A SMITE Guide to Penetration

First a disclaimer: this guide will only look at ‘completed’ penetration items, mostly being Tier 3 items, but also featuring some Tier 2 ones, too.

What is Penetration?

Penetration items provide damage which (as the name suggests) 'penetrates' (goes through) Protection items. This not only applies to Gods who have built Protections through items, but also applies to Gods with Protections build into their kit (for example, Fafnir's passive). Furthermore, Penetration works against objectives and structures, giving you a little more damage! 

Types of Penetration

Source: ADC Wallpaper by HiRezKelly on Reddit

To find out what Penetration item is best for you, you must first acknowledge the different types of Penetration items, and their effects. There are four main types of penetration in Smite: Flat Armour Reduction (Void Shield); Flat Penetration (Jotuns Wrath); Percentage Armour Reduction (The Executioner) and Percentage Penetration (Titan Bane).  Flat statistics come in the form of a whole number; for example, Brawler's Beat Stick provides +20 Physical Penetration. By contrast, percentage statistics comes as percentages (as the name suggests), and are an enemy de-buff; such as The Executioner which reduces your target’s Physical Protection by 8% for 3 seconds, stacking up to 4 times (32%). Percentages comes off of your enemy’s statistics, rather than increasing your own God’s statistics by a certain percentage, whereas Flat Statistics change your God’s statistics

If you build both types of penetration items, the percentage reduction comes first, and then the flat penetration. This can be a confusing concept to understand, so I recommend watching the video below for help:

 

When Do I Build Penetration?

It can be hard to know at what stage of the game to add penetration items to your build. The truth is that there is no certain time when you should build penetration, as it is simply down to personal preference. Some Junglers build penetration items such as Jotunn's Wrath fairly early in their build, as it gives an early advantage against tankier opponents, in conjunction with Cooldown Reduction, where as some ADCs build it mid to late game. However, I will give some recommendations of when to build penetration.

In general, I try to pick up some penetration in my third item slot. This gives you time to get Boots and one other item of your choice. For example, in the ADC role, you can complete Golden Bow and get the Boots of your choice, then go on to build penetration. Once you do start building penetration, you will see your damage against your enemy spike, and will begin to out-lane them. 

If your opponent has built an armour item, your damage will be decreased quite significantly. Therefore, if you see your opponent starting to pick up a Tier 1 item of an armour item, perhaps you should respond by starting to build some penetration. When you are starting to push towers, or want to start pushing them, you will want some penetration in order to deal more damage to the structure.  Both the Tier 1 and Tier 2 tower have 150 protections, so a Penetration item will only work in your favour!

However, Penetration can also be used against 'squishies' with no or very little armour, such as ADC or Junglers. You will see your damage soar against these opponents, as they simply cannot defend against it!

Item	Total Cost	Image	Physical or Magical	Penetration Type	Statistics	Passive
Asi	1780		Physical	Flat Penetration	+15% Physical Lifesteal  +20% Attack Speed  +15 Physical Penetration	If you drop below 35% Health, you gain an additional 25% Physical Lifesteal for 5 seconds. Can only occur once every 15 seconds.
Brawler's Beat Stick	2400		Physical	Flat Penetration	+40 Physical Power +20 Physical Penetration	Enemies hit by your Abilities have 40% reduced healing and regeneration for 8 seconds.
The Crusher	2300		Physical	Flat Penetration	+40 Physical Power  +20 Physical Penetration	Each Basic Attack against towers and phoenixes grants a Stack that increases your Attack Speed by 10% and Physical Penetration by 5 for 2s.(Max. 5 Stacks).
The Executioner	2250		Physical	Percentage armour reduction	+30 Physical Power  +25% Attack Speed	Basic Attacks against an enemy reduce your target's Physical Protection by 12% for 3 seconds (max. 3 Stacks).
Ichaival	1700		Physical	Flat Penetration	+30% Attack Speed  +10 Physical Penetration	Every successful Basic Attack increases your Physical Power by 10 and reduces your target's Physical Power from items by 10, for 3s. (Max 3 Stacks)
Jotunn's Wrath	2440		Physical	Flat Penetration	+40 Physical Power  +150 Mana  +10 Physical Penetration  +20% Cooldown Reduction	-
Stone Cutting Sword	2900		Physical	Flat armour reduction	+50 Physical Power  +10% Movement Speed	Melee Basic Attacks decreases enemy Physical protections by 10, and increase your physical protection by 10 for 3s (max. 3 Stacks).
Titan's Bane	2050		Physical	Percentage Penetration	+30 Physical Power	All of your physical attacks gain 33% Physical Penetration.
Void Shield	2600		Physical	Flat armour reduction	+30 Physical Power  +50 Physical Protection	Reduces the Physical Protection of enemies within 55 units by 20.
Demonic Grip	2280		Magical	Percentage armour reduction	+60 Magical Power  +25% Attack Speed	Your Basic Attacks reduce your target's Magical Protection by 12% for 3s (max 3 Stacks).
Dynasty Plate Helm	1700		Magical	Flat penetration	+45 Magical Power +30 Physical Protection +15 Magical Penetration	-
Obsidian Shard	2050		Magical	Percentage penetration	+70 Magical Power	You gain +33% Magical Penetration.
Shoes of the Magi	1600		Magical	Flat penetration	+45 Magical Power  +10 Magical Penetration  +18% Movement Speed	-
Spear of Desolation	3800		Magical	Flat penetration	+120 Magical Power +20 Magical Penetration	If you kill an Enemy God all of your cooldowns are reduced by 8 seconds. This cannot activate more than once every 30s
Spear of the Magus	2150		Magical	Flat armour reduction	+40 Magical Power  +15 Magical Penetration	Your abilities reduce your target's Magical Protection by 10 for 5 seconds (max. 3 Stacks).
Void Stone	2350		Magical	Flat armour rediction	+40 Magical Power +50 Magical Protection	Reduces the Magical Protection of enemies within 55 units by 20.

In Season 3, penetration items have been seeing a little less usage, and are often replaced by Qin's Sais, especially within the Hunter class. This item works well on Auto-Attack (AA) based Gods, such as Hunters, or some Assassins such as Kali or Bakasura. There is no bonus to your penetration statistics in terms of percentage or flat penetration; however, Qin's Sais deals damage equal to 4% of your target's maximum health in addition to your main damage.

Qin's Sais

2700

Physical

+40 Physical Power +15% Attack Speed

On Basic Attack hits, deal Physical Damage equal to 4% of the target's maximum Health. This only affects gods.

True Damage

Delicious! Source: SmiteGuru

In Smite, True Damage is rare and a pain to deal with! An example of True Damage is Bakasura’s Butcher Blades. With slight relation to penetration and defense, True Damage cannot be mitigated; however, it is affected by percentage damage reductions, and immunities. For a more in-depth view of what does and does not affect True Damage, please watch the video below:

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