Loki
Title: The Trickster God
Type: Melee, Physical
Roles: Assassin
Pros: High Single Target Damage
Loki Guide
Loki is a very popular pick in the last few seasons. There’s also been a lot of Ws in the SPL with Loki, something to consider when you want to pick a new god. A recent rework in season 10 has given Loki some more strength, but Loki remains an iffy god in the realm of SMITE.
As a Loki, focus on farming safely in the solo lane during the early game. Use your Decoy to clear the minion wave from a distance, then look to harass your opposing solo laner with Aimed Strike and Vanish. Since Loki struggles in direct confrontations, avoid fighting the enemy solo unless they have low health or your jungler is ganking. Your goal is to reach level 5 and put points into Assassinate.
Once level 5, look for opportunities to gank middle lane and the duo lane. Loki excels at quickly bursting down squishy targets. Go invisible with Vanish, sneak up on an enemy mage or carry, stun them with Assassinate and use your combination of Aimed Strike, basic attacks and Vanish again to secure the kill. Then escape before the enemy team can retaliate. Repeat ganking and farming side lanes to gain power and strengthen your lead. Your goal in fights is clean up, not initiation.
In team fights, do not engage directly. Instead, hide in the jungle and skirt the edges of the fight using Vanish. Wait for enemies to use important cooldown abilities. Once the fight has begun, choose a squishy target like a mage or carry and unleash your full burst on them. With Hydra’s Lament, your damage will defeat them instantly. Then use Vanish to escape and wait to strike again. Repeat to swing fights in your favor without fully committing. Your role is clean up, so avoid direct conflict and take out the backline when enemies cannot see your ambush or pursue you. After defeating a target, use Vanish to drop aggression and attack swiftly, tearing the enemy team apart.
Loki works best as a jungler or solo laner in Conquest and plays similarly in other modes. Build full damage and penetration to maximize your burst. Items like Jotunn’s Wrath, Crusher, Hydra’s Lament, Heartseeker and Titan’s Bane are great. Your abilities have low cooldowns, so CDR is less necessary. As a jungler, focus the mid lane and duo lane. In solo, pressure your lane opponent early, then rotate to gank when chances arise.
Loki Strategy
Use Vanish not just offensively but defensively to drop minion and god aggression. The stealth provides useful for more than just engaging and escaping. Use abilities together for highest burst. Perform Aimed Strike, basic attack, Assassinate, basic attack. This combination dishing out massive damage quickly. Assassinate silences targets, preventing them from casting abilities and fighting back during its effect. Take advantage of this. Your Decoy attracts minions and tower shots. Use it to tank objectives for your team or when destroying towers. Proxy farm by going invisible and moving behind towers to kill minion waves. This denies farm from your enemy laner. Be wary of ganks while far into lane though!
In Joust and Arena, Loki plays comparably to Conquest but team fights happen more frequently. In Joust, focus enemy damage dealers with your abilities and secure kills with your jungler. In Arena, use your abilities to damage and disrupt as many enemies as possible. Look for opportunities to combo multiple enemies with Assassinate to turn the tide of battle in your favor.
Loki’s role is to eliminate key targets from the flanks and turn team fights through strategic picks and clean up. As a god with no wave clear, initiation or sustain, picking your moments is key. Focus on farming safely, then ganking side lanes and the mid to gain power. In fights, skirt the edges while invisible, then unleash your burst to defeat squishy enemies when they cannot react. Use Vanish to drop aggression, then continue tearing apart the enemy team. Paired with other bursty assassins, Loki can excel at creating chaos and building momentum to control late game. Overall, Loki rewards an opportunistic and patient playstyle focused on calculated and efficient elimination of key targets.