Overview
This is a full-scope, in-depth text guide for Agni. This guide focuses less on recommending specific builds and more on how you should play the character and their strengths/weaknesses. This guide is meant for anyone getting into Smite or looking for ways to polish up their Agni play.
Introduction – Come Be That Tree!
Hey everyone! I’m Felted, also known in Smite as Hello. I’ve been playing the game since 2013 and play pretty much every gamemode and every god. I wanted to make these guides that focus less on damage numbers and builds and more on gameplay and tips for how to succeed. If you’re looking for a specific build, I would recommend checking www.smitefire.com. So let’s get right into the Hindu god of fire: Agni.
Agni is a jack of all trades mage who doesn’t top the charts in any aspect but doesn’t lag behind anywhere either. I would consider him to be the quintessential mage that every mid laner should have in their arsenal. His kit is straightforward, easy to confirm, and combos into itself well. As of the current patch (5.22), Agni is in a very good spot in the meta. This makes it a good time to pick up this god and maybe get some new tips for your arsenal! Let’s take a look at his abilities.
Passive: Combustion
To stack Agni’s passive, Combustion, you will need to land 4 basic attacks on any enemy. This means it stacks on minions, jungle camps, gods, you name it. When the passive is fully stacked, Agni’s next Flame Wave or Rain of Fire (2 and ult) will apply a DoT effect on any god hit. This DoT is fairly weak at the beginning due to having low base damage, but towards the later game it reaches some potency with a total of 60% magic scaling over the course of the DoT.
Always make sure your passive is stacked in between teamfights. It’s completely free damage that can be the difference between getting a kill and dropping one. It’s a simple 4 auto attacks, so find a minion wave or some harpies and charge it up!
Early game, you can use auto attacks on the wave before clearing it to charge this up, and you’ll likely outclear your opponent as a result. Agni’s first 4 levels are his weakest, so take every advantage you can get.
1st Ability: Noxious Fumes
Agni’s first ability causes him to create a circle of (you guessed it) noxious fumes at a target location that persists for 10 seconds. At first glance, this ability may seem useless because it does very minimal damage to the point where anyone standing in it will hardly notice, but that’s not the bread and butter of this ability.
Noxious Fumes serves as Agni’s ONLY crowd control ability. When that cloud is hit by any of Agni’s other abilities, any enemy god standing in the fumes is instantly stunned for 1 second. It’s important to note here that the enemy does not have to get hit by the damaging ability. If you stand on one end of the circle and Agni hits the other side, you will still be stunned.
This ability does so many things for a good Agni player. It’s self-peel, initiation, damage confirmation, and an interrupt to name a few. The most common application of the stun is to use Agni’s ultimate, Rain of Fire, and then place the Noxious Fumes underneath the ultimate before it lands. Both of these abilities are large circles, so this combo is really easy to confirm. The resulting stun will then allow you to follow up with another Rain of Fire. If you’re quick enough, you may also be able to get a Flame Wave and a Path of Flames into the same target, resulting in enough burst damage to kill or nearly kill any squishy target.
There are 2 other possible applications of the stun. Using Agni’s Flame Wave and then placing the Noxious Fumes instantly at the end of the wave is the hardest combo to confirm because of the short time window you have to apply the stun. The other application is either placing the Noxious Fumes down then using Path of Flames, or doing this in the reverse order. Dashing into the flames is dangerous as it could put you out of position, so be wary when doing this. Placing the fumes onto the fire left by Path of Flames is a good way to escape and peel for yourself when in danger.
TIP: You almost never want to use this ability for raw damage. It should be used 99.9% of the time to stun a target.
TIP: You don’t HAVE to use this ability on cooldown. A proper Noxious Fumes can make or break a teamfight in a lot of cases. Save it for when you really need it or to secure a free kill, or you may regret it later.
2nd Ability: Flame Wave
Agni’s second ability, Flame Wave, sends a wave of fire (wow) in front of Agni. It has moderately short range so it can be difficult to confirm without crowd control (remember that Noxious Fumes part?).
This ability is your primary wave clear and should be maxed first. It does not have any additional effects, although it can apply your passive to targets. If your opponent is positioning poorly, it can be very easy to hit both the minion wave and the enemy midlaner due to the width of this ability.
NOTE: There is a short windup to this ability, and a good player can telegraph this to juke it. Remember this when you’re aiming and don’t just blindly fire.
As I said before, this ability has a short range. Therefore, it’s dangerous to use it for poke damage in a teamfight because you’ll likely be putting yourself out of position. Wait for the tanks to initiate, then ideally use this ability to burst down the opposing midlaner.
3rd Ability: Path of Flames
Path of Flames is Agni’s primary escape tool, and it is a very good one. It’s one of the longest and quickest dashes in Smite and also deals moderate damage. After dashing, Path of Flames will leave behind, well, a path of flames that will apply a DoT to any enemy that steps on it. This DoT will refresh if they step on it again or stand in it.
Even though this ability can deal some good damage, be VERY careful about when you use the dash offensively. I would never recommend it unless you seriously have the upper hand in lane or a teamfight and can get away with that aggression. Absolutely do not use it offensively if you’re under pressure or have no idea where the enemy jungler is, as that can often be a free ticket back to the base.
Path of Flames is best used to reposition yourself in a teamfight if you find yourself in danger. Agni prefers to be in the backline, putting the pressure on with his ultimate. With a good Path of Flames, you should be able to escape most situations with ease.
4th Ability: Rain of Fire
Agni’s ultimate, Rain of Fire, allows you to throw giant meteors at your opponents that explode for pretty big bursts of damage. Agni’s ultimate is unique in Smite because it is the only ability that has charges with a short cooldown. Agni can store up to 3 meteors that each have a 20 second cooldown. The usage of these meteors is important, and you probably shouldn’t waste them on wave clear or poke unless you’re maxed out.
TIP: Always try to keep at least one meteor in case of ganks or danger so you can peel for yourself.
Agni’s ultimate has a second unique factor that makes it so great: it has zero mana cost. For a mage character, this is super important and makes Agni a force to be reckoned with during the middle of the laning phase. A good Agni player will often clear the wave while also dealing good poke to the enemy mid laner. There’s no harm in using your meteors for damage so long as you save at least one for an escape.
An Agni lives and dies by his meteor usage. Practice your stun combo with Noxious Fumes and always be aware of how many meteors you have to avoid getting caught with your pants down. Use them to either poke the enemy midlaner or burst them down during a teamfight. An Agni from ahead is a nightmare, so be sure to keep up the aggression if you find yourself ahead in farm.
Final Thoughts
So, that’s all of Agni. To summarize in a few sentences, make sure you’re positioning yourself towards the back of the teamfight and using your Rain of Fire to poke out opponents and Flame Wave to help burst them down if they get too close. Also use either of these two abilities with Noxious Fumes to create stuns and kill opportunities. Use Path of Flames to escape if things get a little hairy, then just rinse and repeat. Agni can be a really rewarding mage when used correctly, and is super beginner friendly for anyone just getting into Smite.
Above all, keep practicing. His combos may feel a little awkward at first, but after a little playtime they just become muscle memory. I hope this guide helped many of you out, and feel free to leave any comments if you have any questions I didn’t cover. Good luck on the battlefield, gods and goddesses!