3 May 2013 | |
Mordil
[Update: Hi-Rez deployed a bug patch today fixing some issues from Wednesday's patch. The new changes are in their own section just after yesterday's bug patch.]
[Update 2: Hi-Rez deployed another bug hot-fix patch today, along with a quick balance change to Fenrir's #2. You can find this section just after Fenrir's abilities]
Hi-Rez Studios felt the need to unleash Ragnarok upon the world, and so Fenrir has appeared to join his father, Loki, on the battlefield.
This god plays very akin to his father, but is substantially tankier than Loki. Build him as a bruiser, akin to Thor or Hercules, and you will have no problem devouring your enemies. He still has some need of being carried, so having a good support such as Ymir with you is a great idea.
After having a chance to play him, and try out all the little nuances such as the broken selection screen after the cut. In addition, you can watch Fenrir bring Ragnarok upon the world in his SMITE God Reveal video, along with the full patch notes, and the text version of his abilities. Continue Reading
28 March 2013 | |
Mordil
Hi-Rez Studios decided to take a break from love this patch, and moved into dedicating their lives to the beast of music. Apollo, God of Music, joins the Greek roster in SMITE.
Apollo’s skill set looks like a mixture between Neith, Thor, and Vamana. Rocking his ranged physical damage by shooting hand guns, this guy serenades, strums, and charges to victory.
Things to note in this patch:
- A new ability item is being added: Portal - Using this item creates a portal entrance at your spawning location and a portal exit at your ground target. A player standing on the portal entrance will teleport to the exit, consuming both the entrance and exit in the process. Cooldown – 180s
- Zeus gained more survivability as Aegis Shield now provides +20 more physical & magical protection at Rank 5.
- Bastet gained some more mobility functionality with her Pounce ability.
- Hide of Nemean Lion now reflects damage as magical damage, rather than physical damage.
After the jump, you can find Apollo’s God Reveal Video, text version of his abilities, and the patch notes. Continue Reading
14 February 2013 | |
Mordil
Honestly, this week’s patch has been the first one I’ve been the most happy with since back in November.
Neith is one of the most balanced gods right at release – from what I’ve seen. She doesn’t do too much damage, and she’s about as easy to kill as other gods, even with all her utility. Focus is gone, with it’s somewhat clunky mechanic that was changed almost 3 times before being removed.
Along with Focus being removed, every god had a pass through by the designers to re-assign static values for stuns, slows, damage, speed increases, etc. that used to be scaled by Focus. The lengthy list is below, along with Neith’s God Reveal video, her abilities, and the generic balance changes.
Things of note to me were:
- Hel’s abilities share half the CD time in both stances now (Her 1 in Healing Stance is used, both her Healing Stance and Damage Stance go on CD, with Damage Stance only being on CD for 1/2 the time)
- Hercules’ “Earthbreaker” (knockback) ability had the length of its range reduced by about 10ft.
- New Solo Practice Map for Arena: Ymir, Artemis, Ra, vs. Ymir, Artemis, and whomever you choose.
- Advanced Tooltips have been added for abilities now.
- and again, Focus has been removed.
Check out Neith’s reveal after the jump!
Continue Reading
24 January 2013 | |
iTZKooPA
Hi-Rez Studios announced that their godly MOBA, SMITE, has made its way to Open Beta. In Closed Beta testing for the better part of a year, the growing community can start to prepare for a $100,000 Launch Tournament. Qualifications and scheduling will be detailed in the coming weeks.
The content patch that came along with the transition includes a massive graphical update for the Conquest game mode, a new practice match again AI Ra, in-game Team and Roster management systems, a modified Ranked Team Conquest queue and long-awaited Refer-a-Friend program.
The program offers extra Favor as your “friend” levels up. Stepping away from most programs, players that level cap will earn their referrer actual money in the form of 200 Gems. Care to join me?
There’s another incentive for getting started on your account. All players that reach level 30 before SMITE launches, which is still TBD, will receive a Limited Edition Ymir skin. Thankfully, those that have already begun their progress do not have to fear any wipes. Hi-Rez Studios will not be wiping progress now or in the future.
Hit the jump for the Open Beta trailer. Don’t forget to head over the official SMITE Facebook page to snag the awesome Ra skin shown above. SMITE Wiki has the latest patch notes in full.
Update: Below the cut, we’ve also got the first look at the upcoming Limited Edition Ymir skin!
Continue Reading
24 October 2012 | |
iTZKooPA
They're real- and they're spectacular.
Neither Tribes: Ascend or SMITE are experiencing an invasion of ghoulish characters, but that hasn’t stopped Hi-Rez Studios from participating in the October event. One can only assume that the company has become a bit cash flush with the rising success of SMITE – 700,000+ players playing in the Closed Beta at any moment. The increasing audience enabled the production of a subtle trailer for SMITE revolving around the spirits.
In the video, a museum goer jumps the velvet rope and goes off the beaten path. Venturing into an under construction wing, the man stumbles upon an area named ‘Ancient Mythology Exhibition.’ The Blair Witch-esque cameraman gets in a spot of trouble.
Hit the jump for the short spooking trailer. Be sure to check out SMITE our lore column to learn more about the mythological creatures you saw. It’s too bad the farmed Halloween assets have been pushed live yet. Continue Reading
5 July 2012 | |
iTZKooPA
SMITE: Demigods, Deities and Gods Explained is a column dedicated to introducing prospective players of SMITE to its massive back story of lore. From the Greek to Hindu, each week we’ll look at two characters from a major pantheon and provide a quick recap of their history and in what capacity their digital incarnation will represent on the field of Hi-Rez Studios’ upcoming MOBA.
Lore: So dependent on the Nile river to sustain them, the people of ancient Egypt deified the crocodiles which they so feared as Sobek. Depicted as a crocodile or a man with the head of a crocodile, Sobek was prayed to for safe passage on the river’s waters. Selected animals were treated with the utmost respect, dining on the finest meat in temples dedicated to Sobek. The ferocity and might of crocodiles enabled Sobek to be a symbol of war.
Continue Reading
21 June 2012 | |
iTZKooPA
Flashbang!
SMITE: Demigods, Deities and Gods Explained is a new column dedicated to introducing prospective players of SMITE to its massive back story of lore. From the Greek to Hindu, each week we’ll look at two characters from a major pantheon and provide a quick recap of their history and in what capacity their digital incarnation will represent on the field of Hi-Rez Studios’ upcoming MOBA.
Lore: The sunny Egyptian landscape fostered a divine worship of the sun’s rays. Providing light, growth and warmth, the deity of the sun was credited with creation. A sun god for his entire reign, Ra was said to travel the sky on two boats, Mandjet, the morning boat, and Mesektet, the evening boat. Ra was often accompanied by other deities from the Ennead during his travels to combat those that would attempt to devour Ra on his journey to rebirth.
Continue Reading
13 June 2012 | |
Beararms
For the past couple of weeks I have jumped in and out of the closed beta for Hi-Rez Studios‘ highly anticipated MOBA, SMITE. SMITE is an amazing addition to this popular gaming genre, that also gives it an interesting twist.
For those of you who aren’t that familiar with a Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA), the point of SMITE is to attack and defend three lanes that connect your base to your enemy’s base. These lanes are guarded by two towers on each side that guard the way into the base, and after you destroy those towers, the base is then guarded by a phoenix. After you defeat that, you will need to destroy the enemy base’s minotaur to win the game.
Prior to playing SMITE, I had started playing League of Legends about two months before, to try to get the idea of what SMITE would be like; and I’ve got to say, I was wonderfully surprised at how different it was. Continue Reading
