- Chernobog Build Ideas - July 13, 2022
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Chernobog is a hunter with abilities that offer great utility in the duo lane and late-game fights. With his attack speed buff, bonus damage, root, escape, and global ultimate, he is a great addition to any team. The current meta for hunter builds also works well with Chernobog. I had fun testing out these Chernobog build ideas.
This build meshes power, attack speed, lifesteal, and critical strikes. Those are just about everything I want on a hunter. I am building a little differently now since Devourer’s Gauntlet and Gilded Arrow recently got nerfed. This is a high-cost, late-game build that gives quick buffed bursts of powerful basic attacks.
Let’s dive into the standard Chernobog build, then I’ll get into some fun alternative builds.
Standard Build
These are the key items in the build, but I will also discuss a few alternatives for specific items in the build.
- Leather Cowl (upgraded into Hunter’s Cowl)
- Transcendence (Evolved Transcendence)
- Atalanta’s Bow
- Silverbranch Bow
- Wind Demon
- Envenomed Deathbringer
A couple of weeks ago, all I saw was Gilded Arrow and Devourer’s Gauntlet. Now that they were nerfed, everyone is trying to see what to use instead of those two items. I did well with this build.
Chernobog (and most hunters) thrive with attack speed. This build gets attack speed going, but the Transcendence means that the early game will be a little less strong. Thankfully, it helps dominate in the late game. The lifesteal in the Leather Cowl and Atalanta’s Bow helped me to survive.
Then, building critical chance items rounds everything out with massive damage. Landing critical hits will make good use of the power from Transcendence and the passive on the Silverbranch bow. At the end of the game, I was blowing people up.
Starter Item: Leather Cowl
- Cost – 700 (1500 for Hunter’s Cowl at level 20)
- +15 Physical Power
- +5 MP5
- +7% Physical Lifesteal
- +7% Attack Speed
Passive – While you are within 55 units of an allied god you gain 10% Attack Speed. If you are alone you instead gain 5% Movement Speed. Can be upgraded at level 20.
Leather Cowl is making a comeback. It gives Chernobog a little bit of everything he needs. I like the attack speed for clearing minions faster and the lifesteal for sustain. The MP5 helps a little, but it may not be enough to keep from having to get a mana potion.
With the passive on Leather Cowl and Chernobog’s attack speed buff on his Vicious Barrage ability, I can get up to +57% attack speed for three seconds in the early game. That gives me an edge against the enemy carry in the duo lane. It can also help to clear minions and jungle camps quickly.
The passive also gives me movement speed when I am alone. This is great for chasing down fleeing enemies, or running away when the support goes back to the fountain. Leather Cowl is a great all-around starter item for Chernobog.
Alternate Starter Item: Gilded Arrow
- Cost – 650 (1500 for Ornate Arrow at level 20)
- +20 Basic Attack Damage
- +50 Health
- +7 MP5
Passive – Every 10 seconds the highest health enemy minion or jungle monster within 80 units of you is marked. If you secure the killing blow on that target you gain three bonus gold and 20% attack speed for 8s and restore 20 Mana. Can be upgraded at level 20.
Gilded Arrow is still a solid starter item even though it’s not as strong as it was before. The extra basic attack damage is powerful in the early game. The passive can also turn things against the enemy quickly when it gets activated. It works well with Chernobog’s Vicious Barrage and the mana restore keeps me in the lane longer.
The upgrade to Ornate Arrow may seem strange at first, but when I get the full stacks by having 2000 gold in hand, that means an extra 25% attack speed and 20% critical strike chance. That is huge. At the moment, Cowl is still a better choice, but Gilded Arrow is a good alternative for Chernobog.
Transcendence (Evolved Transcendence)
- Cost – 2600
- +40 Physical Power
- +300 Mana
- +10 MP5
Passive – You permanently gain 15 Mana per Stack and receive five Stacks for a god kill, and one Stack for a minion kill (maximun 50 stacks). 3% of your Mana is converted to Physical Power. At 50 stacks this item Evolves, gaining a 10% Cooldown Reduction.
Transcendence is expensive and takes a while to get the stacks, but once I get there, I am so strong. I also never need to worry about mana again. The power may not seem like much at first; however, the passive gives an additional 31 power once Transcendence evolves.
The most important thing to do is get those stacks as soon as possible. Kills give more stacks, but the risk isn’t always worth it. Safely farming lane minions is fine for me. Then the enemy won’t expect aggression when I finish the stacks on Transcendence.
The 10% cooldown reduction is nice, but not exactly game-changing. It’s all about the power from Evolved Transcendence. The hardest part for me is being patient.
Alternative Stacking Item: Devourer’s Gauntlet (Evolved Devourer’s Gauntlet)
- Cost – 2300
- +30 Physical Power
- +10% Physical Lifesteal
Passive – Killing an enemy god or minion gives you stacks of +.8 Physical Power and +.2% Physical Lifesteal. You receive five stacks for a god kill and one stack for a minion kill. This stacks up to 50 times.
This was the go-to item for a time, but the meta in Smite changes often. Devourer’s is still a powerful item for Chernobog, giving physical power and lifesteal early on. It’s not as much potential power as Transcendence, but it is almost the same at a cheaper price.
Once the stacks are complete, the Evolved Devourer’s Gauntlet has +70 power and +20% physical lifesteal. Those are big numbers for early game fights, and the lifesteal will still be relevant in the late game fights.
Devourer’s Gauntlet is still viable, though the power and cooldown reduction on Transcendence is a bit more effective.
Atalanta’s Bow
- Cost – 2500
- +30 Physical Power
- +20% Attack Speed
- +10% Physical Lifesteal
- +20% Critical Strike Chance
Passive – Upon getting a kill or assist on an Enemy god you gain Atalanta’s Agility for 10s. This effect increases your Attack Speed by 20% and decreases the Movement Penalty for attacking, backpedaling, and strafing by 30%.
Atalanta’s Bow is another high-cost, all-around item with great stats. The attack speed and lifesteal are the main reason for building this item in the third slot. These will help keep Chernobog alive and recover from fights, and they help to transition into the mid-game.
The critical strike chance on Atalanta’s bow comes into play more when I get other critical strike items built. Still, it is nice to get a few critical hits in during a fight or when burning down objectives.
Once I have Evolved Transcendence and Atalanta’s bow, I feel much more confident when I am fighting enemy gods. This item gives Chernobog a solid foundation for damage.
Silverbranch Bow
- Cost – 2400
- +30 Physical Power
- +30% Attack Speed
- +20% Physical Penetration
Passive – For each 0.02 Attack Speed you go over the cap you gain 2 Physical Power.
Silverbranch Bow is the go-to item for percent penetration right now. It also has decent power and +30% attack speed which works well on Chernobog. The stats on Silverbranch Bow alone make it worth including in almost any hunter build.
The passive won’t come into play in this build, but it will give 9 power when Chernobog uses Vicious Barrage after the Wind Demon is built. When I upgraded to Hunter’s Cowl, the bonus power went up to 36.
If my teammates have attack speed items that buff teammates, like Shogun’s Kusari, the Silverbranch Bow passive went even higher. At one point, I saw that it was at 50. Still, this item is in the build mainly for the stats it provides for Chernobog.
Wind Demon
- Cost – 2500
- +25 Physical Power
- +15% Attack Speed
- +20% Critical Strike Chance
Passive – Your Critical Hits provide you with 10% Physical Penetration and increase your Attack Speed by 10% and Movement Speed by 10% for four seconds.
Wind Demon gives me more of what I want in Chernobog at this point in the game: critical chance and attack speed. I want to hit my enemies with serious damage and this item offers that.
Together with Atalanta’s Bow, Wind Demon will bring the critical strike chance to 40%, but wait there’s more. The passive on Wind Demon will increase penetration, attack speed, and movement speed. This will allow Chernobog to abuse the slow to enemies and his buff from his abilities.
As safe as I have to be in the early game, Wind Demon gives me the damage to become an aggressive critical hit machine.
Alternative Anti-heal Item: Toxic Blade
- Cost – 2200
- +100 Health
- +15 Penetration
- +30% Attack Speed
- +7% Movement
Passive – Enemies hit by your basic attacks gain 20% reduced healing, stacking up to 3 times and lasting 6s.
This item is only necessary if the enemy team has a lot of healing. Although there is no power on Toxic Blade, the utility balances it out. Toxic Blade also works well when I am building attack speed.
The anti-heal, attack speed and flat penetration are the main selling points here. The health and movement speed are more of a nice bonus. Again, this item is only good if you need anti-heal as in the following situations:
- The enemy team has a god with strong healing abilities
- The enemy team has multiple lifesteal items
- The enemy team has several gods with minor healing abilities
Envenomed Deathbringer
- Cost – 2800
- +50 Physical Power
- +30% Critical Strike Chance
Passive – Critical Strike bonus damage dealt is increased by 30%.
Glyph – Critical hits on enemy gods afflict them with poison for two seconds. This poison slows them by 10% and reduces their damage output by 15%.
Deathbringer lives up to its name, and the Envenomed glyph adds poison icing to the cake. This item has massive power, critical chance, and bonus critical damage. It’s expensive, but once I have it, the enemy’s health means nothing to me.
With Deathbringer, my critical strike chance is up to 70%. Add in all the power and bonus damage, and this build is ready to shut down the enemy team. The passive from the glyph makes it even easier to one on one box any enemy. Envenomed Deathbringer is high cost, high reward.
Alternative Final Item: Qin’s Sai
- Cost – 2600
- +40 Physical Power
- +20% Attack Speed
Passive – On Basic Attack hits, deal Physical Damage equal to 3% of the target’s maximum Health. If the target has over 2000 Health, the bonus damage scales up. This effect reaches a maximum of 5% of the target’s Maximum Health at 2750 Health.
The attack speed on Qin’s Sai works well with Chernobog and this build, but the main reason to get this item is if the enemy team has a lot of health items. That could be the support, the solo, or both. The passive on Qin’s Sai does health damage that scales up with the target’s health. If the support has 4000 health, each basic attack does an extra 200 damage. This can shred tanks in the late game.
Qin’s Sai is on the more expensive side of items in Smite, so I would only get it in this build if the enemy health is creating a problem.
Alternative Builds
Power/Penetration Build
This build will still give Chernobog a lot of attack speed but focuses more on power and penetration. This build is great for countering teams that have multiple tank gods like guardians and warriors.
- Leather Cowl (upgraded into Hunter’s Cowl at level 20)
- Ichaival
- Asi
- Silverbranch Bow
- Dominance
- Qin’s Sai
The build still starts with Leather Cowl for the sustain, attack speed, and lifesteal. Then, the Ichaival will give even more attack speed with a passive that gives protections and reduces enemy attack speed which helps with early one on one fights.
The Asi will provide Chernobog with the lifesteal he needs to keep in the fight and the lane. The flat penetration and passive also make a big difference. From there, the Silverbranch Bow continues the attack speed and penetration building.
Dominance gives flat penetration and percent penetration on basic attacks. The build finishes off with Qin’s Sai to reduce any tank that gets in my face to zero health quickly. This build will make tanks run away from me or die trying.
Sustain/Critical Strike Build
The theory behind this build is to keep me alive while dealing major damage. If the enemy builds Spectral Armor to counter critical damage, it could cause a problem. Still, they will be taking hits while healing from lifesteal.
- Death’s Toll (upgraded into Death’s Embrace)
- Devourer’s Gauntlet (Evolved Devourer’s Gauntlet)
- Atalanta’s Bow
- Fail-not
- Wind Demon
- Envenomed Death Bringer
I love landing critical hits, and this build gives a 90% critical strike chance, with another 20% from the Fail-not passive. That Fail-not passive works so well with Chernobog’s ultimate ability.
The Death’s Toll, Devourer’s Gauntlet, and Atalanta’s Bow combine to give massive sustain. It can sometimes feel like I can’t die (but then I get reminded of the truth). This can be a really fun build to try out with Chernobog when I want to be an irritating hunter.
Relic Options
Relic choices are almost always determined by who I am facing. Still, as Chernobog (and most hunters in general), there are a couple of choices that will almost always work well. Crowd control and burst damage will ruin Chernobog’s good time. Here are the two best relics at dealing with those.
- Purification Beads (upgraded into Temporal Beads)
- Aegis Amulet (upgraded into Aegis of Acceleration)
Purification Beads are a must on most squishy gods, Chernobog included. If I get caught by a hard stun, that could be a quick end to my life. Beads are like a get-out-of-jail-free card. Aegis Amulet is just as helpful as beads in some instances. When I am up against a god with a high burst damage ultimate ability (I’m looking at you mages), Aegis is a life saver.
Pay attention to the enemy team and know their builds and their abilities. Oftentimes, I am not able to choose different relics, but I can communicate with my team on what relics are needed to counter certain team compositions and builds.
FAQs
Question: Can Chernobog teleport across the map?
Answer: Not exactly. Chernobog’s ultimate allows him to fly into the air similar to how Thor or Rama can, but Chernobog’t ultimate will summon shadows at the location of each enemy. Then, he can choose one and fly to it, allowing him to essentially teleport to any enemy on any part of the map.
Question: Is there anything I can do to Chernobog when he is in the wall?
Answer: All you can do is wait and try to predict which direction he will come out of. While he is inside the wall, Chernobog is un-targetable.
Question: Is Chernobog an ability-based hunter?
Answer: No, his kit of abilities mostly gives him utility to devastate the enemy with basic attacks. It is much better to build him around attack speed and basic attack damage.
Conclusion
Chernobog is a great addition to any team. His global ultimate ability can keep enemies from getting away and help Chernobog get back in the fight faster. Besides that ability, Chernobog is mostly about landing basic attacks and burning down enemy health.
This means that the best build for Chernobog will include attack speed, penetration, and critical strike chance. The standard build I presented follows this and is very competitive. There are still other options for Chernobog, so don’t be afraid to try things out.
These build ideas are a solid foundation to work with and will serve you well in battle.