SMITE: Demigods, Deities and Gods Explained – Chronos

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: Literally translated as time, Chronos is the god of exactly that. The personification of never ending Time, Chronos protected the early world egg in his serpentine form. In his serpentine form he was represented as a three-headed beast of man, bull and lion. He and Ananke (Inevitability) circled the fledgling world, eventually splitting it in three to form the ordered universe from the Aether. The realms became the earth, sea and sky. The egg also produced Phanes, who gave birth to the first generation of gods and became the creator of the cosmos.

Either confused, merged or identified with the similar Titan, Cronus, Chronos’ distinct history ends. So here’s Cronus!

Born of the realms of being, earth and the sky, Gaia and Uranus, respectively, Cronus championed the so-called Golden Age of Greek mythology. The youngest of the original titans, Cronus overthrew his father by castrating him with his weapon of choice, the sickle. This act created numerous gods from the mighty bodily fluids, including Aphrodite.

Cronus was ever vigilant in defending his throne. Like Stalin, the paranoid god routinely wiped out any threat to his standing. He imprisoned his own siblings after they aided in his successful ambush on Uranus. Upon learning that one of his sons would eventually overthrow him, Cronus ensured they wouldn’t see the light of day by devouring them at birth. Demeter, Hestia, Hera, Hades and Poseidon all met the same horrible fate.

History tends to repeat itself. It wasn’t until wife Rhea slinked away to birth a son in secret that the time of Cronus would come to an end. Cronus fell to his own mighty and ambitious son, Zeus. Zeus first freed his siblings by slipping an emetic agent to Cronus causing him to vomit up the future God of Thunder’s siblings. Aided by these grateful brothers and sisters, the group freed their uncles and began the Titanomachy. The great war between Olympian gods and the Titans ended the patricidal cycle as Zeus, Hades and Poseidon drew straws for the most venerable realms.

The fate of Cronus splinters after his fall. He may have been imprisoned with numerous other Titans in Tartarus, secluded to a cave in Nyx or became the King of Elysium.

In-Game: The game design squad at Hi-Rez Studios developed Chronos as a ranged mage. The Keeper of Time plays off his name heavily, wielding numerous time-based moves. In fact, the Wheel of Time passive has radically different effects depending upon its location when Accelerate, skill 2, is triggered. This mechanic causes Chronos to be quite difficult to routinely optimize during the throes of battle.

Insanely mobile, players should concern themselves with magical power and cooldown reduction to deal maximum AoE and sustained damage. Rod of Tahuti is a no brainer. You can opt to increase its effectiveness with magical penetration or lean more heavily towards cooldown reduction; Obsidian Shard and the aptly-named Chronos’ Pendant will achieve these goals, respectively.

Further reading:

• Chronos on Wikipedia
• Greek Mythology on Wikipedia

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