RIP, Hastened Fatalis
The Summer of SMITE is here! And with the mid-summer patch a lot of things are changing, for the good … and yeah, pretty much for the better! I can’t think of anything I really hate right off the top of my head, except maybe the buffs to Ao Kuang. That upset me a lot. He doesn’t need more power! Do not engage him! If we don’t look at him, maybe he’ll go away. But I’m not going to be talking about the whole patch because there are an absolute horde of item/relic changes [most of the relics I feel got nerfed/got increased cooldowns, and that’s fine. [They probably needed them, if I’m being honest with myself] Also Hastened Fatalis is going away! There are some new items that are coming in, in their place. But you won’t get that same ludicrous power of Hastened Fatalis on them. I’m torn, because I loved the item, but I realize it was kind of strong, and I hate having to deal with it. Speaking of Gods though, Ullr did get a nice mana reduction that he desperately needed, and Raijin!
Raijin received a rework that makes him feel more useful, more fun. One of the downsides to me when I played Raijin is he just … didn’t feel worth picking. Some cooldown reductions, ability changes, things of that nature. I’ll cover that real quick, before I get into the stuff that really interests me. Charged Tempo, his new passive reduces the cooldown of abilities that are already on cooldown, for every five abilities cast. That’s pretty interesting, and will probably keep him spamming the field with annoying blasts. Percussive Storm got some buffs, some slight changes, but to me the big one is making Raiju a DOT is one of the coolest changes, which might surprise some. Damage over 2.5 seconds, and it drops a slow? It’s going to make ganks so much easier, not to mention preventing people who blink out … won’t be getting far.
Lots of Gods got some changes [some big stuff for Susano you can read in the patch notes, here ] but there let’s talk about what they’re calling “Project Olympus” and I could not be more excited. A lot of folks have said Smite is “ugly” but I don’t agree. I do think that it’s been a long time coming, adding DirectX 11 support to Smite though, so that is definitely a positive! Over the next few patches, a lot of changes are coming to the game, and a lot of them are visual/performance changes that will do well with my own PC, and the PCs of folks I frequently play the game with. So, what is Project Olympus and what’s coming in the game? Starting with Patch 4.13 [next week], we’re going to see some visual changes. Now personally, I was hoping they’d move to a newer Unreal Engine, such as they use in Hand of the Gods, but that’s okay.
[With Parallax Occlusion]
I personally like the aesthetic and performance of SMITE, but it can always get better, you know? These are positive changes for people on the higher end of the computer scale, because people who have weaker machines can always just turn things down. Hopefully there will be some love for them later in Project Olympus, but I don’t know much about graphical updates and what they could possibly do for quality of life on less powerful machines. I’m sure they’ll figure something out; those folks at Hirez are pretty sharp. But there’s more to discuss! The Wisdom tab is being updated, much to my delight. Video Tutorials updated, with more relevant information. I have a lot of friends who I’ve convinced to play through The Bottom Tier, and it can certainly hurt if the Wisdom tab’s not up to date. They’re working on it guys, so fear not! That’s not even the biggest change for me! There’s something above even graphical updates and the Wisdom tab. It’s the Triumphant Chests! HiRez has heard your cries of frustration concerning chests! Nothing hurts more than spending gems on something, and not getting what you’d hope for. Triumphant Chests are a new way to get loot in the
There’s something above even graphical updates and the Wisdom tab. It’s the Triumphant Chests! HiRez has heard your cries of frustration concerning chests! Nothing hurts more than spending gems on something, and not getting what you’d hope for. Triumphant Chests are a new way to get loot in the game, and is not a replacement for Login Rewards. You start a week with four open slots, and for each win you get in a PVP match of SMITE, you’ll get either a Winner’s, Champion’s, or Hero’s Chest: Each with better, more rare rewards! As you get them, those slots lock up until next Tuesday [but you can open a slot early with 2750 favor/75 gems]. Woo, a use for Favor! When you’ve unlocked 20 chests of any combination of the above, you receive a Godlike Chest! This chest will have the coolest, rarest skins, including exclusives like “Head over Heals Cupid”.
The other really cool thing for me is that they’re unlocking the level cap! There are levels beyond 30 now [up to 160], Prestige levels. The 1-30 experience has also been adjusted for a smoother time leveling. But you can show off your Prestige on the Loading Screen as well as the Home Screen. For those of us who have accumulated exp beyond 30, we’ll be given it straight away when the patch goes live. This also comes with achievements for hitting levels 31, 51, 71, 91, 111, 131, 151 and 160! This doesn’t help you in game at all, but it does show you how much love the game, how much time you spend in the game! It’s a huge year for Smite, and it’s made me incredibly happy to watch it grow from the end of Season 2. So many huge changes, and I’m glad they take the time to listen to their fans and grow the game in a way that makes new and old folks alike happy. What about you though? What are your thoughts on Smite as this year has gone on?
