In the last few weeks, things have been a bit quieter regarding the third-person MOBA “Smite”, due to the developers only fixing minor bugs and the studio mostly being on vacation – now they are back just before Christmas, bringing a lot of new things into the game. Among other things, players can expect a new goddess, some new skins, and of course the usual balance changes; we have summarized the most important points for you.
New Goddess: Awilix, Goddess of the Moon
From the pantheon of the Maya, Awilix now joins the battle! The goddess of the moon is an assassin and the first character to truly have a mount. But Awilix has even more new mechanics, as she is primarily used as a counter-goddess to take out mobile gods like Neith or Odin. Her ultimate allows her to pull gods that are currently “in the jump” or “in the throw” towards her, dealing massive damage. Furthermore, she can summon her panther and ride on it, significantly increasing her movement speed, making her a fast threat across the battlefield.
New Skins: Pirate Neith, Nerd-Rage Cabrakan, and Archangel Thanatos
The last items of the Odyssey will be released early, so they will all be available for gems with the arrival of the patch. Fans of the archer Neith can particularly look forward to this, as she will receive a pirate outfit, complete with a flintlock pistol and a monkey (and significantly more clothing than in all her other skins combined).
The big tank Cabrakan also gets an alternative look; the long-awaited “Nerd-Rage” skin finally makes its way into the game and comes with its own voice pack that will make many players chuckle.
The highlight is, of course, the new Thanatos skin, which you can only obtain if you purchase all 21 items of the Odyssey. The special feature: The higher Thanatos’ level in a match, the more impressive the skin becomes! At the beginning, he only has white wings, but with increasing level, a halo forms, his scythe grows larger, and he is adorned with an epic robe. Especially in his final form, the developers have truly outdone themselves in terms of detail – a fitting reward considering that all Odyssey items together cost nearly €80.
Nox Reworked: More Resilient and Now with 10% More Night!
The biggest changes in this patch affect Nox, whose abilities have been completely overhauled for the most part. Her passive “Flames of the Night” now increases her damage reduction by 4% per candle, her “Shadow Barrier” now reduces the damage taken by 90% at each level, and the duration has been increased to 2 (previously 1) seconds. The silence duration of “Nightfall Raven” has increased from 1.5 to 2 seconds, but the damage is slightly adjusted downwards, as is that of “Siphon Darkness”.
Her ultimate has also been adjusted: it can now hit multiple targets, guarantees the damage twice, and stuns at the end of its duration for one second. Furthermore, Nox no longer has to maintain a “connection” to the enemies. All in all, these changes can be described as a strong buff that allows Nox to fight much more effectively.
Harsh Nerfs for Vulcan, Serqet, Vamana, and Ao Kuang
On the other hand, things look bleak for Ao Kuang, whose second activation of “Dragon Call” (that is, the ranged attack) will be nerfed by about 40%, which the developers justify by saying that Ao Kuang is supposed to be a melee mage – and therefore they want to make his ranged abilities less attractive. Vulcan is similarly hard hit; his “Magma Bomb” has been massively nerfed. While the damage values remain identical, the range of the ability has been reduced from 65 to 60 units, and hit targets are no longer stunned before they are launched. As if that weren’t enough, the same ability now gets a “target circle” on the ground, allowing enemies to see where the bomb will land.
Serqet, the goddess of poisons, loses some of her crowd control; her “Cobra’s Madness” now lasts only 1.4 seconds instead of the previous 2.
Finally, Vamana is also getting a (rather small) nerf; the 5th avatar of Vishnu is weakened in his avatar form, which now grants only 100 physical power at the highest level (previously 140), thus forcing the little warrior to focus more on one point in his item selection: damage or tank.
If there are no drastic errors or major balancing issues, the patch will reach the live servers on Wednesday – typically in the early afternoon our time.
