
Fluffy Dragons - NA
smite.guru no longer shows my full title
😔As of writing this guide, I have a 78% win rate on Da Ji this season (mostly solo queue), and I'll show you my usual build + tips and tricks.
pls buff Da Ji thx
DA JI GOT BUFFED WOOOOOOOOO
Feel free to say hi if you see me in-game! I am very lonely :(
https://smite.guru/match/1084653551
gaming
The important stuff is Highlighted
Changelog:
(only recent/significant changes)
January 17th, 2021
Cleaning up grammar and formatting
December 2nd, 2020
Minor changes
November 7th, 2020
How to Level and Play Da Ji - Changed leveling order due to Da Ji buff
October 13th, 2020
How to Level and Play Da Ji - Changed Conquest leveling order and updated How to Play section
September 3rd, 2020
Additional Items - Removed Serrated Edge (lol)
How to Level and Play Da Ji - Updated How to Play section
Other minor changes

Attacker's Blessing
+20 Physical Power +25 Magical Power ROLE QUEST: DAMAGE Damage lane minions and Enemy gods to gain stacks. Dealing 100 damage to Lane Minions provide 1 Stack and Dealing 100 damage to Enemy gods provide 3 Stacks. At 100 Stacks Attacker's Blessing Evolves, gaining 10 Penetration.

Mace

Purification Beads
Using this item removes Crowd Control Effects and makes you immune to new ones for 2s. Cooldown - 160s.

Healing Potion
This consumable heals 250 Health over 25 seconds.

Multi Potion
This consumable heals 125 Health and 75 Mana over 25 seconds.

Multi Potion
This consumable heals 125 Health and 75 Mana over 25 seconds.
(Section Updated on September 3rd, 2020)
Buy pots if you are in any game mode that is not arena, I usually get 1 health + 2 multi.
Again, please do not buy potions in arena.

Assassin's Blessing
+7 Power +100 Health +30% Damage vs. Jungle Monsters +8% Health and 25 Mana Restored on Killing a Jungle Monster ROLE QUEST: JUNGLE Kill or Assist Jungle Monsters or Enemy Gods to gain stacks. Jungle Monsters are worth 1 stack and Enemy Gods are worth 5 stacks. At 50 Stacks Assassin's Blessing Evolves, gaining +5 Penetration, and 5% Movement Speed.

Mace

Blink Rune
Using this item will allow you to teleport up to 45 units away instantly. This item can not be used if you have taken or dealt damage in the last 3s. Cooldown - 140s.

Healing Potion
This consumable heals 250 Health over 25 seconds.

Hand of the Gods
This consumable deals 200 True damage to Jungle Monsters around you. This only affects Monsters on your side of the Jungle.

Warrior Tabi

The Crusher
PASSIVE - Enemies hit by your damaging Abilities take an additional 20 Physical Damage + 15% of your Physical Power over 2s.

Transcendence
PASSIVE - You permanently gain 15 Mana per Stack, and receive 5 Stacks for a god kill, and 1 Stack for a minion kill (max. 50 stacks). 3% of your Mana is converted to Physical Power. At 50 stacks this item Evolves, gaining 10% Cooldown Reduction.

Hydra's Lament
PASSIVE - For 8s after using an ability, your next Basic Attack will deal an additional 40% damage. Abilities that function like basic attacks do not benefit from this. PASSIVE - This item grants 2.5 MP5 per 10% of your missing Mana.

Heartseeker
PASSIVE - Your abilities deal an additional 2% of the targets maximum Health as Physical Damage. If you have over 200 Physical Power, your ability bonus damage scales up. This effect reaches a maximum of 5% Maximum Health damage at 400 Physical Power. Subsequent hits on the same target do 75% bonus damage for the next 3s.

Bloodforge
PASSIVE - Killing an enemy god forges a shield from their blood with Health equal to 200 + 10 per Player Level for 20s. While the Blood Shield is active you gain +10% movement speed.
(Section Updated on January 17th, 2021)
Finish boots before crusher.
Transcendence is only recommended if you're doing exceptionally well or if you are playing conquest. Otherwise, skip transcendence and go straight to hydra's lament. Even if I'm 9/0 by 5 minutes, I'll usually just stick with hydra's and skip transcendence altogether when I'm not playing conquest.
Crusher can be swapped out with Brawlers against teams with lots of healing. Bloodforge is not great in conquest, and you should not get it if your K/D is not very positive or if you're just not getting that many kills.
Relics are Beads and Blink every game, no exception.
Disclaimer: I have not purchased Aegis on any god in the last 6 years because it is cringe.
I also haven't purchased Jotunn's in the last 6 years either

Arondight
PASSIVE - When your Ultimate ability has finished casting, reveal all enemy gods within 120 units for 8s. While moving towards revealed enemies gain 30% Movement Speed. When first striking a revealed target they take an additional 40 + 30% of your Physical Power. This can only occur once every 45 seconds.

Titan's Bane
PASSIVE - Your first ability cast gains 20% Physical Penetration. This can only occur once every 10 seconds.

The Sledge
PASSIVE - For each enemy god within 55 units of you, you gain a stacking buff that provides 8 Protections. Stacks up to 3 times.

Brawler's Beat Stick
PASSIVE - Enemies hit by your Abilities have 30% reduced healing for 6 seconds.

Void Shield
AURA - Enemy gods within 55 units have their Physical Protection reduced by 15%.

Ancile
PASSIVE - Whenever you take Magical Damage from an enemy ability you unleash a shockwave that Silences all enemies within a range of 30 units for 1s. This effect cannot trigger more than once every 30s.

Mantle of Discord
PASSIVE - If you take damage below 30% health you unleash a shockwave that stuns all enemies within a range of 20 units for 1s and become immune to Crowd Control for 1s. This effect cannot trigger more than once every 90s.
(Section Updated on January 17th, 2021)
Use your own judgment here. These items can be built anywhere in the build; however, I strongly recommend building Boots, Crusher/Brawlers, and Hydra's Lament before anything else.
If the game isn't going that well, get The Sledge(TM) after boots + crusher/brawlers. My usual build ends with Arondight and Titan's (after selling boots); the order depends on what I'm feeling. Arondight is more of a win-more item, and I'll get it if I'm going for multi-kills, and Titan's is pretty good against protection-heavy teams.
You can also just look at my match history for my build since I mostly just play Da Ji anyway, lol.








(Section Updated January 17th, 2021)
Leveling Da Ji's ultimate kinda sucks as it doesn't really do that much damage considering that 90% of the time, it's going to get cleansed by beads. So when you level it, all you get is the extra 10 damage per chain shot (wow). However, if you have a teammate who is a good beads burner (someone like Ares), it is usually better to level the 4 instead of the 3 at level 13+.
After the Da Ji buff in 7.11, the second ability no longer massively sucks at level 1. Therefore, I have split the build into Standard and Alternate leveling orders. Standard is usually applicable for quick burst damage, and Alternate will do more damage overall, assuming the enemy has no escape abilities.
The most crucial ability on Da Ji is her 1. Even though the 2 does more damage, using her 1 allows you to auto-attack instantly afterward, also known as an auto-attack cancel. For example, a typical gank goes 3, auto-attack, 1, and then auto-attack again immediately, 2, auto-attack again. You can cancel the 2 after hitting four times to auto-attack instantly instead of waiting for the animation to end, which you should do if you are confident in performing the move, do not do this if you are not super confident in your ability to pull it off. Crusher and heartseeker will apply their passives many times, and hydra's lament will activate at least 3 times, with your 3, your 1, and your 2. This is insane single-target damage, making her one of the best gods for killing mages and hunters. Da Ji's weakness is tanky characters like warriors and guardians; you will need heartseeker or titan's bane to do much to them. The 3, auto, 1, auto, 2 combo should happen in less than a second, and if you're somewhat far ahead, it can kill any unlucky mage in your sight almost instantly.
Another trick that nobody knows is that when you are using your ultimate, the split second you are still on the ground before the animation of going up on your tower is another auto-attack cancel opportunity. So, if you ult right on top of an enemy god, you can actually get an extra auto-attack off on them before you get up into the air.
A handy trick that people who have mastered auto-attack canceling can try is spinning the camera. Pretty clear what it is; just rotate your camera after you have selected your target with the 3 and during the teleport animation. You will hopefully land somewhere to the side or behind the target god. Make sure you can auto-attack immediately after teleporting as usual with precise WASD commands. This trick is somewhat tricky; however, it is perfect for body-blocking.
I use normal cast for the 3 and instant cast for the 1,2 and the 4.
(Section Updated January 17th, 2021)
Do not engage on these gods; only go on them or gods near them after the fight has started, and their cc abilities are down. The gods listed multiple times are just for emphasis.
Generally, Da Ji is not the optimal team fight starter; her primary role is to go on targets that have already used their escape abilities and/or cc abilities and finish them off. If you have your ultimate, you can start a team fight, which I typically do on a target that I am sure about, but it's still better to join the battle after it's started.
Ganesha/Nox silences are a death sentence for Da Ji as your ultimate is your panic button. The Paolao lets you wait for your team to come over, buy time for your abilities to go back up, or act as a jump if you instantly chain any nearby enemy god and/or jump off. If you're silenced, you can't really do any of that unless you want to pop purification beads and then ult.
A lot of other gods should be on here, but I'm too lazy to add them. However, using your big brain, you should be able to figure out when and where to engage. Ex. Don't go on Nu Wa if she hasn't used her minions/invisibility circle, don't go on Isis if she still has her stun/silence, etc.
(Section Updated January 17th, 2021)
Again, use your brain. A lot of these gods require setup. Discordia is only easy if her invisibility is down (watch out for the apple). Neith is easy if her backflip is down for any reason. Otherwise, you should blink next to Neith, auto-attack, 1, auto-attack, then teleport to her after she backflips with your 3. This applies to most of the gods who have jumps/dashes. Zeus can kill you pretty quickly with his ultimate. Kukulcan can purge the slow on your 1 and get away. Etc.