SMITE God in Review: Fafnir

Smite has released another God! This time it’s Norse, but they aren’t a heroic character like Thor, or Odin or one of the main Gods most people are familiar with. The next Guardian character for Smite is Fafnir, Lord of Glittering Gold, a greedy sinister Dwarf, mad and paranoid that his brother might steal his treasure. Every coin is his, whether others know it or not. Upon his belt is a massive sack of gold, which only grows in girth as his time among the other Gods lengthens. None have such a lust for the shiny coins as Fafnir. Rated “Average” difficulty, he’s a tricky and incredibly powerful Guardian, capable of transformation, incredibly high defense, leaping into or launching himself away from combat. He gains gold so much faster than anyone thanks to his passive, but you have to carefully consider something before you go spending:

Do I want to hoard this for my passive [up to 1000]? Or do I spend and just get an item right here in the immediate moment?

That’s an important question to ask, as we’ll get to later. I find that buying lower parts of items is something I do less on him, since I want to have as much of my passive active at all times as possible. His kit comes packed with useful abilities to make him wanted on any team, but he can instead choose to use them on himself; hey, Fafnir’s basically the God of Greed.

Pros:

Free Money: Everything he does gets him more gold. Towers, minions, kills, assists. Four bonus gold for everything you do really fucking stacks up.

Steroids: This isn’t the 80s/90s, and Vince McMahon isn’t involved. He can buff an ally and heal himself, which is intensely useful. In Dragonform it can affect multiple allies, which cannot be scoffed at.

Cons:

Dragonzord Power: I mean, Dragonform Power! When it wears off, you shrivel to the ground and are very briefly immobile. When it’s wearing off you can’t move, which can be a very dangerous predicament to be put in.

“3”: I love his 3. The leap in with the cone strike? So fun. But it’s very possible to leap over your enemy or mistime the launch and whiff, doing nothing or suddenly again, being in a very dangerous position. You can’t just leap everywhere willy-nilly and hope for the best! Or.. you shouldn’t.

Fafnir’s a Guardian, so he’s likely going to be paired up with a Hunter lane, or tagging along with some form of carry at all times. The ability to buff something like Artemis’ already considerable attack speed, or a Hunter that doesn’t really have much of a steroid [Skadi] will be incredible beneficial. But I’ve also been seeing a lot of solo laners snatch him up and fight their way down the lane alone. That’s totally feasible. His damage is pretty solid all around, and his “2” can also heal himself, making him that much greater of a threat. Sure, his mana pool is garbage, and without some form of mana potion/regeneration, you’re going to have to be wise about ability usage. But… he’s a tank at the end of the day. Lots of health, nice and beefy. Just because you don’t have any mana doesn’t mean you can’t perform some saving body blocks. When you do have mana though, he can perform some epic leaps over walls which is something that friends and foes alike ought to be aware of. Whether in a solo lane or duo lane, Curse is terrific, and if the enemy team doesn’t have a lot of CC, I’d probably pack it first. Curse or Shell, or hell, if possible both! But only if your opponent doesn’t have the CC to deal with you.

Passive: Endless Greed: Fafnir gains 4 bonus gold from all minions, structures, kills and assists. Fafnir also gains bonus Protections based on the amount of gold he is currently holding. The bonuses gained from this ability are capped at 1000 gold in hand. It’s important to note this caps at 30 protections and counts as a buff.

1: Cursed Strength: Hurling his hammer forward, it deals damage to enemies in his path. But if it hits a God, the ability immediately stops and stuns them for 1 second. Not a great stun, but it also creates a 3 second slow in a pulse around them. The slow grows with his level.

Dragonform: In addition, it deals more damage in the form of a 3 second DOT that ticks every 1 second. In addition to the Slow, it also shreds defenses in an area too!

2: Coerce: Fafnir coerces his allies to fight better, buffing Attack Speed for 5 seconds and healing himself in addition. While active, Fafnir deals bonus magic damage whenever the affected ally deals damage to an enemy. Important Note: Leveling it increases AS buff, Self Heal, and Bonus Damage. I almost always level this first.

Dragonform: Larger area of affect and can buff multiple allies at once.

3: Underhanded Tactics: Fafnir’s a sneaky bastard! He leaps to a location, dealing damage and disarms the opponents in front of him [2 second disarm]. I use this as a disengage on occasion or leaping over a base wall to get away from an opponent.

Dragonform: The leap goes much further. It deals increased damage, for 3 seconds, ticking every 1 second. In addition [because why not?] it stuns the closest target in addition to the disarm.

4: Draconic Corruption: YOU BECOME A GODDAMN DRAGON. He becomes untargetable during the process, and nearby enemies take a 3 second duration poison. He stays in this form until he deactivates it or until it wears off. Though you are pretty vulnerable while it wears off, unable to move, so be aware of the duration. Your abilities also change, and have separate cooldowns. So right before it wears off, you can blow your moves, get away, and still have cooldowns for other purposes.

Dragonform: … I thought I discussed this. Look above!

To me, 2 is the most important skill to level. I always focus on this first. Then either 1 or 3, depending on the situation, and anytime I can level my 4 I do that straightaway. Personally I think 1 is more important than 3 though. But the Coercion is paramount. I tend to build the same things no matter what map I’m on; they all seem to be pretty great on him. Bulwark of Hope is my go-to defensive item – the shield can really be a lifesaver because Fafnir is incredibly aggressive and I tend to go balls-deep as soon as I humanly can. Dynasty Plate Helm, Breastplate of Valor [Cooldown reduction is <3 <3] and maybe an aggressive item like Void Stone or Soul Reaver; but probably not both. And wards; always wards. Anytime a map needs wards, that’s one of my go-to items. But as always, build for the moment. Lots of CC? Spirit Robe is a good idea. Are you in a lane you know you’re going to win? Start towards Hide of the Urchin. But if you aren’t going to win, this might feel like a wasted purchase. Luckily, I am always confident that we’re going to body fools.

Fafnir’s an aggressive lane monster; he’s a bully! You leap in, you stun, you buff, you turn into a monstrous, ass-kicking dragon with a cone of fire to bully shit out of your way. That’s what you do: You hoard gold and anything in your way that is perceived as a threat, you stun it and obliterate it. In my eyes, Fafnir’s incredibly powerful and can work with any lane partner, or go on his own if he wants. His auto attack damage is based off his magical damage, so if you’re going to go alone, please be aware of that and build accordingly! He’s very tanky, very mobile, and can be just about anywhere he feels like at any particular moment. But the most important thing I feel like you should be aware of is the passive. Up to 1,000 gold will net you 30 in your defenses. So you should consider carefully how and when you build items. In Arena it’s not such a big deal. It’s very easy to get out and back in. But in laned maps? I tend to wait until I have enough for a whole item, or enough of the item where I’ll still have 1,000 gold on hand. You’re greedy, and you must embrace that inner greed if you want to succeed as Fafnir. Everything is yours.

Want to check out Fafnir in action? Be sure to catch our Video Review, part of a new on-going series!