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’ new MOBA.
Lore: Ahh, another Maya deity with a bit of conflicting origin. Awilix, the moon goddess, is, in some regions of the Maya empire, actually a moon god. Yeah, the sex isn’t entirely set in stone. Most tellings, including those of a large Maya kingdom in Guatemala, revered Awilix enough to erect a large temple in the honor of their patron. Stop me if you’ve heard this one before but academics don’t agree on her early origins. Although it is believed that Awilix spawned from the classic moon goddess tales featuring Xbalanque and Hunahpu.
The evolution of the Maya Hero Twins aside, the domain Awilix rules over only ends with the encroaching morning sun. Night is her realm. As if that wasn’t enough she is also associated with the Underworld, more specifically sickness and death. Juxtaposing such sad, dangerous and deadly connotations Awilix lords over the much-loved Mesoamerican ballgame (similar to today’s squash).
Often seen as one of her animal aspects, an eagle for day or jaguar for night, Awilix was one of three principal deities of the K’iche’. The trio was known occasionally as the Tohil filling out their ranks with Tohil, a fire god, and Jacawitz, a mountain god. The K’iche’ praised these deities while the Spanish Conquistadors arrived.
In-Game: Awilix gets up close and personal unlike her relative Xbalanque who prefers a little distance. Still a physical deity, Awilix, utilizing her ball skills, can easily move around the field of battle to disable and unleash pain on her selected target. A single-target specialist Awilix can bring down even those with incredible defenses or like-minded damage dealers with clutch jukes and disables. In case you missed it, the crux to a skillful Awilix is one’s ability to utilize those movement abilities.
Awilix is one of the characters where maximizing the strengths is often more beneficial than minimizing expected weaknesses. If you’re fearing another team’s tank – you know, besides avoiding throwing your damage there – you can start off with a Qin’s Sais. Naturally, Rage and Deathbringer should be early in that line up. Round out that fearsome combination with a Jotun’s Wrath for faster abilities and a bit of attack speed and watch those newbs drop.
Further reading:
- Awilix on Wikipedia
- Maya Mythology on Wikipedia
- Popol Vuh (PDF)
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Head over to SMITE: Demigods, Deities and Gods Explained for details on all of the playable characters.