SMITE: Demigods, Deities and Gods Explained is a column dedicated to introducing prospective players of SMITE to its massive backstory 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: Ravana is one of the major gods in Hinduism. The ten-headed being was the primary antagonist of the Hindu epic Ramayana, one of the major Sanskrit poems from Valmiki. Described as the king of Lanka in the epic, Ravana was the brother of the sleepy Kumbhakarna and Vibhishana born into a powerful family of a great sage and princess. That crown came at a cost breaking family bonds by usurping the throne from his half brother Kubera.
Ravana was universally known as a great scholar, despite being described by some as aggressive and arrogant. He used his scholarly prowess for himself and bestowed it upon others. Even the great Rama once called him the Great Brahmam. That is until Ravana kidnapped Rama’s wife Sita while he was in exile. The dastardly feat began a major war between the powerful beings that rival the epic battles from the Lord of the Rings. The fury of Rama took him through all comers until he stood toe-to-toe with Ravana in singles combat. Ultimately, the Demon King of Lanka was felled.
Despite the similar name to Vamana, Ravana is not an avatar of Vishnu. An erroneous comment I made during a recent stream.
In-Game: Ravana is a puncher, a physical melee character kitted out as a Warrior featuring high single target damage and the expected lane sustainability you’d expect. The Demon King has a passive similar to Apollo. The more consecutive hits landed the more white damage he’ll do, making attack speed of particular importance. All abilities receive bonus damage from physical power but going all in isn’t recommended due to his passive.
Ravana fans are best to optimize for attack speed, physical power, crit, and cooldown reduction. Don’t forget that Ravana is a Warrior enabling a wider range of items that make use of his inherent protections. Look towards leveraging cross functional items like Transcendence, Runeforged Hammer in addition to The Executioner and more damage focused items.
Further reading:
- Ravana on Wikipedia
- Ramayans translation
- Hindu Mythology on Wikipedia
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Head over to SMITE: Demigods, Deities and Gods Explained for details on all of the playable characters.