In Smite officially began the second season the day before yesterday. Coinciding with the launch, there was of course a fairly extensive patch that brings a lot of balance changes and also offers some graphical updates.
New Conquest Map
The biggest changes can be seen on the Conquest map, as this has been completely renewed graphically. The two factions now differ significantly from one another. On one side is Olympus and the peaceful, green fauna, on the other side the chaos, represented by a volcano and bubbling lava flows.
The inhabitants of the various camps have also received a new appearance, and in the case of the Gold Fury and the Fire Giant, they are now announced with an impressive animation.
Overall, the graphics now appear significantly more contemporary and atmospheric. However, there is also a minor gameplay change: The Mana buff has been removed from two camps and is now only found next to the solo lane.
Balancing: Hunter Laneclear Nerfed, Stronger Endgame
Many hunters were too good at clearing waves of minions and simultaneously applying constant pressure to opponents during the first season. For this reason, the damage of many abilities (such as Apollo’s “So beautiful”) is reduced once more than one target is hit – the first target takes 100% damage, the second 85%, and so on. To compensate, most hunters now scale better with their items and have stronger base stats. Almost all received an increase in their base attack speed from 0.9 to 0.95.
Hercules also experiences a significant nerf, as his “Autoattack” is weakened and his passive “Strength from Pain” is reduced by half.
Lastly, the mage Nox is also affected: The cooldown of “Siphon Darkness” is increased from 3 to 4 seconds, scaling now only with 50% of magical power (previously 60%). The cast time of her ultimate “Night Terror” increases from 0.25 seconds to 1.00 and is now much more visible.
New Skins: Jandroid, Cavewoman, and Prizefighter
Of course, a new patch wouldn’t be complete without premium skins, and this time there are three new ones.
First up is Janus with his “Jandroid” skin, which seems very directly inspired by “Portal.” But that fits the master of paths and portals, so why not?
Attention! Why not give away codes? In this giveaway, we are giving away in collaboration with Hi-Rez Studios 3 codes for the god Janus himself AND his new Jandroid skin.
The giveaway lasts for 2 days. To participate, simply register at godankey and wait for it to be drawn randomly. No data or anything similar is stored, only for the giveaway.
Secondly, there is “Cavewoman Artemis,” who no longer charges into battle with her wild boar but – as a modern cavewoman should – with a small dinosaur.
The last premium skin this time goes to Mercury, whose “Prizefighter” outfit is meant to remind of fighters from the last century.
All three aforementioned skins of course come with their own voice pack, which is sure to elicit a laugh or two during matches!
New Items, Significantly Revised
To make the second season even more exciting, all items in the game have been thoroughly reviewed and significantly revised. Almost all of the major “Must Have” items are now only options and no longer overwhelmingly good like before. There are also many new starter items which will be seen more often, especially in the Conquest mode.
Anyone who wants to see the complete, extensive list of patch notes can do so at hirezstudios.com, the official website for Smite. Alternatively, there is also a video on this:
