HADES Guide - by dignitas/AnatoLiy
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HADES |
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We present to you our first Smite god guide by our successful Team Dignitas solo laner AnatoLiy who tells you all you need to know about Hades, the Greek god of the underworld! |
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INTRODUCTION
Hades is the Greek god of the underworld. Zeus and Poseidon are his brothers.
Hades, in my opinion, is a very underrated god which has a lot of turnaround damage. He can be played in the solo side lane, the mid lane and support. His jungle clear is decent but not at the same level as other gods such as Ne’Zha, Thanatos or Fenrir.
ABILITIES
Your priority should be 4>3>2>1. At level 8 I like to save a skill point so that at level 9, I can put one point into 3 and 4 each. At the start of the game, if I help clearing the jungle camps and I know I'm going to get level 2 before I get to lane, I usually get my 3 first because it will help you clear the jungle camps.
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The first ability, Death from Below (DfB), which some consider to be the “jump” since it can go through environment obstacles and player made walls, applies Blight to every target hit and is very useful in conjunction with the other abilities. If you auto attack a target to apply the Blight and then use DfB, it also applies a slow to the target(s) that are infected with Blight. Unlike the other abilities, DfB does not consume the Blight so in a 1v1 situation you don’t have to combo an auto attack in between DfB and another ability to gain the benefits of a Blighted ability follow up. |
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The Shroud of Darkness (SoD) is the CC (Crowd Control) that is in Hades’ toolkit. Without the Blight effect on enemies, SoD will silence anyone hit by it. With the Blight effect on enemies, SoD will silence and fear (make them run very slowly in the direction they are facing) them and consumes the Blight in the process. This is a great follow after already auto attacking, or using DfB, on an enemy that is facing you and your team to get them in a more sticky situation as they will be forced to run to you. There are also a lot of situations where you can chain CC off your teammates. e.g. if an Agni teammate uses his bomb+stun combo on three enemy gods, you can use DfB and SoD to further apply a slightly longer chain of CC. It’s also a good idea to use SoD to interrupt certain abilities of enemy gods such as Guan Yu’s Taolu Assault, Thor’s Berserker Barrage, Anubis’ Plague of Locusts or Bacchus’ Belch of the Gods. Also, if timed correctly it can interrupt certain dashes such as Hercules’ Driving Strike and Tyr’s Fearless (quite ironic). |
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Devour Souls (DS) is the main spell you want to prioritize maxing out (besides the ultimate) as you level regardless of what role or lane you’re in. This is the main damage ability of Hades and with Blight, it packs a huge punch. When using DS on enemies with Blight, each target will explode doing AoE (Area of Effect) damage to their nearby allies, and if your allies are near the exploding targets, they get healed. This consumes Blight. The number cap that a player can receive healing is three targets but the exploding AoE damage has no cap. So if there’s a 5v5 fight and for some reason everyone is on top of each other and you use DfB into DS on all five enemy gods, you and your allies will receive healing from three of those targets (if in range) but the exploding damage effect will hit all five enemy gods (if in range). This is a great early game ability to be able to not only push the minion wave to their tower, but to heal your own minions in the process making it harder for them to counter push. |
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This ultimate ability, Pillar of Agony (PoA), is one of the strongest abilities (I’d say around top 10) in the game. If you catch one or more enemy god(s) without an escape from their own abilities or an active item, they are more than likely guaranteed to die as you pull them towards you and your teammates follow up. The trick to using this ultimate for damage efficiency is to wait until you know their escapes are on cooldowns and then positioning yourself to be able to catch multiple gods. The other trick to using this ultimate is to initiate with PoA and force their escapes early in the fight and then your teammates can pick the enemies apart as they scatter and no longer have their escapes thanks to PoA. If enemies are Blighted while getting hit by PoA,their protections (both magical and physical) are reduced which allows your teammates abilities to do even more damage. A well timed PoA that catches three or more targets that can no longer escape will more than likely secure a win in a teamfight. |
ITEMS
As I play in the solo lane, the way I tend to build is bruisery. I like to be able to tank damage but dish it out at the same rate if not higher. Because of this, my core build will often be Mark of the Vanguard, Reinforced Greaves, Void Stone and Breastplate of Valor.
Usually I’ll follow that up with a Bancroft’s Talon as it allows my PoA to do an absurd amount of damage if I’m low on health. If they have a lot of healing abilities I will end up getting Divine Ruin instead.
If your team needs more magical penetration, Spear of the Magus helps a lot to supplement their damage. Or if you have a healing team composition, Rod of Asclepius will help out tremendously for not only you but the rest of your healers and still make you more tanky with the extra health and movement speed for dodging abilities.
Core Build:
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ACTIVES
Hand of the Gods: In the solo lane I like to go HoG, almost a must because it helps you clear the wave if you have no mana and since it's up every 60 seconds, it's very good. It also transitions really well into the mid-late game with Fist of the Gods.
Teleport to Towers: My second active will usually be the Teleport active that allows me to teleport to towers and wards, so I can jump to a team fight from across the map instantly and aid my allies. It also allows me to safely know I can go back to base, buy up, and teleport back to my tower if I need to.
Closing thoughts:
Hades has a lot of team fighting abilities that work out really well if using his Blight passive correctly and being very calculating on when to use the Pillar of Agony ultimate during a team fight. I encourage more players out there to play Hades and be sure to apply Blight before using key abilities such as Shroud of Darkness and Devour Souls.