Smite Chang’e god guide: Wicked grace or graceful wickedness?

Don’t you hate it when the battlefield becomes so violent that no one pauses for tea or a bit of interpretive dancing? “Well no more!” said Hi-Rez Studios. They’ve implemented Chang’e, the Faerie of the Moon. She’s not much of a tank, and isn’t really a fighter. In fact, she doesn’t even have a voice. What she does have is amazing sustain, an incredibly manly bunny, and a moveset that will literally entrance you if you aren’t careful. Every move  she does flows into the next, both in mechanics and visuals. And it must be said, if any god was to be Fluttershy, it’d probably be her. Also, she’s pronounced Jan’guh because Chinese. Just sayin’.

When played, she’s usually in the support role because her damage output is lacking and all of her abilities assist those around her in one way or another. Basically, think of her the same as Aphrodite. They’re about the same, except that Chang’e does slightly more damage and loses in mobility. She is incredibly slow and has no Oh-Crap-buttons, so play carefully and don’t get caught out of position. Still, she’s an amazing god and  fairly balanced, unlike most other gods were right after their release.

Abilities

Chang’e’s passive is called Jade Rabbit. Her little pet bunny, which I will call Angel in the following for no reason at all, allows her store access wherever she is. There’s no real cooldown on it and the range is infinite, Angel just has to run to the store and back. It is an amazing ability that combines with her others to give her no reason to recall. It allows you to gain power as gold allows, rather than in waves like with all other gods. Using it takes a bit of practice though, since you’ll be browsing the shop while in lane.

Never forget that you are not safe, and never spend more than a few seconds at a time without keeping tabs on what’s going on. Chang’e also gains a brief +25% movement speed buff and removed backpedal penalty whenever she casts an ability. It does about as little as it sounds like, but she’d be much worse off without it.

Crescent Moon is her first ability. It deals damage to enemies in a cone in front of her, with a mere 4 second cooldown. It’ll usually hurt a wave just enough that your partner can get in a lot of easy last hits.  It also hits any enemy gods caught in the cone for a ton of damage. That being said, it’s more or less her only offensive capability and its range is puny. Best to just Run dance into range, cast it, and back off again. It’s pokeatastic, being essentially He Bo’s water cannon, except with less watery old dudes and more grace. It also gives some her and all nearby allies physical protection, which is useful for escaping minion fire once you’ve drawn aggro. It  deals a lot of damage, so max it first.

For evasion, Chang’e sports Moonlit Waltz. Using it makes you briefly invulnerable to everything, including crowd control, and any damage that you would have taken instead restores mana to you and nearby allies. Unlike Aphrodite’s ultimate though, you can’t activate the Waltz while under the effects of hard CC, and you need to click to confirm before it goes off. Also, the mana reg is more of a discount, unless you go and literally dance around in the ultimates of Ao Kuang or Anubis. Speaking of which, if you see one going off and need mana, it is hilarious to do so. Grab it at level 4 and max it last. Leveling it only reduces the cooldown from 13 seconds to at best 8. Not worth it.

Moonflower Twirl is Chang’e’s third ability. Upon using it, she’ll spread healing on and around her, gaining an additional 50% of the effect for herself for each friendly god she heals. Yes, you can get up to 300% of the amount for yourself. Yes, that is indeed a crapton of health. Since Chang’e is both very squishy and the queen of sustain, she desperately needs it, too. If any enemies get caught in the radius, they will receive only 50% healing for 4 seconds afterwards. Sort of a random bonus, but when you can use it (i.e. before somebody pops Meditation in your face) you’ll appreciate it. Put the first point in it at level 2 for sustain and max it second.

Her ultimate is called Waxing Moon. Chang’e fires a bar straight ahead of her that moves so fast it’s almost impossible to avoid. It deals huge amounts of damage to anyone caught in it, stuns them for 1 second plus another second for each god that got hit prior. If you hit three people with it, the first to be hit would be stunned for 1 second, the second for 2, and the third for 3, and so on. It cuts a good chunk of damage off enemy HP bars and sets up a stun that’ll guarantee your team some much need time to grasp victory. As usual, your ultimate takes precedence over any other abilities.

For reference, the usual skill order for Chang’e is 1-3-1-2-4-1-1-3-4-1-3-3-4-3-2-2-4-2-2-4.

Items

Since you’ll always want to be laning with somebody else, Watcher’s Gift should be your first item of choice. As a dedicated support player, let me just briefly praise Watcher’s Gift for being really really awesome. It does literally everything you want as a support while staying relevant later on in the match. Most importantly, it allows you to double your last hit bonus, ensuring that you and your partner will stay on par.

With Watcher’s Gift bought, you’ll have 700 gold to spare. Invest into tier 1 Shoes and two Mana Potions. When finishing the Shoes, opt for Shoes of the Magi. Chang’e doesn’t need more CDR than we’ll be getting later on anyway, and penetration will help her do damage. As soon as you have the money, send off Angel to fetch you Meditation. With that active, you should have no problems staying in your lane forever. Level Meditation whenever you have spare money, and pick Meditation as its final rank.

After finishing Shoes, what you buy should depend mostly on the situation at hand. Basically, build Chang’e about the same way you would build Aphrodite. Getting Kronos’ Pendant will never hurt. The only thing better than short cooldowns are shorter cooldowns, and its stats will help you do what you must. If you need defense right away, you can get a Void Stone (choosing the actual Void Stone, remember that you’re a support) or a Wall of Absolution as your third item, depending on what ways you’re getting spanked. Their offensive potential isn’t terrible, but they aren’t necessary if you’re feeling confident. If you do build one of them, get Kronos’ Pendant directly afterwards. If you build the Pendant third, get one of those defensive items as your fourth.

Somewhere in between starting your third item and finishing the fourth, you should also get a second active item. Personally, I’ve had a lot of success with Purification Beads. People expect you to die in the CC they throw at you, so Beads-ing and then using Moonlit Waltz to juke it out of there can easily save your life. If you aren’t in high danger of dying in CC, any defensive active will do, though.

Since you’re a support, the game shouldn’t drag on long enough to allow you to buy more than 4 items. If it does however, Gem of Isolation has never failed anyone, and Chang’e can definitely use it. It does not function with your heal though since it doesn’t deal damage. You can also build additional protection, and should do so if you feel your life is in danger and/or for the sixth slot. If you’re feeling safe as a rooster in the Shire, you can also finish your build off with a Rod of Tahuti, because laser-y death is magic. Alternatively, Chang’e is a high candidate for a Polynomicon as you could at best be casting abilities by the global cooldown, thus you’ll throw autoattacks of about the same force as a minor tactical nuke.

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