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Zeus - You got a charge, you got a charge, everbody got a charge!

13 3 155,177
by TaiNguyen updated September 16, 2014

Smite God: Zeus

Build Guide Discussion 16 More Guides
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Zeus Build

Start items

Build Item Boots Boots
Build Item Vampiric Shroud Vampiric Shroud
Build Item Healing Potion Healing Potion
4
Build Item Mana Potion Mana Potion
4

Finish Magic Shoes and Chronos' Pendant (to spawn ult more frequently then get Fatalis)

Build Item Magic Shoes Magic Shoes
Build Item Chronos' Pendant Chronos' Pendant

Ideal items set 1 ( This should get you enough burst dmg to snowbal through ppl)

Build Item Magic Shoes Magic Shoes
Build Item Chronos' Pendant Chronos' Pendant
Build Item Hastened Fatalis Hastened Fatalis
Build Item Bancroft's Talon Bancroft's Talon
Build Item Rod of Tahuti Rod of Tahuti
Build Item Polynomicon Polynomicon

Ideal items set 2 (For those who like to be in the midst of things) You can sell Chronos' Pendant when you are able to get Magi's Blessing and go for another item.

Build Item Magic Shoes Magic Shoes
Build Item Chronos' Pendant Chronos' Pendant
Build Item Hastened Fatalis Hastened Fatalis
Build Item Bancroft's Talon Bancroft's Talon
Build Item Magi's Cloak Magi's Cloak
Build Item Void Stone Void Stone

Zeus's Skill Order

Chain Lightning

1 X Y
Chain Lightning
1 4 5 7 9

Aegis Assault

2 A B
Aegis Assault
3 10 13 16 17

Detonate Charge

3 B A
Detonate Charge
2 6 8 12 14

Lightning Storm

4 Y X
Lightning Storm
11 15 18 19 20
Chain Lightning
1 4 5 7 9

Chain Lightning

1 X
Zeus fires a bolt of lightning that arcs between enemies, doing damage and applying a charge on each hit.

Ability Type: Projectile
Damage: 40 / 70 / 100 / 130 / 160 (+50% of your Magical Power)
Arcs: 4
Slow: 20%
Slow Duration: 2s
Cost: 50 / 55 / 60 / 65 / 70
Cooldown: 12s
Aegis Assault
3 10 13 16 17

Aegis Assault

2 A
Zeus throws his shield forward dealing damage to nearby enemies and apply a charge. The shield remains for 5s, and Zeus may target it with Basic Attacks or Chain Lightning. Each Basic Attack or first Chain Lightning arc that hits the shield will deal additional static damage and apply a charge in the area. While Zeus' shield is deployed, he gains Attack and Movement Speed. Zeus may refire the ability to recall the shield early.

Ability Type: Ground Target
Initial Damage: 60 / 105 / 150 / 195 / 240 (+50% of your Magical Power)
Static Damage: 55 / 65 / 75 / 85 / 95 (+30% of your Magical Power)
Attack Speed: 15 / 20 / 25 / 30 / 35%
Movement Speed: 15 / 17.5 / 20 / 22.5 / 25%
Cost: 60 / 65 / 70 / 75 / 80
Cooldown: 12s
Detonate Charge
2 6 8 12 14

Detonate Charge

3 B
Zeus detonates any charges that have accumulated on enemies, doing damage, multiplied by 1/1.7/2.4 depending on the number of charges.

Ability Type: Instant
Damage: 50 / 80 / 110 / 140 / 170 (+25% of your Magical Power)
Cost: 60
Cooldown: 10s
Lightning Storm
11 15 18 19 20

Lightning Storm

4 Y
Zeus conjures a Lightning Storm, striking enemies in the area every second. Applies a charge with each hit.

Ability Type: Ground Target
Damage per Hit: 100 / 145 / 190 / 235 / 280 (+55% of your Magical Power)
Max Damage: 500 / 650 / 800 / 950 / 1100 (+275% of your Magical Power)
Lifetime: 5s
Radius: 30
Cost: 100
Cooldown: 90s

Introduction

In my opinion, to make Zeus becomes great, he needs to apply charges as fast as possible. This guide will introduce to you an effective build that make your Zeus become a massive threat at any point of the game.



Zeus is one of the greatest magical damage dealers in Smite. He is able to deal tons of damage and can kill multiple targets at once. The following sections will lead you to become the most dangerous player in the game.

Enjoy the guide and let me know if you have any suggestions or corrections.

Pros / Cons

Pros:


+Serial Killer (if practice skill shot with Lightning Bolt)

+Massive damage
+High cdr (25%)

+Great Attack Speed for APPLYING CHARGES MORE QUICKLY!

+Poking power is unbelievable (again if able to hit with Lightning Bolt)

+Able to deal damage even when getting chased (explanation below)



Cons:



+Squishy

+Slow early game (easy target for ganker)

+Need positioning and skill shot practice


+PRACTICE

Skills and Combos

Passive: OverchargeKey Bind: Passive

In hand lightning bolt attacks against enemies will apply a charge. Basic attacks against targets with charges deal increased damage.

Increased damage per Charge: 30%
Max Charges: 3


1st Skill: Chain Lightning



Key Bind: 1

Zeus fires a bolt of lightning that arcs between enemies, arcing 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 times, doing 70 / 100 / 130 / 160 / 190 (+50% of your magical power) magical damage and applying a charge.

Cost: 50 / 55 / 60 / 65 / 70 mana.

Cooldown: 10 s. (7.5s if reach 25% cdr)

Strategy:


+Count how many creeps are there and see what lvl your skill is before using.

+An early 1 charge on enemy will get you ahead of the battle and able to use the 3rd skill effectively and deal tons of damage.

+It is also great to poke enemies with this skill and apply charges on enemies before they even know they should retreat when they get hit by this skill.


2nd Skill: Aegis Shield



Zeus harnesses his lightning defensively, granting himself 25 / 40 / 55 / 70 / 85 magical and physical protection, increasing his speed by 20% and making him immune to all slows. Basic attacks from enemy players against Zeus while the shield is active reflect 10% of the damage done as magical damage and apply a charge.

Cost: 75 mana.

Cooldown: 15 s. (11.25s if reach 25% cdr)

Strategy


It should be used when you are:

+Being Chased

+Chasing enemies

+Surrounded


Note: This skill will apply a charge each hit you get, so this skill will also turn the fight around in just a few seconds if used correctly



3rd Skill: Detonate Charge



Key Bind: 3

Zeus detonates any charges that have accumulated on enemies, doing 60 / 80 / 100 / 120 / 140 (+25% of your magical power) magical damage, multiplied by 1 / 2.5 / 4 depending on the number of charges. Does nothing if there are no charges on enemies.

Cost: 90 mana.

Cooldown: 10 s. (7.5s if reach 25% cdr)

Strategy:


This skill depends much on how many charges you already put on your enemies, the more charges there are, the more damage you will be able to deal on enemies. Therefore, wait until you get more than 2 charges on enemies before using this skill!
Sometimes 1 charge is enough.


Ultimate: Lightning Storm


Key Bind: 4

Zeus Conjures a lightning storm in the area, with lightning striking enemies in the area for 100 / 120 / 140 / 160 / 180 (+70% of your magical power) every 1 s for 5 seconds. Applies a charge.

Cost: 100 mana.

Cooldown: 90 s. (67.5s if reach 25% cdr)



Use when:



+You sense the dangerous location that you are about to put this ultimate down

+Your team mate is getting trapped, you this on him and get away (DONT FORGET TO DETONATE CHARGES ON WHILE ROUTING!)

+Use this skill on the area that enemies are trapped and obviously cannot get away because the enemies have used their jumps (NOTE: Use the Chain Lightning to analyze the situation before using ultimate and it is faster to apply charges with the Chain Lightning than Ultimate.


Combos:



Depends on the situation combos will be changed, but ideally it should be that, explanation have been shown in Skills' Strategies and Team Work (below)

Team Work and Solo Lane Strategy

Team Work


+Be somewhat distant away from your Initiator or Tanker

+Always use Chain Lightning to analyze the situation before using Ultimate, so you will not waste it.

+Put ultimate near your team mate, who is trapped or initiating a fight because he will be focused.

+You can also initiate a fight with Chain Lightning and pre-deal damage ahead of the fight (Note: Remember to use Aegis Shield for faster traveling and put you into firing position)
+Again, always use Chain Lightning first if the enemies are some distance away from each other.

+With this build, applying charges quickly helps, 3 charges in about 3 seconds, so be sure to detonate whenever 2 or more charges are on enemies.

+If you see Gods with escaping ability, use Chain Lightning or wait until they have wasted the escape ability then ULTIMATE (Recommend to use Ultimate with 2 or more Gods that are trapped or slowed)


Solo Strategy (or Mid)




+Spam Chain Lightning often to quickly damage the creep wave.

+Keep a safe distance from enemies you are laning agaisnt and observe his/her play style before each act (e.g. Aggresive enemy will tend to get closer to the area that creeps are clashing with each others and try to deal early damage since Zeus is squishy early game)

+Use Aegis Shield when ever you want to get away or to deal damage, because it will protect you and help applying charges on enemies when they use basic attacks
+Use Aegis Shield and juke forward (yes, forward) while playing against gods with knock-up, banish type of ability to avoid taking dmg and get the opportunity to apply charges up close.

Summary

Hope you enjoyed the guide. Feel free to comment below.

Leave a Comment

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Collapse All Comments

1
Aerithyne | February 7, 2015 2:23pm
I would replace Fatalis with Warlock's Sash. This will improve his Magical Power output as well as increasing his Health and Mana.
1
Endtime1337 | January 23, 2015 9:31pm
I looked all over and did not see you talk about this but which pair of boots would be better for Zeus though? Or is that our own preference? I was thinking Magi boots for the Magic Pent. but maybe I'm wrong? Since you already have the Chronos Pend.
1
MeowRox | February 1, 2013 10:30am
I have liked using Spear of Magus, do you have any opinions on this? i figure chain lightning would build stacks of the magus... then detonate does that much more damage... but i havn't been playing zeus for long so I don't exactly have a lot of experience... but i usually don't do bad.
1
Dayn | October 29, 2012 9:04am
That is a very interesting starting item buy list. I have played Zeus for around 100 matches or so, and have really come to love Fatalis. It really does make a HUGE difference when putting charges on the creep/enemy gods (I'm glad someone else noticed that too). I usually started off with boots of the Magi, just cause of the extra movement.

Do you really feel fast enough, early game, to be able to stay clear of aggressive enemy gods when you don't have a movement speed first?

Taking boots first and fatalis second, I usully build 1-3-1-2-5 for my first 5 levels. I am with you 100% on leveling chain lightning first when solo/mid, and trying to even it out when laning with another god.

I also like that you listed obsidian shard instead of void stone. I feel like since I ideally want to stay at range, that it's rare for me to have my target within void stone range.

What do you think of Pythagorum's Piece? I lane with a hades a lot and it seems to provide great synergy, but when teamed with a physical, not so much.
1
TaiNguyen | September 19, 2012 5:00am
Quoted:

The only reason that you need to AA is the fact to build charges up. Now, you can also do that with abilities. The reason why I disagree with Fatalis is the fact that you could easily spend that on more magic power. Since you arent going to AA THAT much, you don't need it. Detonate Charge has a fairly long cooldown, and its not really going to do you much good to get Fatalis.


Your comment is much appreciated. I have tried maxing the Detonate Charge first, but Zeus will be put under pressure because there are creeps to clear (since the build is focusing on Mid and solo lane). The fact that I max Chain Lightning is because of that reason. However, in some cases, I have sucessfully dominated games which I tried to balance leveling up 1st and 3rd skill, when I need more sweeping power I will put Chain Lightning a level ahead.

I believe Fatalis fires Zeus to another level, more magic power is good, but it does not mean you can put enough charges on your enemies, so how about I sacrifice about a 100 Magic power but I am able to put 3 charges on enemies most of the time? I have worked on this build, lived with this build since then, and it helps me ever since.

In addition, the fact that Fatalis is such a great item for Zeus is because the increasing speed of your Auto-Attack, your Movement and the ability of putting charges on Enemies quicker which will later on, help you chase any enemies with the help Gem of Isolation

Thanks for your comment, any further suggestions will be tested immidiately.
1
TaiNguyen | September 19, 2012 4:43am
BustedTs206 wrote:

I really am liking your comments and I tried out your Fatalis. Worked out pretty good.

But I'm wondering, since you say you start off with Chronos' Pendant because of Zeus' mana issues (even though you sell it later on), why don't you just start off with Boots 1 + Meditation + 5 pots.

There's no wasted gold being performed and having meditation from the start is awesome. Also, you can sustain in lane longer for which you can acquire more gold than your enemy.

Just some more suggestions that I wanna see how you battle :P .

Thanks.

I appreciate your comment. The reason why i chose Chronos' Pendant because it helps Zeus' sustainability. Meditation can creates 75% of the Mana you have, but it has such a long cool down (180 seconds) which means 180 seconds under pressure for Zeus. Especially when Zeus is going Mid or solo, he needs to clear creeps or his tower will be put down in less than 10mins of the game. Chain Lightning uses 50Mana at 1st lvl and will be on cool down for 10s, but the Chrono's Pendant will revive 30Mana after 10s. Moreover, I have tried Mediatation and Boots for start items and that route did not work well as i tried many times. Zeus always get pushed and I am always lack of MP. However, it is good to try out different items.

It seems it is a loss, but it actually keeps you stay in mid for longer time and defend the tower until you can get better items. Believe me, the trick to turn the battle is to play defensively and wisely, and to know when to use skills, whick skill should be used at what time, such thing will have a great outcome later on, when your Zeus is a serious threat.

Thanks for your comment again, please reply if you have any additional question. I will try any of your ideas in-game, and reply your comments as soon as i have better ideas.
1
C4ke | September 17, 2012 3:46pm
The only reason that you need to AA is the fact to build charges up. Now, you can also do that with abilities. The reason why I disagree with Fatalis is the fact that you could easily spend that on more magic power. Since you arent going to AA THAT much, you don't need it. Detonate Charge has a fairly long cooldown, and its not really going to do you much good to get Fatalis.
1
C4ke | September 17, 2012 11:31am
I agree with fast-ball that you need to max Detonate Charge first. It puts out insane dmg when high lvls, and I mean cmon, if you are gonna get fatalis, at least max your e first.
1
BustedTs206 | September 14, 2012 12:43pm
I really am liking your comments and I tried out your Fatalis. Worked out pretty good.

But I'm wondering, since you say you start off with Chronos' Pendant because of Zeus' mana issues (even though you sell it later on), why don't you just start off with Boots 1 + Meditation + 5 pots.

There's no wasted gold being performed and having meditation from the start is awesome. Also, you can sustain in lane longer for which you can acquire more gold than your enemy.

Just some more suggestions that I wanna see how you battle :P .

Thanks.
1
TaiNguyen | September 11, 2012 1:12am
Entanglement wrote:

Hi! Interesting guide! I just played you. We lost but had two leavers. You went 8-0, congratulations! I'm tempted to try your build, but cool down reduction is capped at 25% and you have two items that should reduce it 40%. I'm wondering if different circumstances would call for a build that doesn't use so much CDR overkill?


Thank you for your comment! The cooldown reduction is indeed a waste when the cap is 25%. This build not only suggests for Zeus players that seek for a much more action-wise play style, but also helps players that are going mid or solo with Zeus. I chose the Chronos' Pendant for 1st item because its 15 Mp5 which increase my regen MP to 20 Mp5. I will last much longer and will play defensively until i can get others important items for this build such as Fatalis.

I suggest selling this 2nd Tier Chronos' Pendant late game, because it is not needed. You will have some extra golds to rush for the items that are more important.
1
TaiNguyen | September 11, 2012 1:00am
Fastball2600 wrote:

I don't agree with not maxing Detonate Charge first especially when you are going for attack speed and cooldown.

Detonate Charge is Zeus' bread and butter and when you get 3 stacks on someone early game and you have it at lvl 2 I have not seen someone that wasn't a tank be able to survive it.

I had a whole other part written up but don't want to be a ****.

You used colors, links, and images very well! It was a good read even if I do not agree with the build order.


Thanks for your comment, it is much appreciated. I think the problem with Zeus when he goes mid or solo is he will get overwhelmed, so the skills order aim to turn the table around as fast as possible. Max Chain Lightning as fast as possible will improve his power to clear creep waves and conserve mana as well as saving the real deal which is Detonate Charge. In addition, Chain Lightning will get me ahead of the battle by putting a charge on enemies, therefore, I will only need to put 2 more charges on the enemy to get maximum damage.

Thank you again for the constructive comment, I am happy to see your comments and ideas in the future as many as possible, because I believe this build can become great for such a daring play style.
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League of Legends Build Guide Author TaiNguyen
Zeus - You got a charge, you got a charge, everbody got a charge!
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