Fundamental tank counter-play. FUNDAMENTAL COUNTER-PLAY If there is a skill gap between you and your opponents, you can typically build whatever items you desire. However, if your opponents are as competent at the game as you, build choices can make all the difference in a game. Failing to build percentage penetration and health based damage items against competent tanks can and will cause your damage output to suffer, and may very well result in losses that might otherwise turn out differently with the appropriate build choices. Improper building not only affects your personal damage output, but negatively affects your teammates ability to execute as well. Your frontline will suffer, your assassins will suffer, and your teams overall ability to finish enemies will suffer. Another perhaps more advanced tactic of fighting tanks is knowing the enemies kits and when is a good and bad time to burst them with damage. For example, Odin shield, Hercules 3, Nemesis shield, etc. A personal lesson I have learned is that the better I know an opponents Gods kit, the better my odds are of defeating them. This of course requires a lot of time and is not always feasible, but I encourage you at the very least to read through the kits of any Gods you have faced and are not familiar with. This guide will be reserved for itemization, which will be fairly simple. Paying attention to the enemies builds is of the utmost importance and will be explained later. ITEMIZATION Intelligence Tank Damage items: Obsidian Shard (percentage penetration) Totem of Death (stacking percentage penetration) Soul Reaver (health based damage - Scales with built intelligence) Strength Tank Damage items: Titans Bane (percentage penetration) Avenging Blade (stacking percentage penetration) Heartseeker (health based damage - Scales with built strength) True Damage Items: Sundering Axe (bruiser item) Bumba's Hammer (jungle item typically) Phoenix Feather (defensive item) Shield Splitter (bruiser item) Other notables: Void Stone (percentage penetration) Void Shield (percentage penetration) Qin's Blade (health based damage) The Executioner (stacking percentage penetration) I do not know all the Gods that offer tank damage built in their kits, but here are some I do know. Janus and Izanami offer percentage penetration in their kits. The Morrigan offers health based damage with her passive, Ra and Geb with their ults. Khepri, Nut, Sylvanus, and Baron offer a percentage protection reduction of enemies. WHEN TO BUILD WHAT Paying attention to enemy build paths is a very necessary aspect of itemizing correctly. For example, the enemy tanks are both stacking high health items. Rushing Obsidian Shard will not offer as much value as rushing a Soul Reaver. If the tanks are both stacking prophetic cloaks, into Freya's Tears, Soul Reaver will offer very little value vs a Totem of Death and Obsidian Shard. Paying attention to this as the game progresses can make or break a crucial teamfight. Against higher skilled opponents, they may be watching you too. If you are a hunter, and you build Qin's blade 2nd item, they may no longer stack any health the rest of the game, building only protections. If you fail to build Executioner or Titans Bane, or both, you may suffer tremendously with your damage output in the late game. Building items like Soul Reaver and Qin's Blade, they scale off of the Maximum Health DIFFERENCE between you and enemy. This means building any personal health will reduce your damage output. Blood Soaked Shroud, Bluestone Brooch, Death's Embrace, and Bumba's Hammer are all upgraded starters that grant you health. If the enemies are stacking enough health, building these items can still be OK, however its worth noting and doing some basic math when considering building any of these items. Soul Reaver, Heartseeker, and Qin's are VERY STRONG items into high health opponents. Stacking Percentage Penetration: Totem of Death, Avenging Blade, and the Executioner all reduce the enemies protections based off how many instances of damage you deal. THIS REDUCTION IS USEFUL TO YOUR WHOLE TEAM. Void Shield and Stone protection reductions also benefit the entire team. If an enemy or both enemy tanks are particularly fed, items like these will enable your team to shut down the otherwise unkillable raid boss. CLOSING THOUGHTS Why not build every tank damage item, every game? There are some instances I would encourage you as a mage to build Totem, Obsidian Shard, and Soul reaver. These include triple tank compositions, or games where the enemy tanks are fed, seemingly unkillable raid bosses and shutting them down is the win condition. An assassin building Titans Bane, Heartseeker, and Avenging Blade would also apply to these conditions. However, each match presents different build path opportunities. Paying attention to the tempo of the game, and of each opponent, will ultimately determine what items will be optimal to build. In games with a single tank on the enemy line, you may not need any tank damage items at all to succeed. If their one tank is Thanos, you might be foolish to avoid itemizing to take him down. Each game is situational and its your responsibility to stay in tune with it. Knowing your enemies kits, their strengths and weaknesses, and proper spacing are all essential to counter-play. You can build all the right items and fail to space correctly, and Hercules will continue to pull you and do most if not all of your health bar. My final comment to reiterate the importance of proper itemization, is that again you affect your teammates experience through your build choices. If you are on the backline and unable to output sufficient damage, your entire team is going to have a lot less fun. Have fun and do lots of damage.