Smite’s early game is the most commonly experienced phase of the game but the most commonly misunderstood. Most players see it as something to just get through to be able to go to the main part of the game but it is actually very important so having well defined strategies for it can win you games. We asked Team Dignitas’ Variety some questions to help us make this guide on some of the intricacies of the early game and how to make it work for you.

So how impactful is the early game really?

Well according to Variety, “The first few levels are probably the most important and impactful levels in the game. Being able to reach level 5 before your opponent often means you have full map pressure and can take objectives from doing so”.

The race to level 5 has always been one of the most important parts of the game as each level you have above your opponents in this range of levels means you have an entire abilities worth of advantage over them.

Ultimates such as Unleash the Kraken can be deadly if you hit 5 before your opponents, so opportunities like this should be exploited

This advantage in abilities means that, as Variety puts it “You usually hit level 5 as the first respawn of buffs occurs meaning that you have a huge advantage in taking the buff as well as the fight if the enemy choose to defend the buff”. Being ahead either means the enemy lets you take the lead for free or they try and fight you and lose doing so.

So how do you take the lead? While kills are important, you want to be taking map pressure and neutral objectives. This naturally brings us into invades and stealing. While once rife and commonplace in the SPL, recently invades have taken the back seat to neutral objective control.

However, Variety believes “invades have always been viable and a huge part of Smite, I feel like the best teams in the world are the teams who know the correct times to invade and how to bait out buff defends”. Invading is risky and can lead to the opposite of the desired effect of executed incorrectly. With this in mind, there’s a few things to take note of. First, the objective of the invade isn’t the buff itself. As Variety says, “The buff is itself isn't that big. It’s more about the XP and Gold you can gain from doing so as well as there being more neutral objectives to take which overall lead to a more substantial gold lead”. The partial boost in stats the buff gives you is good, but is less valuable than the quantitative lead the XP and gold will give you.

Invading is done mostly through initiative and should only be attempted by teams with strong control over the early game. The reason for this is that you need gods who can fight and contest will with only 2-4 abilities, potentially even 1 if you’re going for level 1 invades. Gods like Anhur, Bellona, Fenrir and Thor are all great choices if early game invades are part of your plan. However, always keep in mind that due to the low health pools fighting in the early game is extremely volatile and requires a good amount of planning and mechanical skill to execute.

Anhur's high base damage allows him to dominate early fights even with just 2 or 3 abilities

The volatility of the early game means that when invades and early rotations are part of your plan, 4 or 5 man rotations can be very appealing. However, the effectiveness of this strategy is inconsistent because most teams that attempt it don’t look at the bigger picture. As Variety says, “I don't think early 5 man ganks are worthy if you just get a single kill. You miss out on a lot of farm by rotating all 5 to gank. If you get more out of it than a kill, i.e. Gold Fury, then it can be worth to do it. If we ever 5 man rotate to gank, we usually have a bigger picture in mind as to what we're trying to gain out of it instead of just a few kills”.

The reason a single kill or two is usually not worth it is because you’ve displaced your entire team and allowed at least one other lane to get a free early game. Therefore, your gain needs to be big to make up for this. Even then, Variety believes that “sometimes you need to make plays like that if you're behind and you need to make a power play to get back into the game”. The high variance that this strategy has means that it should only be attempted when necessary, as you stand to lose almost as much as you stand to gain.

Even after its nerfs, the Gold Fury is still a valuable early game objective and should be the target for any team looking for early game dominance

So, considering how much your buffs are at risk from invades and from the enemy team roaming around as a group and stealing them, when should you start in lane and when should you start at your buffs to defend them? Decisions such as these are made after considering the enemy team and their strengths. According to Variety, “Usually you start on your own buffs when the enemy mid and solo have pressure at level 1”. While it may seem beneficial to not contest the enemy team when they have this much pressure, this is the wrong mindset to have.

Variety says, "The reason why you do the buff is because you can deny them XP and gold as well as the buff itself on top of the fact that even if you did start in lane, you wouldn't get a single buff, so it keeps the jungler/solo in the early game”. Simply put, if the enemy team was going to take the buffs anyway, you may as well contest rather than doing nothing and getting no buffs and giving them free XP and gold.

The solo lane has been the focus of early game pressure this season because of the early game prowess of most warriors and assassins in the jungle role. This has naturally lead to solo laner’s using this prowess to exert pressure on other parts of the map. This split, this has materialized in the form of the solo laners rotating after clearing their waves and ganking the midlane. According to Variety, “Ganking the mid lane level 1 as a solo can be good if timed correctly. If you time the gank correctly, you make it so that you have full pressure in mid and you’re free to invade”. If the gank is successful, it can lead to a very quick snowballing effect and a very easy early game for your team.

However, even with this potential benefit, Variety says he isn’t a fan. “Personally, I'm not really a fan of the level 1 gank since you have to blow your Teleport really early in order to get back to lane so you don't miss XP, which can backfire hugely if you mess up early/get ganked”.

Furthermore, it can lead to an opposite snowball effect. “On top of that you have to walk back to lane when you buy boots 3. It should really only be attempted if your mid doesn’t have pressure mid so you can get them pressure as well as possibly a few kills”. Overall this strategy can be effective, but it’s serious risks/costs should be weighed up before it is attempted.

Solo laners like Wukong excel at early ganks due to the high utility and damage of their abilities

It should be noted that Team Dignitas has never fallen victim to this strategy because of one thing: Wards. The maxim “wards win games” is very well known but very often people undervalue wards in the early game. With reference to the previous strategy, warding allows you to easily identify the pathing that the enemy solo laner will take and will allow you to be prepared for their gank. While other consumables may seem more valuable for the early game such as health and mana pots, a few well-placed wards can go a long way for allowing you to feel safer and make decisions with less risks in the early game.

Another thing that is undervalued in the early game is how easy you can regain health. Because of the low health pools, health pots can very easily heal you back up, so trading portions of your health bar for pressure in lane or the jungle is definitely worth it. It's especially worth it as a jungler, as Bumba's Mask will allow you to heal up even more efficiently. However, care should be taken when being this aggressive, as the nature of the early game means you probably won't have enough abilities to escape if you get caught.

Thank you for reading this guide and I hope you will implement some of these strategies into your future games! Special thanks to our solo laner Variety for his input.