Players of Smite who want a more hands-on approach with their Mage would appreciate Freya. In Hi-Rez's action-packed MOBA, Freya retains her status as the Queen of the Valkyries. However, alongside her devastating sword lies a penchant for boosting her attacks with various effects. Essentially, a slash from Freya's sword can hit targets in front of her, away from her, and even send her enemies to the skies. Unlike other Mages, Freya's kit depends on her combat encounters. In turn, some fans might find her a bit overwhelming to use.
Moreover, newcomers to Freya's kit might find it hard to balance her hands-on abilities to her fragile nature. As a Mage, she's naturally squishy and prone to damaging effects. However, players who avoid some key mistakes can maximize Freya's abilities.
Freya: Queen Of Valkyries
Amongst all members of Smite's huge roster of Gods, it's perhaps Freya that has one of the more unique gameplay styles that diverges away from character trends. Essentially, despite her status as a Mage, Freya needs to be in the frontlines to ensure that her rotations work and her abilities get maximized.
In terms of her kit, Freya relies on abilities that boost her basic attack while buffing her as she maintains her position in melee. At first glance, this does make Freya seem like a double-edged sword. However, players who get to understand the synergy of her abilities can make her into a lethal weapon.
Why Play Freya?
Essentially, Freya boasts an easy-access kit that heavily relies on basic attacks. In turn, Freya players don't necessarily need to memorize complex ability relationships. Rather, Freya's builds simply need to make sure she's getting her basic attacks in as frequently as possible. Other benefits include:
Wave-clear potential is outstanding. Thanks to her abilities, Freya has a great potential to clear wave after wave, especially in mid. If the timing is right, her rotation can consistently wipe out waves and still give her time to retreat and recuperate - perfect for defensive positions.
Great single-target damage. Unlike other Mages, Freya needs to spend more time in the frontlines to build up her damage numbers. In that regard, she has a lot of potential to work with an ADC build. With the right targeting, her attacks can pose a serious threat to any single target, especially against other Mages.
Powerful boxing potential for teamplay. Due to the effects of her attacks, Freya can easily corner Gods who unfortunately have to cross blades with her. Moreover, her innate lifesteal allows her to stay in the fight much longer whereas other Mages would've already retreated.
Why Avoid Freya?
Sadly, despite her potential in melee, Freya does have a weak stature given her status as a Mage. Moreover, Freya doesn't have a lot to offer the team during the beginning stages of the match - meaning players need to build her momentum carefully and consistently to pay off in the midgame and the endgame. Here are other considerations:
Glass cannon at the beginning. Sadly, while she does have her strengths in melee, she still shares the frail stature of Mages. Especially before she unlocks her Ult, Freya will likely be a sitting duck in early play. Unless players know how to keep her distance and time her attacks properly, Freya can feed her opponents.
Aim is crucial. Given her reliance on basic attacks, Freya players do need to master their aim. That way, they can make the most out of the attacks that hit their opponents. This is unlike most Mages who generally have stronger AOE attacks.
Escape is dangerously missing. Unlike other Mages, Freya doesn't have an innate escape ability. Rather, her Ult also serves as her primary escape ability. In turn, players need to be warier with regards to what battles they face, as a team fight that turns sour can spell death for Freya.
The Kit: Pulse Away!
As mentioned, Freya's kit relies on dealing as many effects as possible with basic attacks. In turn, Freya's kit enables her to be in the frontlines and even become an active part of an exchange in team fights. This makes Freya quite an ideal Mage to challenge beginners.
With the proper setup, Freya can become a devastating part of the battlefield - especially once players get a full understanding of her skills. Here are skills that Freya offers her players:
Brisingamen's Blessing (Passive)
Thanks to Brisingamen's Blessing (Passive), Freya receives additional Magical Lifesteal of 10-percent + 0.25-percent every level. She can have a maximum of additional 15-percent in Magical Lifesteal.
Unlike other Passives, this is extremely straightforward. In essence, a built-in lifesteal ability is always a huge boost to a God's sustain. Moreover, since Freya relies largely on the boosts of her basic attacks, the Magical Lifesteal component easily ensures her attacks heal a bit of her HP. This advantage also means that Freya could forego getting a lifesteal item should the need to delay arise.
Of course, players should also remember that AOE attacks do lessen the lifesteal that a God obtains.
Irradiate (Skill 1)
With Irradiate (S1), Freya will imbue her basic attacks with additional Magical Damage. In terms of general use, Irradiate (S1) allows Freya to do more burst damage against multiple foes, with 25-percent scaling.
Rank Order: L4/L8/L11/L12/L14
Damage Per Rank: 40/55/70/85/100 per attack
Duration: 5 seconds
Cooldown: 11 seconds
At its core, Irradiate (S1) works best as a complementary buff instead of being a buff on its own. In terms of combos, Irradiate (S1) can boost the impact of Pulse (S2) in terms of ranged attacks against various opponents.
However, Freya can consider Irradiate (S1) as it is in order to use less Mana to finish off minions and jungle camps without the need to proc Pulse.
Pulse (S2)
With Pulse (S2), Freya imbues her basic attack to have a further range. Additionally, these attacks now deal additional Magical Damage as well as a slow effect that affects nearby enemies. Players need to consider Pulse (S2) as the Irradiate (S1) effect will cancel out this skill's area and slow effect.
Rank Order: L1/L3/L6/L7/L10
Damage Per Rank: 20/30/40/50/60 per attack
Duration: 6 seconds
Cooldown: 11 seconds
Pulse (S2) works not just as a ranged attack, but also as a handy slow mechanic against opponents. Its primary target will receive a 25-percent slowing effect that spreads to nearby enemies. In turn, proper positioning can make Pulse (S2) quite the efficient boxing ability.
Interestingly, despite the temptation to use Pulse (S2), Freya should use Irradiate (S1) to clear minions so she can always trigger Pulse (S2) whenever she needs to face a God from a distance.
Banish (S3)
Freya can further diversify her play with Banish (S3), an ability that lets her "banish" opponents in the air, barring them from doing actions and getting hit. At its core, Banish (S3) is more or less a controlling tool that gives Freya a split-second to reevaluate her options.
Rank Order: L2/L15/L17/L18/L19
Duration: 1.5 seconds
Cooldown Per Rank: 19/18/17/16/15 seconds
Due to the situational use of this ability, players should rank Banish (S3) last. Additionally, its small area of effect means there's a challenge to proc this skill in the first place. However, Freya players who expertly do this can give her and the team 1.5 seconds to setup an attack or escape to safety.
However, players should remember that Banish (S3) does make enemies invulnerable to damage as well. As such, Freya should only use this if the team is still preparing their combos - as Banish (S3) can easily force the team to waste their valuable attacks.
Valkyrie's Discretion (Ultimate)
Freya showcases her regal splendor with Valkyrie's Discretion (Ultimate), an ability that allows her to fly over the battlefield while firing powerful bursts of magic towards enemies.
Additionally, Freya cannot be hit or targeted while she's fully ascended. In turn, Valkyrie's Discretion (Ult) can become a great escape tool, as well as AOE damage in team fights.
Rank Order: L5/L9/L13/L17/L20
Damage (Per Blast) Per Rank: 90/125/160/195/230 + 35-percent of Magical Power, maximum of 360/500/640/780/920 +40-percent Magical Power.
Duration: 3.6 seconds
Cooldown: 90 seconds
A lot of players might simply look at Valkyrie's Discretion (Ult) for the added bonus to Freya's ranged abilities. After all, Freya can dish out four AOE blasts for devastating damage. However, players should also consider this ability's escape potential. Remember, this Ult provides her immunity to crowd control, which allows her to escape tight situations.
Moreover, given Freya's lack of jumping or teleportation, this Ult might be her best shot at escaping a deadly team fight.
The Play: The ADC Mage
Interestingly, as her abilities might show, Freya has a penchant to stay close in melee to ensure her basic attacks hit and achieve more significant impact in the battlefield. Due to her reliance to basic attacks, Freya's playstyle makes her extremely similar to a Hunter. With the right build, Freya can specialize in dispatching opponents quickly and can ascend to deal some of the highest damage numbers in the endgame - opposite the Assassin who shines in the early game.
Likewise, this leaning towards the Hunter makes Freya very suitable for Carry and ADC builds. Despite her squishy nature, Freya's abilities can help single out opponents and dish out a lot of damage while waiting for other teammates to finish the job. Here's how players could generally play her:
The Valkyrie's Assault: Combos To Consider
Unlike other Gods, Freya doesn't necessarily have a go-to combo. However, her kit does have some important considerations, especially whenever Freya has to fight substantial enemies other than mobs. When facing jungle camps and other Gods, Freya needs to think like a Hunter like Neith and consider the following:
Core Combo: Pulse (S2), Irradiate (S1), which essentially allows Freya to deal ranged damage first before closing in on higher damage numbers. If possible, try to get at least one hit with Pulse (S2) to begin applying the Slow effect before proccing Irradiate for the extra damage.
No escape: Banish (S3), which essentially means Freya can activate Banish (S3) after an initial S2-S1 combo to prevent an enemy from escaping. This allows Freya to reposition herself to a safer distance in order to repeat the Core Combo.
Valkyrie's finisher: Valkyrie's Discretion (Ult), which Freya should reserve as a killing move, or at least give her time to retreat to a safer distance should the need arise.
The Early Game: A Sitting Duck
Given how Valkyrie's Discretion (Ult) forms a huge role in terms of Freya's escape capabilities, it's important to build Freya slowly in the beginning portions of the game. Sadly, this does mean Freya tends to be extremely fragile in the first five levels, especially since she has no viable means of escape and her melee-focused abilities means she has to risk her life early on without viable opportunities to counter.
However, once Freya hits that Level 5 mark and gets her Ult, that's when the power spike starts to hit. Thanks to Valkyrie's Discretion (Ult), Freya will get a more suitable means to try to gank unfortunate opponents or even have a viable escape in early-level team fights.
The Mid Game: Maintain The Routine
Essentially, Freya should maintain a routine as she keeps on protecting the Mid Lane during the mid game. As mentioned above, her primary combo should be activating Pulse (S2) and then wait for the slow effect to take effect before boosting her damage with Irradiate (S1). She can also dish out Banish (S3) to create distance between her and a God so she can escape.
Even without Banish (S3), it's advisable for Freya to constantly proc S2-S1 and then run back for protection. Despite the rather repetitive nature of this routine, this does help Freya slowly build her sets properly.
In addition, due to her melee-focused abilities, she can easily secure a few Jungle camps every now and then while maintaining position.
The Late Game: Good Offense, Great Defense
By the time Freya reaches the endgame, the likelier she'd get equipped to face off against solo opponents or even actively contribute in team fights. Thanks to the offensive nature of her abilities, she can easily help engagements by providing decent AOE (Valkyrie's Discretion) or even a chance to regroup (Banish).
For the most part, Freya can just as always maintain the defense on her lane or even go for the aggro on the clear while she lets the rest of the team focus on the team fights. Thanks to her efficient lane clear and AOE threat, she can easily threaten enemies into a retreat.
Likewise, Freya can just as always participate in team fights to procc her basic attack abilities. Her lifesteal can help her outlast most opponents, and her Valkyrie's Discretion can be a last-minute tool to save her out of dangerous engagements.
The Build: Back To Basics
Given Freya' reliance on lifesteal and capitalization on basic attacks, her build needs to focus on items that enable her to maximize these components. Essentially, Freya needs to have a great sustain via lifesteal and proc her basic attack abilities much faster with attack speed. Here are some considerations for her build:
Effective Starting Items
In terms of starting items, Freya needs to have a means of building her damage or even lifesteal on the get-go. As such, here are items she needs to procure:
Vampiric Shroud (into Sacrificial Shroud): This item gives Freya an early opportunity to capitalize on her lifesteal. By the time she upgrades Vampiric Shroud into Sacrificial Shroud, she can tremendously increase her damage while getting a bit of a health risk.
Gilded Arrow (into Diamond Arrow): This item necessitates the idea that Freya has to farm early and consistently in order to tap into this item's benefits. By the time this gets upgraded into Diamond Arrow, Freya will receive huge attack speed buffs that can make her into a deadly Mage/Hunter hybrid.
Death's Toll (into Death's Temper): One progression build for Death's Toll is to make it into Death's Temper. This sacrifices a bit of attack speed into a ton of basic attack damage, allowing Freya to capitalize on buffs based on stacks she can easily procure from kills.
Death's Toll (into Death's Embrace): An alternative build for Death's Toll is to create Death's Embrace, a massive lifesteal upgrade that gives Freya some degree of immunity against anti-heal effects.
Attack Speed Items
Aside from her starting items, Freya needs to build her attack speed in order to ensure the consistency of her damage potential. With that in mind, she can always build these items:
Telkhines Ring: This item is perhaps Freya's best companion when it comes to boosting her basic attack damage. Given its straightforward benefit, it's very likely helpful to build this later on.
Demonic Grip: This item is great when it comes to penetration, or reducing protections. It has high DPS potential and is a great item to add for any offensive fighter for the mid-game.
Hastened Ring: This item gives Freya as light movement boost when doing basic attacks. That means Freya has more opportunity to dance around and move around while attacking - giving her plenty of room to escape if needed.
Relic Essentials
In terms of Relics, Freya needs to have reliable Relics that can help her get out of stick situations - especially due to her lack of any mobility skill:
Heavenly Wings: Despite its efficiency, it does work best in certain situations. Freya should get this if the enemy has a lot of slowing abilities. It's recommended that Freya should also get this for its Haste effect, as it works great with Hastened Ring's CD boost.
Magic Shell: Good defense always works, and Magic Shell can provide Freya with enough defense to protect herself against basic attacks.
Aegis Amulet and Purification Beads: When in doubt, these two items work great as Relic tandems. The anti-burst of Aegis Amulet can help Freya defend against pesky damage numbers, while Purification Beads can help Freya escape even the stickiest of situations.