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- Hi everyone, I'm NightOfTheWatch, and this is my Zeus Guide. I worked hard to make this guide the best I could, and I would appreciate any and all feedback that you guys may provide. Zeus is a fantastic champion, with good laning presence and amazing teamfight potential, which is probably why he is banned all the time -__- - Zeus is a fairly popular champion that stands as one of the best mid laners in the current meta, yet many people who play him build him in a weird or outright stupid way, which has motivated me to create this guide and provide some insight on the build and playstyle of the God of Gods. |
Pros
+ Ranged God + High Damage + Scales Well + Lane Bully/Punisher + Fantastic Teamfighter + Fast Mid Camp Clear Zeus is a force to be reckoned with in all stages of the game. His Detonate Charge offers a very high source of damage and utility and his Chain Lightning allows Zeus to reliably apply charges. Thanks to these 2 skills Zeus has excellent harass during laning and can punish overextentions like nobody else. However he truly shines in Teamfights, where his Lightning Storm and Detonate Charge can apply immense damage and stun everyone in a large area. |
Cons
- Squishy - Low Mobility - Vulnerable to CC - Bad Lane Clear - Ult is Counterable - Terrible Jokes Despite what he might want you to belive the Thunder God is not without his flaws. The most glaring one is his lack of mobility as he does not have any escape mechanism or gapcloser such as Agni and Chang'e. This makes his vulnerable to ganks and requires the player to have good ward coverage. Zeus also has very bad pushing power compared to other midlaners which can be problematic. A final issue that needs to be adressed is dashes or active items such as Aegis Pendant make Lightning Storm nearly useless. |
Aegis Amulet: This is a must buy for Zeus. Not only does it save him from getting bursted down in teamfights, it can also be used to lure someone into his ult, use Aegis until 3 stacks are applied and then detonate. |
Purification Beads: This item is so very simple yet so very effective. The ability to remove any CC is invaluable for any character especially for someone with no escape mechanisms such as Zeus. |
Sprint
sprint: Pretty much a free escape from ganks as it boosts your speed immensely on a very short cooldown. At rank 3 it can also be used offensively since losing that attacking movement penalty allows for very easy stacks. |
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aegis shield | aegis shield | aegis shield | aegis shield | aegis shield |
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You want to max out Detonate Charge because it is your main damage dealer. Then Chain Lightning to further increase your AOE damage and harass potential. Aegis shield is more of a one point wonder as points you put into it only increase the protections and the movement speed, which are nice but its much better to level your other skills. |
Shoes of Focus: This item is crucial as it brings vital movement speed and precious CDR to the table. Zeus is a mage who needs his abilities to deal significant damage, as such CDR proves to be an excellent stat on him and this item is the most reliable way to get it. |
Void Stone: This item is perfect for every mid laner and Zeus is no exception. The stats it provides are simply fantastic in the mid lane, not to mention it lowers magical protection by 15. Since you will be most likely be facing another Mage, the magical protection without hindering your damage makes this item a must-buy. |
Rod of Tahuti: Best item for mages in terms of raw magic damage. Completing this item will give you a huge power spike thanks to its high 125 magic damage stat and its passive which increases your magic damage by 25%! What more can Zeus want?. |
Obsidian Shard: With Zeus getting this is your second big power spike after Rod of Tahuti. Whereas the Rod boosted you immensly in terms of pure magic damage, this item will give you immense penetration to deal with pesky magical resist items which your opponents probably got if you are doing well. |
Gem of Isolation: You mainly get this item for its synergy with your Lightning Storm.While the stats it provides are great the passive slow effect works wonders when combined with your ult in teamfights as it will be harder to get out of your ult, meaning more stacks, meaning more damage! |
Bancroft's Talon: A very underrated item in my opinion. The sheer amount of magical damage it can provide is unbelievable. When you are at 40% it is the equivilant of a fully stacked Doom Orb. Combined with your other items your damage will be off the charts. |
Breastplate of Valor: If there is an physical god going out of control on the enemy team, do not hesitate to get Breastplate of Valor as it is the best way of providing physical defence without drastically lowering your damage output thanks to the max CDR with your Shoes of Focus |
Demonic Grip: Despite not being a auto attack based mage Zeus benefits immensely due to its synergy with your auto plus Detonate Charge combo. If you feel incredible dominant in lane swap it for Void Stone, but remember this will cut down your surviveability against other mages. |
Polynomicon: A fantastic item for Zeus as it significantly increases his dueling potential. If the you feel that you need to have extra burst in 1 v 1 situations, swap it out for Bancroft's Talon but buy it earlier. If teamfights play a bigger role however, I'd stick with talon. |
During the laning phase your objective it to harass the enemy as much as possible and then go for a kill at level 5. One tip for harassment is to leave one minion alive, and then to Chain Lightning it while the enemy god is in close proximity. This will be undodgeable and apply 2 Overcharge stacks on the enemy god, which you can proceed to detonate. Once you hit level 5, apply 3 stacks on the enemy god then use your Lightning Storm on top of them. Then while they are under your ult use Detonate Charge to stun so that they cannot escape your ult and take as much damage as possible. Also, remember to always contest the mid camps as you have the best mid camp clear speed in the game with your Chain Lightning and Detonate Charge combo. |
Your strongest aspect is definitely your teamfight presence. As for some tips, never use your Lightning Storm to initiate, as the enemy team will probably just walk out of it, barely applying one or two stacks. Instead wait for someone with hard CC like Ymir's Frost Breath or Hades's Pillar of Agony to immobilize the enemy team and then ult. After getting as many people as you can with your ult, use Detonate Charge to highly damage and stun anyone caught in your ult. If pulled off correctly this will lead to clean deicides and victories. However, and I cannot stress this enough do not be in the vanguard to initiate, since not only will you have wasted your ult, you will also get burset down faster than you can type [VHH]. |
Overall, Zeus is an fantastic god, who excells at both laning and teamfights. Despite his low mobility screwing him over at times, he is still one of the best mages in smite at the moment and a joy to play. Thank you for reading my very first guide on mobafire, I really hope it has helped you understand the mechanichs and playstyle of the Thunder God. Upvote if you liked the guide, and tell me if there is anything I should fix. -NightOfTheWatch |
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+1 :3
Overall good build, beautiful BB coding (I'll assume you come from LoL or DOTA fire since you have great BB coding for your first guide and you call the gods 'champions').
There are some problems though;
In my opinion, the skill priority should be:
Detonate Charge > Chain Lightning > Lightning Storm > aegis shield. Why? because your ultimate only scales by 20 base damage per hit. That's it. And it's rare to get enemies stuck in there for longer than 3-4 lightnings.
Also, while I know where you are coming from saying that Zeus isn't an auto-attack god like Freya or Chronos, I do think that there is a place for demonc grip. I always take it over Obsidian Shard. They grant roughly the same amount of Magical Power, where as the penetration on demon grip is better than Obsidian Shard if fully applied up to about 210 magical protection. Plus, DG grants you 25% attack speed. And with Gem of Isolation it'll be very easy to constantly attack someone if you can hit them with Chain Lightning.
I would also like you to consider some situational items such as Breastplate of Valor or Divine Ruin.
Lastly, Zeus' wave clear isn't bad. It's horrific at level 1, but once you get both Chain Lightning and Detonate Charge it becomes good. It's not even near to how bad Chronos' early wave clear is.
This is an overall good guide. I like it. It's short and clear and provides all the basic knowledge you need.
An upvote from me.
P.S - Bancroft's Talon isn't an underrated item. It's found on almost every Mage's popular item list.