Athena

Athena Guide

As Athena, focus on clearing the minion wave as fast as possible so you can rotate and gank other lanes. Max your 3 first for the extra damage. Start with Watcher’s Gift, Talaria Boots, and potions for mana and health. Your goal in the early game is to reach level 5 as soon as possible so you can make rotations using your ultimate. Play conservatively until you hit level 5, avoiding risky engagements with the enemy duo lane. Athena’s kill potential in the very early game isn’t amazing, so focus on clearing waves, harassing when you can, but avoiding deaths. Get your farm on and build tank items so you’re prepared for the midgame.

Athena truly excels in the support role, as her kit provides terrific damage mitigation and crowd control. She can also do reasonably well in the solo lane or jungle, but support is definitely her strongest position. As a support, Athena pairs well with almost all hunters and mages. Her taunt in particular works great for setting up kills for damage dealers with high burst damage. In terms of team compositions, Athena works exceptionally well for dive comps or globals comps. For dive comps, Athena’s mobility and initiation potential is key. Her ultimate provides a way for teammates to quickly join a fight from anywhere. For globals comps, where your team has multiple ways to transport across the map rapidly, Athena’s ultimate adds yet another way to outrotate your opponents. Athena also provides a solid frontline presence and protection for squishy backline teammates.

In team fights, your top priority is taunting as many enemy gods as possible. Athena’s taunt is her strongest ability, providing both peel for allies and setup potential. After landing a multi-target taunt, follow up with her 2 for additional damage. Use Athena’s 3 for chasing down kills or making a quick escape. Her 1 provides mobility and protections, so use it to engage aggressively or fall back defensively depending on the situation. For securing objectives, use Athena’s ultimate to start the fight and taunt enemies away. Body block or slow enemies attempting to steal objectives.

As Athena, your role is to provide frontline presence, crowd control, and initiation for your team. Help allies secure kills by taunting enemies and allowing your damage dealers to burst them down. Provide peel in team fights by taunting enemy assassins or warriors that dive your squishy backline gods. Rotate often to apply pressure across the map and get your team ahead. Athena’s ultimate provides a global presence, so look for opportunities to turn fights in other lanes or pick off low health enemies across the map. Communicate with your team before ulting in or taunting so they can follow up effectively. Build tank items to increase your tankiness, allowing you to soak up damage and be an annoyance for the enemy team.