Like any MOBA, Smite is full of different kinds of champions (however, in Smite they’re gods). They’re all equipped with a unique set of abilities and they serve different purposes in the game. For a player that is just starting out, it might be tough to pick a god that suits your play style, as you probably have no idea what each god does. That is where I come in. I’ll be showcasing gods that I think are fun to play and guide you through the builds that are most suitable for them.
Today we’ll be focusing on Aphrodite – the Greek Goddess of Beauty.
Aphrodite – being the goddess of beauty and all – is one of the more voluptuous gods in Smite. She, along with other goddesses, have caused quite some controversy among the general public for being too revealing. But that doesn’t affect her kick-ass skills in Smite! With her willingness to kiss everyone in her path, she charmingly parades across the battlefield, causing everyone to become dazed by her evident beauty.
ABILITIES
Loving Embrace
Loving Embrace is pretty much a useless passive as of Season 2. The passive requires you to have a soul mate at all times and only grants them 30% of the mana Aphrodite gains. This would’ve been a great passive if you played Aphrodite in the duo lane in Season 1, but as of Season 2 it’s pretty useless.
Kiss
Kiss is an ability with a description that is way too vivid to read quickly when you start out as Aphrodite. Most importantly though, Kiss allows you to be linked to an allied god so you can heal them and use Back Off from a distance, and serves as a 1 second stun if used on enemy gods. Another nice touch about Kiss, is that it gives you and your soul mate increased movement speed (up to 20% at level 5!)
Back Off
Back Off is an ability that is quite risky to use aggressively, but has a great pay-off if you do. It has TWO soft crowd control effects. If used in Aphrodite’s radius, it knocks the opponents back. If used in her soul mate’s radius however, it doesn’t knock them back, it actually slows them for 25%! This is extremely useful if an ally is trying to catch up to an enemy god but can’t quite reach him. With your slow, he’ll be able to deal those final few blows for the kill, giving you that beautiful, long distance assist.
Love Birds
Nothing says beauty, admiration and love like a flock of white doves. These peaceful creatures did nothing but serve Aphrodite in the brightest of ways, until Joffrey from Game of Thrones brutally murdered their friends on his wedding day. Now they’re hell-bent on pecking people’s eyes out and healing allies in the process. That is exactly what Love Birds does. It applies a hefty damage over time on enemies and heals Aphrodite and her soul mate in the process. Talk about multi-functional!
Undying Love
This ultimate is SO FREAKING OVER-POWERED. Sorry, let me rephrase that; Undying Love is one of the best ultimates in the game. It pretty much makes you and your soul mate immune to damage and crowd control for up to 2s! Pair this with the relatively low cooldown at level 5, and you basically always have a get-away for you and an ally. It also removes Weakening Curse! No need to beads that active, as you can just use Undying Love to remove the effect.
Here are some pros and cons of Aphrodite.
PROS:
Very high sustain with heal
Huge damage over time
Pretty good wave clear
Ultimate survival tool in Undying Love
CONS:
Has no mobility
Very mana-reliant
Always requires more than 1 cooldown-reduction items
Damage is easily avoidable
Requires aggressive gameplay to fully utilize Back Off
Although Aphrodite might not have the highest burst damage out of the mages you can pick in Smite, but her high sustain due to her healing makes up for that. Aphrodite’s power lies in her ability to out-sustain her opponent and apply her Love Birds so you can whittle down your opponent over time. Let’s start off by narrowing down the roles she can play.
*This is all based on my personal experience playing as Aphrodite*
Do NOT play these roles
ADC: This is a no-brainer. Aphrodite is just not an ADC. If you think she is and you can make her work in the duo lane, massive props to you, but I don’t think she’s fit for the job. Her basic attack damage is just not worthy of mention and her lack of critical hits cause her to fall off extremely fast as the game goes on. The only mage that could play ADC is Freya, and even she lacks the power to do so more often than not.
Jungle: Well, this is fairly easy to scrap off the list. Aphrodite is an ability based god without high amounts of burst damage. Her ability that does the most damage is a DOT (Damage Over Time), making her not fit to quickly clear jungle camps in conquest. Pair this with her mobility – which is non-present – and you just don’t have the tools to accommodate your team as well as gods like Thor, Bastet, etc.
Tough, but fun!
Middle lane: As I’ve mentioned before, Aphrodite doesn’t have a lot of burst damage and no mobility to get out of tough situations. She does have a lot of sustain, however. My experience playing Aphrodite in the middle lane is that you won’t shine till you reach level 13 (I have maxed both Back Off and Love Birds by then). This is the level that you have maxed out both of your damaging abilities and you can start playing a bit more aggressively, since a single god can’t really burst you down due to your healing. If you play her in this lane, you’ll have to make sure your lane is warded AT ALL TIMES. A gank will be the death of you if you start pushing aggressively, so beware of that.
Support: I’ve seen so many successful Aphrodite supports in Season 1, but I barely ever see it in Season 2. Due to the replacement of blue buff to purple buff in the duo lane, her passive is now completely useless. You can’t take the blue buff anymore for more mp5, so your ability to engage will significantly decrease. You can’t spam love birds as much anymore either, resulting in minions going into tower range until your hunter reaches level 7-8. In the late game however, Aphrodite can heal for a significant amount if built right and can zone out enemies with Back Off and Kiss.
PLAY HERE PLEASE
Solo lane: This is where I think Aphrodite shines the brightest. The solo lane isn’t usually occupied by gods with high burst damage, so Aphrodite fits in here perfectly. Ganks can only come from one side, so you don’t have to buy as many wards as you’d have to do in the middle lane and you get the fantastic, magical, ever-so-helpful BLUE BUFF! If any god is reliant on the blue buff in the early game, it’s Aphrodite. Her damage only comes from her abilities, so if she runs out of mana, she can’t do anything unfortunately. Due to her lack of mp5 items in the early game, you have to make sure you secure the blue buff if you want to have a successful early game in your lane. I suggest playing more passively until you hit level 7. At this level you can almost completely wipe out the minion wave with your Love Birds, so then you can step out of the tower safely – having your Back Off on stand-by at all times.
In this guide I’ll be focusing on building for the solo lane. A lot of people may disagree with the way I play Aphrodite, but it has always worked for me. This build requires an aggressive play style though, so you might want to build a bit of extra defence if that doesn’t suit you.
STARTER ITEMS
Vampiric Shroud is a great starter item for any mage. It gives you a little bit of sustain in terms of mp5. It also gives you some power and health and the added effect is great if you can get the last hit on minions.
Uncommon Sash paired with Vampiric Shroud provides you with a nice bit of magical power so you can clear out minion waves and it’ll get you one step closer to Warlock’s Sash, which is necessary for an Aphrodite.
BEWARE! Starting with these items won’t allow you to get any potions. If your enemy team has a solo lane occupant with good invading potential, this is very risky to build, as you WILL fall short on mana if they steal your blue buff. You can always start off by purchasing Lost Artifact and two potions, but you won’t have Warlock’s Sash for a long time if you do this.
CORE ITEMS
Oh Warlock’s Sash, how I love you so. This item is a great addition to any mage that requires a nice amount of health and power. If you pair this item with Aphrodite’s high sustain, you won’t truly need any defensive items. It does take a while to stack though, so you won’t be very powerful until you’ve got the 100 stacks necessary for this item. Then again, once you have it at full stacks, you’ll be unstoppable! Definitely a good pick up for Aphro (I can call her that, we’re best friends).
Anyone who builds Shoes of the Magi over Shoes of Focus for Aphrodite immediately causes distrust with me. Aphrodite’s power lies in quickly casting spells to heal herself and others and deal damage in the process, and if you don’t have CDR (cooldown-reduction), you can’t do that. Screw that little bit of extra damage and penetration; without abilities you’re nothing as an Aphrodite.
Speaking of CDR, add Chronos’ Pendant to the list of necessary items. This item will max out your cooldown-reduction percentage and gives you a nice amount of magical power and mp5 in the process. Others might suggest you get Breastplate of Valor instead, but that doesn’t give you any mp5 and no magical power, which in the end won’t boost your healing either. Chronos’ Pendant for the win!
Rod of Asclepius is a must-have for every Aphrodite. It gives you a hefty amount of magical power (75 raw, delicious, nutritious magical power to be exact) and 200 health. On top of that you get 10% movement speed – which Aphrodite needs to escape – and an amazing aura! 15% increased healing? Hell yes!
FINAL ITEMS
All of the rods! No but seriously, Rod of Tahuti is a great item for any mage. The item itself gives you 125 magical power(!) and on top of that, it boosts your over-all magical power by 25%! That is utterly insane. It’ll boost your healing significantly as well. It is very expensive, so I recommend getting it last, as other items are easier to get and will be enough for you to get to the late game, in which you can buy Rod of Tahuti.
Ah, those tanks with their pesky defensive items. How could you possibly deal with them? Oh wait – Spear of the Magus is here! This item is just great for Aphrodite in my opinion. It gives you 40 magical power and 15 magical penetration, just like that! Boom, there it is. Its passive works perfectly for Aphrodite as well. With the DOT from Love Birds you’ll easily get the 2 stacks needed to fully utilize this item. You’ll end up lowering their magical protections by 20 + 20%!
That’s about all I can teach you about Aphrodite. She’s an amazingly fun god to play, even though she may be a bit difficult at first. But nothing is more fun than walking away from a 1v3 fight with half of your health left and the enemy team being too afraid to re-engage. You’ll get so many rage whispers, I can guarantee you that. Oh, and if you want to completely annoy the enemy team, get the Beach Babe skin! Shame those traitorous gods with your teen girl taunts.
