Achieving Good Synergy in a Smite Duo Lane
Tips on how to improve your synergy in both types of duo lanes in Smite
While teamwork is present and required across all aspects of Smite, the duo lane is where this part of the game is most present and most active. The only lane that is shared by two people from early-game all the way to mid-game, the duo lane requires you to work together and communicate to be effective and win lane. This means that the lanes that are most likely to win are ones where both players are likeminded, where each sees the same path to winning lane. Combining two players with very different playstyles can cause your ADC and your support to be very split from each other, creating a nonfunctioning lane. In this article, I'm going to look at the two main types of lane and how to work together as a support/ADC combo to make sure your lane synergy is on point.
The Basics
The easiest and most obvious way to have a good basis for synergy is knowing the person you're laning with. Laning with a friend means knowing each other's playstyle and being able to communicate valuable lane information, which can lead to your lane being much more effective than if you laned with a random person you got matched with. The tips below do work in case you aren't laning with a friend, but putting them into practice would be much harder.
Synergy is possible without communication, but is made so much easier if you can use a VoIP service like Curse Voice.
Synergy in an Aggressive Lane
An example of an aggressive lane is Skadi and Ares. Both gods have abilities very suited to bullying and pressuring lane, but this means that if they get behind their usefulness is diminished. This is why synergy is so important in an aggressive lane.
Aggressive lanes can be very risky, but the benefit is potentially great. Coming out of laning phase with strong lead can result in some easy wins, so it can definitely be worth the risk. However, an aggressive lane requires you to be able to work extremely well in tandem with your lane partner.
The first hurdle in having good synergy in an aggressive lane is target selection. Even if your plan is to try and kill both enemies every time, you still need to consider which targets to prioritise first and when to switch targets. These discussions shouldn't be happening during the fight if you want your fights to be cohesive and your synergy to be on point. Once you've scoped out your lane and the matchup, discuss with your teammate about which target will need to be removed first, so that it doesn't have to be decided during the fight. This leaves you with only having to focus on winning the fight, not on how to win the fight.
Another synergy issue in this lane is actually deciding when to fight. Even though you are going for an aggressive lane, fighting constantly isn't going to get you anywhere. Make sure that you and your teammate are on the same page when it comes to fight decisions, when you're going to push, when you need to pull back or when you need to create unique lane states, like freezing the lane. These discussions should be continuous, as the lane is constantly changing. One strategy won't work the entire game and making sure you understand the situation and adapt together is how you will come out on top.
Synergy in a Passive/Defensive Lane
Xbalanque and Khepri are the perfect example of a passive lane, which require good synergy to survive and get to their strong late-games.
Passive lanes are less risky than aggressive ones, but still require as much thought and as much synergy between you and your teammate. Decisions made in passive lanes are often done in less hectic situations, and are more to do with the state of the game and what you can and cannot risk.
The first thing you and your partner should be on the same page on is the state and type of lane you are in. If both people agree on the current situation, it means they are both thinking along the same lines when it comes to contextual decisions within the lane such as when to rotate, when to push forward etc. Because you've decided on a more passive farming lane, it allows you to take your time and evaluate more options. Therefore, it is important to have both the ADC and the support on the same page. As the game loads in, discuss your possible lane opponents and for each talk about what the lane might be like and how you're going to play it. Playing a defensive lane is like playing to control in chess; you aren't trying to win by killing per say, you're trying to outlast your opponent and allow them to make mistakes. Taking this in mind, you have to consider what the opposing lane is trying to do and then work together to try and counter it and make sure that they can't carry it through.
Once the state of your lane has been identified and discussed, the next step to having a synergistic lane is making sure you and your partner are both aware of your capabilities at every point during laning phase. Due to the fact that you aren't constantly fighting, it can be difficult to measure the balance and advantage in the lane. If you and your teammate disagree on which duo lane has the upper hand, it can lead to fights that have one person too far ahead or behind, causing disjointed fights which are much harder to win. Furthermore, if your support rotates out because they believe the ADC is in a winning position but they actually aren't, it can leave the ADC exposed and open to harassment by the lane opponents and ganks. Make sure both of you are aware of the hierarchy in lane; who currently controls it and what that means for your possibilities.
I hope you've learnt something from what you've read and I hope your performance in the duo lane will improve because of it!
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