The Gold Fury is the most important early-game objective in Smite; the gold boost it grants your entire team can help create an early advantage, bolster an existing lead, or provide the foundation for a comeback. In fact, the benefits of the Fury are so significant that some players engage it recklessly, without considering the situations and tactics around a successful Gold Fury attempt. In this article I’ll break down when and how to go after the Gold Fury, and what to do when you succeed.

When to Go For Gold

If you intend to successfully take a gold fury, you have to time your attempt carefully. You should have several team members alive and in the area, and some way to keep your opponents away. While you may be confident in your ability to land the killing blow on the Gold Fury, your opponents are probably just as confident; even if you secure the Fury, the enemy team can easily make up the gold difference by chasing down your weakened team in the moments afterward. Thus, it’s always best to make sure your opponents are out of the way before you begin your assault.

The first and most simple way to achieve this is to eliminate the enemy team; they can’t steal the gold fury if they’re all dead. While a deicide might be a bit much to ask, it’s common sense to make sure one or two members of the enemy team are picked off before you attempt to engage an objective. Killing any enemy team member reduces their chances of a steal or successful engagement, but tanky frontliners and characters with objective-securing ultimates should be your major targets. Squishy targets with poor objective secure can easily be ignored or zoned out of the fight by one of your teammates.

If you’re unable to find the picks necessary for a GF attempt, you can capitalize on a successful but kill-less teamfight; if the majority of the enemy team opts to back after a big fight, you can take advantage of the brief time window afforded by their walk back from base. The same scenario is created when the majority of the enemy team rotates to Solo Lane, on the other side of the map. Both of these options are somewhat riskier, however; beware of global ultimates or low-health enemies that decide to stick around. Be prepared to burn down the Fury very quickly to avoid your returning enemies.

Another way to take the Gold Fury without being harassed by the enemy team is to keep vision control and take it without their knowledge; if you maintain a constant rotation of sentry wards on the gold fury pit and surrounding areas, it’s possible to kill the Gold Fury and walk away without the enemy team even realizing it happened. You can still be easily discovered by a wandering jungler or support, so be ready for a quick disengage if the enemy team comes flooding in.

These are the three most common scenarios for a gold fury attempt. There are other common reasons, however. Some teams have abilities or relics (Wrath) that give them a superior objective securing capability to their opponents, and so are willing to attack the objective even in full view of the enemy. In the late game, when the Gold Fury matters much less, a hunter with lifesteal will often wander off and kill the Fury on his own, regardless of the current state of the enemy team or vision control. Teams also commonly set up as though they intend to attack the Gold Fury, but then disengage and swarm the enemy team when they arrive to prevent the objective. This is called baiting, and I’ll cover it more some other time.

How to Set Up and Secure

When you decide that the moment is right to take the Gold Fury, the team needs to work together and position themselves carefully to succeed. A tanky character such as a Support or Solo laner should “pull” the Gold Fury by attacking it first, and then move back towards your jungle to draw it further from any possible steal attempts. If no enemies are in the area, all team members should collapse on the Fury and burn it down quickly; damaging abilities and basic attacks should be used, but don’t burn valuable CC like Ymir’s Frost Breath for the negligible damage it might provide.

If there’s even a hint of enemy presence, send one team member (usually Support, Solo, or Jungler) off to the other side of the Gold Fury pit to watch for enemies and to push them away if they try to sneak in for the steal. Characters that excel at poking and harassing like Sun Wukong are ideal for this role. Throw out long-range damage abilities to convince your enemies to stay away, and use CC to discourage mobile enemy damage-dealers from dashing or leaping in.

When the Gold Fury’s health bar drops low, watch especially carefully for an enemy invasion or an ADC looking for a lucky steal. Use high-burst abilities like Unstable Vortex or Backfire to confirm the kill of the Gold Fury, and consider using a burst ultimate like Circle of Protection or Shards of Ice to deal a few thousand damage to the objective and ensure that it goes the way of your team. The Wrath relic is also an excellent option for dealing heavy damage to an objective over a short span of time.

After the Gold Fury has been destroyed, there are several options for what to do immediately afterwards. It’s common to just disengage and back, and this is usually a good option: it prevents the enemy from picking off low-health team members in the jungle, and allows you to spend your hard-earned gold and cash in on your advantage. You can also simply return to lane and farm if no one is particularly low on health or if you’re playing a high-sustain character. If only a few enemy players are alive, and one or two tried to steal the Fury at the last minute, there’s no harm in collapsing on him/them and padding your lead a little bit more. Be wary of these engagements, however, especially if the enemy team is rotated or backed and not dead; global ultimates and the Teleport relic can turn a fight very quickly, even if the odds are initially in your favor.

Recap

Wait for an opportune moment before going after the Gold Fury; try and find a pick, a series of backs, a heavy rotation to Solo, or a lack of ward coverage before starting your attack. When you attack, have a tanky character hold down the Fury while one team members zones and the rest of the team damages the objective. Secure with a high-burst ultimate or Wrath as needed. After the fight, either disengage and back, return to farming, or consider chasing down any lurking enemies.

Happy Smiting!

Get your own AKRacing Chair here and support our players, all profit goes towards the teams!