SMITE Ares Build Guide: How to Build Ares in SMITE (2023)

Ares is without a doubt one of those Gods that changes the entire match setting by simply existing on the battlefield. Many players fear his Ultimate “No Escape” from the moment they see him on the enemy team during the loading screen which forces most of them to have Purification Beads even though they perhaps wanted to just buy something else initially. It is cumbersome to deal with that Ulti, and that is just the beginning of his awesome kit. In this guide, Prima Games will go through some of the fun builds you can try with Ares in SMITE, and we hope you’ll enjoy them.

Best and Most Fun Builds for Ares in SMITE (2023)

Basically, in some game modes, just having his Ultimate is enough to contribute to the team. However, Shackles are great to cripple enemies and chase them alone or with your teammates, Bolster Defenses is something that is often overlooked, but it is a temporary aura that grants huge benefits to you and your team (Protections, CC Reduction, HP5) and Searing Flesh melts the flesh away from enemy Gods. Finally, the Passive grants 30 Magical Power for each Aura item Ares has, which can build up fairly well if you focus your build on Auras.

Related: All Ishtar Abilities and Ultimate in SMITE

You guessed it, a lot of the items that we will be going over are the Aura items. While there are non-Aura items that would fit Ares perfectly, we are still playing a Support character and our intention is to be as supportive of our team as possible, and to lead them to victory.

Related: Is SMITE Down? How to Check SMITE Server Status

Best Aura Items for Ares

Let’s go through the most important items you can take, depending on the situation:

Related: SMITE Cupid Build Guide: How to Build Cupid in SMITE

1. Heartward Amulet -> Amulet of Silence / Amulet of the Stronghold
   To be used when there’s a lot of Magical Damage in the enemy team and/or severe necessity for MP5 in your team. One of the core items most Ares players use. This item is obligatory in Assault (if the other tank doesn’t take it at the start) and works wonders for your sustainability. Choose your upgrade based on the situation on the board (Amulet of Silence being a more likely choice due to the value of the Silence).
2. Sovereignty
   To be used when there’s a lot of Physical Damage in the enemy team and/or severe necessity for HP5 in your team. Also one of the core items for Ares. This item is also obligatory in Assault (if the other tank doesn’t take it at the start) and works wonders for your sustainability.
3. Contagion / Pestillence
   Depending on which type of defense you are lacking, you will take one of these items, whether or not the enemy team has a healer or not. It ruins the healing enemies get from item pickups, lifesteal, Meditation, etc.
4. Emperor’s Armor
   Enemies turtling around the tower and refusing to let it fall? BRB Emperor’s Armor. No further comment, your Honor.
5. Gauntlet of Thebes
   Great item to have, but takes time to develop. It has a great aura that works wonders with Heart and Sov.
6. Shogun’s Kusari
   Have a lot of Hunters in the team (and/or Chronos, Freya). By all means, take this item. The Attack Speed buff is overpowered. Blatantly. 10% CDR is the icing on the cake.
7. Mystical Mail
   More damage? Sure! But try to get it early so that its damage accumulates during the match. You’re not gonna buy it as a sixth item when the game is about the end, y’know?
8. Jade Emperor’s Crown
   Great addition against masses of Physical Damage gods. A 15% reduction of their power makes all the difference (1000 dmg is no longer 1000, but 850 for example, and this sometimes means the difference between life and death).
9. Witchblade (RIP)
   One more brilliant item to nerf the enemy’s Physical Damage gods with a -25% Attack Speed debuff. Also, it grants you a bit of movement speed so that you can chase enemies more easily, and 10% CDR is also pretty sick.
10. Void Stone (RIP)
    If you have a lot of mages in your team, take this, since it reduces the Magical Protection of your enemies by 10%
11. Sentinel’s Embrace
    Great item if you are behind with gold, grants an insane amount of protections
12. Breastplate of Vigilance
    Upgrade from Breastplate of Valor, gives a temporary Aura after you deploy your “No Escape”. It’s good because it has 20% CDR built in and +65 Physical Protection.
13. Pythagorem’s Piece
    Decent CDR, decent Magical Damage and Magical Lifesteal, a great health bonus, and a sick aura that helps all offensive Gods.
14. Rod of Asclepius
    We are going in the “weird items” territory, which is mostly sub-optimal unless you already have a great advantage over your enemies and want to seal the deal with more aggression on your side. Rod of Asclepius is the first item in this “tier”. It grants a great deal of Magical Power, a decent amount of Health, some Movement Speed, and 20% Bonus to Healing!
15. Compassion
    Do not buy this on Ares or on any other God that depends on the Blink. It will disable your Blink most of the time.

Related: Top 5 Smite Esports Players of All Time

Non-Aura Items That Are Feasible on Ares

1. Pridwen
   20% CDR and the “Shield explosion goes BRRRR” moment after you drag your enemies in with the Ulti.
2. Relic Dagger
   10% CDR and a great reduction on your Blink cooldown which is crucial for winning games with Ares.

Related: Best Gods in SMITE: SMITE Gods Tier List for Season 9 (May/June 2022)

Skill Build for Ares

This is fairly simple. Prioritize No Escape > Shackles > Searing Flesh > Bolster Defenses in most cases. In Assault, you might want to get Bolster Defenses earlier due to the insane HP5. Also, CC Reduction helps since fights are fairly common in this mode.

Related: Best Guardian Gods in SMITE (2022)

Relic Build for Ares

You’re buying that Blink, like it or not. The other one is situational, depending on the state of the board.

Now, the beauty of Smite is that there are always ways to tune your build depending on the Gods you are with, the Gods you are against, Game Mode you are in, and the situation on the board.

Related: Best Warrior Gods in SMITE (2022)

There is no generic build that works for all situations, but the most common build that you will see is:

1. Sentinel’s Embrace (if late with gold)
2. Sovereignty
3. Pestilence
4. Gauntlet of Thebes
5. Pythagorem’s Piece
6. Pridwen

Related: Best Assassin Gods in SMITE (2022)

As mentioned, Ares is very flexible and you should scout out the situation and speak with your teammates on the fly about what you should be building next if necessary. Basically, if you have these items, the other tank can go into Compassion, Heartward, Mystical Mail, Witchblade, Shogun’s Kusari, and random filler from the above list and you’ll have everything necessary for a good fight. This is just an example.

Related: Best Mage Gods in SMITE (2022)

Good Ares makes a big difference with his presence, so try to communicate with your team via VGS about when you intend to rush forward with your Ulti (VVVR for “Ultimate is Ready” and VVVD for “Ultimate is Down”, which also shows the cooldown remaining, and VVVF for “Follow Me”). Be aggressive, don’t let the enemies play their game, but don’t mindlessly go into fights that you cannot win. Try to keep count of enemy Beads’ cooldown if possible, and practice positioning with Blink so that you can grab as many Gods as possible with the “No Escape” ability.

Related: Best Hunter Gods In SMITE (2022)

Here’s a cheesy build for fun in Arena, with which you can have a blast with your friends if they are on board:

1. Sentinel’s Gift (Gold gain!)
2. Chronos’ Pendant (20% CDR and passive that further reduces the cooldowns constantly)
3. Spear of Desolation (10% CDR and passive that further reduces the cooldowns when you get kills and assists in a team fight)
4. Pythagorem’s Piece (10% CDR and passive that gives a good deal of damage)
5. Genji’s Guard (10% CDR and passive that occasionally reduces your cooldowns by a few seconds)
6. Relic Dagger (10% CDR and passive that reduces your Blink cooldown so that it can follow all that sweet sweet cooldown reduction you are abusing for your Ultimate)

Related: Mechanics and Quality of Life Changes in SMITE Patch 9.7

Yes, we are aware that the Cooldown Reduction cap is at 40%, but passives from these items are too good to pass up. Once you get the show going, you will be using your Ulti way too often and the pressure on the enemy team will be immense. You will force them to save Purification Beads for you, and any CC Immune abilities that they might have, which makes them unable to use them at will against your other team members which of course, results in their sub-optimal performance during the match.

If you keep catching at least three enemy Gods with every “No Escape” you’ll do fine with this build. Even if you get focused by the enemies you’ll still be able to survive long enough because of Guardian scaling. And once again, if they wasted everything on you, there are fewer things they can use against your teammates, and you’ve already fired off your Ultimate successfully, so it’s irrelevant if you live or die at that point – they failed to prevent your evil doings.

That’s it for this guide! Make sure to check out our other SMITE articles under the game tag below.