Hun Batz has become a mainstay of Anders "QvoFred" Korsbo's God pool this Spring Split. Hun Batz has become a popular pick in the Smite Pro League due to his team fighting prowess and fast clears. Team Dignitas' jungler provides us with some insight on how to master one of his signature junglers.

Abilities

Passive - Infused Strikes

Every time Hun Batz uses an ability, Hun Batz critical strikes on his auto-attacks will increase for 3 seconds. The passive combos very well with a cool intricacy involving the 3rd ability.

1st Ability - Somersault

Hun Batz flips through the air which will then deal AoE damage to enemies that are within the radius of his target. Those that are hit will also be dealt with a 2 second slow. While this ability may seem great for ganking, you primarily want to use the Somersault to fall back in team fights as opposed to actually dealing damage and dealing a slow. It is a nice little side option to have and can enhance your level 4 gank. However, it would be best to max your Somersault last.

2nd Ability - Overhand Smash

Hun Batz uses his staff to smash the ground that inflicts damage to enemies or jungle minions in an AoE fashion. This is Hun Batz primary jungle clear ability and should be prioritized in leveling order. It is very important for this to be maxed out in order to be efficient with your jungle pathing and clearing to ensure jungle proximity towards lanes that are prone to enemy ganks. While it may not be useful in actually stopping a jungler, the fast clear will enable you to provide countergank options as well as punish the enemy jungler on pathing errors.

3rd Ability - Sacred Monkey

Hun Batz summons a monkey to pounce on enemy targets where each pounce does damage. Gods can only be hit once by the pounce and pressing 3 again teleports Hun Batz to the next target's location. This ability can be used as a gap closer alongside your Somersault but level it up primarily for its poking ability. You should look to max this second.

Ultimate - Fear No Evil

Hun Batz summons a totem from the ground to ward off enemies. An enemy that steps within the radius of the ultimate becomes feared and moved away from the totem. Every .25 seconds an enemy remains within the radius of the ultimate they take damage. Whenever you are able to, level up your Ultimate as it will be extremely important for teamfights and protecting carries. Your ultimate essentially provides the team with a temporary moment of extra damage where you can focus out the enemy carries.

Build
In ranked, I usually build Hun Batz the following way:

QvoFred's item pathing and build throughout the game

A standard Hun Batz build is Bumba's Mask, Blue Stone, Warrior Tabi, Hydra's Lament, Jotunn's Wrath, Brawler's Beat Stick, Titan's Bane and Deathbringer. The build will primarily remain the same between competitive and solo queue Hun Batz. However, depending on the team composition, it may differ if defensive items are needed such as Winged Blade, Magi's Blessing, etc.

The straight penetration build with a crit item, such as Deathbringer, as the last item gives Hun Batz insane one-shot possibilities if you can manage to catch the enemy carries without Beads in the later stages of the game. If you are super far ahead, it is possible to build Titan's Bane before Brawler's followed by Deathbringer and get the Brawler's last.

Pathing

You want to get the early pressure in mid and try invading the enemies' solo lane buffs such as speed and blue. Hun Batz offers an above average clear speed with Overhand Smash which should allow you to path ahead of the enemy jungler due to speed. This builds an early lead and gives you control of the speed and blue buff.

Against high pressure junglers and mid laners, it can be quite the rough early game if the enemies play to their advantage. Therefore, you must look to be efficient in your pathing to obtain the most possible XP and also try and get control of your own team's buffs.

As Hun Batz in the early game, your pathing is one of the most important parts of your gameplay due to the low amount of pressure from simply ganking. Instead, his clearing abilities will allow you to path quicker towards predicted enemy lane ganks where you can set up a countergank or jungle invade.

Takeaway: Do not simply just AFK farm in the jungle early! Use your fast clear speeds to provide laners with comfort and backup should the enemy jungler appear. Jungle for your laners and act as utility by neutralizing the enemy jungler.

Extra Tip

Auto-attack cancelling with the 3. By throwing the 3, auto-attacking the enemy once and instantly pressing the 3 again will make your next auto-attack go in quicker. This will be beneficial during team fights and when putting chip damage onto enemy laners while also working extremely well with his Infused Strikes passive.

Ability Leveling Order

You want to start with maxing your 2 which will then be followed by the 3 and then finally the 1 while putting points into your ultimate when able. The 2 (Overhand Smash) is great for clearing the jungle quickly which works extremely well when pathing correctly to save laners from ganks. It also scales pretty well into the late game. You increase the ultimate for longer duration on the CC and damage, and your 3 (Sacred Monkey) is great for poking out enemy Gods which can bode well around Fire Giant and Gold Fury. Lastly, you max 1 (Somersault) last because it mostly is used to fall back and not for damage.

Teamfight Positioning

The general plan for playing Hun Batz is to get the big ultimates and ultimately kill the enemy carries. Therefore, it requires positioning that allows you to catch enemies off-guard without being caught out of position yourself. You want to position yourself relatively close to their carries without being seen, but also have the possibility to fall back to your teammates in case you are seen.

When Hun Batz is optimal and suboptimal?

Hun Batz shines when your teammates play something that can force Beads on the enemy carries, setting up for your next Blink-ult combo.

In case the team lacks pressure in the early game, a God such as Thor can help to apply pressure on the map. It is almost needed for a team composition to include somebody with high to decent early game pressure.

Hun Batz is a great jungler with amazing teamfight capabilities. He is a very unique God simply because of the intricacies to his pathing. Use his kit to create unique jungle paths by cutting corners after quick clears, being a presence for your laners instead of the enemy laner. While his early game can be questionable, a lot of these flaws can be played around through other Gods. Thank you to QVOFred for helping me out with this guide.

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