SMITE: Demigods, Deities and Gods Explained – Tyr

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: Oh, how I’ve waited to discuss Tyr. Mainly because I spent far too much time in Tyr’s Hand. Properly spelled Týr, the one-handed man is the god of law and heroic glory in the Norse pantheon. The judicator of the Scandinavian mythology is the son of the Allfather Odin in early tellings, before being rewritten as the seed of Hymir.

Tyr’s lore is fractured across the two great Norse poems, the Poetic Edda and Prose Edda, but there are a handful of commonalities. First, the God of Law is renowned for his strength, rivaled only by Thor. He’s tied to Loki mostly by way of his “son” Fenrir, which produces his most well-known tale that bestow his wisdom and courage.

The great wolf Fenrir broke every bound placed upon him. As each leash failed to control the growing monster the Aesir became paranoid. Odin had the crafty dwarves complete a final fetter, Gleipnir. Cautious, Fenrir refused to test the bound without a god offering their hand to his jaws. Envisioning the madness of Fenrir should the gods refuse, Tyr offered his own hand to the one he fed to seal the deceit. Successfully fettered, Fenrir devoured the famous hand in his struggles.

In-Game: The bringer of justice also brings the pain in SMITE. The Lawgiver is a physical melee bruiser with outstanding staying power thanks to a mix of high defense and solid crowd control. His native passive caps any stun, fear, taunt or mesmerize to 1s, an amazing latent skill. Tyr is another more complex character due to his ability-altering stances. His third ability allows players to alter the stance between guard and assault, refreshing all cooldowns and gaining power or protections, respectively.

Depending on the needs of the team, Tyr can be built as bruiser support or damage. Cooldown reduction is tempting, but experienced players shouldn’t stack too much to be able to juggle Tyr’s destructive or supportive capabilities. Instead, focusing on aiding his bruiser power through added sustainability and damage make for a devastating combination. Think being the Immovable Object and Unstoppable Force. To accomplish this, grab items like Warrior Tabi, Frostbound Hammer, Focused Voidblade and Ankh of the Golem.

Further reading:

• Tyr on Wikipedia
• Norse Mythology on Wikipedia
• Poetic Edda by Snorri Sturluson
• Prose Edda by Snorri Sturluson

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