Chronos, the Keeper of Time, is a powerful mid-laner in SMITE, known for manipulating time to control battles. His abilities offer strategic advantages, making him a formidable opponent in team fights with sustain and mobility.
Chronos’ Lore and Role in SMITE
Chronos, the Keeper of Time, is a mysterious god who manipulates time to alter the flow of battle. As a mid-laner, he excels at controlling team fights with his ultimate ability, Stop Time, and strategic use of cooldown resets. His lore revolves around his role as a timeless guardian, ensuring balance and order in the universe. Players leveraging his abilities can dominate matches through precise timing and sustained damage output, making him a versatile and powerful pick in competitive play.
Chronos’ Key Abilities and Gameplay Mechanics
Chronos manipulates time to reset cooldowns and restore health/mana. His abilities include Stop Time, Time Rift, and cooldown resets, making him a dominant force in team fights.
3.1. Stop Time (Ultimate Ability)
Chronos’ ultimate, Stop Time, allows him to rewind 8 seconds, restoring health and mana to their previous values. All cooldowns reset instantly, enabling immediate re-engagement or escape, making it a game-changing ability in clashed and team fights.
3.2. Time Rift and Its Impact on Team Fights
Time Rift creates a temporal anomaly, dealing damage and slowing enemies. It is crucial in team fights, as it zones enemies and disrupts their positioning. Chronos can use Time Rift to control key areas, such as objectives or high ground, forcing enemies into unfavorable positions. This ability synergizes well with Stop Time, allowing Chronos to capitalize on the chaos created. Proper placement of Time Rift can turn the tide of a battle, making it a cornerstone of Chronos’ strategic playstyle.
3.3. Cooldown Reset and Mana/Health Restoration
Chronos’ ability to reset cooldowns and restore mana and health is a game-changer. By traveling back in time, he regains resources and resets all cooldowns, enabling aggressive plays and sustaining him in prolonged fights. This mechanic allows Chronos to maintain pressure in lane and team fights, ensuring he can consistently contribute damage and utility. Proper use of this ability can turn around engagements and extend his effectiveness in battle, making it a cornerstone of his kit.
Best Chronos Builds for Different Modes
Chronos excels in various modes with builds tailored to maximize his damage and utility. Arena focuses on attack speed and lifesteal, while Conquest balances damage and utility, and Joust emphasizes agility and burst damage. Each build adapts to his role, ensuring effectiveness in different playstyles and game scenarios.
4.1. Arena Build: Maximizing Attack Speed and Lifesteal
The Arena build focuses on maximizing Chronos’ attack speed and lifesteal for sustained damage in intense fights. Core items like Nimble Bancroft and Bloodforge enhance attack speed and provide lifesteal, while Qin’s Sais boosts physical power. This setup allows Chronos to maintain a high level of aggression, making him a formidable opponent in the Arena’s fast-paced environment. Situational items like Deathbringer or The Crusher can further amplify damage output;
4.2. Conquest Build: Balanced Damage and Utility
The Conquest build emphasizes a balance between damage and utility, making Chronos versatile in lane and team fights. Core items include Pendulum of Ages for sustained damage and Doom Orb for magical power. Sands of Time provides early-game sustain, while Divine Ruin counters healing enemies. This build ensures Chronos remains a consistent threat without sacrificing defensive capabilities, allowing him to adapt to various team compositions and strategies in Conquest mode.
4.3. Joust Build: Agile and High-Damage Setup
The Joust build focuses on agility and high-damage output, making Chronos a formidable duelist. Core items include Nimble Bancroft for attack speed and mobility, paired with Bumba’s Dagger for critical strikes. Polynomicon enhances burst potential, while lifesteal items like Bloodforge ensure sustainability. This setup emphasizes quick rotations, aggressive engages, and picking off enemies, making Chronos excel in Joust’s fast-paced, high-stakes environment.
Essential Starting Items for Chronos
Chronos should start with Healing Potion, Mana Potion, Spellbook, Sands of Time, and Purification Beads to ensure sustain and utility in the early game.
5.1. Healing Potion, Mana Potion, and Spellbook
These starting items provide essential sustain and utility for Chronos. Healing Potion restores health, allowing Chronos to stay in lane longer. Mana Potion replenishes mana, ensuring he can use abilities frequently. Spellbook offers early magical power and cooldown reduction, enhancing his ability to manipulate time effectively. Together, these items help Chronos maintain a strong early-game presence, enabling him to harass enemies and secure last hits efficiently.
5.2. Sands of Time and Purification Beads
Sands of Time and Purification Beads are crucial starting items for Chronos. Sands of Time provides early cooldown reduction and mana sustain, allowing Chronos to use his abilities more frequently. Purification Beads offers protection against crowd control, ensuring Chronos can escape unfavorable situations. Together, these items enhance Chronos’ early-game mobility and survivability, making him a more formidable opponent in lane and team fights. They are essential for maximizing his time manipulation abilities and maintaining pressure in the early stages of the game.
Chronos’ Combo and Rotation
Chronos’ combo revolves around AA ⏤ Stop Time ⎻ AA ⏤ Time Rift, maximizing damage and control. This sequence chunks enemies effectively, especially with high attack speed, making him a potent threat in lane and team fights.
6.1. Basic Combo: AA ⎻ Stop Time ⏤ AA ⏤ Time Rift
Chronos’ basic combo starts with Auto Attacks (AA) to engage, followed by activating Stop Time to freeze enemies. During the time freeze, unleash additional AA for quick damage. Immediately after, cast Time Rift to deal area damage and confirm the kill. This sequence is effective for bursting squishy targets and setting up team fights, making it a fundamental part of Chronos’ kit in lane and skirmishes.
6.2. Advanced Rotations for Max Damage Output
Advanced rotations for Chronos involve chaining abilities to maximize burst damage and control. Start with Time Rift to initiate, then use Stop Time to freeze enemies in place. During the freeze, auto-attack repeatedly, leveraging high attack speed to deal massive damage. After the freeze ends, cast Time Rift again to secure kills and zone enemies effectively. This rotation is particularly devastating in team fights, allowing Chronos to dominate with precise timing and ability coordination.
Late Game Strategy and Itemization
In the late game, Chronos should focus on completing core items like Pendulum of Ages and Doom Orb. Situational items such as Polynomicon and Divine Ruin provide additional utility. Prioritize attack speed and ability power to enhance damage output, while ensuring sufficient mana sustain for consistent rotations.
7.1. Core Items: Pendulum of Ages and Doom Orb
Pendulum of Ages is a staple for Chronos, offering attack speed, ability power, and mana sustain, enhancing his auto-attacks and ability usage. Doom Orb provides additional ability power and health, scaling with his offensive capabilities. Together, these items maximize Chronos’ damage output while ensuring he remains a durable threat in late-game team fights. Their combined effects allow Chronos to maintain pressure and secure kills consistently.
7.2. situational Items: Polynomicon and Divine Ruin
7.2. Situational Items: Polynomicon and Divine Ruin
Polynomicon is ideal against enemies with high magical defense, amplifying ability damage and solving mana issues. Divine Ruin counters healing-based opponents, dealing extra damage over time. Both items adapt Chronos to specific matchups, ensuring flexibility in late-game scenarios. Polynomicon enhances his ability damage, while Divine Ruin punishes healing-heavy teams, making them versatile choices depending on the enemy composition and strategic needs.
Mastering Chronos’ Time Manipulation
Chronos’ time manipulation abilities allow players to control the battlefield, reset cooldowns, and manage resources effectively, making him a versatile and powerful pick in strategic team fights.
8.1. Using Stop Time Effectively in Team Fights
Stop Time is Chronos’ ultimate ability, allowing him to rewind 8 seconds, restoring health, mana, and resetting cooldowns. Use it to turn team fights around by reviving allies, escaping danger, or re-engaging with refreshed abilities. Timing is crucial—activate it during critical moments to maximize impact and disrupt enemy strategies; This ability synergizes well with Time Rift, enabling prolonged pressure and control over the battlefield.
8.2. Managing Cooldowns and Time Rift Placement
Chronos excels at managing cooldowns, as his Stop Time ability resets them instantly. Use this to reposition, re-engage, or escape dangerous situations. Time Rift creates a temporal anomaly, slowing enemies and aiding allies. Place it in high-traffic areas or during team fights to maximize impact. Coordinate with teammates to capitalize on the slow effect, securing kills and disrupting enemy movements. Proper placement and timing of Time Rift can turn the tide of battle in your favor, especially when combined with Stop Time.
Tips for Playing Chronos in Different Roles
Chronos excels as a mid-lane carry due to his time manipulation and sustain. In jungle or support roles, his abilities provide strong initiation and team protection.
9.1. Chronos as a Mid-Lane Carry
Chronos thrives as a mid-lane carry, leveraging his time manipulation to dominate minion waves and roam effectively. His ultimate ability, Stop Time, allows him to turn fights instantly, while Time Rift enhances his mobility and initiation. With strong sustain from his passive, Chronos can harass enemies relentlessly and scale into a late-game powerhouse. Focus on building attack speed and lifesteal to maximize his auto-attacks and ability rotations. Properly timing his abilities ensures consistent pressure and impactful team fights.
9.2. Chronos as a Jungle or Support
While less common, Chronos can excel in jungle or support roles due to his versatile kit. In the jungle, his cooldown reset and sustain allow for efficient clears and gank potential. As a support, his ultimate provides crucial utility, locking down enemies and protecting allies. Time Rift can disrupt enemy movements, while his passive offers sustain in skirmishes. Building situational items like Purification Beads or Polynomicon enhances his utility, making him a flexible pick in coordinated team compositions and strategic rotations.
Advanced Tips and Tricks
Optimize attack speed and auto-attacks for maximum damage output. Utilize glyphs for cooldown reduction and enhanced abilities to improve effectiveness in team fights and rotations.
10.1. Optimizing Attack Speed and Auto-Attacks
Maximizing attack speed is crucial for Chronos, as it enhances his ability to deal rapid consecutive attacks. Items like Nimble Bancroft and Attack Speed Boots are essential for achieving high AS. Pairing these with lifesteal items ensures sustainability during prolonged fights. Additionally, leveraging his ultimate ability Stop Time allows for uninterrupted auto-attacks, making him a formidable damage dealer in team engagements. Balancing AS with other stats ensures optimal performance in various game modes.
10.2. Utilizing Glyphs for CDR and Enhanced Abilities
Glyphs play a pivotal role in enhancing Chronos’ effectiveness. Cooldown reduction (CDR) glyphs, such as Glyph of Celerity or Glyph of Focus, allow for more frequent use of abilities like Stop Time and Time Rift. Additionally, glyphs that enhance ability damage or attack speed further amplify his combat potential. By incorporating these, Chronos gains improved sustainability and versatility, making him a more formidable opponent in both aggressive and defensive playstyles across all game modes.
Chronos is a versatile and powerful god in SMITE, excelling in both aggressive and defensive playstyles. His ability to manipulate time offers unique strategic advantages, making him a valuable asset in team fights. With proper itemization and mastery of his abilities, Chronos can dominate in various modes like Arena, Conquest, and Joust. While his mechanics require practice, his rewarding gameplay makes him a favorite among experienced players. Keep experimenting with builds and strategies to fully unlock his potential.