SMITE: Demigods, Deities and Gods Explained – Agni

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: Agni, as the God of Fire, is revered as one of the most important gods in Hindu mythology; second to Indra, his twin, in power and importance. The twice-born deity is the director of numerous religious ceremonies and duties, including being the messenger between mortals and gods. Unlike that of other pantheons, the God of Fire is not strictly a destructive god, and rarely is described as one. Instead Agni is held to high esteem as an example of knowledge for his role in sacrifices and diplomacy between the people and the pantheon.

As with many Hindu gods, Agni’s lineage and physical manifestation are routinely different for each legend. Labeled as the twice-born god, Agni is the eldest son of Brahma or born of Dyaus Pita and Prthivi. He’s typically represented as a two-headed, two- or seven-handed god with a ram as the chosen vehicle and possess seven tongues of flame.

In-Game: Agni is a complicated ranged spellcaster. To lay out maximum DPS players must chain together moves, from his passive ability to that of gas clouds and ignition abilities like Flame Wall. In addition to direct magical damage, half of Agni’s abilities leave a damage-over-time proc on their target. This destructive incarnation of Agni also has a stun and personal movement buff at his disposal.

Further reading:

• Agni on Wikipedia
• Hindu Mythology on Wikipedia
• Concepts of Hinduism

Head over to SMITE: Demigods, Deities and Gods Explained for access to details for all of the playable characters.