Overview
Basic yet detailed guidelines for building the god Ah Muzen Cab in SMITE, both in competitive and casual game modes, from a diamond mastery AMC Joust League player.
The Boring Intro Bit
I’m basically writing this because I saw another Ah Muzen Cab build guide and frankly I’ve never seen a worse build so I thought it’d be a good idea to give people an alternative guide – one that makes sense and is good for people who have never played him, as well as diamond masteries such as myself.
Just a little bit of info to help you decide if you think this guide is worth reading:
> I’ve had AMC at diamond for a couple of months now, he’s my third diamond hunter so hopefully that gives some indication that I know what I’m doing when it comes to building hunters.
> I play him in 90% of my Joust League games – the only time I don’t pick him is if he gets banned and in that case I usually swap him out for Medusa because she’s strong as ♥♥♥♥♥.
> In the past 2 months I have won 100% of my Joust League games with him and that is largely down to my build.
> I have 1v1’d many other AMCs of varying skill and I have genuinely never been beaten by one.
> I’m currently in Silver 4 for Joust League and though you might think that’s bad, I’d like to clarify – I started playing SMITE around 8 months ago, having never played any PC or even console games before, SMITE was literally my introduction to gaming. I started Joust League by being placed in Bronze 5 and have managed to make my way up 6 divisions with a high win-loss ratio so, I may be a new player and not have the years of skill and expertise that others can offer, BUT I am quickly rising through the ranks so I can’t be that bad, and what I can definitely offer is some good advice on beginner builds that are capable of absolutely destroying.
> My skill level is also affected by the fact my laptop may as well be a potato because I’m lucky if I get higher than 35fps and I’m sure you all know how unplayable that can be.
> If you’ve read this far surely your curiosity has gotten the better of you now and you may as well read what I have to say! 🙂
Rookie Build Mistakes
I’m just gonna start off with a few comments about items or general things that I often see in AMC builds that I don’t think are appropriate, helpful or necessary (and yes, some of them are completely idiotic). These are all based around his abilities so I guess this will also give you some insight into his strengths.
> His 1 gives you a great attack speed boost if you level it up early in the game, so you don’t need to buy additional attack speed early on – most people I’ve played against have done this thinking it’ll give them an advantage but what they don’t realise is that they can pew-pew at me all they want – they’re not doing enough damage. If you’re in a 1v1 against another AMC and they’ve built attack speed first item where you’ve built damage, you can literally stand there and let them fire at you, as long as you have good aim and hit all your basics along with at least one ability, you should come out on top and they should come out… well… dead (I know this from experience and it’s very amusing when they come rushing at you thinking their attack speed build is the cat’s pyjamas).
> Because his 3 also slows, you really don’t need Hastened Fatalis. I’ve seen far too many AMC players use it and it’s a complete waste of an item. It is not designed as a hunter item and frankly anyone who buys it on AMC is an idiot, he has a movement speed boost from his hives so he’s pretty much one of the fastest gods out there and buying Fatalis just means you’re missing out on more important things such as extra power or crits.
> Early on he is rather mana-thirsty as obviously you’re going to want to place a hive whenever you can, as well as firing his other abilities – his 3 particularly takes a toll on your mana early in the game. If you don’t buy any items that cater to this fact (the active “Meditation” is also a viable option depending on whether you need other actives or if you’re free to choose), you may find yourself in a variety of sticky situations where either you’re having to go back to base too often and end up losing your lane, getting stuck in a fight where your opponent still has mana and you don’t, or it may just be that you spend far too much gold on mana pots and end up being behind on your build compared to your opponent.
> I’ve seen people get Golden Bow on him. Golden Bow. Absolutely no idea why you’d get this item on him, okay so it may be useful for clearing minion waves early on but he has two skills that are perfectly capable of doing that for you. Maybe you want it for the movement speed? Well as I already explained, his hives give you a movement speed boost that basically renders movement items completely unnecessary. Golden bow is an assassin item, there are better crit items you can swap it out for on hunters, if you buy this item on him – especially in a 1v1 situation – just know that I will be judging you (and your opponent probably will be too).
> Instead of buying lifesteal early on, leave the healing down to his hives (on top of the awesome attack speed and movement buff, hives also heal you every second that you’re in range of them). With the healing from hives and the occasional health pot when needed, it’s almost always enough to keep you in lane for a decent amount of time – this will give you the chance to focus on building more damage-based items. I see a lot of people buy Devourer’s Gauntlet on him and although this is a good item on most hunters, I find it’s actually a disadvantage to AMC because it’s best built at the start of the game so you can get the stacks early and as I’ve explained, you’re better off with damage items at the start and lifesteal later on, so this item can be swapped out for ASI or my newly-discovered favourite, Soul Eater.
Competitive (Joust League) Build
This is how I build Ah Muzen Cab for the majority of my Joust League matches.
Starter:
Charged Morningstar (1200g)
4 x health pots (200g)
2 x mana pots (100g)
NB: I fully recommend going straight for the mana buff before going into lane – I know this should be obvious but I have seen some people go for damage buff instead and then almost run out of mana before they’ve even reached the lane, or some don’t even take a buff for some unknown reason. I find that the quickest way to get the buff is to place a hive next to the camp, start your attack with his 3, kill the two smaller minions using his 2, use a health pot and then use your basic attacks to kill the main buff camp monster. I like to start in lane with full HP which is why I recommend using a health pot – that and his hive will have healed you by the time you get to tower.
After this, continue by building:
Transcendence (+1400g) – this caters to the fact he uses a fair amount of mana and also gives an early dmg boost – because you only have to build 50 stacks your mana scales very quickly, meaning your power does as well.
Warrior Tabi (+1250g) – you DON’T need Ninja Tabi because he has enough attack speed from hives, you’re better off with these for an extra 20 power. Personally I’d only ever buy Ninja over Warrior on a select group of assassins or possibly an assassin-esque warrior such as Ravana or Bellona
The Executioner (2250g) – core item for any hunter, shouldn’t need to explain why.
Soul Eater (2000g) – not only does this give you a large HP boost, it’s also a better alternative to Devourer’s Gauntlet in the fact that it gives you an instant +20% lifesteal without the need to stack, as well as boosting your attack speed and power AND giving you a small physical defense boost which can be really handy at times
Rage (2755g) – crits. Damage. All I need to say about that.
Deathbringer (3150g) – works great with Rage to give you high-hitting crits and a nice +50 power. GGWPGR.
NB: You may want to swap out one of the crit items for defense if you’re against a particularly difficult opponent. I’d suggest:
Witchblade for high attack-speed hunters or assassins
Runic Shield for hunter-build mages such as Sol, Freya or Chronos
Stone of Gaia for other magic gods as this works beautifully alongside your hives and transcendece to make you basically invincible
Hide of the Nemian Lion for hunters with lower attack speeds or assassins/warriors who manage to get close enough to you to use their basics often
USEFUL ACTIVES:
Achilles’ Spear – this is fantastic on AMC late game, it gives you a lifesteal and attack speed boost that can restore you pretty much to full HP from one minion wave alone and is really useful for winning games quickly as it allows you to take the titan and/or phoenix down incredibly fast, not to mention the fact that it can be a lifesaver if you get caught in a fight where your hive has been destroyed and is still on cooldown!
Greater Purification – a must-have against any god with decent CC.
Shield of the Underworld – really useful against gods that can deal a lot of damage over time, especially with their ults – examples include Hades, Ah Puch, AMC, Hou Yi and Kukulkan. Also handy against gods like Freya, Ra, Poseidon… basically there’s a lot of reasons to use this item and it’s cooldown isn’t too bad at 60s – can be a good alternative to buying Hide of the Nemian Lion, in the right situation.
Weakening/Enfeebling Curse – depending on your opponent, these can sometimes be really useful and a good alternative to buying aura defense/debuff items such as Runic Shield and Witchblade.
Greater Meditation – if you find yourself still using a lot of mana rather than relying on basic attacks late-game and your lifesteal isn’t quite doing it’s job well enough, this can be a useful item to have, however I’d only recommend buying this if you have some spare gold and don’t need other actives.
One last point about playing AMC in 1v1, should go without saying but some people seem to lack common sense:
Hives. Put them everywhere you need them. I always start the game with one next to my titan, one to the side of my phoenix and one on my tower out of enemy range – this gives you a movement speed boost all the way from your fountain to your tower, meaning the enemy has less time to gain control of the lane if you return to base – it also gives you a speedy retreat should you need it!
Arena Build (Useful for Beginners)
Starter:
Charged Morningstar (1200g)
Boots (300g)
Main build:
Transcendence (+1400g)
Warrior Tabi (+1250g)
The Executioner (2250g)
Soul Eater (2000g) or ASI (1780g) if you’re against more magic gods or tanks that you need the penetration for
Rage (2755g)
Deathbringer (3150g)
(you can build Deathbringer first if you wish but I prefer to do it this way because Rage is cheaper and also increases your chance of getting crits so that when you get to Deathbringer you’re hitting high crits on around every 3-4 basics, plus you’re unlikely to get to full build in Arena as games don’t often last long enough, so you’re better off going for the cheaper crit item instead of one you may not finish)
A wee tip in Arena is to put your hives behind the columns or hidden in the buff camps – this reduces the risk of them being destroyed by enemies, or at least makes it more difficult for them to do so.
USEFUL ACTIVES:
Greater Purification
Greater Aegis or Aegis Pendant
Joust (3v3) Build
This is pretty much the same as my Arena build apart from the starter items – here you’re less likely to return to base as quickly as you might in Arena and therefore need to start with a little more sustain.
Starter:
Charged Morningstar (1200g)
3 x health pots (150g)
3 x mana pots (150g)
Main build:
Transcendence (+1400g)
Warrior Tabi (+1250g)
The Executioner (2250g)
Soul Eater (2000g) or ASI (1780g)
Rage (2755g)
Deathbringer (3150g)
USEFUL ACTIVES:
Any tier of –
Greater Purification
Greater Meditation or Salvation
Greater Aegis or Aegis Pendant
You may also find it useful to use a Curse or Shield of the Underworld during a team fight, but this is purely down to your skill-level and play-style.
Greater Sprint can help you get into lane faster but this is rarely needed if your Joust team is adequate.
Achilles’ Spear is rarely necessary as the average Joust game shouldn’t last long enough for this item to be worth buying.
Siege Build
Again this is similar to Arena and Joust, however you start with a little more gold in Siege and active-wise there are some slight differences to my regular build.
Starter:
Charged Morningstar (1200g)
Boots (300g)
Meditation (300g)
2 x health pots (100g)
2 x mana pots (100g)
Main build:
Transcendence (+1400g)
Warrior Tabi (+1250g)
The Executioner (2250g)
Soul Eater (2000g) as before, you can swap this for ASI if you want but generally on Siege I find that Soul Eater performs better in the majority of situations – it purely depends on your preference of the item’s passive
Rage (2755g)
Deathbringer (3150g)
USEFUL ACTIVES:
Salvation – I don’t recommend buying this early on but if you feel like it later on in the game then it will only cost you 600g to upgrade to, since you should already have Meditation
Greater Purification
Greater Aegis or Aegis Pendant
Achille’s Spear, Greater Sprint or Heavenly Agility (situation-based)
Assault Build Guide
Assault is a little different due to the starter gold being higher, and more confusing as it is a lot more situation-based, depending on the unpredictable composition of the enemy team.
Starter 1 (no beads):
Soul Eater (2000g)/ASI (1780g) depending on the ratio of magic:physical enemies
Salvation (900g) – believe me you will need this for the mana (and it’s always good for helping your teammates out in the early stages of the game, as most people don’t buy this straight up)
Boots if you buy ASI (300g)
2 x health pots if you buy Soul Eater (100g)
Starter 2 (When playing against Ares, Hades, Xing Tian, etc):
Bound Gauntlet (1100g)
Greater Purification (900g) OR Improved Purification (600g) for gods such as Artemis, Cupid, Khepri, Nox – basically any CC that isn’t quite as scary or often as an Ares, Hades or Xing Tian ult, or for gods that are unlikely to blink-ult basically
Improved Meditation (600g) if you want boots or Salvation (900g) if you’re sensible (hives can be your boots to start with)
Boots (300g) if you don’t want Salvation or if you’ve bought Improved Purification
Health and/or mana pots if you happen to have any gold left over!
So say for Ares, you’re looking at something like:
Bound Gauntlet (1100g)
Greater Purification (900g)
Salvation (900g)
2 x health pots (100g)
But for Artemis it may be more like:
Bound Gauntlet (1100g)
Improved Purification (600g)
Salvation (900g)
Boots (300g)
2 x health pots (100g)
ALTERNATIVELY you can buy full ASI, however you may be at a disadvantage active-wise:
ASI (1780g)
Improved Purification (600g)
Improved Meditation (600g)
Then:
ASI/Soul Eater depending on what you started with
Warrior Tabi
The Executioner
Soul Eater/ASI
Rage
Deathbringer
USEFUL ACTIVES:
Greater Purification
Salvation NOT Greater Meditation!
Greater Aegis or Aegis Pendant
You may also find Achilles’ Spear or Shield of the Underworld useful, but these should only be considered if you don’t need beads or aegis – you should ALWAYS buy Salvation both for your own benefit and you’re entire team’s.
Oh finally, she’s done talking!
So that’s it guys. Some of you may have noticed that I haven’t included a build for conquest and that’s purely because it was too short to have it’s own page:
CONQUEST:
Ask someone else, I don’t play a lot of conquest and tbh I think AMC is a fairly weak choice, there are definitely better hunters for conquest. I’d suggest using the in-game recommended starter items or Bluestone Pendant and Meditation, start building transcendece as early as possible and from there use a variation of the core items I have listed in the rest of this guide, tailored to the composition of the enemy team.
Thanks a lot to anyone who has bothered to read this guide, I really hope it has helped people and I welcome your comments, criticisms, corrections and all other feedback – let me know if there’s anything else you would like to know or if you’d like me to do a similar guide for another god!
Happy Gaming
Charlie.