Zeus - God of Mid lane

Hello. My Name is Secreal

Im here since the Beta of Smite. I was a total noob player once too, buying recommended items, trying to look up builds for Gods, but what i found was dissapointing. So i decided to Create my own guides, in hope to help some of you. I Spend alot of time on this, So please read careful. Take advice that your opinions may differ from mine, but this is the build that i find the most viable and logic to play on him. If you have Suggestions for a change leave a comment below. You are also welcome to correct me if i wrote any mistakes.

So for Conquest especially, you start off with

Vampiric Shroud. Reasons are because with Zeus you will see that you have Mana problems due through the game. This is not a complete fix, but a help.
Shoes of Focus is the First item to complete. Since you really need the Cooldown Reduction

Meditation is your Support for the laning phase. buying it in the start allows you to stay longer in the lane, Give you the extra edge when you run out of mana infight, or even Heal you at Max rank.

Your first item in 90% of the cases be a Telkhines Ring. Why? With Zeus you are pretty Autoattack Reliant, since your passive amplifies them, and your whole Skill kit relies on them.

After this, its up to you. You got yourselfs some kills? Rush
Rod of Tahuti. It is a very important item and a Huge boost, but its also costy.

If you are not fed, or even behind, Buy [*] Chronos Pendant. It gives you the maximum Cooldown reduction (With your [*] Boots) And enables you to get back into the game through chaining your Abillities. Also it gives good MP and MP5, which is also needed.

Then, if everything is going accordingly, Build
[*] Polynomicron. Why? As said earlier you are pretty reliant on your Auto Attack
And [*] Polynomicron amplifies that even further by increasing your autohit dmg by 60% of your Magical power After you cast a spell. It also gives you Magical Lifesteal


If you feel yourself Unable to kill bigger targets or even tanks, Just Build an
Obsidian Shard, before the [*]Polynomicron. it ignores a portion of the enemys Magic resist,(Which is also effective even if the enemys havent built Magic Resist) which can never be wrong really.

If you are getting Really fed, and expect to get many more kills, Build
Doom Orb, As it has the Highest Base AP in the Game. (140) Be careful with this Item, With it comes great risk of wasting a slot. Dont build it if you are Behind.


Bancrofts Talon Gives you Magical Lifesteal and 100 MP, which is insanely good. Its overall one of the main items that make Zeus really good, also kinda blends in with the fact that Zeus has no escape and can be really squishy, so healing yourself makes up a part of it. For me, its mostly the last item I buy, bebcause its especially useful lategame when you heal even more.



There are alot of Tanky items that i listed in the PO's Above, which kinda explain themselves. Adjust Amount and Item to your situation.

Your Third,

Detonate Charge is your Most important skill and your main Source of Damage next to your Ult. Is is only to be used when you have 3 Charges on The enemy you are trying to damage. It does Damage Depending on how many Charges you have on the enemy. So make sure you get as many as you can before activating it. If you are certain you wont get any more autattacks off and / or think it will be enough to finish off the kill you can make exceptions, But better sure than sorry.
Try to Max it as fast as you can.

Your Second most imporant skill, your First.

Is Chain Lightning. It is a skillshot that applies 1 Charge bounces between targets 4 times. Meaning if 4 Gods stand close to eachother everyone gets 1 Charge. But, if theres only 2 players, it will still Ark 4 times. Meaning everyone has 2 Charges. If theres Only 1 Target you are hitting, it won't Ark around and just apply 1 stack. It also Targets Minions. So i dont recommend throwing it into Gods when minions are Around. As they can either just take 3 of the 4 arks by themselves, or send only 1 back. Its a gamble, so your Shield is a better conductor for those cases.

And after that, Your Second,

Called Aegis Assault. Is a skillshot you throw. It Creates a shield on the ground. You can hit the shield with your autoattacks to hit every enemy in the Radius and Apply 1 Charge per hit. IMPORTANT Your shield Counts as a Target! Hitting it with Chain Lightning Lets it bounce between target and Shield. Useful for Applying Charges with only your First 2 skills to get a quick Third off for some poke.
It is also the only skill you should use for wave Clear. throw it somewhere between the minions where YOU can hit it.

Your Ultimate,

Lightning Storm creates a circle of Lightning on the ground. It will Stay for 5 seconds in a radius of 30. It will apply 1 Charge every Second enemys stand in it. It is Great for teamfight controll, but also to position enemys or setup an ambush by blocking ways. I mean who wants to go through there if they dont have to right? It is a very powerful Spell, best in combination with ultimates of the likes of Odin or Ares, But also Cabraken, Hades, or even Xing Tian (careful with that)

and At last, your Passive,

Overcharge, Creates Charges on your Enemys with Autoattacks. Charges are used for 2 things, to increase your Auto Attack Damage, and to Trigger your Detonate Charges. It Increases your Auto attack Damage by 30% per Charge, 3 Charges Max. (90%) Charges will only stay for a few seconds, so think twice if you have enough time to try to stack it, or just trigger your Third.


Your Optimal Skill combo for an engagement Should Be Lightning Storm, Aegis, throw a Chain lightning to build Charges, give it one Autoattack and trigger your Detonate Charge

Pros and Cons.

Pros

+ One of the Strongest AOE Spells
+ Good when fighting 2 or more enemies at once
+ Strong teamfight Potential
+ Good Burst and Finisher
+ Decent wave clear
+ Can cut off Ways with his Skills
+ autattack Does not become Irelevant during Game

Cons

- Kinda Squishy
- Has No escapes, neither hard nor soft
- Once cought, you are in trouble
- Mana Hungry early game
- Easy to understand, hard to fully master.
- Has a hard time Coming back once behind
- Has a kind of weak early lanephase

For you as a Mid laner, your options for Jungle buff are - First you get the DMG buff, Then, if solo doesnt need it you can take mana, if you have problems. Later in the Game you will vary between DMG and Attack speed.

When you should Play Zeus:
If you know your team has alot of teamfight potential, or ways of securing you. Ares or odin work Perfectly for that. Ares Can pull enemys away from you, into the radius Of your Ultimate. Odin can do practically the same. You CAN play zeus if you have none of those, its just more of a risk. Basicly every god that is good for CC can help to Ensure a Zeus as a godlike Midlane. Also you might wanna consider taking him according to your jungler. Zeus works great with loki or thor, Loki, since your Burst is relatively high, the synergy and the element of suprise will work wonders on ganks in early or mid game. Thor is also a great choice because of his zoning and quick arrival.