Hunt or Be Hunted: Tools of the Trade

The Hunter role in Smite is often one of the most challenging to play in casual or unranked Conquest. Season 2 confounded this by reducing the minion wave-clearing potential of all Hunters, tweaking and adding new items, and even adding a new Attack Speed Jungle buff! For those new to Smite, the Hunter role, and/or just the Hunter role in Season 2 - may this guide serve as both a roadmap and food for thought as you prepare to carry yourself and others to victory!

ITEM CHOICE

Part 1 of this article discussed the act of selecting a Hunter, weighing the benefits and hindrances coming with selecting each Hunter. Regardless of which Hunter a player chooses, the primary role of a Hunter once in game remains the same: FARMING. Farming is a term used in MOBAs to describe the act of killing minions to earn Gold and Experience, making your God more powerful as a result.

While Experience boosts everything from your God's basic stats: Damage, Health, Mana, and Protections - Gold allows you to purchase Items. Items not only boost your Gods' stats but also give them added, mostly-passive special abilities and traits that make them even more potent in battle. Hunters, arguably more so than any other class, need items to power them up - as no matter what abilities they have, a Hunter's greatest damage comes from their basic attacks.

 

 Decisions, decisions...

 

THE BEGINNING

Once everyone has chosen a God and loaded into the game, every God is granted 1500 gold to spend on their initial items. Hunters, above all classes, have the nice benefit of a universal, across-all-levels set group of starting items that are the best for them to start with.

BLUESTONE PENDANT

Stats: +15 Physical Power, +90 Health, +5 MP5
Effect: PASSIVE - Restores 3% of your missing mana every 5 seconds.
Cost: 800 gold

Bluestone Pendant is arguably the most important item in the game for any Hunter, providing both a significant boost in stats for the early game while also compensating for both the lack of a Mana-regenerating Jungle buff near the Duo/Long lane and for the Hunters' need for mana in the early/mid game. While a Hunter's primary damage will come from auto-attacks, Smite's fast-paced style of gameplay makes abilities both relevant and crucial in any fight. Atypical from most starting items, Bluestone Pendant remains useful the entire game, allowing the Hunter constant mana regeneration. For most Hunters, this allows use of escapes/initiation abilities - allowing Hunters to both remain safe from unfavorable exchanges while also staying where they need to be most: the outsides of the fight.

 

SPIKED GAUNTLET

Stats: +7% Physical Lifesteal
Effect: (none)
Cost: 650 gold

Spiked Gauntlet is a Tier-1 item, meaning it starts off with a small amount of stats and/or a minor effect and can be "Upgraded" to its 2nd tier: Cursed Gauntlet, providing an increase to 10% Physical Lifesteal and a bonus +20 Physical Power, at the cost of 815 additional gold. Cursed Gauntlet can then be upgraded to its 3rd and final tier: Devourer's Gauntlet, where the stat benefits increase to +30 Physical Power but remain at 10% Physical Lifesteal, for an additional 585 gold. Devourer's Gauntlet also has a Passive Effect: You permanently gain +.5 Physical Power and +.25% Physical Lifesteal per stack, and receive 5 stacks per god kill and 1 stack per minion kill. (max. 60 stacks)

Where Bluestone Pendant helps regenerate the Hunters' mana and gives them access to their all-important and sometimes life-saving abilities, Spiked Gauntlet grants the Hunter the ability to regain a bit of health with each basic attack. As Devourer's Gauntlet is a "stacking" item, meaning the item gains power per stack - stacks being acquired by kill or assist, it's important to buy the Spiked Gauntlet early and farm enough gold to get the tier 3 Devourer's Gauntlet as quickly as possible - allowing the Hunter to gather stacks on the item as quick as possible. 

From the bottom-center to the top left: Spiked Gauntlet, Cursed Gauntlet, and Devourer's Gauntlet.

 

  HEALTH POTION

Stats:  (none)
Effect: This consumable heals 250 health over 25 seconds.
Cost: 50 gold.

A staple of many different types of games, Health Potions are great for healing from/through a very tough fight in the early stages. This prevents the Hunter from having to return to base before earning enough gold to get a major item (i.e. Devourer's Gauntlet) at the low cost of only 50 gold. As both Spiked Gauntlet and Bluestone Pendant take up 1450 of a God's starting 1500 gold, Health Potion's contribution to early game survivability is invaluable while allowing the most efficient use of Gold possible.

 

ESSENTIAL ITEMS

Once a Hunter has purchased their starting items and begins the all-important task of farming, the goal is to purchase and upgrade to bigger and better items: maximizing both the Hunter's overall damage output and their team carrying potential. All of the other types of Gods can have slightly different builds depending on the nature of the specific God and their role on the team. Hunters, on the other hand, currently have the most strict build across ALL skill levels - a build that maximizes a nice balance of both damage and sustain.

  WARD

Stats: (none)
Effect: This is a ward that allows you to see normal enemy movements with 60 units. It does respect line of sight and can't see through walls or stealth. It remains for 3 minutes or until killed. (A God can have a maximum of 2 Wards in their inventory at any time and have up to 3 placed on the map at any one time.)
Cost: 50 gold.

No matter what God a player chooses, what role that God plays or what skill level the player is: Wards are the most powerful item in the game. Wards give vision in an area once placed - protecting the God that places them and their teammates from potential enemy attacks and potentially saving lives. Wards should be purchased at every opportunity, REGARDLESS of what God or role a player has, by everyone, and replaced once/before the 3 minute expiration.

 

SENTRY WARD

Stats: (none)
Effect: This is a ward that allows you to see enemy movements and other wards within 60 units. It does respect line of sight and can't see through walls or stealth. It remains for 3 minutes or until killed. Can only carry one at a time.
Cost: 135 gold.

As with Wards, Sentry Wards also provide vision and are just as essential - though more expensive. Unlike Wards, however, Sentry Wards can be seen by the enemy team and can be used to reveal the otherwise-invisible Wards. Essential to denying the enemy team vision, Sentry Wards should be purchased and used around major objectives (Gold Fury and Fire Giant) as well as in spots where the enemy is suspected to have placed Wards.

 

NINJA TABI

Stats: +20 Physical Power, +15% Attack Speed, +18% Movement Speed
Effect: (none)
Total Cost: 1500 gold

No matter what God a player chooses, Boots, the 1st tier of Ninja Tabi are an essential purchase. Boots give +6% Movement Speed, allowing for greater chasing and retreat potential. Combat Boots, the 2nd tier, increase the Movement Speed to 12% and provide +10 Physical Power. Ninja Tabi, over Warrior Tabi, Reinforced Greaves, and Talaria Boots, also provide Attack Speed: allowing for more basic attacks in a short period of time, leading to more damage output over exclusively Physical Power. A God can only have one Boots item at any time - and the benefits of Ninja Tabi make it a great, cost efficient choice fo Hunters. As Devourer's Gauntlet, mentioned earlier, requires stacking and building up power - Ninja Tabi is a typical 2nd item purchase for Hunters.

 

THE EXECUTIONER

Stats: +30 Physical Power, +25% Attack Speed
Effect: PASSIVE - Basic attacks against an enemy reduce your target's Physical Protection by 8% and an additional 6 points for 3 seconds (max +18 points/3 stacks).
Total Cost: 2200 gold

The Executioner is a tier-3 item, building off the Tier 1 Light Blade and the Tier 2 Balanced Blade. Light Blade, for 700 gold, provides +15% Attack Speed. Balanced Blade, for an additional 550 gold, adds +15 Physical Power in addition to the 15% Attack Speed. Finally, for 950 more gold, Balanced Blade becomes The Executioner, gaining +15 additional Physical Power and +10% additional attack speed, along with the Physical Protection reduction: which can reduce an enemy's Physical Protection by up to 24% + 18 additional points.

The Executioner provides a great bonus of significant Physical Protection reduction, making every attack hurt even worse while allowing for more basic attacks in a shorter time. For a combined 2200 gold - The Executioner has excellent stats to help Hunters shred targets, and the percentages allow for greater effects with further item purchases and increases in Physical Damage.

 
ICHIAVAL

Stats: +30% Attack Speed, +10 Physical Penetration
Effect: PASSIVE - Every successful Basic Attack increases your Physical Power by 10 and reduces your target's Physical Power from items by 10, for 3 seconds (Maximum of 30 Physical Power reduced.)
Total Cost: 1700 gold

Attack Speed, as stated with Ninja Tabi and The Executioner, is a Hunter's most important asset. Of all the items in a Hunter's recommended/typical build, Ichiaval provides the most Attack Speed, while also offering the unique ability to reduce an enemy's Physical Power with every Auto Attack - increasing the Hunter's in the process. At only 1700 total gold and building up from only one previous tier, Short Bow (600 gold, provides +15% Attack Speed), Ichiaval is a cheap efficent item for one-on-one encounters against opposing Hunters. Even though the Physical Power reduction does nothing against Magic-based Gods, the Attack Speed and increased Physical Power for the cheap cost makes Ichiaval a must-have.

 

  DEATHBRINGER

Stats: +50 Physical Power, +20% Critical Strike Chance
Effect: PASSIVE - Critical Strike damage is increased by 50%.
Total Cost: 3150 gold

Deathbringer usually occupies the final spot in a Hunter's item arsenal, but for good reason. At a whopping total cost of 3150 gold, Deathbringer is an investment - the stats and effect are unrivaled in power. Starting as Hidden Dagger: providing +10 Physical Power and +5% Critical Strike Chance for only 670 gold - this item provides increased damage along with potential for even greater damage on Critical Strikes. For an additional 830 gold, the item becomes Short Sword: granting +20 Physical Power and +10% Critical Strike Chance instead. Finally, with 1650 additional gold, this item becomes Deathbringer - providing a tremendous amount of Physical Power and incredible bonus damage to Critical Strikes. All that Attack Speed granted from the previously mentioned items increases a Hunter's likelihood to Critical and Deathbringer insures that once purchased, a Hunter's sting will be felt no matter what.

 

RAGE

Stats: +30 Physical Power, +30 Critical Strike Chance
Effect: PASSIVE - If your basic attack does not crit, your critical strike chance increases by 10% (to a maximum of 50%). The critical strike chance percentage resets on a successful critical strike.
Total Cost: 2755 gold

Though typically purchased before Deathbringer due to the cheaper cost, Rage compliments that huge damage increase provided by Deathbringer by giving a 10% additional bonus to Critical Strike Chance over its sister item. Additionally, every time a Hunter doesn't Critically Strike, they get an even greater chance of doing so - up to 50%.

 

 

From Bluestone Pendant to Deathbringer, a Hunter's primary toolkit allows them great amounts of damage through the most simple of MOBA principles: basic attacking. While Smite offers more item possiblities, these 6 items are what proves to be the most effective and provides Hunters statistically the greatest damage output for their cost. In part 3, we will discuss Tips, Tricks, and Tactics to make every game a bit more winnable and to put these items to their most effective use. Good luck and Happy Hunting!