Athena

Here you go, feel free to ask if something's unclear.

# Building

##General

For builds, check [this page](http://www.smite.guru). While building in Smite is very situational, grappul offers a nice basic build that off of which
you can base your own, optimized build. If you want me to go into details on a certain item / on all of them simply say so and I will.

##Useful items

**CDR:** Appart from the normal support builds Athena really profits from CDR. Her CDs are quite long and having your 2 up faster really helps.

###Skills
##Skilling
Keep in mind that everyone has their own preferences and that the "best" way to skill is the one that best suits your playstyle. There are, however, some basic guidelines that are worth following, which are what I'll try to list below.
###Priority

3>1>2>4 / 3/2>3/2>1>4

Depends who you're up against. Normally I go for my 3 and 1 first for damage, the additional points in 2 aren't really needed most of the time, but if
you're up against very good enemies you're probably better off leveling your 3 and 2 equally.

##Reach

Good for poke or keeping enemies in combat mode (so they can't use blink / back to base).

##Preemptive Strike

Amazing ability. As it goes through minions it allows you to help with clearing (walk behind the minions, dash back to your adc) or chase despite there being minions in her way (so you wont be blocked by them as other supports would.) Additionally, it also has
a slow, which helps with chasing. The passive on your 1 is very underestimated; it allows you to get close to an enemy (especially and adc or asssasin) witouth taking too much damage because you can ignore
one of their basic attacks. If you combine that with your tankiness, you get a God who can not only survive, but also keep the enemy there until her team arrives, all the while dealing out nice dmg with her passive & 3 combo.

##Confound

2s taunt at max rank, what else is there to say? It has a default CD of 18 secs but can be lowered by building CDR. It has incredible teamfight potential, can pull enemies into already existing CC (e.g. Hun Batz's ult) or in the path of oncoming (e.g. Kkk's ult). You can also make enemies waste their skills as you turn them around and force them to attack, rather than just freezing them in place / knocking them up, like other guardians.
On top of all that it's great peel and, combined with your ult, helps saving teammates.

##Shield Wall

Nice poke ability. Does a surprising amount of dmg. The second strike isdoes more dmg than the initial one. Check the sections "Tipps" for more info on that.

##Defender of the Olympus##

Amazing ability! It allows you to be omnipresent and thus protecting your whole team at the same time. Combine that with your 2 and any one of your allies becomes a 3 vs 1 capable deathmachine.
Your ult not only makes it possible for your teammates to survive fights they would not otherwise, but helps you getting around the map.

# Tips

###Your Passive
Your passive not only gives you a ranged attack, but also adds 25% magical damage on top. Seeing as it activates everytime you use a skill anways,
it's basically free poke. Make sure to use it either to help your ADC with clearing or to poke the enemy Gods.

###Use your 1 to help clear

Earlygame, your 1 is a wonderful ability to help your ADC clear. If the enemy isn't pressuring you too much, walk around the back of the wave and dash through it. Due to the passive on your 1 you should be ok.

####Passive on your 1

Use the passive on your 1. Combine this with your normal passive and you get the ability to constantly poke the enemy without taking damage yourself. It might not seem like much, but over the duration of a whole match it does rack up a lot of damage.

####Your 1 has a slow
Your 1 slows. Remember this when chasing after enemies or if you have to peel when your 2 is on CD.

###Use your taunt intelligently
A lot of people waste Athena's 2 by constantly spamming it when it's off CD. With your slow and your 3 you can do quite a lot of damage so don't spamm your 2 in teamfights to hit your 3 but use in combination with your teammates skills.

###The second hit on your 3 does more damage
The secondary hit on your 3 does more damage than the initial one. Good Athena players use this to their advantage.

###Use your 3 to zone
While your 3 isn't the best zoning ability there is, it still does a decent chunk of damage and especially earlygame people wont want to walk into it just to chase someone.

###Combo
As mentioned above, the second hit of your 3 does more dmg than the first one. Remember this when using taunting them into it. Deploy your 3 before you taunt them into it: not only can you taunt them in for the second, stronger hit but if done correctly you can also hit them with the inital one simply by being close enough.


###Map awareness
It's always important to keep an eye on the map, but even more so if you're playing Athena. Due to her ult's rotation potential it's crucial
that you're constantly checking your map and always aware of the enemies' positions.

###Don't forget the additional defences on your ult
I don't see people using this enough. Your ult is not only a teleport or free damage, it also gives your team mate additional protections. This can definitely save your team mate if used correctly. If the enemy team focuses your one of your team mates it's not wrong to ult on him even if you're close. You'll give him additional protections and people stopp focusing someone with an incoming Athena ult simply because they're scared.

###Your Ult
Don't be scared of using your ult preemtively; if you see 3 people rotation to your solo laner ult him before they get to him so he can escape while you keep peel them off him. Your ult also allows you to back where other supports can't (e.g. you just won a fight and your team is going towards firegiant while you're at very low health, you can back and ult in), so in some cases it's worth using your ult just so you can get back to full health.