What to Look For in Your Duo Lane Picks in Smite
Gods in duo lane must work together to get experience, gold and kills. So your kits need to compliment each other!
In Conquest, Duo lane is the longest lane on the map, close to the Gold Fury. It is also the only lane with two Gods sharing a single lane: a Support and an ADC (usually, but not always, a Hunter). Consequently, gold and experience in this lane is shared between these two Gods. Thus, it is important to select two Gods that have good synergy together so that you both get enough gold and experience, and can have lane control over the enemies you face. There are a range of qualities you can look for in the two Gods you pick, and you can choose to prioritise certain qualities over others, or look for a balance.
Wave Clear
Wave clearing is usually the main role of the ADC in the Duo lane, but not all ADCs excel at this (especially in the early game). Good wave clearing abilities are often those that can hit the entire wave at once, meaning that all enemy minions will take damage from one ability. With more single-target focused abilities, Gods such as Artemis and Cupid can struggle with wave clear especially when facing a God such as Neith or Apollo who have abilities that can hit the majority of the wave at once. In these situations, it is wise to pick a Support with good wave clear abilities, such as Ymir. This means that you will not fall behind in the early game, as your wave clear should still be on-par with the enemy's even if your ADC has slightly weaker wave clear.
Healing
Healers such as Aphrodite or Hel are not usually a strong choice for a God in the Support role, however there are Guardians with healing built into their kits. Gods such as Sylvanus and Terra have strong heals that can keep both the Support and ADC in lane when they might otherwise have to return to base to heal up. Similarly, some Hunters have healing abilities, such as Cupid and Chiron. If you are both kept healed up, you can both be more aggressive as well as staying in lane for longer than your opponents. Consequentially you will both gain more gold and experience than your opponents, and will be able to deal more damage to them as your abilities level quicker, and you can upgrade items quicker.
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Crowd Control
Guardians often come with a large amount of Crowd Control (or CC) built into their kits. This is extremely useful to help the ADC to deal large amounts of damage. CC of any sort is helpful to an ADC as it not only helps you to land damaging abilities, but it also makes it easier to land basic attacks (the ADC's main source of damage). Taunts, slows and cripples also help to prevent the enemy from escaping you, making it more likely that a kill will be secured. ADCs also often have some CC in their kits, such as roots or stuns. This can make it easier for your support to land their CC, leading to a chain of CC and damage, from which the enemy cannot escape! For example, Neith's Spirit Arrow will root an enemy, which will in turn make it easier for a Sylvanus to hit Nature's Grasp.
AoE
Some Gods, Support and ADC alike, have strong AoE ultimates that can easily be paired with other AOE ultimates to ensure high amounts of damage are dealt. For example, Ares could use No Escape, followed by Cupid's Fields of Love. If successful and timed correctly, Ares will pull enemies into the AOE damage of Cupid's ultimate, ensuring they are hit by it. When using two AoE abilities together, it is important to be aware of enemy abilities such as jumps or dashes and Relics that could help them escape from your damage.
When choosing your ADC and Support, you can decide to prioritise some of these qualities, but you may be at a disadvantage if you lack some of the other qualities due to this. Therefore, it is usually recommended to have a balance of these between your ADC and Supporting Gods. Before making your final choice, think about what your God and your ally's God excel at, and perhaps what they lack. If possible, also look at the enemy God picks to see what kind of Duo lane you will be facing. It might be a better idea to select a different God so that you have a balance of useful qualities.
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