A Guardian is a god with the main priority of protecting allies, keeping a strong protection front in team battles and distracting enemies so that allies can progress.

It is crucial for a Guardian to have:

•  High durability in match battles;
• Some utility;
• Protection abilities.

In SMITE there are many decent Guardians you can play with, here are the top 3 picks:

3. Athena

Athena has been one of the most commonly picked Guardians for a while now. She is a pretty decent utility god, but that is not what makes her so strong. It is her poke. She is a great pick if you want to defend your allied gods. She can easily distract the enemies and catch gods of guard and that grants protection and team progress over the enemies. There is no high-skill demand in order to play her, except staying focused and keeping a close eye on the allies and enemies on the battlefield.

Here is a detailed rundown of Athena’s abilities:

Passive: Reach

• After using any ability, Athena's next basic attack is a ranged attack, hitting all enemies it passes through and dealing an additional +15% of her magical power as damage.
• Reach's damage will trigger basic attack item effects, but not ability ones.

1st ability: Preemptive Strike

• Athena powers up for a dash. while dashing, Athena will pass through minions, stop and hit the first enemy god she encounters, dealing damage and slowing all she hits.
• If she hits an enemy, Athena gains one stack of block (max 3), absorbing the next basic attack from any god that hits her.
• Damage: 80/130/180/230/280 (+50% of your magical power), Slow amount: 25%, Slow duration: 1.25/1.5/1.75/2.0/2.25s

2nd ability: Confound

• Athena releases a shockwave of power from her shield, taunting enemy gods, and forcing them to fight or chase her.
• Taunt duration: 1.0/1.25/1.5/1.75/2.0s

3rd ability: Shield Wall

• Athena summons a group of Athenian warriors who do damage upon arrival, and after 2s strike for additional damage.
• Initial damage: 60/95/130/165/200 (+50% of your magical power), Secondary damage: 80/150/220/290/360 (+50% of your magical power).

Ultimate ability: Defender of Olympus

• Athena picks a single allied god anywhere in the world, and launches herself up into the air, landing next to that god 3.6 seconds later. during that 3.6 seconds, the allied god gains 20% damage mitigation.
• Enemies nearby when Athena lands take damage.
• Damage: 350/430/510/590/670 (+90% of your magical power), Allied Mitigation: 20%

Athena Pros:

• + Good CC 
• + Global Presence
• + Good Dash

Athena Cons:

• - Unreliable Ultimate damage
• - Dash needs to charge

Guardian Power Rating: 80/100

Here is an Athena build you can try out: Shoes of Focus > Sovereignty > Genji’s Guard > Spirit Robe >  Void Stone > Hide of the Urchin; Relics: Aegis Amulet, Meditation Cloak

2. Fafnir

Fafnir is definitely an interesting Guardian to play and he is a favorite to many SMITE players. He is similar to the SMITE Hunter, Ullr. He has a double skill set when you activate his Ultimate. Combined with his mobility and utility, that makes him formidable. He can take big leaps, stun enemies, bolster anyone around him, has a powerful disarm and powerful AOE pressure. His Passive is definitely one ability that will catch your eye.  His Passive allows him to earn gold faster than other gods and he gains protections if he has loaded over 1000 coins. Fafnir is a great pick if you want to combine Hunter-Guardian ability combos. You can achieve enormous damage if executed well. His best ability is definitely the fact that he can turn into a dragon, resetting all of his cooldowns and gaining new sets of skills. Here are Fafnir’s abilities explained:

Passive: Endless Greed

• Fafnir gains 2 bonus gold from all enemy kills and assists, including minions.
• Fafnir also gains bonus Protections based on the amount of gold he is currently holding. The bonuses gained from this ability are capped at 1000 gold in hand.
• Bonus Protections: Up to 20 Magical and Physical Protections

1st ability: Cursed Strength

• Fafnir hurls his hammer forward, dealing damage to enemies in its path. If Fafnir hits a god the hammer stops short and Stuns them.
• The Stunned god also radiates out a cursed pulse, Slowing them and nearby enemies by 20% for 3s.
• In dragon form, this ability deals increased damage that ticks 3 times over 3s. Also, the cursed pulse shreds Protections in addition to Slowing.
• Damage: 80/125/170/215/260 (+50% of your Magical Power), Stun: 1/1.1/1.2/1.3/1.4s, Dragon Damage Per Tick: 50/70/90/110/130 (+25% of your Magical Power), Dragon Protection, Debuff: 20%

2nd ability: Coerce

• Fafnir coerces his allies into fighting harder, boosting Attack Speed for 5s and healing himself.
• While Coerce is active Fafnir deals bonus Magic Damage whenever the affected ally damages an enemy.
• In dragon form, this ability has a larger area of effect and can buff multiple allies.
• Attack Speed Buff: 15/20/25/30/35%, Bonus Damage: 5/10/15/20/25% of the target's power, Self Heal: 50/70/90/110/130 (+30% of your Magical Power)

3rd ability: Underhanded Tactics

• Fafnir leaps to a target location and executes a despicable strike, dealing damage and disarming enemies in front of him for 2s.
• In dragon form, Fafnir can leap much further.
• Also, this ability deals increased damage that ticks three times over 3s and Fafnir Stuns the enemy god closest to him for 2s in addition to Disarming.
• Damage: 80/120/160/200/240 (+60% of your Magical Power), Dragon Damage Per Tick: 40/60/80/100/120 (+30% of your Magical Power)

Ultimate ability: Draconic Corruption

• Fafnir transforms into a terrifying dragon and is untargetable during the process. When he emerges in dragon form, nearby enemies are poisoned, taking damage three times over 3s.
• He remains in this form for a duration or until the ability is activated again.
• As a dragon, his abilities have additional effects and his basic attack changes to a Dragon Breath that deals damage 3 times per second.
• Dragon Breath cannot proc item hit effects.
• Damage Per Tick: 80/100/120/140/160 (+40% of your Magical Power), Duration: 20/25/30/35/40s, Dragon Breath Damage: 20/25/30/35/40 (+10% of your Magical Power)

Fafnir Pros:

• +High Durability 
• + Decent CC
• + Decent Poke

Fafnir Cons:

• - Relatively weak damage
• - Easily counter-able Ultimate

Guardian Power Rating: 80/100

Try this Fafnir build: Shoes of Focus > Sorcerer’s Staff > Gem of Isolation > Hide of the Urchin > Ethereal Staff > Soul Reaver (or Mantle of Discord); Relics: Aegis Amulet, Purification Beads

1. Geb

Geb is one sturdy god for sure. He is one of the best guardians that also doubles as a great support god as well. One good way to describe Geb is: ‘Geb isn’t going to kill you on his own — but he’ll keep someone else alive who definitely will’. In addition to that, if you see a Geb on your team, you should feel safe because Geb will summon a wall of rocks that will be your shield again enemy damage. He has massive control in team fights and stands between his allied gods and enemy team. While protecting his own, he crushes the rest. Here is a rundown of Geb’s abilities:

Passive: Hard as Rock

• Crits only do +25% damage to Geb, rather than the normal +100%.

1st ability: Roll Out

• Geb turns into a mass of rolling earth, damaging and Slowing enemies he encounters, stopping at the first god he hits.
• He increases speed as he travels and his damage increases from 75% to 100% over 3s.
• Once at his top speed, Geb becomes CC immune, and will also Knockback enemy gods.
• Damage: 100/175/250/325/400 (+50% of your Magical Power), Slow: 30%, Slow Duration: 1/1.25/1.5/1.75/2s

2nd ability: Shock Wave

• Geb creates a shock wave, which ripples out from him in a cone, causing damage and Knockup to all enemies.
• The damage decreases the further the enemy is from Geb, down to 50% at the maximum range.
• Damage: 90/160/230/300/370 (+50% of your Magical Power)

3rd ability: Stone Shield

• Geb targets himself or an ally to put a Shield around.
• The Shield blocks all damage and lasts until its time expires or it takes enough damage to be destroyed.
• The Shield also cleanses any Crowd Control when applied.
• Shield Health: 50/100/150/200/250 +20 per Geb's Level, Shield Duration: 3/3.5/4/4.5/5

Ultimate ability: Cataclysm

• Geb pulls apart the earth, dealing Magical damage to all enemy gods based on a percent of their current Health, and Stunning them.
• Damage: 15/20/25/30/35% of current target's Health, Stun Duration: 1.6/1.7/1.8/1.9/2s

Geb Pros:

• + Great Mobility
• + Great Peel
• + CC immune ultimate
• + Great Protection ability

Geb Cons:

• - His escape can be body-blocked
• - Shields have a long cooldown

Guardian Power Rating: 90/100

I recommend this Geb build: Shoes of Focus > Gauntlet of Thebes > Sovereignty > Heartward Amulet > Breastplate of Valor > Witchblade; Relics: Aegis Amulet, Meditation Cloak

You may also be interested in:

• The 10 Best SMITE Teams (eSports)

• Top 10 Best SMITE Arena Gods ​

• Top 3 Best SMITE Hunters