(SMITE: Jormungandr's Playroom)

[Phelphor, of the Deep]

 

 

https://www.smitegame.com/download

 

Developer(s)

Titan Forge Games

 

Publisher(s)

Hi-Rez Studios

 

Engine

Unreal Engine 3

 

Platform(s)

Microsoft Windows

Xbox One

PlayStation 4

macOS

Nintendo Switch

 

Release

Microsoft Windows

March 25, 2014

Xbox One

August 19, 2015

PlayStation 4

May 31, 2016

macOS

July 7, 2016

Nintendo Switch

January 24, 2019

 

Genre(s)

Multiplayer online battle arena

 

Mode(s)

Multiplayer

 

Smite is a free-to-play, third-person multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) video game developed and published by Hi-Rez Studios for Microsoft Windows, macOS, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox One. In Smite, players control a god, goddess, or other mythological figure and take part in team based combat, using abilities and tactics against other player-controlled gods and non-player-controlled minions.

 

The game has multiple player versus player modes, many playable characters, and has a successful esports scene with multiple tournaments, including the annual Smite World Championship which has a million dollar prize pool. Smite features many different game modes with the largest being Conquest. Players are formed into two teams with five players on each team. All players begin at opposite sides of a map at their team's "fountain". Before the players enter the map, they are granted an amount of gold (usually 1,500) to buy starting items. These items grant special bonuses or abilities that enhance the player's god. There are three continuous "lanes" running from one side of the map to the other. Each lane is defended by a "Phoenix" which is accompanied by a pair of extra defensive towers. Phoenixes and towers deal a large amount of damage to any enemies that come too close. The goal of each game is to destroy the opposing team's Phoenixes and the Titan, a giant warrior who must be defeated to win the game. The players are accompanied by "minions", small soldiers with a weak attack. These minions spawn at the Phoenixes every thirty seconds and run along their lane until they meet opposition and attack immediately. Minions will attack not only players and other minions, but also towers, Phoenixes, and the Titan. In fact, their presence is required for players to deal full damage to these objectives. Defensive positions will prioritize enemy minions over players, allowing players to attack a tower without receiving damage; however, towers will fire upon players if there are no minions nearby or the player attacks an enemy player under their tower. If a game is going badly for a certain team, they can decide to surrender after at least 10 minutes, though this requires a majority of the team (4 players to 1) to agree.

 

With every game, players have to choose a god or other figure to play as. Currently, players can choose between 101 characters from thirteen different pantheons: Arthurian, Celtic, Chinese, Egyptian, Greek, Hindu, Japanese, Mayan, Norse, Polynesian, Roman, Slavic, and Voodoo. (Jesus Christ, next patch I freakin swear it XD) Each character is classified as one of the following classes: Assassin, Guardian, Hunter, Mage, or Warrior. Two players on the same team cannot choose the same character (with the exception of some Match of the Day variants, which rotate daily), although they are free to choose characters from the same pantheon. The player controls the god in a third person perspective, which is a unique characteristic of this MOBA, as other games of this genre are typically played from a top-down perspective. Each god has a basic attack, a passive trait, and four abilities with varying effects, such as area damage, crowd control, buffs, and many more. These abilities are acquired and upgraded when the player's character levels up by gaining experience from being in range of minions when they are killed, taking down towers or phoenixes, and defeating enemy characters. The maximum level is 20 and each successive level is harder to reach. Gold, which is used to buy items that increase power, defense, and passive effects, potions, wards and abilities, is accumulated through standard periodic income, by slaying enemies (player and NPC alike), or by selling owned items.

 

The large areas between the lanes make up what is called the "jungle", where computer-controlled monsters such as packs of cyclops or Furies (the latter alternately referred to as harpies) periodically spawn at specific locations distributed symmetrically across the map. Killing certain monsters in said jungle causes a "buff" to drop on the ground where it can be picked up by a player. This buff grants the player one of the following for a limited time, depending on which monster was killed: mana (mana regen & cooldown reduction bonus), damage (basic damage & power bonus), speed (movement speed bonus), attack speed (in-hand attack speed & power bonus) or protection reduction aura (negation of some of the protections of enemy players within 55 units). There are three special neutral monsters who spawn less frequently: the Fire Giant, Gold Fury, and Pyromancer. When killed, they grant the entire team who killed it a powerful damage buff for a medium length of time, set amount of Gold, and a speed boost when coming out of the base respectively. There also exist monsters which do not offer a buff, only experience and gold.

 

The matchmaking system uses a modified version of TrueSkill ranking system.[9] Around December 2013, there was a feature added that allowed players to choose between US and EU servers, but was later removed from the game due to issues with the matchmaking system. This feature was eventually re-added. Originally, most modes used to operate on queues with 3-minute match-making timers. Every three minutes, matches would be made from the group of people in queue at that time. In late 2014, that system was replaced with a more traditional non-timed one (a more popular format in many MOBAs) that look for an optimal match instead of just the best match ups at the present time. In this system, if it takes 5 minutes or more to match a player, the game will gradually lower its requirements until a match is found. The matchmaking system will also try to give the opposing team better solo players if there are teamed players together on a side. The system will prioritize the player's general performance over their account level.

 

In Ranked Leagues, players are matched by a variation of Elo, a system that rates players with a number that indicates how well the individual skill of that player is. The player will be matched with players that have a similar rating as them. The goal of this system is to have 2 individual teams that have a similar TOTAL Elo.

 

On August 21, 2013, Hi-Rez Studios partnered themselves with Tencent, an online media company that publishes video games in China. On June 5, 2014, Hi-Rez Studios announced they partnered with Level Up! Games to bring the game to the Latin American region. In October 2014, Oceanic servers were added and in August 2016 southeast Asian servers were added. In October 2017, the Chinese client was announced to be merged with the international client, with migration taking place late November.

 

Discuss SMITE.

[Phelphor, of the Deep]

BUMP