SMITE Cabrakan Tips

SMITE Cabrakan Tips by PeteDorr

This is a long post, but for those of you desperate to try and master or find a use for this god in the game, I hope you find at least something in this guide valuable. If you do, an up vote is appreciated, thanks! (this is also my first guide of any sort for Smite in my 2+ years of playing, so go easy on me!)

Pictures as proof that this build CAN work (40k player damage in Siege):

http://i.imgur.com/yMaz2wL.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/WKHSBBy.jpg

NOTES BEFORE YOU READ:

*My conclusions are drawn from mostly Siege and some Arena and 3v3, not Conquest.

*Yes, I still consider him to be very underpowered and in need of a buff. Probably worst God in game right now.

*I still play him because I find him fun, and against the right team he can bring a decent amount of control and initiation.

*I still struggle with winning and losing as Cab, but my results have gone WAY up after I started using the builds/methods below.

*If he is up against a team with CC on every god, he will struggle immensely no matter what.

OK so I have been playing a lot of Cabrakan (to be referred to as Cab from here on) since release. I tried him in conquest and simply found that until he is buffed he can be a real detriment as a support to your team if you are up against competent opponents that know how to deal with his 3. I decided to take him into the other game modes, namely Siege (where you won’t always lane against another guardian), here is what I have concluded:

LEVEL YOUR 3 LAST (but before your Ult) I think the biggest mistake being made right now is that people are dumping all of their points into their 3 first, this is a big mistake. Firstly, you should be laning with someone who has good clear (be sure to give them blue, not you!), relying on your 3 to help clear the wave means that you are draining yourself of precious mana by the second. Not only that, but the radius is HUGE and you risk hitting an enemy god and taking a ton of minion aggro damage early on. Leveling it late game also means that you will now have enough mana to sustain using it for longer periods of time once it is ranked up a few times.

Use your 3 AFTER you initiate for the CC effect and NOT the damage. This will help secure a kill for your lane partner and you can use it longer because it will only cost 30 mana a second opposed to 70 every second at max rank.

LEVEL YOUR 1 FIRST Cab is an early game powerhouse if used correctly. His 1 deals a lot of damage early game, and should always be what you initiate with. Leveling this also grants you a huge speed boost, which helps with getting in and out of fights and also grants you slow and root immunity. Why level this before your 2? I find the movement speed too valuable, and landing the stun on his 2 is situational and often hard to pull off. Also the build I suggest benefits more from leveling his 1 first.

BUY BLINK 3* Get blink 1 when you first start. This is your main initiation ability for Cab. Enemy half health due to poke from your lane partner? Blink in next/behind them, smack them with your 1, and either follow up with your 2 if you have 5 hits taken or if it is safe follow up with your 3 to help your teammate secure the kill. Use your ult to try and block off their escape AFTER you are done using your 3, or else the tick damage will destroy the walls instantly. If you are still sitting on blink 2 come late game, think about buying combat blink instead of blink 3. It may just save your life in a time where a death results in 40+seconds and may cost you the game. It also allows you to blink after a fleeing low health enemy even as you have minion aggro. Try it, you may be impressed how much you like it more than blink 3 late game.

MYSTICAL MAIL If I am against 2 or more physical opponents, I usually always start a MM rush at lvl 3 (starting level outside of conquest). This is especially potent in Siege where I buy rank 2, blink 1, and 2 pots when starting. Because you lack boots as a first item, this is where leveling your 1 and buying blink really help with initiation. MM helps significantly with lane and jungle clear and offers a ton of phys def and health. It is an incredibly strong item early game and should be sold off and replaced once you finish 6 items. This also makes up for the missing damage from your 3 since you level that last (3rd, ult is still last, more on that later). The downside is it may interfere with your blink in some circumstances, but should typically not be a problem.

If you are up against too few physical to make this worth it, start with either boots (CDR) or work on getting Stone of Gaia.

SOUL REAVER Another core item for Cab. I have been rushing this as my 3rd item (after CDR boots) because it provides a lot of magic damage, mana (for longer 3 sustain) and that amazing burst from the passive. This pairs wonderfully with your 1 and will deal a ton of damage, even early game, and even to guardians since it is % based.

DON’T BE AFRAID TO CANCEL YOUR 3 Yes, it is oh so satisfying to trap an enemy in your 3 with Gem of Isolation and watch as they squirm to get out, but try and get in the habit of canceling your 3, even when you still have a ton of mp left, to immediately follow up with your 1 or 2. Canceling and hitting them with your 1 will do much more burst (you HAVE been leveling it first, right?) and also chances are you will be able to follow up for a 2 for stun afterwards, your team will love you for all of your stuns and not making yourself a constant sitting duck for CC in your 3.

Also try to use your 3 to stagger a fleeing enemy, to make it easier for your team to catch them, even if it will only tick once or twice it DOES make a difference, plus its CD is super low.

HOW TO USE THE WORST ULT IN THE GAME Yes, no matter what this Ult is still god awful, but you can make the most of it. Remember to level this ability LAST (yes, last last, after your 3). I am sure you have noticed how hard it can be to actually trap someone correctly. Enemy fleeing? Have them in the box targeter? You won’t trap them. The rocks come up too slow to even matter and you will only hurt yourself and your team (who will then rage at you). You need to use it when basically standing right next to a fleeing enemy, or an enemy that is proceeding towards you.

Resist the urge to use your 3 after your ult, it will only destroy the walls you just put up. Instead, try and follow up with your 1 instead of your 2, since you might accidentally AOE hit a wall with your 2. OR alternatively, you can just trap them and try to body block them if your abilities are down to try and buy your team time to catch them in the walls.

Yes the walls still have crap for HP, but early game they still require a few hits to be taken down and can be a real annoyance, even for a split second, to a fleeing enemy.

GEM OF ISOLATION Right now it is generally accepted that GoI is a core item on Cab, but if you looked at my pictures at the top of this post, you will notice that it is not completely necessary. GoI is EXPENSIVE, but the passive works so well with your 3, right? Yes, but there are other items like Witch blade that benefit your team (and you, movement speed is so good on Cab!) if you are against good phys opponents. I still tend to buy GoI in all of my builds, but just know that it is not required and if you feel like your team needs Sov, Witch, or heck, if even you need a def item, don’t be afraid to stall it until late game or forgo it entirely.

If you are feeling risky, you can make enfeebling/weakening curse your second active to gain the effect for a team fight plus the added bonus from either of the actives for your 3.

ARENA -If playing arena, kindly ask for a second guardian to go along side your Cabrakan if possible if you plan on building damage/bruiser. If you are the only guardian, build FULL tank with blink and target the mages/assassin/adc. Hope for the best, it will be difficult but still possible to beat top tier guardians in arena with a full tank Cab. Try to use your 3 more for peel and not initiation (since you will be CC’d out of it anyway). If a teammate is running with low life, cut the enemy off and 3 to slow them down, then use your 1 to stun and escape after.

OTHER NOTABLE ITEMS TO CONSIDER *Divine Ruin -Against a good healer? Try and incorporate a divine ruin into your build, it works wonders with your 3!

*Reinforced Greaves -If you are forced into the tank role (like in Arena) go for these severely underused tank boots. They work amazing with Cab because of the passive move speed you get out of combat. Paired with your 1, you will be able to catch even the most pesky escape artists like Wukong, Nemesis, Serquet and Loki.

*Ethereal Staff -An amazing item all around. Tons of health, mana, a little magic power and a nice passive if stacked with other health items.

*Magi’s Blessing -If you are really struggling to not be interrupted out of your 3,Magi’s may help by absorbing one CC for you. Try not to pair this with Reinforced greaves if possible, it will put you well over the CC reduction cap.

*Polynomicon -If you feel confident and are ahead of the enemy team, building poly is a decent idea. Pair this with your 1 (or 2) with Soul Reaver and you can kill almost any squishy mage/assassin in the game. I was able to solo kill a Freya (not a new player) several times using this build. (see above pics)

*Spear of the Magus -If you have a mage on the team that is carrying, highly consider getting Spear to help aid in their damage. Your 3 stacks the passive up really fast, shredding a ton of magical defense on your enemies.

*Void Stone -If you need a bit of extra magic defense, VS is always a good item to consider since it give you magic power and a nice passive for your team.

*Winged Wand -Someday people will realize how amazing this item is. It’s super cheap and offers a lot of hp, move speed (good!) cooldown (good!) and an amazing passive that is crazy on Cab. Your 1 shreds slows off of you, but if your 1 is down (long cooldowns) winged blade will help immensely.

*Breastplate of Valor
– CDR, a ton of mana, and phys def. It all goes well in Cabs kit to reduce the cooldown on his 1, which is very very long.

That’s about all I have to say for now, hopefully this guide helps someone out there, thanks for reading!