make you stronger than Hel on her double-period. I mean it grants a whopping 125 magical power, 15 MP5, and 25% of your magical power is converted into MOAR MAGICAL POWER! You can't go wrong with the Rod, it's, it's, magical.

Ymir's abilities are like *****s; they're everywhere and they all suck.


Passive: Frostbite
His passive is a really good skill if you're up close and personal with an enemy. It states that any god that takes damage from your abilities then take 100% more basic attack damage from Ymir.


First ability: Ice Wall
Ymir's ice wall isn't too great a skill in joust or arena to have fully upgraded, but it works much better in the cramped lanes and jungle lanes of Conquest and Siege. It doesn't do much but sit there and block your enemies path like a ****block on a long day, but that's more than enough. I'll explain more on this in the "Strategies and Tactics" section.


Second ability: Glacial Strike
Glacial Strike is personally my favorite ability. It does insane amount of damage (370, +70% of magical power at max rank). It's like your ex-wife's temper, frigid, fast, and deadly.


Third Ability: Frost Breath
Frost breath is Ymir's main ability, you should be using this ability as much as possible. It stuns, it freezes, and it does damage. Hell, it's better than a shotgun in the zombie apocalypse.


Ultimate: Shards of Ice
This ability does some of the most damage in the game. It's final stats are 1100 damage +150% of your magical power. If an enemy manages to get trapped in this, then they are toast. It explodes in an AoE of mind**** that'll give you a brainfreeze longer than Chronos has been alive.

Teamwork:
Ymir is a relatively good guardian to have in joust. He can stun, slow, and freeze his team to victory. Yes I said "team", something that some jousters don't understand. Ymir is not a solo tank of destruction, and like all guardians, he relies on a team to back him up and make the most out of his abilities. Don't be afraid to share a kill or get an assist and give the kill to your teammates, they almost always need to be more fed than a tank. And another thing, don't forget that you don't have protections. A well-fed hunter or assassin like Loki or Artemis can kill or incapacitate you in a heartbeat. So let your team lead the fights, and you Blink in to mop up and/or grab a kill. Your success in joust depends on how well you and your team work together, so don't be a kill-stealing ***hat, but if an enemy is getting away and you know you can get the kill, then grab it.

Strategies:
Joust is mainly a constant push against the enemy team, from start to finish you should always have at least one teammate on the field.

When the game starts, I usually put two points in Ymir's Glacial Strike ability, and 1 point in his Frost Breath ability. Then I would buy a good starting item, like the second tier of Warlock's Sash (If the enemy team is a heavier team with a warrior or guardian), or the second tier of Obsidian Shard. (If the enemy team is a lighter team). But a word of advice: If you go obsidian shard as your first item, then you won't be able to buy anything else, as the second tier is exactly 1500, while the second tier of warlock's sash leaves you some room to buy potions and/or the first tier of an active.

You should head for the mana or damage buff, depending on who comprises both teams. Mana is better in the long run for Ymir, but damage provides the early game advantage. Now Ymir is one of the few gods who can solo a jungle buff right off the bat, so don't be afraid to go for a buff that your team isn't currently at, plus you gain more XP.

In the early game if you're team is pushing hard, then push with them, you aren't much use camping at the tower unless your teammates are dead or at base.

If your team is coming into middle lane from the buff's lanes, then you have a good chance of catching one or three of the enemy teams' teammates out in the open. You should hit them with your Frost Breath, then your Glacial Strike. Around this time you should be level 4, so throw down a wall if you can. Hopefully your team is backing you up, and ya'll can secure at least one kill.

Now 1 of 2 things can happen here:
A) You're team gets 1-3 kills and the remaining teammates (If there are anymore) should retreat. If they do not, retreat to your tower and wait for your abilities to get off cooldown. If they do retreat, then take this time to grab some minions, defend your tower, or return to base for the third tier of Warlock's Sash or Obsidian Shard. You can also take this time to complete an active if you want, like Purification Beads if you need them, or even Greater Meditation or Greater Blink.

B) You, a teammate, or your whole team dies. Then you and your team better try your damnedest to make sure it doesn't happen again. You do not want a well-fed team to deal with.

Now, as the game progresses, you'll want to spam your Frost Breath to secure kills, and your Ult is used to mop up the floors. Your Glacial Strike is a great waveclear, and your Ice Wall is amazing at blocking escapes. So use your abilities wisely, and have fun!

For starters, go with Warlock's Sash for your first item. It helps with your sustainability and damage throughout the game. Upgrade your Frost Breath first as you're not much more than a wittle fluff-ball with stuns in the early game. Make sure that your team is well-fed and get some kills for yourself. Most importantly, make sure your lane partner is well-fed, especially early game, as you aren't that powerful at all.

In arena, use your Glacial Strike to waveclear, and don't worry too much about getting kills. A minion wave is more important to kill than an enemy.

Get a lot of minions in all gametypes, because you need to keep up level-wise with your team. It's very easy to get left behind and ultimately picked off. Mana buff and damage buff are your friends, so grab them as often as your team's hunter, assassin, or mage will let you.

Ymir is an amazing god, full of stuns and ridiculous amounts of damage. His abilities work best with an assassin, hunter, or mage, and with enough skill, you won't go down.

Thanks for reading my poorly written guide!

You can find me on SMITE at Quaerenti