SMITE patch 3.2 is now live; Raijin joins the battle

It's been a few weeks since SMITE season 3 started and, after a couple of fixes here and there, the dust is starting to settle down with the players adapting to the new additions. This means for Hi-Rez that it is time to shake things up a bit again. A good way to do just that is to release a new god. With patch 3.2, Raijin, Master of Thunder, enters the battlefield of the gods in all its might as the second character of the new Shinto pantheon to be added to the game.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9t6-HYrYeVk

Raijin is  a mage whose skill set gives him a nice damage output and some team utility. Its Thunder Crash gives him some mobility as well, making him an interesting character, at least on paper. Let's give a look at Raijin's abilities:

Passive : Static Crescendo

• Raijin’s drums gather static charges as he fires Basic Attacks and Abilities. When all four drums are charged, his next in-hand does additional damage. Basic Attacks grant one Charge.
  • Bonus Damage : +100% of your Basic Attack Power

Percussive Storm

• Raijin pounds his drums sending forth 4 peals of thunder in a line, each growing wider as it travels. Each peal deals (25/40/55/70/85 +30% of your Magical Power) to enemies hit, and stops on the first enemy god in it’s path. Cost: 80/85/90/95/100. Cooldown: 10s.
  • This ability grants one charge of Static Crescendo each time it fires, for a total of 3 charges.

Raiju

• Raijin marks a target enemy by dismissing his ally Riaju, who hides in the enemy’s navel. While asleep, Raiju reveals the target to Raijin’s team on the minimap. The next time Raijin damages the target, Raiju awakens and claws his way out, damaging (80/125/170/215/260 + 70% of your Magical Power) the target and 5 nearby enemies in his attempt to flee. Cost: 70/75/80/85/90. Cooldown: 18s.
  • Mark Duration : 4/5.5/7/8.5/10s
  • This ability grants one charge of Static Crescendo upon first activation.

Thunder Crash

• Raijin sends a bolt of lightning crashing down at a target location, damaging and mesmerizing enemies. Raijin himself ascends into the sky and crashes down at that location shortly after, doing a second burst of damage to all enemies in the area. Cost: 70/75/80/85/90. Cooldown: 15s.
  • Lightning Damage : 20/30/40/50/60 (+20% of your Magical Power)
  • Thunder Damage : 40/60/80/100/120 (+40% of your Magical Power)
  • Raijin gains one charge of Static Crescendo for each stage of this ability, for a grand total of 2.

Ultimate : Taiko Drums

• Raijin flies above the battlefield, beating his drum 4 times to summon 4 peals of thunder in rapid succession, each a choice of three beats. Cost: 90. Cooldown: 90s.
  • Beat One : 100% Damage
  • Beat Two : 50% Damage and .5s Taunt
  • Beat Three : 50% Damage and .5s Fear
  • Base Damage : 120/150/180/210/260 (+50% of your Magical Power)

Of course, Raijin is not the only thing coming out of this patch. While there will be no god balancing this time around, there will be some minor changes and, of course, new skins and loading cards.

Speaking of the cosmetic side of this update, Ratatoskr, Raijin and Bastet will receive one new skin each while Aphrodite will enjoy an update to her mastery skin and loading card. Serqet will receive new loading cards for her Ebonsoul and Demonsoul skins.

The only notable change in the items, is the Spear of the Magus. For a long time it's been a must-have item for basically any mage in the game and that's a no-no in MOBAs. SMITE is no exception to that. For that reason, Spear of the Magus with patch 3.2 has been tweaked a bit. It doesn't give 10% magical protection reduction per stack anymore. It will instead stack up 3 times for a total of 30 magical protection.

There are other, less important, changes in this update. You can read them in the full patch notes here.

Did you try Raijin? Do you think there's an overabundance of mage characters in SMITE? Let us know in the comments.