Smitten by Smite

Recently there have been quite a few MoBAs hitting the market all over the world such as DoTA, League of Legends, and Heroes of Newarth; it may be a bit overwhelming to keep up with new MoBAs hitting the scene. Or maybe you’re looking for something new.

Allow me to introduce you to Smite from Hi-Rez Studios, currently in open beta.

Smite features 37 gods to choose from hailing from Roman, Greek, Egyptian, Chinese, Mayan, Norse, and Hindu mythology. What sets this apart from its counterparts is that it plays over the shoulder, much like a third person shooter– All of your skills are skill shots. This sets the tone for some action packed gameplay while remaining relatively easy to adjust to.

If you’ve ever played any other MoBA, you’re probably familiar with the idea of last hitting in order to obtain gold and experience. If you’re not, it’s basically hitting a minion (or creep) for its remaining HP in order to gain more gold and experience. This can make most of the laning phase a bit slow for newer players as it requires them to focus their attention on farming gold.

While last hitting does get you more gold in Smite, they’ve given players an opportunity to harass enemy players more simply by allowing you to get gold whether you are the one to last hit or not. Furthermore, if there’s more than one person in the lane, they both receive gold regardless of who last hits. This allows players to get in on the action a bit sooner and allows some forgiveness for new players. Don’t worry; you’ll have plenty of time to worry about mechanics.

Smite already has an impressive roster of gods and continues to release new gods. This could make it a bit difficult to keep up with the latest god and how they work, but you can stay well informed thanks to Smite’s stream on Twitch.tv.

Hi-Rez Bart reveals new gods before they are released in game to give you the skinny on upcoming gods. Or players can hop over to the Smite Youtube channel for god reveals, top plays of the week, and tournaments. Players may also be concerned with balancing issues with these gods coming out so often, but Hi-Rez Studios has no qualms about tweaking gods when they see a problem. They’re gamers too and they don’t want to get roflstomped by xXxYoloSwagxXx’s cheap tactics using an OP god any more than you do.

Smite sports several different game modes for players to enjoy: Arena, Assault, Conquest, Domination, Joust, and Practice Modes.

Most of my experience is with Conquest Mode. Like most MoBAs there are three lanes; left, middle, and right. Between the lanes are the jungle which contain creep camps that give buffs, experience, and/or gold. Middle lane is typically held by a solo ranged god that has sustain but there have been some more unconventional gods to make an appearance middle lane too. Left (or right lane depending on the jungler) is comprised of a tank that will solo for the most part while the jungler gets all of his experience and gold from jungle creeps while ganking other lanes. The right lane is usually comprised of an attacked damage carry and a support.

So, what are you waiting for?