As of today, the latest patch for the MOBA SMITE by HiRez is live. The small expansion “Pins and Dolls” primarily focuses on a overhaul of the night goddess Nox, but also brings a lot of new skins and balancing changes.
In the Night, the Horrors Lurk – The New Nox
Nox’s abilities have been fundamentally changed. Not because her old set was bad, but because it “felt” like it didn’t fit as well as one would have hoped. The Mistress of the Night is meant to sow fear into the hearts of her enemies – after the overhaul, that is definitely possible!
- Shadow Lock can root a single target for up to 2 seconds. Damage is dealt every 0.5 seconds and Nox must channel the ability (but can move freely).
- Siphon Darkness now silences a large area directly. The silence area remains for two seconds, then it explodes for high damage.
- Shadow Step has two functions: On one hand, it’s a sprint that damages all enemies hit on the way and can save Nox from dangerous situations or chase the enemy. However, if the ability hits a friendly god, Nox slips into their shadow and travels with them for about 6 seconds. During this time, she is invulnerable – but cannot do anything else but cancel this ability. If she ends her journey in a companion’s shadow, Nox deals damage in a large area around the friendly god.
- Night Terror creates a sphere that travels in a straight line and explodes upon hitting the first enemy or surface. The explosion deals damage and leaves a dot for 5 seconds that reduces the damage dealt by enemies by 30%.
Particularly combinations of Siphon Darkness and Shadow Lock can have devastating consequences. Whether players will be satisfied with the new abilities remains to be seen. In any case, they fit better with the gameplay that Nox was originally intended to convey.
New Skins: Triumph & Agni and Madame Darkness
As with every patch, skins cannot be left out. The most exciting skin is probably Triumph & Agni, which is exclusively for players who have played 30 hours together with someone they recruited themselves. Time will not be calculated retroactively; it will only be recorded from now on.
The second highlight is the new skin for Nox: Madame Darkness, who has devoted herself to the occult with a voodoo doll, nails, and plenty of dreadlocks and will torture her enemies in a cruel manner.
There will also be a new look for Cupid, the “Bizzy B Cupid” outfit will likely be released in the coming days as part of the “Summer of Smite”.
Additionally, there will be new “Tier 2” skins for Kali and Sun Wukong, as well as the golden, legendary, and diamond skins for Anubis and Bellona.
Balance: Down with Ratatoskr, long live Ne Zha!
As was hardly to be expected, the squirrel of discord is in trouble. All of Ratatoskr’s abilities will be reduced in strength by about 10-20% and his upgradeable acorn will also be weakened. Apparently, the little rodent has achieved an above-average performance, which will now be drastically curtailed.
Followers of Ne Zha, the third Lotus Prince, can rejoice: His passive ability now generates a stack with every hit, and with critical hits even 2 (Maximum: 20). When he activates “Flaming Spear,” the stacks are consumed, restoring 1.25% of his maximum HP for each – up to 25%.
Ah Muzen Cabs “Bees!” have been revised. The base duration is now only 2 seconds, but each auto-attack hits increases the duration by a second. If the target is affected by the bees for 4 seconds, it will be disarmed for a second. AMC is thus the second god after Bellona who can disarm.
Changes to Items
Ultimately, numerous items have been revised to allow for several different playstyles. The biggest change affects the popular Bluestone Pendant, which now only restores 1.5% of missing mana instead of the previous 3%, and the physical power has also been reduced from 15 to 10.
Ichaival and The Executioner lose a bit of attack speed, while Witchblade and the Shield of Regrowth offer more protection or restrict enemies more strongly.
A complete list of changes can be found in the Smite Forum.
