Latest SMITE patch just arrived to PC and it's a juicy one. After kickstarting the new Japanese pantheon with the release of Raijin and Amaterasu, it's time to show some love to the other pantheons as well. The first ones to get a new god are the Norse with the arrival this patch of Skadi, Goddess of Winter.
Skadi is an hunter with a pretty uncommon feature in this game. In fact, Skadi is accompanied by a pet. Kaldr, the Winter Wolf, is the loyal companion of the Goddess of Winter and a critical cornerstone of her playstile. Don't worry though, making use of Kaldr will not require the ludicrous amount of micro management that you can find in more traditional MOBAs. The third person perspective would make it nearly impossible anyway.
Let's give a look at Skadi's skill set:
- Passive : Kaldr, The Winter Wolf
- Kaldr fights by Skadi’s side and has 2 forms: Beast and Elemental. While in Beast form he can attack enemies and be attacked. While Elemental he is immune to attacks and regenerates health over time. His forms can be controlled with Skadi’s Rune of the Hunt, but he will be forced into Elemental form if he loses all Hit Points.
- Hit Points : 5
- Attack Speed : 50% of Skadi’s
- Movement Speed : 110% of Skadi’s
- Lane Minion Damage : 1 HP lost per 5 hits.
- Other Source Damage : 1 HP lost from any attack or ability
- Piercing Cold
- Skadi throws an icy spear forward, dealing damage (90/140/190/240/290 + 80% of your Physical Power) to enemies and Slowing them for 3s. Kaldr’s basic attacks deal double damage to targets afflicted by Piercing Cold. Cost : 70/75/80/85/90. Cooldown : 15s.
- Slow : 20/25/30/35/40%
- Rune Of The Hunt
- This ability is a toggle. While toggled on, Kaldr assumes Beast form, chasing and attacking the marked enemy. If a marked enemy dies, Kaldr attacks other enemies nearby. When toggled off, Kaldr stops attacking and returns to Skadi, reverting to his Elemental form on the way. This ability can be activated at rank 0 and Kaldr gains new skills as it ranks up. Cost : None. Cooldown : .5s.
- Basic Attack Damage : 60/80/80/100/100% of Skadi’s Basic Attack Damage
- Rank 1 : Kaldr gains a dash attack.
- Rank 3 : Kaldr’s kills heal him.
- Rank 5 : Kaldr’s attacks give Skadi 10% increased movement speed.
- Permafrost
- Skadi freezes the ground for 5s at a target location. The frozen area deals damage (70/100/130/160/190 +60% of your Physical Power) to enemies who set foot on it and causes gods to lose control of their movement as they slide across. Skadi’s movement speed increases by 25% while standing on the area. Cost : 70/75/80/85/90. Cooldown : 18s.
- Radius : 16/18/20/22/24
- Ultimate : Winter’s Grasp
- Snowstorms surround Skadi and Kaldr. Upon activation, enemies in range become Rooted and Kaldr is restored to full health. The storms persist for 5s while dealing damage (10/20/30/40/50 +5% of your Physical Power) to enemies every .5s and making Kaldr immune to damage. Cost : 80/90/00/110/120. Cooldown : 90s.
- Root Duration : 1/1.25/1.5/1.75/2s
It's easy to notice how Skadi's wolf will most surely play a huge role in her gameplay. Her ultimate will be probably hard to deal with considering that the snow storm will engulf both Skadi and Kaldr, allowing the winter goddess to make use of the wolf to unleash the winter's wrath on her enemies from a distance. The fact that Rune of the Hunt starts at level 0 is also an interesting design choice.
It's always nice to have a new god enter the battlefield, but this patch has much more up its sleeve. For starters, the 2016 SMITE season ticket is now available. Just like in the past, after purchasing the ticket you will earn fantasy points by playing SMITE and participating in eSports events by watching them and voting during events. You will earn rewards by collecting these points including, but not limited to, these ones:
As you can see, you will unlock the SPL 2016 Bellona Skin the very moment you will purchase the season ticket and will unlock other skins (and other rewards) by collecting fantasy points. There also are some non-season-ticket-related new skins added in this patch:
- 0 – SPL 2016 Bellona Skin
- 1000 – Sunstar Ra Skin
- 1500 – Which Came First Avatar
- 2000 – Enigma Chest
- 2500 – 2016 Season Ticket Loading Frame
- 3000 – Enigma Chest
- 3500 – Undying Chest
- 4000 – Good Game Emote
- 4500 – Hinduman Announcer Pack
- 5000 – Ticket Upgrade (More Below)
- 5500 – Enigma Chest
- 6000 – Peeper Ward Skin
- 6500 – Enigma Chest
- 7000 – Undying Chest
- 7500 – Divine Action Theme Music Pack
- ??? – And more! Throughout the year we will be adding additional content, chest rolls, and Skins! (Including a Tier 4 Skin.)
On the balance side of things, there are a lot of tweaks this patch. Many items have received a touch-up here and there but nothing extreme. Worth mentioning are the changes to the Hydra's Lament (its passive effect doesn't have a cooldown anymore) and the slight buff to the Rod of Asclepius.
- Recon Artemis
- Hellrider Chiron
- Battle Bard Apollo
- Thunder’s Roar Raijin
- Winter’s Wrath Skadi
- Chaacolate Chaac
On gods balancing, there's to be said that there's no doubt that Hi-Rez kept SMITE players' feedbacks in mind. Hercules received a buff in an attempt of the developers to make the greek demigod relevant again in competitive play. Kukulkan received a much needed buff to its mana costs as well. Anhur received his second buff in a row in order to finally establish him in his role.
All in all, most of the balance changes in this patch will probably make many players happy since many gods that needed it finally received some attention.
What you think of this patch? Will you try Skadi? Will you purchase the season ticket? Let us know in the comments.