How every role starts a conquest game in Smite Season 8

The first minute of a Smite conquest match can easily set the tone for the rest of the game. How you start the game can determine if you reach level two before your opponent, and can it mean acquiring an early kill against the enemy team, giving you even more of a lead. It takes a bit of practice, but with the right starting positions for every role, you can achieve make progress towards obtaining a solid victory.

Mid and Carry starting positions

The mage and carry will start alongside each other at the team’s damage (red) buff camp. The two roles will take out the jungle camp and then go their separate ways. The mid player will rotate to their lane, the middle, and then take on the wave. They should hit level two before that wave dies. The carry role will rotate to the support’s positions, which should be at the void (purple) buff camp.

Support starting position

The support player will rotate immediately to the void (purple) camp on the map’s long lane side. They will attempt to lower the minions’ health and the larger jungle monster while waiting for their carry player to rotate. We highly recommend not landing a last hit on any of these minions to ensure that the carry can reach level two when they reach lane or have the best chance of doing that as soon as possible. The support role will take quite a bit of early damage, but it’s worth it to ensure the carry can reach level two before the enemy team.

Jungle and Solo starting positions

The jungle and solo lane role will be working together, much like the carry and mid lane player. The jungle and solo lane starts at the speed (yellow) buff camp. After that goes down, advance to the two Harpy XP camps in-between the mana (blue) buff camp. The jungle and solo lane can share these camps without worry, and once they finish the blue camp, both should hit level two. The jungle camp will want to rotate to the middle lane to compete for the XP camps there or assist the mid player. The solo role player will rotate into their lane and battle against the other solo role player.

Should you buy and use hand of the gods?

Multiple players have been using hand of the gods when first starting at jungle camps to make it to lane faster. It’s an item that costs 100 gold, and it’s a consumable. It will do 200 true damage to all jungle monsters around your position, but it only affects jungle monsters on your side of the map, so you can’t use it to invade and steal another team’s jungle camp during the early game.

If you’re in the jungle role, you want to buy and use it against the larger Harpy XP camp while rotating with your solo role player. While the two of you can already clear camps fairly fast, this will ensure the solo lane player can make it to their lane quickly, and they won’t miss out on as much early XP from the lane minions fighting each other.

Some players have been using it for those in the support role, and if you do, wait until your carry role is close enough to receive experience and gold from the kills. The goal is to have the two of you rotate over to the lane fast enough to clear the wave before your opponents can arrive. Alternatively, you can buy it, hold it, and then use it against the middle Harpy side camp, standing in the middle of the lane. This is a good strategy for a carry and support gods that can clear fairly fast with each other.