Hi, my name is Sevrahn and I have been playing Mid since I began Smite. With all the influx of new players (from Steam and Xbox), I have seen multiple posts pop up on different forums with questions regarding how to most effectively perform the Midlane role. This guide is meant to touch on simple concepts that every Mid should be using, without getting too technical for people who are just starting out. I will also attempt to give the rationales behind why certain things are done the way they are, so that you have a deeper understanding of the mechanics, which will help you with decision-making in situations where there are no guides.

Starter Items:

Excuse the slight pun, but this seemed the most logical place to begin, as your first choice will be made with what you buy before leaving the fountain. More advanced strategies may have you picking up an early ward, placing it, and then backing, but that is a topic for another guide. There are 2 primary starter items for Midlaners: Vampiric Shroud and Soul Stone.

Vampiric Shroud:
20 Magical Power
100 Health
5 MP5
Passive: Killing an enemies restores 10 health and mana.

Soul Stone:
20 Magical Power
100 Mana
Passive: Hitting an enemy with a basic attack tears our and stores a portion of their soul, granting +4 MP5. At 5 souls, your next ability cast consumes all souls and is at +30 Magical Power.

As you can see, the items are designed in very different ways and operate with different intentions. The most commonly selected one is Vampiric Shroud, as it returns both health and mana per wave, providing both kinds of sustain; and 100 additional health, allowing you to survive poke that the enemy will no doubt be trying to pressure you with.

To break down some of the math behind this choice, you have to understand minion waves and timers. The initial minion waves spawns at 00:00 on the clock and it takes the minions 25s to meet in the middle lane. Additional minion waves spawn every 30s, so you will have a wave meeting in lane at the 25s and 55s interval of each minute. The other component is looking at mana management, which we will discuss in a later section, but the variable we are going to look at now is that the average waveclear ability will set you back 60-110 mana based on what level you are and which god you are playing.

"We're killing minions so we don't kill the ones that we love..."

Vampiric Shroud: 90 mana per wave
60 mana per wave (assuming full wave clear)
5 MP5 across 30s = 30 mana

Soul Stone: 120 mana per wave
20 MP5 (assuming you end the wave with 5 stacks) across 30s = 120 mana

Now, this is obviously assuming best-case scenario waveclear for both items, but that is what you should be aiming for regardless. From a mana standpoint Soul Stone wins in terms of sustain, but remember, Vampiric Shroud not only provides you with more durability, it returns 60 health per wave as well, giving you additional sustain in that regard. Before we get into which one you should select, we need to discuss what else you will be buying from the start, as you still have 700 more gold at this point,

Tier 1 Items:

The most commonly selected tier 1 items are Lost Artifact and Tiny Trinket, with the occasional option to pick up Uncommon Sash or Soul Reliquary, but we will be discussing only the first 2 for the purposes of this guide.

Lost Artifact: Builds into – Chronos Pendant, Rod of Tahuti, Doom Orb
Cost: 600g
15 Magical Power
5 MP5

Tiny Trinket: Builds into – Banecroft’s Talon, Pythagorem’s Piece, Divine Ruin, Polynomicon
Cost: 540g
20 Magical Power
4% Magical Lifesteal

From the outset you can see (again) that these items are very different, but in a more varied way. Lost Artifact provides decent power and additional mana sustain thanks to the MP5. Tiny Trinket provides more power and additional health sustain thanks to the lifesteal. A key difference to not is the pricing, one is 600g while the other is 540g. In early-ward strategies you may want to go with Tiny Trinket simply because you can afford a ward and 2 pots. Lost Artifact is the most commonly built tier 1 in the current meta because it allows you to rush Chronos Pendant, but we will cover that later.

Starter + Tier 1 combinations:

Vampiric Shroud + Lost Artifact (most common)
35 Magical Power
10 MP5
100 Health
10 Health + 10 Mana per enemy killed

Vampiric Shroud + Tiny Trinket (most health sustain)
40 Magical Power
5 MP5
4% Magical Lifesteal
100 Health
10 Health + 10 Mana per enemy kill

Soul Stone + Lost Artifact (most mana sustain)
35-65 Magical Power
5-25 MP5
100 Mana

Soul Stone + Tiny Trinket (gives both mana and health sustain, but doesn’t particularly excel at either)
40-70 Magical Power
0-20 MP5
4% Magical Lifesteal
100 Mana

Now that we have laid out the options, let’s discuss their viability. I will start by saying all combinations are completely viable, there are just some that are more optimal. As stated above the most commonly selected combination is Vampiric Shroud and Lost Artifact. It gives you decent early sustain with durability and (again) allows you to rush Chronos Pendant more efficiently. Vampiric Shroud and Tiny Trinket is also a great start, especially if the enemy team has healers and you need to rush Divine Ruin, or if you are on a team with 3 Magical-type gods, as you can rush Pythagorem’s Piece for the power aura to increase your team’s damage in teamfights. Either of the Soul Stone combinations are good if you can avoid getting poked out, but are usually picked up only on healers as they have built-in health sustain.

The one option we haven’t touched in is that you can skip buying a tier 1 all together and get something called the Potion of Magical Might (more commonly known as “Power Pot”). This potion costs 450g and will give you 50 Magical Power for 5 minutes, but is removed on death. The defining item of a risk/reward start, as if you die you just wasted 450g, and if you break even in gold with your opponent at the 5 minute mark you are technically 450g behind him/her. Those are the cons, for pros: this item gives you incredible push potential on god that already have good waveclear, and if the enemy doesn’t recognize this it can net you both mid harpy camps multiple times – putting you even in gold but ahead in levels, which is more than worth it in some cases.

Boots:

Probably one of the most highly contested debates at the time I am writing this, as they recently moved the mana back to Shoes of Focus.

Shoes of Focus: (1500g)
30 Magical Power
250 Mana
15% Cooldown Reduction
18% Movement Speed

Shoes of the Magi: (1600g)
45 Magical Power
10 Magical Penetration
18% Movement Speed

I feel like I am approaching “broken record” territory, but these items accomplish entirely different things. Exactly what it looks like, Shoes of the Magi is entirely about damage: clearing waves faster, and killing people. Shoes of Focus is about utility: having abilities for use more often while giving you the mana pool to allow you to do so. This decision is entirely preference-based. There is no “right” answer; there is only an answer that is “right for you”. Play with both and see which one you like better. Are you constantly wishing you had your ability available? – Shoes of Focus. Are you continually frustrated by the fact that you almost killed someone but just didn’t have enough damage? – Shoes of the Magi. And those are just 2 examples; there are many different reasons to get either item based on what you are trying to accomplish both personally, and for your team.

Second Item:

The itemization portion of this guide will end here, as a lot of building is entirely situational. I am simply going to try and explain the rationale behind why people rush certain items without doing full breakdowns on them.

If you started Lost Artifact (and sometimes even if you didn’t), you should be finishing Chronos Pendant second item as it is only 1800g (2400g in total). Not only does it provide decent power, it gives you 25% cooldown reduction which is great to have on any Mage – in the same way Junglers usually go second item Jotunn’s Wrath. If you got Shoes of Focus you are now at the 40% cap on cooldown reduction, and you are still very early in the game. This means more heals, more CC, more portals, more everything from whatever your Mage does best. If you went Shoes of the Magi, you now have 25% cooldown reduction in conjunction with higher power and flat penetration, making you even deadlier. However, the most precious part of Chronos Pendant is not in the power or the cooldown reduction, but lies in the fact the item gives you 25 MP5. With 30s between each wave you have 150 mana coming in from this item alone, so even with a maxed out waveclear costing you over 100 mana, you can use your abilities to poke and clear without too much fear of running dry.

If you started with Tiny Trinket, you have a choice between 2 very good second items: Banecroft’s Talon and Pythagorem’s Piece. Banecroft’s is an excellent power spike giving you 100 Magical Power and even more if you are getting poked, and it is relatively cheap. Pythagorem’s is a great all-around item giving you 10% cooldown reduction, 90 Magical Power, and is the highest Magical Lifesteal item in the game. The aura also helps your Guardian and any other Magical-type god on your team (i.e. Freya ADC, Ao Kuang Jungle, Mage/Guardian in Solo Lane).

Another option I am going to cover is second item penetration. If you went with the Power Pot start and are already in that aggressive mindset, you can immediately build your pen item after boots. Higher authorities than I have already done all the math behind Spear of the Magus vs. Obsidian Shard, so I will not touch on that. However, I will say as a general rule that getting Spear of the Magus and Obsidian Shard together is not a great idea.

Starting the Match: Rotations

Now that we know what we’re going to do item-wise, it is time to get into how you’re actually going to play the game. Standard meta start right now is at the Red Buff (unless you are invading), so meet your Duo Lane there. The camp minions will spawn at 10s, but you can hit them at 9s while they jump in to draw agro. If you are playing on a team that has comms and practice, you can do something called leashing the camp where you switch the agro target to allow minimum damage taken to the 3 people who are there while allowing the Duo Lane to finish closer to their Purple Buff and get to lane faster. However, if you are playing in casuals or in a ranked match where you don’t want to risk this, you will simply tank the camp yourself. You will take about 25% of your health depending on how fast they help you clear it, but you will heal that up over 2 minion waves if you have Vampiric Shroud. After this proceed to lane and clear the wave. Depending on your opponent you may need to let them cast their ability first to avoid the poke, or you can throw yours down initially to see how defensive they are going to be. After the first wave you will have a choice, depending on how fast your Jungler can clear the Blue Buff with the Solo Laner: Fight for both mid harpys or trade the enemy 1 for 1. If you have great clear and have established push in-lane the recommendation is to go for the harpys on the Fire Giant side, but be ready to fight as this will be the first 2v2 of the match. If you have been pushed in by the enemy I recommend signaling your Jungler to go cross-lane and take the harpys on the Gold Fury side – there really is no downside to doing this regardless of the situation, it keeps you even with the enemy without risking anyone’s life (however, it does throw off one of the back-camp timers, so you will have a 30s stagnant period before the next mid camps spawn).

After the mid fight (or not), everything is based on rotations and minion waves, and happens in 30s intervals. Clear the wave after the second mid camp is dead and then proceed immediately to a back harpy camp. If you have the advantage in lane you can invade and take one of the enemy’s back camps, if you want to play it safer just go to one of your own. Proceed back to lane and repeat again. TIP: there is one camp facing your lane and one facing away. If you walk through the jungle to get to the one facing outwards and walk down lane to get to the one facing inwards, you will get to both of them faster. Now you have another decision point, you will be 4-5 now based on how many camps you cleared, if either of your outside lanes is pushed in you can rotate to help relieve pressure, not necessarily getting a kill, but letting the enemy team see your map presence and getting them to back off – all while making it back to mid in time for the next wave and harpy fight (if you didn’t do a 2v2 fight the first time, get ready for one now). If everything on your team is going well you can leave lane to keep them guessing where you are, or have a jump party in lane while you wait for minions. Either way, after the second set of mid harpies has been cleared, do a final minion wave before your first back (you should have banked in the neighborhood of 2000g at this point, so get your boots, a ward/sentry, and a tier 1 active – more than likely Purification Beads or Sprint 1).

Being in Lane: Positioning and Mana Management

When in lane, your own positioning and reading your enemy’s positioning is key. If you are worried about being poked out try to be on the opposite side of the lane, so that anything they throw at you should have to pass through minions first. Additionally, being on the opposite side means that even if your poke fails to connect, you still partially cleared the wave – as opposed to missing entirely and then having to spend more mana clearing wave (or worse, be relegated to just in-hands). If you don’t have eyes on the enemy Jungler, try not to push up too far or you may get caught out of position and combo’d.

Reading your enemy is key, if he/she suddenly changes behavior that usually means there are more characters in play than just the 2 of you. If they push up like they have back-up in the jungle, they more than likely do unless you have eyes on all 5 members of their team. If they are usually aggressive but suddenly are backing off and hugging tower, they probably trying to bait you up lane so that someone and gank behind you and cut off your escape. Having wards in the intersections around mid lane is a huge part of controlling when you can push and when you need to back off. When it comes to pushing the tower, the best advice under normal circumstances is to let your minions take the tier 1. At any point in the early game when you push a wave into the enemy tower you can safely get off maybe 2 hits yourself but then you need to leave. You won’t be doing enough damage to it early and the longer you stay the higher the probability of multiple people rotating to kill you is. If you push the wave in and then rotate to help somewhere else you are still getting damage in on the tower without putting yourself at risk.

The final thing I want to talk about in this guide is mana management. It is incredibly important as a Mid to watch not only your own resources, but the enemy’s as well. Early on you will be using 2 abilities to clear the wave, but as soon as you get your 3rd point in your waveclear ability you should be using only it, and finishing with in-hands (or starting with in-hands and finishing with the ability). [Note: this does not work for all gods, but is a general rule-of-thumb] Having an eye on the enemy’s mana will also let you know when you can push up. If they are running on empty you have a great opportunity to push your wave in or even stall the wave out and deny them xp and gold. Keep in mind the inverse is true, and people will take advantage if they know you cannot cast your more powerful abilities.

Well, that’s the basics, and should get your through the first 5 minutes of the game. Hope this helps you get started as a prospective Mid Laner. See you in game! If you have specific questions or something you need help with you can tweet me @Sevrahn or send me a message on Reddit /u/Sevrahn.

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